Djmohr

You look fantastic. Congratulations!

One of my favorite dishes after bypass was chicken cacciatore. The low fat marinara sauce makes the chicken nice and moist. I chose to add green peppers, mushrooms, onions and even some carrots to the sauce. No Pasta though

I would make taco meet with 90% ground beef, ground chicken or ground turkey and eat that with low fat cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and black olives.< /p>

I would sauté chicken breast with healthy request cream of mushroom Soup. Add a side of steamed veggies.

Any kind of seafood: shrimp sautéed in olive oil with lemon

And my favorite - stir fry made with a small amount of olive oil, chicken, beef or shrimp, cauliflower, carrots, sugar snap peas, onion, mushroom. Whatever veggies you like and homemade stir fry sauce there are many recipes on Pinterest. I don't use any bottled or packaged stuff with the exception of marinara sauce or cream of mushroom Soup.< /p>

There are tons of Bariatric recipes on Pinterest. Ever since my RNY, I go to Pinterest and rework recipes to fit my needs. It's a lot of fun and the food is awesome too.

YAY! Congratulations and keep us posted on your progress.

@@Mysticpink74

I do have some posted on my profile. I will be posting new ones in the next couple of weeks as I just had an arm lift. Monday I get the dressings off and I can hardly wait. I have been itching like a crazy fool for the last 3 weeks.

Glad to hear things are better for you and you are doing well!

@@pammieanne

That is great! I have to say, when I was at my heaviest I did not buy clothes or shoes my vice was great handbags.

I started with coach and had nearly 40 bags, then moved to Louis Vuitton and had 6 and then finally got my first Channel bag. I used a bonus one year to install a California closet. I had them add a huge cabinet behind glass so my bags would not get dusty and I could see them all. LOL It cost nearly 11K for the cabinet.

I ended up selling all of my coach bags shortly after getting my first 4 Louis bags. Then I sold a couple of Louis bags knowing we were down sizing our home. Now, I have literally no where to go with anything so I sold 2 more of my Louis vuittons recently. Now I am down to handful of my favorite handbags with my gorgeous little black Channel as my favorite.

So apparently I had a handbag addiction. Now, I am buying shoes and clothes. It's crazy how much you have to replace after loosing so much weight but it's fun all at the same time.

@@pammieanne

Honestly Victoria's Secret for me was a big non scale victory. I shop there now because I can.

Same thing with Lucky Brand Jeans.

After my first 60lbs lost, my husband dragged me in there kicking and screaming. I still had 90lbs to lose and thought there is no way in hell anything in here will fit me. I just had this idea in my head that I wasn't really getting smaller. My head was not connected to the rest of me. LOL.

Well, I tried on that first pair of lucky brand jeans in a size 16 and they were too big for me. I was shocked given I was in a 24 at lane Bryant. I lose weight off my butt, legs and feet first.

Anyway, just realizing how much weight you have truly lost by trying on clothes made it so motivating for me to get to goal.

It was never about clothes for me, it was about health so I was shocked at how much I love trying on clothes in all differently styles now. I did it all along my weight loss journey and everytime I did it motivated me to keep going.

- who knew I would love clothes shopping. Now i have to be careful because I go into a mall and I want to look at everything. I used to hate clothes shopping and the mall especially.

You can do this. You just need to refocus on yourself, don't worry about all the naysayers.

I would be happy to help. You can private message me if you like. It would be good to know where you are at with your diet and exercise.

Are you still working with your Bariatric team? A nutritionist and Physcologist could definately help you get back on track and will provide ideas for local support groups as well. You need someone in your camp to help encourage you and support you.

That is exactly the way to think about it. Where will you be in the next year!

For me although I was nervous the night before, my surgery day was like Christmas morning and I was getting the gift of a lifetime!

Now 2 years later I am at goal maintaining. Had my first plastics almost 3 weeks ago. I wear a size 8 clothes which has never ever happened in my life.

Best of all I have more energy and feel so much younger because of it.

