TracieCat

I have never tried Fage but I have a carton of it sitting in my fridge now to try soon. I mainly stick with Chobani, I haven't met a flavor of it yet that I don't absolutely adore. Right now, I am particularly fond of the Pomegranate, the Black Cherry and the Peach, although my favorites tend to flip flop around from month to month.

I just finally broke through a plateau here too, about a month with no loss and then in the last few days, five pounds FINALLY whooshed off of my body thankfully. I also think it has mostly to do with my food choices, not eating quite as healthy as I have in past months and it showed on the scale unfortunately. Back on track and Dr. check in this Friday, glad I at least have some loss to show for the last month. Not that I'd get any kind of huge lecture but I do feel like I let them down when I mess up, which I guess sounds odd but there it is. I think because I have done so well and they have been so thrilled with me at the office and are among by biggest cheerleaders, I hate sliding back into any bad habits. Glad my Dr. is going to be adding in some psychological counseling into the practice, I believe I could benefit from it.

Haven't had that in quite awhile, sounds like something I need to add to next weeks menu. I like adding in some green peppers and mushrooms into mine as well and I usually do add some ground turkey cooked and crumbled into my sauce. YUM.

What is in Baked Ricotta if I may ask? it is like a noodle free lasanga type of thing? ( have made this before)

I am kind of late in a reply, but here is what I had on Saturday... Breakfast - 1/2 cup steel cut oatmeal with 1/2 cup Silk Soy Milk lunch - 1 small can Tuna in Water drained and mixed with 1 tbsp fat free mayo and a bit of pickle relish, 1/2 cup cooked green Beans with sesame seeds and a splash of teriyaki sauce dinner - Turkey Burger, small green salad (leaf lettuce along with a few cherry tomatoes and lite balsamic dressing), few tablespoons of beer rice (a brown rice recipe) I also had a raspberry Chobani Greek yogurt and about 1/4 cup of roasted chick peas I am pretty boring most days and we eat alot of the same things over and over again, although I am trying to slowly add more variety here and there with my own recipes. Oh and lots of water and crystal light,and some iced coffee made with splenda and fat free creamer.

Glad you are doing well, congrats to you!

My downfall is when we allow low fat wheat thins to come into the house. I do okay if I can convince myself to forget they are here and divide the box up into little baggies and just take one baggie occasionally and I tend to try to make it part of a meal so I am not using it as a snack food. If I eat straight out of the box, my hubby and I can consume the whole box in one evenings sitting. yipe. My thing is crunchy foods too, loved them before my surgery and I still love them, although try to avoid them as much as possible most of the time because of how I used to overeat them.

I am about 8 months out from my surgery ( think I am calculating that right anyway. lol) and I have never vomited, not even one time. I have gotten sick about three times, each time was my own doing in overeating and they sure were hard learning processes for me. I did get very nauseated, upper stomach pains and I could even feel the pain all the way up into my neck and my eardrums. Those symptoms passed in about a half hour each time. I did have something close to sliming one time when I ate a meat on a stick from a Chinese place, I think because of not being able to chew it up completely. I also have a bit of an issue with cornbread, I make a low fat/low calorie version and I have to eat a small piece VERY slowly or it feels like it might get stuck. But anyway, when I felt like the meat on a stick was stuck, I didnt throw up at all, I just drank some Water and eventually I felt it sort of dislodge itself and pass down through. Yipe, that was scary. Won't be eating that again, or if I do, will cut it in TEENY tiny bites and chew even more than I likely did before. Wishing you the best of luck with your surgery.

I haven't lost complete interest but I sure am not food obsessed like I used to be and alot of times, I have to force myself to eat a meal. I am thinking this might be part of why I have been stalling or slow in my loss, I am not eating enough, which is quite an odd thing considering the person I used to be before my surgery. I just don't think about food too often, not in the way I used to in any case, unless I am anxious to try out some new recipes I have concocted.

