Little Green

I'm honestly assuming I'll need to lose 100 pounds before I have to buy new clothes. I wear mostly dresses and skirts just out of preference and I know all of my sundresses will keep fitting for a long, long time lol.

Sorry, I hit send too soon.
I love how you felt free to dismiss the entire conversation that we had in a few sentences when you clearly have literally no idea what you're talking about. You don't know who Joe Cross is, you haven't watched his stuff, you didn't even know what plant-based meant. That would be like if I commented on a crossfit post when I know almost nothing about it. In fact, though, I feel certain I know more about crossfit than you know about plant-based diets. So pardon me if I didn't find your argument particularly persuasive.

@orionburn I'm on my pre-op liquid diet and I'm not the one. I will be as kind as possible in my response.
You're in the vegan & vegetarian forum so do not come in here and laugh about eating animals. It's not funny or cute, and it's very disrespectful. I leave my veganism out of the main diet forums so you can leave your meat-eater jokes out of the vegan/vegetarian forum. Thanks!
The evidence is overwhelming that a plant-based vegan diet absolutely is superior to other diets. (Evidence produced by real studies done by real researchers in real medical journals, not some fringe blogger types.) You're welcome to access the numerous resources in this forum to learn about this evidence if you're open-minded enough to do so. The fact that this way of eating is superior obviously does not mean WE are superior. Nobody in this forum claims to be better than anyone else.
My beef with Joe Cross is that he is clearly riding the wave of interest in veganism/plant-based eating without making it crystal clear that he includes animal Protein in his diet not just occasionally but every single day. That's deceptive. I think it's probable that a large swath of his followers and supporters are buying his books and products thinking they are supporting a vegan lifestyle - meaning they wouldn't be buying if they knew he's eating animals everyday. To me, that's just wrong.
I'll weigh in with a different perspective from @fruitandveggies on the term "plant-based." While I do agree it's often being used as a softer way to say vegan without saying vegan, it also distinguishes a healthy whole foods diet from a vegan junk food diet. Soda and candy and all kinds of highly processed meat/cheese substitutes are vegan but they are excluded from a plant-based diet. The term "whole foods plant-based" is a mouthful so people just say plant-based, or sometimes they just say vegan for the sake of recognition. I started off not liking the term vegan but have come to embrace it so sometimes I say plant-based and sometimes I say vegan. It doesn't matter, they mean 85% the same thing and both completely exclude animal products.

Beans and nuts are not the only plant-based foods that contain Protein. Literally every plant-based food contains protein. Rice and broccoli have protein. Potatoes have protein. Pasta has protein. Wraps and breads have protein.
How to get to 46 grams of protein on a 1200 calorie plant-based diet without using shakes?
Protein is not some magical hard-to-find nutrient. It's in everything. And yes, in the beginning, the real estate in your stomach will be limited. Obviously supplementation is required then, just like it is for people eating meat. As you can eat more, you'll be able to fit plenty of plant-based protein in your stomach. This kind of fear-mongering is silly. If people after WLS can eat fast food and pizza "in moderation," you can eat sufficient plant food to meet your protein goal. And if you're worried, have a vegan Protein Shake or eat a vegan Protein Bar.
And yes, you absolutely can get too much protein in your diet. High protein diets are hard on the kidneys in particular, and animal protein is linked with heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
I love how eating meat is a given and you don't have to worry or do extensive math or have some strategically planned diet to be nutritious, but eating plants - OMG, no, call a medical summit to analyze it first!
Sorry... I really should not post late at night while on a liquid diet. My attitude is terrible.

Frying something in oil means it will be very high in fat and calories. I would avoid at all costs.

Wheeeere oh where has our little Fluff gone? Wheeeere oh where could she be?
Earth to Fluffy! Check in with us

Ok Fluff I think I can safely say I've read every page of your thread now! It was so funny (sorry) watching you go through those first few weeks of experimentation post-op! I'm going to be taking pretty much the opposite path in terms of nutrition and philosophy but I'm so thrilled to have you as a guide along the way! I "sparkleheart" you, my friend!

Yes! I would like a foot tattoo of a molting snake to commemorate my adventure. I have an inspiration photo from google that is somewhat loosely similar to what I would like the artist to design - particularly the intertwining and the white, lacy molted skin. But I'd like a much more colorful snake and obviously the size and shape of the two snakes would have to be fit to the top of my foot. I really prefer to let the artist take over as much as possible, I feel my pieces are truly unique and a sort of bond of trust between me and the artist. I know most people are way too a-n-a-l (sorry, trying to avoid filters haha) and want to control what it looks like which I totally understand, cause it's going to be on your body forever, after all! But anyway, yes, I definitely want a tattoo in honor of this huge life change.
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/471611392210692236/

No weird body odor for me. That's interesting!
I did have to do Lovenox injections for two weeks post-op. It was easy/fine for the first week or so but the last few days I was so mentally over it that I started having extreme anxiety every time I had to inject myself! I had really horrible belly pain for about 10 days post-op and my left side had (still has) some numbness and nerve pain on the surface of the skin, so I couldn't inject myself there without a lot of pain. Ugh, those last 3-4 days of injections were just awful. But I am deathly afraid of blood clots, and I couldn't walk very much then, so I soldiered through. I definitely looked bruised and beaten.
I think a lot of things along this theme of "what they won't tell you" or "what I wish I knew" about surgery are just because each person's experience is so different. For example I had NO gas pain. That was one thing I was 1000% sure I would have and that I prepared extensively for. Nope, not even a minute of it. *shrugs*
The best thing we can do is read and research widely to arm ourselves with information but accepting all the while that we will have an entirely unique experience of surgery.

No weird body odor for me. That's interesting!
I did have to do Lovenox injections for two weeks post-op. It was easy/fine for the first week or so but the last few days I was so mentally over it that I started having extreme anxiety every time I had to inject myself! I had really horrible belly pain for about 10 days post-op and my left side had (still has) some numbness and nerve pain on the surface of the skin, so I couldn't inject myself there without a lot of pain. Ugh, those last 3-4 days of injections were just awful. But I am deathly afraid of blood clots, and I couldn't walk very much then, so I soldiered through. I definitely looked bruised and beaten.
I think a lot of things along this theme of "what they won't tell you" or "what I wish I knew" about surgery are just because each person's experience is so different. For example I had NO gas pain. That was one thing I was 1000% sure I would have and that I prepared extensively for. Nope, not even a minute of it. *shrugs*
The best thing we can do is read and research widely to arm ourselves with information but accepting all the while that we will have an entirely unique experience of surgery.

your family has problems.

No weird body odor for me. That's interesting!
I did have to do Lovenox injections for two weeks post-op. It was easy/fine for the first week or so but the last few days I was so mentally over it that I started having extreme anxiety every time I had to inject myself! I had really horrible belly pain for about 10 days post-op and my left side had (still has) some numbness and nerve pain on the surface of the skin, so I couldn't inject myself there without a lot of pain. Ugh, those last 3-4 days of injections were just awful. But I am deathly afraid of blood clots, and I couldn't walk very much then, so I soldiered through. I definitely looked bruised and beaten.
I think a lot of things along this theme of "what they won't tell you" or "what I wish I knew" about surgery are just because each person's experience is so different. For example I had NO gas pain. That was one thing I was 1000% sure I would have and that I prepared extensively for. Nope, not even a minute of it. *shrugs*
The best thing we can do is read and research widely to arm ourselves with information but accepting all the while that we will have an entirely unique experience of surgery.

No weird body odor for me. That's interesting!
I did have to do Lovenox injections for two weeks post-op. It was easy/fine for the first week or so but the last few days I was so mentally over it that I started having extreme anxiety every time I had to inject myself! I had really horrible belly pain for about 10 days post-op and my left side had (still has) some numbness and nerve pain on the surface of the skin, so I couldn't inject myself there without a lot of pain. Ugh, those last 3-4 days of injections were just awful. But I am deathly afraid of blood clots, and I couldn't walk very much then, so I soldiered through. I definitely looked bruised and beaten.
I think a lot of things along this theme of "what they won't tell you" or "what I wish I knew" about surgery are just because each person's experience is so different. For example I had NO gas pain. That was one thing I was 1000% sure I would have and that I prepared extensively for. Nope, not even a minute of it. *shrugs*
The best thing we can do is read and research widely to arm ourselves with information but accepting all the while that we will have an entirely unique experience of surgery.

YYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!! This thread! I'm thrilled and honored to be in the presence of you ladies. I honestly feel like it's a totally different experience when you have a BMI above 50 and sometimes there is so little to relate to when reading about smaller women's journeys, no matter how hard you try.
My highest known weight is 381 - I had stopped drinking soda and started trying to change my diet about two weeks before I saw that number so I'm assuming it was higher, 385+ at least. My BMI was 58, I believe. I weighed 367 when I first met with the surgeon and 342 on surgery day. No idea what I weigh right now but I'll know Friday
It's difficult to realize you need to lose 220+ pounds (the same weight as some women who have WLS!) in order to be a healthy weight, and particularly depressing when you look at statistics that say you'll likely only lose 70% of your excess weight.
Honestly, I like being "big and tall." I would really like to have a normal BMI for health reasons, but I don't expect or desire a "slim" silhouette. My secret wish is to play roller derby and I would love to have a solid, strong body with big skating thighs and hips I can bodycheck people with My only concern is my health, my fitness, and my mobility.

I cheated on the pre-op diet once, with food from Panera bread. It was worth it IMO and on surgery day my liver was perfectly pink and smooth--according to the surgeon's medical student they were astonished that it had no sign of fat whatsoever and said it was probably my genetics rather than the liquid diet. I basically skipped the pureed stage and went straight to soft foods because during week 3 I was having extreme food aversion where I struggled to get in anything that wasn't a Premier Protein shake. So as long as I mashed up the food really well in my mouth I counted that as puree and was just thankful to get the calories and Protein in. I don't separate eating and drinking at all. And I use a straw in my Water cup. Neither of these things bothers my pouch in the slightest and haven't caused any increase hunger or problems with my weight loss, so even though I know it's a big sin not to separate the eating and drinking, I just can't bring myself to do it. I eat lots of carbs including rice, potatoes, and whole grain bread. Also bananas. This isn't a cheat or confession for me personally because this type of eating is encouraged by my RD, but I know it's a big sin for most bariatric patients so I figured I'd mention it. Hmm. I think that's about it. I've had a few not-so-healthy food choices over the 14 weeks since surgery, including a spoonful of my grandmother's banana pudding and two tiny forkfuls of some friends' Desserts at a fancy restaurant, but overall I've been very pleased with my food choices and ability to limit myself to tiny samples of less healthy foods.

14 weeks out from surgery and I'm 75 pounds down from the first day of the liquid diet, which I started about 4 months ago. I've gone from 358 to 283 and, if I include the pre-op diet, I'm losing about 18-19 pounds per month on average which I'm very happy with. July was sort of meh for weight loss, not exactly sure of the stats but I know I stalled for awhile in the low 300's. August has been better, I've lost the last 10-15 pounds pretty rapidly here in the last two to three weeks.
I saw my surgeon last Friday for my three month follow-up and she was really happy with my weight loss. We discussed "goal weight" sort of, I said I'd like to be normal BMI but would settle for 29.9 BMI. She said it might be more realistic to be around 30-31 BMI. So that puts my "goal" range from 164 (24.9 BMI) to 210 (31.9 BMI). I think I will set my goal as 29.9 BMI which is 196 pounds... so basically anything under 200 will be good for me. Although I doubt I will keep losing 20 lbs a month, it's crazy to think that I could, hypothetically, be to that 196 pound goal in 4-5 months!
I discussed my issues with getting sick with both the surgeon and the dietitian and they suggested avoiding any foods that I know for sure are irritating me - the dietitian assured me again that my tendency/desire to eat more carbs than most bariatric patients is totally fine and that she encourages the whole wheat toast, cereals, fruit, brown rice, etc. for health reasons (and especially if that's what I'm able to tolerate vs. beef and chicken). She also recommended that I refocus on chewing really well and honestly since trying to take that advice I think that was the problem all along - going too fast because I wasn't chewing enough. In the last week since seeing her I've only felt ill a couple times and they were mild, not as bad as the intense nausea and sometimes heaving/vomiting I had been getting. Yay for eating with proper bariatric etiquette!

I hit my plateau at 2 weeks post-op, too. I lost 19 pounds in the first two weeks post-op and then it was another 3 weeks before I lost anything and it was only 3 pounds. It was very infuriating. But I've been losing steadily and averaging 18-19 pounds a month since my pre-op diet. Try not to get on the scale everyday, it hurts your brain and spirit.

No weird body odor for me. That's interesting!
I did have to do Lovenox injections for two weeks post-op. It was easy/fine for the first week or so but the last few days I was so mentally over it that I started having extreme anxiety every time I had to inject myself! I had really horrible belly pain for about 10 days post-op and my left side had (still has) some numbness and nerve pain on the surface of the skin, so I couldn't inject myself there without a lot of pain. Ugh, those last 3-4 days of injections were just awful. But I am deathly afraid of blood clots, and I couldn't walk very much then, so I soldiered through. I definitely looked bruised and beaten.
I think a lot of things along this theme of "what they won't tell you" or "what I wish I knew" about surgery are just because each person's experience is so different. For example I had NO gas pain. That was one thing I was 1000% sure I would have and that I prepared extensively for. Nope, not even a minute of it. *shrugs*
The best thing we can do is read and research widely to arm ourselves with information but accepting all the while that we will have an entirely unique experience of surgery.

No weird body odor for me. That's interesting!
I did have to do Lovenox injections for two weeks post-op. It was easy/fine for the first week or so but the last few days I was so mentally over it that I started having extreme anxiety every time I had to inject myself! I had really horrible belly pain for about 10 days post-op and my left side had (still has) some numbness and nerve pain on the surface of the skin, so I couldn't inject myself there without a lot of pain. Ugh, those last 3-4 days of injections were just awful. But I am deathly afraid of blood clots, and I couldn't walk very much then, so I soldiered through. I definitely looked bruised and beaten.
I think a lot of things along this theme of "what they won't tell you" or "what I wish I knew" about surgery are just because each person's experience is so different. For example I had NO gas pain. That was one thing I was 1000% sure I would have and that I prepared extensively for. Nope, not even a minute of it. *shrugs*
The best thing we can do is read and research widely to arm ourselves with information but accepting all the while that we will have an entirely unique experience of surgery.

14 weeks out from surgery and I'm 75 pounds down from the first day of the liquid diet, which I started about 4 months ago. I've gone from 358 to 283 and, if I include the pre-op diet, I'm losing about 18-19 pounds per month on average which I'm very happy with. July was sort of meh for weight loss, not exactly sure of the stats but I know I stalled for awhile in the low 300's. August has been better, I've lost the last 10-15 pounds pretty rapidly here in the last two to three weeks.
I saw my surgeon last Friday for my three month follow-up and she was really happy with my weight loss. We discussed "goal weight" sort of, I said I'd like to be normal BMI but would settle for 29.9 BMI. She said it might be more realistic to be around 30-31 BMI. So that puts my "goal" range from 164 (24.9 BMI) to 210 (31.9 BMI). I think I will set my goal as 29.9 BMI which is 196 pounds... so basically anything under 200 will be good for me. Although I doubt I will keep losing 20 lbs a month, it's crazy to think that I could, hypothetically, be to that 196 pound goal in 4-5 months!
I discussed my issues with getting sick with both the surgeon and the dietitian and they suggested avoiding any foods that I know for sure are irritating me - the dietitian assured me again that my tendency/desire to eat more carbs than most bariatric patients is totally fine and that she encourages the whole wheat toast, cereals, fruit, brown rice, etc. for health reasons (and especially if that's what I'm able to tolerate vs. beef and chicken). She also recommended that I refocus on chewing really well and honestly since trying to take that advice I think that was the problem all along - going too fast because I wasn't chewing enough. In the last week since seeing her I've only felt ill a couple times and they were mild, not as bad as the intense nausea and sometimes heaving/vomiting I had been getting. Yay for eating with proper bariatric etiquette!

So you had lost no weight according to your doctor's scale as well??? What did they say to that??
I would give it another week or so and then demand an endoscopy to ensure that my pouch was correctly sized and all my plumbing is functioning correctly.

I hit my plateau at 2 weeks post-op, too. I lost 19 pounds in the first two weeks post-op and then it was another 3 weeks before I lost anything and it was only 3 pounds. It was very infuriating. But I've been losing steadily and averaging 18-19 pounds a month since my pre-op diet. Try not to get on the scale everyday, it hurts your brain and spirit.

I hit my plateau at 2 weeks post-op, too. I lost 19 pounds in the first two weeks post-op and then it was another 3 weeks before I lost anything and it was only 3 pounds. It was very infuriating. But I've been losing steadily and averaging 18-19 pounds a month since my pre-op diet. Try not to get on the scale everyday, it hurts your brain and spirit.

I hit my plateau at 2 weeks post-op, too. I lost 19 pounds in the first two weeks post-op and then it was another 3 weeks before I lost anything and it was only 3 pounds. It was very infuriating. But I've been losing steadily and averaging 18-19 pounds a month since my pre-op diet. Try not to get on the scale everyday, it hurts your brain and spirit.

So you had lost no weight according to your doctor's scale as well??? What did they say to that??
I would give it another week or so and then demand an endoscopy to ensure that my pouch was correctly sized and all my plumbing is functioning correctly.