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sure is! Just stick to your yogurt and pudding. Time will fly!

We just got home. We saw stick it. It was a really cute movie. Bought Karah two outfits at childrens place for 20 bucks. I love that store. Bought me another charm for my bracelet...down 45lbs now. I did have a mocha chill which I regreted as soon as I took the first sip, it was way too sweet, but I drank it, during the movie. Bad me. But all I ate before going to the mall was a yogurt, and then everyone met up (kristen's friends group) at UNO's for dinner. I was good there, ordered soup...the whitebean and chicken chili , and ate like half a bowl, have the rest for lunch tomorrow. I think I'm done for the day...so even though that mocha thing probally had 500 calories or more....I didn't blow it TOO bad hopefully. NO popcorn at the movies....that was a tough one...but wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be.

Hi Nooshie, Funny when I was on liquids I was the most excited about eating cottage cheese - so I have eaten it nearly every day. I am getting about 1200 - 1400 calories Protein shake (Genisoy protein, water, Peanut Butter, banana, GNC powder vitamins (this is something I have been eating every breakfast for the last 4 years) lunch is usually cottage cheese, a few tablespoons of hummus and few tablespoons of pate. Dinner - soup, more cottage cheese or greek yogurt, hummus or pate. Oh and I made this amazing applesauce made with apples I cooked in apple cider in place of water and cinnamon. I have 9 days of mushies left so I am going to try some of the recipes I found in the food section. Maybe a bit of a change in diet would be good.

So no PB problems since my issue with the mackerel, I'm pretty sure I was eating it too quickly and not chewing well enough, even though mackerel is soft and a high oil fish. Yesterday I ate some low fat refried black beans with fat free sour cream, salsa and some grated low fat swiss cheese for breakfast. Snack midmorning of fresh raspberries and some protien powder in water. Lunch I had some maple smoked salmon and some corn. Dinner I had out at a restaurant, I had one piece of bruschetta - which consisted of a small piece of toasted baguette with goat cheese and fresh tomato salsa on top, about 2 ounces of steamed salmon off of hubbies plate, and a couple of tablespoons of baked potato with a little sour cream, and a couple of slices of grilled zucchini. Then we went to a movie, I brought in two small sticks of turkey pepperoni and a couple of small cans of V8 juice for movie snacks. Then before bed I had a sillhouette yogurt drink with my meds. I had great restriction, was full on my meals, no discomfort, no hunger. Today so far I had couscous salad with tomatoes, onions, lemon, garlic, garbanzo beans and mung beans about half a cup and half a cup of cottage cheese for breakfast. then for snack had about a 1/4 cup of mixed nuts - cashews, almonds, pecans. The key for me seems to be that I can handle even toasted bread when I have restriction, or corn, or...? the key is little bitty bites, chew very well, and take my time. I do try to eat my food moist though most of the time, I have fat free sour cream, fresh salsa, lemon juice, low fat hummus, low fat mayo, even some guacamole, in the fridge, and I use them as condiments on food to help break it down smoother when I chew. Made water goal again yesterday, and today is off to a good start as well. I'm super happy to be having restriction!!!!!!!! It was amazing to have such a small meal in the restaurant last night, a little taste of everything hubby's entre had, and splitting the bruschetta appetizer with him, and feeling totally satisfied! Hoping my restriction stays where it's at over the next week, as I know it can shift tighter or looser in the first week, sometimes even two weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed! Keep up the great work everyone with working on the water. I'm tracking mine on fitday (I have the home PC version) and I really love the program, I've entered in my multivitamin and my other supplements, and I was amazed to find even with the careful focus I have on healthy eating, and taking a multivitamin, taking calcium, taking b vitamins, and some other supplements, that I've still been low in vitamin E and in zinc many days, so I have to pick up a some of those. I love that it calculates your levels of everything and so I can take a supplement, or not, as I need it, or I can search for a food high in that nutrient and have it as a snack. Okay, enough out of me! XO Leila

Barbara, sublingual b12, like the shots, bypasses the stomach, and goes directly into the bloodstream. It gets absorbed through the lining of the mouth. Small particles are able to pass the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose. People who lack intrinsic factor in their gastrointestinal tract and are unable to subsequently absorb B12 gastrointestinally can absorb it sublingually. The B12 passes through buccal mucosa membrane in the mouth and into the sublingual vein where it has direct access to the blood circulation and is then carried throughout the whole body. This is a tough time, pre-fill, I've heard it lovingly referred to here on the forums as 'bandster hell', the time post-op before your first fill, so hang in there those of us still waiting. I call my surgical center tommorow to talk about when I'm going to go in to get mine, I'm hoping for a week from now. Today I bought a few things to help inspire me. I bought a pedometer, you can get them so reasonably, to help encourage me to move a little more, and try to increase my walking, as I'm very sedentary, and exercise is my hardest challenge. I bought a kitchen timer to take to the pool with me - I'm travelling around Canada and the US in an RV right now, have been for almost 3 months! And will be until October. We decided to turn the cross-country trip to get lapbanded into a North American tour at the same time. We try to stay at campgrounds that have a pool so I can excerise more. I don't do well walking in the heat, as I take medications that make me overheat easily. Exercising in Water works really well to keep me cool. What I've been doing in these tiny pools is just hanging on the edge and kicking my legs hard enough to splash, and since there is no clock to check my progress around usually, I've been just counting my kicks... I'm sick of counting! So now I can set up my timer for half an hour, and kick until it goes off, no more counting kicks. I also wanted to find other exercise that I can do while travelling that doesn't take equipment, so I bought a book on Pilates - The Big Little Book of Pilates, it was really reasonable, and looks good, and focuses on exercises that don't need equipment. Something I can do on the firm bed of my camper in air conditioned bliss! I've been trying to manage good eating habits and nutrition patiently while waiting till I get restriction. So far so good, but it's not easy, and every day it becomes just a little bit harder. I've cleared all the unhealthy food and junk out of the camper cupboards and fridge to make it harder to lapse into bad habits, and bought lots and lots of good options. Flavored egg whites in the carton, low fat cottage cheese, fat and sugar free yogurt drinks, lots of berries and melons... I love how I can eat a cup and a half of blueberries and it's only 120 cals, or 25 cherries is a 120 cals, and the best... raspberries, 2 cups only 120 cals, and all that Fiber is doing me good. I bought fat free onion and herb sour cream to use as a dip for lightly steamed veggies to add protien and make chewing it softer easier. I add it and salsa to things I want to make moister without adding much in the way of calories, no fat, and lots of good nutrition. I've also bought lots of water packed salmon and tuna to make salad with low fat mayo and a little relish, I eat it on whole grain thin low fat crackers. Also light creamcheese, and fat free artificial crab. crab salads, or crab and cream cheese and some veggies in a whole grain wrap. I've cut out sugar and artifical sweetners totally and just sweeten using stevia now, I only just discovered the stuff a month ago and I love it, no aftertaste, no calories, no chemicals, I don't know how I got along without it. I bought white tea (like green tea but made with baby leaves, more antioxidants and more metabolic stimulation than even green tea) and I make ice tea with it and the stevia. Or I make limeonade with lime and stevia. I've been browsing and reading the bodybuilding forums for tips on nutrition and fat loss from the people who consistently do it succesfully and it's given me lots of tips. I've been trying to keep motivated by doing internet research on health and nutrition. My goal is to use the band to help me become a healthier and happier person, with weight loss being a part of that over-all process. I also decided to switch from using butter and margerine to using un-hydrogenated cold pressed coconut oil, you keep it in the fridge and it's a solid, but melts on warm foods, even at room temperature even. There are all kinds of interesting health reasons for that choice, but if I get into it, I'll ramble on -way- too long, and I feel I've done that allready. It's easy to get good information on online if you're interested. Take care everyone, and just keep doing your best, and don't get down on yourself if you slip up now and then. We're not perfect, and this is obviously one of our biggest most challenging areas in our lives to deal with, if it wasn't we wouldn't have gotten lap band surgery. It will get better and better as time goes on. XO Leila

Reginia - try eating an activia everyday (like yogurt). Make sure you get the one for regularity. I was having awful problems like you and I started having Activia. It really seems to help. One of the things I noticed is that if it is "bad" for you, the band will allow you to eat it. I have been really "afraid" to eat things off the program. I'm not good or better than anyone, just scared. I have read so much about the problems that I'm scared to try things. I was so surprised that we can eat tortilla chips. My doctor says its OK, just not a lot of them. I eat them with my chili con queso as part of my meal sometimes. I haven't tried candy, cake, pies, pasta, rice, or popcorn. I do like my animal crackers and sometimes pretezels. Both of those foods you can chew until they are nothing. I sometimes have ice cream, but try to resist. I am going to try eating more protein and see if that helps to keep me full. I am very hungry now with the unfill, but will stay on mushies for a few days. I don't want any more problems. I think we can eat hot wings and nachos during football as long as we count it as lunch or dinner. The real problem I see is forgetting what you are doing and not chewing well or eating too much. Never lose concentration. :welldoneclap: Hang in there everyone. We're going to make it.

