Indymom

Cottage cheese, greek yogurt, fat free refried Beans, string cheese (check with your nutritionist as to when you can have some of these foods - I was allowed most of them pretty early after surgery but other people's plans have them waiting longer). I agree with the sugar-free popsicles, crystal light, etc. I had a lot of problems with acid, though, and avoided crystal light and Powerade zero/gatorade because it made my reflux worse. I drank tons of plain Water. Be careful ordering a bunch of Protein, too, if you haven't tasted it. You might also find that your tastes change after surgery - I had a lot of trial and error with various Proteins.

If you're not taking a PPI/antacid, I would recommend starting one - the increased acid reflux can mimic hunger. Keep in mind, too, that since you're just likely on liquids (or maybe starting purees) most of what you're taking in goes right through you. Once you start on solids, you'll be amazed at how quickly you get full. Just keep hanging in there, the first couple months are the roughest. I agree that you should avoid the scale daily (although I really didn't!) and just weigh once a week, in the morning, at the same time . . . that's the best barometer for your loss.

Love the blog (and wish I was in Hawaii!!).

I take a softgel multi - it's pretty big, but I haven't had any issues with them from day one. They are made by Nature Made. When I was early out post-op, I would drink my Protein coffee and then take my morning pills - I couldn't take them on an empty stomach.

The skin didn't bother me at all, but I have a pretty tough sleeve. Jswilbur, the Amylu carmelized onion & gouda chicken burgers are delicious too at Costco.

That's a great NSV! I experienced the same thing when attending an NBA basketball game - it was so nice not having to shove my huge a$@ into the seat. One downfall of the weight loss though - I actually notice my tailbone getting a little achy if sitting in a hard seat for too long. Not enough padding. I'll take it though!!

Huge congrats to you!!

That's awesome . . . congrats and have a blast!!

Fantastic!! Has to be such a great feeling.

Went to costco today and they had Kenneth Cole dress pants on sale for $20, and Gloria Vanderbilt jeans for $12.99! I bought a size 14 and size 12 in the jeans, and one pair of black pants - I decided to buy size 12 since I have a couple pairs of 16s I can still wear with a belt . . . I figured I'd have to keep the black pants for a while before they would fit. For fun, I tried them on - and they FIT!!! They are just a wee bit snug, but not too bad . . . I'm so excited! The jeans are cut a little different as the 14s fit perfectly right now, but I'm hoping to be into the 12s soon. Now I'm almost thinking I should go back and pick up a pair of the dress pants in a 10 . . . OMG. I can't believe I might be in a size 10 soon!!! I don't think I've worn a size 10 since junior high!!!!! Happy dance!!!

Way to go!!

Yes, those were 2 of my favorite go-to meals once I got to purees - I used 2% shredded cheese with my scrambled eggs, and I would put the same shredded cheese, sour cream and taco bell mild sauce on my refried beans.

I bought Casual Gourmet chicken sausages with spinach and roasted red peppers today at Costco. YUM! I had one for lunch - each sausage only has 120 cals, 6 grams of fat and 15 grams of protein. I have a new favorite go-to lunch now, especially if I'm in a hurry! They do have a bit of a kick to 'em but really delicious.

I can see both sides of the food logging debate. For me, because I'm not doing any protein supplementation, my biggest reason for logging is to make sure I'm hitting my protein targets daily. I don't worry so much about the calories or carbs . . . within reason, of course.

If you use My Fitness Pal, you can plug the ingredients in, select a serving size and it will give you the nutritional values for the calories, fat, protein, etc. I typically do this with recipes to make sure the protein is high enough to be worth it to eat.

My foods list has peanut butter on the "no no" list. Awfully high in fat. That said, I've enjoyed a bit here and there - I just don't make a habit of it. It's some good protein, and if I'm feeling a little icky I just toast a piece of bread and do a thin layer of PB . . . it's perfect.

I love meatballs, and figured out that the frozen turkey meatballs have nearly as much fat and calories as when I make homemade meatballs with very lean ground beef. I'm saving a ton of $$ by making my own!

I don't eat sushi at all, but I don't go anywhere NEAR rice. Just the thought of it makes me nearly gag. I can eat a moderate amount of bread and other grains, but for whatever reason every time I've tried rice it's been disastrous.

I was approx 265 pre-surgery, and am now 178. I'm about 28 lbs above goal of 150. Before: Currently:

My doctor recommends against soda and caffeine. My nutritionist said "everything in moderation." I wasn't a huge soda drinker or caffeine junkie before surgery - I occasionally have a cup of coffee in the morning, or I will sometimes have a diet pepsi. I don't believe it can stretch the stomach as carbonation will just escape as gas from one end or the other . I don't make a habit of it, and if I found myself having too much of either, I would nip it in the bud immediately.

In general, I don't worry too much about my carb intake as I seem to lose OK regardless of where my carbs fall. If I'm going to treat myself to ice cream, I generally like the "real thing" (or at least the reduced-fat thing) - my husband sometimes buys sorbet or Edy's slow-churned reduced fat ice cream. I don't have a huge sweet tooth so a spoonful or two of whatever ice cream/sorbet he has bought is enough to satisfy me. I try to avoid a lot of the foods that have artificial sweeteners in them; my taste buds have changed to the point where I can always identify sweeteners - I can only tolerate them in my iced tea and coffee.

I started on omeprazole, first 1x day and that didn't work - switched to twice daily and still have issues. Now I'm taking Dexilant in the morning. I was taking an OTC Zantac at night but I've stopped that and am doing great. No reflux at all!

I am 7.5 months out and usually hitting between 900-1200 cals/day. I typically lose 2-3 lbs/week (it's slowed down in the past couple weeks because my exercising has been a little lax).

Way to go!!

Had a GREAT time out with girlfriends Friday night singing karaoke and having a few cocktails. I saw some friends I hadn't seen in a while, so of course they were very complimentary of my weight loss (and I was embarrassed). I finally decided to wear a tucked-in shirt with my jeans and new belt . . . I'm still a little pudgy in front but still pretty happy about it. I felt really great the whole night!