Congratulations you are well on your way and I am sure surgery will be right around the corner for you!

Keep us posted.

I know you absoulety don't want to hear this but the doctor is right, as long as you can get Water down you will be ok. It will give your tummy more time to heal.

I remember that first week being exactly as you described. I was on clear fluids and not even coming close to Water goals. They did not even start me on Protein that first week. Once I was able to process liquids better then they started me on full liquids for a week.

It will get better. The best thing you can do for yourself is realize the next few weeks are going to be rough but sipping as much clear liquid as you can will help make you feel better. That dizzy nausea weak feeling is because you are dehydrated.

Hopefully your doc gave you something to deal with the nausea. Also gas x tablets or strips helped me with the gassy feeling as well as a heating pad.

This will get better, you are just going to need to take things slowly and sip like crazy.

Very nicely done! Congratulations!

One of my best days ever was shredding my lane Bryant card and getting my new Victoria's Secret Black card. LOL

All of those things can happen and more!

I went car shopping for the first time since losing all my weight. I was shocked at how for the first time in my adult life I fit in every car and had a ton of leftover room. What a great feeling when my husband laughed and called me tiny.

I like that name tiny!

You look fantastic! Congratulations.

It takes a while for your head to catch up. I am 22 months post op and still am not there.

@TAJ718@Amylou,

I hate to say this but I had surgery at Abbott northwestern myself (not for RNY) but back surgery there. I loved my surgeon. I literally hated Abbott northwestern. I am a very very easy patient, I was treated like absolute crap by my nurse. I literally cried all night long in pain and he refused to call my surgeon and get a different solution for me.

I have never ever had a nurse treat me so poorly in my life. Nurses just generally are not like that. He also treated the person in my same room like crap.

I ended up reporting it the next day and received an apology and a whole bunch of excuses about how short staffed they were.

I will never ever go to that hospital again.

Now, if you were asking me about the university of Minnesota hospital. I had a 3 level cervical fusion there last June. They are the best hospital I have ever stayed in. I was there 2 nights and had the best care. Nurses and nursing assistants alike. I had several muscle spasms in the shoulders following that surgery and the muscle relaxer they had prescribed wasn't touching it at all. I had a fabulous male nurse who without my asking paged my surgeon and got approval to use a different drug. He made sure when they sent me home (which I had to fly home), that I had my prescriptions and a good plan for home care.

Never have I had nursing care like there.

It is a great first step, just wondering if you should check out Methodist an the park Nicollet Bariatric center which is phenomenal. That is where I had mine and they again had a whole wing for Bariatric patients. I had a private room that was set up like a suite. Wonderful care there as well.

Although if you can get in at any of the ones listed, it would be good. My advice is to stay away from Abbott.

This is 100% normal. I have had upwards of 10 surgeries in my life and regardless of how excited I am that day and night before is always the worst.

I have learned to really treat myself to a relaxing bubble bath, a book and some relaxing music to help me just chill. I use deep breathing which really does work by the way.

I have never been more excited than having RNY because I was so ready. Same thing with my recent Brachioplasty. That being said, I barely slept at all the night before. It is normal to feel nervous and even a little anxious.

Be good to you and best of luck with your surgery!

I just could not live without my scale. It is just one barometer in how you are doing but I learned so much about my eating habits because of it.

You see, I was one of the crazy people that weighed every day, once per day at the same time every morning.

As time progressed I learned how to have a good relationship with my scale. I would talk to it and explain if I already knew it was not going to be good and other times it surprised me.

What I really learned was that if I chose to go off plan and ate something really salty that I was literally going to retail Water that would show up as a gain of 1 or 2 lbs. I knew it wasn't real because I certainly didn't eat enough to gain 2 lbs but I learned that if I choose to go off plan, the scale will be my truth. Because of it, I rarely went off plan enough to make that scale go the wrong way. It only has happened a few times.

In addition to leveraging the scale I used clothing to tell me how I was doing. Even if I was in a stall and the numbers didn't move, my clothes were getting smaller in places. The scale kept me honest.

