NneKK

Cottage cheese lover here.
I often like it savoury too. I’ll sprinkle black pepper, cayenne powder, garlic powder, or salt (or any combination of the aforementioned, lol).
Beyond soft food phase, there are endless others savoury things to pair it with, yum!

Hello All,
You may have heard that superpowers are all the rage these days. It seems you cannot turn a corner without running into someone bitten by a spider or someone who possesses tremendous strength when angry even if they turn green. But I have a superpower of my own.
I can resist my archenemy. "Food."
During my 54 years here on Earth, I have not won many battles against "Food." I know many people that can defeat the powers of "Food" easily. They can resist "Food's" charm. They can limit "Food's" evil ways. I have envied them.
However, this year is different for me. I have spent the last seven days locked in a battle with my nemesis and I have emerged victorious. Ring the freaking victory bell!
Perhaps many of you can relate, this battle hasn't been just any "run of the mill" battle. This was the ultimate showdown of good versus evil which occurred during Christmas Week.
Many of you probably already know the methods of my foe. Perhaps "Food" is your nemesis too. Hence, you are familiar with the trouble maker and the reign of terror that "Food" can bring.
"Food" launched a furious attack against me with:
cheese dips Crackers pretzels Gourmet sliced cheeses topped with pepperoni Cheesy pizza loaded with toppings Homemade Christmas Cookies chocolate Fudge - like all mothers make Crispy bacon Cinnamon French Toast Fresh, warm bread But I countered with my new superpower...my VSG. This power was given to me on 12/15/21, just before the epic showdown. I was able to duck, dodge and perry my foe's attacks with some carefully timed Protein and plenty of fluids.
I am not going to say it was easy, because part of me wanted to succumb to temptation. But I adapted and overcame the demon. In the end, I stood tall and victorious.
I hope that you, the people who truly understand this daily struggle, are able to emerge victorious also. The feeling is almost indescribable.
My most sincere wishes of success, health and happiness to you.
The struggle is real.

Hello everyone!!!! It has officially been 1 month since I I went gastric bypass. I am currently down 32lbs. On my surgery date 11/23/2021 I was 276lbs. Today I am 244.6 lbs. This month is been CRAZY. Especially the last week or so. I’ve been extremely week, but speaking with my RN and dietician we determined I’m not getting enough calories and I am in ketosis. I will be speaking with my surgeon today as well just to see if there is anything else that he would add. Besides the lack of energy, I feel pretty good. I had an issue with acid reflux, but a little Prilosec and zofran cleared that right up. I also have been put on monthly B12 injections. Just giving a one month update. 💛💛💛💛

My surgery is tomorrow afternoon. Please send good karma my way. The surgeon said it was going to be more challenging because of previous colon surgeries. I’m super excited and nervous at the same time. I hope to get off some of my meds, get rid of some pulmonary, blood pressure and back problems. I have struggled my whole life with my weight.
I have really gotten a lot of good advise from this site. Thanks to everyone who is on here. At least I’m not alone in this adventure. 😀😀♥️♥️

Weight myself today im down 8 pounds now 8 days out post surgery
Sent from my SM-A426U using BariatricPal mobile app

I had RNY in 2010. I lost nothing for the first 8 days. It was almost comical since I was barely getting anything in. On day 9, I dropped 7 lbs.
I had a revision 2 weeks ago. I lost 5 lbs the first week, nothing for the past 5 days. I have learned not to sweat the scale too much. I’m feeling leaner, and I know as long as I keep it up, it will come off.

Another sweet option is frozen grapes.

My surgeon works out of this hospital and the dietician is the hospital dietician. I’ll call them after Christmas and see if they can recccomend another.

It’s not like I am not trying to eat low fat most of the time. It’s just that I don’t want someone jumping all over the little stuff like when I eat regular cottage cheese when that’s what was available and not helping me with the bigger picture.

I’m 4 weeks post op and am struggling with getting food wet enough to swallow without feeling stuck.

If I start with something that is moist, like tuna with mayo, by the time I have chewed it, all the mayo seems to be gone and I’m left with very dry chewed up tuna that is hard to swallow.

Lately I have been eating food in a bit of cream Soup, like a soft boiled egg in a tbsp of cream soup or broth. Then when I’m ready to swallow, I add a wee bit of the soup to hep it go down. Not sure if this is cheating or not.

If I chew less it doesn’t get as dry but it’s too chunky for me.

Do I need to go back to chewing school? 😂

Hello to everyone, thank you for all the information, I hope everyone is doing well, I had my surgery on 12/09/2021. I am currently on puréed for until, 01/19/2021. I am struggling to get my Protein and Water in, however I am doing well, I do have a hard time using the bathroom room, it’s nearly nonexistent, When I swallowed too fast I get very bad stomach pain. But I am getting my 5000 steps in most of the time. All in all it’s not too bad, no dizzy spell or light headed feeling.
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season.
Stay safe virus is very bad out there.
take care.

Dec 28th surgery for me. Going to Mexico. Excited but so nervous too.

Hello all of my December mates,
This is my first post. I am eight days post-op. Hence, I had my surgery on 12/15/21.
Today, I was able to have soft food for the first time since surgery date. Guess what? I ate an egg! It was a most delicious and glorious scrambled egg. Probably the best one I have ever eaten.
Looking forward to the next one.
Wishing you all the very best luck on your surgeries and subsequent recoveries.

I live with my mom, she is 80 and I moved in after my step dad passed. She did all the cooking and is a country mom, gravy this and fried that. I cut down on sodium last year and she did too for a bit. Its been challenging talking to her about why I eat what I eat now, and the amount. She thi KS I'm starting myself.. I showed her a picture of a funnel and explained it to her.. she does understand more now.. She has been very supportive.

Nannette

I have a spouse who doesn’t want me to have the surgery. I’m having the sleeve tomorrow and today I am 5’7 and 211. I am a severe diabetic and to the point I have to have this even though I’m at a 34 BMI due to the diabetes and health issues with that my insurance is paying 100% of the surgery. But Mr has brought me my favorite things, tried to take me to dinner and get mad when I say no during the liquid phase. The closer to surgery the more insecure he is becoming (married 20 years) I am seeing my therapist more the past week then my entire life. I will choose life and health over his insecurities and sabotaging me. I lost my very healthy thin father to diabetes when I was 17. I want to be here for my kids and grandkids. If you want this, you want life and choose, as someone here told me yesterday, to learn to love yourself then this will work and you will be successful. My sister had bypass 25 years ago and still maintaining her weight loss, her daughter had it 3 years ago maintaining her weight loss. I could go on and on but I won’t. I think the first step is seeing a therapist to find out why you are killing yourself with food. Because that is what is happening. It’s a tool, it’s up to you to succeed. And I am fighting against all odds with my Hubby but I will choose life and make this successful if that means leaving my 20 year marriage. If he loves me he will support me and help me - period

Can you get some assistance from a food pantry? If you google some in the area there may be options. That could help you both, especially if they have canned tuna, chicken, etc on offer.

No judgement here. We are all doing the best that we can with the resources we have available.

Another good low-cost high Protein option is fat-free refried Beans. A can at Target is 85 cents and you can get 4 or 5 servings out of it if you're only a few weeks post-op. I heat up about 3.5 oz in the microwave, then mix in about half ounce of shredded cheese and pour on a little taco sauce and it's delicious. I had that for dinner several days a week for the first couple of weeks post-op.

An option for a low cost, high Protein low fat meal during your rough patch can be canned tuna, chicken or salmon. I put the tuna and chicken with a teaspoon of mayo and 2 teaspoons of greek yogurt with some onions, celery etc. It is really satisfying as a meal, very high protein, and only about 150 calories.

