Smye

@@lauraellen80, thanks! I've got a few calls in to various psychs in the area and am just waiting to hear back.

@@Babbs, thank you!

@@CowgirlJane, Thank you! I feel so desperately alone right now, and your post helps some. I'm sorry for your loss also. And yes, I'll definitely wait.

Was a teacher, newly a high school principal - same vein!

It's also worth noting that the FDA is considering revoking their approval of the band

Bonus recipe to make up for last week's hiatus: Ziscuits That's right, you can once again enjoy the salty savor of buttermilk biscuits, except this time you get to count them as a serving of veggies!

Weekly Recipe: Apricot Smoked Ribs

Hi all, Apologies for the hiatus last week - I've just started a new job and the blog took the back seat for a week. Coming tomorrow to make up for it though - Apricot smoked ribs - my favorite recipe yet - and somehow low fat and low carb... curious...

@@OneDollarBill, This one wasn't me - though I do indeed wish I'd come up with that, it sounds great!

@@Stevehud, way to rock it, man. I have a similar issue with most starches (slice of bread = weeklong plateau), though for whatever reason lactose doesn't slow me down at all. Keep up the good work and I'm glad to hear you're well.

Another quick comment - many of those dannon and yoplait products aren't actually fermented milk (yogurt), but are thickened soured milk with xanthan gum and other thickeners. I'm not saying don't eat them, just be aware that you may not be getting the probiotic cultures you assume. Nothing pisses me off more than large food companies (yoplait, for example) marketing things like GoGurt to kids and assuring mom that it's "yogurt" so it's good for your kid. Then you actually read the label and voila - just skim milk and corn syrup with some fillers, no yogurt whatsoever. That's much of the reason we have an obesity swell in our country, not the damn lactose in real yogurt. Thanks for reading my rant - my apologies if any of you work for yoplait/dannon/etc. Most big food does this - even whole f-ing foods. I trusted you guys!

@@Stevehud, you're dead on that we need to be careful with sucrose (and all sugars in significant doses). But do keep in mind that in order for your liver to be able to process all that Protein successfully, you do need some amount of carbohydrates. Anything under 100g is considered 'low carb' and under 50 is 'very low carb.' Staying under 15 is 'dangerous.' I keep mine at about 40g after working with my NUT to figure out how many I need to stay healthy based on RMR, VO2 and a few other metrics. Just be careful and make sure you're working with a NUT to determine your 'low carb' goal rather than taking a 'lower is better' approach. There's a reason folks on the Atkins Diet tend towards liver failure young (see The Lancet, May 2014, I think). There's also the fact that all carbohydrates (except some fibers like cellulose) - especially the starches found in things like zucchini (great for us), cauliflower (central to caulibread), heck, even lettuce are broken down by the amylase in our mouths as we chew into, what else, sugar! So although these foods are 'sugar free,' by the time they exit our pouch and start being absorbed, many are just as sugary as unsweetened yogurt (and actually higher in sucrose [white table sugar], believe it or not). And all of that sugar is produced through an enzyme action, not any sort of "i have to digest it so it cancels out' sort of mechanism (unlike the sugar that our bodies convert even steak into so we can use it for energy - THAT is a deep metabolic mechanism that absolutely cancels out the sugar I don't say this to say 'don't eat zukes - they're secret sugar' (in fact, eat them a lot!), just to say that - Yes, we need to be careful to monitor and keep our carbs low. And yes, sugar is one to be particularly careful of. But when we demonize any food (except trans fats, those things are straight-up Satan molecules:) we run the risk of actually harming ourselves and/or missing out on a fully nutrative diet. All that aside, if your NUT says I'm a nut, do what your NUT says. I am neither a doctor or a nurse, just a well-educated former med student, chemist, and concerned bari-citizen who doesn't want to see anyone's liver go. It's a hell of a way to die.

Forget the BMI, forget what others say you look like. 1) Do you feel good? and 2) What does your Dr. say?

@@steph_anie, WHOOP WHOOP!

5 months out, 1200 cal/day and still dropping weight rather quickly.

@@Michelle920, Congratulations on having your surgery and being 5/5 weeks post-op! I hear you regarding S.O.'s and pets rejecting our food - cooking and eating together has always been a big part of my relationship with my partner and when she first saw the suggested meal plans my NUT offered, her first reaction was "I guess we'll be eating separately then." Ouch. Yes, there is a blog you can go to without going here first: www.barideliciousfood.blogspot.com will take you straight there and you can 'favorite' or 'bookmark' the blog. Do let me know what you think of the recipes you try, comment on any of the posts that intrigue you, and let me know if there's something you are wanting/missing that you just can't find a simple way to prepare bari-friendly and I'll see what I can do. The meatballs, spaghetti, catsup, waffles, and pastrami sandwich are all from reader requests. I've got a post coming up that's all about fat - whether it's a necessity or a villain post-op. Take care! And keep us posted on your progress.

@@steph_anie, absolutely! And try not to stress too much about sugar-free everything, you need some amount of carbs in your life to keep your liver healthy. It seems most surgeons/NUTs recommend anywhere between 25 and 100 g carbs/day once you're post op, I know a few who recommend 200 - it's can be patient specific. For now, just focus on getting to surgery and talk with your NUT. If you have a food and/or foods you really love that's a carb bomb, talk to your NUT or post them here and we'll see what we can do to help you adapt them to a lower-carb higher-protein form without losing taste/texture. OR, feel free to have a treat every once in a while. There's no reason to say goodbye to cheesecake forever, just for a while (while you heal) and then to only have a couple of bites every once in a great while etc etc. Not to mention the fact that post-sleeve, you're body is going to feel different and food is going to really taste different. I think you'll be impressed with how much your body gravitates towards 'healthier' things anyway.