Creekimp13

Chapstick! Your dry lips will thank you.

Lounge pants! You want something to put on your butt under your hospital gown that you feel comfortable roaming the halls in. Lounge pants (pajama bottoms) with a loose waist...comfy and affords you a little modesty getting your walking in the halls done.

Stuff I eat that's high in carbs: Fruit, fruit and more fruit. Lentils, Chickpeas, Oats, Brown Rice, Beans, Split Peas, tofu, nut butters, whole grains, oatmeal, hummus, protien pasta, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc... I avoid refined carbs and high glycemic index carbs. Don't eat much sugar except fruit. Less than 75 naughty calories per day.

I follow Mayo Clinic Diet. Lots of fruit and veggies and carbs. Get about 50% of my 60g+ of protein from carbs. This is what my diet looks like: Lots of ways up the mountain:)

Normal. I almost never go over my calorie limit, but when I do....you can put money on it that it'll be in the days just before my period. And I crave steak afterward. Weird!

They're about 50% of mine:)

Relatives still visiting. Little niecey wanted to go to a water park yesterday, and it was the first time in years I didn't dread sitting around in my swimsuit all day with everyone:) Found a very cute suit with sort of a hybrid swim skirt boy trunks kinda bottom and a very flattering swim tank top. Super comfortable, and damn if I don't look pretty spiffy! Hubby kept grinning at me and checking me out. Doofus. LOL. It was nice:) Niecey drug us all down the water slides. OMG, so much fun! It's been a long time since I tried it, and it was just so joyful. Hubby got a huge kick out of doing the slides with me and the kiddo ran me up the slide so many times I must have gotten 60 stair cases in...if only my Fitbit were waterproof! (feeling it a little today!) Afterward, we went to an alligator sanctuary because my weird biologist daughter wanted to hold an alligator:) Was actually pretty interesting. Who knew alligators could be trained to come to their names? I was very surprised by the vocabulary some of them had developed for commands! Life is good. My favorite thing about the weight loss...is the reduction of stress. No more concerns about my back hurting and finding a place to sit down. No more concerns about having to push to keep up with my athletic crazy family or the EverReady Rabbit niecey. No more concerns about stairs or weight limits or walking distance. Just makes life so much more enjoyable:) I like being up for an adventure:) It's about damned time.

My personal feeling...is that the honor system is good enough for a free message board on a site which has the primary purpose of selling bariatric products. A couple more reminders here and there if people continue to violate suggested protocol...seems like the wisest course of action. (to me) That said, I don't participate in gender restrictive rooms because I think they're kinda stupid in 2018....so it doesn't affect me. I was just pointing out that it is a potential legal civil liberties issue...because I like the site, and believe there is enough volatility among the membership to red flag a potential legal issue with gender exclusions. (if your purpose is to sell stuff...err on the side of caution and avoid this nonsense...hell, i'd avoid "gendered" rooms all together) A good business model would be to weigh the business generated by these rooms against their maintenance, controversy, and potential problems. Are they worth it? Maybe they are. I don't have enough data to know. Either way....it ain't up to me. And I'm glad of that.

Try marinating salmon in soy sauce, lemon pepper, and splenda brown sugar for a few hours. Then, throw it on the grill for a couple of minutes on each side. OMG, so good!

I drank a couple ounces of mead recently. It was tasty, but I drink less than a handful of times a year...so I can take it or leave it.

When you are eating starvation level calories...and stressing your body with a major surgery that requires massive calories to do repairs....you indeed can be hungry. REAL hunger. Starving children in Africa Hungry. I could have chewed my leg off I was so hungry....days after the surgery. Starving, weak, miserable hunger. It wasn't until I was eating about 1000 calories a day at three weeks that I felt better and no longer experienced hunger. These days I eat 1200 calories a day and almost never feel hungry. It gets better. You're not broken because you're hungry after surgery. Some people are and it makes perfect sense that they should be. Some folks get the benefit of nausea and soreness and natural hunger suppression from trauma. I envy those folks. LOL. And I don't. Because even though I had to suffer hunger....my stomach is awesome now. I tolerate nearly everything, I don't have any nausea and never have. Benefits and drawbacks to each experience.

Start with walking. Go a little further (more steps) each day to build up your fitness and endurance. Add some gentle cardio like a stationary bike or elliptical. Water aerobics was my go-to in the early days. Slow, gentle, and done in a heated therapy pool.

I get a ton of my protein from carbs:) Whole wheat english muffin = 5g protein Baked potato = 5g protein Serving of Protien Pasta = 11g protein Veggie burger patty = 10g protein 1 cup canned mushrooms = 3g protein One slice health nut bread = 4g protein Flapjacked Mighty muffin = 20g protein 200 calories raw oats = 11g protein 200 calories brown rice = 5g protein 200 calories split peas = 14g protein High protien bariatric diet does not have to be low carb:) You do want to avoid refined sugars, and high glycemic index carbs...but low glycemic whole grains and legumes are wonderful healthy foods. At least Half of my daily 60+ grams of protein come from plant/carb sources:)

You could ask your nutritionist. I, personally, ate watermelon at 3 weeks with no issues. But different people have different plans and recommendations (and tolerances)...so it might be best to ask.

