laguerr13

First let's clear things up, you have always looked great, and the other thingy is temporary, you need to look for alternatives for awhile, tuna canned chicken etc... , I've read also from some of the veteran peeps in here that vegetarian is possible but a little hard at first since your vitamins and proteins will have to come from tablets and powder shakes, as the weeks go by your senses will vary and change,y nose can pick up on little things I never noticed before, as do my tastebuds, I find McDonalds disgusting in taste and smell, I've also acquired new skills like grilling and my latest passion Stir Frying, I made a Stir Fry Cashew Chicken last nite and it was awesome, I love my Wok, try new things, maybe go to deli meats and cheeses for awhile, I love Pastrami now, and also eat Cashews, I heard that for some peeps they acquire a strange taste for things like Spam, and even potted meats, stay strong and hang in there, I had my moment on the 4th of July where I was strongly craving of all things a Dos XX dressed up, I wasn't even craving the meats or sausages, might also wanna try some egg drop soup or hot and sour soup, don't give up you've come a long way, I went to my PCP last Thursday and she said I was at 322lbs, I didn't even think I would get close to 299 til December so I'm excited, I began my journey even before my fist appointment in April, I was at 388 in December, and in April at 362.2lbs so I'm -64lbs already and today I fit into a size 52 shorts that 8 waist sizes, I'm also at the gym in Beast mode and people are seeing definition, I think I'm addicted to this crap......lol see if this floats your bubble ⬇️

Lol it's not that easy, you have to be very careful and learn to identify nutritional amounts in items, and try to memorize in what amounts, this is where my wife comes in, she's a genius in math, you need a good kitchen scale (Walmart $10.00) and measuring tools ( cups, scoops etc..), and make Google and Siri your friend, the drawback is that you can't have things like Sweet and Sour, and breaded stuff, but good luck......

I am anxiously waiting to have my first drink, I drank massive amounts and got into 2 or 3 day stupors in college 30 yrs ago, I decided to stop on my own and combined with getting older I became a very light but discriminating drinker, maybe once every two or three months and even then very specific about what I want, I prefer beer or fun wines, and if it is beer I limit myself to one or two and stop, but this 4th of July was tough, I was BBQing for family and craving my favorite beer, a chilled Dos XX dressed up, I still researching on the use of alcohol after gastric, so far the studies of pros and cons seem to be about even 50/50, so if I do I will try to be smart about it and if I see any negatives from it it will be the last time, interestingly no one seems to know exactly why, theories range from sugars in the body to fast alcohol absorption and intoxication, so we will see.......

@ DJMOHR : you sounded right on point, I did research for atleast two years because of all the horror stories, surprisingly 85% of those stories were from people who had not committed or followed their plan, I is always interesting to hear people say "I don't wanna stretch out my sleeve" it is virtually impossible, as a rule of thumb and pulling various studies the number for me was 6 -8oz of size ( sizes always vary due to how much a surgeon pulls), depending on food type I can generally hold 3-4oz and on the 10th I will be one month out, I don't ever wanna go over 5-6oz so I am training myself to eating the amounts I hold now, I think the only drawback so far is that even though I get in my 64oz of fluids and learned how to sip, I still occasionally get the strong urge to chug a drink especially after my workouts.......... Oh well could be worse, I could still be trying to avoid booths at restaurants.....lol

@luv2plum : I was in Google looking for gastric friendly restaurants and coincidently "Panda Express" showed up, apparently they carry several items that are low carb, high protein, I also am learning to stir fry and use my new Wok, after doing research u found it is a healthy way to cook and u can omit negative items like corn starch, sugar, and not sacrifice taste, last night was my first attempt at Stir Fry Cashew Chicken and it was awesome , surprisingly it is very simple ingredients and only took 15 min between prep and cooking, I also made enough for 3 servings since my wife is very healthy and wanted some, and had 1 serving left for today

I am on a strict budget, so Walmart is my go to, my wife helped me research and we came up with some cool snacks, I wanted the prepackaged ones that have a small amount of nuts, meat, and cheese but they were $1.67 ea., instead we bought a large package of jerky, can of Cashews, and round baby cheese, we'd took baggies and I used our new kitchen scale( my wife is awesome in getting me things I need to accomplish my goals), and measured out 1oz portions in each bag, I have enough snacks for 2weeks, I don't try to snack everyday, but if I do these are my go to, later this year we will also invest in a vacuum bag system so we can store larger bulk items and meats since I only use 5oz at a time, good luck

I had egg drop soup and then hot and sour soups 3 1/2 weeks out I are slow and had no problems it was awesome especially after all the cre soups I endured

There are to many factors to take sides and it only creates controversy, on what forum should anything negative or positive be posted, I think and am assuming that any of these posts are here in the States, and one of the best tools we are allowed to utilize is "informed consent" there must be great care taken when posting very negative news but we are adults, and have a right to know, we have come along way since these procedures started and will probably be considered barbaric in another 20yrs, when I researched I was stunned to learned the stats of all the negative things from this surgery, approximately 3% due to bad surgeons, 12% from unforeseen complications ( sedation, heart, etc) and a staggering 85% from people who never intended to follow through with the guidelines, I can't take sides, it will only cause people to respond from both sides, but I would recommend anyone considering this to look at the surgeon's success rate, and use the word of mouth recommendations from other patients, better to be cautious than blind

