lauraellen80

just outside of philly. Will have my surgery on 11/2 at Einstein

That's where I had mine! Which surgeon is doing yours? Dallal did mine. I was very happy with the care I got at Einstein, and the hospital rooms are really nice. My mom flew out for my surgery; she's an RN and was impressed with it.

This is the turkey chili recipe that I use: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/01/crock-pot-3-bean-turkey-chili-3125-pts.html

Because it has 3 cans of Beans, it is higher in carbs than some might want. You say you're not allowed any carbs, but you also put that you are supposed to have fruits and veggies, which do indeed have carbs... maybe you mean that you're just not allowed bread, Pasta, rice, etc.? Anyway, if you want to reduce the carbs, you could double the turkey and use only 1 or 2 cans of Beans. I usually throw in a diced up bell pepper also. And top it with some shredded cheese.

At 4 months out, I have 1/2 cup of chili with 2 tb of cheese.< /p>

What kind of dressings, if any, do you guys use? That's what used to get me in trouble.

My husband and I love Bolthouse Farms dressings--they are in the refrigerated section by the lettuce and stuff.

Just hang in there. It's normal to feel wiped out for a few weeks. And yeah, it can seem like it gets worse before it gets better... maybe because all the fun drugs and fluids they pumped you full of in the hospital have left your body, and the whole ordeal of surgery catches up to you.

I'm a Walking Dead fan, so this might only make sense to fellow fans.

But you know how sometimes the live people will cover themselves in guts from the Walkers to disguise their smell? So they can walk amongst them undetected?

I'm only three months in but my weight loss so far is pretty noticeable. And sometimes I feel that way. That I'm only disguised as a thin person, secretly walking amongst them, but I'm still a fat person really, with just the guts of a thin person keeping me from being outed.

Hahaha! That's a great analogy! Though I will say that it's much more pleasant to walk around thinner rather than covered in stinky walker viscera...

I'm not at goal yet, but I feel like I've been noticing that random people on the street, in stores, etc. look at me differently... in that they actually LOOK at me, instead of only vaguely acknowledging my existence. However, I do have to wonder if it's partly that I'm less closed off and more engaged in the world.

I'm not from PA originally, but I've lived here for about 7 years now! Southeastern PA, about midway between Philly and Allentown.

@@lauraellen80 ...

I think you know the correct answers to your questions, given all the excellent information you've laid out in your OP.

But I do think you need to do something to remove those childhood earwigs from your brain. It's time to grow up all the way, to see your childhood influences as the ignorant bullies they really were. They believed in their rigid ballerina ideology, ignorant as it was, that bore no relation to health, beauty, talents or happiness.

Please read this brief article. And please, please, please, watch the video at that page!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2713441/Who-said-ballerinas-delicate-Misty-Copeland-displays-phenomenal-muscle-power-dances-stage-new-Under-Armour-ad.html

Thanks. It's definitely something I'm working on in therapy.

And I LOVE Misty Copeland... I wish there had been ballerinas like her when I was young!

I eat a couple of prunes daily

As I get closer to goal, I find myself thinking a lot about what it means to be a "normal" weight and how it's defined--by ourselves, by our doctors, by our peers, etc.

For some background, I was a ballet dancer as a child and teen, and my high school years were the only time in my life after hitting puberty that my BMI was in the "normal" range. I was dancing about 20 hours a week, but I still was pretty solidly in the middle of the "normal" BMI at about 120-125 lbs. I was always the "big" girl in ballet class. I felt ashamed that I was only 5'1.5" and yet weighed over 100 pounds. Most of my dance teachers were always trying to get me to lose weight. We had weekly weigh-ins, and roles were often given or denied based on whether or not you had lost the 10 pounds they wanted you to before auditions. I came home so many nights in tears, telling my mom that I'd been told to live on carrot sticks and Water until a performance, that she took me to my pediatrician and asked him straight out if I actually needed to lose weight or if I even had weight to lose. I remember him saying that I had a very muscular build, and to lose weight would mean losing muscle mass. Which at the time, seemed like what I was supposed to do--I didn't want to be muscular and strong, I wanted to be waifish and have collar bones and hip bones that jutted out. I did have a few great teachers who didn't hold with the BS ballet body ideals and really tried to counteract the others, but I still took a lot of the bad stuff to heart.

As you can imagine, I had some pretty effed-up ideas about ideal weight and body image, and I still struggle with it (and yes, I do see a therapist). In looking at the BMI charts and what is "normal" and "healthy" for someone of my height to weigh, I get very stressed out. I'm now 5'2", so by the standard chart, I should weigh between 104 and 135 pounds. I've set my goal at 135, but then the thoughts start creeping in... "but that's the fattest normal weight you can be," "gain 1 pound, and you'll be back into overweight status," "if you were really successful, wouldn't you be a the low end of normal instead of the high end?"

So what does the weight/BMI range signify? My gut reaction is that 104 lbs/BMI 19 is inherently "better" than 135 lbs/BMI 24.9. I suppose it's meant to encompass different body types... but what does that mean for me? what is my body type, and where should I fall on the scale? I've seen a number of people on these forums that set their goal in the middle of the normal range so that they have some wiggle room. But I just can't quite imagine that now--as a 34-year-old who has a primarily sedentary job, walks and does water aerobics a few times a week--I could possibly weigh the same that I did as a 16-year-old pre-professional ballet dancer.

Then, to throw more confusion into the mix, I've started reading about how frame size affects your weight. I measured my wrist according to the standard guidelines, and I apparently have a "large" frame (yep, that screwed with my head, too... but I guess I can't help my bone structure). So factoring that in along with my height and gender, other body weight calculators I've found (on hospital/official-type sites) give a range of 128-143 as "ideal" for me. Is this just a way to make people feel better about themselves, or is this a scientifically valid calculation?

