DropWt4Life

Congratulations bro! You are definitely doing it! Keep up the hard work. You look at least 10 years younger!

Congratulations! You look awesome! Keep up the hard work.

You look great! I definitely wouldn't even recognize you. Keep up the hard work!

Good luck. I hope everything works out for you.

I wish you the very best in this difficult part of your journey. Remember to not eat at least 2 hours before lying down for bed, and stay away from spicy foods. I have found that taking 2Tbsp. of Apple Cider Vinegar every morning has helped to the point to where I don't need Prilosec anymore. I have been taking it for about 6 weeks now. Maybe it could help lessen your symptoms. Also, you don't need to do a keto diet to start losing weight. You just need to let go of the soft drinks and junk food/processed food/fast food. That should help you. Try to get some lean protein and veggies each meal followed up by some healthy snacks. I like to make my own P3 snacks, like raw almonds, Monterey jack cheese, and turkey slices. If you really want to get the weight back off, you are going to have to change your lifestyle and relationship with food back to something more healthy and balanced. Not an easy thing to do, especially with the added stress of school. You can do it though. Just take it 1 day at a time. If you still have your restriction, your tool can still help you. I hope that you are able to solve these problems without the need for another surgery. I believe that you can do it.

Are you doing a liquid diet? If not on a liquid diet, you could do a lower carb Thanksgiving meal. You can just find some lower carb sides to go with your turkey and/or ham. Cauliflower mashed potatoes, turkey stuffed bell peppers, collard greens, green beans, broccoli cauliflower rice with cheese, low carb cheesy skillet bread, low carb cheesecake for dessert. If you are doing a liquid diet, you have a decision to make. Do you start a day late? Your surgeon might not mind, but I would assume some surgeons will say that this is your first HUGGEEE test. Anyway, good luck in your journey.

Sleeved on 8/07. Down 65 pounds, have no problems with anything other than super spicy food (stomach acid), and beef (doesn't sit well). My levels before and after surgery.... 8/01/2017----- 10/14/2017 Blood Pressure 153/92----- 108/78 A1c 6.3----- 5.7 Total Cholesterol 214----- 142 Triglycerides 227----- 126 HDL 90----- 50 LDL 92----- 67 My HDL levels were a little low, but don't really have much LDL for it to protect against. I am not stalling, but my weight loss has slowed to about 1-2 pounds per week over the last 4 weeks since I started lifting weights. I am okay with that though.

It is definitely normal to get hungry late night if it has been hours since your last meal. If you have 2 ounces of broccoli cheese soup at 8pm, then you are probably going to be hungry at 10pm. You really aren't consuming enough. Think about it, you are consuming 6 ounces of broccoli cheese soup, and 2-4 ounces of sugar free pudding daily. That is less than 300 calories and a minimal amount of protein per day. I would be starving at almost 3 weeks out if I ate that much, and not just late night. Maybe you can add some unflavored protein to the soup. You could also use Premier Protein shakes to make your sugar free jello pudding. Finding a way to add in protein would help you stay fuller longer. Also, if you can't stomach protein shakes, maybe protein smoothies will work. Combine 1/2 frozen banana, 1/4 cup frozen blueberries or strawberries, 1/4 cup frozen mango or pineapple, 1 premier protein shake (I liked bananas and cream or strawberries and cream), 1 scoop unsweetened protein powder, 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 cup water, and ice. If you want to lower the carbs, omit the mango and/or pineapple, and add a bit of stevia or splenda for sweetness. I loved these while on full liquids, because 1 of these made around 36 ounces of smoothie. Altogether, the smoothie was around 60g Protein. I would have around 12 ounces per sitting. This would give me 3 of my meals. I would then have some pureed soup with unsweetened protein powder or bone broth 2X daily. I still stayed under 800 calories, and went over 80g Protein each day. Since you don't eat much, you could probably break this into 6 - 6 oz. servings instead and have it over 2 days. It will cut the protein and calorie counts in half, but it will still increase your overall intake. I start my day at 5am, and go to bed at 10pm each day. I was content with this, and was never hungry. I didn't do this everyday while on full liquids. Some days, I just drank Premier Protein shakes and broth all day. However, most days, I felt that I needed at least some veggies thrown in since I wasn't eating anything. Plus I wanted to avoid getting constipated. I hope everything works out for you.

You are eating a little less than 6 ounces 3X daily plus 2 premier protein shakes....What are you eating for those 3 meals? Can we have an example? Also, where are your total calories at daily? Are you snacking, and on what if you are? If you are not snacking at all, and your 3 meals are low carb, you should still be losing weight, albeit slowly. Your weight is only about 9 or 10 pounds from being in a normal range for your height, so it might be a little harder to lose quickly. You have also been doing resistance work, which will aid you in building muscle. You could have put on 10 pounds of muscle, and lost 10 pounds of fat, which would keep you the same weight, but make you leaner. Society makes us believe that we should all be the same weight based upon some model that they created, but it just doesn't work that way. I am 6'2", and 249 pounds. I am MUCH leaner than another guy that I work with, which is 6'1 and 235 pounds. My body composition is more muscle, and his is more fat. If your diet is on point, then keep doing what you are doing. You will see results over time. Maybe not on the scale, but in the way your clothes fit, and definitely in the way that you look. I have taken phentermine. I would NEVER take it again. It gave me the jitters, and I gained all 50 pounds back and then some after I stopped taking the drug. You cannot stay on it, and must do cycles. Not worth it in my opinion.

You made it! Congratulations! Wishing you good luck and positive thoughts today!

1. Celery and Laughing Cow Cheese 2. Carrots 3. Turkey roll-ups (turkey slices/cream cheese/chives) - So good 4. Homemade P3* with raw almonds, cheddar, sliced turkey 5. Homemade P3* with raw almonds, Monterey jack, sliced black forest ham, blueberries 6. Homemade P3* with cubed chicken, cashews and jalapeno jack 7. berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries) and Greek Yogurt or Cottage Cheese or Low Carb Heavy Whipping Cream** 8. Pickles 9. Sliced cucumber with lime juice and a bit of salt or other spice...Also good with hummus or avocado guac *If you don't want to make your own P3s (cheaper), you can purchase them from the stores. I love many of the combinations and pairings. Buying cheeses, nuts and the meats in bulk will be cheaper, and allow you to change it up for different flavor combinations. **Low Carb Heavy Whipping Cream - 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream, 1-2 Tsp. liquid or powdered Stevia, 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

Date: 10/13/2017 CW: 250.2

Thanks. If Ken can help me get it corrected, I will never touch it again. LOL.

Thanks. I can see them now. Any way to show 1 ticker instead of 3?

I hear lots of people saying that you should wait until the end of your first year before you should re-introduce bread, but I think you are ahead of the game seeing as you've already surpassed your goal weight. To be quite honest, I would have a slice if I wanted it. I would be careful to not have it often, but a slice every once and again shouldn't hurt. You know what you can handle by now. It is a good thing that Ezekiel bread stays frozen. It can last you quite a while. Congratulations on reaching your goal, and good luck reaching the new one.

This is what I see. There are no tickers present.

I have an Iphone 6s, and can't see anything either.

Striving....I don't see mine or yours. I know that mine was showing up twice weeks ago, but don't see it now. I am using IE 11 and Chrome 61.0.3163.100. I don't know what could have happened where some can view tickers and some cannot. I am going to mess around with my computer at work. We are working behind a firewall, but my actual computer settings have not changed. I can't view them at home either with either browser, and no firewall. I've never been able to view them on the app either. Thanks for the reply.

Ken, I really don't think that tickers are working now. Mine is turned on, but disappeared a long time ago. I have spoken to others that have had theirs disappear as well, and can't get them back. I haven't seen a ticker in a looong time, and I am on this site everyday. I think something might be wrong.

I think that the important thing to remember is that everyone is different. Just like there are those super thin people that can eat anything and not gain weight, there are people whose bodies respond better to these surgeries than others. People of the same weight and height also have different body compositions. We simply cannot compare our amount of weight loss to anybody else's. The attached pic is the same lady....Size 16 to a size 10....182 pounds vs. 181 pounds. The pic on the right has tons more muscle then the one on the left. My guess is that the lady on the left could lose 15 pounds faster than the one on the right, because she has way more fat to lose. If you didn't see this side-by-side, you would probably think both were the same size as they are the same height and almost the same weight. If the one on the right complained that she lost only 5 pounds in 3 weeks while the one on the left lost 15 pounds, you wouldn't have an answer as to why this was the case. By seeing the pictures, you can draw the correlation. Please don't get discouraged by others' success in relation to your own. All you can do is your best, right? Take one step at a time and one day at a time. As long as you don't give up, you can't lose in the end. Good luck my friends!

Don't feel bad monkeyol....My diet has been carb heavy for some time...It still is to some extent. I've done the low carb thing several times before, and can't be successful long term eating that way. I prefer a vegetarian-ish diet if you will. I only eat enough meat to get my protein in, focusing mostly on fish. I still eat veggies, ancient grains and fruit. Carbs aren't bad for you.....Bad carbs are bad for you, just as bad fats are bad for you. Most of the world lives almost exclusively on carbs for nutrition, and are not fat. They don't eat Frosted Flakes, potato chips, pasta, french fries, candy and other sugars though, Their food supply is minimally processed. If you would like to incorporate carbs into your diet, then opt for healthier, minimally processed carbs, and add them back slowly so that you can see how your body reacts to them. Don't feel that you have to eat that way forever, though. You definitely have choices, and must find which way works best for you for in long term. Good luck.

mandyf....Maybe you should try moist flaky fish instead of the chicken and ground turkey. I am now just being able to tolerate chicken and ground meats now at 9 weeks out. Fish on the other hand, went down smoothly for me. Other than that, get your protein shakes in so that your levels are still high enough. So, flaky moist fish or tuna, beans, cottage and other cheeses, scrambled egg whites, and protein shakes were my go-tos for protein at 4-5 weeks out. I still can't tolerate beef now (feels too dense going down), but can tolerate everything else. I think that you will find that with time, you will be able to eat almost anything. Good luck!

Anne, I am sorry you have had to go through so much in search of a long-term solution. I know it must suck. I had problems with acid reflux as well, and started a course of 2Tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar every day. I also got rid of spicy food. It seems to have done the trick. Maybe you could try that in the mean time while you are awaiting surgery. It might just help to lessen your symptoms. I wish you the best of luck. As to my reply to the OP, I would probably recommend the GB as well as it has malabsorption properties for your sweet tooth. You are probably going to dump like crazy unless you get that under control though, and it might not be a long-term solution if you don't. My main problem pre-op was portion control. VSG definitely took care of that one, but I will warn that NO surgery is going to help you if you can't get the snacking under control. Sugary and/or salty snacks, processed food, junk food carry lots of calories, and are more than likely the cause of your food addiction. Many of these foods are sliders as well, so they aren't going to make you full. You can still overeat most of these foods. A poster in another thread gave the example that a large bag of Doritos can be smashed down to a cup or two of food, and slide easily through your stomach without making you full. You aren't going to achieve much success unless you treat these foods like a good friend that you see maybe once or twice per month. Good luck in your decision!

I agree with Fluffy...Berry, your menus are really simplistic. I end up cooking a lot to get to where you are. I nnneeeedddd more veggies as well! I eat them often, but just can't get enough.

I hope that you find the answers that you are seeking. My reason for having surgery boiled down to the sheer amount of food that I was able to eat in a single sitting. I wasn't a huge processed food snacker. I was able to eat 5-7 cups per sitting, which didn't hurt me when I was eating veggies and brown rice. It did hurt me when I ate something bad though. Unfortunately, eating 8 slices of pizza, and 5 tacos on a cheat day derailed my progress during the other 6 days of my diet. I didn't have surgery with the hope that it would make me not want pizza or tacos. I had it with the hope that I would possibly be able to eat 1-2 slices of pizza or 1 or 2 tacos. I also knew that cutting that 5-7 cups down to a more manageable 1-2 cups would make a huge difference in the amount of calories I was taking in on a daily basis. I really had no idea that I would be eating 1/2 to 2/3 of a cup of food per sitting. Since surgery, I have had both pizza and tacos. I have made them myself though. Cauliflower crust pizza loaded with veggies, a very tiny amount of sauce and a very tiny amount of mozzarella cheese. Veggie sausage, egg white and spinach tacos made with 1/2 of a Flat-out light wrap. I could eat a little over 1/3 of a 9" cauliflower crust pizza, and it would be just over 150 calories. The tacos would be a little over 160 calories. That is a win in my book. I once took a month long nutrition class (for insurance purposes) that said that you can contribute at least 20-30 pounds of your excess weight to each group of bad foods you eat. If you eat salty snacks, sweets, fast food, drink alcohol.....Each of these groups can really pack on the pounds. I think that everyone must realize that this surgery doesn't help as much if your problem is snacking on processed junk or eating fast food unless you yourself are willing to change. 5 ounces of candy is A LOT of calories. 5 ounces of Doritos is A LOT of calories. 5 ounces of ice cream is A LOT of calories. These are all sliders, have almost no nutritional value, and will not make you full. Even a small cheeseburger and small fry from McDonalds will carry almost 550 calories. Have that 2 or more times per week, and you could still wreck your progress. There was a bariatric doctor that said that if you want to be successful in weight loss, you must do the right things at least 90% of the time. You will have stalls, but you can still lose fat during these stalls. Get back to your program. If you must snack, find healthy snacks that you like eating. I like crunchy veggies and raw nuts, but have an occasional turkey roll or two (turkey breast slices, cream cheese, chives). Remember, no surgery is going to overcome the brain's urge to eat junk food or processed food. You've got to learn to have that every loooonnnnggg once in a while, and hopefully, in the case of junk food....Make better choices about what you have. You can have a salad anywhere. Just don't pile on the dressing, croutons and/or tortilla strips. LOL! You can do this. It won't be easy. I won't be fun. It WILL make you stronger. It WILL be worth it in the end. Good luck my friends!