New Mia

Wow! You are an inspiration! Congratulations! You did a lot right to get to this point in 6 months.
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I don't know how to copy the comment relevant to my response yet - so this is about feeling sluggish without your vegetables. Me too!!! I added Amazing Grass - it is supposed to have the nutrition of 7 servings of vegetables and only has 30 calories. Mix it in Water with Crystal Light lemonade and pour in liquid B12 - shake up and drink away. Has worked like a charm the last few weeks.
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Netrition is a lifesaver. You can sort for low carb and/or bariatric approved foods.
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@@jktefft yes! try them out! and if you dont like one flavor, try some others. and if you heat the cookie dough one in the oven for a few mins, it tastes like a fresh baked cookie!!

@@enjoythetime thanks!! i cant take all the credit. i dont know if you have instagram, but i follow questnutrition and they have TONS of recipes on their account. plus, if you order stuff straight from their website, they send you little recipe packets.

so, other than sf popsicles, fudgesicles, and sf pudding, i havent really had anything sweet for awhile, even pre-op. i try not to have these every night, or even a few times a week, because they do trigger my sweet tooth. well, it was my T.O.M. (sorry men), and i was CRAVING something sweet and chocolaty, and i knew these wouldn't hit the spot, so i made up a recipe that was AMAZING, plus it had 10 g of Protein. again, this isn't something i will eat every night or even every week, because it triggered my sweet tooth, but i had a very low carb day and just went with it:
1/2 Quest bar brownie
2 T of nonfat cool whip
drizzle of SF caramel
I cut the quest bar in half and stuck it in the toaster oven at 375* for about 3-4 mins, until it was warm and soft. Took it out and topped it with about 2 T of cool whip and just a drizzle of sf caramel Syrup (by smuckers).
I cant even tell you how amazing this was. I knew i was satisfied with what i ate, but my inner fat kid wanted me to make 3 more! If you have a hard time controlling your sweet tooth, this might not be the dessert for you, but if you REALLY want a treat, i def recommend this!
approx nutrition: 125 CALS, 21 CARBS (11 NET CARBS), 3 FAT, 10 PROTEIN.

Quest.com they have good ones

Just an aside: would it work for you to cook a crock pot meal on the weekend that you could eat during the week instead of processed frozen dinners? You might be able to control the carbs that way. I've found it enormously helpful, easy, fast, delicious. Plus the meat gets very tender and easy to chew. And my home smells wonderful, too
~hiddn

I don't know how to copy the comment relevant to my response yet - so this is about feeling sluggish without your vegetables. Me too!!! I added Amazing Grass - it is supposed to have the nutrition of 7 servings of vegetables and only has 30 calories. Mix it in Water with Crystal Light lemonade and pour in liquid B12 - shake up and drink away. Has worked like a charm the last few weeks.
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New Mia,That was my comment. I will check out your suggestion. Thanks!
And if your phone app is like mine, you just click on the little bent arrow at the bottom right hand corner by the "like" icon of the post you want to reply to and then follow the prompt to write a reply and send. Easy peasy.

If you like chips, Pasta, pizza. Those are all things you can eat after surgery and you can eat them easily, easier than dense Protein. So if you aren't really invested, and you don't have the will power, liking those things will make it easy for you to fail.
Also, even if you aren't eating an entire large pizza yourself, or polishing off a whole bag of chips, it is unlikely you are measuring and weighing all your portions now and eating proper serving sizes. Basically everyone is over eating. Almost no one eats the actual serving size portion. Like a proper serving of meat is 3-4 ounces but people are regularly downing 8-16 ounce steaks.
For me personally, I have low carbed off and on for about 15 years. I like the low carb lifestyle. However, I had issues with Portion Control. I would eat a 12 ounce steak, and stuff like that. I wasn't getting the results I should have from a low carb lifestyle because my portions were still out of whack. So now I can easily eat the proper portions of the things I like and I am satisfied with those amounts. I can continue to eat healthy through a stall because I don't feel deprived. Before surgery when I hit a stall, I would give up, because I felt deprived and it seemed pointless to suffer for nothing. Now I can keep eating healthy through a stall and keep losing (inches) until the pounds drop because I don't feel deprived at all. I feel like a normal person living a healthy lifestyle.

I was self pay, but my My VSG surgeon still offers nutritional counseling (for life, free of charge). But I didn't feel any need to consult with her and haven't communicated with her since surgery day 2 1/2 years ago.
The surgeon who removed my gallbladder (who also does WLS) wanted me to talk to his nut since I went to Mexico for my VSG and I can't possibly be educated enough to do this alone. He's an @ssh0le, BTW. He had her call me, I explained I had lost over 100% of my excess weight, described my eating habits and she simply said "good job, sorry to bother you, I'm not sure why the doctor asked me to call you."
So no, you don't necessarily need a nut to navigate post WLS life successfully. In fact, I read about a lot of pretty dumb advice some people receive from their nuts. As for your questions, you may think about posting them here. BP forum members have actually "been there done that" as opposed to most nuts that have no idea what it's like to be obese or what post WLS is like. You'll probably get a dozen different answers, none of them right or wrong, but the whole point is to sift through the info available and find what works for YOU, not what some nutritional textbook says.

The only person in my life that knows is my husband. I told work that I had a GI issue that needed repair - sort of true. I don't want to hear other people's opinion - they haven't walked in my shoes. This is my life - my body - and my choice. When people comment on my weight loss I genuinely thank them. When they ask how - I say low carb, low fat and high Protein. It's the truth. They all see me drink my Premier Protein or GNC shake and think nothing of it. I've even shared one or two with a hungry co-worker.
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The only person in my life that knows is my husband. I told work that I had a GI issue that needed repair - sort of true. I don't want to hear other people's opinion - they haven't walked in my shoes. This is my life - my body - and my choice. When people comment on my weight loss I genuinely thank them. When they ask how - I say low carb, low fat and high Protein. It's the truth. They all see me drink my Premier Protein or GNC shake and think nothing of it. I've even shared one or two with a hungry co-worker.
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

The only person in my life that knows is my husband. I told work that I had a GI issue that needed repair - sort of true. I don't want to hear other people's opinion - they haven't walked in my shoes. This is my life - my body - and my choice. When people comment on my weight loss I genuinely thank them. When they ask how - I say low carb, low fat and high Protein. It's the truth. They all see me drink my Premier Protein or GNC shake and think nothing of it. I've even shared one or two with a hungry co-worker.
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

The only person in my life that knows is my husband. I told work that I had a GI issue that needed repair - sort of true. I don't want to hear other people's opinion - they haven't walked in my shoes. This is my life - my body - and my choice. When people comment on my weight loss I genuinely thank them. When they ask how - I say low carb, low fat and high Protein. It's the truth. They all see me drink my Premier Protein or GNC shake and think nothing of it. I've even shared one or two with a hungry co-worker.
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I've decided I'm never going to miss a "Transformation Tuesday" again. it keeps me focused on what i'm doing, what i'm trying to accomplish and reminds me where i came from. im still a work in progress but everyday i get closer.

I mentioned it earlier;
You tell, great!
You don't tell, great!

OK, we settled that.
Next topic?

*follow your eating plan
*eat your Protein
*take your Vitamins
*drink your Water
*go low carb
*low to no sugar
*exercise
*as you lose weight & get into better shape - keep revamping your exercise, don't sweat it if you don't lose every day or every week - it's gonna come off so don't dwell on it
*enjoy the journey because it goes fast
*don't obsess over losing the weight
(try not to anyways)
*enjoy other things going on in your life
*Celebrate weight loss with non-food things
*if you do go out to eat at a restaurant - don't get too anxious; you're gonna have healthier options but even if you do choose unhealthy you're only going to have a small portion so it's not gonna hurt your progress (just don't make it an everyday habit)
*stay away from your trigger food(s) - they can get you into trouble... mine is popcorn. (Or aka crackcorn)
*enjoy the compliments - don't turn around with a negative comment like "yeah but I have loose skin or I still have X amount of weight to lose"
*just smile and say thank you - you know you deserved that compliment and know how hard you worked to get to where you are...
*don't let anyone get you down with saying shitty things like "I knew of someone that lost all the weight only to gain it back" --- you are not that person they are referring to.
*really push yourself with exercise (later on) - you won't die even though you may feel like you are.
See what you're made of!
You'll feel so good afterwards knowing that "I just did that!"
It's addicting. You'll want to continue to push your own limits.
*try new exercises and such
*your incisions will be tender, red and sore. If they are oozing pus then get them checked out - otherwise they should be fine
*that left (or sometimes right) shoulder pain is the leftover gas/air they pumped up your stomach with from surgery - it'll go away
*that extra painful area (left quadrant) on your stomach is where most of the work was done. It will be sore longer. (Bypass patients anyways) - the pain will go away eventually
*do what your doctor says about eating, drinking, exercise, everything. Follow the rules!
*Just remember why you had this surgery.
You want to be healthy and happy.
***No food or drink will make you as happy as how that new dress or pair of jeans fit. ***
- Or when you are able to walk or jog without being so out of breath
- or when you can fit in an airplane seat comfortably and not need a seat belt extension.
- or when you don't have to worry if that plastic chair will hold you
- or you can bend down to pick up that pencil you dropped and get up easily
- or having that social anxiety anytime you go out in public
- or looking around a crowded room only to be mortified that you're the biggest one there
- or taking the elevator up one floor and being ashamed of it because you know what people are thinking
Don't let the food control you anymore.
***Nothing tastes as good as being fit and healthy feels.***
*Don't think you have to have a certwin food because you'll never have it again; it will always be there. It's not going anywhere. You're just choosing to not have it now - you're in control. McDonald's will still be around 100 years from now, so don't fret.
*Breathe.
*You can do this.
It's easier than you think. You will have a tough time at first because everything is so new and you're most likely withdrawling from carbs, sugars, junk etc. But once that is out of your system - it does get easier, honest!
And when the weight starts dropping your priorities and cravings change.
You'll crave more successful weight loss then you will carbs! You'll think to yourself "that *insert food of choice here* isn't worth it!"
You'll crave exercise. Your body will anxiously await to move!
*Weigh and track your food. It helps a lot. I use Myfitnesspal. And I have a fitbit. Friendly competition is motivating
*Take one day at a time, again, try not to obsess and have your weight loss consume your mind. There are other things to your life right now too.
*Every few weeks or month - go thru your closet and try on smaller clothes - this is a huge motivator! I forgot to do that so many times and totally bypassed clothes and then never even got to wear them. (Brand new clothes, dammit!)
Gave them away with the price tags still on them.
Anyways, you can do this!
If there's any other questions - just ask
Heather
**if there is anything someone wants to add -- please do!
Let's all help each other be as successful as we can possibly be!
Surgery date: September 21 2015
Starting weight: 273.4
Current weight 168.4
Loss of 105 lbs so far.
18 to go