Stevehud

the other thing is in your workout type. for you instead of walking 8 miles or more, just go to 1 mile on an elliptical. it actually gets your heart rate up more and is a great cardio exercise. ( you dont yto use the elliptical per se, but changing the type of exercise rather than the distance. And at those distances a half hour on the elliptical is much stronger of a burn than a 8 mile walk. I hope i made this understandable, i do tend to babble sometimes. oh and not being healthy on 400 calories? do you not understand how this process works? I am assuming you did some research before getting into this? This process basically puts you in starvation mode for awhile. that's quite healthy for an obese person. that's what we do. That's a big part of how this works. and no its not bad for your organs, we supplement everything with Vitamins, Calcium, minerals Proteins etc.

from what I have read, it has the same possible dangers as lap band, i.e. adherence, lasts a certain length of time, is a foreign body in the body etc. other than that. Its relatively new and of course it can be removed.

i bought my first pair of pants since my weight loss started, at a goodwill 3 days ago. a nice pair of basic black dress pants, just in case. Size 36 waist. i havent worn a 36 since the 8th grade. I have to go away for business in september. and trust me i own just this one pair of pants everything else i own is either shorts or some exercise wear. Thankfully my work is ultra casual so at work it doesnt matter , but when i go away we have to dress a bit. sigh. lol budgetary concerns are the biggest however.

for me it was garlic and onions, cooking either one brought back lots of happy Italian family food memories and that made the liquid phase that much harder.

ive had two septoplasties. where they realign the septum and try to open the space by removing tissue. Both failed within two weeks of surgery. Now there isnt enough tissue left to reconstruct, if i wanted to fix it again they would have to put in an implant . which isnt going to happen.

South of Boston in Weymouth here. Had mine done at St E's loved it. a whole staff nurses and all specially trained for WLS patients. was easy peasy surgically.

for me its the opposite, i have more energy now than ever. i have learned though if i don't keep my Proteins high my energy will suffer, also i use some carbs ( from all natural Peanut Butter mostly) pre workout to really pick me up. I use a locally made peanut butter with just one ingredient. peanuts. yes you have to stir it up. but man it helps.

yup ive been doing the 2-3 pound bounce, it just happens. Try going back to what works for you , increase your Fluid intake decrease your food intake. try swapping out a Protein shake for 1 of your meals, etc. Changing up your routine is a great way to bring you back on track. For me i changed from 6 to 7 miles on the bike to a 2 mile fast paced walk. and im adding some circuit training in this week as well. so change things up a bit. itll happen, also watch your sugars and carbs. try to get them down to minimal amounts. You Can do this!

I take it by Surfer you mean surgery. Please contact your surgeon immediately. What you are describing is very common pain types for serious post surgical problems!

Your journey is different from anyone else's. If it was me, Id say no way, no added sugar doesnt mean sugar-free like you've mentioned. Remember every 4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoonful of sugar. so looking at that measurement, what do you think is best for you? You dont need to drink Water or crystal light all the time either. Many options are available, especially all the mio type flavors they are all sugar-free. i especially like the Arizona green tea and honey flavored sugar-free packets, Also the kool-aid sugar-free flavors are awesome as well. You can buy the soda stream flavors mixes and mix your own coke, pepsi, root beer orange etc. just buy the sugar free flavors, you dont need the machine since your not going to carbonate the stuff anyway. There is a whole world of flavor out there waiting for you. Good Luck! and You Can Do this!

Great Job all around!!

Ill say this, people always look for permission from outside sources to resume the behavior that got them to the point they needed this surgery. It is kind of heartbreaking. People who drink a lot of beer , want to go back to drinking a lot of beer. People who drank alot of wine, want to go back to drinking wine, people who ate a lot, want to..well you get the picture. We look for validation in our bad habits. We want to know how many bad things we can "get away with", and still lose weight. Now of course some people can drink wine and beer in moderation , after they hit maintenance and will have no il effects. ,But for many doing bad things and expecting good results, is the cornerstone of failure. The difference is in what the term " moderation" means in your specific case and how that will work for you.

To be honest didnt even know such a thing existed.lol Just checked it out and im a little concerned about transdermal Calcium and d3? id have to check on this. But if its true and works, heck id be all for it.

