Forsythia

Not my last meal, but I went to visit my parents the weekend before my surgery and had a medium rare filet mignon. I don't remember what side dish I had. And two mango martinis.

Meat and I are still besties.. In fact, I've not had issues with anything I've tried. The foods I really didn't like pre-surgery I still don't like (except for Greek yogurt). And the foods I liked pre-surgery I can eat with no issues. I had one incident with sausage shortly after my surgery, but not since.

Forsythia is a flowering bush. It is also the name of a Veruca Salt song that I just happen to enjoy. And it is not terribly common for a handle so I can usually procure it on the websites I want to go to.

Karen, do you have an LA Fitness near you? The one I go to only has mirrors in the classrooms for group fitness and a half wall of them by the free weights. No mirrors at all in the pool or by the cardio machines or the weight machines. The mirrors are helpful if you are using free weights and barbells, so that you can make sure your form is good. I started out going three days a week, either walking on the treadmill, riding the recumbent bike or using the elliptical. Now I go four days a week, trying to inch up to five. I do about 50 to 60 minutes of cardio. Usually about 30 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical and another 20 to 25 on the bike. I generally just go as fast as I can. I do the treadmill on an incline for an extra special brand of torture. After that I do about 45 minutes of weights, using barbells and dumbbells. I try to concentrate on large muscle groups - hams/quads/glutes, chest/back, biceps/triceps. Nothing fancy, just good basic moves like squats and lunges, chest press and lat rows using the heaviest weights I can use with good form. After that I finish with 50 crunches on the stability ball. I'm still working my way up to the pool though. Bathing suits are so exposing! But swimming is easier on the joints and a total body workout.

It's really tough to get your protein the first week or two - the stomach is still angry from the surgery and swollen. If you can tolerate protein shakes Premeir has ones that have 30 grams of protein. Its easy to have two of them in a day to get to 60 grams. It is difficult to get there with food, unless you puree a steak or something. I am diabetic and my wounds healed very quickly. But I suppose that most of that is due to genetics. Yeah, I'm gonna have scars though, but those scars are a badge of honor. A road map of where we have been and how far we've come.

Go you. BCBS is fairly easygoing as far as insurers go!

The insurance company did not require me to lose weight, but I had to go to nutritional counseling for six months. My surgeon's program did not require me to lose weight, but once you weighed in, you could not go above your start weight. So if you weighed in at 272, but went up to 281, you would get sent back to nutrition counseling until you lost the weight and got back down to or below your start weight. Check with your insurance and your surgeon's office to see if they require you lose weight. Some plans require a 5% weight loss, some require nothing!

Good luck. And nosy co-workers much? Sheesh! Whenever someone gets all up in your business like that I like to use female issues if the person is a man or intestinal issues as an excuse because no one wants to know about your bowel issues and dudes freak out over period problems. I had the opposite issue you did - my surgeon's office called me and wanted to move my surgery up from 5/5 to 4/30. 4/30 is my wedding anniversary so I politely declined. I think that no one was scheduled for that day at all. As it was I was first on the docket for 5/5!

I am also in a stall, I'm 5 weeks out and have been in a stall for 2 and a half weeks. I have no clue what im doing wrong. Please help! You probably aren't doing anything wrong. I had a stall that lasted 12 days. Log your food, drink your water, get your protein, exercise. I think we all have it in our mind that the weight loss is going to be steady - A nice straight line that angles downward. In reality, it's more like the foothills of the mountains. You go down, you hit a flat, you might gain a lb or two and you might sit there for 5, 6, or 8 days, then you come to another hill and go down some more.

Greetings Chicago and surrounding suburbanites! (I'm totally a lurker on this thread so apologies for no formal introduction!) Mariano's has Premier Protein shakes on sale for $3.99 chocolate or vanilla. I went in there today at lunch (because I work by the one in the West Loop) and was pleasantly surprised at this cost savings. Not sure how long they are on sale but stock up!

So much haterade from your "friends". Why are you hanging out with these people again? Negative influences should be eliminated or at the very least limited.

I just don't want to have those clothes to fall back on. Before I would always have bigger clothes in my closet when I regained weight previously lost. I don't think I am going to fail at this, but at the same time, I don't want the emotional crutch of keeping my 26Ws "just in case".

