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I do a quick blanch to soften them a little then I sauté with a small amount of crispy bacon. Right before they are tender I splash with balsamic vinegar. They get Carmelized are are absolutely delish!

I must have missed said post. LOL!

@@Babbs Jan and dean - surf city

The rule is 1 gram of Protein for every inch you are tall minimum everyday. Some people have to be careful going too high with protein as it can cause your kidneys to work harder. You don't need to double down but make it a rule to hit the minimum everyday and maybe a little more. You are doing great and it is normal that the weight loss slows a bit after those first initial months. As @@Babbs said, just stick closely to the plan and the weight will continue to come off.

@@CharlotteKat I must complain at least 100 times a day that my butt hurts. I literally have lost my entire rear and because of it my tailbone sticks out. It hurts! I have a gel pillow in my chair at home and in the car and although it does help a little it certainly doesn't take it away. I have been working with a physical therapist for other back issues and she taught me to sit forward on my thighs and that works as well but I cannot sit like that for long. My butt is so wrinkled from loose skin that hubby says he would like to use the Iron on it. LOL. He is joking of course and since losing so much weight apparently he loves it because he is always playing grab ass with me. But you are right, my butt hurts and I haven't figured out what to do about it.

I would be surprised if every single person who had weight loss surgery didn't think about it. I can remember setting my goal and thinking there is no possible way I will ever lose 145 lbs and keep it off. Then I realized that WLS is nothing but a tool and I am in control of that tool for the rest of my life. This is all about where your head and heart is and how bad you want it. If you want it bad enough, you can see yourself getting to goal and maintaining that goal. Well I am down 142lbs very close to my ideal weight and now it about maintaining. If you want it and your ready just remember you are in control. The best of luck to you!

Oh and I never eat bland food. I have learned that good seasoning and even spicy food is fantastic. Even in the puréed stage.

@@lauraellen80 This was very very well said! It is exactly how I approach food. What I choose to put in my mouth has to be worth it and if I do make a choice like a piece of toast or some chips, I make other better choices to offset it during the day. As a morbidly obese person I never ate a lot of food, I just made wrong choices in what I ate all day long for every meal. If I have learned anything about nutrition it is how to eat properly and in moderation. There are things my body no longer desires and I am thankful for that. I really love delicious Protein and good carbs but I also love to have a treat on occasion and I do mean occasion.

@@antionettemn619y1 I am thrilled for you! Your BMI is clearly morbidly obese which will in fact lead to serious health issues down the road. Trust me I waited way to long tried way too many diets that ultimately allowed me to lose, gain it all back and then some. RNY is an excellent tool to help you meet your goals whether they are to get healthy or get skinny. It is the gold standard in WLS and getting to a normal BMI from where you are can be challenging. I did it to get healthy and after a very short span of time getting skinny became more important than I though it would be. And yes, I recently had a clothes moment when I went to buy new jeans. I was wearing 12s, and thought I needed to move to a 10. Well, the 10s were too big so I put on a pair of 8s which fit perfect! The clerk suggested I try on a 6 in another color because that color was more forgiving. Guess what? I got the 6 on, got them zipped and everything! I will say, you need to be realistic though. You will likely have a lot of loose skin to deal although you are younger and some may bounce back better than someone my age. The best of luck to you!

I had massive hair loss that began almost right away, but got really bad starting in month 4 and continued until my weight loss slowed way down which was month 12. It started growing back as quickly as it started coming out so while I was losing it was coming in. My hair is now coming in everywhere but it has changed significantly. The texture is much thicker, coarse, curly and even a bit frizzy. I spoke with several doctors while I was going through this and everyone told me my hair would stop or slow down when my weight loss slowed down. Right around 12 months my weight slowed to a crawl which scared me because I still had more to lose but that is the point where you really have to work harder to continue losing. I am still losing but about 3-5 lbs per month and I am 3lbs from my ideal weight.

Um, yum! That sounds delicious!

@@Daisee68 You are doing fantastic! I totally understand where your therapist is coming from but there is also a way to get your variety at the same time. I will usually have a Protein and good carb at every meal. I just make sure that it is not the same thing everyday. I personally know that I will not be successful that way because like you, I need variety in my food. I also believe that I have so little space that what I do choose to eat had to fulfill my nutrient requirements but also satisfy me. If it don't I find myself going off plan. Food is still very important in my life so I want it to be worth eating.i refuse to eat prepackaged, processed, fast food garbage. I make most of my meals from scratch and I make sure I change it up everyday. I don't know about most of you but I know that I have made choices that are not always the best when eating out but I try to limit the occurances of that happening to once in a while. I am usually pretty good about my selections. I am in control of what I eat and I know that if I choose to have a couple chips every once in a while I adjust the rest of my day. Or if I decide I need something sweet i will fight it until I finally give in. The difference is I have a bite or two and know that I can control myself. I remember once making a whole apple pie (before surgery), slowly throughout that weekend I ate that whole damn pie. I was mortified! Now if I were to have a couple bites of that pie I am satisfied and I am in control. Honestly for me if I abstain completely that is when I get into trouble. You are doing fantastic! Maybe see if you can make variety in a different way. Instead of several bites of several foods at one meal, try ensuring there is variety throughout your day and you are trying new recipes. I have found Pinterest to be so helpful in changing what I choose to cook. I am thankful my husband comes along for the ride. I focus most of my choices on the protein but I also leverage great veggie recipes as well. Good luck!

@@LovinSoul I will have to try the Brazilian blow our or devacurl products and see if it helps. I am thrilled to have this thick head of hair back. Yay! I just need to learn to make it behave.

This is a really great topic and looking forward to reading all the posts!

I honestly don't know if biotin did anything for me. I had massive hair loss but as someone else said, it will grow back. My hair is thicker than ever however it came back very curly. Annoyingly so. I would still rather have dealt with the hair loss and loose skin.

When it first came back I tried to go in there several times but was alone by myself. LOL!

It took me a couple of months before I could eat them raw but I do eat them almost every day. I love my tomatoes and cucumbers!

Oh, by the way. Said mother n law was obese herself!

I think fat shaming is ridiculous regardless of who is doing it. My mother n law (when she was alive) was the queen of fat shaming. She would figure out ways to make you feel like a big fat slob. For example, she would buy my husband a birthday gift that was 2 or 3 sizes too small. She would then ask, will it fit? Hubby would respond and say, no I am not a medium I am a 2xl. She would say well them lose weight. (True story). I collect wee forest folk mice. One year for Christmas she bought me a chubby little mouse standing in his bathrobe on a scale. She proceeded to tell me it reminded her of me. Really? B#%+€! then there is a right way, For me it was my nephrologist who suggested I consider WLS. He did this very respectfully but at the same time very sternly helping me understand that if I kept on my current trend I would be looking at dialysis and ultimately a kidney transplant. There is a right way and a wrong way to deliver that message. Thankfully he delivered it the right way and I listened immediately. I remember being very angry at my PCP for not having that same conversation with me before I got to that point. I had no idea that my kidney function had been so bad for so long, when my nephrologist pulled up my chart and showed me the downward trend was chronic and had been going on for years, I really got pissed that my PCP never said a word until I was at stage 3. Not 1 word. I spoke with her about it and told her that my nephrologist was my hero for helping me see the light. My PCP then told me she really should have been the one to direct me there and felt bad but she did not know how to deliver the message appropriately. That was when I changed PCPs.

My new PCP (I moved states), she is great with one exception. She does not understand the special needs for Bariatric patients. I basically have to tell her which tests to run for me and Everytime I see her which is a lot lately due to 3 back to back surgeries, she almost freaks out because of how quickly my weight is coming off. I have to remind her Everytime that it's expected and that I am a normal BMI and not underweight. I also remind her the next time she sees me that I will have lost more. She has told me that I am one of her most complicated patients. LOL! I laugh and just say imagine me having diabetes, stage 3 kidney disease, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and anemia. All those were gone when I changed over to her. LOL!

@@MsB7 Did she give you a good reason why she doesn't want you to use that Bariatric center? If not and you are comfortable there I would consider changing PCPs. So many just don't get it and almost choose not to. Now if there is a really good reason I would better understand that.

The straw that broke the camels back for me was stage 3 chronic kidney disease. It is the reason I chose to have WLS and since doing so my kidneys are functioning much better putting my CKD into remission. This is a real problem for morbidly obese patients and needs to be taken seriously. It was my nephrologist who suggested having WLS and to this day I call him my hero. Without that push I think I would still be suffering and headed down a very scary place.

@@brattsr2cute Like you I had severe Gerd and was on the max dosage of nexium 3 times per day. I also coughed uncontrollably every single day for a year and a half before I had gastric bypass. From the moment I woke up after surgery my Gerd is completely gone! I have absolutely no heartburn and can eat things that used to have me walking the floors all night long. Cucumbers, green peppers, spicy foods, pretty much anything. I take no medication at all for Gerd, it was stopped 30 days after my bypass. I am down 141lbs and about 3lbs from my ideal weight. I weight 168lbs and started at 310, 16 months ago! Bypass is the best thing I have ever done for myself for som many reasons but the biggest ones are health related. No more diabetes, Gerd, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, stage 3 kidney disease and anemia. All in remission! Don't be afraid to move forward!

Yes, exhaustion is normal in those first few months while your body changes. Cold, yup! I am always cold now and I used to always be hot and sweaty. Especially my hands and feet.