NtvTxn

I agree with you.....I want to know where I am calorie wise. I have my daughter doing this and she is not a WLS patient! She'd gained a little when she had her baby 4 years ago. She has been on myfitnesspal for 2 months now and is 15 lbs lighter. Fifteen was her goal, now she is going for a five pound pad!! Hey, I know I'm obsessive, actually my nurse said I was a 'bit rigid', and early on, while I was losing, I was......but I "freak out" over very little! I never have. Up and down, up and down, that is what normal people do.....this is all a game to me, I have fun, it's part of my life. Weighing daily, weighing or measuring food and tracking calories.....is my new life, as natural for me as breathing. I can't imagine paying almost 13k, out of pocket to have 85% of my tummy removed.....and then, that's it. I am very aware of everything I do. I am not deprived of anything, but I am much better at resisting and making wise choices when I need to!

So tracking calories is bad, why?

Giving up chips and soft drinks are a good thing, surgery or not!!! You will have to make very wise choices during the honeymoon period, to make the most of that time. After you reach goal, you can eat what you enjoy cooking. You may change the way you prepare food though. If you are use to frying food, high calorie gravy a lot of bread, those are probably things you'll want to do much less....healthier for everybody. I cook and eat like I did before, nothing is off limits other than cokes, but there ARE things I CHOOSE not to eat. I seldom eat chips, I do not keep them in the house. We were at a church bar-b-q two months ago and along with my hamburger patty, I had six or seven Fritos. I have been maintaining for 2.5 years now, you'll get use to your new life and you will be in control, food will not be!!!!

Go to the El Paso Times, the Juarez section - http://www.elpasotimes.com/juarez or just do a search on Juarez. It will scare the bejeebers out of you!! LOL

Ditch soft drinks, chips and bread. Cut out ALL snacks, that was hard for me, but I did it and lost 23 lbs prior to surgery. I only had to lose 15 lbs. LoL

I like the regular, Quaker, Old Fashioned Oatmeal. I cook it with water (it says water or milk) and to make sure it's not dry, you can add a tiny bit MORE water. I add a teeny bit of Lite Butter, I mean a tiny bit.....and I use Stivia to sweeten it. You can also use spray margarine instead of butter.

It's just the way it is.....unfortunately. I have a few FAMILY members who have never said anything really negitive, ONE has never even acknowledged that I've lost over 80 pounds!!! I am serious. One DID say, this is great if this is what makes you happy. Well, it has, but of course I was not unhappy before, but it is sooooo fun to shop for clothes now. Shallow, maybe, but I'm kind of like the Honey Badger, I don't give a ****

I didn't even consider going over the border, I went one time for an all inclusive vacation, but it was still scary. The us not to get arrested because there is nothing he could do to help us. Very sad, when I was little, my grandparents live in El Paso. We use to park and walk across the bridge to Juarez. I remember watching the glass blowers make all sort of things. It was very touristy. People can not do this any longer with all the drug cartel. There are shootings/murders right there where we use to go. People have gone over there never to be seen again. The lady who booked our trip for us, did tell us not to leave the resort unless it was a planned group outing, but it was best to stay inside the resort until we are picked up to head back to the airport. I'm still kind of a rebel, but we stayed put!!

You sound like me, that is how I was, not hungry and got 200 - 300 calories per day. After I got a 'This is fine if you are feeling good' from the doc, I reveled in the fact that I was eating so little, didn't have an appetite and felt good!!! Don't push it, eating so little sure helps things along and you'll gradually eat more and more. I'm three years out and eat less than a cup at each meal. Actually I eat that at dinner, at breakfast and lunch, I eat much less.

First week it is only broth, as far as soup goes, after that with full liquids, it is cream soup but none of the chunkies. I was specifically told no potatoes in any form. Actually, my dietitian said, when I asked about pureed cream of potato soup, "Why would you want to sabotage yourself?" LoL Heck, I just used cream of potato as a 'full liquid' example!!! I did NOT eat cream of potato!! My doctor never worried about carbs unless a patient isn't losing, then it becomes an issue. For the first month, I couldn't eat more than an eighth of a cup of broth or soup....also SF Jell-O. I was never hungry and was sooooo excited that I wasn't hungry! LoL

Thanks, one of these days I might try it, just for kicks to see how I do. Like I said, I was not a 'coke' girl prior so not having them at all is not a problem. I would guess I averaged four or five a YEAR!!!! Oh, and I was picky, fountain coke over crushed ice. Never a big one, but loved to have one at a theater with pop corn, thankfully movies at a theater are few and far between!!! Now days, the smell of the pop corn when I walk in the lobby before the movie smells scrumptious, so I go straight to my movie. I always have some graham crackers or something to munch on, and a bottle of water!!

Sadly, nothing you named is 'off limits' to me except soft drinks. There are things I CHOOSE not to eat, I.E. scalloped potatoes and macaroni and cheese, but I had pizza Sunday after church. The difference is, now I have one piece of a large pizza or maybe two of a sm or medium pizza, always choosing the smallest slices.....where as prior to surgery, I would split a large pizza with my husband. I suppose you could say I am on a low carb diet, a low calorie diet or a low fat diet......I say I am on NO diet. I feel like I eat like a naturally thin person. It was ALL about portions with me, not junk food, I've always preferred a New York Strip steak with a loaded baked potato over chips, soft drinks or donuts!!! I still eat the steak and baked potatoes, but now I weigh and eat 4 oz of grilled steak and 1/8 cup of baked potato, and an eighth of a cup of 1% cottage cheese and 4 baby brussel sprouts VS a ten oz steak and a large potato. Not even mentioning the side salad with low fat ranch (of course, low fat!!!) with croutons!! OMG -seriously, THIS is how I got fat over the years. Splitting, buffalo wing for buffalo wing at OutBack with my husband!!! The things we did....gross me out now! I started reading labels 15 months before I had surgery, eight months before it even crossed my mind. DH had chest pains and shortness of breath. Heart cath, 95% blockage! Praise God, not a heart attack, he was lucky. It changed our life and how we ate. He dropped 40 lbs in less than a year, some people thought he was sick but in all reality he was healthier than he'd been in years. He was in his late 40's!!! I had to meet/we had to meet, with a cardiac dietitian before he was discharged, and I attended two cooking classes at the hospital, sponsored by the cardiac dept. We went home and threw away a LOT of things, all the things that listed partially hydrogenated in their ingredients.My point is this, my life has changed, my relationship with food has changed. It's all a game to me and I'm winning. This is what I do now..... Small portions. I weigh and measure all my food. I log it on line and keep my calories between 1250 and 1350 per day. Exercise, well, I am not an exercise guru, it was NOT the reason I lost weight. I made lifestyle changes, this is my new normal.

I have no idea what you posted, but as a former smoker, I hate it. My mom was a smoker, she died when she was 3 years older than I am now....from lung cancer. (she was 56) I continued to smoke for another five years. Quitting was the most difficult thing I've ever done, but boy, I feel so much better. It's been sixteen years and my intolerance to smoke and my sensitivity is shocking. I carry nose spray with me because if I happen to walk through cigarette smoke, or am near a smoker, I get all stopped up and cannot breath. I can smell a smoker just by passing them on the grocery isle and can smell it on someone who walks up to our door. I can't believe I went from smoking a pack a day to cigarette smoke triggering a migraine many times. It's bizarre.

better body, better health and cute, cute clothes!!!!

Don't sabotage yourself. In the long run, you'll be glad you gave up and resisted. I reached my doctor's goal in five months and my personal goal, five pounds less, a month later. I did not have one sip of alcohol until a year out, probably more like fourteen months. This first year is your honeymoon period, get the most bang for your buck.

I'm a success story, so far anyway, but I am also a 'bad girl'. I did not and do not exercise. Let me add to this, I do NOT sit around on my butt eating bon bons, but I am not a gym rat or an exercise guru. I do park out in parking lots, I walk the malls and shop and I am up and down our stairs numerous times a day cleaning house, putting clean clothes away etc. I even bought leg weights to wear around the house and I do have a 5 lb weighted ball that I toss around every so often. I know me and I KNEW that since I have the attention span of a four year old, I'd never last on an exercise program for more than a few months. I did NOT want part of my weight loss to be because I was hitting the gym every day or every other day, but I'm smart enough to know I had to make lifestyle changes I can live with, FOREVER and I did just that. Prior to surgery I started eating on a smaller plate and most of the time I eat with a seafood fork. I still do this. I started logging my food on line, and I still do this. I started weighing every morning, first thing, and I still do this. As soon as I was discharged from the hospital, I started weighing and/or measuring my food. I still do this. I think all these things are important and all of them keep me aware of what is going on, what I am doing. It all is second nature now, like breathing. I reached goal, with no problem, without exercise. I don't advocate doing this, but for me, it's worked.

Since I was discharged from the hospital, I started each day and ended each day with a cup of skim milk. Three years later, I still do this. The others have very little protein, about the same as a serving of Ritz Crackers. LoL Anyway, I really don't know about the carbs someone mentioned, my physician never focused on carbs unless his patient isn't losing like they should. The skim milk counted as part of my liquid for the day and the 9 grams of protein per glass, is always nice.

