Globetrotter

Ahhahahaaaaahahahaaahahahaaaa!!!! es!!!!:laugh0::laugh0::biggrin0::001_tongue::laugh0:

It's not so much foods I used to love and now hate, it's an overwhelming craving for fresh crunchy vegetables lately. I'm only 5 weeks out so I'm not cleared for raw veggies or fruits yet, but ohhhh how I want them!!!! I will be the happiest salad eater when I finally get the green light!

I think condensed protein will be a part of our lives from here on out; whether it be a shake or powder or bars, I think there will always need to be a stash in a cupboard. If I were to get all of my protein from food sources, even responsible protein-first choices, I would be at least 200 calories over my surgeon's recommendations.

I buy Brown Cow at my local co-op market but I have also bought it at larger groceries like Safeway.

I hear ya, big time! I had the buyer's remorse weep-a-thon 3 days out from surgery, and the gas pain when I tried to sleep those first couple of days - identical to what you described. I slept on a futon-couch because the deep fold kept me in a snug sideways position, that was the only way I could approach comfortable. In that first week there were days when I got in maybe 15 ounces of water/protein. The exhaustion and malaise were intense. Once I was able to handle sipping the hideous protein shakes I noticed an increase in energy and once I was able to approach 60 ounces of fluids/70g's protein I noticed a huge mental change for the better. Your stomach rash sounds similar to something I have suffered from on and off for years, mine is actually due to stress. Itches terribly, spreads from a center point on my stomach, raised red, did I mention itches like crazy? Mine is stress related and wont go away till the stress is handled. I had one pretty bad in the weeks before the surgery before I could calm myself down. This is the physically miserable part and you just gotta get through the days. The good news is that you will, even though it sucks.

I have to start the day with a protein shake or I won't get a good jump on my liquids and protein for the day. On my day off though I like a little scrambled egg & cheese or boiled egg or PB. If I had access to it I would probably eat greek yogurt.

I empathise April, yesterday I went over my calorie budget by 123 (723 instead of 600). I ate 2 TBSP of peanut butter, a cup of non-fat milk, half a hamburger patty with a slice of cheese, 4 oz of chicken breast, and 3 bites of rib meat. Granted that was over a 14 hour period and it was low carb but still - it's the emotional aspect of it that concerns me. I just kept grazing and grazing ... and I would like to point out that even after all that protein I still didn't make protein quota for the day! Stop beating yourself up - you are cognisant of what happened, you are aware of your emotions. Dust yourself off and be tender to yourself - we are here for you to connect with, your BF is there in person to lean on, and the world is full of sugar free low carb options - heck, JellyBelly makes a buttered popcorn flavored bean that is practically the real deal!! Have you gone to OA.com?

So I am about to be sleeved and I am thinking ahead to my full liquids phase; I have some unflavored protein powder to add to my broths and I want to know - what is the rule on cream soups? No chunks, nothing to chew, just cream soups. I have a lobster bisque that is very smooth and creamy and absorbs the protein really well, is it okay??

Today is 5 weeks out exactly for me. In the past 3 weeks I have only lost 6 pounds. I take in next to no carbs, seriously, like 10 max per day most days it's more like 5 or 6. I take my vitamins, hit or come very close to my quotas for protein and liquids, and still - sloooowwwwwwww.

God, how I miss salad. Where I'm from they are big on locally sourced organic farmer's markets and I could have wept over the beautiful vegetables and fruits. I long for an heirloom tomato salad, with balsamic vinegar and goat cheese and arugula and cucumbers and fresh cracked black pepper and high quality olive oil, weep!! My only real source of carbs come from my 1 TBSP serving rounds of Peanut Butter, could this very low carb diet be what is making my weight loss so slow? It's not on purpose, it's just that all the carbs on offer here are the very bad kind, even the yogurt is just all sugar and the milk has had all the nutrition sucked out of it. the cheese is that super processed pre shredded stuff that bears no resemblance to that which we call cheese. I decided to be decadent and forego the PB in favor of some ... mashed potato for dinner! :cursing: 2 tsp's worth later, I'm so over it. This crap is gross.

Oh my god BlackberryJuice I nearly peed my pants when I saw that, and I'm at work! *Gasping with laughter*. Ouroborous, you HAVE to keep us updated!!

I am 5 weeks out today and thus far I have had: 1 Protein shake, 1 tiny chicken breast, 3/4 of a crabcake with the breading scraped off, 2 pots of herbal caffeine free tea. My totals are: liquids - 43 ounces protein - 63.8 grams calories - 420 carbs - 5 For dinner I'll have another pot of tea, the last 1/4 of the crabcake and probalby 2 TBSP of Peanut Butter. That should get me to my calorie budget and over my liquids and protein quotas.

I'm in a peculiar situation; I spend nearly every waking hour with my colleagues and am half way around the world from my family and friends. Only close family knows and I've actually kept some details from my Mother as she can't seem to keep her mouth shut. But my colleagues, we work 12+ hour days together, eat together, get our laundry together. It's really obvious when I suddenly started drinking protein shakes all the time and only eating teeny spoonfuls of food. I inferred that I had surgery and I'm sure they've assumed it was WLS, but I did not come right out and say I had VSG WLS.