One reason I won't do keto...is that I will eventually lose my shite, and binge on keto. It's inevitable. (for me) If my body doesn't get enough carbs......I will eventually end up falling off a cliff. I can bide my time for a while, but it's a constant heinous struggle. I crave sugar, I feel tired, my brain doesn't feel sharp, I feel cranky and out of sorts. And I hate struggling. Sucks the joy out of life. For me....avoiding binges came down to changing my diet to lots of carbs....but the low glycemic whole grain and legume kind, and natural sugar in whole fruit. Mayo Clinic Diet is a perfect fit for me, and I love it. My nutritionist and doc approve. And I've never been happier with how I eat. I eat a ton of carbs....and I don't have any urge to binge. None. This past year...has been the first time in my life I've felt comfortably in control of my eating. I do eat naughty things once in a while, but my diet limits sugary treats/refined carbs to 75 calories worth per day. (If I know I want 250 calories worth of birthday cake at a party at the end of the week...I'll save my 75 calories per day and bank for the splurge) With this system, I don't have to deny myself anything. Eating healthy carbs daily...I don't crave sugar. It's much easier to pass junk up and make better choices. The last time I had a treat I'd banked for, it honestly kinda grossed me out and I wanted a big glass of water. To each, their own. Everyone's different. Wanted to share...cause I understand binges...and this finally worked for me.

Arthritis in hip and back 80% improved with weight loss. Not completely pain free, but so significantly improved that I medicate maybe once every 1-2 weeks....and only with Tylenol. (I had used 600mg ibuprofen twice a day)

Blood Type diet is pure magical thinking and is unsupported by studies or empirical evidence. https://www.acsh.org/news/2014/01/21/eat-blood-type-diet-debunked That said...placebo can be good medicine. If this magic feather helps you stick to a structured diet, chances are good you'll see some benefit.

Many people do follow keto long term and are happy. I'm not one of them. My preferred diet is a diet rich in fruits, veggies, legumes, seeds, nuts and whole grains with at least half of my protein coming from plant sources. Lot of different paths up the mountain. Know the benefits and risks of whatever plan you choose. Best wishes.

Because whether or not a person is a weight loss veteran is quantifiable and provable....and not political. What gender a person identifies as is more of a gray area, could be legally be construed as a buisiness discriminating.....and is very political. This is why "business economics" could play a role in one, but not the other.

Was reading the "mourning the person you saw in the mirror" thread, and while I don't miss myself as a chunky monkey...there is something that I am kinda mourning. The last time I saw myself skinny....I was in my 20's Now, I'm looking a lot thinner...but wait a minute....where the hell is that 20 something girl? In my mind...skinny me was eternally linked to young me...and it's an adjustment to realize that even though I'm thinner now, I'm 46...not 26. And I know that sounds weird...but it's like my only reference for skinnier me...is way back in the 90's. Was I really expecting to look 26 again? Nah... But it's different, you know? It's out of alignment with my memories of the only time I experienced fitness. A fit 46 looks way different than a fit 26. 46 year old people have a few wrinkles. We droop a little here and there. And it's ok:) But yeah...kissing youth goodbye is something I never did as a fatter person. Was too busy worry about carrying around 100 extra pounds to think about those 20 extra years. Isn't that weird?

Trust your saner self. You made the decision months ago and have worked hard. You got this.

I did not do well with eggs until I was a couple of months out. I did well with oatmeal or cream of wheat with an extra scoop of protein in them.

I'm considering giving up my protein bar habit...real food is smarter this far out. I still want to keep caramel premier protein around because I love it in my coffee in the morning. I only drink about half a shake a day, so it's not a huge part of my diet. I lean heavily in the veggie protien direction. I eat a lot of vegan meat substitute...soy and mycoprotien. I eat a lot of beans and mushrooms and whole grain goodness. Pea protien with Brown rice protien is my go-to for adding protein to baked goods and soups. Never met a bowl of fancy oatmeal I didn't like...or a bowl of refried beans with sexy toppings. Yum. And...ya know...some vegetarian chili dumped on a baked potato is a fine thing:) Gotta say, I'm a sucker for protein muffins. Mostly, I make my own with oats, pea and brown rice protien powder...but sometimes I buy the Flapjacked Mighty Muffins that Bariatric Pal sells...and OMG...they taste incredibly naughty and they're not. Really good. I love me some protein pasta, too. Chock full of chickpeas, lentils and fava beany goodness. I think I actually prefer protein pasta to regular white pasta now. Trying to work more fermented foods into my diet to get the probiotics working for me. I do still love the occasional steak salad, chicken stir fry or pork chop....but it's a twice a week kinda thing. And I do love salmon on the grill lately. So good that way! I marinate it a little lemon pepper, olive oil, soy sauce and splenda brown sugar. Comes off the grill crispy and so so so delicious. Congrats on working toward vegan:) Your heart, circulatory system and kidneys thank you.

Just takes time. They do fade.

Lots of soft foods have protein. Greek yogurt, oatmeal, refried beans, cottage cheese, soft poached fish, split pea soup Also, you might be able to tolerate protein bars soon if you stick with smooth texture ones that don't have seeds and nuts.