Thanks SMYE, i agree most definitely in what you say My Nut and I work together on my low carb diet. i do take in carbs, its almost impossible not to , as you stated very well. I try to keep my carbs to natural carbs, and as much as i want bread, my sleeve doesn't like bread. We need some carbs to be turned into sugars for brain function. that old glucose in the brain thing, is a truth. Brain chemistry requires glucose, not in high amounts, but its needs to use those sugars in the metabolic processes in order to help absorb Proteins. I know how stunned i was was i once picked up a 100 calories Dannon yogurt and found 100 calories, sure but 16 grams of sugar, but that is 4 teaspoonfuls. That's just not right. lol I get between 5 and 7 sugars a day in vegetable form and almost always at dinner. and about 10 to 15 grams of carbs. I try to equal out my carbs with vegetable Fiber, and that helps. Hey, one of my favorite mini meals is broccoli roasted or pan seared with a little onion or onion salt, garlic, and ground sage and a little olive oil. So I'm gonna get carbs there and some sugars, but the good ones. I went from drinking 2 to 3 gallons of milk a week, ( 2%) that i can see milk sugars and milk fats being a big player in my weight issues. So I avoid Lactose and milk fats when I can. And my doctor and Nut require liver function tests regularly, and my numbers are very good. As we all regularly state to each his own, every Journey is separate. Sugars cause me to slow down my weight loss to a crawl, when I Hit a level I want to maintain at, I have a plan ready to reintroduce more carbs and natural sugars back into my diet, but for now I'm 8 7 and half months post op and I'm using this "honeymoon" time for all I can. This isnt doable by everyone, but for me it works.

Yeah he is in my neck of the woods, from boston, the problem is it doesnt seem right. He has supposedly been at this for two months and he has traveled like 100 miles total in the two months. Its a little weird and now he has a free bike as his suddenly broke, Also he said he was doing it for charity, but theres no record of any donations. Its kind of a weird thing for someone so big to be sleeping out for a year ( he says it will take that long to go cross country. There has been a lot of skepticism about this one. I dunno, if he loses weight, well good for him.

Ohh you used cognizant! that is the word of the Day! So important for WLS patients to be Cognizant of many many things. A very Apt word indeed.

So the new big boy on the market is the power crunch bar. all different flavors and pretty dang delicious. High Protein, 5 g of sugar ( not too bad) right? No Sugar Alcohols, great? Seems great right? Well after ingesting a piece of one at a friends house. I picked up a couple in my local Vitamin shoppe. I mean they looked good, But when i got them home, i gave them to my wife to give out at her place of work. Why? simple. My god they are loaded with FAT! and not even good fat but Saturated fat. Wow. what the heck? For example the chocolate mint has 13g of fat!!! a whopping 6 grams of saturated fat!! that is 30% of a normal person's daily recommended fat intake on a 2000 calorie diet. For a sleever that is like 29% too much. Then I realized its the old bait and switch. Lower the sugar and calories, increase the fat for taste. Just like Low fat usually means high sugar. Don't even get me started on the No sugar added, tagline that other products used.

Well said Babbs. very well said. if i drink before i eat, well nothing really happens, if it drink right after I eat...well let us just say the bathroom becomes my close friend.

There is also a difference between saturated fats and unsaturated fats. bad fats versus good fats. Many of the oils you mentioned are higher in unsaturated fats.