I was sleeved on 10/17. Every protein shake and powder gave me issues. And Just couldn't deal with them. In the hospital I wasn't going to be calling for a nurse for diarrhea and be caught without their attention. At home I just didn't want to deal either. I would attempt to do a smoothie every other day with frozen vanilla yogurt, Greek yogurt, mango ice, (allergic to bananas) and V-Core vanilla bean protein powder, 1/2 scoop gives 15 g protein. By the time I was done, a 4oz glass was about 20-25g protein, and I could probably not have any issues if like I said I did this every other day. On pureed now.

Thanks for responding, Fluffy, especially with such a well-thought out post. I understand now that I may be 'too early' in the process. I'm such a slow loser and am hitting multiple stalls...that I was looking for anything I could do that would help. I have started tracking my food/water/liquids intake in the myfitness tool now that I was given macros by my dr's office but their plan has me consuming more carbs than I am comfortable with as I'm a big keto devotee and I lose better when I keep carbs low as a general rule. I did 'Atkin's' way back in the day and lost 80 lbs and kept it off for a decade. I restarted a keto WOL 15 months before having surgery as this way of eating helps my body feel better. Now I'm wondering should I follow dr's plan & not attempt to modify to be lower carb...unsure if only being 2 mos post op if my body would prefer that...but having had this body for a number of yrs (lol), I have such a difficult time losing weight...period. Usually it comes off much faster when I keep carbs below 20 ideally...or 30 for a stretch. Below is your list and I just wanted to put my responses in but I get what you are saying about it being too early for me to do IF. I'm hoping some of the things on your list that I'm already doing will have me better prepared should I go down the IF route later in this process: 1. FOLLOW your doc's and RD's plan for you and the stage you're eating at. You MUST be able to easily get the required protein in per day that they prescribe for you. And the amount of fluids you're told to consume. 2. Follow the rules of WLS. No eating drinking 15/30 or 30/30 depending your doc's plan. 3. Get ALL of your daily Vitamins in without skipping a single dose. I've been fortunate that I haven't had an issue with this even directly after surgery 4. Get to walking. And maybe even get to doing core strengthening exercises. Started hiking with youngest daughter several weeks ago. We've been consistent to this day. We currently do 2 x's a week and are looking to increase this but waiting for temperatures to cool down so we can do so..I also swim in my pool a couple times a week. 5. Protein first at every meal/snack >> al dente veggies >> a tiny bit of healthy fats (and that's it). Protein always first, especially since I'm only 2 mos post-op. If protein goes down ok, then I eat whatever veggie if i have one. 6. Cut out ALL C.R.A.P. (google it)--that means no sugar, grains, starchy root veg, starches, refined products, fake stuff, "treats" such as Protein Bars or Water drops. Severely limit the use of sugar substitutes. Did this 17 mos ago when I embraced keto WOL although I never believed in enormous intake of fat so my version had fats limited to ones that are healthier. I tended during this time to stay away from protein bars but if in a desperate pinch as I had a bad habit of not eating regularly (working so much I'd forget to eat, etc.) I might have one. I was a big user of artificial sweeteners during this period although I kept an eye on the research about them possibly causing hunger and many other things about them. Currently my limitation is 2 to 3 packets of splenda (or another fake sugar) a day in my post-op world. 7. Start drinking green tea now (I use decaff) and look into Earl Grey Tea. Ironically I just got a tea brew bottle and a pack of..I think it is green tea in a subscription box that I get. 8. Try to keep your carbs to <30g net per day (subtract Fiber grams of carbs from the total carb count to get net carbs. Yes, I'm a big believer in this! Trying to figure out how to fight myfitness pal as it does not have food listed in its DB, from what little I've seen, with net carb count. I may have to hand add all my stuff 9. No "snacking". Eat 3 meals + 1-3 small mini meals per day in order to limit meal portions to the volume recommended by your doctor and to reach your protein totals each day. A mini meal is an organized, orderly, planned event. Snacking is not. Snacking is hedonistic and reckless and it's possible to do a lot of damage with a single snack event. Since I'm 2 months post-op..this is usually covered although I am not yet this structured as I'm still having occasional issues at mealtime. My mini-meals are not yet planned, thought out events. Well, it's more like I know I will have a carbmaster yogurt in between my breakfast premier protein shake and my next 'meal' which is always an intake of real protein (i.e. meat that I can tolerate and is not a fatty meat). I also will parse out 7 almonds, etc. I think where I'm at is more like 'practicing for where I need to be'? I DID find myself recently..and it is always late at night as often don't eat my 1st meal of the day until almost 11 AM...going to get sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles but I was NOT hungry. It is old habits trying to creep back in. Was really upset that I started to 'go there'..this is a very slippery slope for me! 10. Aim to get 2-3oz of protein per meal (lean dense protein, no casseroles, no deeply satisfying gooey cheesy high reward meals. Keep is simple: grilled chicken, sauteed chicken, poached or sauteed fish, etc. No meat lube or stuff that adds to the pleasure of the food experience. My protein meals are much like what you said. Haven't had a casserole yet...wait, I did. It was shredded chicken I made in crockpot with chicken broth,fat free cream cheese and salsa..but no cheese involved. It is one of the few ways I can get 'moist' chicken. The macros do fit into my keto version including keeping the fat down more than most keto plans.