That is just the way I approached . Now that I am at maintenance I weight myself maybe 3 times a week and even sometimes once per week.

Again, my clothing tells me if I am losing or gaining or maintaining.

@@Clarevoyant

Super simple - pick your favorite spice rub - I used a jarred one that I made some time ago and I only remember it had :Cumin, smoked paprika, brown sugar, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.< /p>

Rub your ribs! I mean your baby back ribs with seasonings of your choice. If you don't like a rub, just used some salt and pepper.

Cut the ribs into 2 or 3 pieces.

Place 1 cup of liquid in pot. I used chicken stock but would have used apple juice had I had it on hand.

Place the trivet that comes with the pot in and place ribs in standing up

Seal the lid, switch the thingy to sealing, press manual and I would add 5 more minutes. It will start at 30, mine were fall of the bone tender but we like them when they literally fall apart. 35 minutes should do that. If you like them a little less fall apart use the 30 minutes.

Once the pot does its thing you can either use quick release or wait until the pot releases the steam by itself.

Start either your broiler or grill.

Slather ribs with your favorite BBQ Sauce and place in grill or broiler for 10 to 15 minutes until BBQ sauce Carmelizes.

Homemade peach BBQ sauce:

2 peaches, cut into small chunks

1 shallot , diced

1 to 2 cloves garlic chopped

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup ketchup

juice from 1/2 lemon

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 to 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Salt & pepper

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

In medium saucepan melt butter and sauté shallot until it is near crispy, add garlic and sauté without burning for 1 minute more.

Then add ketchup and all spices and bring to a boil.

Turn heat down and add Worcestershire and lemon and simmer for 20 minutes to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. I added another tablespoon of brown sugar because I like how it Carmelizes.

Congratulations and i am glad you had such a good experience. Welcome to the losers bench!

I would definately steer toward your recommendation of your surgeon. I just wanted to reach out and say don't be afraid of the malabsorption factor. It is what almost scared me out of having RNY. Is designed to assist you in weight loss and it works.

The most important thing is to take your Vitamins as instructed and see your doctor for your annual blood work to ensure your nourishment is on point.

I cannot speak for the bathroom several times a day (I almost wish for that), with bypass I have struggled with Constipation which is normal. I now take Linzess daily and that has relieved that issue. I don't know enough about DS to know what bathroom issues you might have. Only a DS patient can help you better understand that.

I would not be afraid to go for the Cadillac myself. When I had RNY which is the gold standard, I was thrilled and not a day has gone by that I regretted it. Best thing ever for me personally.

Best of luck to you with either choice. I am certain you have done research and best understand your needs.

@@#9grammy

Amazon prime. I am an Amazon junky!

I actually went and did a stupid test drive on a car just to get a free 50.00 gift card to Amazon. LOL

Yay! Congratulations!

@@Hiraeth

Thank YOU!

@@Seastars

This is just food for thought (pardon the pun). When you are speaking of carbs, I get the impression you are taking about whole grains mostly.

Good carbs like Beans, legumes, vegetables and even fruit are a good part of a low carb diet. My nut has said from the beginning that I must included veggies and fruit daily so she had me follow this simple rule. 2 bites of Protein for every 1 bite of good carbs like veggies or fruit.

I would not be afraid of using Beans and legumes as part of your diet while losing. I would worry about adding whole grains just yet because you are in the lose phase.

Again, this is just my opinion and you may already be eating veggies and some fruit. I just wanted to ensure that low carb doesn't mean no carb.

I lost 151lbs eating meat & cheese Proteins, veggies and fruit over a period of 18 months. Now, I lost slower because I had restrictions after having 4 surgeries in a year but I did it with a 2 bites of Protein to every 1 bite of good carbs. I stayed away from Pasta, bread, cereals, rice and sweets. I allowed potatoes once or twice per week max.

I still drink one 30gram Protein shake a day because I struggle to get enough. I believe a still have a really good restriction. I am lucky if I can get 2 oz of dense protein.