To me anything over 1 maybe 2 g of sugar is considered high in sugar and I prefer completely sugar-free if possible. now in maintenance phase it might be acceptable to me. But I have had a lot of success so far and been able to keep my weight loss working with minimal stalls, ( yes everyone has to deal with them as we all know) Now while I truly believe in the natural sugars are much better than added sugars, avoiding sugars , even natural ones, is that much better and helps greatly to keep me on track. The Low glycemic effect is fine if you are a diabetic and you are avoiding spikes in blood sugars, but make no mistake, low glycemic index does not mean better for you, It simply means the sugars are more complex and require more time to be digested and absorbed into the blood. Think of them as time release sugars, so while they don't hit your bloodstream all at once like say straight glucose etc, they do last longer in your blood and give you a higher sugar/blood baseline. Here's the biggest hint, sugar in your bloodstream all acts in the same general way in the metabolization and utilization of sugars and fats etc. SO basically once your body pulls sugars or even sugar alcohols, into your bloodstream, the sugars all act in the exact same way. Low glycemic index is just a way of saying the sugar enters your bloodstream at a slower rate, but it still enters your bloodstream as all sugars do, and in the same way. I realize that many people cannot or will not choose to live with this low sugar low fat, low carb way that I do, and I respect that, as we say everyone's journey is their own, and that is as it must be. What helped change my mind on sugar is the fact that we have a hard time grasping how much sugar is a gram? Sure it is a number, but what does that number really mean? This next statement is what made me change the way I handle sugars. 4 grams of sugar is the same as 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar. So I hold that image in my head when I look at sugars on a label. 8 grams of sugar in your yogurt, or any product, equals two whole teaspoonfuls of granulated sugar. And even if the glycemic index is lower, it still all goes to the same place, it just takes more time to get there. I am not trying to evangelize, or change anyone's mind, or make you feel bad or anything, I promise. But these are the reasons I do what I do, and eat how I eat. I hope that I have been able to explain this without coming off as a butthead or arrogant. I know my posts have a tendency to come out that way.

WOnt do yogurt its got wayy too much sugar in it for me, i stick to sugar free pudding and Jello. all these zero added sugar, well duh because the sugar is already in it. Marketing to people trying to lose weight is infuriating to me.

Id have to ask is he a bg guy himself? if so then he may see in you a "safe" person." someone who doesnt make him think of himself as bigger as well. If he is thin, then I am lost. You should always be worried about your loved ones, for surgeries etc. But supportive as well. Good luck!

breakfast is the hardest for me. I avoid carbs like the plague and i absolutely abhor oatmeal. SO what do you do. im not a fruit fan, its a texture thing, sure i like apples and pears. or pretty much any fruit blended into a Protein shake. Yes protein shakes are still my biggest rut food. I have one for lunch at work 5 days a week, as its quick, easy and lets face it zero sugar zero carbs, 30 grams of protein..whatsnot to like, and I actually enjoy the taste. But breakfast, yes turkey bacon every day pretty much. or a scrambled egg or sometimes a scrambled egg with cheese,, These are a few of my favorite things. I like yogurt but even the light and fit yogurts all have at least 6 to 7 grams of sugar, and has carbs that equates to the same as a bowl of cheerios. I like others, am so fearful of sugar and carbs that yogurt scares me too much. in a quick and easy mood, tuna in a small green salad is my go to for dinner. but normal dinner is chicken usually in some kind of sauce or marinade.

Yes sir. most assuredly I have. My lower legs ( shins) were discolored and my legs were hairless from the knee down due to poor blood flow ( venous stasis) my feet and lower legs would swell up badly in the daytime and i had to wear extremely loose, diabetic socks. But since i have lost as much as i have one day my wife said to me, hey your legs are all hairy again! Yes the discoloration will never go away completely, but man having legs that look like mine should, is another little side effect plus, that shows that this is all worthwhile.

Well there is a difference between i cant take the taste of these Vitamins, and my body wont tolerate these vitamins. Like I cant remember to take my vitamins-Solution, set a reminder, in a book, set an extra alarm clock, whatever it takes. I cant drink these shakes- SOlution, go to a store near you and try samples. Heck thereis a huge thread here on BP that shows all the places you can get free samples. Ive had so many it isnt funny! Also listen to toher people as to why they like a certain type of shake, and try preparing it differently. for example. Mocha Latte Shake 1 packet ( or scoop) of Syntrax sweets chocolate truffle 1/3 scoop of syntrax Cappuccino 4 ice cubes 6 oz of 1% or skim or unsweetened almond milk. Blend until ice is crushed. Yumm! Or Half and Half Summer cooler 1/2 packet of ( or scoop) of syntrax roadside lemonade 1/2 packet( or scoop) of syntrax iced tea 4 ice cubes 6 ounces of Ice cold Water Blend Yumm We all have favorites. the knowledge is out there. use it! We are all glad to help, but if you come in defeated before you give yourself a chance to win, whats the whole point