Susanne

You are awesome, and very inspirational to me. I wish more people were like you. Everyone makes mistakes. Very few are able to stand up and say " I screwed up. It was my fault. I'll stay positive, take it to heart and move on." Very refreshing! I guess I watch too much reality TV but those people always drive me up the wall with their whining, blaming other people and "Everyone is against me".

Did they say why they rejected your claim?

I was too scared to eat much else before the surgery. If I cheated, I cheated with egg beaters and maybe ate two instead of the 1 protein bar I was allowed. BTW, mixing in cooked/fried egg beaters into sauces etc. almost gives a soft noodle mouth feel

I am pretty sure it's not just about some carbs. If you read the post, you can see that she actually GAINED weight before the surgery. If you are on a no carb liquid diet, I think it takes more than just a few carbs to actually gain a couple of pounds. Infernored, I am not at all trying to crucify you or so, I am really not. I love this topic because I am often in awe how people here say "Oh, you can cheat on your pre-op, no big deal", so I think it is a good read for everyone who contemplates cheating a little bit. I am just wondering how "little bit" your cheating was. I mean, you don't gain from a cracker or two, right? Did you really just have a little bit of carbs? A little bit of cheating is very human, but as said above, a little bit doesn't make you gain pounds on a liquid diet. I do agree that it is really bizarre that they let you go through all this before. Weighing me was the first thing they did and I would hope that they would comment on a posible gain immediately and not let me go through the blood drawing, the thinner etc. before they kick me out. I do prefer a surgeon who would kick me out though, instead of one who'd just wing it thinking "We are in a hospital, we'll figure it out as we go along". I believe a lot of people die from complications during surgery where it's just not possible to "figure it out" as you go along since I am in a medical facility. I want my surgeon to be 100% sure for an optional procedure. As for the cat scan, whose supposed to pay for that? I am sure a scan probably costs $1000 or so - I am not sure OP would have been willing to shell out an additional $1000 for a scan to check the liver, but I may be wrong. CT scans also deliver a respectable amount of radiation -- and all that because someone couldn't keep their hands out of the cookie jar?

No, you can't feel anything, unless you eat too much. I always say if you would wake me up in the morning and tell me it was all a dream, I wouldn't know any better. Then, if I had some eggs and turkey sausage though - I'd be able to tell that it was anything but a dream and that my life is awesome and better than it has been in many many MANY years

Just grind it in a food processor. I have a lot of German recipes that ask for hazelnut meal and I always do that. Works like a charm! I also use almond meal to make Orgeat for cocktails!

I like that answer. I haven't had anything negative so far but I am 1) not showing that much and 2) work in a very "male" engineering department and my husband said that most guys, especially hardware and firmware engineers would either not notice or rather die before saying anything like that anyway. But that's the one I'll remember for a short answer. "I have tried it the traditional way for the last 20 years and it didn't work out for me, so I decided I had to try something else."

I am sooooo glad you posted this. I will bookmark the link and post it in every single "Can I cheat on my pre-op?" I was way too scared to cheat for that very reason. They told me if I don't lose and even GAIN weight before surgery, they will cancel, no ifs or buts. In general, I think it largely depends on how big you are - no offense. The bigger you are, the more important is the shrinking of the liver. There is so much mass in your abdomen at BMI of 53.9 vs. 43.9 vs. 35 etc., - think of the Biggest Loser whatever you want, but I think their X-Ray-like body fat scan image gives a good idea of what is going on inside. If you were "just" a 40, maybe they wouldn't have had to cancel it. Another thing I think they consider is the general discipline. After surgery, there is A LOT of discipline and self-control required for a few weeks. Discipline to drink your Water, drink your Protein - at least at my surgeon's office they said that they are simply worried that if you lack discipline before surgery, you will most probably lack discipline after surgery --- just after surgery, the lack of discipline can be FATAL and cause leaks. The other question would be, if there is no evidence that the liver shrinks - why do 98% of all surgeons make us go through the liquid or pre-op diet? Just to fcuk with our heads and torture us? I'd like to believe that's not the case from a medical professional. Maybe they all get together once a year, eat ribs and burgers and drink copious amounts of alcohol and chuckle about how they torture the fatties one last time before surgery, haha! You'll get there. I looks like your office is trying to work with you, and they sure as hell know they got you straightened out and you'll probably not do THAT again! Good luck and all the best - you'll get it next time and be 10x as good!