I had surgery on 11/10/20, but started my weight loss efforts on 7/5/20. If you’ve been here a while I’m sure you’ve seen me lurking about the forums.
Stats: SW 339. CW: 165. I am a 5’10 woman in her 40s. I work full time and have young children. My current BMI is 23, I started off with it closer to 50.

I knew it was going to take me a while to hit goal- I had 174 lbs to lose. I did all the calculators pre-op that said I would be lucky to get under 200 lbs, but I decided that just wasn’t going to apply to me (haha). My plan was to focus on fruits, vegetables, and healthy Proteins while ramping up exercise. I eliminated Cookies, pastries, and candy but that’s about it. I don’t do low carb, because that isn’t how I’m planning on living the rest of my life. I focus on calorie reduction, which sounds like oh if that’s so easy why did you need surgery? Well cutting calories is possible if you aren’t hungry all the time no matter how much you eat, and if you can fill up on the healthy things without it being like flash paper into a volcano. I honestly did need the surgery, and I’m not going to pretend it did the work for me, but it gave me the help for the work I wanted to be able to do.

Six days a week I do a split between running and rowing for a half hour. I’m going to run in a 5k this spring, which has been a dream of mine for years. I exercise on my lunch break every day.

Yes, I have some loose skin. It’s nowhere as bad as people make it out to be. I am not exactly planning on running around in a bikini so it’s not like it limits my life at all. It’s not visible in my clothes, not even tight fitting ones. I might get it removed some day, but if I don’t I’ll still be happy.

This weight loss has been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for me. Life is difficult when you are morbidly obese. It’s difficult physically, emotionally, and socially. This weight loss hasn’t fixed every problem in my life, but I didn’t expect for it to. It fixed my weight related problems, and I had a lot of them.

This surgery can be life changing, but it’s not a magic bullet. You still have to make huge life changes. But if you feel sabotaged you your own constant hunger, cravings, and binges, this can really be the tool you use to dig yourself out of the seemingly insurmountable weight you need to lose.

This isn’t a finish line for me. I am still working on hopefully losing another 15 lbs, and I’m never going back to my old eating habits. I know I signed up for a lifelong change, otherwise I’ll be right back where I started. But finally hitting goal was a nice early Christmas present to myself. Sorry for the essay, but I don’t really have anyone in real life to share with who gets it!

eh woke up this morning thinking i would SEE and taste below 180lbs, my scale just gave weird readings, started by slowing 5lbs instead of zero, and then just weighed me at everything from 179.4 to 184.6 LOL FML
i looked and looked for new batteries but i dont think thats what the issue is. Ill report back tomorrow weight wise if i can find new batteries. I brought cupcakes and these ppl canceled my order so i think the weight loss god are looking out for me.
I had around 1050 calories today, tracked on my fitness pal. im not running this evening, i dont fancy it and thats that.
Ill go for a nice long run in the morning if its not raining in england, by long i mean hopefully more than 4miles, no more than 6, in my mind really 4.3ishhhhh
I am also going to run some errands with my friend tomorrow, we might do lunch, and i look forward to it.

Hi!
Not sure if this will help you or not....my program doesn't cut out food groups, and encourages getting to 1200 calories as soon as you can. I have been at 1200 calories since week 5 or so...and I eat carbs. I made this one change years ago with pizza. Before surgery we would get pizza maybe twice a month, and it was always overdone. Large greasy pizzas, with fries and dips etc etc and of course I would get sick from the overindulgence every.single.time lol.
I take a whole wheat pita, add some Tomato sauce, pepperoni from the deli, and low fat cheese. Cook at 400 in the oven for about 15 min and it's amazing! Crispy but also gooey. Depending on what actual products you use....comes out to about 320 calories, 15g of fat, 36g of carbs, 19g of Protein. Before surgery, I used to eat 3...now it is just one for dinner. And of course, you can out whatever toppings you want. It's also great for kids too because they can make the kind of pizza they want....without the price tag and all the added full fat and oil and doughy crust.
I think there are many ways to get around certain kinds of food by making modifications to your favourites! The internet has non stop recipes that can help with alternatives regardless of the kind of program you are on.

