delta_girl

Check to see if your doctor is in the network of a certified "Bariatric Center of Excellence". They have best practices.

You can get them at Walgreens, most health stores and it is possible that Wal Mart carries them now. I have Cha-Cha-Cha Chia brand. But there are a lot of different brands available.

I'm not on all foods yet, so I haven't used mine but I did get it out of the cabinet and take a look at it yesterday and was shocked. I hadn't looked at it since before surgery. Before surgery I thought that I would starve to death with such a tiny amount of food for lunch. Now that I'm going into my 7th week post-surgery, I am wondering how in the world I could begin to eat half of what that thing can hold!

I'm just starting my 7th week, so maybe there are somewhat predictable stalls like the 2 week stall, we just haven't all tracked the dates. Someone should work up a spreadsheet!

Mine is just nuts. I have been recording but lately there seems to be an anti-pattern. I weighed this morning and those same 3 lbs gained are sticking. I did try to throw things off yesterday by upping my calories from 500 to 800 but that wasn't the magic trick. I'm not crying or throwing things, but I wonder what's up. Could be that I haven't had but two poos in 6 weeks.

http://www.mychiaseeds.com/Articles/Top10ChiaBenefits.html http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/meal-ideas/quick-and-easy-chia-seed-recipes http://whatscookingamerica.net/CharlotteBradley/Chai-Seeds.htm http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-24/chia-seeds-wall-streets-stimulant-of-choice

After a 2 week stall I lost 1.5 lbs and now three days later I've gained 3. No reason for that to have happened. Go figure. That's an example of why you shouldn't weigh every day or obsess over numbers.

Add chia seeds to your food.

We had surgery on the same day and have lost almost exactly the same number of pounds.

I felt that way 2-3 weeks before surgery, but also knew that if I gained weight my surgeon might not do the operation. I did eat a lot of favorite things, but in moderation. I lost 4 lbs in 2 weeks but ate Indian, sushi, pie, chocolate, Pasta. I just ate some, not all of it. Now I know I a can have whatever I want eventually, but surprisingly enough I don't think about food all of the time anymore.

Odd. My surgeon told me that at 8 weeks the stomach is only 50% healed.

Even though I am cleared to eat a greater variety of foods than I am currently eating, I go back to earlier options. It doesn't make sense, but I also try little bits of things that are not quite allowed yet. My sleeve is guiding me, not my mouth. Regardless of how my taste buds feel about it, if my sleeve likes it then it gets what it likes. I had some organic chicken and vegetables baby food for supper last night. Even salt didn't help the taste much, but my sleeve loved it and I could eat the whole 3 oz. I also had 1.5 whites from two boiled eggs. Both worked great. Vegan black bean soup at lunch last Thursday was a bust. I probably had 4 spoons of the broth and maybe 10 beans in all. That was all I could take of that. Unfortunately, a shortbread cookie went down just fine. Trying some pork rinds from the break room at work was a truly horrible idea. I felt like concrete had been poured in my stomach and the feeling lasted for over 4 hours. I still haven't thrown up anything so far, nor have I felt even close to that experience. What I do feel is something like having a handfull of gravel in my stomach, which is extremely unpleasant. I don't see giving up shakes anytime in the foreseeable future. They are too soothing to my stomach, regardless of what my taste buds think. Most days I eat under 500 calories and I've lost 29 lbs in 40 days which is probably an average loss. I've seen a lot of people who have lost a lot more and a lot less in the same amount of time. I've gone over 500 a few times, but not very far and those were days when I was tasting something I probably shouldn't have.

A new thread was just started on this a few days ago that has received a lot of responses. You can do a search for different topics at the top of this page.

Having a one-on-one mentor or buddy is great, but I think that we all do that for each other in general through the forums. That is why I like it so much here. Lots of different personalities, experiences, ways of interacting with others, questions, methodologies, suggestions ..... a much broader variety than you would get from one person. If you need a kick in the pants, you get lots of them. If you need to be reassured that things will be OK, you get a lot of affirmations from the group.

I saw those when I was in there shopping on Saturday but wasn't convinced that DDs would get enough support.

My mind has completely tuned this out and ignored it. I hadn't read this thread until now and then I started counting back. I've been to the bathroom twice for sure (maybe three times) since surgery six weeks ago. I'm traveling for work for the next few days so can't put myself in a vulnerable position, but I realize that this needs some immediate attention. Amazing what you can forget about....

Good job so far! You know you are moving forward with your success when you start to hear compliments. Keep up the good work and your progress towards better health. You decide if and when you want to share anything about your health with anyone. There is no shame in keeping it private nor in sharing your surgery with the world, but don't let anyone (at work, home, or here in this forum) make that decision for you. It is completely your decision for what is right for you.

If you are interested, here is some information on HIPPA law. Your medical privacy is protected, but gossip doesn't know it. http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/summary/index.html

Say you took control of your health, you feel great, and thanks for the compliment.

I'm still fairly new at 6 or so weeks, but I like edamame, Ostrim, salmon, pb2, low fat cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, split pea soup (11g protein per .5 cup), boiled egg whites.

Yup. 500-600 calories a day is exactly a starvation diet. Ever wonder how many calories a day anorexics strive for? This goes back to a post I made about being able to survive on fat stores. We have so much surplus that the deficit has to be extreme to get results moving. That doesn't mean we are meant to continue to live out the rest of our lives on such harsh calorie restrictions. We have agreed to an extreme medical intervention to address an extreme addiction.

I love going to Panera for their lemon chicken soup though it isn't on the menu all of the time. I keep a note in my phone of my local restaurants and what I can eat at each. I did this by looking up the nutritional information and examining fat, Protein and carbs for different items on the menu. There really is no other way to know unless you just guess or the nutritional information is published on the menu when you get there. For example, I know that if I go to Ruby Tuesday's, I have a list of about 5 "very safe" items and a few others that are "pretty good." The white bean chicken chili with 300 calories has a fantastic 24g of protein, but 37g of carbs. I would order that only depending on what else I had that day, or if I knew I wanted to order it at supper, I would plan my food for the day to have a lower number of carbs. The chicken noodle soup has 180 calories with 9g protein, 9g fat and 18g carbs. There are also several sharable appetizers that I have already screened that are ok for me to have. Since I already have these listed in my phone, it is easy to have the information ready to enter into myfitnesspal.com

I can only tolerate a very small amount of sure. Very small. Anything beyond just one bite or two and I feel very sick.

You look healthy and fabulous and you sound very happy and well adjusted. It is obvious from your post that you are in a great place both mentally and physically, and that is the best that any of us could ever hope for!

We all have these (with rare exceptions). You have lost a lot of weight already so feel good about that! This isn't a race, it is a change in lifestyle. Think about how long it took you to put on that weight. I had a two week stall at 4 weeks and it was frustrating, but not bad or sad. I decided to do something to shake my body up. At first I upped my calories by 200, but that didn't work. Then I upped the intensity of my exercise and drank more fluids. That worked. Either that, or it was just time for the stall to end anyway. Rejoice in your victory so far! Don't beat yourself up over a number. I'll bet you are feeling a lot better than you did when you were heavier. You are healthier for sure. Savor the feeling of having done something powerfully effective for yourself and let the rest come when it does. You aren't through losing weight. It is still going to happen. We are all too conditioned for instant satisfaction through the influence of marketing. Those weight loss ads usually say something about ....Lose 50 lbs 30 days or your money back! .... Why is it desirable to make something happen immediately? We are more interested in long term results. Patience isn't one of my strengths either, but reality has its own way of unfolding things.