You seem to like and tolerate dairy products; if you're not tolerating meat maybe consider adding something like yogurt? How do you feel about eggs?

Hey! I’m not a nurse but a monitor tech and work 12’s. Your best bet is loads of little things starting out- Greek yogurts, eggs and cheese, string cheese, taco meat, chili, etc. condiment or mini lunch containers are great. Take the time and walk away from the floor! You and your health are just as important as your patient. After all you’ve taken the steps to get to where you are now, don’t let others derail you by being unprepared for success when you come back. Also, water bottle at the hydration station and a phone timer to schedule breaks.

Hello theres, my prettiess.... hehe glad this site is back, i need it! well i was banded on the 26th by Dr. Ortiz, what a doll he is! i feel ok, a little gassy still and sore, my cuts are a little itchy... cant get the glue off, and I am scarred to touch it. I have been so hungry since the first day out of surgery, so i have no idea how they can say I wouldn't be hungry for a week. My tummy has been gurgling, rumbling, and growling non stop! i do notice that I stay full much longer now, and its a little uncomfortable. I have not yet pbed or slimed, thank god, maybe that only happens after a fill? My question is- Yes, i lost about 15 pounds so far, but as I start adding cream soups, yogurts and more food to my diet..... how does my body keep from gaining it all back? And also just wanted to say gratz to all you October Bandsters! I cant believe we did it! ~Raynie!

I was banded the same day as you were...Oct. 26th...and I was only on liquids for two days after...then on sunday I was switched to a "creamed diet"...like puddings and yogurt and creamed soups and vegetable juices like Clamato juice. I blend up anything and everything to the stage of creamy and since we eat so little, they said the calories at this point are not an issue. My problem is I am not sure what "full" feels like. I never eat more than like a half cup or so of anything at a time. And I always am content so I must be at the right amount for now. Hang in there julestwu....or maybe call and see if you can not have something in the "creamed category". I was told anything that could be sucked through a straw.. (but don't use a straw)...well, little did they know ... I could suck spagetti through a straw if I put my mind to it. *ha* I feel great...and have been back to work all week. Hope everyone out there is doing great too! :clap2:

You can also thin out yogurt with milk or by blending in a nutra bullet. However if you are not feeling ready to progress to the next food stage, let your nutritionist know. There's no need to move forward until you are ready if it's going to cause you pain & discomfort.

Campbell’s well yes sipping soups (no chunks to strain!) thinned a bit were lifesavers for me even though I like broth. Also, try a no sugar added sorbet or frozen yogurt. FYI- pudding and jello are on the full liquid diet (along with things like milkshakes for non-WLS patients) because they have a tendency to become liquid if left out at room temperature which makes them easier to digest and swallow (important for those with dysphagia [trouble swallowing]).

I wouldn't worry about the pounds lost, more about making a decision to be healthier. The weight loss depends on a multitude of factors. I am also diabetic and was just sleeved on 10/7, my bmi was in the low 50s day of surgery. Prior to surgery day, I did a 1000 calorie diet for 12 days (only required to do 10). And I lost 10 lbs during That time. On the low cal diet, I tried to incorporate shakes into some of my meals for a couple reasons 1. To get used to it and 2. To try different brands. I ate a lot of egg white veggie omelets, grilled chicken, low fat low salt turkey lunch meat, part skim mozzarella cheese sticks, lots of veggies and I made my own shakes with low fat Greek yogurt, ground flaxseed, and fruit. I also made spaghetti squash with 2-3 oz of grilled chicken, 1 tsp olive oil, spinach onions and tomatoes and topped with 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese. The main thing my nutritionist told me during those days was to make sure I was getting my Protein and Water and separating my eating and drinking by 30 minutes. I have lost 22 pounds since my surgery day. I have been taken off my high blood pressure and glipizide pills day of surgery and my insulin has been cut in half. I hope with continued hard work, I will eventually be able to be off my insulin completely. Best thing to do is to follow your nutrition plan pre and post surgery. When is your surgery day? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I felt this a lot early on, except that I was hungry. eating was hard and nothing tasted good. After a few months (I think by month 3-4) I started being able to enjoy food again. I am 7.5 months out and I still find that things like ground meat (think chili or hamburgers minus the buns) or fish/seafood works better for me than chicken breast or steak, but I'm getting better at eating cuts of meat. I find that food needs to have a sauce on it, especially if it's going to be reheated. I'll use cheese sauces, fat free greek yogurt, refried beans, salad dressing, mayo, etc as sauce. Tomato sauce would probably work, but I don't like it. It does get better!

jessie Dr. Valenzuela is Dr. V. He will also be part of the surgery team. You won't be able to eat bread for a while after you get the band. You'll still wake up with the emotional desire (if that is why you eat late at night). I have the same thing. Sugar free popcycles are great for that. If you need something more substantial then perhaps fat free yogurt. I've used diet instant pudding but find myself eating the whole thing (4 servings) and that's not good. Diet jello would be good.

Hi, I am 22. I had my surgery Wednesday 8/12. When I came out of sugary I was in a lot of pain but they quickly gave me meds and I felt OK that day and the next day at the hospital. I went home the following day and slept mostly, I was pretty uncomfortable for Friday and Saturday. Sunday I had the runs all day, I couldn’t keep anything in me!!! I felt hot and dehydrated. And Sunday afternoon I started getting weird twitching in my jaw – like it was locking up. It was the most uncomfortable weirdest thing – finally it subsided but then came back like an hour later about 100x worse – so my husband took me to the er and they knew right away it was from my anti-nausea meds! They gave me Benadryl and it went away in a couple minutes – but what a scare!!!!!!! So today is Monday and I am feeling better, my husband is back to work today so I am on my own. I actually feel pretty good today – I have been regretting my decision for surgery this week – but I know its gets better!. I already lost 25 Pre Op and since Wednesday another 13lbs! So that’s at least good news. I am just looking forward to having more strength and being able to get out of the house and back to work and my normal routine, I’m hopping that will come with the next stage of foods where I can have creamy soups and yogurt – I am only on clear liquids and protein drinks right now…. Cant wait for a few more weeks to go by and see how I’m feeling…

Hi to my fellow bandsters! Havnt posted in awhile but still here. Ive been back to work this past week and doing very well. I feel good except for my friends making me laugh at work. I hold on to my stomach as if I was pregnant. That and sleeping on my side I just wont do. I probably could but it feels weird. The food thing I think Ive gotten used to but I definitely have hunger pains shortly after I do a protien shake maybe 1-2 hrs. I find that if I have a light creamy soup it holds me over much longer. One thing I found to help me when I want a little treat is flan. If I can have yogurt I really cant see why i cant have flan. I make it with skim milk so it comes out very light. I also have the reccomended serving which is a half cup so the calories are about 100.Not bad. Ive even been walking on the treadmill. Im not running yet of course but I do walk everyday with no pings or pangs. Its day 13 for me today and every morning I feel better than the last. I hope everyone is doing great and for the new guys congrats and you will do great just be patient and you will be back in the swing of things in no time!

