delta_girl

I have had a few rounds of depression since surgery 14 weeks ago. It is getting much better now. If you haven't had many sunny days there in the past few weeks, you may also suffer from seasonal depression. Sunlight helps those with that problem. Its emotional and probably chemical, too..so it isn't something that you can just snap out of. Though you will often read that your attitude is 100% up to you and that you must decide to be happy, that is not so easy when you are in a real funk. Have you thought about starting a blog? There are so many military spouses that would appreciate your perspective and I would bet that there is an unconnected community of them who are spouses at home that have had bariatric surgery. It would be a unique opportunity and it may help for you to write out your feelings and share them. It may help others, too.

For those who have not seen the articles: http://todayhealth.today.com/_news/2013/01/04/16352571-best-diy-diet-myfitnesspal-app-says-consumer-reports?lite http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=8939502 http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/consumer-reports-readers-rate-13-top-diets-article-1.1233177

I eat out all of the time. Especially when I'm out of town for work or on the road. After all of the zillion diet programs I've been on, I know the nutritional information and can estimate calories. I also pre-load my mind with information by reading nutritional information from restaurant websites to see what their better choices are. If I do decide to indulge a little bit and order something that is not quite as heathy, I eat very little and balance it out with steamed veggies or am aware of what I eat at other meals of the day. I don't consider it a lifestyle of denial and diet food. It is all about balance and awareness.

I actually, personally, don't feel that this is a problem. I have thin friends who do this. Sometimes I actually know it is "time" to eat but I'm really not hungry, so I don't eat then. One of the things my NUT told me was that we (obese) patients have lost touch with our bodies signals. We often eat because it is time to eat and not because our bodies are telling us that it is hungry. I love it. It is a big gift. A few times I have gone an entire day without eating until a very small meal for supper. At other times I have not been hungry, but ate a bite or two of protein just to keep me going. I don't not eat all of the time, but I'm learning to rebalance nutrition with my bodies signals. This is not an endorsement for anyone to not eat or skip meals. I'm just sharing my current experiences.

Cooking With Protein powder I have recently had many comments on various youtube vidoes I have posted concerning protein powder and cooking with it. There are various sites that will claim that by cooking with protein powder, the powder will lose some of its nutritional value. I had read the research, but thought I would contact a protein powder company just to see their response. Thank you for contacting us, but no worries on cooking with protein powder, because of the quality of the protein. You will still retain full nutritional value, and as far as slowing on the digestion process, it is minimal. whey protein powder contains virtually all non-denatured protein. However, exposing protein to extreme temperature (hot or cold) will denature the protein to a certain degree. For example, heating whey protein to temperatures above 140 degrees F (60 degrees C) results in denaturation. For this reason, cooking or baking with DP denatures the protein. In addition, repeated freezing and thawing of a protein solution can result in deanaturation, but simply exposing the powder to low temperatures does not cause denaturation. This does not mean that the amount of the protein is diminished. Denaturation can affect biological value (bioavilability) and may slow the digestion and absorption of the protein. Regardless, denatured protein still retains full nutritional value with regard to amino acid composition. And whey protein powder is a good source of all essential and non-essential amino acids; therefore, even if it is denatured, it is still a very high quality protein source. Also, all Proteins are denatured when cooked (e.g., eggs, meat, soy, etc.). Hope this helps and we wish you all the best. http://leanbodiescon...protein-powder/

I'm 3 month out. Eating doesn't hurt me but it is often uncomfortable or feels weird. I actually don't mind the trade off if stays that way. But it shouldn't hurt. Are you swallowing air maybe? That might cause discomfort.

That's the whole vanity sizing thing. I am wearing size 16 pants. Yesterday I tried on 2 dresses from the back of my closet. They are both size 12 and too big. My pair of black velvet jeans from 9 years ago are a size 14 and they are too tight. I have noticed that jeans are often sized differently from other pants.

