peaceout

Darn it, you guys! I saw this on Amazon and had convinced myself I didn't need it. Then I read through this thread, and now I'll be the proud new owner of an Instant Pot on Friday. Can't wait to try it out!

When I was craving hot chocolate last winter (I was about 6 months out then), I would heat up 8 oz of the chocolate Fairlife on the stove. Yes, it's still got 140 calories and 12g of sugar, but it has 13g of protein and it was a great treat every now and then. And it never caused me any digestive issues.

If it makes you feel any better, the 6 months flew by and I was actually glad that it was required. I used that time to learn all my new habits: no drinking while eating, cutting out carbonation, and breaking my food into 6 small meals a day. I do think it better prepared me for life after surgery, even though in the moment it felt like a bunch of hoops to jump through and a time waster. Good luck! I hope everything goes well for you!

Hi, fellow Michigander! I had Priority when I was going through the surgery process. My plan did require a 6-month supervised diet. There are variations between different Priority plans, but I think most do carry that 6-month requirement. Priority also does not let you count Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc. It had to be "physician-supervised." At least that was the deal 2 years ago when I started the whole process. Good luck!

Congrats! You look amazing!

I was bummed when I saw this post was deleted. I'm glad it's back up, and I think you're awesome.

160.0 today. I'm just never going to hit the 100 mark! Thanks for doing this challenge!

Sorry I'm late! 161.0 this week.

162 Not terrible for being on vacation for 9 days, but I was hoping not to gain!

You can certainly ask for someone different; you have the right to make your own decisions in regards to your healthcare. I would be wary of some of those negative reviews initially, however. As I'm sure you've seen on this website and others, people don't generally post a lot of things on the internet unless they have something to complain about. And because it's the internet and you don't know these people, who's to say they're reasonable or intelligent? Maybe the person was seeking meds they didn't need. Maybe the doctor was perceived as "rude" for ending the appointment after the allotted time when the patient wanted to talk for another 30 minutes. Maybe the doctor has a dry sense of humor that was perceived as "laughing at the patient" because they took it the wrong way. Or, maybe the guy is awful, soulless, and jaded. You never can really know until you meet him yourself. But if he's been practicing and in business a while, I wouldn't make your whole decision based off of three poor reviews.

Forgot to post yesterday- 161.0 Thanks!

For some fun summer reading, I like Jen Lancaster. Her memoirs are hilarious, and read like ficiton. It might not be everyone's taste, but they make me laugh out loud. Here are the ones I've read: -Bitter is the New Black -Bright Lights, Big Ass -Such a Pretty Fat Edit to add: She also has some fiction but I haven't read them yet

Just got home from a rather depressing round of bathing suit shopping. I needed this

When I'm doing cardio, I'm all about Pitbull! Dirty lyrics but certainly makes you want to move! Also,this article gives 100 workout songs for lots of different categories. I found some good ideas on here when I needed to switch up some of my tunes. http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/music/popular-playlists/100-best-workout-songs/

Try and think of it the other way around- if you'd gained 18 pounds in just a little over a month, that'd be pretty terrible, right? Why? Because that's a LOT of weight in a short time. But it's all good, because you lost it.

Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Good luck!

Good luck!

161.6 today. I'll take the loss, however small!

These are cracking me up. My rant for the day is people who don't know how a 4-way stop sign works. There's always the jerk whose life is just so much more important than the rest of us that he decides it's ok to just sneak through with the person in front of him. And conversely, the sweet old lady I get stuck behind who decides to wave EVERYONE else through from all directions for like 3 cycles before going. Whew, apparently I really needed to get that off my chest.

I second the pillow! I only live 20 minutes from the hospital where I had my surgery, but I was really glad to have it. I swear hubby was hitting all the potholes on purpose! I wouldn't necessarily try to plan stops ahead of time. Just see how you feel. Maybe you'll want to stop every 20 minutes, or maybe you'll be anxious to get home and only need 1 stop.

Everything @@Daisee68 said was spot on. Regular pictures and measurements will help quite a bit. And you certainly aren't the only one going through this. I'm about 15 pounds from goal and some days when I look in the mirror, I still can't see the difference. I *know* that instead of my size 20's, I'm now wearing 8's and 10's, but man. It's taking a while for my brain to catch up.

Have you been actively trying to lose weight up until now? If not, start a plan of high Protein (meats, cheeses, eggs) with some veggies. Cutting out the carbs in the form of bread, rice, potatoes, etc. will usually cause someone to lose a good 5-10 pounds the first two weeks alone. It's Water weight, but it's a good motivation. If you need more structure, look into the South Beach Diet. Even though it was kind of one of those fad diets, I've found the eating plan to be very close to what's recommended post-op. Good luck!

I was allowed to swim once the glue/adhesive was completely gone from my incisions. I want to say that took 2-3 weeks. Edited- can't spell today!