FluffyChix

@StateofNV I'm so sorry you have unsupportive family. ((hugs)) That really sucks. But I'm very sad you have to tell a lie that has such gravity attached to it, especially following your own bout with cancer. My experience with cancer is that there would not be a waiting period of 3-6 months even at stage II. You would immediately be taken into treatment and maybe chemo? I haven't looked at the chemo situation with Barretts. If your father also has Barrett's, then most likely he will ask his GI doc about it at the next opportunity. I think your lie will be found out and my worry is that you will lose respect and veracity from your family. IMHO, you shouldn't base your future on a lie.

Congrats to you!!! So excited for you.

So, um, yeah. Resident buzz kill here...as someone who has had a near-terminal (stage 3C out of 4) cancer. I had less than a 50% chance of living 5 years. It's devastating news to anyone who knows, cares or loves you. It would not go over as funny. You would have lots of anger to deal with and trust issues to deal with from here on out. For 5 years my family have worried I would recur in stage 4 and die.

Good luck! It will be done before you know it!!!

@MowryRocksWow! Super great point!!

@PaulaUSN MOM=milk of magnesia. I think 1 tsp has something like 425mg of easily absorbed magnesium? (And helps keep your bowels movin' without acting like a laxative.)

@James Marusek Can't wait to hear how you do with them! Will you please report?

@PaulaUSN Dr. Westman (low carb doctor at Duke Univ) recommends plenty of water, a cup of bouillon (I use Better Than Bouillon--so good!) and a teaspoon of MOM (for the magnesium) for the keto flu/headaches. You should google him! But you are on the downhill slide of it now!! Congrats! @Luisajfc The sleeplessness is a well-documented side effect of going super low in calories and carbs. You get pumped full of "feel good hormones" and almost a euphoria with tons of energy. It's temporary and is also kinda part of the keto flu. I drink lots of water, then take my calcium, vit d, and MOM before bed. It helps me relax!! Y'all are rockin' it!!

Tuesday Menu-Well I had another near miss with falling off the diet train yesterday. I credit the power of a full belly via lunch, and also credit mindfulness with keeping me sane and eating healthy-on plan food. Instead of having a mini binge or rather a hedonistic meal, I was able to feed myself a very filling and healthy lunch which allowed me to really get in touch with my feelings so I could process them. And that allowed me to make and eat a very delish, simple, and healthy dinner rather than shoving carby, salty, fatty food down my piehole. This morning I woke up in a much better frame of mind and feel like I "won the day." B-yogurt/cottage cheese blueberries almonds and Fiber One cereal bowl with 1oz Fairlife skim milk, 2 pieces bacon MS-carrots and hummus L-Fried Egg and Swiss low carb wrap AS-psylli tea, peanut butter and GS apple D-blackened tilapia, green beans in garlic and olive oil, Greek salad with Nicoise olives and feta BS-pomegranate seeds, Lily's SF dark chocolate chips, toasted almonds Daily Totals: 1493cals; 98g protein; 80g fat; 93g carbs; 39g fiber; 54g net carbs (Dayum! I have GOT to get my protein down and my fat up! This is entirely too much protein for me.)

Take a zantac or Pepcid Complete. Or take omeprazole. Sorry for the heartburn hon!!! Keep on your game. You'll get approved. ((hugs))

Do you have a history of milk allergies, RA, or other auto immune disease? If it were me, I'd try other vegan protein powders, unsweetened and add your own sweetener. Try to get them as pure and unflavored as possible and see. I suspect you are actually going through keto flu--where your body switches over from burning carbs to burning fat for fuel. It makes your muscles and joints ache just like the flu. It can take 1-3 weeks of pain. But the good news is that you will be doing now, pre-surg rather than after the surgery! Call you doc and tell her about the pain. See if she can prescribe something for you?

OMG! Well, so much for being patient patients!!! UGH! Trying to be respectful of other peoples' time in this world just no longer works. We MUST be the squeaky PIA wheels to be heard and to not have things fall through the cracks!!! GRRRR. So sorry hon. But glad you're able to move forward with your liquid diet. Saying prayers it all goes well.

@Luisajfc Yep. Again. I specifically asked them at the start of this process and when my insurance changed to the new underwriter, if it had changed to 6 months (180days). They checked and said it was discretionary 3-6 months, but the doc office said that we were doing 90 days (3months). Devastated. Have you heard anything from your doctor?

Morning sweet ladies. I had some distressing news yesterday. The doc office made a mistake and it looks like I'm going to have to have 6 months of my structured weight loss plan rather than the initial 90days. I'm fairly sad about this. It means it would be mid February at the earliest before I would have my surgery...maybe even March? I'm so upset because I'm sitting right at 40BMI. I don't trust my co-morbidities to allow me to progress down below the 40BMI marker. So it's like I will be seesawing back and forth at this weight for another 3 months--which makes no sense to me!!! If I could maintain, and lose naturally, I wouldn't be seeking WLS! I had seen my 2 other docs (oncologist and PCP) for 3 months preceding starting with my bariatric surgeon/RD--so we are going to see if there is any help that they will give, such as writing a letter stating that they saw me for weight related issues and diet planning. But who knows if that will count towards my other 90 days? It's doubtful, but we're trying. So it doesn't look like I will be your Nov. bud after all. I will still be your biggest fan though!!! Congrats to all who are on the other side and are doing so great recovering!!! Hugs to all who are working hard for their big day!!! ((hugs))

I started this journey to WLS in May of this year. I've mostly been low carb since 2000, with periods of utter recidivism. Prior to starting in May, I was on the straight Whataburger Chicken Strips Dinner with Cream Gravy diet. (Um, not recommended...just sayin') I was a total mess and had basically checked out and was in WTD status (WTD=waiting to die). I developed a staff infection in my foot and amazingly it saved my life. I realized I still had fight left in me. I didn't actually want to die yet. But I also knew I could no longer live in this body with its present incarnation. I was in raging pain all the dayum time 24/7, slept very little, hardly moved out of my recliner, and was very isolated. Poor Mr. Fluffy was at his wits end! So when I started this pre-surgery weight loss game, I was deadly serious that things would change. I was going to be very strict and focused. I WAS going to start feeling better, lose weight, or die trying. So yes, I have changed dramatically. I am pretending I'm post WLS with the exception of the quantities. Because I was losing too much weight, my surgeon made me up my calories to 1500cals/day, so I end up eating a crap ton of healthy food to make that number every day. Much more than I would normally eat--6 times a day! But every meal is planned, tracked and logged prior to putting it in my mouth. My food is very KISS right now. NO sugar of any kind. No diet or soft drinks. No caffeine. 3 square low carb meals + 3 snacks eaten on a schedule. No drinking with meals or for 45 minutes after a meal. Eating protein first at every meal. I'm in it to win it now and am fully vested. I've come down from my 287lb weight (regained up from 218lbs over the last 5 years) to 233.4lbs this morning (up 2lbs from WurstFest this weekend). I want to try to adopt as many behaviors as I can now. I want to be prepared and done with carb withdrawals, sugar withdrawals, and caffeine withdrawals now--pre-surgery. Cuz getting over surgery is going to be hard enough without going through the keto flu that you have when you first enter ketosis. If I could recommend only one thing for you--it would be to start from here forward with doing Atkins. It's like a gateway, easy to follow roadmap into a ketogenic or even a low carb lifestyle. Will there be slips along the way? Of course! Nobody's perfect! Will you cheat? Maybe. But doing it now will make things soooo much easier. Slips will have lesser consequences now. But the low carb can help you gain control over your food issues. ((hugs)) and sorry you are struggling right now!!!