Pretty much any doctor I've ever been to uses the BMI chart as the end-all, be-all for assessing healthy weight. If I reach my goal of 135 but no less, will every doctor's visit for the rest of my life still come with an admonition to watch my weight, because I'm right on the tipping point into fat & unhealthy territory? Because if after losing nearly 100 pounds, I still have to feel like I'm a cow who's one meal away from disaster, I'm going to be devastated!

It's so confusing and, at least for me, fraught with opportunities to fall back into my "all-or-nothing" thought patterns that contributed to my weight problems in the first place.

I was going to post this in the general WLS forum, but it turned into more of a rant than I intended... apologies for the long post.

I use Torani sugar-free syrups and like their peppermint flavor in chocolate Protein shakes. I like to make them hot-chocolate style with it.

Try stirring Protein powder into other foods, if you are struggling with getting enough Protein at this point and can't handle shakes. I stir 1/2 scoop of vanilla Protein Powder into 1/2 packet of low sugar oatmeal for Breakfast, and the same with Greek yogurt. I've used unflavored protein powder in Soup.

where do you buy unflavored protein powder?

I ordered mine from unjury

Like others have said, I encourage you to really try to get in your Protein, Vitamins, and Water. It's really very important for your health.

Personally, I just had someone tell me the other day that I looked a lot younger now that I've lost weight. Keeping up with your nutritional & Fluid requirements can certainly help to avoid a gaunt, aged look, but it also seems like the rate of weight loss, the length of time that you were at your high weight, and your age at surgery can definitely affect this as well. I hadn't been at my high weight for more than a few years (though I'd been overweight/obese for essentially my entire adult life), and I'm 34, so I think I'm one of the lucky ones in that regard.

I had back and hip problems prior to surgery--old dance injuries that made themselves known as I continued to gain weight and put more stress on my damaged joints. Since surgery, my pain has been reduced a lot, but I still have trouble, and for me, I don't think it will ever go away completely (I'm planning to see an orthopedic doc who specializes in dance medicine when I get to goal, so we'll see) but it is much easier to deal with now, 85 pounds lighter.

As far as depression and other mental issues--please, please, please find a therapist who deals with body image, eating disorders, etc. I have struggled with depression since I was a teen (it runs in my family), and I was on an antidepressant prior to surgery. I see a therapist regularly and I go to a psychiatrist in the same practice every few months to evaluate my meds. It sounds like some of the things you are dealing with are stemming from your depression--lord knows I never feel like taking care of myself when my depression is left unchecked. You get into this cycle of being depressed, not taking care of yourself, feeling even worse about yourself because you look/feel crappy, etc. It's tough to get out of that cycle without help!

Good luck!

Try stirring Protein Powder into other foods, if you are struggling with getting enough Protein at this point and can't handle shakes. I stir 1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder into 1/2 packet of low sugar oatmeal for breakfast, and the same with Greek yogurt. I've used unflavored protein powder in Soup.< /p>

I am always puzzled by the stance that there is no nutritional value to salads. Yes we need Protein but we also need Fiber, healthy fats, Vitamins and other nutrients that we can get from fruit and veg. I'd rather get nutrients naturally than pop a zillion pills and I definitely enjoy having normal bowel movements. Part of this process is relearning to eat. Doesn't it make sense to learn how to eat a balance meal?

My thoughts exactly! I've seen a number of posts on this site that make disparaging comments about eating salads (and even vegetables in general). When I get a salad, I usually get one with grilled chicken and make sure to get a decent chunk of chicken along with a bit of lettuce, etc. on my fork with each bite.

I bought some falafel-flavor roasted chickpeas this week--they are awesome! More carbs than some might want, but a lot of Fiber and a decent amount of Protein.< /p>

It may be also a matter of avoiding tomato-based Soups initially because of the acidity, which can irritate your healing stomach.

Well, My Fitness Pal wasn't designed for WLS patients. There is a tracking app called "Baritastic" that's intended for WLS patients. I don't know what its interface is like, but I'd guess it may have different portion size options.

I was allowed to at 6 weeks. Check with your surgeon and/or NUT, as everyone's meal plan is different.

Leftover smothered chicken (chicken breast topped with sauteed onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms, Swiss cheese, and baked) and a little garlic-parmesan quinoa.

You can adjust your entries to a fraction of a serving size. So if, for example, the serving size is listed as 1 cup, and you eat 1/4 of a cup, you can list 1/4 as your number of servings. You may need to look up conversions or do some math. So if you only have a tablespoon of a food, but the serving size is 1 cup, you have to figure out that there are 16 tablespoons in a cup, so you had 1/16 of a serving. MFP only goes down to 1/8 for fractions, but you can switch to decimal mode and enter in smaller amounts.

There are also special lower acid coffees--I used the "Puroast" brand when I was having some bladder issues.

I drink my morning cup of coffee with an ounce of a ready-to-drink Protein shake or light vanilla almond milk, and either a half packet of stevia or a dollop of one of the Torani sugar-free syrups.

I buy the Whisps all the time! I know I could make them easily (and much more cheaply!) at home... but it's easy to just pick up a bag at the store!

While you're still on full liquids, it's pretty typical to not feel "full." Once you start on solid foods, you'll be able to tell. Some people sneeze or get a running nose when they are full, some hiccup/burp, and you often just get this heaviness right at the top of the sleeve that makes you stop and go--"Oh, okay... I'm done."

At this point, your sleeve is still swollen from surgery, and your nerve endings there aren't back to normal function. So don't push it, measure what you are suppose to have and stop after that.

Are you on an acid reducer? Most surgeons automatically prescribe them. Stomach acid can mimic the feelings of hunger, so that might be what you're feeling.