NLWC.Christa

Last week, I was in a bit of a snit and cursing the scale that refused to budge. My coworker suggested we check my measurements. I had lost 12 inches since surgery! So, we named every Tuesday Tape Measure Day! This week's tale of the tape: SIX inches gone! The scale may not be moving as quickly as I would like, but I KNOW I'm doing the right things and letting my sleeve work the way it is supposed to. In return, my body is rewarding me. I just had to find a different way to measure the rewards. Feel free to post your weekly Tape Measure Day successes here...I love seeing everyone doing so well. You are all such an inspiration to me.

I try to stop drinking 30 minutes before and wait 30-45 minutes after, but if we are out at a restaurant, I will sip until my meal arrives. It keeps me from reaching (out of habit, not hunger) for the chips and salsa, bread basket, or other nibbles that might be on the table. On occasion, I have taken a sip or two during the meal if something is extra spicy or feels a bit hung up...that rarely happens, though, as I hear my dietician in my head, "chew, chew, chew."

The best part of my sleeve: Having no hunger. The worst part of my sleeve: Having no hunger. Don't get me wrong, I love that I don't really have cravings, that I don't feel ravenous when someone even mentions the word "pizza," or that I don't feel the need to wolf down double portions on a regular basis. I LOVE this...Monday through Friday. During the week, I have a routine, I eat at appropriate meal times, I have an afternoon snack, I get all of my Protein in without even thinking. On the weekend, I have no schedule. I stay up late, sleep late, spend the day running around with friends and family, and because I never feel hungry, there is no trigger for me to eat, so I struggle to get in all of my protein. Apart developing a schedule, does anyone else experience this? What do you do? Do you have tricks for reminding yourself to eat? Thanks!

I'm with you. Nuts are one of those Snacks where my hand just keeps reaching into the bowl, like it has a mind of its own. However, I found 100 calorie bags of Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds on sale at Target last week. Kills my need for crunchy snacks and chocolate at the same time. Score!

I made this last night and it was so good...surprisingly so. My entire family ate every last bite of the doubled recipe. The crust was a little "soft" and I had to bake it a bit longer than the recipe called for, probably because I used an insulated cookie sheet. These are some changes that I will make next time: 1. Drain the cauliflower well and then pat dry with a tea towel 2. Return riced cauliflower to the saucepan, on the stove, to cook out more of the liquid 3. Bake it on a pizza stone or parchment paper lined, think cookie sheet to help the crust brown up even more. I really can't wait for lunch now, I have leftovers in the fridge!

That looks really good! and 10g protein per serving? i know what I'm contributing to our lazy Sunday meal this week!

Just curious, what state? I just checked the Kentucky anthem policy and it still lists sleeve as investigational.

A fellow WLS patient shared this with me, so I thought I would pass it along: Tofu Cheesecake pudding 1 8 ounce container Cottage cheese 2 packages Tofu 10-15 pkts of Equal, Splenda or sweatener of your choice 2 teaspoons Crystal Light Lemonade Mix 2 tablespoons vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon Butter Extract 1/2 cup Warm Water 2 pkgs Knox Gelatin Blend the first six ingredients in either a food processor or blender until creamy. Mix 1/2 cup water and two packages of Knox gelatin until the gelatin is diluted. Add the gelatin mixture to the tofu mixture. Blend again in either a food processor or blender until well blended. The consistency will be similar to instant pudding. Refrigerate the unused portion of the cheesecake pudding. Other things you may add to change the flavor: 1 teaspoon pineapple extract 1 teaspoon cherry extract 1 pkg sugar-free strawberry-kiwi Jello. Our dietician calculated 40 calories and 6 grams Protein per 1/2 cup.

