BlackBerryJuice

Wow! You look great!

So I'm wrapping up my week today! I did really well yesterday, I had a very busy day on call, a 26-hr shift. When I started, I hardly sat down from 7 AM to 11 PM, then had to get up 3 times at night. I ate some fruit, roast chicken/veggies, and leftover burrito bowl sans beans/rice, as well as some trail mix. Today I've had some yogurt, an omelet with chicken sausage and various veggies, fruit, almonds, beef Jerky, and a latte, and then I treated myself to a cheat meal of pork and cheese pupusas (they are made from corn flour, which is verboten). Then we're going for oysters later, so that'll be diet-approved.

I've lost 2-2.5 lbs this week - my scale is not electronic, so I can't be too precise - and am pleased to say that I've had NO bread at all, no rice, no legumes of any sort, and my only real cheats were that marzipan (the only stuff I've had with sugar all week!), sambucca, and then the corn in the pupusas today. Save for that drunken craving for marzipan, I've had ZERO trouble staying away from sugar this week. Going without bread or Beans is also quite easy, craving-wise. It does complicate eating out a bit, but so far I've found that every restaurant has something that tastes decent and will satisfy me without me veering from the eating plan. If everything fails, there is always the option of chicken wings (not breaded) or a burger without the bun.

I'm planning to stick to eating this way, with a cheat meal or two per week, much like I did this week. I'll keep you posted on how it's going, although now on a less regular basis.

As someone said, "you'll never regret a workout!"

Crosswind-

Thank you for sharing that you regularly eat 1700-1800 calories. I'm 5'10" and generally take in 1800 as well. I often' date=' though, feel like a VSG freak of nature when I mention that on here as people discuss existing on 800-1000 calorie diets. If I don't hit at least 1500 I feel weak and horrible. So, thanks for validating my caloric needs.

Amanda[/quote']

I'm also in the high calorie range. 2000-2200 on average. If I tried to eat 1000, I would be ravenous and weak - just like before surgery. So I agree with Crosswind - unless you have exceptionally low metabolism, you don't need to majorly limit your calories to be successful.

I'm ready for veggies. I'm on purée stage and they don't sound appealing puréed at all.

I think some pureed veggies would be good.....things like pumpkin, yams or squash come to mind. They are already basically pureed once they are cooked!

Since my surgery, I've succumbed to fast food on occasion. I was never a huge fast food person before, since I don't like fried food or fatty meats, but I'm even less tolerant of fast food now. Just like 2 weeks ago, I caved in and bought a cheeseburger at the hospital caf - everybody I worked with raved about how great they are. I took one bite, and thought "this is pretty disgusting." I took another bite, and was so grossed out by the fatty meat, greasy sauce, and weird, melty cheese (I haven't had processed cheese for YEARS), that I spat it out right in the garbage and threw the rest of the burger in there.

SO GROSS!

Then my coworker found out and freaked, he was like, "WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAVE THAT FOR ME?!" LOL.

Checking in, day 5. Woke up another pound lighter this morning! 138 lbs. The size 4 capris that were kind of tight last time I tried them on in the fall before hell froze over are loose.

I had a weird experience this evening, I went out to this lounge alone to have some of their steak tartare and beef carpaccio, which are both very good for this diet, and also ordered a glass of wine since wine is allowed in moderation. Some dude joined me, even though I was reading a book and not exactly broadcasting a need to converse with anyone - bought me THREE rounds of shots, without asking me - I felt compelled to drink them all. I flashed my engagement ring more than a few times, and then after he said he wanted to take me to the casino, I just plain told him I was married, but he said he was not after anything. Then he made all kinds of bizarre comments to me, like he was going to install some sort of home theater in my condo for me for free, then he insisted I meet his girlfriend of 9 years - called her from work and made her come by to meet me - etc, etc. Anyway, it was all very weird and then they drove me home (WTF?).

Bottom line, I had 3 shots of sambucca on top of my regular glass of wine - I don't think I've had more than 2 alcoholic drinks in one sitting since I was a sophomore in college! Got home wasted, then ate a bunch of marzipan. So I had a bit of a totally random cheat this evening.

