NtvTxn

Today: B - 1 scrambled egg 70 calories, 6 grams of protein 1 slice of whole wheat toast (Natures Own) 50 calories, 4 grams of protein 1 cup skim milk while I was cooking, in a right out of the freezer, iced cold glass! 80 calories, 9 grams of protein L - of course I've already planned out what I'll eat!! 1/4 cup of solid white tuna in water, made with 1 TB of Lite Miracle Whip Miracle Whip 20 calories Tuna, 60 calories, 11 grams of protein 1% Cottage Cheese, 40 calories, 7 grams of protein I have thought about dinner, but haven't decided what I'm cooking, maybe my DH will grill some Cod, my absolute favorite, I think!!

You know, nobody has ever "SAID" to me that I took the easy way out. I suspect there are a few who think it and are secretly sitting back, waiting for me to "fail". Sad, isn't it??!! The few I have in mind, all three, maybe four, could benefit from 'taking the easy way out'. IF someone were brazen enough to voice that opinion to me, I'd have to say, "So what? BFD?" I don't really think it's true, I've always been able to lose weight, NOW it IS easy, or at least easier, to make wiser choices and resist when I need or want to. If anybody wants to call this the easy way out, so be it. Some of them should haul their fat a$$es to a nearby bariatric doctor and take the "easy way out" as well. Ok, that really was NOT nice.....but seriously, some people are nuts, I never thought this was an easy way out for someone, I may have thought they were crazy, but not taking the easy way out. I THOUGHT popping Phen Fen was much easier.

Yay, someone a little further out than me. So tell me, what should I expect in year #4? Did everything remain about the same as in year #3, hunger, amount you can eat etc? You look great, congrats!!

My daily caloric intake is 1300 calories, give or take 25. I really am not a lazy bum...ok, I am, but I don't sit around eating bon bons all day...well, I don't do this ever!!! I clean house, I have a 5 lb weighted ball that I toss around, these dang arms are the only things that really drive me nuts!!! I literally sprint up the stairs and make extra trips ON PURPOSE to put clean clothes away or whatever!! I do not and will not join a gym, I've done it in the past, and I might as well wad up some money and throw it out the car window. I lose interest really quickly, the things I mention, for instance, parking as far out as possible and walking into the store.....these things are part of my life. I just do it without even thinking about it now. So, although I'm not on a tread mill or elliptical machine, I am moving.

I have been maintaining for 2.5 years, but I vividly remember the time when I was losing. I "ONLY" lost 62 lbs in 6 months. About 17 of that was the first month.......the rest of it, slowly but surely it came off. Don't worry, it will happen. My caloric intake was LOW the entire time I was losing, starting out immediately at about 300 calories, but during about one month out and until goal at six months, it ranged from 350 - 800. Never above 800 calories. I felt good, labs were good. I had to find a way to INCREASE my calories to maintain. Now, at 3 years I eat 1300 calories per day, protein has always been good, starting about month 2 I had gotten the hang of it. Now, between 60 and 90 grams. Don't think of it as "ONLY" - think of it as gone for good. We didn't wake up fat and we don't wake up thin. Enjoy every lb you lose, don't freak out when the scale goes up and down a little. That is how I did the entire time.....but I knew there wasn't anything going into my mouth that shouldn't, if you're following the guidelines set out by your physician, you cannot fail!!!! Good luck, you're doing good!

I get all four calcium 'chews' in every day, just like the doctor ordered. I'm a little freaky about 'bone density' and all that. He wants me to have a bone density test every year, our insurance covers it 100%, so I do that too. Are you taking calcium citrate from Bariatric Advantage? If so, just put four out, or however many your suppose to take, at night and grab two first thing and leave the other two there or take them to work with you, whatever. It doesn't have to be at the same time every day, just when you think of it. To me, they seem like Tootsie Rolls, I wasn't a big candy person prior, but I swear these little things are almost a treat! LoL

I started getting stomach spasms a year ago, about two years after surgery. I don't attribute them to the surgery. I was afraid it was diverticulitis or something more serious, luckily it's not. Now I know the symptoms and when my tummy starts feeling a certain way, I start taking my medication. I did go to the doctor and get something to take. One pill every four hours, usually one or two and I'm fine. There is no rhyme or reason with this either, it's not like it happens when I eat certain food, but it is always after I eat, and I'm pretty sure, never the same food. I'll just start getting a bloated feeling. The first time, I had no idea, and it went on for three or four days, sometimes pretty severe pain.....I finally decided before the weekend, I should do something. I didn't want to risk ending up in the ER. Anyway.....very strange!

I kept my calories low like you are doing. Not because I really tried, but because I couldn't eat much. I didn't track or worry about carbs because my doctor didn't, not unless a patient isn't losing. I did good with my protein, I started getting in all 60 grams with food at 2.5 months. I ate meat, tuna, I always kept a bag of shrimp to steam, we grilled fish a lot, 1% cottage cheese and eggs, plus I started and ended every day with a cup of skim milk, I still do this most of the time. All my go to foods!!! You're doing great, congrats!

I was excited from the moment I woke up in recovery!!!! It's been a wild ride....and I've enjoyed every step!!! Strap in and hold on....and have fun with all the changes headed your way!

Kathy, We all fear re-gaining, which is why I suspect I'm a wee bit obsessive! I love what you've posted, your words reflect how I think! On the bright side, I just went to see my doctor for my 3 year check up. When I told him my "routine" - my "new normal". I asked him if I was a nut case. He said that (and I HATE these words) anal retentive patients seem to do good long term. I really prefer 'obsessive compulsive' but I thought I should quote him! LoL I chose to take this as a complement!!

I'm an "extra ice" kind of girl, but the first ten days post-op, I wanted/needed it room temp or warm. Very weird for me. Now, I have glass glasses in the freezer at all times for my milk!!!!

While you are working on changing some things prior to surgery. Start eating off a smaller plate, a salad plate or a bread 'n butter plate. If you have children's silverware, use it. I have a seafood fork and that is what I use when I'm at home. Get into the habit of order food 'without butter' when you're out. Believe it or not, they brush almost everything with butter and it tastes just as good without it!! We also got into the habit of finding a menu on line before going to a new restaurant so we'd have an idea of what they have, what we'd order and if there was something we could order and share. I'm a pretty cheap date now days!!! There are a lot of little things you can "practice"!!!! Good luck!

Hey there, I wanted to say hello and welcome to you and to Cindeez!!! You'll be on the loser's side before you know it!!!

Maybe we can get a small group together and have a moment of silence, then talk about it!!!

Firefly - It is VERY liberating. Other than seeing my collarbone for the first time in years, this was probably the most exciting NSV I've had!!! Who would have ever guessed throwing perfectly good pizza away would feel so darn good!!!!!!?????

You're so welcome!!!

I think the disposable idea (and I cannot take credit for it, someone else was the brilliant one!!) is because you cannot look back and with a digital, there may be 10, 15, 75 other random pictures, in between monthly pictures. With the disposable, you have 4x6 pictures to lay down on the floor, bar, kitchen table....side by side and you haven't looked back at month #4 fifteen times previously!!! It's just really neat to have real, "old fashioned" pictures there in front of you!!

Kathy, you look GREAT!!!! I've told a lot of people about this, this is the first time I've made it a 'topic'. I guess I should do it every few months so newbies will see it!!!!

My husband and I share a lot but I'm the queen of a la carte!!! It's wonderful, isn't it?

Absolutely.....who needs it, when it's something like pizza especially, it NEEDS to go!!! Good stuff, like meatloaf, grilled chicken, it's allowed a few days, and if it isn't eaten, then out it goes too!! Re-training ourselves, that's the key and hopefully the next generation will NEVER hear "Clean your plate and then you're excused" OMG!!!!!!

LOL - so you DO understand how remarkable this was!!!! I knew someone would see what a big deal it was.....greatness, well, I'm not sure about that, but it was a "wow" moment!!! I'm sorry you weren't there to hear it first hand, I thought maybe I'd told it at our Saturday meeting!!! Oh well.....I'll repeat it, I'm sure!

