MacMadame

OKay, now I remember. I donated to MM's Walk from Obesity team. Duh.

It varies by person. Mine got better and even went away for a while. Now I just get mild heartburn sometime that responds to medicine. Before it was much worse and wouldn't respond to medicine. I had a hiatal hernia repaired too.

As long as you can do more each day, you should be fine. Don't forget that broth and sf popsicles count as liquids too. There are lots of things you can consume to up your liquid count. You also might try room temperature Water. Sometimes warm things go down better than cold at first.

I was just teasing about her thinking they were fruit. I try not to get Cereal with more than 10 g. of sugar in it for my kids but it can be hard. Luckily there are a bunch they like that aren't too bad.

You do know that they aren't real fruit, right? Heartbroken cereal litigant loses suit over non-existence of "Crunchberries" - Boing Boing :thumbup: I only put sweetener in it. I like how thick and smooth it is and putting in stuff sometimes ruins that for me.

Dr. C likes to see people lose 50% of their excess weight by 3 months out and 80% by 6 months. He thinks that the patients who do this have a higher success rate overall. By 6 months out, we are able to eat a lot more and hunger starts returning for a lot of people. Weight loss slows down. Some people never get those last 10-20 lb. off. The more you get off during the first 6 months, the better set up you are for the next phase. I found these goals to be doable, but aggressive and a bit stressful on the one hand, but, on the other, by striving towards them, I really did maximize the "honeymoon period" and I lost a lot more weight than I thought I could. I *never* thought I'd get under 120 or be a size 0-2! My original goal weight was 145 lb. and my eventual goal ended up being a "normal BMI". When it comes to listening to your doctor, my approach is that the doctor is the expert on medical matters, but I'm the expert on me. So, if he tells me something that I know just isn't going to work for me -- like doing a form of exercise that I hate -- I'm not just going to just blindly do what he says. OTOH, if he says "X% of my patients who get to goal eat a high Protein diet and lose the weight faster than those that don't", I'm going to listen to that and follow it the best I can. Because that's the kind of info I am hiring him to provide me. In the end, I think you have to be open to doing things out of your comfort zone. When I lost weight before, I was able to do it on 1200 calories a day and exercising moderately 1-2x a week for 30-40 min. There is no way I would be able to lose 50% of my excess weight in 3 months doing that and, to some extent, I'm not sure I could have gotten to goal doing that. I'm older now, for one thing, and my metabolism is slower. But I could keep my calories under 800 and I could exercise 4-5x a week for 45 min. and I did. My weight loss picked up and, as a result of needing more variety in my exercise routine, I discovered triathlons ... a new hobby that burns thousands of calories a week! But it wouldn't have happened if I was content with a slow weight loss. It happened because I was discontent. :thumbup:

It's still a myth even if you aren't an athlete. I have done tons of research on this and there is not ONE clinical study that supports the idea that you can't eat more than X amount of Protein in one sitting. But there are several that support the idea that any protein you eat will be absorbed. The American Society of Metabolic & Bariatric Surgeons says the same: From "ASMBS Allied Health Nutritional Guidelines for the Surgical Weight Loss Patient" "One popular myth is that only 30 g/hr of protein can be absorbed. Although this is commonly found in both lay and some professional literature, there is no scientific basis for this claim." http://www.asmbs.org/Newsite07/resources/bgs_final.pdf Two articles about it: 30 Grams of Protein In One Meal Rule | Naked Nutrition Network - Health, Diet, and Fitness Hub 30 grams of protein per meal myth - the truth about how much protein per meal

Personally, I think it's wasted energy to try to convince everyone around me that my decisions are the correct ones for me. All you have to do is go to MX and come back alive and ... voila ... you've won that argument! :thumbup:

Yes, it definitely gets easier. I regularly drink 80-100 oz a day!

I think I may have bought these because they weren't half servings. I don't remember doing it though! :blushing:

I was in the hospital overnight and I needed someone to get me home, but once I was home, I didn't really *need* anyone. But it was nice to have someone.

It depends on the shake and the program.

Yes, he's had leaks. He's also had a death.

Did you get a blender bottle with yours? I did and I was surprised.

There was recently a paper about this... WLS is no more risky for seniors than it is for younger people and, on some measures, they do better. There's a link to it here in the "News" section, if you want to search for it. I didn't save a link to it, unfortunately.

Since it's hot down in LA, your Fluid needs are even greater than usual so that may have something to do with it. What I do is carry a Water bottle with me constantly. I've got one in the office and one at home but I have extras too. I am never without a beverage. :glare: I also go through periods where plain water just doesn't appeal to me and so I will go for something else like decaff tea or add in a flavor packet to the water or have some Protein hot chocolate. I know water is better, but some fluid is better than no fluid.

I find I do better with "appointment" workouts than just trying to convince myself to do things on my own with no set time. I like having a group too. I'm social. :glare:

I think the biggest issue is going to be what the points are made up of. In WW, points are points but we want to get in a certain amount of protein and limit carbs during the weight loss phase. Points aren't that detailed.

If you have to force yourself a lot (not just once in a while), then maybe you just haven't found the right exercise for you.

It's like a switch flipped in my brain, susan. It's weird, but I was kind of hoping it would happen.

The 1/2 serving packets have the nutrition label for a full serving. Which is completely lame, of course.

So you've lost 2-3 pounds a week -- which is what most surgeons want you to be losing and what most bypass patients lose. What exactly is disappointing about that?

That's old info. Originally, extremely obese patients were giving the sleeve part of the DS so they could lose enough weight to have the DS laparoscopically. Once they lost about 100 pounds, they'd have the switch done. Except a lot never came back for the second part and that made doctors go "aha!" and start thinking that you could just do sleeves for a lot of patients. So now it's considered a standalone procedure.

Here are my weight loss stats: Highest Weight: 223 (as of Feb. 2008) Weight Date of Surgery: 191 - 32 lb. loss in 7 months First month: 179, 12 lb. loss Second month: 167, 12 lb. loss Third month: 159, 8 lb. loss Fourth month: 151, 8 lb. loss Fifth month: 144, 7 lb. loss Sixth month: 134, 10 lb. loss Seventh month: 128, 8 lb. loss Eighth month: 122, 6 lb. loss Ninth month: 116, 6 lb. loss Tenth month: 113, 3 lb. loss Eleventh month: 113, 0 lb. loss I did stop losing for 6 weeks but then I started losing again. I wasn't losing when I was tracking my food and making sure I ate enough to replace what I lost via exercise. But then I decided to try to only eat when I was hungry and then I lost a bit more. I think I need to do something in between as I need to fuel my workouts better or my performance suffers.

Actually, even normies absorb more calcium citrate than carbonate. But calcium carbonate requires acid to be absorbed properly and most of us are either on a PPI or our tummies have figured out they are smaller and aren't making as much acid. Bandsters can have carbonate, though.