FluffyChix

Congrats Sammy! What an amazing transformation and in only 4 months??? That's outstanding! I know you must feel like a million!!

Gosh I don't have anything to add but hugs. Stay the course! Don't lose focus of the goal and just keep swimmin' as Dory says. Wish I had some magic answers!!

You can also season the tilapia and throw it in a non-stick foil pouch with some lemon. Seal it, then into the 350 deg oven for about 15-20 minutes. Very tender, makes it's own juice, and no need for added fat unless you want. (I do this with any white fleshed fish--works beautifully!)

I've used 3 since before surgery. I still love and use the same ones after. My tastes never changed. I think cuz I was already very keto adapted and most are not until after surgery. 1. Premier Protein (RTD) Drinks - 11fl oz = 30g protein (Choco, Vanilla, Bananas & Cream) 2. Isopure Powder - 1scoop = 25g protein (Unflavored, Choco, Vanilla, Bananas & Cream) 3. Synthrax Nectar Lemon Iced Tea Powder - 1scoop = 25g protein (Iced Tea)--the Fuzzy Navel is also delish but I'm out of it now. Also the grapefruit is excellent!

Ugh don't you get cranky when the scale doesn't deliver?? ((hugs)) It SUCKS! Well so I'm now back down to 195.4lbs. So not quite back to where I was, but enough reassurance that I'm not on a road to regain to let me calm the hell down, breathe, and keep adding back the calories and carbs. LOL! I was still a pound up, but really felt like I had full bowels. So I took 4oz of mag cit yesterday and low and behold...I gave birth to a bouncing 1 lb pile-o-poop. Sorry TMI, but I FEEL so much better in my gut. I can almost tell now, when it's building. So I think it was a combination of the 2: fluid and poo fairy needing to make a call. This week was start of Week 9 and I only lost 0.6lbs. (UUUUGGGHHH! I really have to stop the "only" sh*t! ) That happened exactly 3 weeks ago, then had 2 really great weeks following 2 sucky weeks. Are you seeing any pattern to your weekly losses? I made this nifty chart in Excel that self populates as I add data: The avocado "toast" was really delicious! You have to love GG Bran Crisp Breads or Wasa Crackers though. I'm a weird one that loves both of them! I'm hoping to start nuking my colon with fiber to keep motility up and will be able to decrease my use of Miralax and Colace. I hate taking those meds. This morning I will try to take a pic. I'm having peanut butter cheese "toast" with Granny Smith apple. I'm shooting for around 20-30g net carbs, and am gonna allow as much as 50g total as long as there is MUCHO fiber included! Also, pretty interesting, but my tummy is self-limiting me now and cals are fairly naturally falling around 675-750 cals per day. I've no doubt I could add back some fat and get to 800-850 easily. But why? If I'm happy and satisfied...why do I need more than 700-750? Answers please? (I think I'm getting plenty of fat to allow assimilation of vitamins from food and supplements...theoretically.) The reason I think to keep fat low is that if I'm in ketosis which I am, the body burns fat for fuel and in the presence of dietary fat, it switches to consume dietary fat for fuel first before re-accessing fat stores. So hmmm. Just more deep thoughts by Jack Handy.

That is awesome! Congrats! There will never be a time when we don't have demand for mechanics. Great job security and doing something you feel interest in!!!

Welcome to the boards. I'm sorry you've struggled, but glad you're here now! We all have our own stories of how we got here and many are filled with rollercoasters and self-esteem issues. Hope you get your approval and then you are able to see that getting the weight off will really help your back pain. My arthritis guy (I also have DDD and other stuff) said that even a 15-20% reduction in weight will help tremendously with pain. I'm going tomorrow for injections into my SI and right hip bursa via fluoroscope. I've no idea what I'm getting myself into with it or how hard it will be--I just hope it takes the pain back a few points on the pain scale!

Ok, what's the glaze please? Looks so delish! Little jealous of the corn. I do miss that and elotes...mmmmmmm. DERP! BTW, it looks phe-NOMMMMMMMMMMMM-enal!!!!