Good morning!
i went out last night, date was ok but i am not interested anymore.
I had two cocktails as planned and squid, weighted in at 181 flat,
i think i had one Protein Bar, one Protein Shake, yogurt, a few slices of chicken, lots of coffee then the above, no run, ill go tonight.
Happy with how I am progressing, and the self control im able to show. would like to buy cupcakes, would LOVE Cheesecake LOL
will be back tonight

There are many brands of Protein Shakes and powders and each of them offer many flavors. Just do a google search to see what is out there. The prices varies from reasonable to ridiculously expensive, so shop around. Many can be found at Walmart or ordered online from the manufacturers or Amazon.
My clinic recommends these brands (but I've tried many others):
Premier Protein
Ensure Max
Equate High Performance
Atkins Plus
Musle Milke Genuine, Muscle Milk Light
Boost Max
Fair Life Core Power
There are even high Protein Soup powders from ProtiDiet and Bariatric Advantage, and others.
The variety is vast. Some you will like, some you won't. If you don't like something today, try it again in a week.
You can also make your own high protein shakes. There are lots of recipes online, using unflavored whey Protein Powder mixed with milk or Water, like GENEPRO I prefer plant-based unflavored powder, Like Orgain or Pure Protein. You can add protein powder to just about any liquid, even your coffee or tea or bullion.

For me, it was important to keep tracking everything even through the frustrating stalls: weighing myself regularly, tracking all my food and Water, etc. It is easy to get discouraged when you don't see the scale move for a while (or, move slower than you want) but the key is continuing what you are doing, with potentially some tweaks depending on what your practice advises. In my case, tracking helped me ensure I was pushing toward the calorie level my practice wanted to see (at least 1000 cals/day, which was hard for me for a while) and helped ensure the choices I was making to add calories continued to be smart (prioritizing protein).
It was also helpful to take measurements and pictures to see progress. In fact, I was just in a really slow period of weight loss for 6-8 weeks (after awesome weight loss the initial few months), and seeing new pics compared against the old ones from right around surgery was so, so helpful at giving me positive reinforcement. I also have been looking for other non-scale victories to carry me through, so realizing that clothes are fitting looser, or that I just have more energy than I did before.
On the happy side, my slow weight loss has ramped up again after slogging through that slower period. I am exercising a bit more but also have been diligent about hitting that 1000 cals/day threshold - I'm convinced that has been the key for me, at least until my body decided to go slow again! So, talk to your nutritionist, see what they say, and also just stay hopeful (I'm not a naturally positive person so this part is really a challenge for me!) Slow is better than zero and zero loss is better than gains.
Good luck and hang in there!

losing the last 5-10-20 lbs or so is always a BEAR. It took me FOREVER. But we're not the only people it happens to. I distinctly remember sitting at Weight Watchers meetings years ago (way before surgery) rolling my eyes at these normal weight or slightly overweight women bitching and screaming about how hard it was to lose 10 lbs. Now I totally get it!!!

Here is something that has helped me a lot...
I watched an interview with a Navy SEAL trainer, where he talked about people dropping out of SEAL training. Roughly 75% of the people who start the training drop out. He said the people who fail have a "long horizon." They are miserable in this training -- wet, exhausted, hungry, angry -- and the people who fail say to themselves, "I can't handle two more weeks of this." They think that every moment will be like the one they are currently experiencing and they quit. The ones who succeed and graduate have a very short horizon. "I can make it until dinner break." "I can make it until they let me take a 20 minute nap." "I can make it through sundown." And when they reach that horizon, they set a new short horizon.

Just tell yourself, "I can make it until I leave work for the day." Then, "I can make it until dinner time." Then, "I can make it until bedtime." Keep giving yourself short horizons until you've gotten through this stage. You can do it!