Tufflaw

Well today was a pretty kick-ass day! Officially down 75 pounds in a little over three months, it's almost like magic! Also today for the time down below 240 for the first time in a looong time. And foodwise, for dinner I FINALLY made a cauliflower pizza crust that didn't fall apart! I did a few things differently, so I don't know which it was. Instead of grinding up a head of cauliflower, we bought some pre-packaged cauliflower rice at Costco. Steamed it in the bag per the instructions on the bag. Drained the water really well - last time I tried using paper towels to smush the water out while the cauliflower was in a strainer and that was just a disaster. A buddy of mine suggested putting it in a strainer, and then using a bowl to push the water out - worked much better! Added two eggs, 1/2 cup of part-skim shredded mozzerella, 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese, some salt, garlic powder and italian seasoning, 2 eggs, mixed together in a bowl and then shaped into a circle on a baking sheet with some parchment paper. Baked at 425 for 25 minutes, flipped it over and baked for another 7 minutes. Flipped again, onto the pizza stone, added 1/2 cup of sauce, 1/2 cup of mozzerella, back in for 14 minutes. And DELICIOUS! I cut into quarters and one piece filled me up. The numbers are great too, it's 221 calories a slice, 11 carbs, 12 fat, 15 protein. And it tastes REALLY good. So overall, great day!

I'm glad I can be some help! These forums were very useful to me before (and after) my surgery, I'm just trying to give back.

Still plugging along, everything is going great! Hit some more milestones - down 70 pounds now and BMI below 35 so if I had started at this weight I would officially be ineligible for surgery even with the co-morbidities. I had a bunch of t-shirts I had gotten over the last few years that were a little too snug at the time. Tried some of them on but now they're too big So I went too fast to wear any of these. I guess that's OK, would rather have the weight lost than wear some shirts. Had my first "bad" food last week and I survived! Went out somewhere with my family and didn't bring any food with me. For lunch I got a little wrap with turkey, carrots and lettuce, that was fine. About halfway through I ditched the wrap and just ate the turkey. Then we took the kids to the local ice cream place where they have homemade ice cream and I decided to try a scoop. Man, it was good! But I felt like crap later. No pain or anything, just sluggish so I won't try that again. It's still a learning process.

Welcome to the club! Good luck on your journey

I've had GERD for years and been taking Omeprazole for it. Continued after my surgery but now I'm trying to wean myself off of it. I used to take 20 mg a day, now I'm on 1 every 2 days and I'm fine.

Agreed, near the end of the 2 week liquid diet I was so miserable but it's so much better after the surgery. Good luck!

Hey man I feel you, I was nervous right before too. I watched your entire video, and basically you're me. Same height, age, approx starting weight, two kids, similar back story. I even work in law enforcement too. DON'T BACK OUT. I'm only a little more than two months out, and I'll say what you said you've heard other say - Best thing I've ever done. I'm sure you've also heard, the only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. When you have the feelings of wanting to back out, think of this - if you hadn't backed out last time, you'd be at your goal weight be now and enjoying your life a lot more. If you back out now, you'll have to go through this again in a few years, when you could be enjoying being at your goal weight and all the health benefits it brings. For what it's worth, I loved my italian food. And you know what - I don't miss it AT ALL. I'm sure I mentioned this in an earlier post, but during my two week liquid diet (and holy crap you only have to do one day you lucky bastard) I was craving chicken parm like I needed it to live. Immediately after surgery, I lost all craving for it completely, and that is still the same today. I remember how good it is, I know that I would probably enjoy it if I had it right now. And I COULD have it right now if I wanted to (just less), but I have absolutely no desire for it. You're not going to miss it. And even if you do, ask if the food is worth the years of your life you'll lose to being overweight. For me it was a no brainer. I wish you the best of luck, if you have any questions afterwards don't hesitate to drop me a line, you're welcome to call me if you want, just send a PM if you want my cell. Good luck and welcome to the club!

Oh yeah I used to do the banana thing years ago, will start again when I'm cleared for fruits!

I think I didn't drain it enough. The first few times I made cauliflower pizza crust I didn't drain it at all and the crust wasn't great. Yesterday I drained it a little and it held together better than the crust. Next time I'm going to put it in cheesecloth or a towel and really squeeze the hell out of it to see, apparently getting it as dry as possible is the real key.

