Susanne

Ok, I guess today is officially cheat day. We went to the cookie drive at my SIL's church and had too buy a bucket of cookies and together with the cookies I am having another cup of coffee (espresso size cup). I keep thinking that on the end it is just liquid, and I don't think my staple line should be that "raw" that the touch of 1oz. of coffee has repercussions. I know neither of you can make recommendations, and my surgeon seems overly cautious but I am sticking to his recommendation and am still on full liquids and will be until 12/14. He keeps me off soft foods for 6 weeks - I feel like I am really coddling my sleeve compared to other folks on here. It's like home schooling vs. public schools, lol.

I am glad I am not alone. @Mommy (and man, that is weird calling you Mommy), I think if you scroll down, there is a box called Meta, which has two links for Entry RSS and Comment RSS. That should allow you to add it to your blogroll @NBFlo, I believe it is about the fresh surgical wound and caffeine, which can cause ulcers or so? Same for alcohol and I believe I am supposed to stay away from both for 3 months. @Tiff, when did you pick it up again?

I fell of the coffee wagon. I was good since October 25th when my pre-surgery diet started (which was only one week). This morning, I had a sip of coffee!!! My husband had to go to work this morning and I got up just when he left. He had left about an 1/8 of a cup of coffee in the pot and I stared at it for a few minutes. And then I though - what the hell, let's have it. So I took one of my espresso cups and poured in the left over (less than half an espresso cup), topped it off with a little milk and.......BLISS I am 5 weeks out, and I have to admit that I am amazed at how little I miss caffeine once I was over the withdrawal. I am actually wondering if I should pick up my old coffee habit at all but then at other times, I just miss a cup of coffee so much, the smell, the warm cup, the pretty tan color once I put my milk in. I always thought I drink coffee mostly for the flavor, but when I try to substitute with decaf, it just isn't the same. But when I drink, I am not sure I can actually tell by the taste that it is decaf. Cutting out pop is no big deal, even though I loved my Diet Vault. Coffee on the other hand plays a much bigger part in my life - I loved coffee way before I loved food. Sorry, just had to rant - have a wonderful weekend everyone! Susanne

Welcome to the forum! You'll not be disappointed, it is amazing! I tried to lose weight earlier this year, working out for up to 2 hours a day, eating reasonably (but slipping up every now and then), and I made it down 18 pounds in 4 months. Admitted, I was a little firmer than now, but I also gained it all back once I stopped the workouts due to time issues. Now, I had surgery pretty much a month ago and lost 28.4 pounds. It seemed like life was not fair all my life and all of a sudden the tables have turned! Good luck on your journey! Susanne

LilMiss, I am not trying to be argumentative, please don't misunderstand. You know best what works for you, I just want to make sure you are not unnecessarily depriving yourself of a power food. I am not sure what nuts you are looking at, maybe sweetened nuts, like honey roasted or other nuts with flavorings (and usually some sugar)? In general, nuts are considered a low carb foods: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/snacks.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-carbohydrate_diet I really like the following site because it shows the ratio of protein/fat/carb in the little pyramid and it is easy to see what is low/high carb/fat/protein: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3086/2 -- almonds 6g/2% carbs per ounce (3g of those are actually fiber) http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3137/2 -- walnuts 3g/1% carbs per ounce (2g of those are actually fiber) This is low carb and you should be save to eat them. 1%, the only lower carb would be no carb at all :-) What I couldn't find was a definition of low carb, ie. a threshold value for grams of carbs. Either way, good luck on your mission :-)

I don't think nuts are high in carbs - they have a lot of fat/calories, but their carb content is OK. I am only a month out, so I can't have either but if you want to go low carb, nuts should be OK. If you restrict those, you'll go "low everything" which would basically be a pre-surgery diet behavior again. I personally hope that I don't have to go that route again. Why do you want to do that? Do you feel you are not losing enough? Maybe you just "miss" restricting/controlling yourself like you had to in pre-surgery life?

Holy cow - I thought my process was taking long, but compared to this is seems like it went fast (9/18 - Intro Seminar, 11/2 Surgery). Good luck to you and your wife -- btw, why isn't she asking herself? Bring her in...

