Search the Community

Hey ladies I am back!!! OMG my company just left. I thought they were leaving at 3pm .........................we have fun but I was hoping to go out to tonight but now I am not sure if I have time to pull anything together.......... I did give them all my unhealthy food to take with them........brownies I didn't get to try and rice casserole which I did try but didn't stay down to well............ Heather gonna check out your pictures. Girl the clothes I have for you are 18's you better come get them QUICK!! I agree with riley Dr. Baggs told me the same thing about the 42BMI and under doing good with the band. He told me the same thing. For me I think the vegetarian thing turned the tables for me. Also I wanted a back out mode if anything went wrong. they can take out the band if it doesn't work out....... Oh and my secret I was a big sweets person and a soda person. I don't eat much sweets and I don't crave them much anymore. IF I do I have a lifesave or two and I am done. Well ok I am done because I don't have any sugar in the house to indulge in and by the time I drive to store I would have talked myself out of it.............but sweets were my thing to and I really don't miss them. Carbs..........I still love carbs. But one day I will conquer my indescreet love affair with carbs.............I crave carbs more than sweets nowdays. Donna I wanted to call you but I am just now available....

They haven't given up the seniority list. It is a big mystery still. On our end I think they are still sorting through the details and trying to figure out who fits where............... Dr. Baggs just explained both surgeries to me. told him I was leaning towards lap band and he showed me the stats on both. But seriously I was frustrated cause he won't tell me what he thought was the best one for me. LOL. He did say that with my BMI of 41 that lap band seemed to work best on BMI 42 or below but he also stated that was a stat and depended on the person and the how they used the band. He did tell me that being vegetarian he would have concerns about the malasorbation part of the RNY. But he seriously won't lean one way or another with me. I tried to get his professional opinion but well ...............I chose the lap band on my own as you probably figured out!! My weight also is all over the place too. LOL Today I was having a hard time with protien. Breakfast and lunch I gave up by 2pm and just ate frozen yogurt which is bad I know but I think my band needed a rest today..............I am doing liquid protien tonight. Some days I just can't eat the protien without it coming back up...............my band is moody today!! I am afraid to see the calorie damage today with that frozen yogurt. I figured it was better than ice cream......

OK going to add my 3 cents work re: lap-band vs. RNY. I am the sole lap-band speaker at our 14-week bariatric surgery class here at the Santa Rosa Kaiser, so I know of what I speak! By the time I get to the class to speak - about week 6 - the folks have already had several successful RNY speakers come in, plus they have gone through the info class that you have to take first. In that class, they repeatedly call RNY the "gold standard" of bariatric surgery. But they do not bother to explain that "gold standard" does NOT mean that it is the best - it means that it is the baseline for statistical comparison. So when I ask how many people have already made up theri minds to have surgery, all the hands go up. When I ask those who already know for sure that they are going to have RNY to leave their hands up, there are only 3 or 4 that go down - the ones that will still consider lap-band. I do not beat up on either surgery - heck, SSF is doing gastric sleeve now too, so I guess I should say that I don't beat up an ANY of the surgeries - but I do ask that they consider more than just how fast they will lose weight. I tell them that this journey is about SO much more than which surgery you chose, which doctor you chose, and how fast you lose your weight. It is about the rest of your life!! You need to consider more than the immediate future. Do you want to NEVER be able to eat wedding cake - or birthday cake - again? Never be able to have a couple of glasses of wine without dumping toxins straight into your bloodstream? Because you CAN have the best of both worlds - good weight loss - MORE than 60% of excess weight with the new AP that we all have - good health - AND the ability to live life to the fullest without a lifelong malabsorptive component. My personal reasons for insisting on lap-band are: 1) Vegetarian 2) Did not want to never be able to drink or eat sweets again 3) No malabsorptive component - no re-routing God's system 4) ALL of the health professionals that I know who have had WLS chose lap-band. VERY telling. That said - it is a choice, and the choice is going to be different for every one of us. How blessed and fortunate are we that Kaiser allowes us to have these choices! I just wish they would get me into thatclass sooner so they would not all be so sure thay wanted RNY before they even heard about the lap-band. That was my second lecture this morning! I'm on a roll too Candra, LOL!!

Tina yes, I am back to 100% vegetarian again now (ovo-lacto, although I can't tolerate milk - the lactose OR the whey - but I do love my cheese and eggs!) but I am considering pescatarianism because I find that fish works REALLY well with a lap-band - and it does not seem so much like carcass to me. I could NOT do this program vegan, that is for SURE. So for any vegetarians lurking out there who are considering weight-loss surgery, lap-band is the way to go for sure! You can do this. In the beginning I committed to eating meat for 1 year during my rapid weight loss - although I told Robin it was only gonna be meat in cans - canned tuna & chicken - and she was totally fine with that (I did not know she was vegetarian at the time!). So I started eating meat again in November 08 - talk about irregular, BOY did I have issues around re-introducing meat! - and ate it until I went and met with Robin for my 1st fill, she looks at my logs and I was getting 200% of the protein I needed. She said that the body stores extra protein as fat, same as it stores extra anything, and I could transition back to vegetarianism at any time! So I ended up eating meat for only 6-7 months. There is a bunch of vege stuff that I can't eat - I have a wheat sensitivity so I cannot tolerate seitan at ALL, and even the lightweight meat analogs have wheat in them so I have to limit the amount (veggie brugers, etc). And you necessarily get a LOT more carbs on a vegetarian diet than you do on a regular diet where you can restrict them more, so the weight loss IS slower . . but also healthier! Oh and I could not do it without tofu!! I love good-quality tofu, and the firm stuff works really well with the band, too. I now average about 80 grams of protein a day, more than I need. I do have a concern (which Robin shares) with the high amount of soy protein that I eat, since I am adopted I have no idea if I have a family hisotry of estrogen-related cancers (breast cancer, etc) and people who have that familyhisotry are advised to limit their soy. I have soy (milk, tofu, edamame) everysingle day, so that worries me a bit. BUT I remain convinced that a plant-based diet is much healthier for anyone, and heart disease is more of a threat for most folks than soy. That's my lecture for the day!

Nicole I am a vegetarian and I think that makes a big difference..........................thank God I did not do RNY since I struggle with my nutritionand protien with the band!! But really I think my slower weight loss and struggles has some to do with my diet adn refusal to eat meat.............ah Riley can speak on that. WLS is not an easy road being veggie..........but doable!!

At my post-op, I had to meet w/the nutritionists. She asked about how I planned on getting my Protein as a vegetarian. I went through my plans. Then I brought up hummus and chick peas. OMG, she almost birthed a cow on the spot. The way she made it sound, chick peas were loaded w/worthless calories and the devil's fruit. LOL I still eat hummus and chick peas. My mom is Vegan. She told me about the Amy's products. A walmart about 40 miles away carry some of the Soups and three varieties of frozen dinners. I bought an Indian one and had it yesterday. It was very good. I bought some quinoa before my surgery. I still have yet to try it. I'll probably try making it this weekend. Thanks for recommending the cookbooks. I'll look into them!

Hi, I became a vegetarian last September (the month I had surgery.) I am now a vegan. I have never had problems getting Protein in (50-80 GRAMS A DAY.) I typically have a shake for Breakfast w/ soymilk, a large salad full of veggies w/ chickpeas for lunch, and my dinners switch up: 1. kale, sweet potato, & white bean coconut Soup 2. whole wheat Pasta w/ Beans & veggies 3. brown rice/quinoa with refried beans & roasted veggies (or skewer veggies 4. veggie burger meatloaf w/ roasted potato/carrots, celery & onions 5. Veggie Quesadilla 6. Falafel 7. veggie frozen dinner (like Amy's) 8. squash, zucchini, onions sauted with add in rice & kidney beans 9. veggie chili 10. boca chicken patty with corn on the cob 11. Saag Tofu (Indian saag panner dish made with tofu) I have great vegan cookbooks. My favorites are "La Dolce Vegan" by Sarah Kramer and "The 30 minute Vegan" by Mark Reinfeld & Jennifer Murray. Amanda

Okay - I am the oddball here. I am banded with no fill, but I am 10 months out. I was banded on September 5th and weighed 232. Since that date, I became a vegetarian, and then a vegan. Weight loss is not super quick, but steady. I am now 186, about half way toward my goal of 140. I decided that I have made such tremendous life changed (I was extremely out of control in my food addiction,) and I really am embracing this healthy life style. I decided that I have lost half the weight with the band (my lifesaver and only reason I am not 300 pounds today) and I now want to lose the other half without the band. So far I am loving it and more careful than when I had the lapband full. I feel like I was stranded in the middle of the ocean and the lapband was my lifeboat....It is time for me to swim...:thumbup:

Irene, I couldn't agree with you more! The band can be used in such a variety of ways, but I don't think it was intended to force a liquid diet on us so we can lose weight. You can just have your jaw wired shut if that's what you wanted to do! I believe that we need to be able to eat real food in order to nourish our bodies as well as our physical need to eat and enjoy our food. Fruits and veggies, meats, all of these things should be part of a healthy diet (unless you're a vegetarian, of course) and I think the optimum restriction level is one that allows you to consume these things, in smaller portions and then feel full from that. As I'm writing this, I have to admit that I am probably in that spot. There are times when I eat what amounts to basically a full-sized meal and immediately I worry and think that I need a fill. But for the most part, my band helps me keep to small portions and eat slowly. Honestly I would rather be not quite tight enough and have to exercise some willpower than to be overfilled and not able to eat a salad, or fruit. I think you're on the right track and I can understand why you are so over it--rightly so. You'll have to let us know how the unfill goes. Hopefully your surgeon won't give you any problems about it.

I'm a vegetarian, so I eat lots of fruits and veggies. I haven't tried eating apples, yet, as I'm only one month post-op. Though, I buy all kinds of frozen fruit at wal-mart. Such as various berries, mango and peaches. I make a morning smoothie using lite-soy milk and Protein powder. I add two fruits, what ever I feel like that morning. I buy bananas and freeze them for my smoothies, as well. Peel the bananas, slice them and throw a portion (about 1/2 a large banana) in individual zip-lock bags. I bought one of those blending wand things. I blend and drink in the same cup. I looked at the magic bullet gadget. But, I got the 250 watt wand for 1/2 the cost. It even can w/a food processor. I guess it's one of those, "To each her own" things If you're worried about Fiber, you can try a Metamucil-type product. I used to buy those apple flavored Metamucil cookies/wafers. That was my in pre-vegetarian days, lol. But, my hubs, who is a devout carnivor, likes those thins, which says a lot!. He's picky eater. If it's not meat or overed in hocolate, he's not interested! And he's pencil thin, to boot. It irks me so much.

I'm vegetarian, which really sent the nutritionist at my surgeons office into a panic attack, at the post-op meeting, LOL. When I told her I was keeping a 'Protein journal' and that I plan I keeping the Protein drinks as part of my daily diet, she was relieved. I use the Soy EAS powder, when I get at walmart. It comes in chocolate and vanilla. I do a protein 'shake' every morning for Breakfast. I use vanilla soy milk, a tablespoon of flax seed (for thos needed omega3 and 6's) a scoop of he protein powder and in stead of ice I use frozen fruit. This morning i had banana bluberry. It was YUMMY. I buy my fruit frozen. For bananas, I peel them and depending on their size, I ut them in half. I slice them, throw a protion size (for me about 1/2 a large banana) in a freezer zip-lock and immediatly throw in freezer. I get about 36 grams of protein, just in my breakfast!

Today, perhaps. People are a little more wuss about survival skills than they used to be, but I know the reason I don't eat much fish has more to do with annoyance at fish oil and bones than in any trauma I sufferred while gutting them. Can't say as I've killed anything large with legs, though the carcass probably wouldn't affect me. One guy I know -- very vegetarian -- try to put his dog on a vegetarian diet (he'd never had a dog before). Poor thing was getting sick all over before we convinced him that those canines were there for a reason.

Ahhhh, we all do it every now and again. It's part of the "process" we go through. Nonono... it wasn't rationing, it was what they grew and caught for themselves. Blech..... I have a hunch if we had to catch and "clean" our own food today we would have a LOT more vegetarians today. ;o)

But it's not just "what"... it's "how". "Eat It" was a tragically amusing song for one specific reason, which I think is very salient here: pretty much every lyric Weird Al put into it was something I'd heard *constantly* around me (and, occasionally, to me). "Have some more <cake, pie, whatever>", "Finish your plate, because people are starving in <name some random country that would never notice whether you ate less or not>", and so forth. In school and hourly jobs, we're encouraged to spend as little time eating as possible, but we still somehow need to fit in a meal whose size and content are pretty much invariant. This results, generally, in over-filling the plate with low-grade food, and stuffing it down as quickly as possible. If you're in poverty, the only foods you can generally get are primarily variations on starch mixed with more fats than needed for flavor, nutrition, and satiety: rice, potatoes, white bread, Pasta, ramen, with oil, butter, cheese-colored-substance, salt. If you're in a culinary backwater, you're pretty limited to what your neighbors eat, because it never occurs to you that there's something else. I'd never heard of romaine lettuce until college, and had pretty much no concept of broccolli as anything other than the mushy, bitter monstrosity Bush Sr would eventually decry, again until college when I discovered Chinese food was more than just chow mein. I'd never touched cilantro until after college, and just this year I introduced my brother to Indian and Thai food -- he's almost 30. All these things pile up, and additives or not they really complicate matters. I highly suspect most folks you're referring to (farmers, etc) didn't have much in the way of desserts, except on rare occasions when they could afford them (I certainly don't remember Laura Ingalls mentioning frequent desserts). Bacon, eggs, meat, potatoes absolutely -- this is what they could grow themselves. Sugar? Not so much. Maple syrup? More often, but you had a limited harvest time if I recall (eg, winter). What sweeteners they could grow would be most likely: berries, fruits, beets, all of which have much more to offer than straight fructose. Sugar and hard candies were available, but how often could a family afford it in the volumes we'd consider "normal"? We have more purchasing power for stuff we shouldn't eat than existed in the past. We've become very efficient at making cheap swill. Overall, of course -- definitely much more active. But the quality of the food was also different, and the price a bit more dear. I used to pop Vitamin C pills *as* candy when I was younger :tongue_smilie: I agree on this point. There are a lot of folks out there feeding their kids soft drinks. Even infants. It doesn't help that you walk into a store to pick up something to drink while you're out, and discover the Water is more expensive than water that's got a lot of flavorings added to it. A couple weeks ago. I actually scolded someone else's child (pre-teen, but more than old enough to know better). I caught her under a closed check-out with her toddler sister, snarfing down a candy bar. Her excuse? "But it was just lying on the floor!". Can we count how many things are wrong with that statement? I mentioned it several times, loudly, in the direction of her mother (at the next check-out, trying to figure out how to write a check), who didn't notice. But the girl gave me such a look of hatred, it was precious. What I really wanted to do was grab her mother by the hair and drag her over so she can see some specific points of failure-to-parent. I read (tried Romeo and Juliet by seven, and War and Peace by eight -- got lost in the first party or so). Revenge of the Nerds was pretty accurate. I also did marching band, which was much more enjoyable than PE, no offense to my uncle. PE was just a way for the jocks to exclude the nerds even more. PE in college was much more interesting: rifle, fencing, scuba.. no rope-climbing, dodgeball, or other ways to set up the non-athletes for failure and humiliation. Physical Education needs a drastic overhaul -- there is life outside of ball sports and track, and it would better target the folks that need it. But for most folks, that's a very accurate assessment. Cut out flour, sugar, corn, and rice. How large would your local grocery store have to be to hold everything that remains? Eating healthily means spending more per bite. The fact that we can afford to take fewer bites is a seperate issue. I think you allude to this when talking about your local dollar store. A few weeks before surgery I hopped onto Amazon hunting for WLS cookbooks. Have you *read* the customer reviews for some of them? There was one book that dared to step outside of Middle American cuisine, and suggest such things as Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, or East Asian foods. Complaints ensued from unimaginative (and unassertive) housewives. Primarily: - "I can't pronounce this un-American, heathen word. How can it possibly be edible?" - "I live in <cultural ghetto>. I've never heard of <insert spice other than salt and pepper>, therefore I can't possibly use this recipe." - "This isn't macarroni-and-cheeseburger-pizza! My kids would never eat this!" (did she ever try telling them to eat it, or go to bed without that can of caffinated corn syrup?) Mmmm... rabbit. :frown: You can keep the Beans and aphids (they primary source of Protein, and significant one, every time I went to an organic vegetarian restaurant run by a Buddhist monastary in San Francisco). Oof.. My BMI when I entered my bariatric program was just under 50 -- I'm a little on the lighter side for what my surgeon typically works on. Did you tell her she had to change, to save her daughter? I would have, in no uncertain terms. But afterward, I would also have gone to her daughter's physician and slap the hell out of him for not reporting this as a form of child neglect. This child *didn't* get this way overnight, and probably not from something like Cushing's syndrome. The child's food intake is primarily dictated by the parent. I'm glad she was thinking of ways to reverse her child's condition, but yes -- very disturbing that self-sacrifice wasn't immediately seen as an option, and moreso that a third party didn't force aggressive correction of the underlying parenting issue. Hell, *my* dad at least tried to put me on a low-fat/high-Fiber diet when I was that age, and between he and his wife even altered their food to match (toward turkey from beef). The state should have been involved much earlier, to enforce the proper care of the child. "Parental rights" be damned. That said, none of this surprises me. I have a dim view of the vast majority of new parents of the last 20-30 years.

