FluffyChix

Thank you! I might have to go with brownie or choco chip for grins. Maybe the apple pie. I don't have a huge sweet tooth, but it would be awesome if Mr. Fluffy liked these to have 1 or 2 small cookies for dessert!

Which flavors do you like best? I think I might get a couple to experiment with!

From your mouth to God's ears! Following!

Congrats on being on the other side!!! Good on you with your walking and getting to go home tomorrow! Can't wait until you return to group and keep us regaled with your progress! ((gentle hugs))

I talked to my RD about that today. She said, respect that feeling and don't force it. And if I'm not getting my protein, then to really supplement with the protein drinks.

I'm 231lbs and getting RNY.

MGB? I came in looking for beer!

@Luisajfc Run don't walk to your nearest health food store. Buy Nature's Way Sambucus with 5000iu of Elderberry Extract. It should only contain glycerin and elderberry extract (not fructose, glucose, etc). Buy it. Take it as directed for a virus--think it's 4x a day 1tsp in an ounce or two of liquid. It might help kick your cold in its butt!!! ((hugs)) Hope you feel better quickly!!! As for Auntie Flo. Just ick. Sooooo glad to be done with that part of my life!!! ((hugs))

Put vanilla or chocolate Premier Protein in your coffee. That should give you enough of a supplement to hit your goals. I'm told to hit 74g of daily protein with a 60g minimum (both pre and post surgery). I use 2floz to 10-12oz of decaf and it tastes like the best iced coffee evs. Also, haven't looked at the nutritional profile but I've heard a lot of people get Quest protein bars, cut them into 6 or 8 pieces and then bake them like chocolate chip cookies. That way you can have 2 or 3 and get some protein in without eating the entire bar? Just a thought. ((hugs))

Morning all! Off to the arthritis doc and the RD this morning. The PT intake went fine yesterday--she just said I had a LOT of strength building to do. Um, yeah. @FL*Girl How are YOU doing? ((hugs)) @1badassbiggurl Hope you're feeling better today and that you got some rest! @vanwest83 Why not drop your doc a note with a question? Or call? I think it's pretty common for our liver enzymes to go up while we're losing or while we're on the strict phase of the diet? This losing is hard on the liver. Hang in there...the liquid part is helping prepare you for things after surgery. If you go through carb withdrawal now, it won't be as bad post surgery. Have a good one all!

We want before and after piccys! Cuz we're gratuitous that way! bahahahaha! But I will tell you what my mom used to say: You gotta "kiss" a lot of toads to find your prince. And no, "kiss" is not a euphemism for sex. It's more, that you have to date a lot of fellows to find the right one. Go for it!

Let's Talk About Poop, Baby! Let's Talk About You and Me! (Please sing this aloud in your office to George Michael's, Let's Talk About Sex, Baby!) bahahahaha! Ok, so I can't remember where I read this, but I read something about our gut biome changing very quickly in response to changes in our diet. So I wanted to open this for a round table here with you brainiacs. It proposed that eating a healthy diet can make us start craving healthy foods, rather than our old CRAP diets, the SAD--which make us crave...you guessed! More crap! I was eating lunch today: big ass chopped salad with freshly smoked turkey and avocado tomatillo salsa and was reveling in how much I jones for this salad these days--how much I actually enjoy eating a crap ton of veggies, more fruit than I'm used to, and adequate servings of low fat protein. I actually feel like I crave them! But it wasn't so long ago that I was jonesing for Lay's or Whataburger Chicken Fingers and Cream Gravy! So I went looking and found these articles about the gut biome and our diet. Do Gut Microbes Control Your Food Cravings? (just love Chris Kresser) How Gut Bacteria Tell Their Hosts What To Eat Gut Biome Changes Rapidly With Diet Hazda Diet and Gut Biome Here's an embedded cool YouTube clip Anyone want to talk about some serious poop? Have you experienced a shift in your patterns of food cravings now that you've cleaned up your diet? Ok, go! (hopefully, come on...go! you know you wanna!)

Yay! TY sweetie!

All of them have that temperature thing or it will clump. It denatures the protein above 140degrees. But I got used to "tepid" just to get it down. I had to experiment to find ones I could use pre-op so I don't have any surprises.

Stay the course. ((hugs)) I struggle with loss while on all protein drinks. I build up fluid cuz they can be insulinogenic. I don't think I will really start losing until I'm able to get my insulin back down again while eating real food. That may take 3-5 weeks after surgery.

((hugs)) And God is great! Does your surgeon know of your history and struggles? I would think it's very very important to keep all things "in the light" and exposed to God's survey. Cuz, you know, if you even keep a few little secrets, He really can't get in there and really do the work you're inviting Him to do...also, is your therapist aware of what your plan is for WLS? I'm not trying to dissuade you. I'm just making sure that your team has FULL disclosure so they have an active plan in place. Also, your psych has to be on board and get your medicine plan together WITH your surgeon, prior to surgery or it could be all kinds of difficult afterwards. You do need to be aware that there is some association that hasn't been fully explored between WLS and suicide. Saying huge prayers for you that the path is indeed cleared and under God's direction/timing. ((hugs))

You should also try Unjury or Isopure unflavored. I would guess the problem is in the artificial sweeteners or flavoring agents. So, if it were me, I'd do unsweetened, unflavored then flavor it myself with things I know I can handle. I love Isopure Unflavored in homemade chicken and beef broth. My freezer is stocked up and waiting!

Oh wow! Great to know that a tomato works for the "wet" part! Super excited about this. Thanks! Does an avocado work for the wet also?

Do you find any difficulty dealing with the chicken on its own and being "dry-er" in consistency, rather than in a stewed, moist preparation?

@kandieqvt1Isn't perspective funny? That looks like a ginormous amount of food!!! But I bet in reality, that is 1 campari tomato and 1 small buffalo mozzarella ball with about 1 1/2 ounce of chicken and a few pickled mushrooms (the tiny ones)? Not so much in reality. But looks yummy!

Wowza!!! You look completely different and so healthy!!! Congrats to you Gerri!!!!

Holy moly Russ! Huge congrats!!!! So glad to hear of your continued success and happiness/health!!

bahahahahaha! This is hilarious! Ain't that the truth, cuz?!! Ain't that the truth!

I didn't find out my survival % until I was 5 years survivor status. Until then, the onc firmly refused to discuss it and told me that I wasn't gonna die. So at that point of the decision tree--I thought I was looking at a normal life span, but still scared to death I was gonna die during surgery or treatment.

Google Ray Peat (he's an anti omega3 supp guy), who is hooked up to a lot of the newer studies on omegas. I don't think I agree with him whole-heartedly. I do believe we need some external Omega 3s, but what amount? Here's an article by Chris Kresser (no time to really delve into it right now). https://chriskresser.com/should-you-really-be-taking-fish-oil/ https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjXxOb-uJ3XAhVFj1QKHW6nCEAQFggoMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fraypeat.com%2Farticles%2Farticles%2Ffishoil.shtml&usg=AOvVaw13JEEnQNYstqipSM1KjVb- A very good article from Mary Enig (the late grate)--who was one of the foremost authorities on fat metabolism and wrote a great book called Know Your Fats. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjXxOb-uJ3XAhVFj1QKHW6nCEAQFgg-MAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.westonaprice.org%2Fhealth-topics%2Fknow-your-fats%2Fa-reply-to-ray-peat-on-essential-fatty-acid-deficiency%2F&usg=AOvVaw1BmcTODR0-Fd9ezmY0Z_gS