GBLady41

I'm with you@Apple1. I use a food scale I bought at Walmart. What my nutritionist told me is...to use volume for meats and some veggies...and to use the scale for other veggies like lettuce, baby spinach, etc. because you get more out of your salad that way, and you get more veggies. But I have decided to use my food scale for everything, meat included. It's just easier for me. I'm also from the camp that weighs and logs their food. I actually log it more than one way. I feel being accountable keeps me on track. I'm more than six months out and I still don't get hungry, so listening to my body won't work for me. I have to eat on a schedule, so that I get in my protein and my fluids, and keep my carbs and fats down. I totally agree that this is not a diet for me. This is a complete lifestyle change, and I will use every tool in my arsenal to be successful. The way I look at it...I will do whatever it takes to be and remain successful.

I lost 28.9% 5 months out for just the weight loss from surgery. From heaviest weight it's 39.4% 5 months out from surgery. I am 6 months out from surgery so now it is 31.7% since surgery and 43.4% total weight loss.

Amazing transformation!

Congratulations!!

I'd like to join. I weigh on Sundays. Last Sunday my weight was 171.2 lbs so that's what I'll enter that weight for today 6/16/17. Goal weight: 155 lbs

I don't eat fruit. Too many carbs for me, especially in weight loss mode. It was allowed in my post op diet, but I decided I didn't want to introduce fruit in my life. I have had a strawberry. It went down fine. I may introduce fruit later on in my maintenance phase to up my carbs.

My life has been completely changed since my mini gastric bypass! I can do so much more. I'm an active person and for the last four or five years, I haven't been able to even work out. But since surgery, I have transformed back into the person I am. I work out at least 5 days a week now, including weight training twice a week. I'm still losing weight this summer, so one of the ways I can honor myself is to keep on going and not let anything get in the way of that. I will continue to make right choices, log my food and exercise, and enjoy the changes to my body, mind, soul, and spirit. I'm hoping that maybe I'll be able to get to my goal weight and be really toned by the end of summer but we'll see. Oh, and I definitely see a few more clothes in my near future!! (I can already wear a few of my daughter's tops-she's a size 7...shhhhh...don't tell her that-I want to do more work on my arms though before I actually wear them out [emoji6])

Try engaging your ab muscles during your cardio workout. I will do that when I am on the elliptical and recumbent bike. Using your muscles whenever you can will help.

Congratulations!

My point was the use of the word 'ideal'. Everybody's needs are different. Some people can't thrive on taking half of they body weight in fluids. So...again...what you suggest is a suggestion. It is not 'ideal', nor do you know what the average person needs.

I think turkey bacon tastes better. I'm definitely going to try this blt soon!

My surgeon and nutritionist suggested them. There is research proving that it in fact does work. In fact, I have been using them for months and all of my blood tests results are normal.

There were no unexpected costs. You may want to bring some extra money to tip the valets, buy medications at the pharmacy, and buy stuff to take home. We are given pain meds at the hospital and given a prescription for more, as well as for omeprazole.

I made my decision based on how easy it was to chat with and speak to someone and get answers to my questions. Knowing that I could and still can Skype my surgeon with any questions definitely helped me to make my decision. Knowing that there is a certified NUT who I can email with any questions and who is very knowledgeable and gives sound advice also helped. And I can email my surgeon any time with any questions and he will answer me in less than 24 hours. Knowing that my surgery was going to be at a full service hospital and not a clinic, so that if anything did happen, I would be taken care of. Knowing that my price included my companion, which was my daughter, and that they have valets that will take care of me and her helped. Knowing that during the two days I spent in the hotel after I was discharged, a doctor would come and check up on me, making sure I was progressing correctly helped. For those reasons, I chose to have surgery with Dr. Illan, working with BariatricPal TeamMX. Best decision I have made. I received better care there than any hospital in the US. The doctors, nurses, and staff were very attentive. And the valets took great care of my daughter. I had no need to worry. It felt like I was on vacation. We wanted for nothing.

To add to what others are saying, I do know that when you are put on a pre-op diet, and if on the day of surgery your liver has not shrunk enough, the surgeon will not do the surgery. That's usually how it is with surgeons in the US. With having medical issues that may come up before surgery that we might not be able to control, how we follow pre-op diet instructions is totally within our control.

