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Sounds yummy. I love me some cheese! Edit: Should note that it uses sugar alcohols (specifically Erythritol), which I know some people have issues with.

In the time I have had to wait to get surgery, I have lost weight and am now 210 pounds. After decades of trying different diets, starting this past January, I have finally found a sustainable way of eating where I lose weight. Now, I have waited 3 years in line for surgery, and I will get a date in the next few weeks. I don't want to give up my place in line, but I don't want to have surgery if I can lose weight on my own. I don't know what to do.. Why did I wait 3 years? Because of public health care, everyone takes a number. If I walk away? I will have to go to the back of the line again. Type of surgery - I am pursuing a gastric bypass. Starting weight - 250 lbs Satisfied after a meal? Yes. I'm on the line now where if I lose any more weight, I don't qualify for the surgery. I started this journey because my liver has NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. My last liver test came out within the normal scale. So I have changed my lifestyle enough for it to have a positive impact on my health. Now, I am questioning if continuing is me just wanting more, when I should be happy. Has anyone here been around 200lbs before surgery? What was your journey like?

I'm only 1-1/2 years out. I'm considered a success because I'm 80%+ of weight loss. I self sabotaged with alcohol and that has created a big stall though no weight gain. Why did I do Sleeve over other procedures? The Mayo Clinic was in year four of a five year follow study, and the results were nearly identical to the bi-pass with fewer complications. I also had a fear of dumping. Despite the stall, I could not be happier with the results, I climb mountains, run 5K's and have enjoyed the best sex of my life. I did recommit to breaking the stall, quit drinking and I joined the Memorial Day challenge. Let's see if I can get to goal by my 53rd birthday.

I gradually quit coffee first then the nicotine then the alcohol (just a social drinker) just so that I was able to focus on recovery 100%. It was roughhhhh but so totally worth it. Each took about a week to 2 weeks to ease off of. The cravings eventually go away you just need to stick to it! Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Agree on alcohol. I can overdue it sometimes. Never did shots in my life now kind of regular when we go out. But I have been tempering that back. Not good in general but also a lot of empty calories. I'm living life but also need to remember the life I used to live and not get back to that place. Trying to hold a rule that if my size 32 jeans which I used to wear 52, ever get tight, I need to not buy a bigger size but watch my diet and work off a few lbs. That's my alert system for gaining back. Sent from my Z970 using the BariatricPal App

Mama Mia was amazing, whole audience up dancing and singing by the end. I'm up in Scotland visiting SIL this week and then with mum next week as I get a new bathroom installed for her next week. I'm lucky that I get a 2 week break from my job. No weigh in as no access to scales though I am mindful that clothes are snug. I survived the no alcohol for lent and I actually felt better for it. Hubby and I both realised we enjoy wine too much. Going to restrict it to 2 nights a week and restrict the amount too.

I also can pretty much eat or drink whatever I want. But each item requires a choice because some things will settle better than other and/or will make me feel better than others. I think my success relies on pretty much a routine week of 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese for breakfast (80 cal 12 g protein); Quest Bar for lunch (180 cal 20 g protein); and then limited amounts of whatever else eating Protein first. I have learned it just feels too lousy to overeat and is not worth it. I also know if I do not get enough protein I feel bad too. I have struggled with taking in too much alcohol on occasion and that is something I am working on moderating. I think that has been more a symptom of self-medicating so I am learning to address that need in other ways. On the whole, I am amazed at how well this choice has worked out for me in a way I believe I can maintain.

