delta_girl

Knee jerk vigilantes by far produce the greatest source of tension and anxiety. Providing a specific point of view on an experience or sharing a story from the gut are not in themselves offensive. If someone finds themselves perpetually offended then they may need to look within for the real source of the problem, then reflect on proactive ways to address those issues.

Are you maintaining or losing?

Congrats! Me too...teetering right on the edge, though. I still fell like a smaller fat person, but the progress is real.

There is a low-cal cranberry with 1/2 the calories and a diet cranberry with only 5 calories per serving if you are interested.

I'm self pay and feel very well informed. I asked a lot of questions and did a lot of reading.

Eat more slowly. Don't eat much at one time.

I use baby spinach instead of lettuce. It has a lot of iron, which is perfect for us. My doctor cleared me to begin introducing small salads at around 10 weeks. So far I have had salads that include such things as raw cucumber, zucchini, grape tomatoes, chopped nuts, dried cranberries, apples, avacado, carrots, cabbage, celery and endive. The only thing so far that has given me any trouble is raw onion. Salads are now more delicious than ever, but the serving is very tiny!

It sounds like you should contact your surgeon and provide this information to see what your alternatives are or if you need medical assistance.

5'3" Pre Op 216 Op 212 (9/26/12) Current 166 Goal 4/1/13 = 136 lbs (estimated average 2.5 lb loss per week)

I have had a pretty much perfect experience, which really does color the lens through which I view this surgery. However, I also know that there are a lot of dangers. My surgeon scared me to death about post-op non-compliance. Because I had such a good experience I also don't get the great predominance of fussing that goes on about a lot of things and the long leave times people take from work. My surgeon told me to get back to life immediately after the hospital. I was back at work almost immediately. I didn't like eating/drinking a few things, I got depressed for several days, I was sore, I felt hunger but didn't do a lot of fussing about it. My attitude and experience was 100% up to me (of course barring any medical complications which never took place). I have also done a lot of things that I probably should not have and had no (or minimal) consequences. I've shared some in the forums if I thought that someone might benefit, others I've kept to myself because I really didn't need or want opinions or feedback on them. But for the first four weeks I was almost golden with my plan barring some contraband crackers and frozen yogurt. At 13 weeks I'm 1/2 way to my goal of a 101 lb weight loss even though I don't always exercise like I should, I drink wine a few nights a week, if I want some chocolate I eat it, I eat out all of the time, I no longer count carbs, I skip meals. All of this probably sounds very bad and I'm not saying anyone should do these things. What I am VERY happy about is that vsg is working great for my lifestyle and I truly believe that it is sustainable for the long term because MOST of the time I make very good food choices. I feel great and look so much better. I'm really looking forward to a summer when I am not miserable, fat and sweaty, I'm looking forward to running a 5k, I'm looking forward to feeling even better in my own skin. I don't think that I would tell everyone to rush out and get a vsg. It is major surgery and should be carefully considered, researched and should involve both personal reflection and future planning.

Sometimes I really am surprised about some of the questions or lack of information. There are a lot of very basic questions. It could be that some are just wanting to connect with others and that is an easy way to interact with people in the forum. But a simple web search can answer a huge percentage of these questions, such as general definitions. Self-education, to me at least, is like brushing your teeth, buying groceries, etc...a basic life skill. And if you are reading these forums and see that other people have a post-op plan, then it only takes a few minutes to find post-op vsg plans from major health centers and top hospitals on the Internet.

I would hope that self-education always takes place regardless of what the hospital or surgeon provides. There are enough resources available in the public domain for anyone to learn as much as they want to.

You can order PB2 online or get it from many health food stores. It looks like powdered gold flour but is made from peanuts with most of the fat removed. You can get chia seeds at health food and drug stores, though you can get them much cheaper online.

You haven't failed unless you give up. So don't give up. You can recalibrate yourself in just a few days. It may not be the most fun you have ever had, but if you got as far as you have, you already have what it takes to do it

The day before yesterday I ate nothing...nada, so yesterday was a bit unusual. I had some spicy cheese with little oyster crackers, some chicken divan and maybe 1 tablespoon of lentils, diluted orange juice, 2 very tiny pieces of dark chocolate (41 calories), half a cherry tomato and a small slice of cucumber, 1/2 cup beef stew, 1 glass diluted low calorie cranberry juice. I'm 13 weeks out.

How many calories?

Someone mentioned these a long while back but I can't find the thread. Anyway... food for a discounted price. Here are some restaurants that recognize WLS cards:\ Golden Corral Olive Garden Chili’s Applebee’s Red Lobster Denny’s Cracker Barrel Outback Steak House The Keg

I order a cup of soup or an appetizer if there are healthy options for those and just say I'm really not that hungry right now. If you order a regular meal, box it up and take the rest home for another meal or two. You really don't have to explain much to anyone. If the waiter asks if the food was ok, just say it was delecious, thank you,

Exactly.

I'm afraid to ask how you even know that

Try adding 1 tablespoon of PB2 into vanilla greek yogurt with 1 teaspoon of chia seeds ....oh. my. goodness. It is So good!!!

I have mine in my signature. The first two rewards I decided on so that I might feel "pretty." The next two are health/wellness based. I just have an empty spot on reward #3 after 75lbs lost. I have thought about maybe getting some new running shoes or hiring a personal trainer. I just haven't thought thorough it long enough. I am within just a few pounds of my #2 reward after 51 lbs lost.

This is cool if you are interested. I bought the ingredients to make it and will do it sometime this week. I found it on Pinterest and the photos look so delicious! Cauliflower Crust Makes 4 individual pizzas 2 eggs 2 cups mozzarella cheese 2 cups riced cauliflower (grate the cauliflower on a cheese grater) 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 cup fresh julienned basil pizza Toppings 1 cup marinara sauce (1/4 cup per pizza) 1 zucchini, thinly sliced 1 yellow zucchini, thinly sliced 1/2 white onion, thinly sliced Basil Ricotta (recipe below) The recipe directions are here: http://www.fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.com/2011/06/basil-cauliflower-pizza/

I had part of one piece of thin crust cheese pizza at around 10 weeks. I mostly ate the cheese and it was not nearly as good as it was before.

I hadn't even thought about it. Fascinating!