Don't feel overwhelmed, it will become second nature, just like breathing!!! I am not sure what they want from you now.....I'd call and double check. I will tell you what I did, what worked for me, and in my humble opinion, I can't imagine what I've done wouldn't work for everyone. At the seminar we were told, 'Dr. Davidson wants you to know, this is a way of life, not a diet' Ok, I'm on board!!!! From the day I was discharged from the hospital until I reached MY goal, six months later, I treated this as the most important, strict diet of my LIFE!!! I've been on plenty of them......this was serious business to me, I had a honeymoon period and I knew I needed to make the most of it. Absolutely not one bite, not one nibble of anything fried or sweet. Bread was minimal and chips or even "baked" fries. Nooooooo, none of this passed my lips. That said, since I reached goal, nothing is off limits except carbonated drinks. There ARE things I CHOOSE not to eat, or to seldom eat, but it is MY choice. I am aware of every single thing that I eat, I do not do the mindless eating that I was prone to prior to surgery. I eat sweets, a couple of times a week, I'll even have something fried, but seldom and not much. Four or five French fries or four or five pieces of okra. I'm happy and still have room for the Protein I need to eat. It is so much easier to make wise choices now, it is so much easier to eat a few bites of something, and then stop. This is not a diet to me any longer, I have changed my lifestyle, I keep track of everything and when I'm at home, I weigh or measure my food. I love it all, it's like a game.....and I'm winning. It is habit.

Keep in mind, this is not a diet to be followed for a while then set aside and forgotten. This is a permanent lifestyle change. We are learning to live like 'naturally thin' people live and eat.

Does anybody else feel like the doctor's in Mexico must beg or bribe their patients to get on here and do a little free advertising? I mean seriously, you seldom if EVER see that with one of our own physicians here in the United States, ONLY the doctors in Mexico. Of course, being married to an IT guy, who is suspicious and paranoid by nature......I automatically am skeptical. Kind of like reading the headlines on the Enquirer Magazine, you know what is more than likely FALSE!!!! I like my doctor, I'd use him again and would have no problem recommending him. In fact, I have recommended him, but I always include a second, maybe a third doctor here in the Dallas area that I KNOW is good and is a Center of Excellence physician AND who I'd have considered or did consider using. I do not and WILL NOT exclusively recommend my doctor unless I am on the payroll for marketing on his behalf. LoL I was just wondering if I'm alone, if I am the ONLY one who has noticed this. There is one reason and one reason only to go to a doctor in a different country. Money, and I totally understand that, but lets be honest here. It isn't because you've found a doctor who outshines all the MD's here in the lower 48. I had the nurses cell number, which was answered from 7 AM until 11 PM, 365 days a year. I had a one week, two week, three month, six month and one year follow up. All included in the price. I have a dietitian at my beck 'n call. Nutrition classes that are included the first year. This is not exclusive to MY doctor.....this is pretty standard with most of the U.S. doctors. If it's about money, I get that, but none of the posting seems to ever say that, none ever day, "If money is an issue, I found Dr. So 'n So, located in Juarez or wherever.....to be a good physician. Blah, blah, blah. Ok, I'm through! 'Nuff said.

I was such a 'bad girl' yesterday - I made a home made peach cobbler, home made vanilla ice cream. Believe it or not, when I entered the recipes into My Fitness Pal, the cobbler is almost double the ice cream, in calories! I had two servings of each between 2 PM and 9 PM. I weighed 149.2 when I went to bed, but Praise God.....I was back down to 146.4 this morning. I was afraid I'd be about a pound more than that. But today, back to normal. I love it that life feels like it MUST feel to naturally thin people. Eat things that aren't in your everyday diet, but go back to normal the next.

Hey girl - I want to ask you a question. Does the carbonated drink bother you at all? It was the ONE thing Dr. Davidson said 'never' to......I was not and have never been a big soft drink girl, so it was not a problem. It's not like he said NEVER to a piece of chocolate cake or something like that. LoL Anyway, I seldom drink, but every so often, maybe once a month or ever two months, I use to like to have a glass of Captain Morgan and Coke and Coke Zero was my choice. It has been three years and I was just wondering, would I be totally a bad girl to do this? My new drink, when I DO have something is Malibu Cocoanut Rum and pineapple juice. It's not bad, but it's not the captain an coke. Just curious! Give me your thoughts.

You could be on a 'doctor supervised, lo cal/lo fat diet' That in essence is the truth.

I DID get to skinny. I look at pictures and now I can see that I did not look good. My doctor's goal was 150, I wanted to have a 5 lb pad. I reached 145 and couldn't stop. When I got down to 133, I was freaking out, and so was my husband. Not really, but we were both concerned. I'm just under 5'7"....so I was pretty low. I talked to my dietitian and she told me to add calories back. I wanted to re-gain a little, so I did, 142 and I started looking better. Now I stay between 144 and 146. This looks good and feels good and I find it really easy to stay here.

Men are funny. My husband feared that we wouldn't have our Friday night dates. He was scared I'd never be able to eat with him again. LoL Reassure your husband that he will NOT do without food, and before your know it, he'll be sharing with you!!! Mine never did without, six weeks out, we were basically eating the same things. He started eating healthier a year prior to MY surgery due to a health scare. 95% blockage in one artery. Life is good, better than ever, and normal.