Phobia42

I am also 4 months post op as of the 7th. Although my weight loss has slowed dramatically, I am still losing pounds here and there. I am also still losing inches. I will lose a pound a week for 2-3 weeks, then have a 3 or 4 pound loss the next week. I don't even worry about it. I just keep on doing the damn thing. I do have a cheat meal every week or so. I log everything, and hold myself accountable though. My cheat meals are normally modified to make them healthier as well. I will have a slice or two of veggie pizza on cauliflower crust, a chicken fajita taco salad with no shell or dressing, or a half turkey cheeseburger "protein style" with as much veggies as I can get.
I am only 14 pounds from my goal, and I'm not letting junk keep me from reaching it in the next 2 months.
Don't worry about stalls. They are going to happen. You don't need resets either. Just go back to what you were doing in the first place. No junk food snacking, and logging and weighing everything. If you stopped being active, well get moving. Everyone should be active anyway. That heart needs exercise.

I'm in the middle of my pureed stage, and I found two amazing recipes that have made this my favorite stage so far. First, if you like spicy:
Buffalo chicken Dip
Ingredients
2 (10 ounce) cans chicken breasts
1/2 packages (4 ounce) fat free cream cheese, softened-
1/4 cup frank's redhot original cayenne pepper sauce
1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/8 (2 Tbsp) cup fat free ranch dressing
1/8 (2 Tbsp) cup fat-free Greek yogurt OR Fat Free Sour Cream
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place cream cheese in a medium bowl and stir until smooth. Mix in Frank's RedHot, mozzarella cheese, ranch dressing, and yogurt. Stir in chicken until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture evenly into a deep 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until mixture is heated through. Stir well and enjoy!
To make this dish FAST, skip the oven altogether. Prepare dip according to the directions, but in a microwave-safe dish. Then microwave uncovered on high for 5 minutes (stopping and stirring halfway through cooking), or until hot.

Each 1/4 cup serving has 9 Protein, 3 carbs, 2 fat, and it tastes amazing (I normally don't believe people when they say "it's healthy, but it's just as good as....." but this really is).

Also, if you're a Pasta fanatic like me, I take about 1/3 - 1/2 pound of 99% fat free turkey and brown it in a skillet. Put in a blender with maybe a cup of Marinara sauce. You can also mix in some non-fat ricotta cheese if you like. Heat in the skillet (it's basically a meat spaghetti sauce without the pasta). I heat it up and put Parmesan cheese on top when I eat it. Hope this helps!

I'm in the middle of my pureed stage, and I found two amazing recipes that have made this my favorite stage so far. Figured I'd share them with everyone. First, if you like spicy:
Buffalo chicken Dip
Ingredients
2 (10 ounce) cans chicken breasts
1/2 packages (4 ounce) fat free cream cheese, softened-
1/4 cup frank's redhot original cayenne pepper sauce
1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/8 (2 Tbsp) cup fat free ranch dressing
1/8 (2 Tbsp) cup fat-free Greek yogurt OR Fat Free Sour Cream
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place cream cheese in a medium bowl and stir until smooth. Mix in Frank's RedHot, mozzarella cheese, ranch dressing, and yogurt. Stir in chicken until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture evenly into a deep 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until mixture is heated through. Stir well and enjoy!
To make this dish FAST, skip the oven altogether. Prepare dip according to the directions, but in a microwave-safe dish. Then microwave uncovered on high for 5 minutes (stopping and stirring halfway through cooking), or until hot.
Each 1/4 cup serving has 9 Protein, 3 carbs, 2 fat, and it tastes amazing (I normally don't believe people when they say "it's healthy, but it's just as good as....." but this really is). When I get to solid foods, I plan to continue making this and have it as a dip with carrots, celery, etc.
Also, if you're a Pasta fanatic like me, I take about 1/3 - 1/2 pound of 99% fat free ground turkey and brown it in a skillet. Put in a blender with maybe a cup of marinara sauce. You can also mix in some non-fat ricotta cheese if you like. Heat in the skillet (it's basically a meat spaghetti sauce without the pasta). I also season to taste with garlic salt, rosemary, and thyme for extra flavor. I heat it up and put Parmesan cheese on top when I eat it. If you're also cooking for a family, I imagine this would go great with pasta for them, without for us. Hope this helps!

I'm going to be starting the pureed stage on Monday, and I came across a great-sounding (supposedly famous) recipe for a Ricotta bake:


- 8 oz of ricotta
- 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg
- a bit of garlic powder and Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup mozzarella
Mix ricotta, parm, egg and seasonings, put in an oven dish, pour marinara on top, and top with the mozzarella. Bake at 450 for 20-25 minutes,

My question is has anyone tried adding finely ground beef to this to increase the Protein content? I was thinking I could even blend it with the marinara sauce. If you have, how much did you add?

