JackieOMonroe

Thanks Lorraine!

That could be a good way to save some money also. I may try that! Thanks for the suggestion.

The nutritional information will vary based on the milk used (2% in my case). The values will be similar to commercial yogurt made with the same type of milk you use. When I was researching this project, the general consensus was that there's not a huge difference in the nutritional value of yogurt and the milk it's made from. As far as strained, greek-style yogurt - densely packing it in that way increases your Protein per serving, but without greatly increasing your calories. This article is FABULOUS at explaining the difference between regular and strained yogurt, and the nutrition that you can expect from each: http://health.usnews...-more-healthful A 6oz serving of 2% plain homemade yogurt will have roughly 120-130 calories and 9-15 grams of protein, depending on how well strained it is. Straining will also lower the carb count and the increased protein keeps you fuller longer. Great question! I hope this helps!

My husband and I are both sleeved and we spend a TON of money on greek yogurt. My fridge is always full of cups of Chobani and Fage. About a week ago I discovered that you can make yogurt at home, so last night I did! And it turned out PERFECT. You don't need any special equipment or machines. I used our dutch oven, but any heavy bottomed pot will do. The directions look long, but it pretty much makes itself once you've warmed up the milk. It is the definition of something that a lazy non-cook can make. I got the recipe from this website. http://www.happysimpleliving.com/2011/03/06/make-your-own-homemade-greek-yogurt/ STUFF YOU NEED: 1/2 gallon of dairy milk (I used 2%, but you can use milk with any fat content. Pasteurized milk works perfectly, just be sure it's not ultra pasteurized.) 2.5 tablespoons of plain yogurt with live active cultures (This is your starter. It can be regular or greek yogurt and it can have any fat content. I used 0% Yoplait plain greek yogurt because it was the cheapest I could find with live active cultures.) Candy thermometer or cooking thermometer Cheesecloth (or a clean t-shirt, or pillowcase, or muslin) Heavy bottomed pot to heat the milk in (Or crock pot, or double boiler, or dutch oven, or even your microwave. Not even kidding) Towel Colander/strainer Oven MAKING THE YOGURT: Turn on the light in your oven. This will make it just the right temperature for yogurt magic to happen. Put 2 tablespoons of milk into a bowl and mix in 2.5 tablespoons of your starter yogurt. Set it aside. Pour the rest of the milk into your pot and heat to 180-185 degrees fahrenheit. Stir constantly while heating to prevent your milk from scalding. Once milk reaches temperature, pour it into a glass or ceramic (not metal) dish and allow it to cool uncovered to 105-110 degrees. This step is why I used my dutch oven. It's enameled, so I didn't need to transfer the milk into another dish. It was perfect for incubating my yogurt. When your milk is at temperature, thoroughly stir in the starter that you set aside earlier. Put the lid on your dish, wrap it well in a towel, and stick it in your oven. Leave it in the oven with the oven light on for 8-12 hours. After 8 hours, stick a spoon in and check your yogurt. It will probably be set (mine was). There will be yellowish liquid on top, but that's just whey Protein. You can stir it in if you like thin yogurt or pour it off. At this point, you're done. Chill it in the fridge, and use it in any way that you you always enjoy yogurt. I love thick yogurt, so I'm going to do a couple of extra steps. TURNING IT INTO GREEK-STYLE YOGURT: Refrigerate your yogurt for at least 2 hours. I didn't stir in or pour off the whey, I just stuck the whole pot in the fridge and let it chill overnight. Line your colander with 4 sheets of damp cheesecloth and set it into a bowl. The bowl will collect the whey that strains off the yogurt. Pour the chilled yogurt into your colander, cover with saran wrap or leave uncovered, and place it in your fridge to strain. Every hour or two, check on the consistency of your yogurt and pour off the whey that has collected in your bowl. Throw the whey away (hehe, whey away), use it to make bread, or even feed it to your dog (apparently they LOVE it). Once you're happy with the texture of the yogurt, dump it out of the cheesecloth and into a container with a tight lid (break out the good tupperware). Consume within 6 days. Save 3 tablespoons of your homemade yogurt to be the starter cultures for your next batch of yogurt. I strained mine to a texture between Yoplait regular and Chobani greek, but I strained a little of it into yogurt cheese which was amazing. It had a silkiness that reminded me of Fage, but it was a bit thicker. Remember, the more you strain it, the less yogurt you'll have. A half gallon of milk makes about 32oz of thick greek yogurt. The flavor is more mild and less tangy than any plain yogurt I've ever had. I sweetened my first cup with a little Splenda and it was fantastic. If it stands up to that processed fake sugar, then I can't wait to try it with honey or agave nectar. COSTS: Milk - $3.59 Starter yogurt - $0.99 (on sale) I had all of the other things that I needed in my kitchen already. I made about 36oz of yogurt. Best part! Cost per serving: Homemade - $0.77 per 6oz serving Chobani - $1.59 per 6oz serving Fage - $1.89 per 7oz serving

Thank you!

I've decided to pursue my LIFE again. I've been a hermit for years because I've just felt so badly about myself. I'm working on getting over that, and auditioning is one of the first steps. Thank you for your sweet words.

Thanks guys!

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone. I feel like a new person.

LOL!! Thank you so much! I'm going to cry because this comment is so nice!

You're a fox and your family is beautiful! I maintain by not denying reasonable cravings, but I eat a very controlled amount. I also count up my calories at the end of the day and if I'm very short of my calorie goal range (which I'm usually not), I eat something calorie dense but healthy like a Clif Builder bar.

You look amazing! I'm a tall girl too, but not as tall as you are. I hope I grow an inch! lol

Hahaha thank you, everyone! It's really weird. In my head I look like both of those pictures, but they look so different from each other that it's hard for me to believe that they're both me. I appreciate that none of you are laughing at that first picture. I've never shown those first headshots to anyone. They were a total waste of money because I hated them so much. And that one was the best one of the set!

I'm a performer (singer and wannabe actress), but my weight killed my confidence so I pretty much stopped going to auditions. About 5 years ago, I had professional headshots taken that were the final nail in my theatre coffin. They are, without a doubt, the worst pictures I've ever intentionally posed for. That includes drunken Vegas pictures, sweaty end-of-the-day at Disneyland pictures, everything. THE WORST. On Saturday, I had new headshots taken by a friend who isn't a professional. The new pictures aren't the same quality as the pro pics, but they're still worlds better. I have my sleeve to thank for making me feel and look better. If you're still on the fence about this surgery, I hope this gives you the kick in the pants that you need. Okay, here goes. One old headshot, and then one new headshot. Don't laugh. Old headshot New headshot

I was never able to take vitamins, calcium, or protein shakes without immediately getting sick. 8 months later, and I still can't so now I take gummy vitamins, chewable chocolate calcium (carbonate unfortunately) or liquid calcium citrate, and I just didn't take any protein shakes and waited until I was able to get enough protein through food. I also take a gummy fiber supplement. I get the vitamins, fiber, and chocolate calcium from Costco and I order the liquid calcium online.

I've been wondering and wondering what this is. It hasn't ever happened to me, and from the sound of it I hope it never does!

LOL This is my confession too. I just bought a box of Savannah Smiles outside of the grocery store about 30 minutes ago. They're the ones I like the most for the least amount of calories. I can limit myself to only 2 per day which is around 70 calories total (I think), so I don't feel so terrible about it.

I tried that DVD long before I had surgery and it really hurt my knees. I never made it past level 1. I still have it and I was thinking about trying it again, now that I weigh so much less.

My husband got me this heated mattress pad for this past Christmas in King Size. http://www.amazon.com/Soft-Heat-Micro-Plush-Low-Voltage-Electric/dp/B003ZSHDEK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329867050&sr=8-1 You put it under your fitted sheet. There are temperature controls for each side of the bed so I can be toasty and he doesn't have to feel the heat. You can't feel any wires or discomfort AT ALL. The bed feels exactly the same as it always did, only now I can warm up my side before I crawl in. It doesn't make any noise, it's just great. I don't know how I lived without it for so long. If I had any complaint, it would be that it doesn't heat evenly (some spots get warmer than others). It doesn't really matter since I'm just looking to be warm under my blankets, but it's odd. Other than that, it's better and more comfortable than any electric blanket.

I just got back from my endoscopy and from what I recall, it was no big deal. I remember gagging a few times, but there wasn't any pain. They gave me 5mg of versed, 100mcg of fentanyl, and 2.5mg of diazepam. The procedure itself took 11 minutes. I never did and still don't feel even slightly groggy or drugged. I didn't believe they had given me anything at all! They told me not to drive at all today, and of course I won't, but a half glass of wine would feel more relaxing right now. I was counting on being really tired since I lost so much sleep worrying about it last night. Oh well. *shrug* Meredit: The nurse told me that they were having a really hard time getting versed these days. She said it was on national backorder. I'm guessing that's why they were out of it when you went in for your procedure.

I'm having an endoscopy tomorrow. This thread makes me feel so much better. I've been freaking out.

I'm so glad that this was helpful for you guys! It really made me feel a lot better. I get down on myself sometimes because I can eat more than I could a couple of months ago. I know that things are supposed to happen that way, especially in this first year, but I get worried that it'll just stretch and stretch and stretch and never stop. I do a pretty good job with my food, but I'm starting to slack off. I've ordered a food scale so that I can control my portions more carefully.

I don't know, I would say the difference would be greater. The one on the left is right after surgery. The bigger one on the right is 4 years later.

This is probably posted somewhere already, but I ran across this video of a patient have VSG surgery performed. At the 8:30 mark, there is a side by side comparison of the upper GI photographs of a patient's sleeve immediately after surgery, and then the same patient's sleeve 4 years later. As you can see, the sleeve does get bigger. However, it's nowhere near the size of a normal stomach. It made me feel much better to see that after 4 years, the sleeve should still be a small enough size to be an effective tool. It just depends on what we decide to put in it! Here's a screenshot if you're squeamish about the surgery portion of the video.

