esskay77

@@mtraverse -- good point. Remember-- eat your protein first!! THen, if there is room, have some veggies. But your main focus should be protein. Sometimes, when eating a salad, we focus on the veggies. You need to make sure that the protein is your focus.

I think you should err on the side of caution and call your doctor. It might be nothing but it is best to be safe!!

Chewables for sure! I'm a year and a half out and still prefer chewables! It takes the edge off in the morning when I am starting to feel hungry. Takes the hunger away! lol

Right after surgery I did give up coffee completely and was very happy. i was surprised how easy it was. However, I'm back on it. Part of me wishes I wasn't but I do love my coffee! I only have a cup a day, in the morning but I am considering giving it up again. If I could find a tasty decaf, I would do that but I haven't found one yet. I drink my coffee black so adding flavors in didn't work for me but I can imagine for others, this would be a good option.

@@Tanika81 -- I should also say (or did I already?) that I am also in Hyde Park. If you want to meet up sometime to talk about this stuff, just let me know. S

@@Tanika81, there are support groups in West Roxbury and surrounding areas though they are not just for WLS patients, they are overeaters anon meetings I believe. But, my NUT and doctor recommend them since they focus on what we need to know. I haven't attended one yet but I had written down several after doing a google search. I have some friends who have gone and have liked the groups so far. I attend a support group at the hospital where I had surgery but it is a food addict group as well.

Everybody will be different. I found I don't crave salads very often. However, I do go to the salad bar every day at work and get some grilled chicken and mix in red onions, cherry tomatoes, green peppers and sometimes cucumbers. For some reason, I have no desire to put lettuce in the mix which seems really weird. But, you will have salads again. Just remember, protein is the priority.

My only regret with WLS is that I didn't do it sooner. That's me. Not sure about you. If you have made up your mind to have the surgery for sure, I don't know why you would delay it. Sometimes you just have to close your eyes an jump.

Yes, it is possible. Or you just ate a bit too much. You will find that your tolerance of things changes throughout the beginning and will eventually settle down.

It can take a while to appear or can happen right away. I'm not sure how it decides that! lol I didn't experience it for quite a while no matter what but I do now (am a year and a half out). I don't get diarhea at all but my heart starts racing, I sweat a bit and then I get that horrible pain/ache in my stomach area that can be very debilitating and takes my breath away!! It almost drops me to my knees. It's very uncomfortable.

My Fitness Pal doesn't understand weight loss surgery so don't go by that right now. In fact, don't even follow calories right now. Follow your doctors or NUT's instructions. And drink a lot of water!! Focus on grams of protein, not calories. Best of luck.

And if you are going to bring The Biggest Loser into it, do you recall the Second Week Curse? They have been notorious for most contestants not losing much if at all for the second week weigh-in. I think they are trying new things now to get around that but it's not cutting back on more calories or doing more workouts, it's most likely doing different types of workouts because, just like eating, the body gets used to certain exercises and you have to shake it up a bit to get results. But, you asked about stalls, real or not. I think it depends. I think there are stalls that are totally real. People are doing everything right and the body is just not cooperating for a variety of reasons. And then all of a sudden the next week they can drop 10 pounds and they still haven't done anything differently. But, there are also some stalls where people aren't following the program. THere isn't just one answer. It really depends.

It's reallyl hard but just say Thank You. And then pay it forward to someone else or back to them (not in the moment necessarily). Congratulations! and Enjoy it! You deserve the accolades!

Everyone is different. You should not be on pain medications by that point, so theoretically this could be doable. THe problem is that you will be very tired so driving that distance could be problematic. It will depend on if you do it all in one trip or if someone else does the driving, how many times you will stop. I would have done it but you will be tired.

The fatty liver will go away once you start losing weight and eating better. The fact that you can't get in all your water and protein is totally normal. You just have to try to get it all in and if you can't, you can't. It's more of a goal. Eventually you will! Seriously. You will also have weight loss stalls. Those are also normal so don't beat yourself up when those happen.

I was told to stop drinking 30 minutes before a meal and wait 30 minutes after the meal to start drinking Water again. And to take 30 minutes to eat my meal

Yeah, if you can avoid the chicken tenders, that would be great. If you only have them like once or twice a year, probably not too bad if you can tolerate them but for me, once I allow myself to eat something, even if I say it will only be once or twice, I end up eating it much more often. So, it's best to not get into bad habits. If you can find something better, you should. Like someone else suggested, it's not just the breading, it the fact that they are fried as well that isn't good. Best of luck! Sometimes it's hard!!

Fashion show. I like the idea of the Protein shake tasting but would also add cooking classes!! How to transform your old recipes into healthy recipes or find new healthy recipes. Workshops on how to use some of the apps.

Malted milk balls and it brought me to my knees! So painful it took my breath away. I will never ever have malted milk balls again!!! I shouldn't have anyway but...

I am about a year or so out of RNY surgery and just had my gall bladder out last month. I feel great! No worries.

You just had major surgery!!! Your body is using all of its energy to heal. Give yourself a break and let your body do what it needs to do while you try to get in your protein and follow doctor's orders. You'll get your energy back an then some! Don't rush it though

I was also told that if you think of a scale from 1-7 with 1 being really hungry ad 7 being really full, you should just to the left of the middle, somewhere between a 3 and 4. You shouldn't be really hungry but you should never be full either. I thought that was an interesting way to look at it.

I was told no Pasta ever. Basically, no white sugar, no white flour. Pasta's were on the list of avoid for life if you can. Have I had some? I have had a few bites here and there but only a few bites. These are some of the foods that got us to where we are so I try to avoid. WHen I go to an Italian restaurant, I either get a chicken dish (chicken marsala but try to not eat all the sauce). Or I get some meatballs and some veggies

Yeah, pizza is not really on the list of things we should be eating. Of course, then there is reality! lol. I have had pizza but as others mentioned, I only ate the toppings. I think I usually have one real bite, crust and all but the rest is just the toppings. Work supplies lunch on occasion and it is usually pizza because it feeds so many so cheaply. I think I have gotten them into the habit of making sure at least one pie has chicken on it.

Edamame, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese.