Phoenix79

Instead of mashed potatoes, try mashed cauliflower! This will keep your carbs lower. Steam, add a little plain Greek yogurt, a 1/4 tsp of beef concentrate stock (really helps with flavor), salt, pepper and mash! Sooo yummy! Later on post op I'm going to try the mashed cauliflower to top off a shepherd's pie!

For me- No Diet Coke. Diet Dr Pepper, etc. still drinking coffee though. Eating off salad plates Weighing and measuring my food Tracking on My Fitness pal - and being totally honest about writing down every bite! Eating with a cocktail fork Taking dime size bites Chewing bites A Lot Not drinking with meals The last three are my newest ones- still a work in progress, but I figure anything I can do now will pay off ten fold down the road...anything to make post sleeve life easier! How about you?

Trader Joes has small personal bags of light kettle corn popcorn they sell in 6 packs. That way you limit size and carbs and still have a tasty snack. I'm pre sleeve and planning to steer clear of popcorn for at least the first 6 months. But right now I do have salt & vinegar popcorn...yum! I'm going to miss ice cream more...totally my vice. I could eat it standing outside in a blizzard. Planning to have that eventually too....just a lot less of it.

LOL! I'm pre sleeve and I cringe & laugh every time I watch the movie Click and get to that part where Adam Sandler's character has lost a lot of weight and he's in a hospital bed flapping his pannus up and down! I think I'm going to become best friends with a plastic surgeon after my sleeve...maybe I'll get a discount!

I appreciate all the kind comments and encouragement! I spoke to 2 reps at my insurance company United Health care, and both of them say there's nothing in there about a supervised weight loss plan, just have to be BMI over 40 without co morbidities. Not a problem- mine is 51. My surgeons office called United HC this morning and got the 6 month weight loss plan required line- odd considering the reps I spoke with read the notes of the conversations with my surgeons office and nothing in the notes reflects the 6 mo. weight loss plan requirement. Crazy! Needless to say both my surgeons office and I are getting exasperated. I'm going to get a hard copy of the benefits listed on my United HC benefits website and fax it to my provider. Hopefully that will be enough to satisfy them and I can start on the next steps!

My NUT has suggested mixing in flavoured protein powder to plain Greek yogurt- like the Nectar Fuzzy Navel, Lemonade and other fruit flavours. Bonus is you get a extra punch of protein! Also try the Torani sugar free flavor syrups for coffee/italian sodas. You want to try and keep your carbs- sugars low, especially the first few months after surgery. Read labels- just because something is fat free (yoplait yogurt is a good example) doesn't mean it's going to be low in carbs/sugar...in fact it usually means sugars will be higher to make up for the loss of flavour from the missing fat. I'm pre sleeve but my husband Fiddleman is seven months out and I've gone with him to every pre and post op appointment.

Laughing cow baby bell light minis Sam's club Mesquite chicken breast frozen fully cooked Mango peach salsa- great with scrambled eggs, and on top of the mesquite chicken Feta cheese Smoked wild sockeye salmon Kale- great for kale chips, juicing for veggie drink, Soups

I'm cutting out diet coke from my diet even pre surgery (had been trying to get pregnant then decided surgery was the best route for me) and I've been drinking diet root beer, sprite zero & ginger ale (still bubbles). A non carbonated alternative I've found very yummy is Lipton iced tea mix- where I live they have a sugar free raspberry and sugar free lemon variety. In the grocery store usually in the tea/coffee section, bottom or top shelf. Also some fast food places are adding these Coke Freestyle machines that give you over 150 drink choices including lots of calorie free options- I love the Minute Maid light strawberry lemonade! No carbonation, very minimal calories, and it tastes like Red Robin's strawberry lemonade. Also Mio flavours are very helpful with water drinking, dansani has just come out with a few flavours too including pineapple coconut (aka piña colada) - humm...I wonder if I could throw in a few drops of rum extract in that and have myself a mini vacation? Gotta try that!

Apparently not according to the rep my husband talked to. Nothing has changed about our bariatric coverage since last year and my husband didn't have to do it! We'll get more clarification on Monday- figures this would happen on a Friday afternoon!

Thanks folks, I'll check those jeans out you've mentioned but depending on the brand and cut I'm a 26 to 28 and I think Macy's stops at 24. The LB real size 7 blue equaled a 26. No physical Avenue stores here, and Fashion Bug just went out of business. Jeans you really need to try on. The only ones that ever fit me well were the LB 7 blue.....sniff sniff!

Aggh! I had my surgery office check on my insurance benefits for the sleeve I would like to have done and thought I knew exactly what I was going to hear..." No problem, you're all covered and you just have to do x, y, & z tests before we can formally submit to insurance". My husband Fiddleman had sleeve surgery with the same surgeon and same insurance (I don't work so his insurance is primary) in July 2012 and that's all he had to do. Instead, I'm told that my insurance requires 6 months of medically supervised weight loss in order for it to be covered! How could the insurance change so much when my husband didn't have a problem? This news was very upsetting to me and I broke down on the phone doing the ugly cry. I was so nervous to have the surgery to begin with, and I'm almost 34 and was primarily doing the surgery to have kids. The whole process of the surgery and getting to maintenance was long enough, but then to have an additional 6 months tacked on is awful! I got off the phone and kept bawling ...my hero husband called our insurance company and found out no 6 month program is required, just what diets I've tried over the past 5 years and my success with them. Absolutely NOTHING has changed on our bariatric coverage since last year. Gotta love insurance companies and how inept some of the reps are! Now to dry my tears and enjoy MUSE playing a concert at the Key Arena tonight!

I'm pre sleeve just starting this process (had informational seminar last Thursday) and I've been combing thrift stores for this size for years...eBay, etc. They fit me perfectly- I've had so many compliments wearing them but LB doesn't make them anymore! Can anyone help a girl out?

Gotta love cell phones and small keyboards! Anyhoo, my husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for 4 1/2 years with no results. I was in a fertility forum for overweight people and one comment someone said about themselves stood out to me.. That no matter how much you want a baby, it is selfish to expose a unborn baby to all the additional risks and complications that come with as much excess weight as I have- even if you find a doctor willing to do fertility treatment at my weight. My current BMI is 51- 5'6" and 316 lbs at age 33. My husband already had the sleeve 6 months ago and had been a great role model for me- his user name is fiddleman. I had my informational seminar last Thursday with my husband's surgeon and he says the sleeve is the right fit for me too- he likes to "keep it in the family" sincere husband will know what I'm going through and we can suport each other. Sounds good! I'm excited for all the other pluses that come with being a "loser" but I'm praying a cute baby bump is in my near future after I hit goal!

I've been lurking for awhile and this my first post! I decided to finally do the sleeve when I