I am 8 mos out and I eat everything. Popcorn and nuts. I eat beans, pasta and bread sparingly. It fills me up too quickly. I've posted before and I've received negative comments about my eating habits. But it works for me. I started at 200 and I now weigh 133...and I don't fluctuate much. I eat many times a day, but 4 or 5 bites. I don't log my food or count anything. Maybe I'm being naive or getting cocky...but I've counted and logged food my whole life and I feel free now. I can definitely eat more now. I don't think I've stretched out my stomach. I can eat very little in the morning, but as the day goes on I can eat more. I never drink alcohol, carbonated drinks, or juice. I eat chips, tacos, English muffins and peanut butter. Turkey jerky, nuts, cheese, pizza, Sweets aren't my thing, and if I do eat them, it's a few bites. Don't eat ice cream. I love cheeseburgers (half with one bun). A taquito. Half a piece of chicken and four bites of salad with ranch. A few fries. Sweet potato. No fruit really. I eat what I want when I want...just four or five bites. I would really have to work at it all day and make myself uncomfortable to gain weight. I don't know if this is bad advice, but it works for me. Good luck.

*Note these are my answers in that I have personally gone through them. So please take that under consideration when evaluating my answers. But I would strongly urge you to error on the side of caution here and always consult with your doctor/surgeon and dietitian when discussing your meal plan options post surgery.* Soda/carbonated beverages/beer: It's better to error on the side of caution with this. I waited about 9 months to 10 months out before I tried drinking a soda again. The carbonation does bother you a bit and makes things inside the tummy feel weird. So I have kept my drinking of carbonated beverages down to an absolute minimum. In fact if I've had 10 sodas in the past 12 months then that would be amazing, seeing how before I had the surgery I was easily drinking 4 to 6 liters of diet Pepsi a day. Now if I do have a soda, I usually will do bottle over a can soda. Let it go somewhat flat before consuming it. It cuts down the carbonation a bit and make me belch a hell of a lot less. Beer I haven't had since the surgery so I have no comment on it. But alcohol in general I feel the affect of it very very quickly now. This ranges from hard stuff like whisky, bourbons, to more milder drinks like coolers and mixed drinks. And because it gets me buzzed/high so quickly I too keep that to a small amount of indulgence. Basically I've only had two drinks of alcohol so far this year alone. And I'm indeed a one and done guy now. One drink will last me the entire night, because I can feel the affect of it so quickly now. Low carb diet forever? Yes for the most part you are on a low to no carb diet for the rest of your life. Get use to eating Proteins first and everything else secondary. It takes a while to get use to but once you do it will become second nature. Now from time to time I may consume a piece of toast every now and then. Rice give me strong gas/bloating so I will rarely consume it. The safe carbs that I have been able to get down are crackers for the most part and toast. Bread early on was indeed a no no and made me super sick. After I had gotten sick a few weeks post surgery for trying to eat bread, I basically stayed away from it till about 9-10 months out. I waited till I was fine with eating more tougher forms of Protein (beef/pork/lamb). No caffeine forever? I drink medium roasted coffee. It has caffeine in it. I don't drink it every day but when I do drink it, I have no issues with it.

I have a really hard time talking about my surgery with friends who are either obese or have lost weight via diet pills, strict diet, or heavy exercise. My obese friends don't want to talk about it because it highlights the fact that they haven't done anything to change their weight, and my friends who have lost weight through other methods may feel superior to me since I "resorted" to WLS when they white-knuckled their way through a severe WL program. My thinner friends and family are definitely the most supportive! It's funny how that works. I'm lucky that I have several life-long friendships from childhood and college. I've lost a couple through irreparable damage to our relationships - one married someone I accused of being an alcoholic and I vocalized my disagreement and she decided to dump me rather than dump her fiancé. Turns out I was wrong and I deeply regret my big mouth but what's done is done and our relationship has never been the same. Another married a Texan bigot who hates gay people and this friend dumped me and my partner (who was friends with her for 20+ years prior) in favor of said Texan bigot. That loss hurt a LOT. Cut us both pretty deep - it sucks feeling inadequate over something you literally cannot control. These losses do hurt. But sometimes they're necessary. I was the crappy friend in the first scenario and I deserved to be dumped. My friend who married TB was a terrified sheep who thought this man was her only shot at getting married and having children - we always knew marrying a Lutheran was extremely important to her and supported her even though we're agnostics and that never got in the way of our friendship until this man came along and forbade our friendship. She chose him over us and it is what it is. Point is, you need to do what's best for you right now. Try giving it a chance because lifelong friends are priceless, and if the friendship is true it's worth trying to salvage. As others said, it's likely she's feeling insecure because she perceives her WLS as unsuccessful and your starting this journey reminds her of her failure. I'd ask her if she wants to talk about it. Tell her you'd love to have a WLS buddy and ask her for advice. Maybe if you make her feel like hers was a success she'll be more open to talking about it. Sorry you're going through this Friendships get harder to manage and maintain as time passes, I've learned.

You can actually get the "Rx strength" OTC, too. The Prilosec on the shelf is 20mg. The Rx version is the same thing, just 40mg, I was on 40mg daily for 2 months....it's mandatory for my surgeon because it helps with healing. Didn't need it after that except when I drink too much coffee or alcohol or when I have to take NSAIDS. Some people do better with nexium or protonix but Prilosec is an easy place to start. Just be aware you don't want to take PPIs long term if you don't absolutely have to since they have their own set of negative side effects.

The no carbonation rule is due to the fact that carbonation can cause discomfort in sleeved patients. Definitely avoid it while your stomach is healing. After that, you can try it and see how you feel. Some people on these forums drink carbonated beverages every day. I personally haven't felt the need to, so I avoid them still, though I have had a couple of beers with no I'll effect, other than getting sloppy drunk off of one beer now. I was allowed alcohol at 3 months. Don't have it often because I am such a lightweight now. I was allowed caffeine at 30 days post-op. Every surgeon has their own guidelines there. Definitely high Protein diet forever. That doesn't necessarily mean low carb. Some people are more sensation to carbs than others, so you will have to figure out what works for you long term. I personally never tried to stay below a certain number of carbs, but I found that getting all my protein in (100 grams a day) left little room for carbs.

Yes. Exactly. Even if something bad is happening, we can see how being normal sized makes it better. that is why I quit drinking and wanted to lose weight. You just know there is the possibility of something bad happening and you don't want withdrawals nor not being able to get to the hospital. My appendix burst when I was at 305 and the smoking and weight made recovery horrible. I was around 280 when a disk herniated in my back and I wondered if there was an MRI tube my size. None of these are my worries anymore. No alcohol, no smoke, and fairly normal weight. (Now if I can just get to a place with a normal pollen count I'll quit worrying about breathing through allergy season).

Since we are eight months out I eat everything. Popcorn and nuts. I eat beans, pasta and bread sparingly. It fills me up too quickly. I've posted before and I've received negative comments about my eating habits. But it works for me. I started at 200 and I now weigh 133...and I don't fluctuate much. I eat many times a day, but 4 or 5 bites. I don't log my food or count anything. Maybe I'm being naive or getting cocky...but I've done that my whole life and I feel free now. I can definitely eat more now. I don't think I've stretched out my stomach. I can eat very little in the morning, but as the day goes on I can eat more. I never drink alcohol, carbonated drinks, or juice. I eat chips, tacos, English muffins and peanut butter. Turkey jerky, nuts, cheese, pizza, Sweets aren't my thing, and if I do eat them, it's a few bites. Don't eat ice cream. I love cheeseburgers (half with one bun). A taquito. Half a piece of chicken and four bites of salad with ranch. A few fries. Sweet potato. No fruit really. I eat what I want when I want...just four or five bites. I would really have to work at it all day and make myself uncomfortable to gain weight. I don't know if this is bad advice, but it works for me. I did lose 50% of my hair in Oct, Nov and Dec. It's growing back nicely now. That was scary!

I am 8 mos out and I eat everything. Popcorn and nuts. I eat beans, pasta and bread sparingly. It fills me up too quickly. I've posted before and I've received negative comments about my eating habits. But it works for me. I started at 200 and I now weigh 133...and I don't fluctuate much. I eat many times a day, but 4 or 5 bites. I don't log my food or count anything. Maybe I'm being naive or getting cocky...but I've done that my whole life and I feel free now. I can definitely eat more now. I don't think I've stretched out my stomach. I can eat very little in the morning, but as the day goes on I can eat more. I never drink alcohol, carbonated drinks, or juice. I eat chips, tacos, English muffins and peanut butter. Turkey jerky, nuts, cheese, pizza, Sweets aren't my thing, and if I do eat them, it's a few bites. Don't eat ice cream. I love cheeseburgers (half with one bun). A taquito. Half a piece of chicken and four bites of salad with ranch. A few fries. Sweet potato. No fruit really. I eat what I want when I want...just four or five bites. I would really have to work at it all day and make myself uncomfortable to gain weight. I don't know if this is bad advice, but it works for me. Good luck.

style="margin:0;padding:0;background-color:#d8dde8;color:#5a5a5a;font:normal 13px helvetica, arial, sans-serif;position:relative;"> Hey BariatricPal Members! Happy Easter from BariatricPal – and if you don’t celebrate Easter, we’d like to take the opportunity to wish you a healthy and happy spring! It’s a time full of new hope and growth, and we’d like to be a part of whatever you have going on as you work towards losing weight and staying healthy. Here’s the run-down of the newsletter. A Healthy Easter Brunch and Beyond Your Weight Loss Surgery Spring Break Cheat Sheet Healthy Spring Recipes to Celebrate the Season Getting a Head Start on Your Fitness Enjoy the newsletter, and take some time to focus on your family and yourself. Then come join us at BariatricPal! Chat with other members on the forums, and take advantage of the store for the best deals on great-tasting bariatric products. Thanks for your support, and see you around! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder, BariatricPal A Healthy Easter Brunch: Top Do’s and Don’ts You may look forward to Easter Sunday all year if you’ve been celebrating it all your life. There are the treats from the Easter bunny, maybe an Easter egg hunt, and an Easter brunch or dinner. Along with all that, unfortunately, can be 1,000 or more extra calories, and enough sugar to give you dumping syndrome. This year, don’t let Easter sabotage your weight loss plans. Here are our top tips for coming out on the other side just as you should: lighter, energized, and proud of yourself. Do prep some healthy foods. Have healthy alternatives on hand, and you’ll be less likely to sneak in the chocolate Easter eggs and cheesy potato casseroles. Ideas that you and everyone else can enjoy include hard-boiled egg whites, fruit salad with herbs, and fresh radishes, carrots, and sugar snap peas. Don’t steal from your children’s Easter basket. You don’t need their jelly beans, marshmallow chicks, and chocolate bunnies, and they don’t want to share them with you. If you can’t help but nibble as they go through their baskets, opt for grown-up treats instead, like fresh strawberries and toasted snow peas. Do ham it up. Ham isn’t the best choice, since it’s high in sodium and it can be full of cancer-causing nitrates. Still, it’s far from a disaster, especially compared to some other holiday choices. It’s pretty low in calories and high in protein, which is just what you want on your WLS diet. If you can, go for an all-natural, uncured ham, and consider getting it low-sodium. Don’t let your guard down. Lent may be over, but it’s not time to add back candy, alcohol, or whatever indulgence you gave up into your diet. You did just fine without it for over a month; you can keep up the smart choices now! Do celebrate the season. Add spring greens, strawberries, arugula, carrots, and other seasonally fresh produce to your Easter menu. Don’t get lazy. Whether you’re on your own, with your family, or together with friends, you can get active before or after brunch. Go on an Easter egg hunt, or walk to a supermarket or, better yet, a farmers’ market to pick up some healthy fresh food for the day. Just like you always do, think about the WLS basics so your Easter turns out well. Plan your food ahead of time, go for protein and vegetables first, and watch portion sizes. And, enjoy the company! Your WLS Spring Break Cheat Sheet Spring break…a time to sit back, relax, eat some good food, throw back some drinks…and gain a few pounds. No way! You can recharge this spring without getting off track. Just make a few minor changes to your usual vacation routine, and you can feel proud of yourself this year. Don’t Play “Invisible:” Keep Your Doctor in Mind Spring break seems like a nice chance to hide yourself from the realities of life, but that’s when you can get in trouble. A good way to keep yourself on track is to plan to tell your doctor or nutritionist exactly what you ate and how you exercised on your vacation. If you’re post-op and beyond the point where you are in close contact with your team or if your surgery is far enough in the future that they’re not monitoring you too much, just pretend. Imagine that you are going to tell them all of your dirty little secrets…and you may find that your secrets aren’t so “dirty.” You may eat clean and exercise regularly! Swap Out that Drink Alcoholic beverages and spring break go hand in hand, but alcohol can really wreck your good intentions. It’s high in calories, with 100 to 200 or more calories in a mixed drink. It gives you a buzz pretty fast if you have the sleeve or the bypass. It forces you to break the golden WLS diet rule of separating food from beverages, since it’s unsafe to drink alcohol on an empty stomach. And, it lowers your inhibitions, so you’re more likely to overeat unhealthy foods while you’re drinking alcohol. Bottom line: don’t do it! And if you do need a drink, keep it way smaller than you used to, and plan out your food carefully. Get Moving! Take Advantage of the Time and Place You’re on break. You have a little extra time. Don’t spend all of it laying on your beach chair. Take a few minutes in the morning, at mid-day, and in the evenings to get moving. You can walk around town or the beach to explore, or swim a few laps in the pool, or splash around in the ocean. Those few minutes add up to more energy, faster metabolism, and a clearer head so you can make good eating decisions, too. Explore the Local Cuisine Be like the locals and eat fresh and healthy. Ask the servers what is in season and how they can prepare it simply for you. You don’t need to tell them about your WLS if you don’t want, but don’t be afraid to let them know you have a small appetite and that you can’t have too much sugar or fat. You can still explore the local cuisine if you’re on spring break at home rather than away. Visit a farmers’ market to see what’s in season, and ask the vendors for ideas on how to use their fare. Gather the ingredients you need, and take your time making a meal you’ve never tried before. Stash Your Own Meals and Snacks You never want to take the chance of being caught off guard without the foods you need for your WLS diet. You may need to take protein powders and shakes and protein soups and gelatins if you’re on the liquid diet, or stash a few protein bars in your suitcase for travel days. It’s easy to make yourself instant protein oatmeal using hot water in a hotel room to start each day off right. Everything you could need for travel is available at The BariatricPal Store. You can even find handy shaker bottles to carry your protein shakes. There’s no reason not to have a healthy spring break! Spring: Fresh Start, New You Spring just screams of new beginnings. You can see new green leaves on trees, and watch flowers budding and blooming. People are coming out again after settling in for winter, and you may even be thinking about your summer plans. What better time than now to rededicate yourself? You can get back on track if you’ve fallen off in recent weeks. Take advantage of spring cleaning to clear out your kitchen and restock it with healthy staples and fresh foods. Get out and about to burn a few calories now that the great outdoors is a little more welcoming compared to the snow and ice storms of recent weeks. Compare your goals and habits now to what you’d hoped when you set New Year’s resolutions a few months ago, and make any changes you think would be helpful. It is also a good time now to set a few new goals for the summer. Maybe you’re ready to commit to your first 5k run/walk, or you want to fit into a certain summer dress. Maybe you’re hoping to fit onto the amusement park rides when you go with your nieces and nephews, or you want to be included when the family goes for a hike or scuba diving. Maybe you want to lose a few pounds so you can be approved for surgery! Whatever it is, it’s not too early to start. Good luck! I hope you are having a great spring and your goals are within reach. Thank you for all of your support for BariatricPal, and I can’t wait to see you on the boards!

I just wanted to post these because I just realized today that I am just "before I am half way" to goal. The Promises If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us — sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them. The Promises; Alcoholic Anonymous (‘The Big Book’) pages 83 – 84 The Hidden Promises And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone-even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality—safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition. The Hidden Promises; Alcoholic Anonymous (‘The Big Book’) pages 84 – 85

Maybe it's the amount of exercise? I've noticed (and just personal observation I'm not a dr!) that people seem to stall who exercise excessively. 2 hours is maybe too much? It's also unlikely that that level of exercise is sustainable so you may be setting yourself up for failure later either way. Maybe try to cut back the exercise and see what happens. And I suppose it's not exactly 'missing' my fat security blanket but I agree with your statement abt feeling the same emotionally fat or thin. Losing weight didn't make all my demons and insecurities disappear and while I'm definitely putting myself out there more, I'm still plagued by a feeling of being on the outside of things. It's weird. I thought that would go away. And jpod, you are soooooo right. Skip the first bite. I think I need to approach it like I'm an alcoholic. Maybe some things (simple carbs) I just can't handle in moderation. An alcoholic doesn't say I'll just have a little drink and have it be ok. I think I need to change my mindset and address the carb addiction like it is- an addiction!!!!!

@@thesweetone Hi! just seeing your post. I am four months out, and I can eat a hot pocket. I can eat a small fry, chips, and cheese dip, I can eat a lot of different foods in greater quantities than I could before. I just try to eat foods that are going to go down heavily - like eggs. If I eat two hard boiled eggs, I can't eat another thing. My stomach reacts like that to tuna l fish and beef as well. I drank some alcohol and went out to eat with my husband one night, and I gained 1.2 pounds, so I realized alcohol is not something I need either. I think that once the swelling goes down a person is going to be able to eat more. The important thing is what you are eating - not really how much.

If I remember correctly, some of the Quest Bar flavors don't have sugar alcohols. The ones that do use erythritol.

Are there any Protein bars out there which do not have sugar alcohols in them? I'd like to up my protein a little but every bar I've tried has upset my pouch (RNY). Some of the common sugar alcohols include xylitol, maltitol, erythritol, etc.

Now that I'm post surgery, I have to amend what I'd like to see in a vegan Protein powder. Before surgery, I wished for a powder that was sweetened with fructose, xylitol or erythritol. Post surgery, I can't handle any amount of sugar alcohols, and my nutritionist says that is pretty common. So, my "perfect" Protein Powder would be sweetened with little or no stevia, and monk fruit, a tiny amount of real sugar (so it tastes natural), and/or perhaps the new "sweet fiber" like VitaFiber.

VitaFiber IMO (isomalto-oligosaccharide) and FiberYum syrups and powders are now available at reasonable prices thru Amazon. Have any of you tried these products? Did they upset your stomach? Although I'm being careful to avoid sweet foods, there are just some things that need a little sweetening! So far I have tried and been unable to tolerate ANY sugar alcohols and sucralose (Splenda), which are in virtually every "sugar free" product out there -- I can't even chew a piece of sugar-free gum without stomach upset. Then there's stevia, which tastes so bad it makes me gag. Aspartame is ok but it's hard to find in products other than sodas. Plus inulin, another Fiber that's added to a lot of foods, seems to mess up my stomach too. And I'm wonderin gif this "isomalto-oligosaccharide" in VitaFiber and FiberYum is related?

I'm down 65 since February 3rd surgery...I've indulged a few times with alcohol, ice cream and even some fast food I probably shouldn't have. The key I'm learning is moderation...once a week is fine, just not everyday like my pre surgery routine.

I'm 5 mos post op and can definitely eat more than 4 oz at a time. For me daily life is all about getting in my Protein and limiting carbs and fat. So much protein comes mixed with either carbs or fat or both. I have not found anything that upsets my sleeve yet, so I have lots of options, but get sick of chicken and fish. I love working out so that is not a problem for me. It is probably the best part of my day. I too drink alcohol occasionally, but try and limit it to rare occasions. I don't even find that I get drunk off a glass or two like I've seen others post. I think the biggest difference is just planning out your meals more to make sure you are getting the right macronutrients and correct percentages for the day. Also it helps with your grocery shopping. It really isn't all that hard, just sometimes I still crave sugar. It is definitely worth it.