DropWt4Life

I would do it in March as well, and get it over with. You will be 8 weeks out at least before you move, and that's perfect! I had no stress at 8 days out much less 8 weeks out. You will be fine. Good luck!

What I want to know is....Where can I get one of those plates?

Berry...I swear by apple cider vinegar (1 Tbsp per day). Something about the acidity. I never get heartburn anymore. I can now eat spicy foods and drink coffee with no Prilosec or other medications. Have been on the regimen since about 1 month out, and haven't had heartburn since. Give it a try. It might help.

I've been exercising since surgery, been lifting weights since 6 weeks out, and been doing ab work since 8 weeks out. I would think yoga would definitely be fine at 3 months out. Of course, that is up to your doctor.

I am 3 months post-op now, and I can eat anything except steak. I haven't tried it in a month or so, but the last time I did, it didn't sit well with me. I agree with other posters, that you will gradually be able to eat anything you want. You should be careful with that though. Many processed foods are sliders, and you can eat lots of the stuff. You won't get full on sweets or chips either. I had sushi about two weeks ago. My grocery store makes it fresh, and they make a brown rice version. I had a few pieces of that. It was excellent, and filled me up quite a bit. I would suggest that you start planning your daily eating in advance if you don't already. I allow myself to go over on calories on Fridays now. I might have a slice or two of cauliflower pizza or something else I've been craving throughout the week. I will eat less calories early that day to save room for it. I might hit the 1,100 calorie mark or even a bit more at times. I then hit the gym hard on Saturday morning to make up for it. It works for me. As far as pasta goes, I don't really eat it. Pasta is one of my trigger foods, and I could easily overeat that. It is also very high in calories. I use spaghetti squash instead of pasta. I generally roast two at a time, and freeze it. That way, it is there when I want it. I also do zoodles (zucchini noodles), but not that often since my daughter hates them. So, the takeaway is...Find healthy ways to enjoy your favorite foods. Cauliflower crust pizza, zoodles, spaghetti squash, etc. Also experiment with sauces and toppings for these. I make veggie crumble tacos with Flatout wraps, shell less taco salads, enchiladas, and even lasagnas with either zucchini or eggplant instead of noodles. Good luck on your journey!

I was vegetarian for 3 years, and always made my own protein shakes with Orgain Organic Protein Powder. 2 scoops of Orgain Chocolate Protein Powder (150 cals, 21g protein, 5g fiber, 5g net carbs) 1Tbsp of PBFit Peanut Butter Powder (25 cals, 3g protein, 2g fiber, 2g net carbs) 2Tbsp Hemp Seeds (114 cals, 7g protein, 2g fiber, 0g net carbs) 1Tbsp ground Flax Seeds (37 cals, 1g protein, 2g fiber, 0g net carbs) 2 cups of Unsweetened Almond Milk (60 cals, 2g protein, 0g fiber, 2g net carbs) 1 medium frozen banana (105 cals, 1g protein, 3g fiber, 24g net carbs) 1 cup frozen spinach (45 cals, 6g protein, 4g fiber, 2g net carbs) Ice and water to desired consistency Macros: (536 cals, 41g protein, 18g fiber, 35g net carbs) This makes approximately 32-40 ounces depending on amount of ice and water added, so if you broke this up to 2 shakes, 268 cals, 20.5g protein, 9g fiber, 17.5g net carbs.

Vegetables are a super important part of our new lifestyle. This is where you are going to get a lot of your nourishment from after surgery. I was a vegetarian for three years, and love almost all vegetables now. I started with meatless Monday. I did all vegetables, fruits and grains on that day. I then did a two week juice fast after watching Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. That changed my taste buds for sure. I was so happy to eat after the two weeks that I actually ate a raw beet on my first day of eating food after the fast. I have been eating lots of veggies ever since. Oven roasting and grilling are great for adding flavor to veggies. Roasted carrots, green beans, asparagus, beets, sweet potatoes, onions, and squash of all types are good. Try adding spinach, onion and tomato to egg white omelets. Ease yourself into other veggies by first starting with mixed veggies at lunch and/or dinner. Look up good recipes for thing like cabbage and collard greens. A pot of these can be spread over many meals. Stuffed bell peppers and/or poblano peppers are really good. There are tons of recipes on line of that as well. You have some time. Start now though. You do not want to go into your post-op diet not liking vegetables. Meat, cheese and eggs are great, but they will not be enough to nourish your body long-term.

Welcome aboard! I will say that I am very pleased to see that you have already gotten your profile together. That is a great first start. Many people don't bother to do that at all, so it is refreshing to see it. This forum provides a wealth of knowledge and experiences, so please pick our brains any time you have questions, and provide your experiences as well. Good luck on your journey!

I agree with Sosewsue61. You should post your intake here so that we can get a look into a typical day or two of your diet. It helps to know what advice to offer to you. If you have lost 37 pounds in 2 1/2 months, how long has it been since you've lost anything? Are you currently in a stall, or are you losing a pound here or there? If you are losing nothing at all, then you should re-evaluate what you are eating. You should be around a 1,000 calories per day with 80g of protein per day. You should be getting in veggies every chance you get. If you are working out a couple days per week, then that's great. If your eating is on point, and you are exercising, you will continue to lose weight. The speed at which you lose is not as important as the fact that you are losing. Comparing yourself to others is counter-productive. It isn't going to help you reach your goals. Be positive. You are doing well.

I had moobs as well, but they are gone now, thank goodness. I read that an increase of estrogen and decrease of testosterone was a cause of that. I stopped drinking out of plastic bottles unless they were BPA free, because I also read that it can resemble estrogen and contribute to moobs. I don't know how credible this is, but as we age and put on weight, we tend to grow them at the same time most of us lose testosterone. It makes sense that these could be related, but I don't know for sure. Anyway, I was lucky that I always worked on my chest. I had a good layer of fat on top, but had the muscle to fall back on once the fat cells shrunk.

Congratulations! You are doing very well! Keep up the hard work!

You are doing great. Don't worry. That weight loss is going to slow down even further in the near future. That is okay though. Three pounds per week or three pounds per month is still progress.

Just look up recipes, and make them your own. You can make virtually anything low carb, low fat, vegetarian, or whatever you want by switching ingredients. I like to use staples over and over in different meals to save time and waste. Taco Salad (Spinach, Tomato, black beans, cheese, cilantro, red onion, avocado slices, seasoned turkey or veggie crumbles) Asparagus Enchilada Burrito (leftover seasoned turkey or veggie crumbles, cheese, roasted asparagus, black beans wrapped in Flatout Multigrain w/ Flax flatbread with Las Palmas enchilada sauce (1/4 cup - can eat 1/2 in a sitting) Roasted poblanos stuffed with leftover seasoned veggie crumbles, spinach, cheese, mushrooms and Las Palmas enchilada sauce ( 1/4 cup) Trident Wild Caught Salmon Patty w/sautéed spinach and quinoa Spinach Salad w/leftover Trident Wild Caught Salmon (spinach, tomato, red onion, cheese, chopped roasted asparagus, Olive Garden light Italian salad dressing) Chicken and Shrimp Skewers (Chicken pieces, shrimp, tri-colored bell peppers, red onion in pieces) fajita style leftover Chicken and shrimp fajita taco on Flatout flatbread with avocado, spinach and fat free refried black beans leftover fajita Chicken Caesar Salad (spinach, shredded parmesan cheese, caesar dressing, chopped red onion, chicken)

Just keep doing what you are doing. The stall will end soon. You lost a ton of weight rather quickly, and it will take a bit for your body to catch up. Most people would love to have that amount of weight loss in three months, much less a month and a half. You are doing great. Keep your head up!

I am officially three months out as of yesterday, 11/7/2017. I feel great. I never thought that I would realize this rate of success so quickly. May of this year, I was sitting at 326 pounds. I was unhappy. I was just existing. I had been overweight for the majority of my life even though I was always active. I was the most in shape fat guy around. I worked out 5-7X per week for years. I tried every diet known to man. I would lose 30-50 pounds, and then gain it back. It was then hard to start up again. I tended to eat well during the week, only to destroy my progress over the weekend. I had surgery on August 7, 2017. It was truly a life-changing experience. Shot out to Dr. Illan in Mexico, and Bariatric Pal for giving me this opportunity to change my life for the better. I am 19 pounds from my goal as of today. I have gone from a 44" pant size to a 36" pant size. The most miraculous thing that I noticed today is that I am no longer 6'2.5" tall. I am 6'3" today. I actually grew a half inch! I found out at a doctor's appointment two years ago that I had shrunk a half inch. I though that it was because of age. Well, look at the pictures below. The left grouping was taken in May at my high weight of 326 pounds. The middle grouping was taken on 8/7 and 8/8 (before and after surgery) at 289 pounds. The right grouping was taken yesterday at 239 pounds. If you compare the middle and last grouping, you can tell that my posture has straightened out. I am actually taller by a half inch. Crazy! Anyway, I didn't do this in SUCCESS STORIES, because I don't feel that I am there just yet. Who knows what the next three months have in store for me! Has anyone else noticed a height change after weight loss?

The message above duplicated. I could edit this one, but couldn't delete. Ignore it please.

I must admit that I don’t wait until hunger hits to eat. In the past, this normally meant just grabbing something that probably wouldn’t be the best or most healthy choice for me at the time. I tend to plan out my days in advance so that I know exactly what I am going to eat each day. I also meal prep so that my meals at work are take care of. Because I meal prep, I have lots of different foods to choose from for each dinner. Leftovers save me in the evenings for sure. 11/8 Meal Schedule… Morning Coffee: 16 oz. Half Caff Coffee w/2 Tbsp Sugar Free Italian Cream creamer (50 cals, 1g protein, 2g fat, 0g fiber, 2g net carbs) Breakfast: Quaker Weight Control Cinnamon Oatmeal - 1 packet (160 cals, 7g protein, 3g fat, 4g fiber, 23g net carbs) AM Snack: 11 oz. Bananas and Cream Premier Protein Shake (160 cals, 30g protein, 3g fat, 2g fiber, 3g net carbs) Lunch: 6 oz. Spinach Salad w/roasted zucchini squash, 2Tbsp parmesan cheese, and 1Tbsp Caesar Dressing (152 cals, 6g protein, 12g fat, 2g fiber, 5 net carbs) Afternoon Snack: 4 oz. Trident Alaskan Salmon Patty wrapped in 2 romaine lettuce leaves (180 cals, 21g protein, 9g fat, 1g fiber, 3g net carbs) Dinner: 6 oz. Veggie Taco Salad (spinach, tomato, black beans, cilantro, red onion, cheddar cheese, seasoned veggie crumbles, Mexican hot sauce) (230 cals, 17g protein, 12g fat, 7g fiber, 10g net carbs) PM Snack: 1 oz. Raw Almonds (160 cals, 6g protein, 14g fat, 3g fiber, 3g net carbs) Totals ( 1,092 cals, 88g protein, 55g fat, 19g fiber, 49g net carbs)

You should be fine with that. I am not a lap-band patient, but us sleevers still deal with the slider issue. I have protein smoothies all the time, and it holds me over pretty well. I would choose the lowest sugar Greek yogurt you can find. As far as fruit, maybe some raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and/or strawberries. I add 1/2 banana to mine along with about a 1/2 cup of frozen spinach. If you add all of these in frozen, they make a great milkshake type protein shake. I have made 32 ounces at one time, and divided it into four 8 oz. servings. I then drank two each day. It really is more filling than regular protein shakes. If you have access to seeds in Scotland, those are great as well. Chia, Hemp and Flax seeds add good fats and protein to your shakes as well. Good luck!

Thank you so much! You will do well. Just keep your eye on the prize, and you will definitely be successful! I think my height growth is definitely from less weight pulling on the spine. My posture is much better. I wish you the best of luck in your journey!

Thank you!

Yes, you can do it! It gets easier with time. Just don't wait until you are hungry to have something. If you stay out in front of it and structure the meals, it will be a lot easier. I was like caffeine free coffee, then protein shake, then broth, then protein shake, then green veggie juice, then protein shake, then broth if I needed it. I was having something every few hours, and drinking water in between. I never felt hunger at all. I was actually tired of drinking (eating). Just keep plugging away. You will be done with all of this liquid craziness in due time.

LOL! Thanks!. Actually, I had four incisions. There is one that you can barely see on the side.

Thanks! I will keep working. You do the same. You will get to where you want to be!

Thank you so much. I have a bit to go, but I am getting there!

I have always had a love of food, which many will say was unhealthy, and I agree...I did go overboard. I just ate too much, pure and simple. I don't think that my food choices were necessarily the culprit though. I loved to make great tasting foods healthier...Still do. I just don't go out to eat that much, and don't snack on crap. My little gift from the surgeon also allows me to eat a lot less. I believe that those three things were the culprit. So, I love to meal prep and make staples on Saturdays and Sundays. I make a lot...Enough for probably 8-12 meals. I end up freezing some of it for another time, so I tend to have a huge selection of healthier TV dinners in my freezer. It is just easier for me that way. I actually made a Vegetarian King Ranch Chicken casserole last week. I pretty much followed the Ro-Tel instructions, but replaced the chicken with half chopped up Quorn chicken strips, and half chopped up mushrooms. I then also added in two pounds of fresh spinach to the recipe along with Light Cream of Mushroom instead of regular Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom . It turned out great. The calories and fat were cut in half, and the fiber and protein were increased at the same time. I only allowed myself four ounces of the stuff per sitting, and that is it. I would normally have six or seven times that. I enjoy food today just as much as I always have. I just make it healthier, eat way less of it, and find a way to fit it into my diet in a way that doesn't destroy my progress. I eat a lower fat, lower calorie diet, focusing on getting a mix of different nutrients. I feel that I need fiber, polyphenols and antioxidants almost as much as I need protein and healthy fats, so I try to eat lots of vegetables, fruit, and ancient grains as well. I don't have room to eat as much of those things as I would like, but I'm working on it.