Last night my husband went to a concert, so I had a rare evening to myself. I went through my clothes. I threw out a bunch of clothes that were both too big and had issues (ripped seams, holes, stains, cheap construction). I took two more bags and designated those as donateable. One dresses, one pants and suits. I have a bunch of really cute dresses that I am lamenting that I had to let go for being too big. Goodbye navy blue silk bubble hem coctail dress. Fairwell, strapless satin dress with the rhinestone belt detail. Hasta Luego emerald green v-neck with applique detail. I'm just bummed because those dresses were hard to come by and were perfect for what they were for. But I can buy new dresses, in smaller sizes. I like dresses because they make me feel fancy. Ha ha. The bag of suits, one of which I bought and never wore I won't miss as much. I had them just in case I got a job interview. Let's hope no one calls me for a job interview any time soon - I am completely and utterly professional clothes free (my last two jobs in advertising and telecom have been casual - jeans, t-shirts). I also reorganized my bookshelves and added a bunch of music to my iTunes. Most of it from the 90s and early 2000s. Brings me back to high school and college. Today I went to the gym. Still didn't get in the pool. But I did wear a tank top instead of an oversized t-shirt. Baby steps. Did an hour of cardio on the treadmill and recumbent bike. I also did a crap ton of squats, among other exercises. My ass is going to complain about that tomorrow. LOL!

I have always loved shopping. And product. Ulta is my spirit animal (as much as one can have a store for their spirit animal). I love the challenge of finding something that looked awesome and surprised people that you could be stylish and plus sized.

Failure is not recognizing that you had a lapse. Failure is eating the fried chicken every day. But one chicken strip? You are being way too hard on yourself. I get that though. We are our own worst critics.

I'm on a general diet now (2 months out) and my nutritionist said I should be eating between 800 and 1200 calories a day. On days I work out I try to eat more, on the days I don't work out I try to eat a little less, but I always try to stay in the 800 to 1200 calorie range.

Are you going to be moved to pureed foods relatively quickly or on clears for awhile? My hospital had me on clears the two days I was in there but then immediately moved me to purees as soon as I got home. If that is the case, consider tomato Soup, creamy Soups like cream of chicken or cream of mushroom, unsweetened applesauce or baby food. Greek yogurt is also good and high in Protein.

You look beautiful. And you seem to be a good weight for your height right now. I'm the same height and my surgeon said that a good weight for someone 5'5" is right around 135! Talk to your nutritionist if you are concerned about your weight loss and need suggestions on maintenance.

Water water water. Seems counterintuitive, but drinking water helps with retention. You need to drink more so that your body doesn't hold on to the fluids.

I was never a Chesty McGee. My bathing suit still fits, save for in the chest. My baby lumps could slip out and wave hello! It was clearly made for someone who has much more cleave than I have. But again, I've always had that issue.

If it makes you feel better, you can probably go back to spicy foods once you are on a general diet. My nutritionist encourages spices and seasoning over frying. I think we all have a food funeral before we have the surgery. My hospital did not require a pre-op liquid diet, just a high protein low carb diet (an Atkins like diet) beforehand. I went out with my family and got the most expensive steak and had two martinis. Mu husband worries about everything, but I had to tell him. I really needed the support post op. I just hope your wife understands and doesn't feel.. betrayed by you not telling her beforehand.

I've always loved swimming. Living on Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana, one of the first things my parents did was make sure that all three of us kids knew how to swim. My mother almost drowned when she was a teenager in Pennsylvania, and she made sure that since we lived in a town on the lake that the same thing would not happen to her babies. We took swim lession at Rogers High school. I always enjoyed floating and swimming and diving under the water, like a fish. The smell of the chlorine and the humid air. At the beach it was always fun to feel the sand sift through my toes as I waded out to the sandbar. What I don't like is swimming in front of other people. Not anymore. I've always felt like the beached whale, the fattest fat person on the beach or at the pool. Like everyone is looking at me and judging. My gym has a pool. A three lane lap pool. Not olympic sized, but a good size for fitness. I'm just so intimidated about using it. I still have my issues. I don't have problems going to the weight room and lifting weights anymore. I know no one cares what I am doing on the treadmill or elliptical. And I'm sure if I ever got to the gym in time for a class after work no one would bat an eye. I know that I am no longer the fattest fat person at the gym (and I never was really, but again, that's my own issue). But in my mind, I still see myself as a size 26W. That's all mental. But there is something about putting yourself in a baththing suit that exposes all of your flaws. Not just those external flaws. The rolls, the jiggling flesh, but the emotional imperfections too. The doubts, the fears, the years of heartache. It is like the act of wearing a skin tight suit puts all of your emotional issues out there on display as well, red and raw for the world to see. I can conceal issues in clothes, but not in a bathing suit. But I know that this is all in my head. But this is one time when it is really hard for me to get out of my own head. I should use the pool and get my $30 per month's worth out of my gym membership.

I envy the people who can just walk around half naked and just not give a holy frijole. I'm not that person. I don't know that I will ever be! I wore a tank top to the gym today and I felt overly exposed.