Hahaha! Sorry love. I was calling myself opinionated--not you! You crack me up, continually! Stand your ground with the damn oreos!

Wow!!! Congrats dude!!!

@shedo82773 Girl! This so resonates with me and Mr. Fluffy!!!! Honestly, the man will eat until there is no more left. I have had to start making both of our plates and weighing and measuring everything!! We were eating partners. Maybe even "feeding partners." Food was our thing!!! Finding cheap little dives with huge portions of yummy-heart horrible food was our date!!! Ugh! Even now, it is so beguiling and calls my name! As a child, my dad lost his business. For a long time, we played the $20 game. Where Dad and I used to divide $20 into how much stuff we could get at the grocery store. We fed a family of 4 on $20/week and I raised rabbits which we ate. We also fished, crabbed, and shrimped for food and went gigging for frogs on the bayou. We'd bird and deer hunt. Then later, we were actually homeless and had to move in with a family friend for a while. So food was very important to me. :-/ Bleh! Haven't thought about that for a long time!!!!

bahahahahaha! Opinionated much?

Skanks. That's all that can be said. And guess what? THEY are probably big time BillBadass carriers of HPV and chlamydia...just saying... Ring Ring Hello tonsils? It's me, HPV mediated throat cancer--say "Ahhhhh!" I'm comin' in for a landing! And news flash...if you boys are gettin involved or going downtown with a skank who is cheatin from the marriage or relationship bed, shame on you! You're all DUMB ASSES! It won't matter if you wrap that rascal or put a helmet on him. Cuz all it takes is one downtown trip to get gross qooties. Quit thinkin with the wrong head! Shazam!!! If she's cheatin on him, she'll give you gonorrhea and HPV and cheat on your ass too, the second you can't sustain her, which you will never be able to sustain her--cuz she's a hoe! Hoes will ALWAYS be skanky sex addict hoes. And btw, if she is dressing like she's lookin for it, chances are "it" already found her (HPV and chlamydia). Start looking for a healthy girl with old-fashioned values. Put skin in the game (love, respect, relationship-building, time) before taking her to bed. Maybe even look beyond the face and the junk in the trunk. Then ask for the medical test lab report before walking down the isle with her.

Amen, my brothah! Faithfulness has its rewards!!! It's so scary out there, I don't know how ANYone would have sex. I'd buy a subscription to a porn channel and wear the batt'rehs the hell out of the vibrator. I'd also insist on a written doc's lab reports and a monogamy contract before jumpin in the sack with any of the hoes (male or female hoes) out in the woods. Seriously--SERIOUSLY scary world. I think the HPV and chlamydia scare me worse than the big G or S even. They're seen as harmless but they cause seriously rotten insidious lifelong infections you WILL pass on to everyone you meet--maybe even your newly born babies!!!!

Yes. Yes. I'm in the Dudes Room! But I just HAVE to ask!?! Aren't any of you dudes (and women) petrified of catching an STD--maybe even an antibiotic resistant STD? But for sure, aren't you worried about chlamydia or even HPV? I can't think of anything more disappointing and sad to finally get your new life after the surgery, only to contract a fatal or unchangeable STD and ruin your future and your life. Multi-partners? OMFG! Why not just go get a revolver and load a bullet in it, then sit there an play Russion roulette with your life? Why waste your time getting healthy when you are going to behave in such a risky behavior? I'm so incensed by y'alls logic I want to shout this at you!!! And yes! I am judging you all! BTW? HPV in men is NOTORIOUSLY difficult to get rid of! Especially if it's in your mouth on your tongue or tonsils. You will very likely end up with throat or tongue cancer down the road. Congrats! Go fu*k multiple women. Most of the "girls nowdays" ALL have HPV (and chlamydia). Just tellin you guys. You are playin in NASTY surroundings. If it were me, I'd find myself a virgin and marry her while she is still 12 (but you may have already missed her--since babies are having unprotected sex these days). Or else, I'd continue to date Rosie Palm. Cuz at least you know she won't kill you now or later. The End. Rant over. Now proceeding to run of the room and deep tongue kiss Mr. Fluffy for not being a "playah." He might even get lucky for his faithfulness--steak and blowjob--the dinner of champions.

Oh my gosh girlfriend! I had to do this out of self-preservation! When I regained back to 287lbs and was on the straight Whataburger Chicken Strip Cream Gravy dinner diet that was putting on copious amounts of lbs each month, I just finally had to have a come-to-Jesus-meeting with myself! I could literally barely stand 10minutes at the counter! And then would have to flop back into my recliner and elevate my left lymphedema arm that weighs as much as an elephant penis (60lbs) . And elevate my feet. I had to set up an organized prepped kitchen. I love to cook but have so little energy for prep. I also have a tough time cooking for 2 people only. So I decided to start cooking things in "small batches." So if I cook 1lb of ground meat, I serve our portions for our meal, then freeze on a plate or cookie sheet/bag/tag and have it for next time. It makes it so much easier to take 1oz or 2 or 3 at a time. And the pre-chopped frozen stuff works great! It was the only way I could get back to eating healthy, break up with Whataburger *sob* and start losing the weight. Now I can stand as long as I need to cook, but am still really trying to limit the amount of time I spend hanging out with mah food.

Ok. First ((hugs)). Second. Let's have a reality lesson and do some math. If you are watching my 600lb Life, turn it the fuc* off! Seriously. Very few of us will lose 25-50lbs a month--even if you weigh over 300lbs. We just won't! There is no quick, overnight way (short of amputation), to get below 200lbs overnight. So settle back and establish your very own "best practices." Third. 37lbs in 9 weeks is what you are describing to me. So let's take 37lbs and divide by 9. You are losing 4.11lbs/week. PLUS there is always a "3 week stall" post surgery that can come on any time between week 2 and week 6-8. It can last 1-2 weeks. My RD told me I will lose between 2-3lbs per week at the start. It will slow as I approach goal. She said, expecting anything more than that sets us up for disappointment, disillusionment, and dissatisfaction/depression. She told me to ALWAYS follow the rules for my food stage: water/hydration/vitamins as scheduled for each day; and low fat protein first at every meal. If there is room, a bite or two of low carb veggies. If more room, then a bite or two of low carb fruit. Eat 3 meals and 2-3 scheduled snacks a day until you can eat enough at each meal to only eat 3 meals without over-stuffing your new anatomy. No drinking with meals or for 45 minutes after meals. Fourth. Track every bite lick and taste that goes down your piehole. Religiously weigh and measure and track!!! Don't cheat yourself. A bite eaten in the dark, standing up over your sink in the middle of the night STILL counts! She promised me if I did that, I would lose the weight. But if you have any doubts, go see your PCP about a low thyroid and also have them test for your B1 levels. Many of us obese and WLS patients have low B1 and it makes all the difference!!!

I have bags of frozen chopped veg in the freezer. They are so good for things like omelets, egg cups, soups, stews, single serving casseroles. I also keep grilled chopped chicken, grilled chopped pork chops (center cut), flank steak chopped, ground beef/turkey with onion and garlic cooked and in the freezer. I also keep Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage crumbles in the freezer. I also have 2c bags of broth in the freezer. So I can pull things out frozen, throw em in a pot or saute pan and go! It save such crazy amounts of time and gets you more nutritious food than buying pre-made or take-out stuff. I keep in the freezer (buy them when they are having sales): chopped frozen spinach, collard greens, turnip greens chopped frozen onion, red/green bell pepper, fresh parsley, cilantro (doesn't freeze very well) sliced yellow squash, cauliflower, green beans, broccoli florets, sliced okra, green peas, corn (I will use 1-2tbsp of grn peas or corn at times for an accent in low carb dishes) frozen blueberries, strawberries, cherries, blackberries, cranberries