DebiC

WHAT??? Do you mean to try and tell me I can't just put 3 scoops into my morning smoothy and eat crap the rest of the day? what's up with that?

Sharon-You do sound harsh-but you are also RIGHT on! Good advice for ALL of us. Sometimes we all need some Tough Love to keep us on track. It may not be what we want to hear-sometimes we want to be coddled. But coddling ourselves too much is what got us to this point. So Emma's mom-These may not have been the answers you hoped for-But we are all here to support you. We all want you to succeed, just as much as we want to succeed ourselves. Please let us know how you decide to deal with this and how it works out for you.

Any soft or mushy should be OK at this stage (I assume you mean the stage between full liquids and normal). Cooked-non fibrous vegetables. Moist meats (chicken, tuna) Shaved deli meats (turkey, ham) cottage cheese, yogurt (particularly Greek), eggs, low fat cheese, Peanut Butter, Beans (refried) One of my faves is to cook up a couple frozen meatballs in spaghetti sauce. Top with shredded Italian cheese and broil until cheese is melted. The thing to remember is that when you dish up your food, you will think that you have taken a super small portion, and then you will find you can only eat a portion of that! Starting out you can probably only eat 1/4-1/2 cup. Since the portions I was eating were so small I splurged on quality. Fruits, deli meats, special cheeses. If you enjoy Protein powder check out eggfaces web site. she has loads of recipes include WLS friendly ice creams, baked goods and egg dishes. Good luck. And enjoy being able to eat again while watching yourself get smaller and smaller.

Yes, Pre-op is not fun (but neither is being overweight!) but you will get through it. Then very quickly it will be nothing but a vague memory! Everything is so exciting after the surgery-getting used to so much new stuff-knowing you did something to help yourself. And then the actual losing part starts! Just take it one day at a time and remember that it's only two weeks and you can do anything for two weeks. Keep coming to the forums and share your good and your bad. So glad you are taking this step to improve your life and your health. Best of luck. Enjoy Vegas!!

So sorry to hear that. At least it was found early. Hang in there and keep us informed what is going on.

Gastric Bypass is not reversible. Gastric bypass also often leads to nutritional deficiencies that can cause severe health complications. While you may initially lose weight faster with bypass, in the long run bypass and VSG have the same results. The hospital stay with VSG is shorter. You don't have dumping syndrome with VSG. With VSG you can eat more normally than with either bypass or lapband. These are just a few of the reasons for choosing VSG over Bypass

I have found I don't have room for sweets after eating my proteins and veggies. I am not a sugar free person-nor a no sweets person. So when I do indulge it is the real thing and just one bite or so before bed. That way I'm not tempted to have more. It is usually one bite of ice cream or a 25 Calorie piece of a specialty dark chocolate.

You can't wait to wear? Besides a swimsuit, what is the one thing you most like to picture yourself in once you are at or near your goal. For me it is a dress (I have recently been looking at wrap dresses) with nylons and strappy not too high heels (I'm 6' tall barefoot) and I have always wanted to have a blazer to wear with jeans (a pair of jeans is the first thing I'm buying when I lose a little more!!)-Goodbye polyester stretch pants!!!!! I have not been able to just go to a store and buy clothes for probably 20 years. Not only am I big, but I am also tall so tops especially have had to be custom made (so they are long enough to cover my belly and hips) because we all know that if our fat is covered with clothes no one will know we are fat underneath!! I lost enough weight to actually buy a dress for my daughters wedding 10 years ago (I still have it) but that is the only regular store purchase I have made. I am so tired of being limited to what I can order from LB and Roaman's and besides how can you tell what it will look like on you when their models are all a size 10 at the most? Anyways, I just thought you might want to share your innermost clothes fantasy with those of us who can relate.

I haven't let things go quite as bad, but have had a few minor issues. I have ended up just throwing out the food that was causing me problems. But that doesn't solve the husband/dinner/meal problems. Sabotage is very common. Not just with WLS surgery but any type of change a spouse makes. The person fears that if their spouse changes, that they won't love them any more or that the relationship will suffer. Unfortunately, this really does happen sometimes. Can you talk to your husband about this. Maybe you two can work together on some meal plans? These meals aren't healthy for your child(ren) in the long run. I know exactly what it's like to have a non supportive husband. That's part of why I kept my weight on for sooo long. He's not around now and I am only surrounded by supportive family and friends. I don't have a solution for you, other than to find a way to put matters in your control. Your child will not die if you don't buy him/her treats that also appeal to you. Find some healthier Snacks or snacks he likes but not you. Fix your own dinners if you have to and let your husband continue to cook for himself and the family. There are a lot of simple things you could cook. Even just buying lean cuisine type meals, while not the best option, would still be better than eating fried chicken and sausage. If you need some ideas for super easy things you can prepare for yourself, check out eggface's website, look through the forums or please contact me and I will be happy to help you come up with some ideas. I don't want to see you fail after all the hard work it took to get this far. And especially while you are so young. I hate to see anybody stay big for as long as I did because they didn't know how to make it work. Best of luck to you.

My doctor allows regular foods after 4 weeks. I have been on several cruises before and it really is possible to make your cruise WLS friendly. If you eat in the dining room (as opposed to the buffet) you can request exactly what you wish to eat and will have many more WLS type options. For Breakfast there is always eggs cooked however you would like, and you can ask for skim milk. Tell your waiter that you don't want bread and he will remember and not continually offer it to you. Main meal menus almost always offer a beef, a chicken, a seafood and a vegetarian offering. If none of those seem right, you can ask for something else. Worse they can do is say NO. Portions in the dining room are generally small, you can always order just an appetizer and that would most likely fill you up. If you enjoy seafood that is usually your best choice. There are usually several Soups available. Stay away from fresh vegetables and fruits at this point as they could be harmful to your sleeve this early out. Some ships have deli's-you could order a sandwich with shaved meats and just eat the meat and cheese. Cottage cheese is usually available at every meal and so are things like mashed potatoes, applesauce and other "soft" foods that will be good for your tummy. If you feel you absolutely MUST have a dessert they usually have several that are sugarfree. I think the hardest thing will be when you realize just how little you can eat (that old-My eyes are bigger than my stomach-syndrome). You will find this early out that you will most likely feel completely full after only 2 or 3 bites-so choose those bites carefully to get the most benefit and enjoyment from the foods you do eat.

While I don't intentionally eat low carb-it just happens that way. My doctor says to stay about 20-30 carbs PER MEAL. I don't even count. After I eat protein, then veggies there is seldom any room left. I do on occasion eat half of a sandwich thin (whole wheat) or a WASA crisp bread. But I have found lately that I would rather have more vegetables and some fruit than a slice of bread. I thought I would feel deprived from the no pasta/rice/bread rule. But I really don't.

I had about 24 staples. They gave me the tool to take home and said I could remove them myself-proving it's not a big deal. However, I had an appointment with my PCP so I asked him to do it. I was about 2 weeks out. There was some tugging, but not pain (and I'm a big baby when it comes to pain). The tool looked like a staple remover.

Indymom-Thanks. I just looked it up and it sound fabulous. I bet it would make a great chicken marinade too.

Not that I really eat the same thing every day. But always looking for new ideas. It's only me most of the time so I don't have much interest in making casseroles or anything with more than about 3 ingredients! I'm not really watching carbs-I allow myself 1 bread/starch max each day. Love the sandwich thins/bagel thins (can only eat 1/2 at a time) Today I Pam sprayed a corn tortilla and grilled it. Top with 1/4 cup fat-free refried Beans, onion, fresh salsa and 3 Tlb Fat free cheddar cheese. What quick, easy things do you make (outside of shakes of course)? Share some ideas????

Yeah! The first step is always the hardest. Just keep remembering what the end goal is and hang in there.

My doctor graduates us to soft foods at 2 weeks and a regular diet at 4 weeks. Soft foods was basically anything except fresh veggies. Then at 4 weeks add in fresh veggies (except celery, corn) You just really want to be careful and remember that your sleeve is still healing. The food may go down OK and you may feel OK, but your tummy just might not be ready to handle some of the things we want to eat. This part only lasts a few weeks, so if you are going to go faster than your doctor advises, at least take care that you don't eat things (dry, tough meats, nuts, breads/pasta, fibrous foods etc) that could end up harming you.

My doctor recommended: 1 Multivitamin (I take the adult gummy Vitamins from Costco) 1 Calcium (gummy calcium from Costco) That's it.

I only weigh in every two weeks and so I was convinced I hadn't lost any weight the past two weeks with the holidays and all. I was super shocked when I weighed in today and found I had lost 12 lbs since my last weigh in. At my weight this loss isn't visible (not even to me)-but I can feel it in being able to move easier. I'm so excited. It hasn't been easy-but not really hard either. In spite of the several small issues I'm really glad I did this. I only wish I had done it years ago!!

6 weeks out. I can still only manage about 2oz Protein and then a few tablespoons of veggies. Egg and 1 slice bacon or a sausage for Breakfast. Some meals a little more-some times 2 bites and I'm done. Tonight I had 1.5 oz of small meatballs-1/4 steamed zucchini slices and about 1/4 cup Pasta sauce. Ate it all. But didn't need more. I wouldn't worry about it unless you are not getting enough protein.

Personally I can't see where you would be able to lose another 62 lbs! You look so good already. Congratulations!

Beth-You say you are on stage 3. Stage 3 is usually mushies so you should be able to eat some things that are "real" food. Like refried Beans, puddings, pureed Soups and chili's, eggs, cottage cheese, tuna, Peanut Butter etc. I can't believe you are getting to eat mushies at 5 days! I thought my doctor was liberal and he made us wait 2 weeks for mushies and 4 weeks for stage 4 full regular diet.

Sorry-Not so much a recipe as a request for recipes. A while back-of course I can't remember where. I came across a website for post-WLS that contained a lot of recipes for meals you could make in muffin tins- then freeze so that we had a variety of single serve WLS appropriate meals sitting in the freezer. Think meatloaf muffins. I live alone and so fixing a chicken breast that I then have to eat 4 meals in a row (at least that's what it seems like) is boring. I did come across this one for mini-pizza muffins I thought looked good- Anyone else have anything along these lines???? Mini Pizza Muffins 3/4 cup flour 3/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp garlic powder 3/4 cup milk 1 egg, lightly beaten 4 oz part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup) 2 oz mini turkey pepperoni, (about 1/2 cup) 4 oz low-fat sausage, cooked and crumbled 1/2 cup pizza sauce Pre-heat the oven to 375°. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, garlic powder and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, sausage and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve with pizza sauce.

Indymom-Share Greek Salad dressing recipe? Please?

I had been to this site before-but forgotten. Thanks for posting it. She has tons of good recipes.

Everyone I have told has been excited and supportive (but then again I need to lose 250+ lbs). I live in a very close knit community where everyone knows everyone else's business. People know I had surgery-but for those I chose not to tell the truth to-I just said I had exploratory surgery. I have an issue with telling thin people-I feel like they then watch everything you eat from then on and love to monitor you. I did share with most of my heftier acquaintances just in case they too were considering WLS and had questions. I have had family members say "Are you allowed to eat that?" and I explain AGAIN about my eating plan and let it go at that. I would have gone ahead however with or without their support, but thankfully I have their support. They knew that my weight was killing me and how many other times I had lost and gained.