Creekimp13

Our bodies have hundreds of thousands of years of evolutionary defense mechanisms to cope with famines and bad hunting seasons. Too much weight loss, too fast, and these mechanisms kick in, our metabolisms slow...and we just have to grin and bear it. Eventually the stalls break. It's incredibly frustrating when you're dieting, and incredibly useful when you're trying to survive famine. A possible concern I have about keto diets (I have many, actually, which is why I don't do keto) is that a keto diet can destroy the diversity of your gut microbiota. A higher ratio of Prevotella-to-Bacteroides bacteria is associated with better weight loss outcomes....and a diet high in animal protein reverses the ratio and decreases diversity. Some ideas for you... Each day, include a sampling of as many foods as possible, particularly those high in fiber (which helps propogate Prevotella) I'll take a quarter cup scoop and put all sorts of weird little thing in there....a bit of pepper, onion, corn, pickle, an olive, a raisin, half a strawberry, a grape, a tiny cube of potato, cheeses, whole wheat biscuit, a teenie piece of brocolli, a few chopped pecan pieces....you're not looking for volume, you're looking for diversity. Teenie bits of everything wholesome in the kitchen. Try adding a probiotic drink or yogurt instead of your protein bar. Add exercise. But most of all.....just be patient....you're not gonna change evolution. You will eventually lose more weight:)

Why shouldn't you be hungry? You're, very literally, starting to starve. I went on a rant about this idea of "head hunger". If you've eaten a nice meal of chicken breast and veggies...but you desperately still WANT a cheeseburger and fries...that's "head hunger." Needing more fuel...and having physiological signs that you need more fuel...is actual real hunger. And YES lots and lots of bariatric patients suffer it when their calorie demands are high (healing) and their intake is dangerously low (first few weeks after surgery). Many people suffer nausea...that eliminates hunger. So, they beleive that no one else feels hunger. But lots of us don't suffer any nausea, and for us hunger can be overwhelming until our diets open up to more realistic amounts of calories. I could have eaten my own leg off a week after surgery...I was THAT hungry. You're not alone:) When more foods opened up to me and my caloric intake got to be about 1000 calories a day, I felt wonderful...no more hunger. Hang in there...it gets better.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolynkylstra/mason-jar-salads?utm_term=.iu9MzP7pQO#.fjMqE6XOap Bariatric patients look at these and think....would be nice, but WAY too much bulk there to eat.. And it's true...it's a lot of food for a bariatric patient. But if you're eating six small meals a day, it can be nice to have leftovers handy for the next little meal:) Also...you can make these geared a little more to the bariatric diet. Consider the following layers: Hummus Turkey bacon Tuna salad Tofu Shrimp Chicken breast Black beans Chick peas Lowfat hard cheeses Cottage cheese Fetta cheese Olives Banana peppers Avacado chunks Sweet potato chunks Hard boiled eggs Yogurt Pickles Reduced fat reduced sodium salami (great in greek salad!) Protein Pasta (made of chick peas, lentils, and whole wheat) Think of all of your favorites. Include some fruits. A few raspberries, peach slices, fresh apple chunks, pineapple, blueberries Some nice finely diced veggies like peppers, cukes, tomatoes, mushrooms, brocolli bits, onion, fresh herbs Make homemade dressings with low sugar and fat Oh! and if the idea of carrying glass jars around scares you....consider stopping at Gordon's food service and picking up tall plastic deli containers. You can get 50 containers and lids for under ten bucks. The more variety you're including in your diet....the more diverse your gut microbiota will be. Diverse gut bugs are correlated with better weight loss during diet attempts. Switch it up. Get lots of fiber in addition to meeting your protein goals. Get you some wonderful phytonutrients:) And enjoy flavor!

Looking good, Beautiful:)

My hiatal hernia repair did not cause any chest pain. I had weird deferred shoulder pain, though. Are you, by any chance, taking medication for acid reflux? If not, it might be worth checking into. Acid post-sleeve can be very nasty for some folks. If you are suffering any symptoms of heart attack, please go to an ER immediately.

Hummus is easy to make. Just chick peas, garlic, olive oil, lemon and sesame paste... zap it in the food processor...takes just a few minutes and fresh is so good! (maybe a little cumin or paprika)

Bag of baby carrots, pumpernickel bread wedges, whole grain wasa crackers:) Also, if you haven't, try hummus on a sandwich/pita/wrap.....hot. It's delicious and common in other parts of the world. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/06/hummus-sandwiches-lunch-solved_n_5927718.html

That is so wonderful, SeaHawksfan. So glad for you!

So glad you're on the mend AshAsh

Yes. Call your doctor's emergency line and let him know what is going on. Start writing down your temperature and heart rate hourly. Could be anything from something simple...food sensitivity, too rapid whole fluid introduction... to a cold or flu... to a leak or abscess. Keep your doctor in the loop and get his/her advice.

I will be extra careful, Shedo. I think if my bestie and I hang onto each other and don't get run over, we'll probably do ok. Mostly, I imagine we'll laugh like nutters and dangle off the edges of things. But I will watch my butt for sure. I actually have been skating in the past decade when my daughter was a young teen...she used to drag me to the rink. I am NOT good. I'm not confident on skates and never will be. But I can teeter around in a slow circle fairly safely:) My bestie and I were really good at it when we were kids. She used to be able to do a backflip on skates...crazy woman. (have known this woman 40 years! met the first day of first grade)

I follow the Mayo Clinic Diet which allows up to 75 calories per day of refined sweets. I only rarely eat them. But it's nice to know they're workable in a pinch. I keep my total calories under 1200 a day and hit my protein goal...so my diet is solid. I need a forever diet. I'm tired of fad diets, or diets I can force myself to stick to for a few months. I need something that's workable for a lifetime. And I feel like i've found it:) By the way, Shedo...congrats on your amazing weight loss! Great work!

