JanetteH

Congratulations, Claire - what an accomplishment (and I don't mean keeping your flip-flops on!) Have fun in the Smokie Mountains - aren't they beautiful?
I just booked my flight to go home to Scotland and upgraded myself to "Economy plus" for extra legroom. I was assigned an Exit row and confidently said OK because I won't need an extension for the first time in years - YEAH! (They don't allow extensions in Emergency Exit rows in case it trips people as they get out of the plane - I got moved last time)

Congrats, Ginger Snaps - that's a great NSV.
I was at a conference at our local university last weekend - it was spread out all over the campus and I could walk between the buildings with no problems. Also fit into those little chairs with the fold down desk in the lecture halls

I agree with Terry - just do what your doctor tells you to do. We all see such variation in diets on this website - it gets confusing. I was way more restricted than some other people - but I just complied with my own Doc/NUT and I've been successful.
Interesting tip about alcohol - I've heard about the addiction transfer too! I'd like to become addicted to exercise instead

I agree with Terry - just do what your doctor tells you to do. We all see such variation in diets on this website - it gets confusing. I was way more restricted than some other people - but I just complied with my own Doc/NUT and I've been successful.
Interesting tip about alcohol - I've heard about the addiction transfer too! I'd like to become addicted to exercise instead

At my jewelers they have called it both things. I have no idea what drug users say,so forgive me.
You're lucky, Pik - I'm a group counsellor in a city - so I know all too much about "speed balls" in that context LOL.
Another very inexpensive (very temporary) solution is to try "mole skin" - It's a thick pad with adhesive on one side - found among the first aid stuff in pharmacies. It can be cut to size - a small strip inside your ring will make it tighter until you loose all the weight you want and get it resized.

Wow - what a beautiful ring! No wonder you want to wear it Both my wedding ring and my engagement ring are too big for me - I still wear the wedding band but not the engagement ring - we were poor when we bought them so it's not too valuable. For our 30th anniversary last year, I bought my husband a new wedding ring so he wants to buy me a new one when I'm ready - maybe next year. I'll have to have the engagement ring resized.
BTW - a speed bump sounds better - a speed ball is used by drug users!

Wow - what a beautiful ring! No wonder you want to wear it Both my wedding ring and my engagement ring are too big for me - I still wear the wedding band but not the engagement ring - we were poor when we bought them so it's not too valuable. For our 30th anniversary last year, I bought my husband a new wedding ring so he wants to buy me a new one when I'm ready - maybe next year. I'll have to have the engagement ring resized.
BTW - a speed bump sounds better - a speed ball is used by drug users!

Hi latido!
I spent a month restricted to food stamps - and it's not easy so I feel for you. Unfortunately the inexpensive staples like Pasta and rice are not allowed for quite a long time. I'd get chicken broth - other than that you can drink Water with maybe some Crystal Light to flavor it . I feel you must get Protein powder - the tubs of whey Protein Powder seem expensive but they make a lot of shakes - In NY a 16oz tub costs about $25 but makes 22 drinks - much cheaper and better than Slimfast etc. The other thing I drank a lot of when on "full liquids" was Cream of chicken Soup (Campbells reduced fat). You'll also go through a lot of milk (skim or 1%). I was allowed sugar-free blended yoghurt and pudding (the boxes are only 50c and make 4 servings)
The next step is pureed food - scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, tuna, chicken, canned refried Beans etc. for Protein plus small amounts of mashed potatoes, oatmeal, apple sauce, canned fruit.< /p>
I really can't imagine getting through the first month without Protein Powder and milk so that's going to have to be a priority. Would somebody help you with that? Good luck - when is your surgery scheduled?

Hi latido!
I spent a month restricted to food stamps - and it's not easy so I feel for you. Unfortunately the inexpensive staples like Pasta and rice are not allowed for quite a long time. I'd get chicken broth - other than that you can drink Water with maybe some Crystal Light to flavor it . I feel you must get Protein powder - the tubs of whey Protein Powder seem expensive but they make a lot of shakes - In NY a 16oz tub costs about $25 but makes 22 drinks - much cheaper and better than Slimfast etc. The other thing I drank a lot of when on "full liquids" was Cream of chicken Soup (Campbells reduced fat). You'll also go through a lot of milk (skim or 1%). I was allowed sugar-free blended yoghurt and pudding (the boxes are only 50c and make 4 servings)
The next step is pureed food - scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, tuna, chicken, canned refried Beans etc. for Protein plus small amounts of mashed potatoes, oatmeal, apple sauce, canned fruit.< /p>
I really can't imagine getting through the first month without Protein Powder and milk so that's going to have to be a priority. Would somebody help you with that? Good luck - when is your surgery scheduled?

I had to put the scale away because I am obsessed with weighing myself. I managed not to weigh myself for 3 days and I got a nice surprise this I had lost 4 pounds. I am less than a hundred pounds to goal. Super excited!! Scale is staying in the closet.

Isn't it amazing! I tried to lift a 60 lb bag of charcoal into my car - thought it was too heavy and asked my husband to help me. I used to carry 66 lbs more around with me all the time Congratulations Ginger Snaps - keep it up!

As much as I love losing weight I am also very sad to see a few of my clothing to go. I spent lots of time finding them and lots of money buying them, and I have quite a few pieces that I really really like. So this makes me a bit sad. Most likely I will not have much money to replace them so I will have to be satisfied with some budget solution such as second hand ect.
I just took 4 of my favorite dresses to the tailor and had them taken in - they look great (for $20 each) - won't have to buy "in between" sizes this summer - hopefully I'll be in a much smaller size by next year. I've also discovered I now fit some old clothes that were too small.

It's unanimous - that's a BIG no-no!! Don't even think about straying from your doctors plan or you could end up with all sorts of problems later on.

I found a good article/blog about this with a table of the energy density of various foods at:
http://oliakcenter.com/blog/what-to-eat-after-weight-loss-surgery/
The ideal food choices after weight loss surgery are foods that are mechanically filling (solid high Protein foods like chicken, fish, beef), and foods that have a low energy density (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy).
Good luck! Eat more chicken and less veggies for lunch to feel full - and don't forget to drink your Water before and after

I found a good article/blog about this with a table of the energy density of various foods at:
http://oliakcenter.com/blog/what-to-eat-after-weight-loss-surgery/
The ideal food choices after weight loss surgery are foods that are mechanically filling (solid high Protein foods like chicken, fish, beef), and foods that have a low energy density (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy).
Good luck! Eat more chicken and less veggies for lunch to feel full - and don't forget to drink your Water before and after

Hi everyone - I had never heard of the 5/2 diet until now. However the concept of alternating higher calorie/good fat days with lower ones seems to be a well known trick for getting your weight loss going again after a stall. My nurse practitioner told me to try one day of higher calorie/higher healthy fats (avocado, olive oil etc) during the week to end my stall - and it seemed to work - my body became convinced that there was no longer a famine in the land Then back to normal WLS diet. Glad the 5/2 worked for you CowgirlJane - I'll remember that if/when I hit another stall.

I totally agree with RNBSN - I was recently at a wedding and although I ate the correct kinds of food, I realized I had eaten way more than usual because it was served slowly in little courses. Taking over an hour to eat let me eat fruit and cheese, then Soup, then salad, then chicken and veggies and I even had room for a bite of my husband's slice of cake!
I normally eat 1 cup of food around 5 or 6 times a day (3 meals and 2-3 snacks) - I weigh my Protein (3oz) but use volume for everything else. So I guess I'm eating 8oz at a time which is what my doc suggested at 4 months out. I take 15-20 minutes to eat. He said my pouch will stretch out to around 1½ cups later. I also use MFP and consume 60-80g Protein and around 800 calories per day.

Just checked out a BMI scale - I've gone down from "Super Obese" to "Morbidly Obese" and now I'm just "Obese" - can't wait to be "Overweight" and then "Normal"!

Hi Amanda - I too had terrible hunger (in my case, right from the start) - definitely NOT head hunger. My doc said it's the brain getting used to the new anatomy and it happens to around 1 in 10 patients. It was so bad that I wished I hadn't had the surgery - very unpleasant and a little scary. He told me I just had to grit my teeth and bear it and it would go away eventually. It did! Took about 4-6 weeks but by the time I was on soft food I started to feel "full" and not have hunger all the time.
Be very careful to follow the diet plan so you don't delay the healing process. I know it's tempting to eat more - but it doesn't help anyway. Carefully go through the stages of liquids only - pureed food - Soft foods etc as directed by your doc. So sorry this has happened to you too - but honestly it will get better with time.

I can now walk down an commercial airplane aisle without turning sideways.....

Hi Amanda - I too had terrible hunger (in my case, right from the start) - definitely NOT head hunger. My doc said it's the brain getting used to the new anatomy and it happens to around 1 in 10 patients. It was so bad that I wished I hadn't had the surgery - very unpleasant and a little scary. He told me I just had to grit my teeth and bear it and it would go away eventually. It did! Took about 4-6 weeks but by the time I was on soft food I started to feel "full" and not have hunger all the time.
Be very careful to follow the diet plan so you don't delay the healing process. I know it's tempting to eat more - but it doesn't help anyway. Carefully go through the stages of liquids only - pureed food - Soft foods etc as directed by your doc. So sorry this has happened to you too - but honestly it will get better with time.

All the above answers are correct according to my diet plan - fat and sugar are off the list and can cause a serious side effect called "dumping". In addition, I was not allowed red meat (ham, pork, beef, lamb) until recently (I am 3 months out).
Scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, fish and chicken are the go-to foods for now. We're limited because our new digestive tract is still healing - don't mess up your surgery over a can of deviled ham after all you've gone through.

My nutritionist gave me a few "recipes":
- add 2 scoops unflavored Protein powder plus 1 can milk to 1 can reduced-fat cream of chicken Soup. Makes 2 servings.
- add 1 scoop to 1 cup very soft mashed potatoes. Makes 4 servings.
- mix 1 scoop with a little Water and add to ½ cup cottage cheese. Makes 2 servings
- cook ½ cup oatmeal and 1 cup skimmed milk; stir in 1 scoop Protein Powder.< /p>
Good luck!

Hi Amanda - I too had terrible hunger (in my case, right from the start) - definitely NOT head hunger. My doc said it's the brain getting used to the new anatomy and it happens to around 1 in 10 patients. It was so bad that I wished I hadn't had the surgery - very unpleasant and a little scary. He told me I just had to grit my teeth and bear it and it would go away eventually. It did! Took about 4-6 weeks but by the time I was on soft food I started to feel "full" and not have hunger all the time.
Be very careful to follow the diet plan so you don't delay the healing process. I know it's tempting to eat more - but it doesn't help anyway. Carefully go through the stages of liquids only - pureed food - Soft foods etc as directed by your doc. So sorry this has happened to you too - but honestly it will get better with time.

I just discovered the silver lining! I "only" lost 2 lbs this week - but I'm so happy! After being stalled for 4 weeks, a steady 2 lbs a week will be wonderful