delta_girl

Just about any Japanese, many steak houses, and fusion restaurants have these things. I doubt you have the same restaurants in Virginia as I do in my part of the country, but I did a quick search. http://www.thaifoodsmithfieldva.com/ Their edamame is $4.00, miso Soup is $1.75, tuna tataki is $8.00 (you can request it seared if it is not already prepared that way.

In college, through some very extreme dieting, I hit 116 lbs. It was the first time since elementary school that I weighed that, with my weight usually being 160-170 (5'3"). Even though that was a few decades ago, I recall being that weight and thinking to myself that inside I felt no different. I still had problems and responsibilities and insecurities. I thought that there would be an internal transformation at the same time and it didn't happen. Obviously I gained it all back and then some. This is a challenge that I know is coming again. At least I am aware of it, though I don't know how it will play out at my age and experience level. Fat is like having a cozy buffer between yourself and the rest of the world. You are insulated and can feed that comfort with more food. At least that is my interpretation. The only counseling I have ever been through was what was necessary prior to my surgery, but I'm not opposed to talking to a professional if I find myself feeling lost or begin to self-sabotage. Yes, OP, that unknown is scary, but we will forge ahead!

Seared Ahi tuna and edamame with hot green tea.

I'm not sure if this is helpful in this context or not, but here is a thread that I started yesterday in Exercise: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/57581-sophisticated-calculator-caloric-deficit-exercise-for-monthly-estimates/

I have already tried canned boiled peanuts that you can get at the grocery store. They are super soft right out of the shell. The down sides are that they are incredibly high in sodium and the whole can packs a huge number of calories.

That's what my doctor/surgeon told me. He is an award winning physician and runs a Center for Bariatric Excellence, which is not an easy distinction to acquire. When he said that I would survive on my own fat stores with only water for 4 months, he did not say THRIVE. He said survive. That post was to suggest what is apparently medical fact, though not something that anyone would every want to do. Have you ever seen someone go on a hunger strike? They don't die right away, or even weeks into it. This is a conceptual idea that is based in medical fact to illustrate a theoretically relevant idea that I'm damn fat. It was also a wake-up call to me that I do not need to fuss and whine about being deprived about food or being hungry and try to soothe myself with food because I'm already damn fat. He was basically saying not to feel sorry for yourself and get with the program. This was our pre-surgery conference. It worked for me.

I'm 5'3" and I looked at several healthy weight and BMI charts. I started off at 216 and my first goal weight that I considered was 135 lbs, then I revised it to 115 lbs, which puts me in a mid range for healthy weight for my height. I really have no idea what that will look like on me. I have seen other people here who are also short have goal weights of 170 lbs, 150 lbs, etc. One of the goals I have along with weight loss and health is that I really, really, really want to run and I know that the less stress on my joints the easier that is going to be for me at my age of 44. I didn't ask the doctor, nutritionist or nurse what they thought my weight should be.

I'm 5'3" and eat 500 calories a day. I don't know how I could eat 1,000 at this point.

Mine does this all of the time. Since it may be my new, or at least current normal, I'm learning to tune it out.

Tiny tummy (6/7 weeks) does not like pork rinds, butter, anything with onion, anything with tomato, sports drinks (even low cal ones), baby food with chicken, peaches n cream whipped yogurt, soups with much fat, too much water at a time.

I completely agree! That just happened to be the point of discussion. Exercise has TONS of fantastic benefits. It is great for improving your blood/oxygen level, great for your skin, great for your cholesterol levels, it decreases appetite, is a mood elevator, provides a relief of stress, helps you sleep better at night, provides muscle tone, improves balance, ...on and on and on. The last time I lost any significant amount of weight (and then unfortunately gained it back plus some), I was doing a fair bit of cardio and strength training. Even though I am quite short at 5'3", I was getting some definition at 155 lbs and my skin looked the best it ever has. That was 9 years, the death of a husband and a brother, a home foreclosure and 8 moves ago, but I remember!

I discovered this in a related article on diet vs exercise for weight loss results. http://www.pbrc.edu/...loss-predictor/ Though it doesn't provide quite the extreme for caloric restriction that we undergo, it DOES show how regular exercise can really impact the results. I entered my gender, age, height, weight, and caloric reduction. I had to play around with this for a few minutes to see how it worked and to make connections between how it worked and corollaries to the unique nature of the sleeve and our general nutritional plan. If I have a caloric deficit of 1,000 calories a day (It would take 2,665 calories a day to maintain my current weight of 187), then in 12 months I can be down to around 147 pounds. If I add in exercise that burns just 250 calories a day (a brisk walk for an hour), then in 12 months I can be down around 137 in 12 months. But I'm not in a nutritional deficit of 1,000 calories a day. I'm in a nutritional deficit of 2,100 calories a day as of today at the weight of 187. See how the calculator is not "extreme" enough for us? However, it does provide a fascinating comparison, and if you are great at math, you can do a bit of estimating and calculating to envision results specific to you. Of course you will have to figure in that your daily caloric needs will decline as you lose weight, so the deficit number will go down for each pound lost. Unfortunately I'm really horrible at math so I can't calculate my exact results, but I can guesstimate that it is possible for me to be at or near goal well before 12 months are up, IF I maintain a consistent nutritional plan with significant caloric restriction and IF I maintain a consistent exercise program that includes adequate length and intensity for each session. I did do enough playing around with it to discover that when I do reach my goal weight, I can maintain it with around 1,600 calories a day if I remain active. If I am sedentary, then I will need fewer calories.

I'm 6 weeks out, soon to be 7, and I still eat pureed baby food because my sleeve really likes it. It doesn't take very many times to learn that there are things that your sleeve does and does not like. There really isn't a positive payoff to keep eating things that your head wants but your sleeve doesn't. That bugger will teach you things that will surprise you.

Losing weight is much more about diet than exercise. Here is a fascinating study on the subject: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/dieting-vs-exercise-for-weight-loss/

I confess.... I had wine on my first vacation in 8 years, though it was my 5th week out, and I do not feel one bit of regret. I have one cup of coffee, real coffee, every morning and I do not feel guilty in the slightest. I ate a whole bag of snack size Cheetoes in my third week out, and I don't feel bad about it (I also haven't been very tempted to repeat it, even though they are in the house). I ate some pork rinds that were in the break room at work yesterday. I usually hate them, but I was about to get into the pretzles and crackers and at least they had Protein. About 30 minutes after I ate the pork rinds I was very sorry that I did. I don't share any of these illicit little discretions with my doctor. I'm not perfect but I've been pretty darn good.

I was having a huge problem with this, too. When I switched my PPI it helped for about a week, maybe two before it was really not fixing the problem. When I upped my exercise to longer (still less than one hour), more intense sessions, I noticed a big drop in my hunger for hours afterwards. I actually have to make myself eat something for supper. I have read that exercise is an appetite depressant, though I can't quote a source. It gets on my nerves to drink Water, but I also notice that the more I drink, the less I have issues with sensations of hunger. I'm drinking more sugar free drink mixes now (I like the cheaper brand at Wal Mart).

A few seconds for a small bite of food isn't worth the possible consequences.

You are about to do something life changing that will be permanent. Going through the actual surgery is going to be a real attitude adjustment.

I may be wrong, but I think that the OP was speaking to the spirit of self-control, not providing medical or nutritional advice. It appeared to be a conceptual approach as she covered a big concept with a relatively short post. I inferred that she meant to do what you need to do to take care of business while you can because you won't get these 6 months back. Some people see things more literally than others.

I read this as an observation based on information publicly provided. It wasn't sweet, but it wasn't an attack. It is a dialogue based on a complex and touchy subject.

I can't stand enabling or fake hiney kissing. Tell it like it is. We are adults. Not everybody wins a medal, gets a prize, nor are they entitled to win praise every time they sneeze. This is a serious topic and doesn't really have a lot of wiggle room for whining. Questions, yes. Advice, sure. Exchanges of stories and open communication, absolutely. My doctor first yanked a knot in my attention when he told me I could survive for four months on Water alone due to my fat stores. We weren't built to exist in a constant environment of "feast." Our bodies are great at storing energy for those time periods that food is scarce, not that we have to think about that any more.

I completely agree that this is a very sound and healthy approach. My schedule and work travel make things a bit crazy, so my timing is always off, but I no longer have one or two times a day when I pig out as I did before.

I've said this somewhere else on this forum, but my doctor asked me what happens when you are hungry? He replied .....Nothing. As overweight people, we are far too willing to fill any bit of emptiness inside with as much as we can. Feeling empty is not something most overweight people are accustomed to, so it doesn't feel normal. We are having to rewire ourselves from the inside out. Moving out of your comfort zone is not easy. It is challenging. We are having to employ strategies that are different such as drinking a lot more clean Fluid, eating more Protein, eating fewer carbohydrates and cutting out the sugar, starch, bread and other refined foods that we love so much. Nope. Not what I would call fun. But most days are good and when I'm really hungry I fill up on low fat cottage cheese, hot tea, low fat yogurt, or I just get busy.

That went away a few days after surgery for me. Your body has just undergone significant trauma. Be gentle with it. Take very small sips. Also, check to see if there is something in what you are consuming that is causing problems. Sugar makes me feel bad now. Certain smells may be putting you off, too.

I FINALLY broke my stall (if this is any help). I upped my fluid intake a good bit and started doing more intensive exercise where my heart rate was up for longer than 30 minutes by running one day and doing a fitness boot camp the next.