SassyScienceNerd

On 12/9/2017 at 8:29 AM, summerset said:

Makes me wonder what kind of stuff is usually sold as "bread" in the US.

OMG me too!! I would make bread or get bakery bread and it would be moldy in 3 or 4 days if it wasn't eaten, and then I understood why people would have to make bread every day in the old days. Then I'd realize that a loaf of bagged bread from the bread aisle could sit for a good three weeks in my pantry without a fuzz on it-- I don't buy aisle bread anymore. And since I don't eat bread now, the kids think it's a big treat when I buy it, and only the very seedy, grainy stuff from the bakery section. And even with them devouring it daily, it gets fuzzy after a few days and we have to throw the rest in the yard. I wonder how many people who believe they have gluten intolerance actually just have an intolerance to American bread with all the preservatives in it. It's basically an edible sponge.

On 11/22/2017 at 6:39 AM, Berry78 said:

I think my daughter is reacting to white flour. It doesn't look like stress eating.. I think it's true, unending hunger (cuz I did the same thing). At school they have pastries for breakfast and pizza for lunch. All this white flour is knocking her for a loop.

I keep trying to rid the house of this stuff.. it's a process... we have a fruit bowl out all the time, in the fridge is milk and cheese and salad stuff. Freezer is full of bagged veggies and frozen fish. Cupboard has tons of canned Beans and Soup and fruits and veggies. But, if there is a box of mac and cheese.. that's what gets eaten. Sigh.

My kids are both like this. What changed my daughter's life was Pinterest, of all things. I showed her how to basically search for ingredients and find recipes for stuff we already have, and she has had a few hits and misses, but it's a fun project for her to cook food now. And lately she's given me shopping lists for ingredients for recipes she wants to try, she made a delicious black bean Soup a few weeks ago in the crock pot. When I started Keto, she did that with me and tried a few recipes for that, too. She is 12 and might be a better cook than me pretty soon

Have you had your thyroid function checked?

I'm 8 months out and I'd say the most helpful gadgets are just ramekins and small containers. I bake little portions of casseroles in the ramekins, serve most of my meals in them, it's great for making sure I'm not cooking too much. (I throw away A LOT of wasted food these days). I love little containers for my lunches at work. Keeping my portions tiny helps me not to accidentally overeat which makes me miserable and sick.

Habits aren't really habits when it comes to eating. They are choices. Individual choices that you make every time you decide what goes in your mouth. No one eats a piece of cake by accident or without thinking about it.

Cravings are really hard at the holidays but I found that giving myself 20 minutes and having something else made them go away. I was craving shortbread Cookies in a big way a few days ago. So I had some hummus on carrots instead and hated it, haha. But it filled me up enough to make me not want to eat. The idea of the nausea was enough of a deterrent at that point.

It helps me to make one small change rather than to look at ALL the things I'm doing wrong and try and fix them all one glorious Monday. It's like a New Year's Resolution- that kind of stuff doesn't stick.

I love the suggestion of replacing your DD with a caramel Premier Protein shake and coffee. So easy! And a lot cheaper for you. Do that for a week or two and don't worry about making other changes yet. Just focus on that one. It's the simplest one, so it will be a good motivator to start making the other changes.

Next, set an alarm on your phone for your Vitamins. Hard to forget when your phone is screaming at you to remember. For me, it's easiest to take them at night before bed, because I'm pretty much always in my own bed every night at the same time.

After that, start walking after dinner. It's so nice to get outside after a meal and spend 10-15 minutes in nature. Even if it's chilly! My neighborhood is super awesome too, so it's my social hour. I run into folks all doing the same thing with their families.

Whatever you do, do it a step at a time. These habits didn't all start on the same day, they crept in. So creep them back out. This is a lifetime journey, if you don't want to burn out, don't start in a sprint. That's what works for me, anyway.

I wish I knew that I'd have diarrhea forever. (maybe it's not forever, but I had surgery 7 months ago and I still have it). It isn't every day, I haven't been able to figure out what specifically causes it, only that sometimes I eat and in an hour, I can't go more than 500 feet from a toilet. pills don't work quickly enough, so if it happens, it's a good 2 hours before I can safely leave my house or office. It's not something that would have stopped me from having surgery. But I do wish I had known that this was going to be a problem for me long term. I am exhausted and depressed at the thought of this being my life forever.

1 hour ago, FishOn said:

I learned a valuable lesson last night. Eating on the run in your car is a no-no and almost lost it last night and vowed never to eat on the run again. You forget to slowly chew your food and wolf it down like you used to when gaining weight.

Yikes, sorry you had that experience! I definitely didn't wolf my food, and I chewed it pretty well, it's just something about that bread. I had a veggie-dog on a bun a few weeks ago with the same result, though at the time I thought it was the veggie dog.

American bread does a number on my stomach. I had a grilled chicken breast on a bun on my way to a meeting and eating in the car on the way was my only option, unfortunately. So I couldn't go bunless. And it was just awful. I stopped and threw up on the way. I had a bite of my daughter's white toast and it did the same thing. But the really dense grainy breads don't have the same effect. We had avocado and smoked salmon on some dense whole wheat type (German style) bread and it was delicious, filled me for hours, and didn't give me any tummy trouble at all.

On 10/15/2017 at 1:46 PM, BuffaloBill said:

This is a great thread. I've drank coffee since day 2 cause my surgeon said it's fine. Today I broke the 2 week liquid only diet and had Cream of Wheat with almond milk and blueberries and I feel full and fine.

Sent from my SM-G935T using BariatricPal mobile app

I've never had CoW with almond milk, that sounds delicious! I don't tolerate milk as well since the sleeve, but I haven't explored all the ways to replace it in foods I make yet. Tucking this one away for when it's cozy winter and I need a little bowl of comfort! I used to make it, then pour it in little ramekins and then sprinkle sugar on top and broil it until it had a little crust. I bet I can do that with my sugar free baking alternative. I think it's called Swerve. Wonder if that will come out ok? The ramekins are perfect because I measure out everything in my little 4 oz portions.

On 10/14/2017 at 1:49 PM, DisneyMom2El said:

I eat sweets if I want them. One benefit of surgery is that I can limit how much I eat and many no longer appeal to me.

This! I don't do a lot of sweets anymore, which I loved before. I got a nice dark chocolate bar from a friend last weekend and I had 2 little squares of it. The rest is sitting on my dresser (I have kids, if I want something, it needs to hide from them, haha) and I see it every day. I'm not even tempted. I just know one of these days I'll have a craving and it will be there. It's nice that the sweets thing doesn't appeal to me anymore like it used to. I wasn't expecting that.

On 9/27/2017 at 11:23 PM, Nicole42 said:

I didn't wait a year before drinking alcohol as advised. I think I only hung in there around 3 months. I don't drink a lot though, just a glass of wine occasionally.

Sent from my SM-G900P using BariatricPal mobile app

Oh yes, me too. I told my doctor that I'm just not giving up my gin and club sodas. He can pry it from my cold skinny dead hands. Wine gives me heartburn but I've prepped beforehand and had some at special occasions.

For me it's the no carbonation rule. I have always loved seltzer and now all the flavored no-sweetener, no-sugar La Croix varieties are my go to treats. I don't understand why there's a no carbonation rule, and I've read in some places it's a huge no-no and in others that it doesn't matter. I will not go back to diet drinks, I never really liked them anyway. But that flavored seltzer is sometimes the only thing that keeps me at a good Water intake for the day.

My lovely co-worker who is like a sweet grandma to all of us here recently stared at me when I walked into the room and said "Your stomach is flat as an ironing board now! You look fantastic!" I've literally never heard that in my LIFE.

There was a whole rack of little 6oz baking ramekins at Kohls on clearance one day so I bought them out. Haha. I use them for cooking things as they make the perfect little 4 oz controlled sizes. I LOVE ricotta bakes. (Eggface recipe) with little cut up pepperoni, spinach, and a teaspoon of pizza sauce (which has way fewer carbs than Pasta sauce). I bake 6 of those and use them for lunches and dinners during the week because they reheat quickly. I also make chicken salad with walnuts and dried cranberries, I eat that with a fork or on lettuce wraps. I also really love cucumber Tomato salad with red onion and that blush wine vinaigrette in the fancy bottle. I forget what it's called. Sometimes I throw feta cheese in there too.

Mostly I snack all day (5 small snack-meals instead of 3), and I know that's considered bad, but for what I do for a living, it works well. I just prepack a lot of steamed veggies, fruits, nuts, cheeses, and deli meats and sort of make little plates with those that take 10 minutes to eat. Oooh, and kalamata olives. Ok, now I'm hungry....

You look fabulous! I so cannot wait to start buying colorful pants. I love the coral. I spent so many years buying dark wash jeans and black pants/leggings to make my heavy bottom half less noticeable... colorful pants will be my NSV one of these days!

I think she was just being attentive and trying to make sure you were satisfied. My first meal, technically, was minestrone broth on my layover when I flew home from surgery. But my first actual meal in a restaurant with friends was quiche, I just didn't eat the crust. And it was like 4 bites. Ha. My friend Jill who is a loudmouth (god love her) demanded to know why I wasn't eating and I told her I just ate a little bit before and wasn't really hungry yet. Took the quiche home and it lasted me the whole week. I save so much money on food now!

1: I wear a legit bikini to the beach now, flabby belly and all, don't even care.

2: I can surf for two hours without getting tired

3: size MEDIUM dresses at Old Navy!

4: My legs aren't swollen with edema from carrying all the weight anymore

5: I don't have to lean all the way to one side when I go to buckle my seatbelt in the car

6: Chub rub isn't even a thing anymore. I wear skirts with wild abandon.

Checking in, how are things going?

33 since surgery, the rest was before that. This pic was before I started Keto and my pre-op. I've been a little bit stalled, but I'm not sweating it too hard. I'm taking my surfboard out this weekend which is a big time calorie burner for me. So I don't think I'll be stalled for long.

ETA: I was never able to fit in those pub chairs before (on the right). Whenever we would go to that court bar, I had to stand the whole time and just act like I didn't feel like sitting to save myself from being embarrassed. It feels really good to not have hips the size of a Chevy tailgate anymore.

I'm so glad you found your way to Mexico, that's how I did it too. And I remember thinking the same thing about the fruit juice. I wish I had thought to ask for Gatorade G2 instead. I bet my Day 2 would have gone a lot better. And I agree with OMI above about therapy. Feeling a part of your identity go away is jarring sometimes. I'm the funny fat girl. I don't really know what else to be, I've been really good at it for a long time.

Can't wait to watch your transformation!

Well done!!

I don't do a lot of sugar free stuff. I can't remember the last time I did, actually. I eat a decent amount of vegetables and almost no fruit except a bite or two from a platter now and then. I even went off Keto and upped my whole grains a bit to see if it helped to bulk up on carby fiber. No luck. Still just what my kid calls "butt water." Haha

I'm 6 weeks post-op and I haven't had a solid one yet. I poo every 3-4 days and when I do, it's pretty much an emergency. Straight liquid. Please tell me this doesn't last forever....

I use a straw all the time. I've never had any issues with gas or reflux. I don't swallow air when I drink through a straw, so I don't understand the correlation.