Wow, is this what I have to look forward to soon?

Been away for too long! Everything is going great, hit some milestones. One I hit today - I'm down over 66 lbs in two and a half months. When I did Weight Watchers about 9 years ago, it took me about 9 or 10 months to lose the same amount - and then I put it all back on and then some No chance of that happening now though! Also some non-scale victories. The big one - I can wear my wedding ring again! I had to stop wearing it for a long time, it just got too tight! Started wearing it again a few days ago, feels good. Also cool - i have about 8 suits I rotate through for work. Before surgery, I was down to three I could wear, the rest were too small. And the three were getting a little tight too. Now, I wear all of them. The original three are way too big and I had to get them tailored. The other five are starting to get loose, going to need tailoring soon. That's a welcome expense, especially with what I'm saving on food. Tonight I saw a recipe on facebook I had to try, and I made a GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH with cauliflower toast for bread, and turkey bacon. The toast wasn't as crunchy as I would have like, but not bad at all! I could actually only eat half, saving the rest for tomorrow. I'm attaching a pic for your enjoyment. Hope everyone is well!

Awesome, I definitely want to try that chicken and guac. So tonight I purchased a Nuwave oven instead of an air fryer, I used to have one of these years ago and used it all the time. This one has air fryer capabilities in it, but does a bunch of other stuff. Cooks food fresh or frozen, so it's handy. For my inaugural meal with it I decided to start having veggies again for the first time since my liquid diet started over 2 months ago. I made a sausage link in it, and also some roasted brussels sprouts! I got a bag of brussels sprouts from Target, cut them in half, put them in some oil, some salt and pepper and cooed them in the Nuwave on the bottom at the same time I cooked the sausage. 15 minutes total and they were delicious! Still plenty left over for meals for the next few days. I got my Nuwave at BJ's, it's on sale now for $80. This was the infomercial I found that inspired me to get one again - Tomorrow me and my wife are going to make a cauliflower pizza crust and try some pizza for the first time in two months!

I've been taking omeprazole for a few years now and it's a lifesaver. Terrible GERD before, and if I forget to take it for a day or two it comes back. Post surgery same thing. Tried to reduce it to every other day, then every third day but no luck. If your doctor says to take it, I'd listen to him. This is a common drug that certainly isn't going to cause any kidney damage if you take it for a month or two.

Yeah it's working now, thanks!!

No Sent from my LG-H811 using the BariatricPal App

Here are just two screenshots, with URL, but it's like this when I try to go to any forum or post. Profile page still seems to work though imgur.com/a/opJb3 Sent from my LG-H811 using the BariatricPal App

I'm getting the ex0 error on just about anything I try to do on the forums if I'm using my pc web browser. Been like that since last night, can't post or read any messages at all Sent from my LG-H811 using the BariatricPal App

Hey Dan glad this has been useful for you! I definitely PLAN on keeping this type of diet, I think it will be that most helpful for me long-term. My friend who inspired me to do this is about 11 months post surgery and still eats very healthy so that's good. I just don't have the urge to eat the stuff I used to, and I'm hopeful that will remain as I go forward. I'm learning that I really like making my own meals and I'm actually eating with a lot more variety than I used to. Before surgery I would always default to fast food, usually the same crap over and over again. I bought an instant pot (non brand name) a few days ago and it's fantastic. Already made a few great meals in it, I highly recommend you check it out to help with your food preparation. Good luck! Sent from my LG-H811 using the BariatricPal App

Google "7 minute workout" or get one of the free apps that do it, it's a quick bodyweight workout that will get you moving. If you want to go to an actual gym, see if there's a Planet Fitness near you. They're cheap - $10/month. Also they have a great section for their "Circuit training program". It's 10 machines that work all major muscle groups. There's a light that turns green for 1 minute and red for 30 seconds. When it's green you work out on one machine. When it's red you stop and move to the next one. They also have steppers there to do some cardio between every machine. If you follow it exactly you'll do a 30 minute workout that includes 10 minutes of cardio and 10 minutes of weight training. If you want to mix things up every day, try the playing card workout - http://lifehacker.com/5849412/wednesday-deck-of-cards-workout Lifehacker also has a full workout routine if you want to try to commit to a regular sustained workout: http://lifehacker.com/5849409/the-lifehacker-workout-exercise-for-normal-people Good luck!

Only you can decide if this right for you. For myself, and this is a common refrain I've read on this board, is that my only regret is not doing it sooner. I felt exactly the same way you did before surgery, I was worried I'd miss my favorite foods, I did all my "food funerals", saying goodbye to all the stuff I loved - again, I have ZERO regrets. A few things. First, one thing I read was that many people post surgery have like a psychological change in their attitude toward food. It's not just a physical inability to eat more than your sleeve will hold. It's a reduction or elimination in craving the unhealthy stuff you used to eat. I didn't believe it, but it happened to me. I used to love Love LOVE pizza. Easily my favorite food. I'd eat it a few times a week, and if I had it for lunch and my wife wanted it for dinner we'd eat it for dinner. During my two-week liquid diet pre surgery, I really missed it. Post surgery, it's like a switch has been flipped inside me. I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to eat pizza any more. Zero. When I think about it, I remember how much I enjoyed it. If I see a nice slice, I think "that looks yummy". But I don't want it anymore. I've even made frozen pizzas for my kids and when the leave some slices over, in the old days I would have gobbled them up, now I just put them in the fridge. There is no desire to have it. And the same goes for all the other garbage I used to enjoy. I don't crave fast food, junk food, Snacks, etc. I'm looking up recipes all the time and trying out new things. I just bought an Instant Pot and over the past two nights I made really good country style ribs with some barbecue sauce (zero carbs except the sauce and high protein), and tonight I had Honey Teriyaki chicken which was phenomenal. A few months ago I would just run out to the pizza place or burger king or wherever, or microwave some frozen crap. Now I don't even want that stuff. I wish you luck in whatever you choose to do.

Pre surgery I took 20 mg of Omeprazole a day, every so often I'd forget and was usually OK, sometimes had issues on the day I forgot. Post surgery I was still taking is every day. My doctor suggested trying to ween myself off it to see what happened. I started taking every other day for about a week and all was good. Tried to take it every three days but first time I tried had a lot of discomfort so I went back to every day. I'll wait a little bit and try again, but even with all the healthy eating it looks like it's here to stay.

I took a week and a half but I was ready to go back after a week. Only took the extra because it was the holidays and I was planning already on taking that time off before I was scheduled for the surgery.

I brought my phone, charger, tablet (with Kindle app) and chapstick (non-alcoholic, I took my daughter's Finding Dory chapstick!) Also my CPAP machine as recommended. Didn't really use anything. Never took out the tablet. Barely looked at my phone. Didn't hook up the CPAP (they woke me every two hours to walk so I figured it would be useless). Used the chapstick maybe once or twice. Really all I wanted to do was sleep sleep sleep and nothing else. Good luck!

Wow those look amazing, I'll have to try them. So I made the honey teriyaki chicken for me and my wife and it was REALLY good, and I have about two pounds left to eat during the week. Super healthy too, one 4 oz serving is only 127 calories, 5.1 carbs, 1.6 fat, and 22.4 Protein. Here's a before and after:

I'd never heard of these things before, but a discussion about them popped up on another forum I'm on, and I did some research and I bought one today at Walmart. If you haven't heard of it, it's an electric pressure cooker with all sorts of settings and ways to make different foods. For my inaugural meal I decided to make some RIBS. High Protein, zero carbs, not as low in fat as I'd like but not awful. I bought some "country style ribs" at Aldi, basically thick-cut boneless ribs. Made them in the cooker for 25 minutes, put a little sauce on and finished in the oven for 15 minutes. Holy cow delicious! There were two larger ones and two smaller ones in the package, so I made the smaller ones for me and the larger ones for my wife. She doesn't like barbecue sauce so she put teriyaki sauce on and said it was good. She ate both of hers, I just had one that was about 3.5 oz and that filled me up, so I saved the other one for later in the week. I found a ton of recipes online and looking forward to mixing things up a bit in the kitchen. If anyone has one of these and has recipes or tips to share, I'd love to hear them! Next purchase - AIR FRYER. (Before and after photos below, the teriyaki are on the left, the BBQ on the right)