That's very kind of you to say Jane, I remember why I've always liked the English! It's not so much that I think every friend of mine will drop me the moment I stop being the eternal flame, it's just that in cataloguing my friends I realize that every single one of them is more of a taker than a giver, and they all sit back and do not actively engage in the friendship of their own accord, I am always the one doing the reaching out.

It would be terrible to discover that all the people I thought were my friends were really just users who kept me around to make themselves feel better about themselves. That would be terrible, I think it is a fear of mine, fear perhaps stemming from a deep seeded knowledge that indeed most of my friends are self-centered users who take much and give little.

Brown Cow non fat Greek Yogurt has 23 grams of protein per serving and it is so creamy fantastic, I drizzle a little honey and tap some cinnamon and mmmm-mm! Good stuff.

It's difficult to say because it seems that every surgeon has different regulations. It's not the volume of the food your eating that caught my eye, it's what you're eating. At 2 weeks out I would have been terrified to eat anything that hard, I was just thrilled to be moving onto blended Soups. Even now at almost 5 weeks out I have yet to eat anything that could be considered crunchy, like a cracker or Cereal. I also have yet to eat a carb like oatmeal since I have to save all my space for protein. If your surgeon blesses off on it and you feel okay, then I'd say it's a go.

I had a family member with me 24/7 for the first 4 days, strictly speaking I probably only absolutely needed someone the first 2 days but it was so wonderful having someone with me, someone who could tell when I was getting uncomfortable, who kept the timetable of my pain meds, who brought me the broth or the popsicle or whatever it was. Not having to struggle or use up my healing energy on little stuff I think was incredibly helpful.

Mini, have you tried the tortilla pizza recipes from the blog World According to Eggface? Ohmygod her pizzas are so droolworthy and because they are on fajita-sized low carb tortillas, you can eat the whole thing (it's the size of your outspread hand), thereby having mental and visual satisfaction of eating 4 slices of pizza! If you like thin crispy crust pizza, this is the one for you. Mmm, I can't wait till I can make the tomato mozzarella one, :sad0:

Pfftt, When I told my BF that I was having surgery, he moved right along to the next topic of conversation and when I was home recovering/on vacation for 3 weeks we talked once on skype. He and I are both deployed, he is a soldier, and he redeployed back to the states during that time. I can appreciate what a hectic time redeployment is, but to not even comment on "I'm having surgery" in a conversation ... needless to say, he is not my BF any longer. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack ... Tiff, could it be that the underlying subconcious issue here is the fact that he wasn't there for you when you faced death? You both know he couldn't help not being there - in your rational brains. But in the emotional brain, maybe he is trying to compensate?

Does it feel like you swallowed a big lump of clay? That's how mine feels if I either eat too quickly or take too big of a bite.

I am 4 weeks, 4 days out from surgery and consider myself to be in a stall. Since week 2 I have only lost 5 pounds. I am not exercising yet and I wonder, is that the problem? I make or come close to quota on liquids and protein and calories most days. If I only lose 5 pounds in a month then I am doing no better than if I had just dieted and exercised. Advice, suggestions?

So this is the 3 week stall ... it happens near the 3rd week, and seems to last 3 weeks! Yuck. Well here is what I have available to me: The Gym: treadmill, elliptical, bicycle, free weights. PS - it is 125 degrees here, all day. The Food:boiled chicken, baked fish, canned tuna, deli meats, meatloaf, boiled veggies, manufactured shredded cheese, steak, swissed steak. Everything else is deep fried or pure carb or both. The location: Iraq. US army fob. So I get a to-go box every couple of days and load it up with the likeliest Protein foods, put it in my little refrdgerator, and nibble from it for days. One cup serving of the meatloaf has 33 grams of protein but that's 8 ounces! It would take me 2 and a half hours to eat that. I will admit that I could go to the gym super early in the morning, I really could. Yet every single morning that I wake up at that time, I feel soooo warm and cosy and relaxed in bed that I just don't bring myself to do it. My work day is already 12 hours long at best, doing more than that seems monumental. Plus I was really hoping to lose some weight before hitting the gym, at this size it is painful and laborious to attempt gym work.

This crap is DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am 5 days out from surgery and have been living off Protein powders blended with Water and whoever invented this crap was an a$$h013. I choke down 80g's worth of protein every day and try to keep up with the water but I feel like I am being punished for every pleasure I've ever had from food. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!! I need real food with real flavor, not this gritty paste water that tastes of a$$. I don't mind that I'm on liquids, but anything but this!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHH. PS - yes, I've tried a variety of the brands, all a$$. And I'm only getting in about 300 cals a day, the doc wants me at 600.

Lunaire Sports bra is the best bra Ever - it has underwire but the entire bra is so comfortable I never have to touch it once, and I am a champion bra-tugger! Keeps the girls molded, in place, and not squashed flat like some of those without actual cups do, the dreaded boob loaf. Lunaire only goes up to a 38 DDD though.