OP - I just now noticed that we share the same date of surgery and you are 3 lbs ahead of me!

I'm moving into my 14th week and I eat out all of the time. I eat anything I want. I make good food choices most of the time, so I don't worry if I have a cookie every once in a while, or I put a little butter on my sweet potato when I have one. But even with that said, I get in around 500-600 calories a day. The amount of food I can eat is so small that I really can't eat more and I really don't want to.

I cannot see where you are going to find 35 more lbs on your body to lose! You look so good!

I'm down over 50lbs and have had very little change in my cup size in 13 weeks. I'm sure I'll see a difference happen during the next 50 lbs.

I drink before meals, but have only had a drink with a meal a very, very few times. This is one of the most basic rules after vsg, so I comply. The few times that I did drink with my meal I found that I ate even less than I would without a drink and with eating so little in the first place I need the nutrition from food, not space filled with some liquid.

All of these restaurants have good choices. We don't tend to make them, though. You can easily eat 2-3 days worth of calories by having a big meal at any of these places, but you can also have a very good, sensible meal at each of them as well. Self-education is a HUGE part of success. At least in my opinion. Just be informed before you go. Chili's has a "Lighter Choices" menu selection. At Olive Garden: mussels di Napoli = 180 calories minestroni Soup = 100 calories chicken and gnocchi soup = 250 calories zuppa toscona soup = 170 calories Venetian apricot chicken lunch portion = 290 calories Applebee's has an "Under 550" designation. And there is on way we can eat the whole serving they provide. These include: Napa chicken & portobellos zesty Roma chicken & shrimp roasted garlic sirloin signature sirloin with garlic herb shrimp At Red Lobster: grilled lobster, shrimp and scallops = 340 calories 6 oysters on the /12 shell = 50 calories shrimp cocktail = 120 calories salmon = 250 calories snow crab legs = 90 calories lobster tail = 170 calories seafood stuffed fish = 330 calories cesar salad = 270 calories cup of clam chowder = 230 calories cup of lobster bisque = 210 calories cup of chicken tortilla soup = 150 calories Denny's: 4 slices of turkey bacon = 180 calories low fat yogurt = 160 calories egg whites = 50 calories bowl of chicken noodle soup = 160 calories cup of clam chowder = 200 calories cup of veggie beef soup = 111 calories half serving of cranberry chicken salad = 310 calories oatmeal with milk and brown sugar = 240 calories Fit Fare omelette = 390 calories Veggie skillet = 330 calories Fit Slam = 390 calories Though Cracker Barrel does not provide calorie information for its menu, they have healty options such as low fat yogurt, fresh seasonal fruit, eggs, lemon pepper trout, grilled chicken and salads. At Outback: kid's menu grilled chicken = 147 calories Ahi tuna, small = 363 calories grilled shrimp = 319 calories grilled chicken = 401 calories very low calories counts on steamed Beans or broccoli, grilled asparagus, salad The Keg: shrimp cocktail = 127 calories backed garlic shrimp = 309 calories escargot = 280 calories crab legs = 208 calories lobster tails = 215 calories teriyaki chicken = 353 calories teriyaki sirloin = 366 calories mixed grilled veggies = 131 calories

You are looking fantastic! How much have you lost?

I had surgery on a Wednesday morning and was back at work on Monday.

