naturegirl

I'm looking for new meal ideas for our family to try. Trying to get out of bad (old) habits and return to better ones. My family prefers chicken or beef dishes. Dishes that can be fixed in under an hour are preferred. Thanks!

I bounce between this and scrambled eggs weekly. Both dishes are the same as I'm not adventurous; peppers, onions, sausage. Occasionally ham if I have leftover. A few times I've made them in ham cups for extra protein. Since Starbucks was mentioned earlier, I like their steak and egg with tomatillo sauce. I remove the tortilla wrap, but like their eggs, it's pricey. So when I make it at home with left over steak, I add in green tomatilla salsa and it's tasty.

My issue is not to that extent, but do have to stretch my skin in various ways to get everything, lol.

Three years out and struggling bad! In the last year I’ve gained 25 pounds. I’m not exercising as often and snacking is terrible. My motivation has dwindled and I’m not sure what to do. Aside from pouch reset and ‘back to basics’, what has worked? Specific examples over sayings are appreciated. Thank you.

It's nice to see that I'm not alone in the regain battle. I often feel that I am when I look at pictures of friends who have been sleeved. I'm up 20+ pounds from what my ticker says, and it makes me want to cry. I blame it on bad habits. Carbs continue to be my weakness and it's incredibly difficult to stop eating them. This week I have made it a goal to not bring unhealthy carbs with me to work. To focus on protein and healthy fruits/veggies...I know that fruits aren't the healthiest, but certainly better than a bag of chips and in much lower quantities. You're brave for cutting back on those skinny caramel macchiatos from Starbucks. I do attribute part of my gain to those. It was a 1-2x a week deliciousness, and better than the white chocolate mocha that I had been drinking. My coffee maker did two weeks ago and Starbucks has been more convenient than buying a new machine. When I make my own coffee I use caramel protein drink instead of milk/creamers/flavors and that is satisfying. Good luck with your journey.

When I lived in WA I lived an hour and half away from Spokane so did not attend any of the support groups at Rockwood. I wanted to, but a three hour round trip on a weekday, after work was not in the cards.

I haven't checked in for a few weeks. When I weighed myself in early July I was up to 160. Today while on the scale with wet hair I was at 157.1. I'm happy to see that's going down slowly. I have also switched my lunch to half a chicken patty that's low carb and higher in protein. Mix that with mushrooms and onions and it's very tasty and I'm loving it. I'm also trying to be more mindful while eating. I've also incorporated a high protein breakfast of eggs with a little sausage.

This is something that frustrates me. It's like the weight loss/fitness moguls who have lipo in order to maintain their bodies and claim it's their product/program that got the results. I'm also the person that get's frustrated by all the weight loss/fitness posts on my FB page from friends touting that xyz works when really I have not seen them loose any weight but rather get bigger over time. Instead they are just trying to get you to purchase what ever they're selling as part of a pyramid type scheme. I too must be petty because I'd like to call out these individuals, but then I'm too shy to do so. Now if they actually did follow a program that led to weight loss without surgery then it'd be different. Deceiving people is just not cool.

Everyone's body and how they react to this is different. For the first 6 months following surgery I rarely had anything to drink and when I did it was a small amount of wine. I'm 2 years out and still limit my consumption. Usually the only times that I drink are when I'm out with friends. I try to drink slowly as it can hit me hard and fast otherwise. I have found that I can have some beer, but it's usually flat. Overly carbonated and I don't get along. The only times that I have beer is following the completion of a 5k or 10k race where it's waiting at the finish line. But as I said, I'll have maybe 1/8-1/4 of the cup and throw the rest away. It's a treat. Wine I'm good with, and occasionally can do sparkling, but again it's not often and I only pour a small amount and don;t always finish what someone else pours. The point is that you need to keep in mind the following: Limit your consumption. Don't drink daily and don't drink excessively. Watch how much and how fast you drink because your body will act differently than before surgery. Give your stomach time to heal, and follow the doctors guidelines on how long to wait until you have your first sip. Different beverages will affect your stomach differently. So don't push yourself to drink something that doesn't agree with you.

You'll be ok, but cheating can set a bad precedent for how you'll continue on your journey. Don't skip the protein shakes (no matter how tired of them you are) or other allowed items on your pre-op diet, and be prepared to follow the post-op diet to assist with success.

Yes. I know of a few friends that added it to help ensure that they were getting in the necessary water each day.

When we go out I share from DHs plate and will often order a water and small side salad or side of veggies. I get looked at strange and often respond that I'm sharing or not very hungry (the truth). Early on when we would go out I too was shy about waitstaff inquiring about why I wasn;t eating. I would give reasons like 'didn't feel well', 'ate before we left', or 'recovering from surgery'.

I wasn't on the original thread, but am hitting the 2 year mark. I got down to 120 pounds lost and didn't feel as healthy as I would have liked. Perhaps it was because I was sick and not in a good place. I have put on 10 pounds since then and want to lose at least 5 of it. Then try for the additional 5 and see how I feel. As long as I'm physically and emotionally healthy I should be fine. Food and I continue to have a love hate relationship. Ice cream and I don't mix well, so it helps me avoid it. Carbs, I love them, but need to distance myself more. Heavy carbs and I don't get along so that's a deterant from eating to many. I have plenty of loose excess skin, but don't plan to have it removed. My tummy is loose but I can tolerate it. It's my thighs and arms that suck. It does bum me out from time to time but I do my best to use it as a tool to remind myself of who I don;t want to be again. Same with looking at old pictures. I continue to run and race photos are bad!!!! My knees look like they are melting, lol. They look like a Shar-pae dog with wrinkles.

Since we spent the weekend in the car traveling to a scout function that served nothing but carb loaded food I won;t be getting on the scale for the next few days. I will however say that I did make myself go for a run last night. For the second year I joined a summer women's running group that meets every Monday night, and even though the 'feels like temp' was 97* out I still went. I could have easily said nope, not happening and remained on the couch, but instead I went running. I feel great! Now that I'm home and back from the trip my goal for today is to focus on healthy food choices, protein first for lunch and snacks. I have string cheese for snack time. I also plan to get up every few hours and walk the stair sin my office building to get he blood flowing. Sitting at a desk all day isn't good. Besides, if I didn't get out to walk the building I might never see daylight as my office is in the basement.

I think that it was a two week turn around from the time that my doctors office submitted the paperwork until I heard back. The only hiccup during this time was that I was asked to submit records from a sleep study that they misplaced.

Welcome to the group! Insurance approval is always hit or miss for many people. Some insurance companies approve it quicker than others. Mine was 2.5 months from my first doctors appointment until surgery date, but I didn't have a 6 month waiting period like a friends insurance plan required. I do agree that you need to mentally be ready for the surgery. Most insurance companies require a Psych eval to determine this. You need to realize that this is a lifestyle change and a tool to do that. That the surgery isn't a fix all. Also, many people go into surgery with unrealistic weight loss expectations. That they assume the weight will drop off instantly, and that they will be "skinny" with no excess skin. Yes, the weight might drop off quicker at first, but eventually it slows down and stops. Excess skin does happen. And if you don;t change your eating habits the weight can/will creep back on. The sleeve (aka your tool) didn't fail, you did. Also, if you don;t go in with realistic expectations you might find yourself frustrated at the weight loss process. I'm not trying to sound negative, but informative. You already said that you don't think you're ready for it, which is good. It shows that you're giving this thought and realize that this is a life changing procedure.

Your decision might be based on whether you are paying out of pocket or through your insurance. Since mine was paid by my insurance I had to go with the office that my insurance had approved. There was only one office in the area under their plan, but three different physicians there. Honestly I ended up going with the doctor that spoke at my seminar. He had opening and I liked the fact that he was very blunt in his Q&A session during the (mandatory) free seminar. I thought that he was a good physician. Easy to talk to, as were the nurses in the office. I have friends who had their surgeries after mine that selected the other physicians in the office and were happy with their choices. I did do some research on him while awaiting my appointment to reassure myself of my decision. I think that the best thing that you can do is read up ahead of time and ask anyone others for their recommendations and why their give them? Honestly the surgeon was a smaller part of the interaction that I received. I interacted more with the DNP (Dr. Nurse Practitioners) and dietitians at the practice than I did with him. The only one that I did not like was the dietitian as he was clearly not thrilled to be working there.

I'm just shy of being two years out. I do not have diarrhea or any other complications, but occasionally do experience nausea when I eat too fast, foods that are too heavy, or too many carbs. I did manage to get down to 145 pounds, but felt unhealthy. My sweet spot is 152 (150 was pushing it). I'm hoovering 156-58 right now and need to lose and stabilize again as I can see bad habits creeping back in. As for regain, that will depend on your habits; what you're eating, how much, and exercise. My husband was sleeved a month before me and was doing great the first 6 months. He was physically active riding his bike and watching what he ate. Then he accepted a new job and we moved out of state. He became less active and his new employer provided a buffet style lunch daily. This did him in. He had put back on 60+ pounds of the 100 pounds lost in 1.5 years. For a long time he blamed it primarily on what I cooked for dinner (the meal we eat together), as I haven;t changed all of our eating habits. But has instead come to realize that he eats too much socially at lunch because he has everything available to him. He doesn't bring his lunch like I do. Plus portion sizes are too big, as opposed to my dessert plate with tiny portions. He's also less physically active due to a longer commute among other reasons. Now he has always been able to consume everything and anything since starting on solids. We joked then that he had the sleeve of steel, where nothing bothered him. His doctor did comment at one point that his sleeve is larger than some of the others, meaning he removed less stomach; but I'm not sure if that's true. He is currently looking at a revision to his sleeve as his is considered to have been a failure.

I'm always cold! I have a heater in my office and have it on almost all day. The AC is on at work (today it's 92*F out) and my office heater has been on, and I'm wearing a sweater too. I wear my winter thermal pjs year round too. And there are days where I turn the heater on in the car towards me while the rest of the family has the car AC on. They think I'm crazy, lol. At 2 years out I don;t know if I'll ever level out to "normal" again, but can now sympathize with my older female co-workers, friends, and family who are going through 'the change'. lol.

Yes.

There are unfortunately a lot of people with unrealistic views of how WLS will work. We see it all the time on the basics pages, and on shows like My 600 lb Life. People also have to understand that each person is going to have a unique experience. That one insurance provider is different from another and even with the same provider each plan is different. Our bodies are different too, as one person might have a lot of excess skin while the other finds that theirs shrinks back. The best that you can do is to tell her about your experience and what you have learned about others. This can prepare her for a variety of situations, ie: 6 months supervised dieting vs. none required. I know that my parents assumed that my mom would be approved quickly based on her weight and would not have to complete the 6 month diet as I did not. But I pointed out that we have different insurance providers as well as I had proof of participating in weight watchers, and physical fitness from running local races (race times posted). I appreciate the fact that my WLS seminar was very blunt and truthful about what to expect and that you had to put in the effort for both approval and for the tool to be effective. There were plenty of people there who had assumed it would be quick to surgery date, immediate weight loss, and no need to change habits (based off their questions and over heard conversations).

I'm trying to focus on a few things, 1) eat slower so that I do not need to feel like I need to consume more, 2) less mindless snacking; is it hunger or head hunger, and 3) be purposeful in what I eat. I knew that today at work my schedule would be tight and I wasn't sure if I would be able to actually have lunch as meetings were taking place before, during, and after my normal lunch hour. So I stopped at Kroger and picked up deviled eggs. More fat that I should probably have, but carbs are low and protein decent. I needed something that would not make me feel guilty like a carb laden food. Plus it was something that I could eat during a short break that required no heating.

One of my favorite grab and go lunches might be the healthiest, but I like it. I purchased a bag of frozen meatballs at Coscto, carbs are very low and protein high. The serving size is 5, but I only eat 3-4 and am full. Season with salt/pepper. I snack on cheese during the day too.

It depends on what I eat. Some meals (protein heavy) I can be full after a few bites while others it takes much more. This can vary by the day too.

I work a desk job and was back at 1.5 weeks. No issues to be concerned about at all. I just made sure to keep hydrated.