LOL, I JUST made my husband feel my shoulder because instead of round and cushy, there are muscles and bones and dents

I have no idea, I guess they checked regularly in the hospital and on the post-surgery appointment 2 weeks after. My surgeon (Dr. James Foote) has done close to 400 sleeves, so it's not some backdoor hack :-) http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/bariatric+surgeon+profile+James+Foote+jkm.html My surgeon is also VERY careful with the eating plan, I was 2 weeks on Clear liquids, and after that 4 weeks on full liquid (two more weeks..blargh)

I just read in another topic that everyone seems to get a leak test before being discharged. I never had that, and now I want to know how many actually had the test and if it is depending on location. Please vote! Susanne

I am a 34. I believe surgeons use larger size for lower BMI. My surgeon said he would use a 34 instead of a 32, because my BMI was "only" 42

I am now one month post op and I have another 2 weeks of full liquids. I so had it again. It seems like 2 weeks is the max I can go on eating the same stuff, LOL. I have to go to the store and see if I can find a nice soup to blend...

ASK YOUR SURGEON - if you really have pain, no one on here can diagnose it from a far but I think we can all say that shooting abdominal pain is NOT normal. It may be nothing, it may be something but I would definitely check with your doc

Do you do a food journal? I find it helps when trying to pinpoint issues with eating too much, not enough, too carby, not enough protein etc. I like MyPlate on livestrong.com

That is one of the reasons why I am still going to GNC. I have returned several products because of taste and if I had to keep those, the lost money would have made up for the savings in initial price - does that make sense?

It looks like that sale ended this morning at 9am, but right now I can still save 30% on some and I got something new, Dymatize Elite Gourmet Chocolate Peanut Butter for $19.99. Let's see how that tastes

LOL - reminds me of the pumpkin pie I bought for my husband. Serving Size: 1/10 of the pie. Now tell me, who cuts a pie into 10 pieces? NO ONE!!! This was just so they could sneak it in at under 300 calories because 1/10th of a pie was 280. If they had used the regular 1/8th of a pie, it would have clocked in at a whopping 350 calories for a small piece of pie. I bet a lot of people don't even consider the off-kilter serving size and think they get 280 calories when they eat a piece....

That is my favorite too, the Chocolate. The Cookies and Cream has a little aftertaste IMHO and the Banana flavor is so strong, I felt like I was sitting in a pile of ripe bananas - some may like it, but for me it was too much. I have mixed PB2 with chocolate or a banana. NOTE: It is not ready to drink. I don't se a problem with this, because this stuff mixes very easy. I have a couple of shaker bottles but in the end you can just pour it in a Water bottle and shake it that way. It is easier to carry and easy to store this way. And if you go over to GNC today, they have 30% off for Gold Card Members and 20% of for everyone else - Cyber Monday! And another note - if you have a local GNC in the mall, you can return what you don't like, even if the pack is opened. BTW, same for costco...if you REALLY don't like it, they will take it back.

I had a funny thought about the pre-op diet cheating. You know, when someone asks you if you were good and stuck with your diet, you can always say yes, right? No one will ever know if you snuck in a burger or some fries. HA - not so much, your surgeon will cut open your stomach and if there is a half digested piece of burger sitting scared in the corner of your tummy afraid of the light - HE'LL KNOW YOU CHEATED :-) Maybe it was just my diluted pre-op diet brain, but I had to laugh at the thought...the one and only time someone will really be able to see if you cheated on your diet

Yes, those can be very misleading - looks the same, tastes the same - not the same calories. Same goes for me and weighing things vs. dry measuring. I had one Protein powder where the scoop was about 20% more than advertised. The worst for me was PB2, it says 2 tablespoons and the weight in gram behind it. Unfortunately, once I compared weight to volume, I noticed it was off by 50%, ie. 1 measured tablespoon (and NOT heaping) was equal to the weight on the container. I had been scooping out 2 tablespoons and basically served myself double portions. That was pre-WLS, so calories counted more than now. If in doubt, weigh it out!