I'd honestly ask to go to an endocrinologist or diabetologist at this point since you have such special circumstances with the surgery. Also, keep in mind that sometimes T1 can masquerade as T2. In reality it's really a special subset of T1-adult onset. Has to do with phenotypes I believe. So I would ask if there is any way they could make certain it's T2 and not another variation of it. I've had 2 friends who they found out were actually late onset T1s and not the T2s the docs had initially thought. How much sugar in the protein bar? How many sugar alcohols. There is some proof that many diabetics do not do well with SAs. That they metabolize >50% of the carbs in them as sugar. So you may be sabotaging your bgs with the Special K chips and also the bars/shakes? I know Mr. F. has a terrible spike with Atkins protein bars and doesn't tolerate protein drinks either. I know that's just anecdotal but just wanted to throw that out to you. If it were me, I'd also look up the book Normal Blood Sugars by Dr. Richard K. Bernstein, MD. He's a remarkable dude that pioneered the use of the home glucometer and eating to your meter. His A1c is lower than mine. He's over 70 and has zero diabetic neuropathy. He is a T1 and only take 5 units of slow acting insulin a day if I remember correctly. He's a diabetologist.

BTW, great news from your doc! Love that she will let you WAS. Also, oat fiber is very good. It is a soluble fiber and in the studies it was SOLUBLE fiber (specifically oats) that were tested in bringing down cholesterol. But please know, the BEST thing you will do for crazy high tris is to stay low carb and then also adjust the fats so they are low. Also read the Jimmy Moore book on Cholesterol Clarity. It's truly an easy read and well substantiated with the latest science on it. Swearsies.

WTG! Hey! Look at you! Way to sweat it out dude!!!! Looking handsome! And sweaty.

Welcome back. Congrats on your weight loss success. And sorry bout the diabetes and sleep apnea. Would you post a few typical days of what you're eating along with quantities? Maybe it's a simple fix like lowering your carbs and cutting out bread/sugars? i know that when Mr. F. eats anything with bread or sugar his snoring will be crazy bad. When he controls it and doesn't eat stuff like that, his blood sugars are beautiful and his apnea is non-existent. He wakes refreshed. And yes, I'd read that it can come back in about 2 years. I'm sorry this has happened...

Wow! What a tough ride you've had! But you will weather this storm and get through it. You've done it once as you've said. ((hugs)). Just remember how it was the first time...that 6-12months from now you will be looking back at this time and wondering if it really was as hard as it seemed at the time. You will be at goal, physically feeling great, and will have so much more energy than you even have now! Congrats on the fantastic results so far down from your highest!!! Welcome back! Post a lot!

It's just me and Mr. F. but I had my sissies and their hubs the first few days after surgery. We cooked together. I felt wonderful and it was normal feeling. After surgery was WAY easier than the 2weeks prior during the liquid pre-op phase. I just sat with them at dinner and had my protein drink and hot decaff and was perfectly happy. Just try to organize your strategy now, before hand, and you will see it's much, much easier. And no reason not to get those kiddos organized into a dishwashing chain gang. I was washing dishes by the time I was 5 (well drying and helping put away the low stuff). From a fam of 5 kids. I was making all the salads for dinner by 5 too. So cooking started early at my grandmother, mother, and sissy's elbows.

Dang! Sucks big green ones! You got this though. You're doing so well--just stay the course. Keep working the plan and carry on! (I feel your pain, though... *sniff* ((hugs and hang in there))

If you're storing poo in your sleeve, girl, you have a WAY bigger problem than any of us schmoes here on the board can help you solve! LOL. You can store a remarkable amount of poo in your colon and material in your bowels. And I know for me, my trains have slowed considerably on the track. My schedule is off. I make sure I'm getting in 120oz of water a day (for me that is necessary). I also am working now to start adding fiber to my diet in a serious way. Hopefully that will knock everything back into schedule and get things moving! Sorry about the slow weight loss but congrats on the 3 stones. I'd go back to journaling and tracking your food to make sure you're eating what you think you are. 3lbs of gain is something to get on top of now rather than later. Oh and welcome to the boards! Stick around here. Read a lot and post often!

Yay!!! Congrats on your dedication and hard work! I know that is exciting!!!

What Am I Eating Today - New Goals 700-850 cal/74g protein/30g carb goal working toward 800-1000cals/day - End of Week 8 So I thought I'd jump on and share that the RD did indeed go a little ape-**** on me for only eating 550cals and 65g prot. She said the protein wasn't the issue but at that low calorie level I wasn't possibly meeting my nutritional needs and vitamins are not food. *le sigh*. I agreed to up my calories while trying to keep the same basic food volume. And truthfully, that's not hard to do--an ounce of avocado here, a teaspoon of olive oil or butter there, an ounce of GS apple or a slice of regular cheese and blammo! Presto chango! 700-850 calories. Boom baby! It's a tiny tweak, not an order of magnitude change. But it does require re-doing many daily meals that are so easy to just plug into MFP and then saving them as new meals. Meh--it can happen. But what's harder to prepare for is the jump on the scale which I know theoretically will be temporary. But this morning, seeing 197.2lbs on the scale after only 2 days of eating until full (finally) and I'm up almost 2 lbs. I hope the scale doesn't continue to move upward. I have added more carbs, fats, and cals--GS apples, some berries, GG Bran Crispbreads, LC Flour Tortillas, legumes, real cheese, nuts, bacon!--but clearly, not all at one time. The RD kindly suggested I back off from the obsession and not track my food. But, that's just crazy talk. LOL. I will adjust to the nutritional goals that she wants though and will tuff it out for a week or two even if there is a rise on the scale. I guess, better to know now than later. Right? So effective immediately I'm aiming for between 700-850 cals/day this week. (Oh, she said to just do it all at once, not try to step it up 50cals/2 weeks like I'd planned--that it would take too long to reach the target level.) This morning I have a meeting so needed an easy breakfast. I used the 1/2 of a side of my Egg McMuffinless with bacon that was leftover and added my take on avocado toast--the ever-popular staple of millennials the free-world over, and grape tomatoes (my staple "fruit"). Now in my defense, I actually like the chew factor and fiber of eating cardboard--so my GG Bran Crispbread works very nicely as my toast substitute. However, it's a very sucky sub for my famous Asiago Parmesan Pagnotta Bread made into toast that I make every Christmas for our carb monkey family. It's absolutely crazy good made into avocado toast. I will admit now, that I'm less snappy/irritated in the past couple of days and feel like I have more energy. Shocker! 1/4 Egg McMuffinless with Bacon + Avocado Toast and Grape Tomato serves 1 1/4 recipe of Egg Bacon McMuffinless 1 slice (8g) GG Bran Crispbread 1oz avocado 1 wedge lime freshly ground black pepper 1/2oz grape tomatoes Nutrition: 113 calories; 5g protein; 7g fat; 9g carbs; 6g fiber; 3g net carbs; 0g sugar

I hope so. Good luck at the doc's! Please come and report what he/she said? ((hugs))

@nevermore71 Have you guys talked to your doc about the low resting heart rate? 40bpm sounds awful and like you should mention it?

I'd also make sure your thyroid is healthy.

Yay!! Congrats and welcome! The journal sounds like it's doing a great job so far. Yay you! I def. food journal everyday.

Thanks ladies for your support and kind comments!! @clsumrallOh my yes. I drink about 120oz of liquids per day (with at least 80 of that from water). But you are right. The RD said yesterday because I'm so low in BMI that I will be losing slower. She also said I'm not eating enough. Surprise. Right? LOL. So I'm upping food today to 700 cals and working up to about 850-1000cal per day range. @birdynz Welcome back! Yeah love the flubberdubber! I shall use it forevs! It's def FD cuz I don't have any upper fat at all since the BC surgeries and recons. It's all super tight and flat and small foob mounds.Not even back fat on the upper torso. I wore boyfriend jeans to yesterday's support group and they said, "You need to buy new clothes that fit you." LOL. So I may go try stuff on at Old Navy and Kohl's this week. At least I'll know what size fits over mah bum!

Welcome! Jump right in, the water's fine! Please do it. The only regret I have is that I wasted so much time fat--missing life. Limiting my future. Do it now!

Ha! I really want to know how many used their thumb to measure or get a visual? Bahahahaha!