I'm not sure why my response did not register above, so I'll try again... Like Tiffykins, I try to get the majority of my Protein from food sourcess. I do have access to all manner of protein supplements at the office, and I use them occasionally if I see that I'm going to fall short of my 60+ gram per day goal. But I try not to rely too heavily on supplements. Oikos non-fat greek yogurt is a breakfast staple, or I might have a bit of scrambled egg with cheese and salsa if I get up in time to actually cook something. I keep canned tuna and chicken on hand for quick lunches, along with thinly sliced deli turkey and string cheese. Lately, I'm addicted to Bumblebee Thai Spicy Chili Tuna and Starkist Lunch-To-Go Chunk Light, though I don't eat the crackers. I also keep canned crab meat on hand, as I love a good crab salad. I also make the Cheesy Egg Bake recipe from BariatricEating.com once every week or two, and freeze the leftovers in individual, air-tight packages. They reheat perfectly! (I use the Xpress Redi Set Go cooker to make individual 1/2c portions - sometimes I can finish a whole one, sometimes I can only manage half) When eating out, I try to choose baked or broiled fish, or perhaps a shrimp cocktail if I am at a restaurant where I know they will not overcook the shirmp, and Red Lobster will allow you to order the add-on snow crab legs without ordering an accompanying dinner. So yummy! The one pre-surgery vice that I allow myself is chocolate milk. My local convenience store carries a 100 calorie bottle of Nesquick. 8 grams of protein and perfect when I want a little treat. I use www.fatsecret.com both on the web and on my phone to track everything I eat. This way, I'm able to forecast what I'm going to need to do to get my protein in, it really helps for planning. When I know I'm not going to hit my goal, or if my planning goes awry, I like the ProJoe drinks from Bariatric Advantage (they remind me of a frappuccino!). I'd be happy to share my weekly logs if you are interested, just send me a PM.

Tuna has become a staple for me, especially for lunch at work or on the go. I really like: Lunch To-Go? Chunk Light | StarKist and BumbleBee Sensations Spicy Thai Chili Kits with Crackers | BumbleBee.com (I usually don't eat the crackers) When eating out, I try to choose grilled fish, shrimp cocktail or crab legs (Red Lobster will let you order the add-on half-pound of snow crab legs without having to order a full dinner). I also keep canned white meat chicken on hand for making my mexican chicken soup, string cheese is a must-have, as is thinly sliced deli turkey. Breakfast is usually Oikos non-fat greek yogurt or a hard-boiled egg (perhaps a scrambled egg with a little cheese and salsa if I get up early enough to cook). My one pre-surgery treat that I've hung onto is chocolate milk. Nesquick makes a 100 calorie, single serving bottle that I pick up at my local convenience store when I want a treat and have a few calories/carbs to spare - 8g protein! I do sometimes supplement with ProJoe drinks from Bariatric Advantage (Frappuccino, anyone?) when I know I will have a hard time getting my 60g in. I track everything on fatsecret.com, so I can "forecast" what I need to eat to hit my goals. I'm happy to share my weekly food diaries if you are interested. Just send me a PM or email to christamccoy [at] gmail dot com. Hope that helps!

Yes! The getting ready part was so tiring for me. Just blowdrying my hair left me weak and feeling like I needed to rest a bit. I went back to work on post-op day 13.

I have one that is an excel spreadsheet that I downloaded as a template. Feel free to send me an email and I will send you a copy.

I add benefiber to my water everyday. I like the kiwi-strawberry flavor.

Your symptoms sound like mine when I was dehydrated. Try focusing on getting all of your fluids in (my doctor's recommendation was 64oz of clear liquids per day).

I use fatsecret.com, mostly because I like the app for my mobile phone and the reporting feature (I email my food logs to my dietician each week). I never get a "you're not eating enough" message. I hover between 550 and 700 calories with a minimum of 60 grams of protein. As to my stall at week 3-4, once I upped my water intake and my protein, I started losing again.

The first meal I ate out after surgery was at a Mexican Restaurant, I had a spicy chicken Soup. I ate mostly the broth and some of the softer pieces of chicken and veg. My surgeon didn't have a problem with it...he was actually at lunch with us! Of course, he also didn't think it was that spicy. I've found that since surgery the foods that sound the most appetizing to me are savory/spicy options. The sweet stuff is no longer appealing. I never really "crave" anything and have to remind myself to eat most days. I have a love/hate relationship with my lack of hunger. During the week it is fine, I'm in the office, I have a schedule, so I eat when I'm supposed to. On the weekend, my schedule is more relaxed/non-existent, so I often forget to eat and find myself scrambling to get my Protein in. But, I digress... My current favorite meals are scrambled eggs with a little cheese and tomatilla salsa and thin sliced turkey spread with a laughing cow cheese wedge and rolled up with some spicy red salsa.

Everyone recovers differently, and though I was technically feeling well enough after one week, I wanted to get a little rest before going back to the office. I work for my surgeon, so I didn't want our patients to see me and think "wow, she looks like death warmed up." Because, when I'm tired or lacking energy, it is written all over my face and no amount of makeup can mask it.