Nooshie, So you are getting so close now and day 12 of pre-diet I realize from your post that its protein shake and soft food like yogurt ect. Can you tell me how long on that and than you said clear liquids can you elaborate on what is allowed during that phase and how long and how many days prior to surgery did you have to start. I'm living in Germany and my doctor doesn't use a pre diet but I will do it. So any info would be great. Thanks Tina

Every time I eat bread I vomit!! So no more bread for me. Try this if you haven’t yet. It’s amazing. I put it on apples, yogurt and I’m my shakes

It's been a few days since I've been here to post. I havent been strong enough to lift myself to the desk nevermind type a coherent sentence. I made it thru thursday... I even drove myself home from work. Friday, I went to work. I am on the mashed tater stage so thats what I have for lunch. Now, I work for a doctors office, we get drug rep lunches weekly. I get to the break room and its Boston Market. Out of laziness I decide to eat those mashed taters instead of my own.. I figure instant is instant. Yeah, not so much. Those taters were heaven. By 12:30, I wanted to die. Now I'm already not feeling well and I go and eat catered fast food taters. Brilliant idea. NOT. I go out to my car to relax.. aka not puke. I get back to my desk at 1pm and silently wait for my boss to return at 1:30. I wussed out and went home. Now I dont know if the taters made me feel worse but something did me in. I get home and have my period 2 weeks early.. that may also play a small factor in my all-around ickiness. So it's Friday night... hubby is out again with Tony, I am up from my nap flipping thru the tv for something to watch. Wouldnt ya know it.. I get caught up watching some food network show that may have been diners, drive-ins and dives... something to that effect. The first show is all BBQ. Not a fan so I watch cuz its interesting and I'm tired of channel surfing. The next show (kill me now) is all burgers. I like burgers but I dont LOVE burgers. Watching this show made me drool so bad. I'm the girl who goes to Red Robin or Texas Roadhouse and gets a salad. I could have killed for a burger after that show. I had some water. I got up saturday, had b-fast then a cup of tea. Suprise suprise, I went back to bed. I got up had lunch and got dressed again. Went to the parental units with the husband and Spooky (he needed to get out of the house). My Mother is not the most lucid/coherent people on the planet. I told her that I'd lost 13 pounds so far and she said that my tummy was all wrinkley all ready. Okay, sure. When Mom started to cook dinner I vacated... she was making burgers. (see above). Hubby and I took a trip to the local Wal-Mart.. got our shit and got out. Went back to Moms to get the cat and then went to Big Y. I got some yogurt and hubby got some junk food for himself. I must confess. I got cheese. Anyone who knows me knows that I have been DYING for cheese. I couldnt find what I really wanted so I got one of those bricks of mozzerella. Got home and had me 1oz of that for dinner. 30 minutes later, I cracked open a diet snapple raspberry iced tea and have been wide awake since. I forgot about the caffiene involved. My diet sheet says I can have diet snapple so I did. Damn it. lol. Now, I cant sleep. Thank good tomorrow is technically Sunday. I can sleep in once I can sleep. I have decided that I truly have no support system. The support system that I thought I would have posted trash talk about me on another blog/lap band forum and I found it. Now I dont have use for that in my life but since she had the procedure done a few months ago, I have a zillion questions and would love to ask but I have no need to talk to her. The other person I know is the office manager for the physician side of work but only I know that she had it done and when she talks to me it's about her "friend". She is 2 years out and eats nothing but crap. Thats not much of an inspiration to me. When I asked if the tired icky feeling would get better she said "eventually." Yeah, no help. So I am on my own. My husband, who say his own nutritionist this week, went all day today without eating then polished off some chicken fingers and mac n cheese and something else. I think he knows better than to do that but he claims he doesnt want to eat infront of me. I think thats why he has been hanging out with tony so much. Speaking of food and the hubby... he wakes up this morning, looks at me and says, "I'm sorry but I want the buffet." So I respond, "I'm sorry but so do I." I really think this is going to be a big issue in the upcoming months. I do not blame him for my fatness but he doesnt like to eat at home. If I cant/wont go out to eat all the time, it may cause problems. Everything we have ever done together has in some way revolved around food. We'd go run errands and the first question once in the car was where are we going to eat? Food has been the center point of everything for us. I hope he understands that I'm not playing that game any longer. I cant kill myself one cheese fry at a time. Under all this pale white fatness is a petite girl dying to get out. I have shut her up with chocolate for far too long. Okay, I have rambled for far too long and I need water....

Hi everyone! Welcome Alicia! Too bad you can't come to the support group meetings, maybe when we get together you can come and meet us. Paige: Yep, the track starts behind Delaware Technology Center. It runs 1.76 miles which is 3.52 if we go all the way down. It has .1 mile markers on it, so you can walk as much or as little as you want. I'd love to set a date. I thought about walking this weekend, only the threat of rain stopped me from suggestion tomorrow. We can try it if you want. FYI, the Protein powder at Walmart is called Body Fortress. It comes in chocolate, strawberry, vanilla and fruit punch. It has 26 grams of protein per scoop. I did the life classes for both St. Francis and Christiana. (long story!) Christiana gave us some recipes for Protein Powder and the ones I will put on here are all OK during the liquid stage. Here they are: Skinny Monkey (my personal favorite) 8 oz skim milk 1 scoop chocolate protein powder 1/2 frozen banana (or 1 packet Healthwise banana shake mix - you will need to add an additional cup of milk if you use the shake mix) 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter (I use low fat) 1 package of Splenda (stevia or whatever you like - it also tastes ok without this if you don't like real sweet stuff) put everything in the blender and let it go. (it has 38 grams of protein with the body fortress chocolate) Peppermint Patty 8 oz skim milk 1 scoop chocolate protein powder 2 drops of peppermint extract ice cubes put in blender until smooth Citrus Shake 8 oz light lemon or orange yogurt 1 package healthwise grapefruit drink 8 oz Water 1 scoop vanilla protein powder blend until smooth these are concoctions I came up with: Cream of potato Soup made with can of skim milk (10 oz) 1/2 scoop chicken flavored unjury blend until smooth cook in microwave until warm. (You can do it without the unjury and put the unjury in after you cook it to avoid it clumping up) It makes 2 servings cream of chicken soup made with skim milk put in blender until smooth warm it up put a little soy sauce or worchester sauce on top this also makes 2 servings 1 can of cream of broccoli made with milk put 1/2 can of cheddar cheese soup put in blend until smooth this makes 3 servings (feel free to add unflavored unjury or chicken unjury) blend 1 can cream of potato soup with skim milk in a separate container put 1/2 can of cheddar soup. Warm both of them up. Pour 1/2 of the potato soup in bowl, put 1/2 of the cheddar soup on top. Sort of like a baked potato with cheese 1 package of cream of wheat (make it with skim milk or water - whichever you use) sprinkly 1 tbsp of sugar free syrup on top Ok, this is all that I have for the moment.....lol

Hi. Restless is so right....and so smart. Right after surgery, you just need to make sure you get plenty of liquids and take good care of yourself. Focus on healing. When you get into real foods, you will have to have that 60 grams of protein each day (or whatever your doctor tells you - it is 60 for me). With a protein shake each morning (15 grams) and the protein I eat for my other 2 meals, I usually hit it or come very close. If I need more by the end of the day, I put a scoop of unflavored Whey Protein Powder from GNC into my yogurt. It has 21 grams of protein, doesn't change the flavor of the yogurt, and puts me well over my 60 grams. I was very worried about getting it in too, but it is much easier than it sounds. I use thedailyplate.com to keep track of my meals, calories, protein, etc. Good luck to you!!! Becky

Hi everyone! I was banded on 03/10/08 and im down about 60lbs but the scale hasnt moved in weeks and im at one of my lowest points. I eat PERFECT, exercise 3 times a week (spin 2x week and run) and im GAINING weight. Does anyone know what a typical calorie intake of a 200lb 5'5 women should consume with the amount I exercise? Here is my typical day of eating: B- oatmeal with scoop of Protein or egg beaters with spinach, with that 70 calorie LF yogurt. coffee with creamer (i figured my creamer is about 100 calories) L- salad with chicken, MEASURED 3T dressing, 10 olives, 15 seseme sticks (80 calories) S- small apple with 2T Peanut Butter (on gym days) D- 4oz of either steak, fish, chicken and veggie- normally spinach or aspargas Liquids- 64+ a day I feel that i am eating great and people get on me about my creamer, 10 olives and 15 small seseme sticks with my salad but look at what i eat in a day and to me, that doesnt seem like much. Espicially since when I go spinning, I burn about 600 in an hour (wear heart rate monitor). I go to my nutritionist and alls they say is eat healthy and exercise. Ok I DO and HAVE for a year now and the scale is now going up??? Am i eating to much? not enough? Im so frustrated and not sure what to do. Does anyone incorporate South Beach or Body for Life? Any help or words of encouragment is appreciated :thumbup: