Berry78

You might check out a college, sometimes they have testing available for their physio majors.. might be cheaper than a private practice. (I need to check into it too!)

For me, if I use my starting weight, the calculator has my end at 171. If I use my day of surgery weight, my end is 184lbs. So it does make a difference. Either number is fine by me, since both are SOOOOOO much better than 300! LOL!

Oh, I see what I did. Oops. Forgot to subtract your losses preop from your starting weight. Ok, so I got it to end at 124lbs.. so still significantly below your goal. It's possible the calculator isn't very accurate, but fun to play with, regardless

Ok, I didn't make it clear. Sorry. The "what percentage do you expect to lose" section should be played around with until the numbers on the chart align with your actual losses. So for you, at 5 months post op, you weighed 185lbs, right? That aligns with 100% loss (not Apple's 125%), so your end weight should be 138lbs. Still 10 pounds under your goal, so you're doing great!! But, thank you for pointing out the HW, vs. day of surgery weight dilemma. I think you are right that we should be using our day of surgery weight instead of heavy weight, and that does make a difference to the end goal.

Since belching helps, the gas-x strips should help too. Glad you are otherwise feeling better!

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/information/planner+results.php Type in your starting weight (209 is what I put in), 5'8, and percentage lost is 125%. This shows that as of 3 months postop you would weigh 173lbs, which is what you did. According to this calculator, you are on schedule to make it to 136lbs. So maybe my 130 guess was a bit low

I had that. I decided it was either acid (hopefully you are on acid reducers), or it was soreness leftover from being intubated during surgery. Since it only lasted a few weeks postop, I'm inclined to guess it was the latter.

Most people are between 800-1000 calories at 9 weeks. Maybe a bit of background will help.. how much/what are you eating? Did you have trouble losing weight preop? (Most people can lose, but can't keep it off.. occasionally there is a person that can't lose at all....) Health issues?

Oh, oh, oh..! I just needed to celebrate for a minute! I jumped onto my hubby's laptop, where I can see my ticker, and as of today, my BMI has dipped down low enough that I would no longer qualify for weight loss surgery through insurance (Even with comorbidities!) Woo Hoo! To start out morbidly obese, then be severely obese.. now I'm just obese (class 1)! So excited!!!

I have a crystal ball, but it just sits on my mantle collecting dust (actually it is a crystal globe.. very pretty ). It's true, I have no idea what your set point will be, just giving a guess based on your starting weight, current weight, and lifestyle.

Something most people aren't aware of.. the 10 pound "sign on bonus". As soon as we start a diet, we get a "free" ten pounds that come off almost instantly. So subtract this 10 pounds from what you lost during the preop diet to get your "actual" preop weight loss. So, with that in mind, you only actually lost 3lbs in two weeks preop, which is the same rate as postop. Now you see that this is your normal, and can expect to continue losing about a pound a week until getting closer to goal. Revamp your expectations for future losses, and take the stress off. I lost 16lbs during the 2 weeks preop and have averaged 3lbs a week postop. It works!

Probiotics won't hurt. And even if you never liked seafood, with your taste changes you might be surprised Just make sure you try GOOD seafood that is fresh and well prepared.

I've thought about those gut bugs too! Lol.

I've thought about those gut bugs too! Lol.

Your tastes will continue changing for the next year or so. But for now, just concentrate on protein from dairy, nuts, seeds, beans, eggs, seafood? You might have to continue using protein shakes... Good luck!

Double post. Oops.

I'm thinking cottage cheese, yogurt, protein shakes, etc.

Contact your doc. Probiotics can help with diarrhea caused by antibiotics.

Ok, I totally didn't even realize you were only 3 months out. Kiss your goal goodbye. Start thinking about your body planning on becoming 130lbs. A vegan that runs is gonna have trouble keeping even that much weight on. And I'm not saying that with an attitude... it's just plain true. But, you still have 40lbs before getting there, so you have time to figure things out (I sure would have to wrap my head around some things if I were told I'd be hitting 130! Lol. No worries here though... I'll end up around where you are now or heavier).

NOT tracking got me into this mess. Even with kids, you should find 5 minutes to write stuff down. Journaling is so good for lots of things!

I strongly believe that exercise does not impede fat loss.. although it may make you hold onto fluid, therefore impeding scale losses. But when you take a break from daily exercise, then you'll let the water go, and "magically" the scale moves again. This makes it seem like exercise was a problem.

Lol! TMI but.. yes, I take care of my own needs, but that doesn't seem to make a difference...

Absolutely. If you decide to add dairy, a pint of whole milk has 300 calories, so you would burn that off with your running. (And it's fluid, so doesn't replace a meal). I think these #s are why Dr. Matthew Weiner doesn't talk about strict veganism.. it is just so hard to get our calories up!

Ok, so let's talk calories. It would be great if you could get your BMR tested to see how many calories a day you need in order to maintain your weight while sitting around. It might be 1200, or 1800.. hard to say without a test. But, for this post, I'll just say it's 1300. Now, add running/walking around/daily activities to that. I forget how much you said you run, but if it's 3 miles a day, you need to add about 300 calories. A couple hundred more for daily activities, and you need 1300+300+200=1800 calories a day. 3oz of things like beans and sweet potatoes have around 100 calories. 1oz of nuts has 200 calories (rounding up) So, if you can eat 4oz of nuts plus 5 meals with 6oz each of starchy veggies, you can make your calories. Protein: nuts 7×4=28g.....sweet potatoes 5 3oz servings= 10g..... beans 5 3oz servings =35g 28+10+35= 73g protein without any shakes. Fat= 16g×4= 64g Carbs= about 176g/day These #s are just rough estimates, but give an idea of what is required to get calories up to the desired level on a vegan diet, while "minimizing" fat. You don't need that much protein and so can exchange some of the beans for grains.. but ultimately it doesn't make much difference. You still need to eat 6oz of food, 5 times a day. Can you do that? Keep in mind, these numbers are based on a lot of assumptions. With more info we can pin it down more.

Goggy didn't get to eat for weeks.. the eating is a new thing..