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Kity, I am starting to get a little bored with my menu at this time and am looking for recipes to add a new dimension. Usuallly for breakfast I will have boiled eggs with mayo or laughing cow cheese; lunch is tuna salad or a hamburger patty with cheese and some salad. For dinner it is similar, chicken or beef, broccoli and then my treat is blueberries with a little cream. For snacks I rely on cheese, almonds, Atkins shakes, avocadoes I hear ya on the eggs. I think I am growing feathers. :thumbup: Good luck!!

Hi all! Wow - I went out of town on a mini family vacay and had FIVE pages of posts to catch up on. Busy, busy thread. Annika, I think you have a wonderful idea where we could run several different topics related to low carb but all in one spot. Mamato3 - glad to see your great loss after TOM! I am there now and it ain't pretty. Bonnie - sounds like things are going in the right direction for your surgery. Good luck! I was down 2.8 this week for a total of 9.4 for two weeks. TOM has hit though and the scale was actually up .4 today. But I plan to keep plugging away.

Hi all, Weekly weigh in for me - down 6.6 lbs for the week! :cursing: I went to Costco yesterday to load up on meat, cheese, eggs, etc. Mamato3 - I was watching a low carb YouTube video yesterday and he was talking about hidden carbs and that each 8 oz of Crystal Light is 1 carb. That totally surprised me! Plus each Splenda packet is 1 carb, too. They have deceptive labels - I would never have thought to count those items in my diet. Also, TOM sucks - I bet you get a whoosh soon. Renewed - I understand about the stix. I am blowing through my bottle of 50 in no time. I will join you in the once a day pee-pee stick challenge! bloo - that is an awesome accomplishment!!! WTG!

Holly, that was great information on sugar alcohols. After the great reviews I ran to Walmart (well, drove, LOL) and got some of the Caramel Nut Chews. OMG! Deee-ricious! Had one as my after dinner treat and this morning have gone from large ketosis to trace ketosis. From the calculation in that article they have 9.5 carbs! I had counted it as 2. I guess for me they will have to be a "once in a while" treat. I am still kind of bummed because I was under 30 carbs for the day. I was going to try some strawberries or blueberries this week to see what would happen to my ketosis. I'm a little gunshy now.:biggrin:

Bonnie, I have tried a couple of the salad dressings which were decent but I can't imagine peanut butter with no peanuts! I'm enjoying using Hidden Valley Ranch dressing on my salads. Let us know what you try and how you like it.

Woo Hoo!! Renewed, I am excited, too! Got into moderate ketosis yesterday and as of this morning am down 5.4 lbs since Monday. The cravings have gone bye-bye, too. I just hope I can stay strong. That is my plan - to take personal responsibility for my actions. My other plan is to now have a one directional ticker! LOL! Mine has been like a zipper lately - up, down, up, down. Have a great day, everybody.

Well that just bites! If there is one thing you can hope for with diarrhea, it is that you will lose a few pounds! Don't worry - you will get back in the groove. I just started today and in a farewell to carbs I managed to gain 3 pounds this weekend. Ugh! Are you guys counting calories, fat or anything else besides carbs? Just curious.

Hi y'all! I have stumbled across this thread at the perfect time! I have been seriously considering changing my diet to low carb and what an incentive now to have some support with it!! I need to get some ketostix and get my pantry filled so I can get started. I know it is difficult but after really only maintaining since my slip repair I am ready to start making progress again. I just got a fill that I think may finally get me the restriction I need.

Thanks for the great ideas everybody. Looks like a trip to the grocery store is in order for me. Well, one day down, twenty to go! :heh:

Hi all, Well, I just got back from my doc's office and I have a slipped band. All 6 ccs of my fluid was taken out. I've cried my eyeballs out and am ready to get to business. I have to be on pureed foods for three weeks which should be interesting as I have an out of town conference next week for three days. Then I go back for a swallow test and if it has not fixed itself, then I have to have surgery to reposition. I am just sick about this. I have no idea when it occurred as I've been eating okay. Just had some really horrid reflux and heartburn. What I'd love to know - what is your favorite pureed food item. I am going to need an arsenal to get through these next few weeks. Please, please, please - if any of you have any questionable symptoms, get in to see your doctor. I keep thinking I might have avoided this had I been a little more on the ball. But again, I didn't have any terrible symptoms until just recently.

