BigViffer

Are you vegetarian/vegan or whatever the new term is? Why are you wanting to looking to replace a superior protein (chicken) with a merely good protein (soy)? Don't get me wrong, I love vegetable patties and all kinds of vegetable dishes, but I still wouldn't purposefully replace chicken with soy if I wanted a chicken dish. Chicken is higher in protein, it has a higher bio-availability, and it maintains satiety longer. But if you are doing it for vegetarian lifestyle choice, then it makes sense.

As gastric patients, it is a good idea to limit caffeine in the beginning. I believe surgeons say things like caffeine dehydrates you because people hear that all the time and it is just easier to tell patients something they think they already know. Basically reaffirming their beliefs because they don't feel like educating their patients. While it is true that caffeine does pull water from your body, it would have to be a highly concentrated caffeine pill and not a beverage. The amount of liquid in just about any caffeinated drink is enough to offset the amount of water it pulls out of our bodies. The real reason that we should limit or eliminate caffeine in the beginning is because caffeine attaches to the same receptors that absorb Vitamin D and Calcium; and those two are vitally important the first year. Now, it is also common for caffeine to irritate the bowels in some people. And as a gastric patient, whether you have a sleeve or a pouch, you no longer have a reservoir to hold the coffee in before it seeps into the intestines. Now you get a full dose pretty much right off the bat.

Of course you can eat a burrito if you graze on it, but why would you? Heck, I can eat banana split in an hour if I tried but it makes no sense to do so. Why bother with the surgery at all if you are going to purposefully try and eat the way we did pre-op? The honeymoon phase is the time period when we are supposed to be learning and practicing healthy eating patterns. This really just boggles me. If it took you 3 hours to eat it, you made a conscious decision to eat that particular burrito. It wasn't as though you were in a situation where food was placed in front of you and you couldn't excuse yourself. If you had just picked apart the burrito and ate just the meat, it might not be such an issue. Eating the tortilla and the rest took determination. This is a text book eating disorder. If you do not have a therapist yet, it might be a good idea.

That really depends on the NUT. I find them to be morons that completed a correspondence course on how best to make smoothies out of bananas and broccoli. Then they take a course on how to sell supplements. They are literally one step above a used car salesman. I am one of those naysayers that agree with the calories in/calories out. I also believe intermittent fasting to just be the next fad diet that preys on the gullible. I've been here long enough to see the rush to jump on that bandwagon and then the inevitable jump to the next fade instead of changing their lifestyle. Fads don't work, healthy lifestyle choices and balance is what we should strive for. If you are doing roller derby, you are burning a ****-ton of calories. You are going to have a calorie deficit and most likely an increased appetite. You say log your food on MYP, How honest/accurate are you when entering it? Do you weigh your food? If you are just eye-balling it, you would be amazed at how far off you can be. Do you store your recipes on MFP to calculate accurate macros? You can't always just accept the entry that MFP returns on a search. I have seen a grilled chicken entry vary by hundreds of calories. I don't say any of this to be a jerk. I try to be as dispassionate and logical as possible when posting anymore. I remember seeing you post a while back and genuinely want you to succeed.

@Molly23 - Hot damn girl, you look fantastic! Great job so far. Now that the first year is over, it starts to get hard in a different way. Keep doing what you are doing.

Well 40oz of water weighs about 3lbs. Take that in consideration. Sent from my phone. Please forgive brevity and spelling.

There is no point in rushing back to the gym, and certainly no reason to start lifting weights this early either. You will not be able to build new muscle until you are back to a calorie surplus. In the first few months, you will be at such a caloric and protein deficit that you are going to lose muscle. That being said, I was not cleared to go back until about 5 or 6 weeks. I started weights that day, but they were incredibly light for everything. 10lbs or less. Just learning move again and to ingrain the habit of going to the gym as the main goal. Also, don't forget that gyms are a hotbed of bacteria. Until everything is well healed, you would be wise to avoid the gym.

Caffeine is a bad idea early on because it actually binds to the same receptors as vitamin D. You won't be taking in enough of that early through food, so the daily vitamin will be picking up the slack.

Then by that reasoning a tomato would be 1000 times more acidic, and yet they are still not an issue. But even at the pH levels we are talking about, stomach acid is a 1, so anything less than that would create a dilution and not a concentration.

Coffee is no more acidic than saliva, so it's not the "acid" that causes irritation. Acidic coffee is actually a reference to the flavor profile, not the pH level. In regards to the pre-workout post op. Save your money. You won't be working out hard enough for quite a while to warrant a suspect product like a pre-workout.

Of course I don't mind. Do whatever you like with my photos Jenn [emoji12] I must say, I haven't looked at those older photos in a while. I'm actually a bit bigger now in the shoulders and traps. I stopped posting so many pictures and even took some down after some creepy messages. Sent from my phone. Please forgive brevity and spelling.

I know Jenn & Jess, but I don't know Mike; but I don't contribute my results are linked to cardio. I do cardio for increased lung capacity and heart health. General fitness and calorie expenditure I completely attribute to heavy lifting. Of course, I may not be a vet you would call "super fit".

There is no exercise that will tighten skin. If that is your motivation, I hate to be the bringer of bad news.

Music can provide motivation once you are at the gym and in the middle of exercise, but it won't do much to get your butt in the gym. Getting to the gym takes determination more than motivation.

Damn dude, killing it!

If it took more than an hour, it doesn't sound like dumping syndrome. The one thing that defines dumping syndrome regardless of the surgery is the fact that it happens very quickly. It's the rapid dumping of sugar and/or fat that the syndrome derives it name from.

It really depends on why you are wanting to add them back into your diet. Most complex carbs are high in fiber, so that is a good reason to add them moderately back. In my case, for all of 2017, approximately 37% of my calories were carbohydrates. Try as I might, not all of them are complex though. However, if you are doing serious weight training or cardiovascular training, then carbs are a necessity. Kind of funny, but right now I am eating a Jolly Green Giant Fried Rice Bowl (it's cauliflower) and that is 26 grams of carbs but only 2 grams of fiber. I have been stable in my weight for almost 2 years and started adding in the carbs and fat once I started weight training.

I have experienced it a few times, but never on the same thing twice. Once you experience it, you will be gun-shy ever after. Dumping Syndrome is something only people who have had some sort of gastric related surgery, but even someone who has never had surgery can experience the symptoms. A drastic spike in blood sugar or fats can cause mild symptoms in an otherwise normal person. However a person who has had surgery on their stomach; not just WLS, can dump. Drooling, sweating, vomiting, explosive diarrhea... all the greatest hits! For me, it was a protein coffee drink. It was just a frappacino with a scoop of protein in it. So it had all the fat and sugar that Americans seem to love in their "coffee". I'm sure my family member meant well, but it ended in tears.

You are not alone. It's not just how they rest in underwear either. Though to be honest, I don't know if it is the weightloss or just a fact of aging; but the boys are hanging lower than they used to that is for sure. I used to go to the bathroom nearest my office here at work. One day while sitting in the stall, I noticed that I was getting a little chill down there. Lo and behold, the damn things were just reaching the water! Now I know to go to the other bathrooms that have a little more room.

7 weeks isn't really long enough to develop kidney issue from excess protein intake. Besides, you would have to be taking in massive amounts protein to cause damage. As in the 300 gram a day level.

People thought I was kidding when I said I passed a pineapple the first time. Yes, the first time. There have been times even recently where I have struggled with the constipation that were every bit 2 lbs. I felt like a gladiator leaving the Colosseum after being victorious in battle. I just needed someone to high-5 me. Fiber - get friendly with it!

Wasn't everyone's Kool-Aid made with hose water? You just had to let the water run until it was clear first!

I'm going to assume you meant me, speaking of school spankings... I got spanked at school twice. In one day. I remember it was during 7th grade Algebra. I don't remember what I did for the first one, I just remember I deserved it. It was pitiful; I came back to class chuckling. My teacher asked if I learned my lesson and I said quite plainly that my mother spanked me a helluva lot harder than the principal did and he was obviously a wussy. lol, he did a much better job the second time.