LumpySpacePrincess

I am a little over 10 months out and here is what my average day looks like. Breakfast: 3 egg whites scrambled with green pepper and red onion, 2T feta cheese and 2T reduced fat cheddar = 142 calories, 2 net carbs, 7g fat, 18g Protein Morning snack: coffee with 1/3 cup 2% milk and 2T half&half, sweetened with Splenda = 83 calories, 5 carbs, 5 fat and 4 protein Lunch: 4 ounces tuna canned in Water, drained, with 1T Hellman's lite mayo = 146 calories, 0 carbs, 6 fat, 23g protein Dinner: Yankee Trader brand Crab Cake with 1/4c lettuce and 1T yogurt Bleu Cheese dressing = 150 calories, 8g carbs, 8 fat, 7g protein Evening snack: 6oz Chobani fat-free plain Greek yogurt, sweetened with Splenda = 80 calories, 6 carbs, 18 protein Daily total: 600 calories, 22 net carbs, 25g fat and 70g protein

I love baking! My secret recently has been using EZ-Sweetz liquid sucralose (splenda), instead of the granular and everything comes out delicious. I'm going to take your suggestion and use unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil in baking. Fall is usually a busy baking season for me, and I didn't get to do any last year as I was prepping for surgery then. Lately I have been baking so much, even if I don't eat it. Thankfully I have a boyfriend and a son who are more than happy to scarf down pumpkin bread, apple cider muffins and the like of which I won't eat now. There's just something satisfying about baking; mixing everything up and smelling it bake in the oven. What I'm really looking for are some bariatric friendly holiday cookie recipes that don't use a ton of nut flours.

My nutritionist actually has Wendy's chili on her approved list for easing into the chunky food phase, so its not that bad!! Some Panera Bread Soups are also fairly low in caloires and fat. Their broccoli cheddar is actually pretty reasonable!

What about getting some unflavored Protein powder and putting it in a more savory broth and drinking that instead of the sweet shakes? The pre-op is twofold: it helps shrink your liver but it also starts to reorganize how your brain thinks about food and hunger before surgery. To me, this is one of the most vital components. If your head isn't in the right place, post-op will be more difficult.

So I'm only 17 pounds away from hitting my goal. I'm a fairly quick and steady loser with no stalls at all in my whole 9 months since surgery (thank you, body, for finally cooperating with me on something!!). I'm estimating I should be down to my goal weight by early November. That's not too far off, and I want to start planning for maintenance now. Can anyone share things they wish they'd known before they went into maintenance mode, things that make it easier/harder, and how my daily life should change during that phase? I want to start preparing psychologically now so the transition won't be as bumpy. Thanks!!

Everyone is different. I've averaged about 650 calories per day since about three weeks out (before that it was much lower) and have had steady losses and no stalls. I have my Vitamin levels checked regularly and my nutritionist says they are stellar. Another friend of mine who is a nutritional sciences professor at a local college tells me that the majority of people fit in all their required nutrients per day into about 800 calories, and most of everything else we eat aside from that are unnecessary items. If your 800-1000 calories per day are packed with Protein and you are getting your Vitamins in, there isn't much to worry about. Don't try to increase calories just for the sake of meeting some arbitrary number goal.

I had to lose 100 pounds before I could really go down in sizes significantly. It was pointed out to me by someone who works in the fashion industry that the reason is because plus sizes are sized 'generously', meaning there are large gaps in between the sizes so you may not see a size change for awhile. Regular sizes, however, are sized more close together so once you get down past a 14, you'll notice sizes changing fairly quickly. I have been stuck between a 14 and 16 in pants for months now for this reason. There is a ledge between 14 being 'regular' and 16 being 'plus' that my body just won't allow me to jump. However, I can wear a size medium skirt and fit into a size 10 dress if it is the right shape. Its really confusing, but give it some time and you will be shopping in the 'regular' section!

This is embarrassing so I'll just come out with it. About a month ago (8 months post op) I started getting really smelly gas. Like the kind that will hang in the air for awhile and smell like a sewer in the middle of the Sahara! Has anyone else experienced this? I was blissfully bad-gas free for 8 months and now its back. I'm not lactose intolerant, and I don't dump, try to limit my refined carb intake, too. The only other thing I can think of is I only 'go' about once per week with the help of a laxative, though this has been status quo since surgery and the gas was never smelly like this before. Maybe I need beano?? Thanks! P.S. yes, I contacted my surgeon's office and they didn't seem concerned.

The first month or so can be an extremely emotional time. Be careful not to get it stuck in your head that you have problems in your relationship popping up, and instead remind yourself (and your spouse!) that your emotions will be all over the place for awhile. I would wait to re-analyze your relationship until you are at least six months out and your hormones have stabilized a bit. A lot of people talk about relationships getting weaker after surgery, but I am here to tell you that many of us have relationships that have strengthened and improved. Its important to remember that eating is a social activity, and a great deal of our relationships surround it. Remind yourself of the other things that attracted you to your partner and start devoting your time to those activities together from early on to replace the social eating.

I asked the same question of my sister-in-law who is a cosmetologist. She told me to wait until about a month after the hair stops falling out noticeably, because even though the hair loss is from an internal source, the follicle is still weak at this point and you can slow down hair regrowth if you damage it further.