I'm going to provide a slightly different idea here. When looking at a lot of photos where people show before and after at around 50-80 lbs, for many it isn't "jump out at you" obvious. For one, most of us have never met in person. Another is that different lighting, different clothing, and especially different distances from the camera change the perspective. But more than anything is that almost all of us have the same shape, only much smaller. Our fundamental body shape doesn't change significantly until there is a really extreme loss. When someone is a size 22 and has a certain body shape, then they are a size 16, the proprtions are the same respective to other parts of the body. So you still look like "you," only a smaller version of you. With our quick initial weight loss, our skin has not caught up yet, so we may tend to be a bit loose at first, but that will change as our bodies adjust. It wasn't until I had lost over 40 lbs that anyone made a comment about my weight loss at all (maybe 1-2 coworkers). They just didn't see it. At 50 lbs a few more noticed, but not all that many (maybe a few more coworkers and two family members). For us living in our own skin, we feel dramatically different!! Our clothing sizes change, we can do more, we feel so much better, we are living the huge difference in so many ways that are not just visual. Give yourself a lot of mental hugs and know that you have made a HUGE impact on your life. I can tell because I'm right there with you, or close to you with over 50 lbs lost. We know to look for certain things that may not be as obvious to others. Keep doing the good work you are doing. Your progress is showing!

Contacting the corporate headquarters of restaurants may yield some results. It would be worth a try for those that you really like a lot.

Something to think about too.....we are not accustomed to feeling hunger very often so it is unfamiliar and uncomfortable. My surgeon recommends in his planning manual to learn to go to bed hungry. He also says that nothing happens to you when you get hungry. It takes practice but the more you work with yourself on adjusting to hunger pangs, the less sensitive you will be to them. When I felt hunger off and on during the first month I thought that the world was going to come to an end. It drove me crazy! Now I ignore it and get busy doing something and it does not present a huge challenge or effort. It took practice and I'm really glad that I worked with myself on this. I also still take a PPI 2x daily.

I've thought about juicing and I've seen a lot of green shakes on Pinterest, so my interest is piqued, but the kale and the chocolate powder? Everything else here looks really good together. I made baked kale chips in the oven this weekend and they are slightly bitter. With chocolate too? My brain's message to my tastebuds says that would taste like foot!

Truvia is WONDERFUL stuff!!!!! You can even use it to make simple syrup for an occasional adult beverage. http://www.truviacocktails.com/

Slider foods slide through restriction so you don't feel very full when eating them. These are usually very fattening or highly processed foods such as ice cream and crackers. That they slide through easily has nothing to do with the number of calories they contain.

The program binder my surgeon gave me says up to 18 months of loss. There are probably a ton of factors that play in to this, many of which are personal choices and behavioral adjustments. At slightly over 3 months out I've dropped 1/2 of my weight, which has had a roller coaster pattern.I don't have perfect plan fidelity and need to get myself back on track while the irons are hot. The holidays could be used as an excuse, or the weather, or probably any other number of rationales, My exercise habits have gotten really sloppy and I know I'm not getting in appropriate Protein since I am no longer on shakes. ShannonK has a good point about skin tightening up. There are so many things going on with your body during this time and we really do have some extreme expectations of it. Our metabolism is adjusting, our skin is adapting, our hair is in crisis, etc. Those of us who are in the range of 6 months may not want to hear about things slowing down, think about simply sustaining life. Of course you need fewer calories the closer you get to goal, and the slower your loss, but your body wants to survive and if it keeps up that fast loss momentum you would be in the hospital for too much weight loss! (There are some realllly scary anorexia nervosa videos on Youtube).

I totally understand that this is a real problem and you are serious about finding a solution ..and then another part of me is soooo envious! Let us know what you discover works.

It was more than 10 days after surgery before I had any sign of a BM. Since then my surgeon told me to take Mirilax 2x a day but that is just too much going on for me. I have never been very regular in the first place. I'm taking a few doses of Exlax each week right now.

First of all, good job getting yourself moving in the right direction. There is nothing about this process that is easy. You will get a lot of good information here and many good suggestions when it comes to keeping on track, but the best that I can tell you is to generate a very long list of things to keep you busy. Watching TV and playing computer games should probably not be on your list. Find ways to get your mind and body actively involved in some type of activity as much as possible. It may be cleaning out closets and cabinets, working a real puzzle, talking on the phone to a friend, taking a free class, going to the library, learn a new craft ...... anything to get your attention off of food.