Being a vegan or vegetarian is not for everybody. I tried it once for four months and I found myself more and more tired. I also used to juice, and besides the cost of getting the fruits and veggies needed to juice, plus the fact that I didn't feel any better, it turned out to not be for me. It's great that it works for you though. Congratulations on finding the lifestyle change for you!

I drink one Premier Protein shake a day with 30 grams of protein and 160 calories. That's part of the reason I have lower calories while getting in that much protein. Most mornings I drink an Oikos Drinkable yogurt that is 10 grams of protein and 110 calories. It's light and gives me more protein than anything else I have thought of. I have tried to eat an egg but it sits too heavy on me and it's harder to workout after that. Plus it's not 10 grams of protein. So my lunch is usually the only meal where I eat food, and I usually eat tuna, lean chicken breast, ground turkey, or ground chicken when I make my chicken crust pizzas, along with a few veggies, usually baby spinach or spring mix salad. And I keep my lunch between 3.5 to 4.5 oz. Sometimes, when it's a salad, I will put a little cheese, Pace Picante Chunky Salsa, and Pico de Gallo on there, which probably makes it closer to 5 oz. But I will take up to 30 minutes to eat it, pausing as soon as I start to fill full and allowing that food to go down before finishing it. That way, there's no chance of stretching my pouch out.

It may not seem like enough but it is more than enough for me. I'm very active too. I am on the elliptical 5 to 6 days a week, recumbent bike 3 days a week, and I weight train twice a week. I am fueling my body, and in turn I have all the energy I need. And I am losing between 2 and 5 lbs every week. I have not run into any stalls. It's not about number of calories. It's about protein and fluids. The more active you are, the more protein and fluids your body needs. I am getting in at least 126 oz of fluids and at least 100 grams of protein a day. And that includes the days I only get in 646 calories. There are people who eat a lot of veggies and fruit, and they're lucky if they get in around 800 calories. But their bodies are fueled and they have energy. Before surgery, I found myself eating less than 1000 calories because of food choices and portion control. Nothing was wrong with my metabolism. Metabolism works on what we eat, not the number of calories we eat. If metabolism was effected by the number of calories we eat, then we would have entered starvation mode right before and after surgery. When the body is working the way it is supposed to, our bodies want and need fuel. It doesn't care about number of calories. And forcing ourselves to eat a certain number of calories is because of the old mindset, not the new mindset. I developed a new mindset to fuel my body long before my surgery, so that I will focus only on the things that my body needs. Maybe down the road my calories may increase, but not because I'm focusing on increasing them. If it happens, it will happen naturally, with the foods I choose to fuel my body with.

It's not going to do anything to my metabolism in the long run. I'm getting my nutrition in. I'm getting my protein in. I'm getting my fluids in. And I'm very active and continue to lose between 2 and 5 lbs a week, while toning my muscles with weight training twice a week, elliptical 5 to 6 days a week, and recumbent bike 3 times a week. My TSH are normal so normal metabolism. My body is getting the fuel it needs. It's not about the numbers. It's about fueling your body.

I'm on the Depo shot and had surgery last December and have lost a little over 80 lbs. I exercise on my elliptical 5 to 6 days a week, also riding a recumbent bike 3 days a week, and I weight train twice a week. I think that thisisthenewme is right that you may not be eating enough and you may need to increase your fluid intake and protein.

You look great! Beautiful dress!

Me too. We had the same surgeon, Dr. Illan. Man, I got soooo happy the first time I was able to get all three balls up!!!

Gas-X helped me quite a bit right after surgery. Mommydb0811, you should at least try them and keep walking, walking, walking. It will get better.

Don't push yourself to take in a certain number of calories. I'm almost 6 months out and I still only get in between 646 and around 800 calories. I tried to eat more a few weeks ago because my weight loss slowed a little. But it just made it worse and it felt like too much to force myself to eat more. I realized that my body knows how many calories it needs. So I decided that as long as I am getting in my protein and fluids, and staying low carb, and can be as active as I am now, with more than enough energy, then I'm eating the right amount of calories.

I'm not sure about the 'many' you mentioned in regards to them having an expanded stomach. I'd love to see some facts to that. From my research, a correctly done RNY does not result in the pouch growing at all. The stoma can expand, but not the pouch. No more so than the sleeve.