chica

Jack, You're a riot! :Dancing_wub: StarbuxQueen, DW = Darling Wife (or Damn Wife if my DH has his way!) IMHO = In my honest opinion Check the FAQ section for Beginners for more...

Here's a tip from my doctor's office on dealing with craving sweets: If you like pudding as a snack, buy the instant sugar-free, fat-free kind and add a scoop or two of protein powder (surely I'm not the only one with lots of this in my house now...) to the milk before mixing in the pudding. You can have this with some Cool Whip Lite, and it's not only a great way to satisfy that sweet-tooth need, but since you're getting protein in too, it helps you in a big way! :bolt:

My surgeon found a small hernia that the barium swallow missed, and he fixed it with a couple of stitches. (Showed me the pictures too.) The good news is that perhaps insurance will now pay something toward the surgery, because up till now, I had to self-pay it all! :thumbup:

... is anyone else having trouble reading the March 2008 Master Thread? I keep getting this weird error that says the controller can't be found or something like that.

Wow, SpecialK, you're awesome!

YUM! Will you at least tell me how to make satay sauce? Please??? :thumbup:

Ooh, good to know. I'll definitely add more water next time!:thumbup:

I read about this on a couple of threads about protein shakes and others about can you eat peanut butter, but I wanted to share this with everyone who might not be aware of it. I just tried it today and it's surprisingly good! :crying: Not quite as smooth and creamy (and therefore, fatty!) as regular peanut butter, but for the fat and calorie savings, I think it's worth it if you're a peanut butter fan. You mix it with a little water till smooth (or throw it directly into your protein shake) and use it just like regular peanut butter. It has 54 calories and 2.8 grams of fat for 2T verses 190 calories and 16 grams of fat for 2T of regular peanut butter. :thumbup: I haven't seen it in stores, but you can order it at Bell Plantation - PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter - Home. Also, while they don't have samples, they do have a money-back guarantee.

Last year, I broke my wrist and needed surgery (plate & screws), and I was told that I couldn't donate blood for 3 months afterward. I'm surprised some people are not turned down when they're one month out of surgery...:confused2: I used to do automated blood collection all the time (if I could pass the dreaded iron test), so I'm curious to see if I can still do this. It takes a lot longer than whole blood donation, but I guess since it's one of my few do-gooder deeds, I should try when I get 3 months out. :crying:

I know this was part of my marriage vows! :crying: Did y'all forget to include that?

When I started mushies, I called to ask about this, and our patient coordinator said that on mushies, not only do you have to blenderize scrambled eggs after cooking, but that even after being over a year out, she still has trouble with simple scrambled eggs. So, please be careful...

I'm very interested to hear how this plays out because I had the exact same experience (although my doc showed me pics of the hernia before and after in my 1st post-op visit). And I like your idea of getting some of the other fees too. Do let us know what happens! If I hear from my insurance company first, I'll do the same.

I use Unjury chocolate plus skim milk and some ice with my peanut butter. This is so good, my 8 yo son asks for one after school every day!

Oh, I forgot about pudding with protein powder -- I wasn't allowed that on till now. YUMMY!

Gosh, Grace! You've done amazingly well! Congrats

My doc actually recommends putting peanut butter into your protein shake if your hungry (pre- or post-op). It's more filling and it's delicious! But I believe you should avoid eating peanut butter by itself until mushies.

Great job on your weight loss! I started on mushies yesterday (a day early), and had my kids leftovers -- blenderized 2 oz salmon (had to add a lot of liquid and it still was pretty tough...), Green Giant Teriyaki veggies (broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, blenderized too -- YUM!), and for dinner, f/f refried Beans with salsa and guacamole (the last 2 had to be blended to remove chunks -- my doc is pretty strict about that). I plan to have some Green Giant creamed spinach today (doesn't need to be blended - YAY!), and this stuff that now looks like yucky baby food, but it's really blenderized veal-filled ravioli with a spicy arrabiatta sauce. They told me get over looking at the food and just taste it, so I'm trying. :thumbup: I think this phase is harder than liquids. Anyone else?

My doc has this and I just had my first one done last week. It's a hoot! Yes, you go into it naked as a newborn, and you hear a pleasant voice talk you through how to stand (holding handles with feet in correct place), and then there are a set of lights that go on and off in a sequence. The hilarious part is when they play this bizarre circus music :biggrin: (I swear that's what I thought of, but that may not be the music used everywhere) -- because I kept visualizing that I was the fat lady in the circus freak show at that point. Then it's over, you get dressed and you can see your body scan on the computer. It shows so many measurements! And no, you can't see anything graphic, it's just more silhouette-like. At this point it was just plain scary-looking (I'm so fat!), but it apparently provides a lot of positive reinforcement when you see yourself shrinking as the months go by. :cursing: Not painful at all, just shocking if you don't spend a lot of time looking at yourself naked in a mirror.

I've been a Curves member for almost 3 years now. I had plantar fasciitis a couple of years ago and was told to get Dr. Scholl's arch supports. They WORK! :crying: (And I still wear them even though the problem is gone.) I don't know that resistance training is the same thing as weight bearing exercise. You don't need to be worried about "running" on the recovery boards -- you're not supposed to be able to run, you should be fatigued from working the machines hard enough that you just want to walk in between. Otherwise, you end up working anaerobically, which is not good. Also, it may not have come to your Curves yet (mine is one of the early clubs doing this), but Curves has a new CurvesSmart program that records how hard you're working each machine. It's making everyone work out harder even if they're not using the new technology! :thumbup: I don't use it, but my gym pal does, and even she has noticed that I sweat more now. Try it!

ARGH! You've really burst my bubble, but you've opened my eyes too. :biggrin: I tried one of the Profect Protein test tubes to try to get away from milk-based shakes and thought it would be okay. My doc thinks I may have some lactose intolerance issues because I'm having constant bloating on these Protein Shakes I've been drinking. So, what is the solution to get good quality protein without all the milk? The powders I have are yucky made with Water...

Welcome, 2BMe! You're right, it's good to have all of us to bounce all our strange and wonderful new experiences on. My doc thinks I may have some mild lactose intolerance issues that I've never noticed because all my Protein is milk-based shakes, and I've never consumed much milk before. (Cheese, on the other hand, is no problem! :thumbup:) So he wants me to try liquid Protein without the milk-base. Mom007, this may be your issue too?? I tried Profect protein (peach flavor) that someone gave me. It comes in a big test tube, but it's a small quantity of liquid for 25g protein! It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. Now I've ordered other flavors to sample. Maybe this'll help with the whole bloat thing. Plus whenever I get a fill, my doc requires 2 days of liquids again, so I'll need something for those times too. Bossstar, I got read the riot act for eating too early. My doc stitches part of the stomach over the band to the pouch area to help it stay in place. (Saw the very graphic photos from surgery!) Eating too soon may cause the pouch area to swell and rip (ouch! :tt2:) the stitches through the tissue of the lower stomach. That visual and explanation was enough for me to promise that I will try not to cheat at all anymore for the next 7 days. Then I get to move to mushies. However, there's no denying you're losing weight at an amazing rate! :tt2: I hope everyone here is feeling better today. I got great sleep last night! :biggrin:

Just curious. Did you like the Profect? What flavors? I just ordered a sample pack...

I just had my first taste of one, Fuzzy Peach Nectar, which was given to me by a co-worker of my DH. I don't much like the peach flavor, but I love 25g protein in a very drinkable form that's not milk based!! I just went and ordered the same sampler you did (from profect.com) -- Blue Raspberry Swirl, Cool Melon Splash, Fresh Citrus Berry and Grapefruit Mango. I'm hoping those flavors will be better, but the small amount you have to drink to get all that protein is a winner.

Welcome back, PreK... It's been a week now for me, too, and I'm still really struggling with that bloated feeling. I can't get in as much protein or water as I should either. No matter what I drink, I immediately feel bloated. Wish it was gas that would come out (top or bottom, lol), but it just leaves me feeling really uncomfortable. I admit I cheated yesterday and had some laughing cow light cheese in the morning and evening to help get protein that wasn't liquid. It felt great! I have my post-op visit today and will mention it. I'm supposed to be on liquids one more week, but I just don't think I can do it with all that bloating! :shades_smile:

Wait! I have one that I really like -- especially since I've given up my morning coffee habit for these early band stages of healing. The Cappuccino flavor (blended with skim milk and a little ice) is really satisfying and delicious. :biggrin: I didn't like their chocolate flavor, and while I have a cherry sample, I haven't tried it yet.