Escape_Pod

I found cheese crisps at Whole Foods recently, and I'm sure they're the same thing, just baked shredded parmesan cheese, but they're thicker than I've made them. Like everything at Whole Foods they were $$$ - need to get back in the kitchen to experiment again. I LOVE pepperoni crisps. I do those in the microwave, just a bunch of slices on a paper plate and/or paper towels, micro until they stop sizzling. So yummy, so easy, and they make great "pizza" topping on Friday night (I make low carb flat bread or tortilla pizzas a-la Eggface).

Mmm... that looks so good. I keep forgetting to try the won ton wrapper bites - have to put this on my must-do list. Thanks!

I didn't cheat either - it wasn't worth the risk of hurting myself, and with the nerves in your stomach not yet healed, your body can't give you good feedback if you're over-stressing your newly stitched-up stomach! It's only two weeks, and if you don't tolerate something well and heave it back up, think how hard that is on the surgical line. Please be careful folks!

I really doubt it's the surgeons that don't want to take your insurance. It's not unusual, though, for it to be excluded from a plan. My employer had a complete exclusion - I had to self-pay. Most of my surgeon's patience had it covered by insurance, though. If your insurance broker is telling you it's covered, I'd request a formal letter confirming that, then you can provide that to the surgeons' office staff. Good luck!

Did you not get a list of foods from your surgeon for the various post-op stages? My surgeon's guide indicated that things like bread might not be well tolerated for up to a year, but toast might be better than bread. Keeping carbs low has been essential for my weight loss, so I pretty much avoided bread entirely for the first six months. Now I have a half slice of low-carb whole grain bread (25 calories, 2 net carbs for half a slice) for an open-faced sandwich and that's about it. Bread pretty much sits like a rock in my stomach. Same with other white carbs - rice, pasta, potatoes. They're all on my one-bite-or-avoid-completely list, and I'm 10 months out. At your stage you're also likely to have trouble with tougher cuts of meat - beef and pork, or anything dry.

For me it wasn't so much the food / vitamin / protein supplies (your post-op tastes are a bit unpredictable), as the non-food supplies I ended up wanting. Small spoons / forks (espresso spoons, appetizer forks), small plates and bowls (even tiny dipping bowls - perfect for that 2 tablespoons of beans or whatever you'll be eating), a mug warmer (it's going to take you 45 minutes to drink that 4 oz of soup, it's nice if it stays warm), a collection of small tupperware (it's nice if you can save leftovers like soup in little single-serving containers)... those are the ones I recall off the top of my head. Oh, and I found out after I'd been using a heating pad two days in the hospital that my surgeon wanted me icing, not heating. It might be a good idea to ask...

Ladies, For those of you who are really and truly "stuck" at a weight, and feel like you're already doing everything you can, I wonder if you've considered body fat testing? I think body compositions can very so much, and it may be that you're where you should be regardless of what the scale says. Those "extra" pounds may be muscle, or extra skin. I recently discovered there's a mobile service in my area that does submersion body fat testing, and the pricing's pretty good. I'm pretty tempted to give it a try at some point, just to satisfy my own curiosity about how I'm doing. I totally understand having a goal, and not wanting to give up on that goal, and my blessings and support go out to everyone that's working so hard to get to where they want to be, but I know for myself that I have a bad habit of getting more and more disciplined to reach a particular goal, and not being able to maintain that discipline long term. The last time I lost a lot of weight I started training for a 10.5 mile event (walk/jog for me, mostly walk). In order to build up the endurance for mileage I was doing 2+ hour workouts regularly. It simply wasn't something I could imagine keeping up indefinitely, though, and once the event was over the weight started to creep back on, sending me spinning into a downward spiral of weight gain >> depression >> more weight gain. I'm not saying this is an issue for anyone else, but I'm working hard to make sure that whatever I'm doing now is something I can honestly and truly contemplate doing for the forseeable future, because otherwise the weight it helps me lose isn't going to stay off. (And, as time goes on and my metabolism changes, I may have to get even more disciplined just to maintain!) I'd definitely still like to lose a few pounds, and I suspect they'd come off more quickly if I tightened things up a bit, but I remind myself that I've made HUGE progress, I look great, I should be really proud of what I HAVE achieved, and the most important thing is to continue to work on good, healthy habits I can stick with. If I take off a few more pounds in the process, that's just "icing on the cake" (if you'll forgive the expression!)

My understanding is that whey protein isolate is the most easily absorbed protein powder, which is why it's the one surgeons want you to take. So, that's what I stick with. Of course, if you can't tolerate whey for some reason that's another matter.

For the Quest bars, the apple pie is amazing - a few seconds in the microwave to let it get warm and chewy, and a squirt of sugar free whipped cream - YUM!!! Not crazy about the chocolate (and that would usually be my favorite), but the chocolate peanut butter was pretty yummy too. They'll let you just order one of a bunch of different flavors to try them out.

Ooh, I just recently tried a QuestBar for the first time and they're AWESOME! It seems like most of the other bars I've tried are very similar. The Quest ones taste better to me, come in more variety of flavors (hello Apple Pie!), and will hold up better in my bag or in my car. They're best microwaved for a few seconds so they soften up - warm apple pie bar with a squirt of SF whipped cream was the best!!

Kris, I hear you on the Snacks. On the one hand, it's a good idea to have something healthy to snack on so if I'm really hungry I have good choices. On the other hand, several of the options I tried turned out to be too big a temptation for me, so I had to quit keeping them on hand at work. Jif to Go Peanut Butter - totally calls my name. Just the cheese crunch snacks - could eat 3-4 bags easy. Protein Bars - risky. Coops, you are such an inspiration! You have an awesome attitude.

I didn't start to worry about carbs until I was able to start eating solid foods. Then I began to transition to almond milk instead of skim dairy milk, and dropped things like mashed potatoes, creamed soups, and refried beans. I only ate those during the mushy stage. My nutritionist emphasized that in the early weeks you're eating so little you need to bump up the calories where you can so your body doesn't panic and hold on to very pound. It's VERY common to go through a stage of slow weight loss / no weight loss starting around the 3rd week post-op, mostly because your body has gone into shock at the huge change in dietary content and caloric intake. Don't worry, the weight loss will start again, you just need a little time to adjust.

Welcome Kris, there's always room for more here. Glad to see a fellow Washingtonian! I got off track with my eating over the holidays which continued into January which I spent mostly losing and regaining and losing the same couple of pounds. But I'm back on track now and seeing the scale move again, which helps tremendously. I have to keep reminding myself that the way I'm eating isn't a diet, it's forever (with some possible tweaks as I transition into maintenance). It's HARD! I'm still finding a balance between eating in a way that makes me feel good and energized, and having the occasional treat so I don't feel like I'm on a "diet". I think the further out you get post-op the less you can coast along on the thrill of the ride and the more you have to work at finding your own motivation.

I REALLY need to work on getting more veggies back into my diet. I got so into the habit of protein, and that's still practically all I eat. Sometimes I think I really ought to go back to see a good nutritionist - I saw one a couple of times who worked in conjunction with a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. Anyway, I feel like I need some good advice on adjusting my diet as I transition into maintenance, and the NUT my surgeon referred me to wasn't really all that great.

Mine started almost immediately post-op and didn't stop really until about month 6-7.

Can I give up the last 7 pounds I have to make it to goal for Lent? (ha ha!) There are a lot of things I could probably give up that would help get me to goal, but I've learned that I have a bad habit of getting increasingly strict about things "to get to goal" that end up putting me in a diet mentality - in other words, I'm doing this now, but I don't intend to stick to it long-term. Puts me into a deprivation mindset that puts me at risk for binging, and sets me up for regain when I do get to goal. I'm trying really hard to find a balance between wanting to lose those last few pounds, and making sure I'm building permanent habits I'm willing to stick to to stay at goal.

I mix chocolate protein powder (I like the unjury brand) with almond milk (lower in carbs than skim), and about a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and heat it to make a morning hot cocoa. There are lots of things you can add for flavor - fruit, yogurt, sugar free flavored syrups (like the coffee shops use), crystal light, instant pudding mix... I've also mixed vanilla powder in with greek yogurt and jello to make a sort of "fluff", and if you're far enough along, you can add fruit. I liked lemon jello in the early days when everything was too sweet. Just make sure the dissolved jello isn't too hot when you add the protein powder - if it is, you'll get clumps.

Has anyone received an Amazon gift certificate? I completed the survey but still haven't received anything.

So, I understand the frustration here - what we're doing isn't easy, and it's irritating to deal with someone who thinks we don't have to work at this. But how many of us tried to lose weight before we had surgery? And failed, or ended up regaining it? Multiple times? Most of us have heard the statistics of the success rate for non-surgical options - about 3%? I don't know about you, but that's why I decided to have the surgery, because it sure as heck works better than trying to do it any other way. Maybe it's more correct to say we took the successfulway, not the easy way. And since I had the choice, I decided it was worth giving myself every possible fighting chance to succeed at this. I'm not ashamed of that.

I love MyFitnessPal too. But you should also note that it's VERY common to stall in your weight loss at right around 3 weeks post-op. Try a search on "3 week stall", and you'll find a bazillion posts from people in the exact same situation. Don't panic, the weight loss will start up again!

I just wanted to share that I finally broke the 150 barrier - the scale read 149.9 this morning, and I was doing a silly happy dance. Last month I lost and regained the same 2 pounds all month long, so I'm so excited to see the scale moving downwards again. Meg, I'm so glad you seem to have found the answer to your breathing issue. I have to admit I worry a little because my surgeon doesn't really monitor bloodwork for his sleeve patients. I have to be more proactive and push my primary care physician to run tests, but maybe I should nag my surgeon more about it so he'll keep a closer eye on all his sleeve patients!

I haven't had great experiences with my local support group either. Several frustrated band patients, several RNYs, and maybe one other sleever. I'm not sure what exactly I want out of a support group, but that wasn't it.

I jog 3-4 times a week for 40 - 60 minutes, do yoga twice a week at lunch, and ride a stationary bike 1-2 times a week. I think it's helpful to build and maintain muscle mass, and to keep my metabolism humming along, and it's one more way I reinforce the mental change to a new me and a new lifestyle. Besides, it makes me feel good!

A bad case of the blues is really common at your stage! The anesthesia and pain meds mess with your system, and as you start to burn fat quickly, that sends stored hormones coursing through your bloodstream, so you're going to be MOODY with a capital M. Hang in there, it gets so much better! Many people also find their tastebuds go through an adjustment period as well. You may find you can tolerate things later that taste like yuck now. You might try diluting the shakes more so they're not as sweet. I also add some salt to mine, which helps to cut the sweet. Adding plain unsweetened yogurt (well diluted) might also help. If you're thinking you might be lactose intolerant, try almond or soy milk. Can you add unflavored protein to well thinned soup? One of my favorites in the liquid stage was cream of potato soup. Hang in there, it gets so much better!!

I was so swollen post-op for weeks that I couldn't wear anything like jeans. It was about a month before I could even get back into the pants I'd been wearing pre-op. I was losing pounds, but my abdomen was really swollen. I did find it uncomfortable to wear things that hit an incision spot too.