2012

You are welcome. Sugar Alcohols will only show up in sugar free items, when they add sorbitol or another form of it. You can pull up the nutrition labels at the Atkins website to see an example to make it more clear. I was pretty happy when my nutritionist told me this and I trust her because she teaches other RDs at the University of Cincinnati and also had the lapband and kept her weight off for years, her picture is outside of the doctor's office door, she lost a huge amount of weight.

I've been taking biotin for years since my mom gave me a tip to take it after she had bypass done and I did not get bumps from this. And I'm not sure if the protein shakes are doing it because I actually just started getting some bumps on my face, which are not red, don't hurt, or anything and are just raised bumps that I can only feel, but I have been doing a protein shake everyday to help keep up my protein numbers and this may be it, but I also got a clarisonic, so I'm not sure if that did it . I'm probably not helping much.

I hope you like them! I just ordered some tonight from Vitamin Shoppe. I had also found this protein bar recipe on youtube that you guys may be interested in, I have not tried it yet, but the carbs are only 16.9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Qby2ZfwA4. If you click on the show more, it breaks down the nut values.

I'm not sure Wendy, I know of Hungry Girl, but I don't watch her often, so she may have. I have found them sold individually at GNC, but once you find the ones you like, you can get boxes of them at Amazon and Vitamin Shoppe. On Amazon, they even have a mix box, personally I have not found a flavor I did not like. You can also put them in the microwave for a few seconds and they taste like a cookie from the oven . And I don't work for these people, just Googled the heck out of looking for a protein bar I could use, haha.

I only buy them on occasion because they are a little too good . If you are looking for a protein bar Questbars are really good and the numbers on them are really good, high fiber content. They are a little pricey, but I can never find bars with less than 25-30 carbs each.

Not sure if you have one around you, but I have heard really good things about this place: www.runningspot.com

What about using those silicone cupcake cups? This may help hold it in versus the regular paper cups.

Thank you, that plan works for me too. I stick to my numbers, but I still have things I like, just had pizza the other night, but was smart about it.

Yes, she has me subtract fiber and you can subtract sugar alcohols from the carbs to get your net carbs. Our bodies do not absorb sugar alcohols (hence people get diarrhea when they have too much, been there done that). Atkins does it the same way, they deduct fiber and sugar alcohols from the carbs, that's why the yummy bars they have such low net carbs.

Yes, especially since I was self pay and it's not cheap. But I realized, I am a champion at losing weight, I've done it a million times since I was a kid, my downfall, keeping it off. I'm hoping this time I'll learn my lesson and keep it off. Usually I tire of a diet pretty quickly (3 months or so) and go back to my old ways, but for some reason this lap band lifestyle is sticking and I've been doing it since July. I have confidence I can do it this time. Probably will have to be on LBT for the rest of my life , but the support really helps.

Here's another for your arsenal and has high protein: cottage cheese, 1 package ranch dressing powder mix, and water in a blender. I use 1 big container of cottage cheese, 1 pkt mix, and start with a 1/2 cup water and add until I reach the thickness I want.

Good, I was afraid you were going to say the opposite . I'm not doing this yet as my plateau finally broke after a month with a 5.5 loss (woohoo ), but my nutritionist has always used the net carb number which really helps when my max daily allowance is only 60 .

Happy Birthday!!

You are awesome! Any wise words for those of us still on our journeys? One thing I'm really interested in is eating, did you have to alter your "diet" to keep the pounds coming off, or did you pretty much stick with the same thing since the beginning when you started? (meaning protein goals, carb goals, and maybe calorie goals (some don't have to watch this))

That's a good suggestion, I stopped taking Sustenex after surgery because I was fearful of the size of the pill and switched to pearls, which did good for about 6 months, but now not so much. What kind did you take CG?

Yummy, thank you and thank you especially for listing the nutritional values!!

Thank you everyone for the input. Line-dancer, have you ever tried a probiotic? They work pretty well for me but it seems like the one I'm taking is no longer effective, so I may try fiber choice or another probiotic. From what I read today, it seems like both Align and Cultruelle are supposed to be the better choices in helping in this area.

How are people supplementing their fiber intake? I've been trying those Vitafusion fiber gummies and they only seem to give me gas and I got some Fiber One (original) last night to throw into my yogurt to get in 14 grams, but just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions? In the past benefiber did not work too well for me, which is what the nutritionist recommends, and I wanted to look into other options. I saw something called Psyllum Husks (spelling is probably wrong) and not sure if that would be good supplement if anyone has any experience with this? Thanks

Personally I have not had one that small, but in my last appointment in speaking to my nutritionist to decide if I needed a fill, she said she had one done this amount before and it helped her.

I was at Meijers last night checking out frozen meals and I watch carbs like you and honestly I could not find anything that fit the bill, like B-52 said, most are rice or pasta which jumps up the carbs. However, Atkins had 2 meals which are low carb, but the fat was like 25 for each of them. They looked good, but I also found them to be expensive, so I didn't buy them. They were about $5.00 each if you are interested, but the fat and price were a turn off for me, although they looked good. Maybe you can find a coupon on Atkins website because they are new.

It works, thank you Lisa!

Just out of curiosity, is everyone using a morning weight (no clothes, no shoes, etc), or evening weight (with clothes, etc)? Somehow I magically gain weight each day (probably food, sodium, etc) but then it's gone by morning. I prefer my morning weight

Checking in at 186.5, looks like I may meet my January goal after all, woohoo!

I believe the discount was towards that $400.00 fee, sorry I vaguely remember. I believe I paid $180.00 (additional to the $12,999) for the 2 week pre-op, they provide medifast shakes and bars, I thought they were good, but stay far, far away from the chili , it is very gross and smells funny too. The bars are really good, a little too good, but only 1 bar a day. The $12,999 pays for everything else, surgery, going to Journeylite, not Jewish hospital, Jewish costs I think $1000.00 more, 2 years of fills and I see a nutritionist every time I go to a visit (this is included), and he repairs a hiatal hernia at no cost during lap band surgery if he finds one (this is not common for this surgery cost to be included as you will find reading LBT). I ended up having one that he fixed and no more reflux, yay! He only does surgery on Mondays at the Evendale office. I have a lot of work to do at home tonight to catch up, but let me dig out my docs and see if I can figure out the costs for you, I do remember that the Fast Track (work out center) will probably cost $20.13 a month, since it was $20.12 last year. But I'll get back to you, I'm on here every night and feel free to ask any questions you have, I was banded in July 2012 and Dr. Curry is very skilled. And if you didn't already know, Dr. Curry has a lap band himself. Are you in Cincinnati? I'm in Northern Kentucky, but I work in Cincinnati.

Hi there Creekwood, I too am a self pay thru Curry, had my surgery in July. The nuts in the office will tell you to drink no less than 64oz but have never heard of a maximum, I'm still working on it, but when I focus I can actually do it . Go to one of their seminars and you can get a discount and of course more information and Dr. Curry is the one who does it. But I will tell you that you only see the nurses after the surgery, which is not bad, they know what they are doing and the nuts (Rebecca and Erin) are great! Isn't it cool that Dr. Curry answers questions via email, we may not see him, but still have access to him.