Apple1

Whole foods and the Natural Foods Co-Op near me do in fact sell dried fruits without any additives. They don't last very long though so you need to buy what you can eat. I am not a fan though. I much prefer whole fruits or frozen.

Dr. Greger does list the sources he sited in the video if you are interested in researching further. For me the take home message is that the iron found in plants, seeds, and nuts is good. We should definitely get our blood work done regularly as WLS patients so any deficiency found can be corrected with supplements if need be.

The liver store enough B12 to last quite awhile. I have forgotten how long but it was months. So he is probably fine. I am going to pick some up too. Just in case.

I have been holding off on cross training on the days I don't run because of a fear of doing too much. I feel great, but really this is a 49 year old body and I don't want to break it 😂. I enjoy running so much that I am not willing to do less of it to do other types of exercise. This maybe misguided. I am looking into yoga though.

Ah ok. I just dragged my lazy body out of bed today. I should have waited till my coffee kicked in before I started responding to posts ..lol..

I agree. I am working on getting my calories up. It is hard some days. I feel really good and don't think I am hurting my body. It is definitely a balancing act between eating enough and exercise right now. You make good points and I was just really pondering how many different diets can work and still be successful for WLS. Many people go low carb, I was one of them, and it isn't always necessary to lose weight.

I totally agree. My post was about what I have experienced. I was very nervous about bringing back complex carbs as I said in my post. However, my fears were unfounded. I was just wondering out loud if many people fear something they don't need to. Obviously we are all different and what works for me won't work for everyone.

That's too bad you lost contact. Maybe your paths will cross again some day. I am full of energy these days. Since I am off today I am going to take advantage and go to the park and get another run in.

I know many vegans and vegetarians. About half of my church are one or the other. Our monthly potlucks are always meatless. Some are the picture of health and some are whatI call junk food veggies. They consume way too much sugar, pizza, bread, ect...and are overweight. There is so much difference in how people eat. I hope to be a healthy WFPB example.

That looks so yummy. I guess it was a lentil weekend..lol.. I forgot to take a photo of my vegetable lentil soup. It did not last long my dh and son pigged out.

Lack of fiber is one of the risk factors for colon issues and cancer.

Don't worry. I don't like dried fruit anyway so I never eat it.

You can get omega-3 from some vegetables, hemp seed, chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, pecans, and some oils like olive and canola. Beans are a good source also. Vegetables have iron just in a different form than the heme-iron found in meat.

Please go and get checked out and let us know how you are doing!!

I have been adding either walnuts or almonds to my salads. I try to eat an oz of nuts a day if I can. I love pumpkin and sunflower seeds! I bought some ground flax seed to add to my morning protein shake and I keep forgetting to add it. The extra fiber can't hurt and they are also super nutritious!! I am also trying to eat some berries and other fruit a few times a week. I was lazy tonight and just ate salad for both lunch and dinner. I did add nuts lol. I thought I would have left over lentil soup, but my hubby and son polished it off for lunch. I am going to make the tofu Parmesan recipe I found tomorrow. It is kind of fun to challenge myself to keep finding new nutritious foods to add to my weekly shopping list.

I think it will happen over time as I am able to eat more. Right now I am really full with what I am eating. Some days I add in a protein bar which gives me more protein and a few extra carbs. I don't want to eat unless I am hungry so it is a balancing act right now for me.

This was my upbringing exactly. My mom like to use cream of mushroom soup to season everything. I think that is why I hate mushrooms now..lol..

I will be 4 months post-op on 9/15 and I can eat 1200 calories on the days I run. How much I eat at one time really depends on the type of food. Some days I can eat 4 oz of veggies with 2oz of a whole grain like brown rice or quinoa, and other days I can only eat 1oz of grains and 2oz of veggies. I can eat a 5-6oz salad easy. For me salad seems like a slider food, but because the calorie count for greens is so low I don't care. Beans of any sort fill me up fast and I can oly eat 2oz at the most. When I was eating meat 2-2.5 oz was about what I could eat.

This is why I like the WFPB diet because it isn't veganism at all. Not that I don't care about how animals are treated, but that isn't the main reason I am doing this. My focus is health and what my diet can do to improve it along with daily exercise. I tend to to agree with the 80-90% approach and that is why I am not worried about the small amount of dairy that I am still eating. I am more focused on including healthy foods into my daily diet and avoiding animal meats except in rare instances. I will probably need to supplement B12, but I will let my blood work dictate that. I think much of the enthusiasm you see from people that do change their diet is from how good they feel. It is truly amazing and when they get rid of chronic diseases they want to shout from the roof tops about it.

Here is yesterday (I didn't run) Breakfast- Sugar Free Chocolate syrup- 2 tbsp = 10c Unsweetned Chocolate Almond Milk 1.5 cups = 60c High Protein Mocha Coffee 2 scoops = 150 c Lunch- Asian Salad Mix with dressing 150 g = 240c walnuts .5oz = 92c Dinner- Uncle Ben's whole grain brown rice .5 cup = 95 c Homemade Lentil soup .5 cup = 65 c Cooked Red cabbage .5 cup = 38c Snacks- Half n half (for coffee) 4 tbsp = 70c Organic toasted coconut chips with pumpkin seeds, chia seeds,sunflower seeds 60g = 280c 1100 calories for the day Macros- protein 45g carb- 97g fiber- 21g fat- 62g Today I ran 4 miles so I will add an extra snack which was 4oz yogurt with 7 raspberries for about an extra 100 calories. P.S. I should add that I could not finish all of my dinner. I ate about 3/4, but I did not edit my entry in MFP so my calories were probably slightly less. It was close enough for me.

I spent 11 months eating a low carb diet, 30g net, most days. I did this because that was the prevailing advice for lowering my A1C, and the diet for WLS patients. Most of the information I read on these forums seemed to agree with this idea and many people would add back in complex carbs to help stabilize their weights when entering the maintenance phase. Well this has not been what I have experienced at all. I have increased my carbs to 75-90g through eating whole grains, beans, and fruit and I am still losing at a rate equal to or higher than I was prior to the change. I have decreased my daily protein to 45-60g from 60-80g depending on how well I do. My fat has gone down mostly because I am no longer eating meat. It varies from 30-50g. I have not experienced my usual 2 week stall after a period of 2 weeks of loss. Maybe this style of eating is something more people should consider? I don't know, but it definitely seems to agree with my body and my metabolism. I believe healthy complex carbs are not the enemy many people make them out to be. I have not experienced any crazy cravings either and that is something I thought might happen. I am eating very healthy and don't feel any danger that I am going to start eating junk carbs. Just something to ponder.

lol...Good morning @Newme17. You are up early girl... in your time zone.

I have been keeping a water bottle by my bed and I am making myself finish it before I get out of bed in the morning. It is helping me make up for what I don't drink during the day. I think I am only drinking 12oz of water, but I am still going by all fluids count. When you add it all up I am getting more than 48oz so I am calling it good lol.

Glad to have you here. We are all in this together😄 Stalls are a pain, but we all have them. I think I lose for two weeks then stall for 2 weeks. But I have been losing more regularly since the last one. I don't know why.

I started my weight loss journey last September 2016. I weighed 255 and I am 5'8". I went on a low carb, high fat diet. I lost 25 lbs from Sept till Jan, so about 5 lbs a month. Then I lost another 22 between Jan and May 15th, my day of surgery, so about 4.4 lbs a month. I have lost 39.5 lbs and I am 3.5 months post op for about an average of 11.2 lbs per month. So I have doubled my rate of loss with surgery, but I started running about 5 weeks post op where I was just walking before. I have the metabolic advantage of height, but I do have hypothyroid disease. Maybe I am one of those fortunate to be a rapid responder, I don't know, but I did have my RMR tested so I don't have to guess about that. I tested at 1970 so I have a rather high metabolism. I never went into this hoping to lose fast. I just wanted a reset and a chance to put diabetes in remission. I feel like the surgery did just that and I am responsible for the rest. I think you should not set your expectations too high. If you do your part you can expect to lose about average. If you turn out to be above average than great, but you won't be too disappointed if it takes a little longer.