My hubs has stories about mushroom hunting, but he wasn't looking for the nutritional value, if you catch my drift, LOL! I'm a vegetarian, so I had mushrooms, olives and grape tomatoes on my pitta pizza. They can be made healthy. Personally, when I think of pizza, I think crispy crust. But, if you are just looking at pure nutritional values, mushrooms in lieu of crust is a great idea. My hubs prefers his drenched in cheese and peperoni. So, for us, the individual pizzas work and we each get what we want. I've had the portabella (sp) as 'hamburgers' before. Now, I think I'll have to try the pizza thing. As a vegetarian, I am always looking for new ways to try veggies. Thanks for the suggestion :smile2:

I got a hold of Jenn and my next fill is schedualed for the 14th (next tuesday) at 6:10, we'll see how much the time changes between now and then but I'm glad to be going in so that maybe I can start feeling some restriction. I do have some bad habits that I need to work on. One thats been mentioned alot here lately is the the drinking with meals. I guess when you have no restriction it doesn't make a difference. I'm hoping that when I start feeling some restriction I will notice a difference as to fluid intake with food. Not a good way to start I know. I also believe that I'm taking too large of bites and not chewing enough, but again this doesn't seem to make any difference at all so I almost feel like its hard right now to eat differently when nothing feels different.. if that makes any sense at all. I too was worried fish that I was stretching out my pouch... not the case since with the back pain issue I had an x-ray and CT scan and nothing was ever mentioned about the pouch looking too large. I do have an MRI schedualed mid-august continuing to investigate the back pain stuff even though it magically disappeared. I'm thinking that I should send an e-mail out to Danielle the Dietitien because as of late I've been thinking about becoming a vegetarian and I'm looking for some advice food wise. Its not something new, I've been thinking about it for months but lately the whole meat deal has been bothering me more.

Reggie, Candra - am going to miss both you girls on friday :smile2: !! Reg no I'm not vegan - I eat eggs, and I WAS eating cheese products (no milk, lactose issues) but I have been SO stopped up - ifyaknowhatimean - that I cut that out a week or so ago . . . i am darned close to vegan! I am trying to eat fish as protein, I was ovo-lacto vegetarian when I started this journey and agreed with Robin to eat meat for 1 year, even though it would be canned chicken and fish only - cannot deal with carcass - and last time I had a sit-down food journal meeting with her, she said I was getting twice the protein that I needed and I could transition back to vegetarianism!! Yay, after only 6 months of eating meat! I have found, though, that it is HARD to get the "band-full" feeling without meat. Fish is especially good for me to get full on a little bit without BPing, so I am going to continue to eat fish for a while. I eat a LOT of soy, and since there is medical evidence that it MAY trigger some estrogen-related cancers - and I am adopted so don't know if it runs in my family or not - we are limiting my soy proteins to 25 grams a day. But most meat analogs are made with gluten and whey, both of which I have problems with, so it is TOUGH to get 60 grams of protein for me, and still limit my carbs! I manage - by eating a lot of eggbeaters!!! Anyway Fit for Life is so "old" that they did not even envision some of the meat analogs, sugar-free products and other things that are available today . . but I really do like the idea of fresh fruit every morning and othing after 6 pm - and of not eating carcass with carbs!! So I had 2 cups of fresh sliced stawberries for breakfast this morning, no PBing no nuthin! Yay. I lost back that 4 lbs of water (and the other, LOL) weight that I had temporarily gained, yay me - so am holding at 8 lbs. down since my fill. I expect I will lose all restriction again in about 5-6 more pounds and need another fill, but I will cross that bridge/email Dr. Baggs when I get there! 7.5 miles so far today ladies, but it is HOT out there already so won't be doing my afternoon walk . . will do a 1-miler at noon if I can find enough shade (which will mean walking around the big dark jail, which is totally creepy, LOL), but there's no way I'm getting my freckled irish skin out there in 90+ degrees mid-afternoon. Going to need to find a hiking buddy for after work today, maybe along the Russian River where it's REALLY cooler than inland Gott go appear to be workin' for the man, have a great day all!

