FluffyChix

Get an orchid! They have 'em at HEB for $30.00 full of blooms and look gorgeous! They last a long time!

Talk to your doc. You NEED a big BM!!! And you need to stay on top of it. Do a search for bm's and constipation. There are at least 2 or 3 threads going right now on the subject. Also, it's very normal to go through HUGE emotions after this surgery. Not only the surgery but the hormonal shift of liberating hormones from fat make it difficult. Drink lots of water, exercise, get sun if you can and take deep breaths. I promise it passes and gets SO MUCH BETTER! ((hugs)) Welcome!

How exciting for y'all!!! Congrats! For the first time EVS I'm not gonna lie on mine.

BTW? I would be a starving hot mess if my doc put me on protein bars and shakes! I'd also have RH out the ass!

Go back to the basics! See above: 1 cup of food by volume per meal MAXIMUM. Lean dense protein first (2-3oz per meal by weight = about 1/2c to 3/4c of protein by volume)--NO SLIDER SAUCES, MEAT LUBE, CASSEROLES, CHEESY GOOEY, SLIDER MESS. Just use dense plain proteins: grilled chicken, turkey burger patty, fish, shrimp, ground lean beef or turkey, etc. Must be lean and the drier the better. You want FOOD TO STICK! 1-2oz of dense al dente cooked low glycemic veggies or raw veggies per meal = 1/4-1/2c by volume 1-2 tsp equivalents of healthy fat per meal (1tsp olive or avocado oil or grassfed butter or lard or tallow, 1/2 to 1oz of avocado, nuts, seeds, or nutbutters) If still hungry have up to 3 snacks daily no more than 100cals per snack consisting of (1oz protein by weight + 1-2oz of al dente veggies or raw veggies or low glycemic fruit + about 6-8 g of nuts or a tsp of nut butter) Drink 100+ oz of liquids (try to kick the flavored waters to the curb, they wake up cravings) so drink water, decaff black coffee, decaff tea (black, green, white, matcha). Do not drink or eat 15 minute before meal or 1-2 hours post meal. Stay hydrated ALL day! I swear if you can get through 2 weeks of doing this, you will be back on the road to success.

Yeah it takes me 12hours for MOM to work, 4tbsp dosage. Sometimes have to do 2 days in a row. But now I'm using my protocol, things are moving through pretty regularly! Yay. No mo' MOM!

Pretty smooth here! Would do it all again in a heartbeat! Loving my life!

Yeah. What they said! I skipped over puree to soft foods per my doc. Lots of poached fish, canned fish/chicken, and soft boiled eggs/soft scrambled eggs, Grk yogurt, cottage cheese, blended soups, mashed cauliflower, etc.

^^^ This. ^^^ To our docs, the most important thing is that we stick to our volume targets and don't exceed them. By doing this, we protect how big our pouches become with maturity! It took me SOOO long to "get this"! Cuz i'm very precise about data and logging! And it's hard to consistently log by volume. So my solution is to use 1/2c size measuring cups set on a scale. I use one measure to dice tiny pieces of meat, then weigh them. It's usually about 2 to 2.25 or 2.5oz of meat/fish/shellfish/lean protein per 1/2c volume measure. Then I use the other 1/2c measure to loosely measure my veg. Depending on density and amount of cooking/water, it's usually 1-2oz of veg. So I eat 1 cup per meal at 1 year. And about 4-5oz max by weight--about 2oz of protein per meal + 2 snacks. I get all my protein in that way.

Thank you! Jazz Hands! (and smoke and mirrors)

I'm back to walking 6-7days per week/1 hour per day. I weighed 222.4 on surgery day (Feb. 20, 2018) At 6 months I'd lost about 58lbs (weighed 164.6lbs) of my 72lbs that I'd set for 1st Goal (1st goal=150lbs). Now at 12 months (coming in 2 weeks), I'm working on my second goal: 140lbs and today I'm 6.8lbs away from reaching it. I doubt I will pull it off in 2 weeks, but I'm pretty close to being able to call 2nd Goal. I reached first goal on 11/02/18.

