Inner Surfer Girl

This sounds like a great question for your NUT. Our fingernails are a reflection of our health but since it is growing it can reflect things that have already happened and/or are happening now. Until you talk to your NUT and get your Vitamin levels checked, make sure you are taking all of your Vitamins and supplement on the recommended schedule as well as getting in ALL of your Protein and fluids. Keep us posted on what you find out.

I think it's very normal to have a rumbley stomach early out. I know mine was. I THINK it's because a lot of what you are eating and drinking is passing through the stomach and being digested in your intestines. Once you are more healed and can eat more solid foods, it should subside.

-- Spoiler Alert if you did not see this week's episode -- Did anyone else catch that Robert had a gastrectomy this week? I wonder how well Mrs. Patmore will do preparing a liquid diet? I am sure she can make it, and make it delicious, but I bet she will hate it!

No, I hope not. He deserves (and has already had) much better than her. I hope they keep the brother and sister relationship.

Congratulations! You must be over the moon. This truly is the start of a new life.

I love this: Just because you can drop it in a salad bowl doesn't make it a salad. I would add, just because it's a salad doesn't mean it's healthy. (See last night's My 600 Pound Life for an example.)

My question is why do you think going out to eat will be difficult? What you choose to order and where you choose to go may or may not change. What you are able to eat right after surgery will be different, but as far as I have experienced, eating out has not been difficult.

I don't know about calories, but it certainly has weight. I am sure I have had at least an extra pound or do this winter due to mucous.

I am coming to realize that what WLS did for me was to give me the possibility of seeing my efforts produce results. Before WLS I put in a lot of effort for diminishing results. Now, my efforts are more effective.

People magazine is not now not has it ever been an arbiter of what I do or don't do.

It really depends on how far out after surgery you are, but I had Taco Bell on the way home from my first follow-up appointment because I was on soft foods by then. I got pintos and cheese and it took forever to eat them.

I doubt you have destroyed your hopes for surgery. As long as you follow your surgeon's guidelines (and don't make it up yourself), you should be fine. Is this the pre-op liquid diet to reduce your liver or the day before surgery clear liquid diet that you are talking about?

I highly recommend that you just stay off of the scale at home early out. I only weighed at my doctors appointments for my first few months and was always happy with my progress. There is no reason to drive yourself crazy with the numbers on the scale.

I would encourage you to recommend your therapist to learn more about weight loss surgery. If she is this discouraging, she may not know much about it (which isn't uncommon).

That is probably why there are mostly bypasses.

I see lots of mention of calories and carbs but have no idea whether or not you are reaching your Protein target. Your calories seem low, but it really is relative to your protein target. Stalls are a normal, natural, and necessary part of the weight loss process. None of us lose at a constant or steady rate. Are you following your program? Are you tracking your food? Are you getting in ALL of your protein and Fluid every day? Are you eating protein first? Are you eating slowly, taking small bites, and chewing thoroughly? Are you taking your Vitamins and supplements as directed? Are you exercising? Embrace the Stall! [url=http://BariatricPal....brace-the-Stall

I agree, you just had major surgery and your body is healing. Getting all of your Protein and fluids is critical for healing and for weight loss. Stalls are a normal, natural, and necessary part of the weight loss process. None of us lose at a constant or steady rate. We all experience stalls and most of us experience our first stall about three weeks after surgery. It will not be your last. Are you following your program? Are you tracking your food? Are you getting in ALL of your protein and Fluid every day? Are you eating slowly, taking small bites, and chewing thoroughly? This will be really important as you transition to more solid foods. Are you taking your Vitamins and supplements as directed? Are you exercising? Walking is fine in the first few weeks after surgery. Stay off the scale and Embrace the Stall! [url=http://BariatricPal....brace-the-Stall

I agree that the rate doesn't matter but hesitate to tell you to keep doing what you are doing without knowing what that is. Stalls are a normal, natural, and necessary part of the weight loss process. None of us lose at a constant or steady rate. We all experience stalls and most of us experience our first stall about three weeks after surgery and periodically after that for various lengths of time. Are you following your program? Are you tracking your food? Are you getting in ALL of your Protein and Fluid every day? Are you eating protein first? Are you eating slowly and chewing thoroughly? Are you taking your Vitamins and supplements as directed? Are you exercising? If you or your surgeon are unhappy with your progress, why not make an appointment with your NUT to talk about your goals? Embrace the Stall! [url=http://BariatricPal....brace-the-Stall

Stalls are a normal, natural, and necessary part of the weight loss process. None of us lose at a constant or steady rate. We all experience stalls and most of us experience our first stall about three weeks after surgery. Are you following your program? Are you tracking your food? Are you getting in ALL of your Protein and Fluid every day? Are you eating slowly and chewing thoroughly? Are you avoiding starches and added sugars? Are you taking your Vitamins and supplements as directed? Are you exercising? If you are doing all of these things, then you will lose weight. Stay off the scale and Embrace the Stall! [url=http://BariatricPal....brace-the-Stall

Another heartbreaking My 600 Pound Life. I am still not watching the Skin Tight portion although the DVR forces me to tape them both as it lists them as one episode. I wonder if they do that to get ratings. It seems if someone wanted to watch Skin Tight they would have difficulty finding it. Anyway, some random thoughts on Dottie's episode: Another person who needs some serious counseling and therapy. She is very good at projecting a positive facade. But it was very, very thin. I am shocked that she was able to safely deliver any children at her weight. When I saw the one year old I first thought that maybe he wasn't her biological child. I don't know anything about Cerebal Palsey. Could her weight have been a contributing factor? She was so focused on "being there for her children" and "taking care of her children'" and "being a good mother" that she couldn't see her addiction was giving her the exact opposite results. My heart broke when she talked about always being there for her children unlike her mother but couldn't see that she wasn't there for her children because she had built such a massive barrier. She has obviously never learned anything: from nutrition, boundaries, or how to manage stress. Caring for a disabled child is one of those things (like WLS) in my opinion, where you HAVE to learn to ask for and be able to receive help. Her husband seemed sweet but really clueless, too. The first time when she left Dr. Now's office and she was worried about who would care for her son and then the next scene was in a children's hospital in Memphis, my first thought was that they were there so he could receive care while she was admitted to the hospital. I know it would have been hard to leave him there, but to me that would have been a perfect solution. At the very least she could have arranged with Dr. Now to be admitted to a hospital in Memphis for the supervised diet. In some ways Dottie seemed relatively bright and capable and in other's she seemed really ignorant. Especially when it came to nutrition. I really hope she learns to accept help, especially from a therapist. The interaction with her sister was heartbreaking. I have had the exact same conversations with my sisters. They don't understand. But, that doesn't mean they don't care. From a post-WLS perspective, it was extremely difficult to watch her eat such large portions (large bites without chewing, etc.). Even her interpretation of the "lose 40-pounds in two month" diet was insane. I saw myself in her and also saw myself from a non-obese person's perspective. It was uncomfortable and sobering. The fact that she thought it was ok to feed her kids junk was baffling. It seems that with her son's disability she would have received more training/education in childhood nutrition. Especially, when one relied on a feeding tube. This episode was so full of issues and they only made it to one or two month's post-op. I really hope to see a big change when and if they do a follow-up.

Make sure you start reading labels very carefully. Your program should also provide you guidance on what to look for in a good Protein supplement or Meal Replacement. I look for a high protein to carb ratio. Premier Protein, GNC Lean Shake 25, and Syntrax nectar are my favorite shakes.

I have no idea what fruit broth is but it doesn't sound like it has Protein or would be bariatric friendly. Please make an appointment with your NUT to talk about your goals. In addition, you might want to talk with a therapist or counselor about your anxiety.

Did you see BELLE? It may have been set in the eighteen or early nineteenth century.

I don't know where it stands in the pipeline, but there is supposed to be a version of CALL THE MIDWIFE set in Appalachia.