Otherwise, things are going well. I didn't eat any other junk, of which I have lots in the house. Packed a good variety of primal-approved meals for tomorrow's 26-hr call shift.

Time to lawyer up

Ditto.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/margaret-wheeler-johnson/overweight-women-thin-glamour-survey_b_1476335.html?ref=healthy-living&ir=Healthy%20Living

Ladies, we just can't win it, it seems.

Wow, you look great!

I'd also add that I'm always irked by people who put on like 3 lbs overnight and then say it's because they are "building muscle" when all they do for exercise is walking 3 blocks. For a woman, it takes like a YEAR to build this much muscle with very hard workouts and serious attention to your nutrition.

It's a tough call and you can't compare yourself to others. 2 people will have the same procedure and end up with vastly different amounts of scarring. I'm assuming your surgeon has done some sort of imaging study if he's convinced your scarring is particularly bad? If so, I'd go with his recommendations.

One thing I've learned on my 3-week bariatric surgery rotation is that the leaks with RNY are, for some not yet known reason, easier to fix than with the sleeve.

LMAO, I know, I hate it when people misuse the word "weigh" in that particular situation. THEY WEIGH THE SAME!!!!! ARGH! :ph34r:

Low HR is not a cause for concern (well, <35 would be, haha). It's usually high heart rate (>100 resting) that suggests complications.

Also, 110/60 is not "low." It's a very good BP.

The very last food to give me problems with my sleeve was BBQ ribs - up to almost 1.5 years out! So if I had to pick, I guess I would've had ribs. In reality, though, I just had a ton of chocolate, ice cream bars, and Kit-Kats.

Good luck!

Day 4 done! Some trail mix, 2 lattes (one of which was at 7 pm, which was an awful idea given that I have to be up at 5 AM tomorrow), leftover burgers from yesterday, some fruit, goat cheese, then Mucho Burrito for dinner - just had barbacoa with salsa, sour cream, guac, and cheese on a bed of lettuce.

Down 1.5 lbs, which is kind of crazy. I think some of it is Water, but still, my abs are crazy cut and my butt feels leaner. I'll probably snap some pix on Sunday once I'm done 1 full week on this eating plan, to see if there's any obvious photographic evidence, especially on the rear end. I haven't been below 140 lbs for like a year, since shortly after I hit goal post-surgery.

This is kind of on a tangent, but have you tried lactase pills? I have mild lactose intolerance and I find that if I have those before I drink, say, a large latte, then I don't have an upset stomach at all after.

I think a lot of it is just because of starvation - which is really what your body is going through for the first few months.

I kind of think the whole low weight vs. high weight thing is BS. I think ouroborous made a good thread about it a few months ago, with some good examples. I lifted heavy for years, but the one year I put on ridiculous muscle mass was when I seriously got into competitive boxing, which involves zero weight training, but is like textbook high reps (pounding the bag for hours and lots of push-ups/crunches). The only difference is that with low weight, you won't improve your strength, which to me at least is 1/2 the equation.

You mean, the symptoms? The classic symptoms are pain and swelling in ONE leg, it may also change color. The symptoms once it breaks off and goes to your lungs is sudden chest pain and difficulty breathing, it's usually very dramatic.

This is not so much a new recipe - because not much cooking is involved - but this week, I'm trying a new food.....LAMB TONGUES! I like lamb and was going to buy some at the farmers' market, but it was pretty pricy, and then I spotted the tongues, which were only a few bucks a pound. SOLD!

Well done!

Let me know how your consult goes....mine is not til January! I'm thinking thigh lift vs. inner thigh lipo; I don't really have that much skin, so a lift seems excessive given the scarring, BUT I have stretch marks, which can worsen Lipo outcomes, so I'm kind of in limbo.

I haven't had my sleeve yet but I did a 30 day raw food/ vegan diet and it was awesome... I lost 10 pounds and u honestly don't feel hungry when u cleanse ur body like this. It gives u so much energy and really changes how u feel inside. If u have a whole foods market around they have several options for raw/vegans. You can get Protein in several ways too.

This is not vegan, though, quite the opposite...I'd never do raw, either (well, non-vegan raw would be tough, anyway!). I generally find it impossible to go a single day without dairy or meat, so anything vegetarian, let alone vegan, was never on my list.