You know what happens when we cut corners on ourselves. Right? Part of what got us an invite to the Obesity Ball, sweetie! You wouldn't cut corners on your kiddos. So don't do it on yourself, it will have lifelong impact on them if you're not healthy and teaching by example: if something doesn't work fully or as it should, change it until it works again and succeed! What a cool thing to teach them. Persistence and engenuity!

I feel your pain! I've had to add all of the following on a daily basis to ensure that I have daily movements: 17g Miralax 2 Colace 11g whole psyllium fiber split into 2 doses in Green tea mixed with Cinnamon Apple Spice Tea Either: 1/2oz almonds + 1-3oz apple with the peel OR 1 GG brancrisp + 1tbsp almond butter 100+oz of liquids per day Eating my veggies: focusing on leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, broccoli (sulphorophanes), and raw fibrous veg Here are a couple of my food logs so you see how I incorporate all this. I'm a year out and eat 1cup of food per meal by volume (that's usually 2oz protein + 1-2oz veg + 1tsp healthy fat equivalent). I also have 1 or 2 snacks per day. (By following this game plan everyday, I'm now having a predictable, large, fluffy, satisfying, pain-free poop every dang livelong day! Yay me!!! It took me forever and several Rosemary's Baby "birthing" experiences to figure out what works for me. And no more ass-pounding Linzess!)

I do the same thing. They fill me up. And then I get to have things like salads with only a bit of nuts and low fat feta or blue cheese in them as an accent!

Congrats on so many things! You're weight loss from 300lbs Maintaining in a 10lb window for the last year following your honeymoon period Raising a family Working Going to school to provide a better future for yourself and your family. Recognizing you have an issue and need practical suggestions for change, rather than ignoring the situation. That's amazing and sure doesn't sound like someone who is failing WLS. Make sure to give yourself credit, cuz the morale very rarely improves with beatings. You know in your heart of hearts that you have a decision to make. It lands solely on your shoulders. And you already know the answer. The answer is you HAVE to want to choose to go back to the old rules from your surgeon that actually worked. Or if they don't work, then you have to find new rules. But at the heart of it, you must take action, quit rationalizing, have a game plan, and implement the plan. No one likes going "BACK" on a diet. No one. Cuz it's like 2-3 weeks of PIA and pain. You're not feeling satiety cuz frankly, you are rationalizing bad behaviors that contribute to the problem. Maybe you are: Eating too many carbs which cause blood sugar and insulin spikes which drive hunger. Eating too quickly of the wrong things Eating too much "comfort food that is sliderish" and lacks density Not eating protein first Eating the wrong kind of protein Not eating things that are low calorie and low carb that will help fill you up (ie al dente and raw veggies along with dense lean protein and a bit of healthy fats) Not following the rules about drinking and eating at the same time or in close proximity of each other Not fully hydrating Not taking time for you and not exercising etc. etc. etc. But these are all fixable things! The rules exist for a reason. They work! They get results! Honestly, sugary foods, and sugar alcohol sweetened waters make me MORE hungry! They wake up my cravings! Same with candy bars protein bars. To me those things have no place during active weight loss. All they are is crack cocaine that helps sabotage your diet and plays mind games with your resolve. Maybe some of you can eat them as a snack during maintenance in order to drive calories up to maintain? But they wake up cravings in most of us. I'm much better off eating a cheese stick and a hard boiled egg than eating a protein bar! Even beef jerky and cheese sticks are better than protein bars! They have P3 packs (cheese, meat, nuts or boiled egg, cheese, nuts) that can be stuck into a back pack! Easy meal on the go! Etc. There ARE solutions. They just may not be as "nummy" as a candy bar! But they ARE more feeling and won't drive cravings! Go back to the basics. Kick the taste of sweet to the curb. Meal prep on days off! Go back to eating "boring" easy button meals for 2 of 3 meals. You can turn this around and finish what you started without more surgery or diet pills...just sayin'!!