My staples were Ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, Protein from Bariatric Advantage (Pro Joe and Meal Replacement shakes) Light Laughing Cow cheese wedges, soft scrambled eggs. steamed or baked fish that I could mush with a fork. I really can't handle meats that are pureed in the blender, so I stuck to foods I could just mash by hand. My doctor also let me have some string cheese, stripped into fine shreds and chewed well, during that stage. The only time I got out the blender was to puree some no-sugar added canned pears to eat with the ricotta.

Our surgeon recommends a high-Protein diet pre-op. I used the Bariatric Advantage Meal Replacement shakes for Breakfast and lunch and then had a dinner that consisted of a lean protein and a non-starchy vegetable. Turkey burgers with Weber grill seasoning and steamer bags of broccoli and cauliflower were my mainstays. I know in my previous, no-carb dieting days, having a dense protein for breakfast helped to keep me satisfied until lunch. A few tricks I learned during my pre-op diet: 1. Drink lots of Water and no-sugar Clear liquids (ie crystal light). I really paid attention to my hunger signals and learned to differentiate between "head" hunger and actual hunger. A lot of times I found that thirst would mask itself as head hunger, so constantly drinking fluids helped me to get through it. 2. If I ate a "real" breakfast, as opposed to a shake, the later in the morning I ate, the better. If I ate too early in the day, I would feel the need to pick at something all day long. 3. Keep "good" veggies on hand for those times when you do get peckish. I always had cucumbers and green peppers handy. Good luck!

I had surgery on a Tuesday and my follow-up appt was on the following Wednesday. I had originally planned to go back to work the next day (that would have been post-op day 9), but my surgeon left it up to me and I went back to work on the next Monday, post-op day 13. I decided to get a little more rest as I was still feeling less-than-energetic from being on clear liquids for the first 2 weeks.

I watch all of my normal food Network shows and now that we have the Cooking Channel, I'm constantly on the lookout for recipes I can use now or tweak into something WLS-Friendly. Nigella Lawson is one of my favorites, David Rocco, Giada, French Food at Home, Food Crafters...I'm a foodie at heart, so I take it as a personal challenge to take their ideas and make them work for me and my tiny tummy. On the flip side of the coin, I know that my sleeve is only a tool, and that I have to really work on my food triggers and my will power. If I can't watch a TV show without running for the cupboard, how will I be able to keep my hands out of the next candy jar, cookie packet or bag of sour cream and onion chips that I run into?

I made this recipe last night, the eggs stayed nice and soft and it was really delicious. I took the leftovers to work with me and we all had it today...it was a hit with the girls in the office. Cheesy Egg Bake I picked up an Xpress Redi Set Go cooker at Target and cut the recipe in half. It made 4 half-cup servings, 16g Protein each. a half-cup might be a bit much at just two weeks out (it was almost too much for me at 1 month out) but it was light and fluffy. So it is a really good source of protein. To add to Tiffy's list, I also eat ricotta cheese, 100calorie Nesquick chocolate milk (8g protein, I find it at the convenience store), and my doc approved low-fat string cheese (chewed well).

For me, it was lemonade. Prior to surgery, Lemonade was a drink that I would choose ONLY if there was no other non-carbonated option, and even then I could only *just* tolerate it. Post-op: I make crystal light lemonade EVERY SINGLE DAY! I toss in some slices of orange and omg so yum! I literally can't get enough. What foods/beverages did you love before surgery but after surgery, not so much? And vice versa?

I have no idea how to add friends, it seems.

I'll be 4 weeks post-op tomorrow. At 15 days post-op, I had lost 25 lbs. Then I was hospitalized for nausea and dehydration. I was released on a soft/mushy diet and when I went back to work on post op day 20, I had gained 3 lbs (I am well aware that is because of being properly hydrated, finally) since then (August 30) I'm sitting at 22-23 lbs lost. Just hanging out, apparently. Here are my food diaries since August 30, have a look and see if anything jumps out at you. I'd love to know what you all were eating at 3-4 weeks post-op and if you have any suggestions. My dietician is concerned about my Protein intake, so for the last few days I've really been working to get in at least 60 grams. 2-3 ounces is really about all I can do at this time. Anyway, if you have any input/insight, I'd love to hear it. Thanks! Aug 30 - Sept 5: http://www.fatsecret.com/export/3588352/AD302/14851/week/food/FoodDiary_100830_foods.pdf Sep 6 - Today: http://www.fatsecret.com/export/3588352/30F8E/14858/week/food/FoodDiary_100906_foods.pdf