Wynnie

Atkins frozen meals. I eat one everyday for lunch and I only get the ones that are 20 grams of protein or more. I keep them in the freezer at my office, and so far this has been working for me. Good luck.

There is no best age, just the now age. I was 49 and OMG wished I had done this years sooner! Best decision ever. Good luck on your amazing journey!

Ok, so my cholesterol was 201 just prior to my sleeve in June 2014, and as of yesterday it is now 231... I've lost weight, more active, is it my meat protein source? I'm thinking others have had the same issue, so what should we be eating? I dont eat eggs and not much cheese, but I do eat red meat pork, chicken fish and nuts.

I will be visiting my primary doc and I know she will pull all the tests for this. I think I need to lower my meat consumption and add more fish, but will still get this checked. Thanks all for the the feedback.

I believe this is very common, and it happened to me as well. By month 2-3 your normal sleep pattern will return. I'm not sure why this happens, but it will ebb away just like your weight

I had these in the beginning as well, and once I got to the point of better consistent fluid intake they went away. Keep following your plan, and they will go away.

I would start back at square one, I.e. Protein shakes for 2-3 days and water, water, water. Might be helpful for your spasms too by giving it a rest from solids. Also incorporate protein powder in plain Greek yogurt, you can mix in the protein powder. Stick with it, you've come so far!

@@proverbs131 the weight loss has improved my joint pain, and the humira will help you with any joint pain due to the Crohns. Good luck with your sleeve!

That is wonderful, and you must feel so much better and better able to continue with exercise, etc. Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it so much!

I do have a concern around the show My 600 Pound Life, in that if too many of them fail, and the same goes for us as a community, how long until insurance carriers stop covering the procedures due to public opinion seeing this as a short term solution due to regain. I look at my sleeve as a gift that insurance covered, as without my insurance I would not have been able to afford all the pre-testing, surgeon fees , nutritionist visits, hospital stay, etc., and I feel that I must succeed and not regain in order to not jeopardize future coverage for others who need these procedures to survive. Sorta a pay it forward mentality.

I saw this episode as well, and poor Amber. I hope they do a follow up on her, and I hope she can lose weight. She is far too young to be in such pain..

@therealmelshere how did u get ins to pay for your tt and panni?

I am going to look for this spiral slicer now, thanks!

I too am amazed at how little is required, but how much better the quality of what I eat has improved dramatically! It also makes me realize just how much I was over eating at every meal and in between as well. I am one of those people that needs a regular eating pattern to keep me on the straight and narrow, so breakfast around 6 a.m, lunch almost always at noon, a snack at 3:00 (consisting of maybe some almonds, or tangerine, or mozzarella string cheese, etc not all of these, one of these) eating dinner PRIOR to 7 p.m., and having some almonds etc to tide me over if dinner will be later or if I'm having a hungry day. So far this pattern feels good to me.

Bob Harper's Skinny Meals is a good one to start with. Good luck

@@Engteacher I still love to cook, and if anything I've become more versatile in my seasonings, veggies, proteins and alternatives to processed carbs. I also found this cookbook helpful with finding alternatives Bob Harpers Skinny Meals. They are high protein low carb ideas, and most of them are easy. It took me 2 months or so to get back into the cooking arena, and I still love it!

The name of the book is Bob Harper's Skinny Meals. I bought it as an Ebook for approx $10 and I read the receipe from my iPad

@@Hoven, a wonderful pasta alternative is spaghetti squash or thin sliced lengthwise zucchini and then slice that slice into 3 lengthwise segments, thus making a butter noodle width strip then steam them and add sauce, stroganoff, etc. I find this really helps me feel like I am partaking in the real deal, and my family also likes it as a side dish. I've learned so much since my sleeve! I am not a Biggest Loser fan HOWEVER Bob Haper's cookbook has a slew of high protein, low carb easy meals, and many of my carb alternatives are from there.

I am the cook in my family and I love to cook. I have incorporated almond flour/meal when I make chicken cutlets, I make only enough rice, potatoes, etc for my husband and sons to ensure there isn't enough left for me, I have my family test the pasta vs me as pasta is a trigger and I won't take even one taste. When I make pasta I always incorporate meat, either ground or pork, ital sausage etc this allows me to eat the meat and not the pasta, and my family loves the meat as well. I have begun adding different spices that I never tried prior, as well as steaming fresh veggies in a microwave steamer, so now we are all eating a different variety of veggies and textures. I can't lie the first few months were very hard, but now it's second nature.

The passion in each of these posts certainly illustrates, at least in my mind, the overwhelming need for forums such as this. Each differing point of view is insightful, and even those that don't specifically apply to me still resonate deeply, and confirms my hopes of long term success and fears of back sliding. I, like many, have told no one outside of my immediate family of my sleeve, why you may ask... The knowledge that the perception it was oh so easy will diminish the actual hard work I have placed into each and every step of this process. My 600 pound life provides insight into the struggle, and every episode I watch keeps me firmly on track. Whitney, the girl in her big fat fab life, she is, in my opinion, at the end of her self acceptance, and may well be on the path to a life change. She seems to have the desire to make changes, but hasn't quite yet found her own specific path to success.

My last post here was in July, and here it is January 2015 and my Crohns is still behaving, and my bm's are actually once a week. I never thought this would have such a positive outcome for Crohns I still have the related enthesitis and spondylarthropy hence still on Humira but my insides are feeling wonderful and Humira hasn't made me gain weight so it's a win win. This is a great thread and I hope to keep seeing Crohns related postings here.

Stick to your plan, and I don't know what it is about the third week, but it passes. But ya gotta stick to it with no deviations. Good luck and congrats on making a wonderful decision to invest in yourself via your sleeve

Prior to my weight loss I'd look at my face and think, I will never have a wrinkle due to my plumpness, now 111pounds down, I look at my face and see more of it, in its intended state. I look at thinner people and see the same marks and lines as I have, and realize I look normal and I'm happy with that. Overall I look younger and feel younger. I walk younger too, meaning that physically I walk better no leaning, limping, huffing and puffing, but more of a graceful gait. My neck was saggier (nothing horrific) when I was losing 10 pounds or more a month, and it has tightened up quite a bit now that my weight loss has stabilized to a slightly less loss per month. I was aging myself more prior to my sleeve, and i feel so amazing now!

@@LipstickLady holy crap u r BEAUTIFUL!!

Excellent that you are insightful enough and honest enough with yourself, and now it's back to basics. If it were me I'd consider plain Greek yogurt with either fresh or defrosted blueberries, cherries, etc for breakfast ( I mash mine up in a ziplock bag and then pour it on my plain Greek yogurt and add 1 packet of stevia in the raw) , protein shake for lunch, fruit or no sugar added fruit cup for afternoon snack and then a good protein for dinner, I.e. Chicken, beef, fish. Good luck and hope you are healing up nicely