So those of you who might have read my last entry noticed I was having a HUGE problem with gas. Well, after switching to soy, cutting out all meat and taking stupid digestive enzymes that I got from GNC, the verdic is in. I had to go back to the Dr, the problem was getting worse. I was humilated and I couldn't stand myself. I prayed a lot at work and turned on my fan and took walks. Going to a store was always at a fast pace, stay ahead of the smell, exercising would just bring it on. So I cried and spoke to my Dr who turns out to be a pretty nice person after all. After all these years of saying Yeah Yeah Yeah and then ignoring what he said, I actually listen and follow his directions. And it turns out he is pretty smart too. I have developed food alergies. Turns out you can develope alergies at any time, any time. After 50+ years, I am now alergic to Milk and Milk product, good bye cheese and sugar free pudding. I am also alergic to Whey. That little gem is the major culpert. AND it turns out that 25% of those who are alergic to Whey are sensative to Soy. And did I mention that GNC almost killed me, those digestive enzymes they said I just had to take, had MILK in them. So now no more milk, dairy, cheese, pudding or products with Whey. No protien drinks at all. Now for the good news. Thank god for my Daughter. She suggested Rice Milk. I tried it, no way to drink it but in cereal it was pretty good. And chocolate was icky, but made with Cream of Wheat you almost had pudding. Then I found something wonderful. I am so excited. Almond "Milk". Okay not milk, but it is wonderful. And the CHOCOLATE is heaven. I told my Dr I had to have CHOCOLATE every day. He had no problem with that. Funny he had a problem 100 pounds ago. The Chocolate Almond beverage tastes delicious. It is fantastic and you can drink it from a glass. Gas, not totally gone, but I am no longer under investigation from the government for adding to global warming...... And remember my fear of not enought protien. Seems egg whites are my key. And last night I had a New York Steak and corn on the cob, no gas and I lost some weight. So now here I am, almost a vegetarian, but it is okay. I still have my chocolate, and my Dr said it is okay to eat cereal for dinner. Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat are not the bad boys you might think they are. And making my fake pudding with Chocolate Almond "milk" and cream of wheat is an excellent treat. I am down to 179 pounds this am. I have worked hard and I am proud of what I have done. :confused3:

So those of you who might have read my last entry noticed I was having a HUGE problem with gas. Well, after switching to soy, cutting out all meat and taking stupid digestive enzymes that I got from GNC, the verdic is in. I had to go back to the Dr, the problem was getting worse. I was humilated and I couldn't stand myself. I prayed a lot at work and turned on my fan and took walks. Going to a store was always at a fast pace, stay ahead of the smell, exercising would just bring it on. So I cried and spoke to my Dr who turns out to be a pretty nice person after all. After all these years of saying Yeah Yeah Yeah and then ignoring what he said, I actually listen and follow his directions. And it turns out he is pretty smart too. I have developed food alergies. Turns out you can develope alergies at any time, any time. After 50+ years, I am now alergic to Milk and Milk product, good bye cheese and sugar free pudding. I am also alergic to Whey. That little gem is the major culpert. AND it turns out that 25% of those who are alergic to Whey are sensative to Soy. And did I mention that GNC almost killed me, those digestive enzymes they said I just had to take, had MILK in them. So now no more milk, dairy, cheese, pudding or products with Whey. No protien drinks at all. Now for the good news. Thank god for my Daughter. She suggested Rice Milk. I tried it, no way to drink it but in cereal it was pretty good. And chocolate was icky, but made with Cream of Wheat you almost had pudding. Then I found something wonderful. I am so excited. Almond "Milk". Okay not milk, but it is wonderful. And the CHOCOLATE is heaven. I told my Dr I had to have CHOCOLATE every day. He had no problem with that. Funny he had a problem 100 pounds ago. The Chocolate Almond beverage tastes delicious. It is fantastic and you can drink it from a glass. Gas, not totally gone, but I am no longer under investigation from the government for adding to global warming...... And remember my fear of not enought protien. Seems egg whites are my key. And last night I had a New York Steak and corn on the cob, no gas and I lost some weight. So now here I am, almost a vegetarian, but it is okay. I still have my chocolate, and my Dr said it is okay to eat cereal for dinner. Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat are not the bad boys you might think they are. And making my fake pudding with Chocolate Almond "milk" and cream of wheat is an excellent treat. I am down to 179 pounds this am. I have worked hard and I am proud of what I have done.

Well, as you've probably noticed, your doctor hasnt told you this, because its not generally the way they encourage you to do it in Australia, so dont worry too much about it. Here, I have to stress that its not the complete opposite, not a "low Protein diet" its just that all food groups are considered important and there's justs not the belief that loads of protein offers any real advantage, and that there's more benefit in eating a larger portion of your diet as fresh fruit and vegies. However, a bit more protein and a bit less carbs is a good thing when you're trying to lose and I dont think you'll find any surgeon arguing if you replace your white carbs (white bread, Cookies, cakes, white rice and pasta) with protein foods! Just as long as you're not sacrificing your fruit and veg for protein. There's protein in almost anything, but animal foods are a major source - meat, eggs and dairy. However, protein comes nicely packaged with a LOT of saturated fat, so a high protein diet can be extremely artery clogging too - you have to choose lean meats and low fat dairy. Stay far away from lunch/deli meats - salami, ham, processed foods like hot dogs and sausage are just plain no good for you, there's really nothing good about them. cheese, well, its so delicious, sigh, especially good cheeses, but its not good in large amounts, unless you're eating cottage cheese, and well, I'd rather the package it comes in, lol. If you have a couple of cups worth of skim milk per day - on Cereal, in tea and coffee and you include a dedicated protein source with each meal - like tuna with your lunchtime salad and some sort of meat, fish, poultry for dinner, you'll get enough protein. Beans and legumes like chick peas, lentils and such are a great source too and its a really great idea to include a couple of vegetarian meals like this a week to up your vegetable intake and keep your meat intake down. Most people unless they eat really tiny amounts will get enough protein without even trying. Read all the labels in your pantry and fridge and you'll see there's protein everywhere. You really dont need to worry about Protein shakes, but you can of course, if you like them.

Hey Reggie. No bagels are not allowed!! I know, I know......I was stressing and it was the only food around. I thought I would have a couple bite than 15 minutes later all gone...............ahhh I should have even picked it up. The protien bar is not high in carbs but 30 grams of protien. I just do them cause I am vegetarian and my hair and nails have problems. Not doing them forever but I have notice my hair has stopped falling out as much the last week. I also think the cinnamon twists have carbs. Oh dear I am having a carb, carb, carb day!!! My only comfort is that pre band I would go hog wild and today I have just had little mess ups. Trying to drink extra water and tomorrow will have to be extra strict and no carbs period to get back on track. Just gotta make it though the danger snack zone tonight but I did it last night fine so I should be ok......... I don't like my menu today but there it is!! :-(

Ive used mine at the Golden Corral down here in Georgia. There isnt anything too apealling to me on a kids menu, plus im a vegetarian, so I just order a reg meal and take the left overs home.

Im vegetarian and dont drink milk .. well i guess thats not entirely true anymore cos i will drink whey based Protein powders but only mixed with soymilk or Water, no normal milk. Its not hard, you can substitue soymilk for milk and there are plenty of soy protein shakes available if you want to go down that route.

Ok, so today is the first day that I'm really starting to feel back to normal....very happily. Went for a walk...a short one, got a mani/ pedi, blew dry my hair, shaved the legs...all the grooming rituals that have been put on the back burner for the last 10 days! I'm also down 25 lbs today since I started the pre-op diet. So feeling pretty good about things. Two things that I think are odd about myself right now: One, I find great comfort in watching the food network constantly. I love to cook (and eat) and am growing a veggie garden now so I've been thinking of cool recipes. I have been watching A LOT and seem to be somewhat sated just watching these yummy things being prepared...I don't necessarily even want to EAT them....just a bit strange the whole thing. Number two and even weirder is that I'm having very vivid dreams about food. Have had two (so recurring) dreams about home made peach ice cream (which I'm not sure I've ever even had) and last night I was molesting a Big Mac! I'm a vegetarian and have never been a huge fast food person (although do have very fond food memories of McD's cheeseburgers during my meat eating years!) Anyway, a bit weird, but all in all things are good and I guess we all handle these changes a bit differently. :crying: