Isabel'sGma

You should not be in that much pain. I would call your surgeon. If you are gassy, walk, walk, walk!!!! Otherwise a talk with the surgeon is in order.

I came across the below recipe and thought it sounded like a great recipe for those of us that are in stage 4 or later. Lots of Protein and little to no carbs. Looking forward to trying it. Stuffed Zucchini Ingredients 3 zucchini 1 lb ground turkey/chicken/beef/sausage 1 cup dry bread crumbs 1 clove garlic minced 1 (32) ounce jar spaghetti sauce ½ cup grated parmesan cheese ½ cup mozzarella or Monterey jack cheese Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 derees C.) 2. Trim stems from zucchini and slice lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and put in bowl. 3. Place sliced zucchini (cut side down) in a 9 x 13 baking pan with a small amount of Water. Bake them in the heating oven while preparing the remainder of the recipe. 4. Brown meat mixture with garlic, drain grease and add to bowl with zucchini seeds. 5. Mix seeds, meat mixture, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. 6. Remove zucchini from the oven and stuff them with the meat mixture and return to the 9 x 13 baking pan. 7. Pour sauce over zucchini and cover pan with foil. Bake in preheated oven for 30-45 minutes, or until zucchini is tender. Remove foil and top with the mozzarella cheese and return to oven until cheese is melted.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have always loved spaghetti and thought it was a goner for me. the other night the family wanted spaghetti and so I opened a can of green beans and used them for noodles. It was great. The beans were firm enough to stand up to the sauce and not mushy like spaghetti squash. I strongly recommend trying it.

Recliner for about a week and a half

Be strong and trust your decision made after long thought and don't trust that instinct to run away response. This surgery has changed my life and many others on this forum and in the world. The surgery was very easy and although there have been ups and downs, I have lost 60 pounds in 3 months and 82 since my highest weight (in the last year). You will be so happy one you work out the kinks of your sleeve and will feel better almost immediately.

I would probably look into what I have heard as a 5-day pouch test. Actually the website is www.5daypouchtest.com . This should help you get back into the mindset of eating the way we are supposed to with this new tool. I am only 3-months post-op but I can definitely see the value of this type of tool helping when and if I get out of control in the future. Best of luck and you have already tackled some of the hardest issues and that is admitting you have a problem. See if you can get back in touch with a psychologist/counselor to help you. I know you can do it, get a buddy to really help you be accountable and work that sleeve.

Walk, walk, walk, sip, sip, sip and as my Psych says "trust your plan". When things get rough and the stalls happen, trust your plan because as long as you are following the plan set up by your surgeon, nutritionist, psych, pcp, etc, the plan won't fail you. The sleeve will work. Also measure yourself immediately. You may see a drop in inches even before a drop in the scale. Most importantly, you will lose weight, our bodies have to right themselves after the major surgery and change in habits that we have put them through.

I am right there at your height. I used to be almost 5'10" but now measure about 5'8 1/2" most of the time. My Dr and I have not discussed specific weights, but I am shooting for 199 and the going to reassess. I think when I type my height into a BMI calculator I come up with something like 165 putting me into a "normal" weight range. I am not sure I want to be that low and I want to be realistic. I think we spend so much time focusing on a number and not nearly enough time focusing on body health. I want to be fit and if I am fit and happy at 199, then that will make me happy. I realistically think that I will end up around 175.

I would take a guess that possibly you are not eating enough. My nut said that I should be eating 1200 calories per day as long as I am working our 5-7 times per week. She said eating less than that can cause more stalls with our body thinking it is not going to get enough. Are you getting the minimum protein? I have found when I up my calories, that I actually lose more weight and have more success.

Well, finally back down a little. Starting Weight 7/4: 275 Today's Weight 7/23: 268.8 Goal Weight 9/2: 260 I seem to be in this cycle of losing for a few days in a row then gaining a little of it back over a few days and then maintaining and then losing. Kind of strange, but as long as I lose more than I gain, then I guess the scale is still going the right direction. I really hope that the goal of 260 is attainable. It should be, who knows, maybe I can even get to 250 which would be amazing. It would be 100 down from my highest weight and 77 from the beginning of my pre-op diet on the 14th of April.

Do you have a DVR, if so, get into the habit of recording the shows you like and watch them in a little time delay. That way you can fast forward through the commercials. I absolutely love DVR for that one thing more than anything else. I may only wait 10-15 minutes into a show to start watching it, that usually makes is to I can get through without having to sit through the commercials.

Surgery 4/24/2012 Pre-Surgery Weight 327 7/9/12 weight - 269 7/16/12 weight - 272 Labor Day Goal Weight - 260

I absolutely love Leslie Sansone walk away the pounds videos. My absolute favorite is her newest "5 Really Big Miles". It is structured where you can do any of them individually or all at once. She is motivating and very inspirational. The video came from Walmart for $10.77 and included a stretchie band that you use for toning in two of the 5 miles. It is FANTASTIC. Sometimes I do all 5 other times, like last night when I had done other stuff, i only did 4 of the miles. The night before my daughter and I just did 2.

Definitely agree with more calories. Depending on where you are on the journey, I would probably resist the urge for more carbs.

The whole bariatric Center is not unique to Healthnet. It is not that bad; however, they will probably have a set of requirements. Find out who their centers of excellence are and locate a physician that has worked with healthnet in the past and talk to their insurance coordinator. They will be best able to advise you.