It's been 8 months since my surgery. For me, the honeymoon phase of never being hungry is O-V-E-R. I caught myself grazing a few times this week, and those calories add up. My old habits made me fat, so it's time for new ones. I needed to find out how naturally thin people eat, so I did a little Google-fu and found this article on Prevention.com that pretty much breaks down the difference between the fats and the fat-nots. I'm posting a slightly shortened/edited version of the article here. Most of you will know this stuff (I'd forgotten all about HALT), but I hope it's helpful to some of you. Habit #2 might be my biggest issue. In my brain, hunger = brink of death = MUST EAT RIGHT NOW. 8 Habits of Skinny People 1. They Choose Satisfied Over Stuffed On a fullness scale of 1 to 10, skinny people stop eating at a level of 6 or 7. The rest of us may keep going to an 8 or 10. Why? Maybe you mistakenly equate the sensation of fullness with satisfaction and feel deprived if you stop short. Or maybe you were raised to clean your plate. Copy Them: About halfway through your next meal, stop eating and rate your level of fullness on a scale of 1-10. Do it again when you have about five bites left. The goal is to increase your awareness of how satisfied you feel during a meal. (Bonus: It also slows down your eating, which allows the sensation of fullness to settle in.) 2. They Realize Hunger Isn't An Emergency We often view hunger as a condition that needs to be cured. If you fear hunger, you might routinely overeat to avoid it. Thin people tolerate it because they know hunger pangs always come and go, buying them some time to eat later. Copy Them: Pick a busy day to purposely delay lunch by an hour or two, and see that you can still function just fine. Then next time you feel those grumbles, maybe you'll hold off before making a beeline for the fridge. 3. They Don't Use food To Cure The Blues It's not that skinny people are immune to emotional eating, they just tend to recognize when they're doing it and stop. Copy Them: Add the word 'Halt' to your vocabulary. More than just a command, it's an acronym that stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired --the four most common triggers for emotional eating. If you're truly hungry, eat a balanced snack to tide you over until your next meal. But if you're angry, lonely, or tired, seek an alternative calorie-free solution to your emotional need. (Personal note: Food as a solution makes no sense. If a friend told you they were lonely, would you tell them that a fish stick will fix it? Sorry, Finding Nemo. Fish are food, not friends.) 4. They Eat More Fruit Skinny people, on average, have one more serving of fruit and eat more Fiber and less fat per day than overweight people. Copy Them: Find ways to add whole fruits (not juices) to your meals and Snacks. Sprinkle berries on your yogurt. Add sliced pears to your turkey sandwich, or bake an apple for dessert. Keep a bowl of fruit on your kitchen table or desk to motivate you to think fruit first, vending machine never. 5. They're Creatures Of Habit A varied diet is good, but too much variety can backfire. Too many tastes and textures encourage you to overeat. Thin people have a "food groove". Most of their meals consist of staples. There are a few surprises thrown in, but for the most part, their diets are fairly predictable. Copy Them: Try to eat as consistently as possible with your major meals--have Cereal for Breakfast, a salad at lunch, and so forth. It's okay to add grilled chicken to the salad one day and tuna the next, but by sticking to a loosely prescribed meal schedule, you limit the opportunities to overindulge. 6. They Have A Self-Control Gene Researchers at Tufts University found that the biggest predictor of weight gain among women in their 50s and 60s was their level of disinhibition, or unrestrained behavior. Women with low disinhibition (in other words, a finely tuned sense of restraint) had the lowest body mass index. High disinhibition (i.e., low restraint) was linked to an adult weight gain of as much as 33 pounds. Copy Them: Prepare for moments when your disinhibition is likely to be higher--such as when you're in a festive atmosphere with a large group of friends. If you're at a party, tell yourself you'll take one of every fourth passed hors d'oeuvre. If you're out at dinner, order an appetizer portion and share dessert. Or if you're stressed, make sure you have a source of crunchy snacks (like fruit or carrot sticks) at the ready. 7. They're Movers And Shakers On average, skinny women are on their feet an extra 2 1/2 hours per day--which can help burn off 33 pounds a year. Copy Them: Try a reality check. People often overestimate how active they really are. Most people actually spend 16 to 20 hours a day just sitting. Wear a pedometer on an average day, and see how close you get to the recommended 10,000 steps. Your day should combine 30 minutes of structured exercise with a variety of healthy habits, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator or mopping the floor with extra vigor. 8. They Sleep--Well Skinny women snooze 2 more hours per week, compared with overweight people. Researchers theorize that a lack of shut-eye is linked to lower levels of appetite-suppressing hormones like leptin and higher levels of the appetite-boosting hormone ghrelin. Copy Them: Break it down: Two extra hours of sleep a week is only 17 more minutes a day--a lot more manageable, even for the most packed of schedules. Start there and slowly work toward 8 hours of snooze time a night. This might be a little tl;dr for some of you, but I tried to trim the fat! Pun totally intended.

I had an upper GI and an esophagram today to find out what the heck is happening with all of his gurgling. Later this month I'm having an endoscopy. I'll let you guys know if my doctor finds something. Maybe it will shed a little light on things for the rest of you. I've noticed that it's not as bad for me anymore since switching from Pantoprazole to Dexilant. Also, if the gurgling starts, I lay on my back for a few minutes and it goes away. That's probably not the best idea, but I just hate the gurgles so much.