Awesome post and pics

I think low carb high protein is the kickstart for us, but long term I'm looking toward a balance that I never had before, carbs, fats, protein, etc..., My first barrier was admitting tearfully where it all started, then a willingness to change my bad habits into good ones, learning to eat the right way, learning to utilize things like grilling, woks, and absolutely staying away from things like sodas, and energy drinks, it's a long road to better health, but I didn't exactly get fat overnight either, I'm learning to love natural things like water, and liver, and especially memorizing amounts and weights, variety is also a great companion, it makes me very angry when I hear people on here being told by those close to them that it was a "Quick fix" hah!!!! I surrounded myself With a great support group who don't questions actions or my decision to do what I did, there is so much learned but o want to remain a student and keep going, and I want to teach others along the way, it's very hard when I'm out and I see an adult telling their child "oh Cmon, you need to finish that!" No they don't, why set them up for failure?

My weight is coming off nicely but my knee pain still holds me back, I'm thinking of going back for the injections, but the other day I took some Celebrex that my wife has now since it wasn't helping much, and combined with the recent weight Loss it made a huge difference, I was a lot more mobile and the pain was manageable

Fusion is highly recommended, as far as gummies I was told by my surgeon whatever floats your boat

I am 1 month post op in 2 days and I have lost over 65lbs, and 6 waist sizes and I don't post pics cause nothing I have fits, it's all too big ........lol

Very nice

Gym shorts, my night nurse was awesome and a little off like me so when everyone left I told her I wanted to walk but not with all the monitors and wires, she said if made it to the bathroom she unhook me and let me walk, she did and then lost track of me when I took off down the long hallways, she ended up chasing me down and kept laughing cause all she could see was my gown and bright orange shorts

No, I haven't had any luck finding a descent one but......... Google has also been part of my arsenal as you can find hundreds of free websites that offer great recipes also low carb recipes, I've learned and even purchased a low end Wok to learn to stir fry, and also a scale and an indoor grill, BTW there are also websites that give gastric and carb friendly restaurants you eat at, one of the most surprising ones that you can order a fast food treat from is "Panda Express" good luck, I have a few recipes I can give you from time to time if you inbox me, I'm in for the long haul lol

I thought this joke I learned from my teacher may help calm your fears: " there was a young man who was sailor, while on leave he upset a gypsy who cursed him and said that on his 50th he would die by the hands of an Elephant, he went on to marry, have 2 wonderful kids and a very successful career, then on his 50th he remembered the curse, he called in to work since the circus was in town, a friend called and asked him to go fishing, he declined since the circus was camped by the lake, his wife asked him to go outside with the kids and have a picnic since there was a parade, he once again declined because the Elephants were leading the Parade, at 11:59pm he asked his wife to get the champagne and as he popped the cork he began to countdown, 10,9,8,..... He pooped the cork, it hit the blind, bounced off the couch, brushed a lamp and hit a an ivory 5lb Elephant on the curio cabinet, it fell and hit him on the head killing him him instantly at 50 yrs old" You can spend your time locked in your world of safety, but it is a world you create and not what life really is!!!!

You be be having a rare side effect like when people take Benedryl and become hyper? Sugar is more likely to cause diarrhea than sugar free stuff, my tastebuds change everyday, so Urey to keep a variety of drinks I can have, water, tea, sports drinks and a variety of flavor drops, I'm not into the jellos or Popsicles as much and so far my only problem has been believe it or not my coffee, I had to go to decaf, and it is a big thing for me since I loved my regular coffee with sugar and cream, and I would drink 5-6 cups in the morning, now it's 1/2 a cup of decaf with sweetener and dry creamer.........SMH

I used to drink massive amounts of alcohol in college 30 yrs ago, so after my maturity hit I maybe had a beer or two every few weeks or wine with my dinner like maybe once every few months, if I went out with friends I nursed 1 mixed drink all night, so I am missing u occasional beer or wine, I'm just confused as to whether I can or can't have it, there are too many theories and not enough research to go either way, I don't drink anywhere near I used to in my youth, but I wanted to take my wife to a vineyard near where we live and enjoy some wine tasting and lunch, and on the 4th I was craving my favorite beer, the only constants I find in any information available had to do with the sugars, and alcohol absorption in the body, has anyone asked their DR. ????

????

Maybe I'm a kangaroo surfer girl

They said I could have hot cereal but it seems a contradiction because of the carbs in all the brands I've seen, so I'm waiting to see what people will say on ur thread

Welcome to your new life, everyone here is helpful and well meaning, just do your own work and don't take everything we say as the final word , it's your body and we are all different

This is all I have for now , my former nurse is a very close friend of mine he works at another hospital now hut was able to visit me in recovery since he works close to the hospital I was at, that was on June 11th one day after surgery, 10 days later I told him I'd lost 6 waist sizes and about 55lbs and he asked me to prove it, my work scrubs were 7x(60W) so I put them on and this is what it looked like, I can't buy any for awhile since the surgery and time off tapped me out a bit but I don't really mind if they fall, I'm very proud !!!

I'm waiting to get off soft but wanna get some pecan encrusted Tilapia when I do, the closest I've come to crunchy is buying some egg drop soup and putting those prices of fried wonton in it, but I'm scared to tear something so 10 more days and I go full crunchy lol