Hi everybody, I have posted in quite awhile but I am reading with interest all the band issues! I am with you all, too. I am seeing my doctor in the morning because I've developed some mighty nasty reflux and am praying that there is no pouch dilation or slippage. I haven't had a fill since last September and I really don't think I'm too tight since I can eat and drink just fine. I just seem tighter! Oh and Pinky - when I called the doc's office last week about this reflux, they said LOTS of people are having issues with allergies and sinus drainage which is making the bands slam shut. I haven't noticed any extra drainage but I guess it could happen. I'm thinking planets are misaligning somewhere to throw us all in this tizzy.

Barbara465 - your house is awesome!!! Pinky - I am so with you on that "head hunger" thing. The last few days I feel just out of control! I start the day well but just have that desire to eat all the time. Granted, not as much as I used to eat, but more than I think I should. I contend with all those same thoughts you listed and there is some truth in each of them but I guess all those years of diet mentality really did a number on me. I think I've gotten better at telling when I'm really hungry. My problem is wanting to eat when I'm not. Then I think my metabolism is going to bottom out if I only eat a little bit in a day. I plan to take it one day at a time - I have a big faculty luncheon today so there is going to be lots of food and I'm going to have to really play it cool and not try to stuff myself. If I can get a successful eating day under my belt hopefully I can build on that.

I am seconding all those ready for a new start in January. I kept a food log a couple of weeks ago and was horrified over my food choices. I really need to clean up what is going in my mouth and get moving on exercise. It seems I still have a "fat" head and the desire to eat when not hungry is still with me. I don't want to damage my band either and am going to really try to adhere to the bandster rules regarding protein and water. I have totally let those slide lately. Congrats to all the losers!

Barbara, Prayers going out for your husband, David, and your whole family at this stressful time.

Hi everybody - Glad to hear Thanksgiving went well for so many - I got side-lined with the funk but luckily got some antibiotics the Wednesday before Thanksgiving so now all that lingers is the nagging cough all day and all night........ Much positive thought to those nearing goals! How exciting!!! I'm intrigued by this thicker saline - I wonder what they put in it to weight it down? Oh and side note on my heartburn - A couple of weeks ago, I stopped eating a couple of hours before bed and drank some aloe vera juice and I've not had any problems since! Good thing, because since my insurance changed I have to get my doctor's office to write letters of necessity so my visits and fills will be covered. Have a great day!

Goodness, all you guys Christmas preparations awe me! I can't even think Christmas until I get Thanksgiving done! We have one tree and I am letting my 16 year old daughter pick the color theme this year so it will probably be end up being black on black...... It's our first Christmas in this house so my husband is actually going to do lights along the roof lines and the outer edges. That's how my dad used to do it so I'm excited about that. Haven't even begun shopping either......

Wow, I just had to chime in on the hair issue - mine is coming out in handfuls. I wash it every other day because each shampoo day is awful. I'm using Nutri-ox shampoo from Sally's and haven't noticed any special difference but I'm appalled that I can lose so much and still have hair on my head! Plus, I'm hypothyroid and don't always get in my Synthroid. I'm tired of seeing my hair on the floor all over the house........

Thanks for the advice Barbara. I have my six month appointment coming up in about 2.5 weeks. I will definitely address it with my doc. Til then I'm gonna eat early, stay away from the offenders and see what happens! Congrats on getting rid of the pants. I haven't done that yet. I'm waiting for the day I'm walking down the hall at work and my pants just fall off. Now THAT's a wacky NSV!

But you know what I like - being able to take my pants off at the end of the day without unbuttoning them! They just slide right off. That's a thrill for me! Like many of you I have several sizes in my close so it's like getting new clothes without the expense.

Hey fellow June surgery people - Wow, I'm so excited to have found you guys and so very impressed with the great success many of you are experiencing. I think I'm doing well with my band - slow but steady considering I don't always follow all the rules all the time. I've been having a little heartburn lately - does anybody deal with that? I had my last fill on 9/9 and had to go back to have 1 cc taken out because I had horrible acid reflux and it got better immediately. (I'm at between 5 and 6 cc in the big band.) But at night I tend to have issues if I eat to late (need to change that). Well, glad you all are here!