Put yourself in her position, would you want to be told or not? If you weren't told, how would you feel toward that person? I think that's the best way to base your decision on. If she would be upset, disappointed, or lose trust in you for not telling, make sure it is worth it :-( I had a very close friend who was dating a guy (who was otherwise involved) and she didn't tell me. She was worried I wouldn't approve - and guess what, I wouldn't. But I would have gotten over it. What I didn't get over was the fact that she kept this a secret from me.

Here is what I wrote in a different (but similar) topic: It's pretty much impossible to actually lose 21 pounds (not sure how much was pre surgery, but you get my point) of weight in 14 days - do the math, it is 1.5 pounds a day. 1 pound of fat is the equivalent of 3,500 calories, so in order to lose 1 pound of fat, you have to eat 3,500 calories than you need. I only need about 1,600 calories (at my current activity level) or so to sustain so even if I eat nothing, I would only lose 1 pound every two days - so if I lose more than that, I know it's muscle and dehydration. My take on it is this: I believe post surgery, I dropped a lot because I was dehydrated and I also believe my body was in some kind of shock. Now at this point, my body catches up with hydration and comes out of the daze and while I am now actually losing body mass, the fact I am getting proper hydration and just getting healthy again somewhat balances that out on the scale. Just imagine your 21 pounds - the volume of 6 gallons of milk, it's not really possible so there is no reason to worry. You body is rearranging and rethinking. Other than that, if you are really worried about your intake, start logging you calories. Hope that helps! Susanne

I love their Wheybolic Extreme in chocolate flavor: http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3509954 No risk buying, open it and have a sample, if you don't like it, you can return it. My I ask where you got the coupon from? I could really use a 35% off coupon for GNC :-)

I am not sure why you exclude Protein shakes - I know a lot of people hate them but you just have to look until you find something you like. I like GNC, and while they are more expensive, they are usually in some mall and the best thing is, that they let you return the product. I have tried it several times, I buy Protein powder, and try it. If I don't like it, I return it. I never have more than one serving, no need to abuse their awesome policy. I have found that I really like the GNC Wheybolic Extreme chocolate and I think it is as close as possible to chocolate milk. It has no after taste IMHO and it packs a lot of great protein (isolates, no concentrate). It also mixes very well so it is good to use without an electric blender. Anyway, my nutritionist says a lot of sleeves continue to rely on protein supplements for ease of mind and I see this. I have a chocolate shake in the morning - 30g of protein and 140 calories, and it usually isn't too hard to get 30g in naturally. You can go all out and get the whole serving for 60g of protein and 280 calories and then never have to think about protein the whole day but often I don't want to sacrifice 280 calories on just a shake. It's not cheap, make sure you get a coupon or wait for the same (usually beginning of the month) Other than this obvious, here are some other things I like: Hummus with yogurt (greek/regular plain) - this makes for a nice hearty protein snack, add a little olive oil, curry powder or hot sauce on top for an extra kick but not necessary Fage 2% yogurt - make sure to use the 2%, because the calories are about the same (maybe 10 cals more when comparing by weight) but it tastes a LOT better than the 0% versions of Fage, Oikos, Dannon and the like. If you can spare the calories and carbs, add a little maple syrup or agave nectar I am still on full liquid, so I have to wait for tuna, chicken and eggs :-(

Maybe if I find another thread that is based on the most questionable "conspiracy-type" sources and selling it disguised as "scientific facts" to people who are not sure about what to eat and what to do and who come here because they hope to find valid information. It is nothing but a panic creating, danger-screaming, warning, "that's why you're fat" type thing and I find this does the community the worst disservice. Most "MSG symptoms" are some hypochondriac reaction that has nothing to do with monosodium glutamate. I watched a food Detectives episode and while this was surly no scientific thing either, they feed half a room MSG food and the other half non-MSG food and asked people afterwards. It was hilarious how people who THOUGHT they ate MSG all of a sudden had migraines, breating problems etc. And funny how foolish they looked once they learned there was no added MSG in their food. As for this post, is it too much to ask a person to do some checking before they START a topic like "MSG - An Obesity Causing Chemical". I don't think so. MSG is as much a chemical as salt or Water or the air we breathe. More about the proclaimed health risks here: http://en.wikipedia...._health_effects