I think maybe she's a little senile. LOL. I know she meant to make me happy.. *sigh* So, this is what I did. I took two little bites. They were delicious. I enjoyed them. And then I passed the plate to my hubby and said..."Mom, that was absolutely delicious. I can't eat a whole piece anymore, remember? But the two bites I had were amazing. Thank you! You make the best pie ever." She was happy. I was happy. And my hubby got to eat pie. (dork went back and had another piece, too!) I can honestly say I don't feel cheated. I don't feel like I missed anything. I feel like I got to enjoy a treat I love....without blowing my diet or going crazy. I didn't get irritated or ornery. I didn't get unhappy or get the guilts for making my mom (who has memory issues) feel like she'd done something terrible. I made a compromise I feel really good about. Feeling kinda proud of myself. Could I possibly be getting the hang of this moderation thing?

LMFAO! lololololol.....more true than you realize. When we got home, we.... Ahem. LOL:)

Hubby and I went to the Y today. They had an "adult swim" for two hours this afternoon....free of screaming rugrats:) Lotta old people and heavy people..and people recovering from injuries....floating around the 90 degree gorgeously huge, deep heated therapy pool. We caught the last part of a water aerobics class and swam for a couple hours. Was wonderful:) Day passes were like...ten bucks. (and they had some kinda promotion that you can bring a guest....so hubby got in free!) Definately worth checking out what your local YMCA offers. Even if you don't want to join....a day pass is an awesome way to give it a try! And a nice warm swim is a fun way to beat the winter blahs. Next week my bestie wants to go roller skating. LOL..... God help me.

Walking is where it's at. It's my favorite. Easy to do anywhere, and easy to incorporate into my day. I walk a lot. Have never felt as good as I do since it's become a habit. Grab your Fitbit and get moving:)

Neither myself, nor you, nor anyone on this board is required to divulge personal information about themselves....unless they choose to:)

Jelly, you are confusing "qualifying for insurance money" with "meeting surgical qualifications" ie: the benefits outweigh the risks. There is a huge difference in those two concepts. Lots of people who monetarily qualify for liver transplants are turned down...because they cannot comply with pre-op requirements. Being insured for a procedure is not the same as qualifying for one. I'm insured for a triple heart bypass. But I won't be getting one anytime soon because (since I don't have coronary heart disease) the benefits would not outweigh the risks. Medicine is not fast food. You don't just order what you want. Even if you have the money in place, you MUST qualify and comply with instructions or the surgeon can simply say no. And yes, that is his/her judgement call to make. If you would like to make that judgement call on your own...might I suggest the following: Take four years of challenging undergrad at the best university you can get into. Write the MCAT and hope you haven't just wasted four years of your life. Hope your scores are good enough to get accepted to a decent grad school. Incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt. Lose years of your life to incessant and intense studying. Get into a decent residency program. Earn a surgical specialty and become board certified. Do continuing education for the rest of your career. There ya go. Now it's up to you!

So sorry, Kakatlady. It's very hard to watch loved ones make these kinds of decisions.

With my group....when we left the hospital, we were given a wristband we were told to wear for at least a month with a phone number on it for emergency services. (in case we were in an accident or something, the ER could be alerted that we had special needs being new WLS patients and be able to contact our surgeon) We were advised we could call that number 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays. And that we should always call them first and make any emergency services aware of their number. It is a tremendous sense of security to have that number. As it happens, I've never had to use it....but just knowing someone from my group will answer the phone and get me help if I need it...has really helped take the anxiety out of recovery. Does everyone get a number like this? What are you told to do about questions, emergencies? Just curious what everyone else's experience was. Also...if you're shopping for a bariatric surgeon....asking about a number like this and what kind of support they provide after surgery is a terrific idea.

Tylenol is generally safe, but the right response here...is to speak to your doctor. If they gave you a number to call, use it.

Georgie....how far are you out from your surgery? Do you have a date yet?

Many people will die without liver transplants. But there are conditions for getting a transplant. You have to remain alcohol free for a set period of time to qualify for a liver transplant to save your life. If you screw up and have drink...you don't get a transplant. And you die. And that's on you. YOU have responsibility in the process. Many people do elect to die. Just like weight loss surgery. You can elect to comply, or you can elect to die. It's up to you. To qualify, you have to be accountable and prove that you're serious about changing the behavior that contributed to the damage. Without behavior changes, weight loss surgery is not only a waste of resources, it also can cause more harm. Particularly, if a patient cannot get hold of their eating habits enough to keep themselves safe. Yes, you have to lose weight before surgery and prove you can break your addiction JUST EXACTLY like liver transplant patients must give up alcohol. Liver transplant patients get their blood alcohol tested....weight loss patients get weighed. If you screw it up, the next step is therapy, not surgery. If the fact that "you're going to die" without surgery is not enough to inspire you to comply with a few months of pre-surgical requirements....you will very likely get a referral to a psychologist to help you work on these issues first. Not being unkind, just telling you the truth.

Only thing to do is see the doc. Sorry for the bad luck with your plate already so full!

how come, Matty? Glad you're still set for March:)