My RD has no problem if shakes still satisfy and allow us to easily meet protein needs. She things that using a shake to get a wad of protein in is a good thing, cuz it frees us from food obsession. That way, we could have more veggies either at a snack, or as part of the meal. I will have one whenever I'm hungry for one--just like a normal person. I don't drink "just a protein drink". I usually drink it in coffee, or I make a filling, high fiber, very nutrient dense low cal, low carb, low fat smoothie. (I'm usually craving one if I make one.) It keeps me full for hours and is very thick and luscious! I had one on Thursday I think?

Why not post a couple days of what you're eating since you have the logs?

I haven't had much success with any form of milk. Not sure why. I keep trying to reintroduce it about once a month. Maybe at some point I will be able to tolerate it again Probably lactose intolerance. You can try the ones that are lactose free maybe? You can even make homemade yogurt with them.

Thank you. I already implement done of those days into my diet, except for yogurt. My pouch no longer like yogurt sadly Can you drink milk? Like Fairlife Milk? Add a glass of that each day? Make it chocolate with SF Hershey's Choco Syrup!

Hang in there! Stay low carb and eat only to your doc's protein prescription for you. You won't lose ground!! It's better to go into the surgery with healthy kidneys hon!!! ((hugs))

Congrats on getting to goal and on maintaining. And huge cudos for doing therapy to work through your old "tapes." I think it's important (at least for me), to set up a "new normal" with a "new set of road rules" for eating/living. The old me is dead/gone/buried/grieved. In her place is this resurrected phoenix who is stronger and more capable of new things--embraces all new things. Sometimes I have to remind myself of this transformation and remind myself that the old rules no longer apply to the new me. They aren't my "recipe for healthy living." That helps a lot. One of the tools I use for the new future is IF. Through IF, I find that there is room on non-IF days to be a bit more relaxed in my choices. But at the bottom is my rule of 90/10 or even 95/5 more likely than not. That means I eat healthy, nutritionally dense, calorically light, and to my cals/macros 95/5 of the time. And that also means my hard fast rule is: #1 Eat protein first (dense, lean protein = 2-3oz per meal)>>then al dente light low carb veggies>>small amounts of healthy fat at each meal>>then low glycemic fruits if still hungry (I'm never hungry at this point--fruit is always a small snack with protein and fat). I don't have to "REMEMBER" to do this, or think it through. It's now a "NEW" habit. I work on it every day cuz I want to let it settle into a forever habit. You can do this. The only hard things are the things we CHOOSE to make difficult and hard. Doing things repetitively helps cement behaviors and actions and relationships.

Wow! Congrats girlie!!! That's amazing and fantastic success!!! I agree with everything that has been said. The body dysmorphia issue is a big one in my opinion! It took looking at monthly photos to understand the changes in my body. I still see myself as bigger than I am. As @Healthy_life said, have someone compare you to people out in public. I'm always amazed when I ask Mr. F. to do that and I see the people he picks! Keep doing what you're doing. I think you will know when you get to the weight where you need to be. The fat redistributes after about a year. So you won't look like "a bag of bones." Also, to stop losing, start adding healthy fats into your diet. They take very little extra space, and yet will add calories very quickly. Use full fat items like Greek Yogurt, salad dressings, avocado, butter, olives, olive oil, nuts/seeds/nut butters. It's super easy to get 200-400 extra cals in just from upping fats a little bit! That isn't even huge servings either!

I only see my nutritionist cuz she facilitates our support meetings each month. It's not one-on-one stuff. I got all my nutrition classes pre-op + the book bible. The other stuff I learned here. You're at 4 weeks. You had the typical 3 week stall most likely. Also you had complications and probably medications that have thrown you behind the curve a little. You've lost almost half your weight. Congrats! Seems like you are doing pretty good! Why not list some of what you are eating and your daily calories/macros? We can probably give you a pretty good idea. Also, list what stage you're eating at now per your doc.

How much are they right now? Thanks for the report!!

This is actually NOT a true statement. It takes a while for nutritional deficiencies to show up in your lab work. Most of us have beautiful labs at 3months... I was eating around 500-700 cals at 3months and eating about 1 cup of food.