Yes, Valley Hospital is a CoE and they have a NUT in house. All the surgeons there are wonderful. I chose Dr. Bagloo after researching her career and education for awhile, and she sounded very competent. She also took the time to answer my questions during the initial visits and didn't rush me. Very caring person and really takes the time to spend with her patients. Dr. Schrope, the director, is also a very good surgeon.

This is a very personal decision. I looked into both of those surgeons and eventually went with Dr. Bagloo at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood. I'm so glad I did!! The experience has been nothing short of amazing. She is a wonderful surgeon and the nutritionist at Valley is also outstanding. Wonderful program. I converted one other patient to Valley a few months back who went to Dr. Schmidt and thought they were a little pushy. She's also glad she went to Valley. I kind of think of surgeons as a "you'll know when you find them" kind of deal. If you're unsure, keep looking.

When I first started, I heard a lot of people say that around 8-9 months, things started to backslide a little bit. I'm 9 months out, and I can definitely see this in myself, though it hasn't affected my losses that much. This whole process can be tiring, and after months of being so diligent its comforting to just relax with it a little. Its important to recognize your trigger foods and keep them to a minimum (if not nil) for awhile. I'm wondering if it is the sugar in the granola bars that are causing you to graze? I know this about myself, that when I eat refined sugar I tend to eat more in general throughout the day. Maybe stop with the granola for awhile and see how it goes?

I have a TON of saggy skin!! Do I hate it? Well, its not appealing to me. On the other hand, saggy skin doesn't make my knees hurt when I go upstairs, or keep me from breathing regularly when I go for walks, or get in the way when I need to bend over for something. I mean, sure, it sounds like someone jumping on a waterbed when I do jumping jacks, but at least I can DO the jumping jacks!!

My surgeon told me that weight loss is like a staircase: you will have lots of flat plateaus and sudden drops. Don't expect it to be a straight line to goal. If you are doing what you should by your nutritionist and surgeon's orders, your body will get there when it gets there, and no amount of stressing out will make it go faster. At two months, I also thought I was a slow loser. Now I'm 9 months out and down 141 pounds. It adds up very quickly!

Definitely call your surgeon. In the meantime, make sure you're getting enough b12. I get light headed and faint when I forget to take mine.

I was just noticing that this morning when I put on some lace up shoes. They used to be tight in a size 8, and now they are so big. I had to go from an 8w to a 7 regular.

I don't buy "diet foods", but where there is a lower calorie or fat version of a real food (think milk, sour cream, cheese, meat) I will opt for the lower calorie/fat version. 100% of the food I eat is "real" food. I don't drink Protein shakes anymore, I don't do the bars like some do, I don't eat sugar-free candy or the diet junk foods out there. I think this is the important distinction: your nutritionist is asking you to eat lower calorie and fat varieties of real foods; this is not the same as the artificial diet food Snacks and junk that we associate with the low-fat craze. I will add that there are sometimes where I'll opt for a higher calorie/fat version of a food if the calorie drop is small between regular and reduced cal/fat. For instance, the difference in calories/fat between skim milk and 2% is only 15 calories for the amount I consume on a daily basis (1/2 cup), so I opt for the 2% because I like the taste. For something like yogurt that I eat larger amounts of, I opt for the fat free plain. For meats, I eat darker meat chicken because it is easier on my sleeve, but I take the skin off most of the time. Hope this helps!

You are seeing a psychiatrist, but do they also do talk therapy with you? I know many don't, so I thought I'd ask. If not, I'd certainly try to find a good therapist. I actually talked to my therapist yesterday about the same issue, i.e. being more judgemental toward other large people. It make me realize I'm not actually judging them, I'm seeing myself in them and judging how I used to be. Also, you are only two months out from surgery and I know my emotional roller coaster didn't stop until about month 5. Its totally normal to be super touchy. And yes, I did pick a fight with someone on FB once, but he deserved it since he was trying to sell something to WLS patients that he claimed would eliminate 50+ pounds of excess skin.

It is very common for anxiety to go up the first month or so after surgery since there are a lot of hormonal changes taking place. It helped me to remind myself of this fact when I would have an attack.

I'm 8 months out and rice hurts sometimes. The problem is, it has the tendency to expand in your stomach and fill you up before you get your Protein in. On the soft foods, 100% of your intake should be lean protein of some sort.

Two Flintstone's chewables per day, two chewable calcium (CVS brand usually), and one Bio-Tech Vitamin D 50,000 IU per week. I also take Biotin twice per day.

I suggest a lot of elastic waist skirts that won't look baggy as they start to get bigger on you. That said, I agree with others that it took me a long time to go down sizes. Even now, I'm 176 and still wearing somewhere between a 14 and 16 because of my loose skin. It took me 75 pounds to get to an 18 from a 28, and I didn't need to seriously start buying new clothes until I'd lost more than 100 pounds. My experience is that we are actually a lot bigger than we think we are in terms of clothes, but we're so used to squeezing into sizes that are too small that our current clothes will still fit fine for quite awhile. Where we were spilling out of them before, after awhile they will fit the way they were meant to.

I know for me, it lowers my inhibitions about eating so I'll eat things I normally wouldn't. It also causes a blood sugar spike and subsequent crash that will keep us heading for the kitchen.

I was the same way early out. Might help to count the bites you take for different foods and see if there is a pattern of when the pain starts, then just eat one or two bites less than that. Its very common and it will pass!