hah131

i consistently have pain in my side where you're talking about when i eat too much. sometimes it will last into the next day after i've eaten too much, and then i have to stick with liquids and mushies that day to rest my stomach.

my diet, especially during the work week, is pretty monotonous. breakfast - plain, ff greek yogurt (6 oz) with .33 scoop of Protein powder - 145 calories, 28-29 protein snack - Protein shake - 160 calories, 30 protein lunch - 1 hard boiled egg, 1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese, 2-3 oz veggie (either cooked spinach, raw carrots, raw celery, or raw cauliflower) - approx 125-150 calories, 14 protein snack - 1/2 scoop protein shake, 1 serving PB2 - 105 calories, 18 protein dinner - large salad with 3 oz romaine lettuce, 2 oz pepper, 2 oz broccoli, 2 oz cauliflower, 2 oz mushrooms, 1 oz carrots, 1 oz celery, some protein - either edamame, tofu, bun-less veggie burger, tuna, or salmon, and a small piece or part of a piece of fruit - 1/2 apple, whole plum, etc, and some days 1 bran crispbread - approximately 200-250 calories, 7-15 protein overall, i normally eat between 780-900 calories with between 85-110 g. protein (including the calories from my Vitamins and calcium)

i wanted to add in the site i use: it's www.fitday.com. i count my calories, protein, and carbs religiously. since i'm so close to goal, i've started to let up on the carbs a little. until this point, my carbs consisted solely of the carbs in my protein shakes, carbs in veggies, and any carbs in my sources of protein. i haven't really had any bread, rice, pasta, etc. the last 1-2 months, i started to incorporate a piece of fruit into my day. it's been a breath of fresh air.

i haven't had chicken in about 13 years. when someone eats fish, technically they aren't a vegetarian; they're a pescetarian. since so few people know that word, and because i only eat fish once or twice a week, i still refer to myself as a vegetarian. there are a few different types of vegetarians. if you google it, it'll talk about about the different types.

i'm a little over a year out from surgery. i ate between 600-750 calories a day for the first 6-8 months and lost quite a bit of weight during that time, so from my perspective, you're ok with your calorie intake unless you're truly hungry. one of my favorite mushies is a blended mixture of ricotta, tomato sauce, cooked spinach, and herbs. i also did refried Beans and greek yogurt mixed when i was on mushies. if the incision you're talking about is your largest incision, that's your port incision. it remained sore for me for quite some time. it will heal; it just takes time. do you have a 2 week appointment scheduled with your surgeon? make sure you tell him all of your concerns just to make sure everything is fine.

i've been a vegetarian for about 14 years and have been banded a little over 12 months. i do 1-2 protein shakes a day as my snacks, eat a lot of low fat cottage cheese, fat free greek yogurt, eggs, edamame, tofu, and veggie burgers without buns. i have, since surgery, started to eat fish, primarily tuna and salmon, which i have approximately 1-2 times per week. if i didn't drink protein shakes, i wouldn't make my 80 g protein a day. i've learned to really enjoy them, though.

checking in this morning at 157 even, down 1 pound from last week.

it's been a really rough two weeks weight-wise. i've been up and down and up and down and weighed in at 158 even this morning, down .4 pounds overall.

my understanding of starvation mode is that your body will hold on to fat when you are under a certain amount of calories per day - some say 1000, others 1200 - thus preventing you from losing weight.

ebreeze824, I've been a vegetarian for about 13 years, right as I graduated from high school. However, I was a carby vegetarian and really never focused on getting in Protein. Now that's changed. I'm on the fence about starvation mode. I hear so many conflicting things. Some people will argue vehemently that it's a real thing, while others don't believe it is. I think I lie somewhere in the middle. For the vast majority of the time, I don't feel real body hunger. Head hunger is a whole other story. I do want to start increasing my calories a little bit once I lost a few more pounds and get to about 1100-1200 a day to see how that works. Because I still have some to lose, I've just been really paranoid to do that yet. It's mostly just an unfounded fear I'd think, but after years of having my life revolve around food in such an unhealthy way on one end of the spectrum, I think I'm kind of on the other end of the unhealthy obsession now. My goal, with the help of my therapist, is to get to a point where food just is, where I don't obsess over it or punish myself with it or because of it. Obviously, I'm not there yet, but hopefully I will be at some point.

Lisa, I'll give you the run down of my typical week exercise and nutrition-wise. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - lap swimming for 35 minutes at 5:30 am, 30 minute walk around 12:30 pm, 35 minute walk with the dogs 4:30 pm, 60 minute zumba (all except Friday) 6 pm Tuesday/Thursday - 30 minute walk 12:30 pm, 45 minute walk with the dogs 4:30 pm, 3-5 mile run 6 pm, 45 minute video - either kickboxing or some other cardio Saturday - 60 minute boot camp 9 am, 60 minute walk with the dogs (sometimes longer) Sunday - 60 minute walk with the dogs, run and/or video As far as my diet goes, it's pretty monotonous, especially during the work-week. It generally looks like this: Breakfast 10 am - fat free plan greek yogurt with .33 serving of Protein powder mixed in (146 calories, 26.6 g protein) Snack 1 pm - Protein shake (30 grams protein, 160 calories) lunch 3:30 pm - 1 hard boiled egg, 1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese, 2 oz raw veggie (cauliflower, broccoli, or carrots) (about 132 calories, about 14.4 g protein) Snack - 6ish pm - protein shake and one serving PB2 (115 calories, 18 g. protein) dinner - 8 pm - large salad with either tuna, salmon, edamame, bun-less veggie burger, or tofu - salad includes 3 oz romaine lettuce, 0.3 oz alfalfa sprouts, 2 oz broccoli, 2 oz cauliflower, 2 oz mushrooms, 1 oz celery, 1 oz green or red pepper, 1 oz carrots, 1/2 tablespoon greek dressing - 88 calories for salad without protein, protein ranges from 60-100 calories. Lately I've added in a small amount of fruit - 4 oz peach, 1 small plum, 4 oz mango, 6 oz apple, or a large tomato. I take one chewable multi-vitamin per day, 1200 calcium - one at breakfast, one at dinner, 2 times a week, I take a B12, and 2-3 times a week, I take 1000mg D3. (my multi-vitamin and calcium are an extra 30 calories per day) I just had my blood taken last Saturday in preparation for my year appt on the 20th. I'll know better then how my Vitamin levels look, but I'm really strict with taking my Vitamins. Eventually, when I'm in maintenance, I'd like to up my calorie intake to somewhere between 1000-1200 per day, but for right now, I'm sticking with the range I've been eating. I hope that helps!

just thought i'd put in my two cents about the 100 pound loss question. i honestly don't believe any of mine was luck. i work my BUTT off. i work out, on average, 2 hours a day...and it's not just two hours of walking. i do lap swimming 35 minutes at 5:30 am three times a week; i take an hour of zumba 2 nights a week; i walk the dogs for at least 45 minutes on those days; i walk during my lunch break for a half hour every day unless it's raining; and i run between 3-5 miles on the days i don't have zumba. i exercise seven days a week and have since surgery. i also eat between 650-850 calories most days, keeping my carbs very low (generally between 30-50 g a day). those calories and carbs include everything - vitamins and calcium included. i'm very, very strict. now that i'm 7 pounds away from goal, i'm starting to incorporate more carbs into my diet - mostly fruit - but honestly, for the first 10 months, i rarely had any fruit, bread, pasta, etc because they were just way too carby. i'm a vegetarian, who has learned to eat more fish, so my diet really consists of veggies and low carb sources of protein only.