Fiddleman

Great feedback. Do you also exercise daily or how any times a week. My diet is also low carb, low fat, 1200 calories a day. I know that low carb works for a lot of VSG folks, but it is hard to define exactly what low carb means. My definition of low carb now at 8.5 months, where I eat good carbs from veggies, energy squares and Protein bars, is different from my definition of low carb in the first six months, where I stuck to no extra carbs unless it was "built into" the protein portion (tended to put me around 10-30 carb daily). I had some good losses for first few months ( 45, 45 and 15). Then I lost an average of 15 lb for next 4 months and hit my goal. I think eating low carb, high protein and low fat really helped in the first 6 months. Low carb is certainly not everyone's style. I found much more energy once I started eating some good carbs. In turn, this allowed me to exercise harder which in turn gave me more energy. A good feedback loop to be in. Everyone should try low carb style if they find losing to be slow.

Not sure if the helps, but I just completed my first yoga class today. This REALLY (double REALLY) works the core muscles ( not just the ABS). I surprisingly made it through an hour (was shaking like a leaf); it was so hard and I found it was even harder ( for me) then cross fit (which I came from an hour before that). Try out yoga. See if it is for you. I did not feel at all zen during the class, but am feeling very relaxed afterwards with my core muscles worked to the MAX. Maybe yoga is the key to avoiding a TT and eliminating the stomach butt. I'll be going back!! Oh yes, I will be going back ( in Best Wayne voice from Wayne's World).

Yup - see those bags all the time at TJ, calling out. just have not committed yet to buying nuts yet post op. i guess now or never. I was thinking why not "go big" or "go bulk" by buying nuts from costco. More nuts for the money. No that is not a bumper sticker for a pimpin trade line. Lol.

You know, it really isn't that bad when you exercise hard and eat low carb. I feel that these two combined do really reduce the size of the stomach butt. Maybe it will all smooth out after a year from reaching goal. I am hoping some ab work will bring out the six pack. Not there yet, but visualizing this as one of my goals. Hoping that we can achieve a six pack without needing a TT if we eat a certain way and exercise a certain way after dropping to goal weight. Maybe follow "body for life" program.

Any idea how to manage 10 -12 hours apart and still abide by the no take around mineral rules and the fact I take minerals at 6am, 10am, 12pm and 6pm?

You really have a nice weight loss record month over month. What do you attribute your success to the most?

Second infection post sleeve. First one was a staph infection affecting upper back, neck and head. Very painful for 3-4 weeks late last year. This second one is prostatitis ( inflammation of the prostate). The doctor put me on a 6 week Cipro plan starting yesterday. Waiting for labs to come back indicating "real" issue. The biggest concern is that the bottle says to take 6 hours from last mineral and wait 2 hours before taking next mineral. The timing thing is what is killing me because I need to take this 2x a day. I take my minerals and Vitamins in the morning ( including iron) when I get up. Calcium chews an hour or two after that and the calcium chews again at lunch and dinner. I usually eat every 3 hours and I eat last Protein shake or bar at about 9 pm. This snack usually is loaded with minerals by definition. I am wondering if these no-take rules can be bent a little since we have smaller stomachs and process nutrients differently from non sleeved individual. My plan right now is to take at 3 pm and 7 pm, but I am still not outside of the no take range and I am taking the doses pretty close together. I hope I do not have to resort to taking the Cipro in the middle of the night. Any thoughts? I know, not the most exciting topic, but...

Thanks for sharing the chart. That is helpful to know BMI changes with age. I wish there was also a MINIMUM 45+ adult column so that we can extrapolate a goal into a range of floor and ceiling values instead of just knowing the ceiling value. It is a little interesting that the BMI slides upward as you age. Why?

You need to get your liver checked out prompto! I am happy you are going to get the lipid panel done. Can you think of anything that might have contributed to "the yellow eyes"?

Hehe, fully immersed. Kind of like that scene in 13th warrior where he finally understands the German language after listening and not understanding for weeks. I tried this technique when I went to Italy 2 years ago, fully hoping to " get it" by the time the vacation was over. After being there 3 weeks, I had picked up on some phrases and could order about anything I needed. Also figured out when Italians were making fun of us silly Americans. I hope to become proficient in another spoken language other then English someday, but you know what they say about learning languages when you are older. My hat off to all those people who can fluently understand and speak multiple foreign languages. You would figure that I could become more successful at it as I know 4 musical clefs for different instruments and about 12 different computer programming languages ( proficient in 5). Maybe these are used by a different part of the brain then the spoken and written language. Who knows?

Thank goodness for google translate. My high school Spanish is very rusty.

That is very motivating to hear from you. What a great goal to have and to strive towards!! I think everyone has the ability to achieve what they set their minds to. You will get there!!

Yes, good idea. Danyelle said in a previous post that it is good to replace your shoes every 300 miles or so. I am getting close to this as my shoes are as-of December 2012, so that makes my shoe life at about 3.5 months. Since I do most of my running on the treadmill and use these shoes for literally only running on the treadmill, they appear to still have a good tread as I approach 300 miles. They still feel good to me. What I might do is visit the running store and ask them what they think of the current state of my running shoes. I have no problem buying new running shoes if the time is right. Should cost between 100-150. Since you have been running for a year, you might find your shoe requirements have changed a little. A trained eye will point this out to you so trust them in helping you find a new running shoe.

So glad that Cheese cake factory has a small plates menu! Will need to try it out sometime soon. I remember also liking their Asian lettuce wraps pre surgery and those still be pretty good for us if we don't go gang busters on the sauces.

You should be able to drink large amounts for sure after 5 months. I think even after 2 months, you can change from sip to gulp if you want to. It really depends on when your stomach is fully healed.

I am finding one spoonful of low fat cottage cheese does a good job at holding over to 3 hour mark if at 90 min mark since last meal. Thanks for your suggestions everyone.

Tried out the Detour Lean Muscle Bar today. It is not bad in terms of taste, nutritional stats and satiety. The flavor I got is cookie dough caramel. This may be on the sweet side for some, but it does not seem to bother me. Calories: 190 Fat: 6g Carbs: 17 g (1 fiber, w sugar and 13 sugar alcohols) Sodium : 230 mg Protein: 16 g Vitamins: claim is 21 Vitamins and minerals. A little high on sodium, but still manageable. I still like the nu go slim bars better over all.

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