esskay77

Are you counting how many grams of protein you eat? Seems like you have to get somewhere between 60-100 grams of protein per day.

Protein shakes are NOT a lifetime thing. In fact, at some point, they want you to get your protein from food rather than the drinks. I don't remember when but fairly early on when you are in the solid food phase.

Sometimes crying is the best way to make them feel horrible! I know I would have cried.

That's appalling!!!! Some people are just clods.

@@Amylou My nut just recently recommended Quark! It's not bad. He also recommended the Oikos Triple Zero yogurt these days. I don't know when that came out but it seems fairly new. Those are pretty good, too. They are in a black container. I like the Isopure drinks but they are an acquired taste. Once you like them, you like them but the first time you drink them they don't seem good at all. Doesn't take long to like them though!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

You seem to have lost 35 pounds since June--you are doing AMAZING! Just keep doing what you are doing--you are on track.

At this stage you shouldn't be worried about calories at all. It's all about grams of protein--that is where you should focus. How many grams of protein did they tell you to try to get? I'm guessing at least 50 grams to try for? You should try for somewhere between 50-90 grams of protein but I don't remember which stage was how many grams. Try to count those instead of calories.

OK, so I am going to a friends house tonight for a small gathering of good friends. They are going to order Chinese food for dinner. I told them that I will bring my own food. Yay for me for finally trying to do what is right for me! But... I have no idea what to bring. My initial thought was to stop at this really amazing organic place to pick up their Falafel and Hummus and salad plate. It's amazing. But I don't know if Falafel is ok to have. I'm a year and a half out so I'm not restricted in the early-phase sense. Falafel is basically chick peas which I think are Protein right? but I don't know how they cook it and it's possible they are deep fried? Thoughts on whether falafel is ok? Or, what would be a better option to bring with me or pick up somewhere? Thanks in advance.

@ You can do this! Your body will let you know what you can and can't have. My NUT told me that my goal (now that I'm a year and a half out) is to not feel full, but to be just less than full. So if there was a scale of 1-10 where the 1 is starving and 10 is full, I 'd want to be at about 4-4 1/2 even after eating. As a general rule of course. Eat slowly, follow the rules, and you'll be fine.

I'm not sure I understand why insurance companies make you avoid omeprazole. They did that to me, too. I take Pantoprazole instead. I don't know about over the counter meds though.

And it will just keep getting better! Congrats!

You are just worried--we all question everything. Your body will tell you what you can handle (while following your surgeon's advice). If you can't handle those things right away, then you can just back off a bit. Have things ready and available but just try things out. I know I was able to eat solid foods right away but not everybody can. You'll know. Believe me, you'll know.

@@SWEETTEA Thanks. I guess I probably know why I've stalled. I've been off track and I need to get back on track. Being in the grocery story, I just always have the urge to buy cookies and things and have been doing that. At least this conversation got me out walking again--just got back from a 2 mile walk.

Congratulations! As long as you are getting in your Protein and taking your Vitamins, don't feel you have to gain weight just to please others. They really just aren't used to you looking that way. Do you have any words of advice for some of us who are still in a plateau?! I've been here for way too long and need to get it moving again. I do know that I have been "cheating" a bit now and am off track. But I am inspired by you--I'm very happy for you.

As someone else just said--you aren't getting enough Protein. Do you track your protein? You should. Protein should be your main focus now and always. You could have a snack of nonfat greek yogurt or some nonfat cottage cheese, some edamame (this is always a nice treat), there is also the unjury Protein powder you can put into other things, or other protein powders. maybe another Protein shake in the evening. But NOT pizza. According to my NUT, I should never have pizza again. Or, at least pizza as you used to know it. I do have it but only eat the toppings if there is a protein on it, especially chicken. I have seen other recipes where you use a big mushroom or eggplant as the crust and then the normal toppings, there are other creative ways you can have pizza eventually. But not now. Way too soon. I think there is a recipe somewhere on here that is kind of like all the toppings and sauce, baked that is supposed to be awesome and you just make it and eat it like that. Just get back on track, keep a journal of your food and track the protein in it. It's amazing how easy it is to not have much protein and that is supposed to be your main focus.

That's wonderful! Congratulations! Yes, I do remember sitting in a meeting at work and realized that I had my legs crossed! I hadn't done that in years and didn't even realize I had done it!

No, you are not the only one to test it out. I sometimes get dumping syndrome and sometimes don't. It's enough that I try to stay away from these things as best I can but this past week I have been overindulging in all kinds of things with no adverse affect, which really bums me out. It's funny--I never used to stress eat but I do now and I hate that. The past week or so has been very stressful and I have been eating "things" that I shouldn't. The good thing is that the scale showed this and is putting me back on track because I don't want to gain any of this weight back. I would advise to not test this out further. What will you do if you find things that don't make you sick? It's best to just assume it will make you sick. But I'm so glad that everything else has been going so well for you!!

Are you still keeping a food journal? Are you making sure you get in all your protein? Sometimes upping your protein intake can help kickstart the weight loss again. Make sure you are not having carbs for a bit, that should help. And increase your exercise--walking or swimming or something extra

Your thoughts and feelings are perfectly normal!!! And, like some had said, you will still feel some guilt and regret in the first few weeks after surgery. Just ride that wave! Very soon after that, when you are noticably losing weight and find yourself with your legs CROSSED! lol you will wonder why you hadn't done this sooner! Trust me on this! Best of luck

Awesome!! THat's when you know you made the right decision to have the surgery!! It's the best to be able to do those things. Congrats!

lol--I remember feeling that way. The one thing that helped with the saltiness was drinking some chicken broth. It had a bit of flavor and saltiness that I was craving. And if you add in the unflavored Protein mix, that's even better. Jello wasn't bad either. Sometimes I would mix things into the jello, like cottage cheese, yogurt, that sort of thing. Or try the nonfat, nonsugar, cheesecake flavor jello pudding mixed into the cottage cheese or yogurt. MMMMMmmm.. I know it still isn't what you want but you can't have what you want. Some of them, you can never have (mac and cheese for one!) It is a head hunger and that is the worst! Oh yeah, someone suggested chili--that's still my go-to safe food at restaurants. Or black bean Soup (Panera makes an amazing one). Best of luck and hang in there.

People really don't know what to say or if you want them to say something. They will notice but might not say anything, especially right away. Don't worry about them, focus on yourself and how good you feel and look and how you are doing. There will reach a point when you are going to hear all kinds of compliments and trust me, that's even hard to hear and take. Just keep your eyes on the prize. And, we are all here for you if you need anything. (I should also say, you don't actually want them asking questions at this phase--I think we all assumed that the weight falls off over night and it doesn't so they might be thinking something you don't want to hear. But mostly it's just awkward for others to talk about it with you until they know your comfort level).

Planning is key! And I am horrible at it. I know what to do but it is hard to do. However, it is the biggest part that will help you succeed so I applaud you asking this question now. A couple of things. YOu know your food log that you are supposed to keep? If you fill it out on Sunday for the entire week, you will know what you are going to eat for the week and can get everything prepped early. Fill out what you will eat/drink for every meal and snack for the entire week. You can even cook it all on one day and just reheat it throughout the week. I think I am more successful when I fill all this out on paper but I also tend to not do it on paper so that isn't good. So I used an Excel spreadsheet . Just keep going down the spreadsheet for the next days. Oh, it wouldn't let me post it!! ******Note that I am a year and a half out so my food list will be different from yours!!!!!***** Basically, it should be kind of like this (though things probably won't line up here. Aug 3 Breakfast 2 eggs scrambled 12 g coffee black 0 g Snack Greek nonfat yogurt 12 g Lunch 2 oz chicken 14 g raw veggies 0 g balsamic vinegar 0 g Snack Greek nonfat yogurt 12 g Dinner chicken marsala 14 g Total 64 g But WHAT to make?! That is where I fall short. I have my dishes that I know how to make but I'm not a very good cook and don't have a wide variety of things to make. I'm still a work in progress! I would love to also hear what other people do.

I don't know which surgery you had so I can't tell you what to do. However, for me and in my information, I had gastric bypass and was on pureed foods pretty quickly--probably before 7 days. In fact, I seem to recall that as soon as I got out of the hospital I was on pureed foods but I might be remembering wrong. I'm not sure what I would do. I'm really surprised taht you can't have a popsicle since that was considered clear liquid.