For me personally, I have only had one fill since my surgery date last September and I can eat normal sized portions with no difficulties, although I have trained myself to take smaller than an average portion over the months that have gone by. I have noticed my weight loss has been slowing or stalling a bit lately though so am thinking it might be time for a fill for me. But I sure can eat a regular sized portion if I so desire and I can guzzle almost a whole bottle of water in one swoop. I imagine this will change once I get another fill or two in there.

WOW... if that is real, it sure is an odd thing for a Doctor to have a patient sign!!!

Crystal Light (I am not a huge plain Water drinker and love the different flavors) Wii Fit and Wii Sports Resort (yay for mad bicycling cardio, it gets my heart pumping) Water Bottle to refill and take with me wherever I go. (which is not brand specific but still important for me) Teriyaki Beef Jerky (my go to Protein snack when I feel I haven't hit my goal with other food or shakes for the day, I like Walmarts Great Value brand) Chobani Greek Yogurt (best brand I have ever tasted, the pineapple is to die for and helps me get my protein grams in for the day) Gas X pills (lol, I have been gassy since my surgery and I keep some in my purse for travel and here at home) Fitday.com to keep track of my food nutrition for the day. Lose It - App on my Ipod where I also keep track of my daily nutrition South Beach Living protein fit bars (used rarely if I am going to have to miss out on a meal) Genisoy Protein Crunch Bars (also used as an occasional meal replacement) Chamomile Tea - For occasional stomach upsets (I am a big hot tea drinker on a daily basis anyway) I am sure there are other things I am not thinking of offhand.

Congrats to you Cynthia! I am really happy for you and hope I will have that same happiness once I am closer to my goal weight. Way to go!

I definitely don't take the size bites that I did preop but I have never done the tiny eraser sized bites either. I take a fairly normal sized bite and have no problem swallowing. Of course, I also don't have any issues taking all of my many pills either.

For myself, I have only had one fill since I was banded, my band is currently filled at 3 & 1/2 cc.... I have never from the beginning felt any huge sense of restriction, although the times when I HAVE strayed and overeaten (twice that I can remember), I sure did know it and got pretty ill almost immediately. I think even the Doc thinks I am one of those rare patients who not only doesn't feel a sense of restriction, but also no hunger and no problems to speak of with foods (other than potatoes which give me stomach pains). I think that thinking about my health keeps me on track at this point because before my surgery and current weight loss, I was not doing so well health wise. I still have alot of problems but they have vastly improved. But the Doctor did say that some patients just don't need those fills as much as others, but at some point, likely soon, I WILL end up needing one. So far he trusts me to let him know when I feel like that time is here and he doesn't like to rush filling bands in his patients. For now, I am another person as the poster above that lives a way of life as if I am restricted and watch my portion sizes and get my Protein and Water intake in. Still working on building up exercise wise as my health allows.

I weigh in every day, although do sometimes forget to do it so it ends up being every second or third day. But I find that weighing in once daily helps to keep me on track and gauge how well I am doing. The support group I go to run my my surgeon meets once a month at the hospital where I was banded and they don't weigh us in there but I do get weighed in once a month at the surgeon's office.

Nothing yet but I am another one that is going to take the leap and get a tattoo done as soon as I hit close to my goal weight. I want to take my time and decide on a personal design that best represents my journey and I am hoping to design it myself and take in to the tattoo artist to do for me.

Sorry that you felt the band was not the right path for you, I wish you the very best with your new decision and hope things work out for you. Best wishes.

For me, my biggest motivation is my health. I have suffered from several serious health issues over the last few years, all of which are gradually improving with the weight loss. Knowing that I dont ever want to take any steps backward into that downward spiral again is enough to keep me doing what I need to do. That and finally for the first time in a LONG time, feeling truly happy about myself, feeling truly happy in general. Life is good and I don't ever want to go back to where I used to be.

Want you to know that I am wishing you the best. I have gone through something similar pain wise only in my case, it was due to me pulling muscles in my body from the way I have needed to use more muscles on one side of my body due to my severe osteo arthritis. But I had no idea what it was to begin with and I ended up in the ER one night because the pain was so severe that I was just screaming for them to help me. They ran so many tests on me, including testing for gall bladder problems and it ended up that it was a severe muscle pull. I hope that however it ends up for you, that you get some relief from that pain, I feel for you. Oh and interestingly, I have an area in my left side where it looks like my stomach is slightly ballooned out. After all the tests were done and came back normal, the consensus was that it is likely fat deposits in there shifting around with the weight loss.

I am one of those people who are very rarely ever hungry. Maybe once in a great while if I miss a meal, I will feel a sense of real hunger. But mostly, I have learned to make myself get a meal in about every four to five hours. I am sometimes bad about getting three REAL meals in though as I dont get up out of bed till late (I am a night owl) and miss breakfast, so usually late in the evening, I will have something like a Greek Yogurt and consider that my third meal or maybe a protein shake with a half banana or a tablespoon or two of natural peanut butter blended in. My surgeon was just asking me yesterday if I ever feel hungry and I had to answer him with a "usually not". That non hunger feeling for me seemed to happen the first couple of weeks after my surgery.

Mine is on my left side, up higher underneath my breast in my rib area....

I have only had one fill so far (likely getting another one on Friday), but for me, my one and only fill so far DID hurt, but my Doctor doesn't normally need numbing med in his experience with most patients but I must be an exception to that rule because WOW did it hurt for me until I insisted on some numbing medicine. Once he put that in, smooth as can be with no further pain. I sure did bruise up a bit though from him having trouble finding my port under my skin (the port is clearly felt but he had trouble finding where they need to put the needle). He said that now that he knows exactly where it is on me, that wont be an issue next time. And definitely for me next time, I am insisting on the numbing medication before things even begin.

I am another one that has been a clothing hoarder, I still have things in my closet and drawers that I was wearing when my husband and I were dating 20 years ago. haha. Anyway, because of that, I have a multitude of different sizes ranging from what I was a couple of years ago at my heaviest, all the way up to a few latest purchases I made in the last few months, just some shirts I bought used on Ebay. In any case, I haven't really needed to buy anything yet other than those few shirts I have picked up, but I am in DIRE need of underwear and bras and need to pick up some soon. My poor underwear hang off of me and I look hilarious and my bra straps wont stay up on my shoulders. I wouldnt have even picked up the shirts but we were planning a Valentine Trip to Canada and I wanted something new to wear. Funny thing is, I ended up wearing my older shirts anyway. lol. I was in a 5x at the time of my surgery, I am now fitting into some of my 3x tops, some are still a bit tight but I am getting into a good many of them, along with the various 4x ones I have. Pants are another story, I am still wearing the 4 and 5x's in those, they are getting pretty loose but I am going to have my Mother throw in a few stitches so I can at least make them last a bit longer before I need to open my wallet to buy much more.

Hubby and I were just out to dinner last night, we always order the same thing at the place we go to, grilled chicken with onions and mushrooms and I normally get a small salad with mine and he gets coleslaw but anyway, it happened to be Mexican night there last night so they had dinner specials. We didnt get them but my eyes about bugged out when they came walking out with some plates of taco salads for some other diners there, I couldn't believe how BIG those plates were, holy freaking moley. It is sad to me to think that there was once a time when I could have ashamedly eaten almost a whole plate the size of the one they brought out. I have been eating healthier for over a year now, counting in my 6 month supervised diet till my surgery in September of last year and it seems like a lifetime ago now since I have eaten that way. Pretty scary when you think that portion sizes that are huge like that are the norm these days rather than the exception, no wonder we are all getting fatter as a species. Now, my little piece of chicken breast suits me just fine, I end up bringing half the entree home though because they give us two pieces of chicken each.