Spiceyfrog

I would say depending on if your belly can tolerate it and a shower may not be the place to test it. I was at a Soup supper last weekend and there were tables and tables of dessert. So, I looked over the dessert and thought that pumpkin pie would be the best (health wise) of what there was to choose from, so I took a piece, ate three small bites of the pumpkin only (no crust) and was completely satisified! Was I hungry? - no! Was it a bad choice? - not necessarily! If you know you can limit what you are doing, then I think it's fine. I will not have another bite of pie until Thanksgiving or Christmas.

@@AvaFern, when I look on Amazon for Embrace Strips I get blood glucose test strips, are they called something else?

@@CowgirlJane, I also have to consider I have lost virtually everything I had, so I'm starting with and A/B. I have been running and plan to continue doing that, so don't want them to get in the way when I'm running, but also don't want to wish I would have gone larger.

Thank you both for sharing your positive experience! I am not too worried about the weight, I only have 18.6 to lose and am confident I can take that off in six weeks. I had my consultation yesterday and all went well - I made my NON-REFUNDABLE deposit, so I guess I'm IN! One question I left with was is it standard that silicon implants come in set sizes, such as 300cc, 340cc, 400cc? I have always been unsymetrical my entire life, so he mentioned putting 300 on one side and 340 on the other side. Later in the consultation I asked the nurse if there were sizes in between and she said no, but the difference between 300 and 340 is not much. I am just concerned that my "smaller" side does not become larger. Is the difference really that minimal, perhaps I am overthinking this? Good news is he said I should have great results with my arms because they are not super bad, so that was encouraging. I am getting super excited about this....NOW, I have to get my first mammogram - yikes!

@@Finding myself again, congratulations and welcome. Just remember it truly does get easier every single day! This will be one of the best decisions of your life!

@@Daisee68, I feel I can sustain that restriction as far as not eating things we are not supposed to. Like @@Djmohr mentioned, most of the time when you try something that you have been craving, you don't like it anyway, tastes are just not the same. The restriction will get boring, without a doubt, which I have already run in to. That is what caused me to make the ricotta bake (which was amazing), I was just burnt out on eating the same things day after day after day. We just have to find a way to keep things interesting :-)

This is a great topic and until you posted it, I never real put much though in to it. I would now categorize myself as extreme restriction because most of the time, I do not eat what I prepare for my family. I am five months post op and still have a shake every morning and eat mostly cottage cheese, babybels, pb and apples and greek yogurt. I cannot tolerate most meats, so that is a huge downfall for me. But there are days (like yesterday) where I made my son and his friend chicken nuggets and tater tots and I ate two tater tots, because like you and many others I refuse to gain any of the weight I have lost back, I have put waaaay too much time and effort into this process. The two "meals" I have made and enjoyed are the ricotta bake and a cauliflower mac & cheese. Other than that, I eat the same things day after day.

That is awesome that you are able to wear a bikini!! Did you have any plastic surgery? If so, where and what was your experience?

I receive the depo provera injection and am five months post op, thank god still no periods!!

@@WildGrits, I am just starting to think about plastic surgery, are you willing share your experience with that and what you had done?

I was scheduled to be off for three weeks (ended up being 5 because I had to go back in to the hospital), but with the exception of being very tired, I probably could have went back after two. Good luck, when is your surgery?

My nutritionist did say I could have "toasted" bread, so I would think a BLT would be okay. Like you said, portion wise, you would only need one slice and the fixings. I have no desire to eat bread, so for that reason I have not tried it personally. I have ate turkey bacon and lettuce on separate occasions and eat cheese daily and do fine with all of those. Good luck!

Amazing - keep up the great work!

I don't have any recipes, but would recommend being careful and introducing both of those items separately, as both made me sick. I am four months post-op and still cannot eat ham.

I made the ricotta bake that everyone on here talks about tonight and it was amazing! I baked it in muffin tins and the quantity was perfect!

I have ate Peanut Butter and crackers without a problem. I currently purchase the regular Jif To Go cups (just to help with portion control) and will eat half of the container at a time, whether it be on apple slices, bananas, crackers, etc.

Great question because it would be awful dry heaving for 24+ hours (based on the little bit of food we have in our bellies).

I can't answer your question, but congratulations!

The weekend before I started my pre-op diet we went camping with my son's baseball team and I asked my mother in law to make monster Cookies (of course, I said they were for the team) and I ate and ate and ate cookies, ALL weekend! Though I did share with the team, I must have ate a dozen!

@@Jeneen B, my weight has not stabilized yet, I have another 25 to lose, but I can tell you that I bought a pair of new pants and it took my mother in law about two weeks to shorten them for me, well, by the time I got them back, I wore them twice and had to buy a smaller pair. It's a good problem to have, but gets expensive. I typically only keep two pair of pants on hand and rotate them, so I am not replacing five pair of pants every month to month in a half :-) I would be interested in the information your NUT gives you on maintenance, because hopefully I'll be there soon. Take care and keep up the good work, you look great!

@@Jeneen B, congratulations on making your goal. I just recently meet a goal of my own, which is being the lightest weight I have ever been as an adult. So, how are you going about the maintenance phase, to stop losing?

I did not know what Yucca was, so thank you to the previous poster! Potatoes are not a great source of Protein, but they were a favorite "go-to" of mine when I was in that stage. It was one of the few things I could get when my family and I went out to eat. So, I would say short term to help you get through the stages yes, but not long term just because there have little to no nutritional value.

I eat a Light Babybel nearly every day and 2% cottage cheese a couple times per week and do very well with both.

@@sarahbethemails, I was super excited to find these in my local supermarket, but not so excited after I tasted them which surprised me because Quest bars are great! They a crisp like a chip, but suddenly dissolve in your mouth and have an awful taste and aftertaste.

Hello all - it's finally my turn to post a success story! I didn't post for my first goal, but it was when I hit the 200 pound mark. This past weekend, I obtained another goal by losing 72 pounds and that is weighing 157, which is my lightest weight as an adult. It took me just over four months to obtain this goal and as I look back, every obstacle I have encountered has been worth it! Like others, I struggle to get my fluids in, I struggle to get my Protein in, I struggle with cravings and I have been struggling with dumping. Some say what I deal with is not dumping because it always relates to meat and not sugar, but I consider it dumping. I have found very few meats that I can tolerate/digest (pork loin, turkey burger and veggie burger). The list of meat that I cannot tolerate is much larger and makes me sad because meat is such a good source of protein (venison, hamburger, ham, fish, beef (roast) and chicken). The only good struggle I have had is keeping up with my wardrobe going from a size 16 to a size 6! I am attaching a couple pictures with stats, showing my progress over the past four months and look forward to seeing everyone elses progress on this site!