ChellNC

What's in that picture is my favorite. I don't like it with fruit but love it with cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic and everything but the bagel seasonings. Sometimes I add Ranch mix instead. Once I tried Good Culture brand I was ruined for all other cottage cheese brands.

A low fat mayo that you can tolerate. It may take trying a few before you find what you like. Another option is to use yogurt to replace all or some of the mayo. Good luck on your recovery.

Love following this thread. Can't wait until I have something to add.

Very true! At night he's eating real food but while we're at work he's joining me. It has really helped mentally.

Coworkers keep joking that I'll be such a cheap date now.

Tonight's dinner was a slice of ham filled with cheese with some salsa. I'm using small plates. Just realized it looks like a huge portion but wasn't.
Made the hubby a grilled ham and cheese. First time I've cooked for him since before the pre-op diet. I'm very thankful how supportive he has been. He hasn't been eating in front of me. It's nice to eat together again.

Coworkers keep joking that I'll be such a cheap date now.

Last night I tried to do a before and after but forgot the after. Here's the before. I was able to eat it all but it was a very small portion of the ricotta bake.

Franklin here 👋🏼

Western NC here. 👋🏼

Hendersonville here

Many times when you call the reps don't really know answers to those types of questions. They know their piece and not much more. There are so many moving parts to health insurance now that it's easy to only know a little.

For my BCBS policy, the doctors had to document the 6 month weight loss efforts. Good luck & hope you get approved quickly!

Thanks Matt. I didn't use the term since most people who don't working in healthcare or insurance don't know the term. Heck, some people who do work in these don't know what it means. UHC is making some changes to their policy effective 11/1 but their website isn't yet showing what those changes are. The link in the provider newsletter didn't work either. I'm hoping that for 2019 policies they remove the exclusion clauses so more UHC patients are covered for bariatric surgery.

Try the A2 milk. It is supposed to be easier on your stomach. I've not tried any of the commercial ones but we get some local and haven't had issues with it.

Try the A2 milk. It is supposed to be easier on your stomach. I've not tried any of the commercial ones but we get some local and haven't had issues with it.

Wednesday night was the night to start back on my RA meds so I could keep the same schedule. I wasn't able to start them because of how terrible I was feeling. Now I feel like I'm getting a cold. Ugh! I do NOT need to get sick right now. I've been trying to work back up to 50 hours a week but I've not had a week of more than 42 hours yet.

@ellie123 congrats on the great dr visit! Yesterday was 6 weeks for me and I've finally hit 20 lost since sx.

Wednesday night I ended up in the ER. I got backed and food got stuck. I was in so much pain I was shaking uncontrollably by the time we got there. Thankfully everything started moving after being there for a bit. They still had me do a CT scan. But I had one of the worst experiences with a doctor that night. He was a TOTAL jerk! He said I shouldn't have gone to the ER. After the 3rd time saying that I told him I called my surgeon first and they told me if I felt like something was stuck that I needed to go to the ER. My husband who rarely loses his temper almost lost it on this guy. When my info is available online & I can see his name I'm filing a complaint with the hospital. He was THAT bad. Even the nurses were complaining about him.

Omg! What an insensitive jerk!!!! Makes my blood boil!!!! I was in that much pain and readmitted for 3 days too! Omg, we’ve lost almost same amount of weight and everything. I really feelfor you going through that and dealing with his judgmental self!!! Probably had a God complex, and yet would have himself been in the ER if he had a fraction of your pain!!! How are you doing and feeling now? Did they do CT with contrast? Are you on any restrictions? Do you know what food caused this. Good to know so you can avoid for a while. Feel better dear!

PPS: Today, I'm not feeling too good at ALL. It's the time of the month where the sun don't shine! I'm buckled over in horrid cramps and I don't feel like working out or walking or ANYTHING. I want pain meds and to crawl into my recliner and sip Verbine tea and comfort myself. I suspect I'm all swollen from it, which will explain why the Edamame peas came back out. Do any of you experience extra pouch tightness during your period? My energy is super low too...I'm zeroed out! And I have not come anywhere close to my daily Water requirements. Ugh...bracing for 7 days of this mess...