I am pretty sure Fage is the original one, I have actually bought Fage in Greece and it was the first Greek yogurt I ever saw in the US (and I jumped for joy). I get it at some normal stores, but not at others. Try the store locater on their web site: http://www.fageusa.com/store-locator/ Or let one of your VSG buddies who love you do it for you :-) Raley's 4551 Mack Rd Foods Co 7421 W Stockton Blvd Target 8101 Cosumnes River Blvd Bel Air 6231 Fruitridge Rd Safeway 5021 Laguna Blvd

My surgeon explained it to me with the failure rate they are willing to accept. In a manufacturing facility, they strive for a certain degree of perfection - quality assurance, max failure rate etc. This is reached through quality control and certain ways of manufacturing the widgets. The higher quality you want to reach, the more careful you have to be, the more expensive your tools are and the better your people have to be trained. Makes sense, right? That's why some car manufacturer have a much better record than a Yugo or so :-) He said the same is true for surgeons. A surgeon's practice has a certain percentage of failure they are OK to accept, in this case failure is issues with the staple line, leaks etc. I believe it is pretty obvious that the longer you are on Clear Liquids (and then full liquids), the more time you give your staple line to heal. Some practices are willing to take more risks in order to make patients happy. Others are really strict to avoid issues as much as possible and are probably overly cautious. Believe me, I was 2 weeks on clear liquids, and then 4 weeks on full liquids - I was NOT a happy camper. It is just an area that you cannot look at. Only if it fails (and it is too late) do you know you did it wrong. How do you know you are doing fine? Just because you are not in pain (or not in pain yet) doesn't mean you are fine. The earlier you eat solid food, the earlier you stress your freshly operated stomach. Some people heal faster, others heal slower -- but no one knows that for your particular case. Say 90% of all patients are good to go after 2 weeks. 6% need 4 weeks to heal on clear/full liquids. The remaining 4% of all patients need the full 6 weeks to heal on clear/full liquids. You can either take a chance on those 4% and make your 96% happier, or you can say I don't want to risk it for the 4% so everyone has to be on clear/full liquids for 6 weeks. Or you take a chance on 10% and say everyone can go on soft foods after 2 weeks. It's a question of statistics, probably involves insurance rates and other issues too, how a surgeon decides. The numbers are totally made up though, he told me some but I forgot. Does that make sense?

I just bought myself matching small plates, so my husband has "Daddy plate" and I have "Baby plate" - but since they are the same style, I don't feel so different (other people may disagree and find me very different, LOL) As for portions of the individual food groups, I am still doing the "All the protein that fits in, and top it off with a little greens and carbs"

I would say that most people are OK with their Protein, but it's the old phenomenon: only people who hate it speak up. Just like in customer service - you may think it's all shit, but people who are happy don't call the hotline to tell them "I bought your widget yesterday, it works fine. Thanks" - CLICK. People only call if the widget sucks. Same with protein IMHO. It is a little finicky and I had to try a few different brands before I found one I liked, but now I am using Wheybolic Extreme chocolate, and I have no problem starting my day with this! And LOL @Lily, I totally get the PlayDoh thing. I have one "Gourmet Elite Protein" that claims to be the tastiest. I tried PB & Chocolate flavor thinking you can't go wrong there. Well, can I ever. Not sure who decided to call it gourmet elite...

I dunno - barefoot running sounds to me like eating with my hands, nothing that I want to go back to. Especially in my weight group, I believe that cushioning and posture adjustment done by shoes is very beneficial to me. I think barefoot running is probably a nice experience if you have a beach available and you weight 120 pounds :-) Plus, have you ever seen the soles of a person who runs around barefoot in the streets...YIKES! There isn't enough pumice in the world to take care of those calluses

If you have one in your area, check on their web site. Mine listed a few locations and stores that are holding "training clinic", and I had my first one yesterday. They do 5k, 10k, and 25k clinics and the 5k group wasn't intimidating at all and everyone including skinny mini trainers were totally awesome and very encouraging. It was great, and I can't wait for the next session tomorrow. They will also have info seminars to proper running form and other stuff, and my store wasn't too pushy about getting you to buy stuff. Only the kick-off was in the store anyway and I needed a running bra to confine the twins in a solid location - I don't want to get a shiner from a boob gone wild when I am running!

I disagree with that blanket statement. Plain or natural yogurt of any kind tastes pretty good in general. Here are a couple of reasons why some people don't like it: There is almost no natural yogurt available in the US. Yogurt here is almost always non-fat or severely fat reduced and that just doesn't taste right. Somehow, people here have developed an incredible fear of fat, and as a result we cut fat out of everything. Unfortunately, when cutting out the natural fat, we 1) cut out flavor and 2) cut out satiety and satisfaction. Eating a Dannon Fit doesn't do anything for me. The flavor is wrong, the texture is wrong and it doesn't even address my feeling of hunger. If you leave the natural fat in a yogurt (not just Greek) or at least only partially remove the fat, the yogurt tastes very nice because the natural fat balances the acidity. Sour cream is just as tart as Greek yogurt but it has more fat - now that is too much fat for eating it by the spoon, but a 2% Greek yogurt is a very nice snack. If you still don't like it, it is most likely because it yogurt in the US is very very sweet. This is the taste most people expect from yogurt, ie. an almost dessert type flavor. In many other countries, they don't add as much sugar or sweetener to yogurt so the expected flavor is much closer to an actual yogurt milk product. It's not like y'all don't like tart flavors: people love sour patch candy, most juices or fruits have high acidity and a tart flavor and a dry red wine can be quite "tart". It's just that in yogurt, most people don't expect that flavor and therefore resent it. I love scrambled eggs, but if someone were to put sugar in them, I'd hate it. I like sweet and I like eggs, just not sweet eggs. Now, if I always had my eggs sweetened, I am pretty sure I would consider it quite nice! I grew up on sweet popcorn as we do it in Germany, and it took me quite a while before I started to accept and like salty and buttery popcorn. If you are worried about the fat, don't. I believe most people don't eat enough fat and the general consent on fat has turned around 180°. 1 cup of 0% Fage has 120 calories while the 2% has 150. Really not a big difference, and please keep in mind that you usually don't eat a whole cup but 6oz., and then the difference is 20 calories for 10x flavor. And if you still don't like it, then maybe you just don't like it.

OK, I now signed up for the 5k training clinic. This is held by Gazelle Sports, a local running shop, and we are training twice a week for an hour starting tonight. Yesterday was the kick-off meeting, and the run is on May 14th, so almost 2 months to train. I am really looking forward to have someone hold my hand a little. They have little seminars about good running form and nutrition. On race day, they have a gathering area, a tent if needed and some refreshments. The whole deal is $59, but they had 6 trainers for 30-some people and you get a free long sleeve wicking shirt and 10% off any purchase until the race. I think that's a fair deal. As for my own training, I can walk at 4mph fairly well, and do 40 minutes with an average of 4.5mph. This includes 2-3 intervals at 5 and 6mph, each followed by a slower 2.5mph interval. I guess I'll learn tonight if this is the way to improve my speed and stamina

Irene, since it is its own forum now, I don't really think it has to be restricted to one topic per day - that was my suggestion if we couldn't get a subforum, but since that the only topic there right now, I think it would be OK to have individual posts. Otherwise, I personally find really long topics intimidating and I usually prefer not to post there. I am not shy, but I always feel there is a big bond between posters in a topic and I feel I have the read the WHOLE thread before I reply. Just a thought, but I think they can be individual...

The funny thing is, you'll never know if that was the reason, or if your body was simply ready to drop some more :-) I generally suggest riding it out (especially this early). For me, a lot of the changes that I made had no effect. I thought lower carbs helped, but it only helped that one time and never again. I am pretty sure it was just a coincidence. Next time I stalled, it broke after a weekend of really bad eating (pizza, Cookies etc.) - and that brought me to the conclusion that it doesn't matter what I eat. Just sit it out, and try not to get too aggravated. Being upset and pissed off just adds to the injury, so just tell yourself that if you do everything right (eat your protein, log food and eat within your calories (max of 900 cals), drink enough Water, take your Vitamins, exercise some), the stall will break! I just lost 1.8 pounds over the weekend, which is never my "good time" because I snack more. My body has it's own mind and doesn't seem to care too much what I do as long as I stay within certain guidelines (see above). It may be different once you are 6, 10, 12 months out... There are very few people who have major stalls that don't break, and I hope that is not you! And of course, everyone is different :-)

I can tell you that the brands with higher fat content taste better and don't have the sugar. I use Fage 2%, and I mix it with Splenda and cinnamon. Other than that, why does anyone like anything or hate anything? I personally think root beer is the most revolting beverage on earth and I rather eat ear wax than drink that soapy dishwater tasting swill. Not everything is for everyone :-)

Hooray for Dawn! Yes - you are awesome, and I am in AWE! That's my goal too, and I actually signed up for a "training clinic" which starts today! Yesterday we had a kick-off meeting, but today we have the first training session. I bought a pair of compression running tights myself, because it's still cold in Michigan. I am so nervous, but at the same time stoked! And at the meeting, while I was still feeling like the big girl I didn't give a flying F about it because the margin between me and the other people was so much smaller! And to top it off, they gave us moisture wicking long sleeve t-shirts and she asked for the size. So, of course I said XL, I always do. She said "Why don't you take an L too, and try it on. They run a little bigger". Well, sure enough, L worked just fine :-) So, I wanna be like you and I'm gonna be like you!!!

I think we are probably all metabolically challenged - that's why we got the surgery to start with, isn't it? My husband keeps reminding me of that fact when I am getting all pissy about not losing. He said "You got the surgery because you were the world's slowest loser, you changed your stomach, not your metabolism" The big advantage I believe is that this helps us stick with a leaner life style even if weight is not coming of as hoped for. And on the other hand, some of your calories just seem way too low. 725 and burned off 300 calories? Assuming that your burned calories are accurate - your body is shutting down, try to up the calories a little. Actually giving your body a little more food can help coax your metabolism out of the black hole again

I was told no alcohol 3 months out. Why do you want to test the waters? I don't know any profession or "boy's club" that would not tolerate NOT drinking - this is lent, this is the one time a year where you can easily say "I am cutting it out for lent" - how about trying out THAT Water? I know you don't want to hear it, and I won't say anything after this - but your excuses ring like "full blown alcoholism" to me, You are "testing if you can drink", worried about not being able to drink, very high tolerance for alcohol (considering you are 2 weeks post op), considering drinking an "unavoidable part of your life", considering 3 cocktails in 1 night "extremely light", and your hundreds of hours of research show that your focus on alcohol is taking a huge part of your life... Denying that you have a problem with alcohol even before anyone said anything is a clear sign that you have heard it before and thought about it yourself before. You may not be worried about yourself, but I am - and I am 100% sure that every single person who read your posts in this thread is worried about you too. Good luck to you Susanne

PS. Where is your food diary, can you allow us a peak?

Oh my coops, you are still stuck? I am so sorry to hear that, have you ever checked with your doc? I mean, if you track accurately, weigh everything and stay around 900 calories with light activity, it is almost impossible not to louise one would think. You are ruining my theory, lol

You have to wait a little for cloud 9, you are on cloud 10 right now :-) Good job! I was at Marshall's a couple of days ago and oogling the bathing suits. I feel it is too early for me to buy any because I am not sure how much coverage I need over my thighs - if I have a big flap on the inside, I'd better go with a bottom that has a cut like bike pants. Same with the top, do I need a loose fitting top to cover flaps or can I use a tighter top without looking like someone through jell-o in my top? But I have to admit, those are uncertainties that I can live with compared to before where buying a bathing suit put me in agony!