mylighthouse

So very true, 100% agree with you.

Congratulations on your weight loss! You're doing great, keep it up!

Holy crap! So glad to know this, I am anemic and my iron and B1 levels are very low. Been kind of puzzled about the whole thing but like you, I am a lover of my caffeine (mainly coffee, some tea), and am not willing to give up my habit either. Anything but my caffeine! Appreciate the info on the tannins, etc.

@ChaosUnlimited oh my gosh, that looks so freakin' delicious! If I was hungry right now.....yum!

@Creekimp13 I vote for posting a "what's for lunch" thread everyday, because I really am enjoying the sharing and ideas that this thread has brought forth.

I have looked up and down every stinkin' aisle at my Sam's for the parm crisps. No luck finding them, guess I just need to make my own!

I have been wanting to make these, just haven't done it yet. I bet they would be good with my homemade yogurt-ranch spinach dip, hummus, and a lot of other things.

Boring lunch for the day: 3 oz leftover chicken thigh meat and steamed slices of red peppers. It was good, but tonight's dinner of boneless thick-cut pork chops and sauteed spinach and onions will not be as boring. Snacks dispersed throughout the day: 2 oz chicken thigh, raw red peppers, 1/2 an orange and already ate my low-carb Atkin's salted caramel nut bar between breakfast time and lunchtime.

@FluffyChix craziness!! I'm northwest of you by over an hour in Bryan/College Station and we got a very small amount of ice...mainly everything was JUST south of us. Have friends in Houston area.

Wow, what a difference!! Looking great, thanks for sharing and congratulations on your success!

My husband is from Nova Scotia, Canada. I am from Texas and that's where we live. I have been to Nova Scotia a few times and it's beautiful there. On one trip, my husband took me to a beautiful spot with an old lighthouse. I fell in love with the place and then started to kind of collect lighthouses.

I am 14 months post op and hit between 900 and 1200 cal a day. From the beginning post op, up until 6 months, I was hitting only 600 calories a day. I hit a few weeks at 6 months where I stopped losing weight. I went for a visit with my nutritionist at that time, and she said at the 6 month mark, I needed at least 800 calories. Sure enough, when I started hitting 800, the weight started dropping off again. Prior to month 6, even with only 600 cal a day, I had already lost around 70 pounds. My nutritionist really had me focus on getting in my protein, lower carbs, fluids and vitamins those first months. Calories were never really mentioned prior to that 6 month re-visit with her. Definitely, with me, I have found it very difficult to reach the calorie limits that other people seem to be able to reach. Even now, at 14 months out, I have to eat about 3 meals a day, which exist of 3 oz tops of protein and a few bites of veggies. Totally fills me up. Then I am able to get in a few "snacks" a day which consist of things like part of an orange, raw red pepper slices or 2 oz rolled up turkey sandwich meat. Sometimes this "menu" doesn't get me above 800 calories, so I will have to throw in an Atkins low carb bar just to boost calories. Sometimes I think that I am the only one this far out from surgery that struggles to get ìn a 1000 cal day. I even joked with my surgeon and said he must have made my stomach super small. He said that wasn't the case. I wouldn't worry too much at all if you aren't hitting 1000 cal a day as early post op as you are. You mentioned you aren't always hungry, so that is good. Eat when you are hungry, hit your protein and carb goals, liquids and vitamins. The calories will come.

Didn't have gallbladder out at time of sleeve. 14 months post sleeve surgery and had to have the good ol gallbladder out almost 4 weeks ago. Gallbladder surgery was at 8:30 am and I was given a sugar free pudding and something to drink by 10:15 am same morning and then they sent me home before 11:00 am. WOW! Sleeve surgery I was in for surgery in the morning, kept overnight and then on my way home by noon the day after surgery. Easy peasy. I agree, good idea for your husband to get you up to your room after surgery and stay with you for a bit until you get the pain under control. My husband held on to cellphone and I didn't take any calls. He handled all that. Only people that came up to see me were my parents who are in their 70's, I was fine with them coming. They didn't stay long at all. If you don't want visitors, don't answer cell calls and when the hospital asks you if you will allow them to give your room # out to visitors, tell them "no". Do yourself a favor and take the time to rest.

No, you will not have to give up caffeine FOREVER. I followed my nutritionist's instructions to a T. Started with cutting all caffeine out at 2 weeks propior to sleeve surgery. I love the taste of coffee, so I drank a couple cups a day of decaf. Then, in the first 3 months after surgery, I continued with my decaf coffee. I was allowed to start regular coffee at month 4. I did. Two cups a day in the several months following month 4 post op. I make sure I drink a lot of water during the day and evening, that is important through this whole post op journey, but especially when you start drinking caffeine again. I may get flack for this, but I drink 2 pots of regular coffee a day now, and have been doing so for a couple of months. I am 14 months post op and still losing with 140 pounds lost so far.

Oh man, duh. I'm sorry...I used to take over-the-counter Prilosec and it did nothing for me. Didn't realize there was a prescription strength. Are you on the prescription strength? I know that Prilosec OTC is for occasional heartburn only. I agree that trying a different ppi might be a good idea. Hope that will help you.

Wow, what a huge difference! You look great, keep up the awesome work!

I just wanted to say that your surgeon should have put you on a prescription strength med for the GERD. I am on a ppi called Pantoprazole. I am wondering why the heck he didn't put you on one. It should help you quite a lot with the problems you are having. Please tell your doctor that you want to be on a ppi. Then there will be no need for Prilosec, Zantac and the like, which for many people do absolutely zilch for their problems. Call your doc today. If he won't put you on a ppi, then go to another doctor. I am very sorry that you are having the issues. It must be very difficult for you. I hope you feel better soon!

@Staceymorrow hope you feel better soon, definitely get into the doc soon and find out what is going on.

Interesting. I have been having pain that mimics gallbladder pain (had mine removed 3 weeks ago). The pain has gotten pretty bad, but refusing to go to ER again. I thought maybe I was taking in too much fat. Possible? Trying to lower my fat even more to see if that helps. If it doesn't, then possibly sphincter of oddi. Sorry to hear of your troubles, thanks for sharing. Glad your pain is gone.

Hello, I had my gallbladder out 3 weeks ago. I am coming up on 14 months post op. I started having pain about 6 months ago that sent me to the ER NUMEROUS times. They always said constipation pain, which had been a SERIOUS daily problem for me for several months, until 3 weeks ago, when I had my gallbladder taken out. Now I have regular, daily bm's. So, during every ER visit, they did ct scans and x rays which never showed anything pointing to gallbladder. They did a ultrasound a couple of months ago that showed a couple of gallstones or polyps, they weren't sure. Then last month was a HIDA scan. It was normal. The next week, I had to go to the ER, the pain was so bad. Those last few weeks, my pain was presenting itself as classic gallbladder pain, or so the docs said. @Losebig For me, symptoms were: Pain above belly button, upper abdomen, sometimes all the way right under my right rib, sometimes pain on right side. Pain was constant, stabbing. And yes, it was worse after eating. Chest pain. Severe nausea and some occasional vomiting. Pain sometimes in my back, mostly right shoulder blade area. Symptoms can vary from person to person, as you will read. Apparently, a lot of people get diarrhea, for me, it was constipation. Oh yes, after surgery, my surgeon told me my gallbladder was in bad shape. And that was with normal HIDA scan etc.

I apologize for being a day late. Weigh-in this morning is 196 lbs. Thank you for the work you put into running this challenge, Kel. It was great to be a part of it.

Way to go and congratulations on your success!

Wow! You look great! Congratulations!

Wow! That is amazing, you look super! Congratulations on your success and thank you for sharing.

Hello friends, Thought it was time to share. I am 21 lbs away from my doctor's goal for me of 175 lbs, although I might want to set another goal if I reach his goal. My surgery date was 11-14-16, so almost 14 months ago. My high weight 10-1-16 was 334 lbs. I now weigh 195 lbs, so I have lost a total of 139 lbs. It really is hard for me to believe. Getting the surgery was the best decision I could have ever made.