6 Week Post Op Doctor visit Results
All,
I went to visit my doc yesterday. Here are my Stats
Prep Op 271
Op day 257 (lost 14lb on my own)
6 weeks out: 238 (33lb lost overall and 19lb since surgery)

Here are some high level notes from what I remember:
- He was super happy with my results, especially as a revision (10lb in the last month since I last saw him)
- I told him I went Vegan, he said GREAT!!! And that that was the healthiest thing I could do (I was expecting him to scold me for not doing an Egg for Breakfast, but he loved that I was doing a Green Smoothie instead, and said that I will be able to avoid many deficiencies this way. He said he wished more of his patients will follow this plan but the thought of it would be too off putting for most.
- I asked if I needed to see a nutritionist and he said no...you're doing all the right things (woa?)
- I asked him if there was a Macro Nutrient limit he wanted me to work with: Calories, Protein, Carb, Fat etc? His answer was NO! Keep doing what you are doing, and live life. Don't worry about tracking each macronutrient or even what you eat, listen to your body, continue eating healthy and don't stress about the numbers. In his words "you're not on a diet, this is just your new eating plan" So essentially he absorbed me of food tracking (so...I ditched my app for now anyways). If I stall for long or have issues, I may track again, but gosh, I've got so much time back in my day from not tracking. To his point too, it's no way to live. I'm about to head out to England for work (in 2 weeks), I would not easily be able to calculate stuff there, I'll have to eyeball and learn to manage it. which brings me to my next point.
- I've been cleared to travel, so I'm super SUPER nervous, what if I'm sick trans-atlantic, what if I take ill there and they don't know what to do with me...what if I get sick our naucious in front of clients (today I over did Edamame Pods, and out they came)... To mitigate my fears, I got a Portable scale on Amazon, and I will travel with it so I can stay honest.
- He stressed that a daily dose of 50g B1 was vital (My Bari multi has only 20, so I need to supplement that).
- He cleared me for all forms of workouts so yesterday I hit the weights, and I finally did some serious Stomach crunches. Felt good to exercise those muscles nicely!
- He patted me on the back and assured me I was doing awesome.

And that's about it. Not at ALL how I expected my visit to go! I expected to be scolded on Vegan choice, schooled to do more animal flesh protein, a visit with Nutritionist, him ordering a bunch of tests to check my levels of stuff etc etc. Nothing like that...go figure...

Anywho, hopefully this was helpful to you. I love to read about other peoples accounts of their doctors visits.

I hear you! But you know...Veggies have Fiber which decrement from the Carb count and reduce it by that amount. Plus they keep you REGULAR I've been super regular after I started my AMAZING Green smoothie for the AM.
Not sure if I posted Recipie but it's like this:
1 Cup Organic Baby Kale and Spinich Mix
1 Cup Organic Unsweet Soy milk
A dash of my Coconut Probiotic Water
1 Scoop genpro 30g Protein mix
Fresh Papaya
Frozen Blueberry OR Mango OR strawberry (I mix and match to taste) OR this AM I had Frozen Pear, banana, Lemon, Spearmint mix
And my entire One a Day chewable Bari Vitamin with 45mg Iron (I totally don't taste it in there! So its the first time since surgery I'm able to take the whole thing!)
Ice to taste
I wind up getting about 18oz of it when it's all said and done
So I blend it all up and VIOLA! Health and vitality in a delicious nutritious drink! Getting ALL my vities for the day, it keeps me FULL and it's just brimming with goodness, gut health, and nutrition and my body is like "aaaaahhhhhhh", I actually can't wait for it and crave it! That's fiber and everything good good good for me. Yes I want to loose weight, but more so I want to gain health! So since starting, my stall broke too! 238lb today, when I was teetering on 245 (oh and by the ways, I've broke my stall by going totally Vegan too I did that after watching the "What the Health" documentary and getting an epiphany....(more on that in a the other thread I started), but anywho, I feel great and I have had a burst of energy, and I'm walking almost 5 miles a day and doing light weights and feeling the vitality that has eluded me for so long. And the carbs, yes I have actually upped the carbs, I have a few healthy crackers, with a flavourful hummus or cashews and I think that stoked the furnace in my favor too

Will do - I promise!!👸😪💦

Well I finally broke through my stall and as of my weigh in today I’ve officially lost 40 lbs ‼️🎉 8.8.18 was my life changing date and it’s 8 weeks out today!!!!! Woohoo!!!!

So just got off my first shift back from surgery. 9 hours and 45 minutes on my feet. Made a billion pizzas, didn’t have any issue with it. And I cleaned the whole store.