Yay for you!!! I do the same thing!! I didn't go buy one, but I use a salad plate or when I was early out, I even used a little bread and butter plate!! A lot of this is in our minds!! I also eat with a seafood fork here at the house, almost all the time. I have a little one cup Martha Stewart bowl that holds ONE cup if full to the very top. I can eat out of this too some times. I too use to have the 'clean your plate' syndrome. A terrible disease, isn't it? I made it a POINT to start leaving a bite or two on my plate in the beginning, and I still do it pretty often. I don't know if you were at the support group where I told about a very exciting non scale victory......we made home made pizza, just the two of us to eat it, but it sounded good. I ate my little portion, one small slice and half of another. My husband ate 4 pieces and knowing how high in calories pizza is.....I put the left overs, 3.5 pieces, in baggies in the frig for Curt to take in his lunch. He saw me and said he did not want to take it, he didn't need it. So I opened the frig and did something that I've NEVER done in my life, I threw perfectly good pizza in the trash. I know this sounds crazy, but it was a real life changing, ah ha, moment for me!!! Throwing it away felt better than the darn thing tasted!!! I wanted to shout it from the roof tops!! Our way of thinking DOES change.....but it takes a while and many times, it still doesn't come naturally, but boy does it feel good! I still have the clean plate thing lurking, but I fight it!

I never worried about carbs, due to my physician, he didn't unless a patient wasn't losing weight. At the seminar the dietitian said she would not ask US to do something she doesn't do, so we were not told that we had to do FF, except skim milk. If someone couldn't do skim, then 1%. I can tell you when I got almost 2o lbs below his goal and needed to gain weight back, one suggestion my dietitian told me to try was go from skim to 2% for a while. I did, I regained what I needed to and then back to skim. My husband had a 95% blockage in his heart, he got a stent and the cardiac dietitian told us for him to eat/drink, FF or LF dairy products. We already did, so it wasn't a big deal.....we did cut out the amount of cheese, even though it was 2% cheese.....waaaay back. So this is what I have done, and it works for me. I know NOTHING about carbs, thank goodness I don't have to keep up with something else. I keep track of calories and protein!! Everyone has different thoughts on this, but I think my grandson's pediatrician made a good point when he went in for his 2 yr check up. "Take him off whole milk, nobody above the age of two needs to be on that stuff" LoL

I had a hard time stopping, I DID lose too much, my face started looking gaunt. I added calories back in via a couple of Snacks and gained ten or twelve pounds. I definitely lost more than I had anticipated, I'm very happy with the surgery and feel great!! I thought I'd be happy if I'd lose 50 - 60 lbs, who knew it would happen so quickly and easily??!!! I knew I could go lower, I knew I could get to a healthy BMI. I set a new goal, 5 pounds below my doctor's goal, and reached it in six months after surgery. I've been maintaining for 2.5 years!! There is a fine line between losing and maintaining, but you'll get the hang of it!!! Good luck!

Hi Amy!!! I am not offended, and I don't think you're calling me out!!I agree, we were made to move. I didn't "sit around" before losing weight, but boy, I never get tired since losing 85 lbs. It really is wonderful!! We went to New Orleans, parked our car in a parking garage and didn't see it again for four days. No doubt we got our 10,000 steps in every day. We walked every where. We walked so much I had to buy a pair of flip flops and take my Toms off, I got a blister on my heel!! I think my favorite 'exercise' that isn't exercise, is folding the clothes and running up and down the stairs to put them away here at home. Funny thing is, I don't consider it exercise, but I guess some would. LoL About the skim milk, we switched totally to skim almost twenty years ago, but when my husband got a stent in his heart a year prior to my surgery it was a must. We had to meet with the cardiac dietitian and after talking to her and his cardiologist, our way of life changed drastically, he says there is nothing like having baling wire shoved up your groin to get your attention! There are some things I cannot waver on, no matter what is said, we must err on the side of caution and listen to the cardiologist, it was a real wake up call!! I do use 2% or whole milk in my coffee when we go to Starbucks, it's a treat!! Thanks for the post.....have a great first week of July!!!