I'm going to be starting the pureed stage on Monday, and I came across a great-sounding (supposedly famous) recipe for a Ricotta bake:


- 8 oz of ricotta
- 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg
- a bit of garlic powder and Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup mozzarella
Mix ricotta, parm, egg and seasonings, put in an oven dish, pour marinara on top, and top with the mozzarella. Bake at 450 for 20-25 minutes,

My question is has anyone tried adding finely ground beef to this to increase the Protein content? I was thinking I could even blend it with the marinara sauce. If you have, how much did you add?

I was getting about 1000 calories a day at the time. I tried to decrease that to 800-900 range for about a week but that didn't work so I upped my calories to 1100, then 1200 and then 1300 over the course of a couple days and the stall broke. I now average about 1100-1300 calories a day at the insistence of my NUT and about 100 gram of carbs a day.

Upping calories, for me, has broken my stalls effectively. I had a long (5 weeks) stall between 5-6 months and I thought it was never going to end. I tried lowering my calories and that didn't work so I went the other way, upped them a little and bam, lost 10 pounds in about 3 days which is big for me as I'm a slow loser. I genuinely lost about 1-2 pounds a week. I've actually been in a stall the last month. I lost 10 pounds in a day due to a stomach bug, slowly regained 7 pounds over about a week and then have lost those 7 pounds again over about 3 weeks and have been stalled since then, it happens.

For big jobs like smoothies, I personally like my VitaMix. They are pretty expensive (around $400 - $500), but they are meant to last 10+ years. I find about once or twice a year, costco has a display booth set up for them and offers about $100 off the normal price, that's how I got mine. I haven't looked at Bed, Bath & Beyond yet, but if they carry them, the 20% coupon would probably help quite a bit, please basically lifetime return if you hold onto the receipt. I've made blended drinks with ice in them before, and it turns it down into slush. Also made sorbet out of completely frozen strawberries and it works great. Only takes about 30 seconds to clean them as well (run them on high with a little hot, soapy Water per the instructions).

I also bought a $20 Farberware personal blender (the kind where the blade screws onto the cup directly). It has been great for making Protein Shakes. I also use it for pureeing softer foods (like I turned Cream of Mushroom Soup into liquid so there were no mushroom pieces to be found while I was in the pre-pureed phase).

That's good advice. I'm not just looking at the scale, because I know how misleading that can be. I bought a bio-electrical impedance machine to track my actual fat % and am also taking measurements. I've already noticed that 50% of my weight loss since I started has been from muscle loss, but again, I know it's early and I'm still healing, so I'm not worrying about that. But once I'm allowed to start weight training, and am on to a basically regular diet, I'll want most of my lost weight to come from fat, otherwise I'll fiddle around with things like my calories.

Almost everyone has a 3 week stall. Your body is just resting there is no reason to try and break it.
However, yes upping your calories can shock your body and get it back to losing. When I upped my calories at month 4 I think, I had my biggest loss.

Ok, thanks for clarifying where you are coming from. That helps me formulate an answer for you!
I also was (am?) all about pizza/pasta. At 3 months postop I had my first slice of pizza. The slices were very small, but one quickly turned into 2. Apparently pizza is going to be a problem for me.
My thinking at this point is to limit its consumption. To tell myself I'll *never* have pizza again is unrealistic, so it's a matter of thinking.. how much/little can I consume that item without messing up my physical or mental program. 4 times a year seems like a reasonable amount (first day of each season).. it would be a heck of a lot better than 4 times a week!
Pasta is easier. Bean noodles have a ton of Protein and Fiber and low carbs. Put a little pile into an 8oz bowl with the tomato-based sauce, and I'm golden. Totally on plan. Can have weekly if I want. (I prefer chili though..using actual Beans instead of the noodles).
As you can see, it's about substitutions and limitations. We HAVE to change our behavior around food, or the surgery won't have lasting benefits.
As for gym time, you only need to lift weights once or twice a week to maintain muscle mass. Building muscle takes ... I dunno.. lifting 2-4 times a week I suppose.
The 6 week healing period is going to take away a significant portion of your preop muscles. It's amazing how quickly muscle mass can be built AND lost. So even if you don't want to be a gym rat, you should plan on lifting weights twice a week once you are medically cleared and have the energy.
"Lifting weights" can be as simple as doing pushups or yoga or the like. I prefer gym machines since I don't have to be creative.. just move from machine to machine.