Search the Community

Haha. Since I’m not eating yet, I had a bit of spare time to log my foods for the day. This is what I’ve got planned for my 4 hour window: I’ll report later how I actually did. I’m excited bc it’s >70gm protein for the day and no soups, shakes, or supplements to help.

Depending on how big of a bunch you have, I usually will do about 12 individual stalks. Roughly 16 oz. I don’t include the the middle small ones and I take out the yellow leaves bc it makes it bitter if I leave it. Hope it works for you!

On the way to work. Soooo excited bc these are size 12 pants and size medium top.

You ladies look fabulous! On another note, my bipap says I've been only having 3-4 apneas an hour. I may need to get it rechecked to see if i still need it. I am however worried because i can eat more and am struggling with my weight bouncing around. I just came from the store and saw a guy fall into and crash into a water and cooler display at the store. He had been chased through the store and a cop had him at gun point and I saw it happen. I was so traumatized and was shaking when I got home. It didn't occur to me but it was my bs that had crashed and was 77. I'm still dealing with some high bs so, had taken a pill this morning. My excitement for the day!

Meh. Mostly good I think Yesterday was emotional bc my daughter had her white coat ceremony. I made sure to dress in an outfit that made me feel FABULOUS (and I looked pretty good), except my hair. My hair is thinning so badly that I’m having difficulty getting excited about my outfits and my body. Need to get over that. Also, I allowed my daughter to sweet-talk me into taking her to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant (I had originally had plans to go to Pilates after the ceremony). In short, I had a margarita AND nachos instead of exercising so there was soooo much guilt. But OTOH, the day was super special for my daughter so I was sacrificing for her. Was able to get right back on track today though so I’m feeling way better about the weekend than I did at this point yesterday. Here is a pic of us and yes..... I’m super proud,proud mom right now.

Ok so... I’ve been doing so well post-op. Minimal pain, barely any nausea, keeping down fluids, going on walks. I think I might of overdid though bc after my walk I bent over to light a candle and felt a sharp pain by one of my incisions. I thought I would look down and see it’s bleeding but it’s not. I shouldn’t panic right? Just take it easy and stop trying to do so much?

It's just the 2 weeks, was required to buy one box a week during 6 month diet which honestly I didn't do well with. The New Direction bars not so bad and chili was okay. The shakes though are horrid. I managed to choke down most of one of the lemon puddings with Fiber today then chase it with broth due to aftertaste. I think tomorrow I am going to try hunt down the Premier Protein locally because I feel like I am starving. I am making sure to get my water and liquids to not dehydrate but this is day 5 and hoping we get surgery date 8/26/19. My surgeon changed hospitals at the end of the 6 month diet so had to wait almost 2 months longer. Plus, still waiting on BC/BS with final approval which should happen by tomorrow since file was marked urgent. Then doctor order his instruments and not sure if they are in. So very stressful this journey. Thanks for all the advise!

... and I started off the day reading a terrifying story from a girl who had RNY in June and has had chronic low potassium and had to be hospitalized. Probably not my best move to read it this morning bc now I’m just getting more and more fearful of all the what if’s.

DON'T GET DISCOURAGED! my hubby has been going through the motions since Oct 2018 and finally he has a surgery date 11 months later after countless of those needed specialists sign-offs, A1C issues, and an unrelated crappy prostate diagnosis... he's been through a LOT of BS to get to this point so stick with it and stay positive!

Sometimes when you play, you pay. Saturday's "Miss Adventures" landed me back 3 squares on the Candy Land game board. Oh well. It was totes worth it. But apparently my RDs advice of low residue, soft foods, full liquids/purees should be my friend for the next 2 weeks until I have my follow up with the surgeon. Today I'm firmly on board with her plan cuz I don't want another day like yesterday. 5'4" 👵 17m PO (WLM) 134.0lbs (pre-poopy) Sunday August 12 Menu: B1-6am--decaf + PP (1oz) B2-10:30am--soft scrambled egg + avocado (1 egg + 45g ew + 1tbsp sour cream + 3 evoo sprays + 52g avocado) L-3:00pm--28g bh peppermill turkey breast + protein latte (8z decaff + 2oz PP) D-7pm--herbox chicken bouillon-sodium free + 2.25oz cooked boiled shrimp BS-9pm--1bottle PP Clear Fruit Punch

This was my very concern. I was advised to just take my metformin. I was on that, plus glimperide and 72 units of lantus at night. It is best to discuss this with his endocrinologist. I Am now on an occasional glimperide or 25 units of lantus at night, depending on my bs numbers. Hopefully as I continue to lose I will not need anything anymore. I'm almost 6 months post-op and almost halfway to my Dr's goal. Good luck!

Leftovers from last night: half burger patty with some hatch chili sauce. 3/4 cup salad mix. I have no idea what I’m eating later bc I’m eating at my sisters house for a family bday. Main goal there is to fill up on meat/salad and avoid any dessert.

Okay so yesterday I experimented with shortening my IF window. Previously the most restricted I had ever tried was 18:6. In fact, I’ve been doing 18:6 since Monday and was feeling great about it, but here’s what happened yesterday when I tried to go 20:4..... 1. 8am— Got up, felt great. Got on the scale for the first time since Tuesday and I was down 1.8 pounds. Awesome bc I’ve now dropped 9.8 pounds in the last 30 days and I’m feeling great about it. My IF tool is helping me lose more this month. 2. 10am— after drinking two 17 ounce bottles Water I made my morning coffee (1 ounce plain fairlife milk, 1 Kcup). Also took my morning meds (PPI, probiotic, Calcium chews). I don’t do multi or Iron early bc I don’t eat yet. Still feeling great and I spent most of that time working on my closet reorg project. Also did some laundry. 3. Noon and I think about eating, because I’ve now had coffee plus another bottle water. Not hungry though so this is when I get the idea that I’m just gonna try to roll into a 20:4 day because I’m feeling zero hunger (physical or head) 4. 2pm. Hubs gets back from work and starts to make himself a lunch. I too decide to make myself some lunch and break my fast for the day. Still not really hungry, but hey....it’s 2pm and I’ve had zero Protein (unless you count the coffee milk) 5. Ate about 2/3 of the lunch I made. Weird bc I know what my sleeve can carry and I didn’t come close to holding what I normally do. I had some leftover pork stir-fry which consisted of lean pork, wilted greens, water chestnuts, peppers, and mushrooms. Probably about 3/4-1 cup food altogether and ran just over 200 cal. 6. After running some errands, back home at 4:30. Was actually feeling a bit hungry (in retrospect I was probably dehydrated— it’s 100+degrees and most of our running around was in the heat.). Ate a small snack of some kimchi, 5 small pepperonis, and 1/4 ounce Brie. Felt completely FULL afterwards and was slightly nauseous. 7. Was supposed to have dinner at 6pm, told hubs there was NO WAY my body could hold food. Drank another 2 bottles water (took forever bc of fullness) and finally pushed dinner back to almost 8pm. Had my normal appetite by then and I ate 1/2 burger patty with 3/4 cup salad mix. This is a typical dinner for us and a typical serving size. Lol, so even though I pushed first meal back 2 hours, I still had a 6 hr eating window. Guess I’m going to have to be further along on this journey before I can go any more aggressive ATM. Probably didn’t even get in 50gm protein and had considerably less than normal calories. Anymore I try to keep those between 650-800 and my food log shows under 450. Oops. It will be noon soon here and I’m yet again not one jot hungry but I’m going to try because I’ve GOT to eat dinner earlier tonite

Welcome to all our new participants! Yay!!!! We don't even care if you're pre-op. Your menu and insights and path are valuable to us all and help so many people!!! We all need inspiration--even if it's "What Not To Do at Almost 18months Post Op When Out For The Day With Friends" !! (As yesterday's menu will serve as a visual aid. LOL. I'm so lucky to have the scale stuck at 135lbs and not have it go up after a day like this. But hopefully, you will see from this day that I do have days where I either eat, or eat craptastically and go over on my cals for losing in a huge way--including all manner of contraband foods that do not encourage health--but offer HUGE hedonistic food reward! This morning although I'm not hungry yet, I have a big desire for more hedonistic shenanigans. I don't (am not ready) to eat my first meal of the day, but I don't feel like staying in and working or having a "work day" round the house. I want to be out with people and friends--and at the end of it--I want to have some kind of hedonistic meal. After a day like yesterday which is more than 1 day of Feasting during the week--I want MORE and MORE and MORE off plan days. That's the trouble with cheat days and my personality type. I do better with structure and rules and continuity and low reward, clean foods. My thoughts settle down, and normalize and I don't have these huge swings of cravings and head hunger. Cuz even though yesterday was fun, I did not feel "awesome" after eating! In fact, I felt heavy, bloated, crampy colon (BAD) and nauseated. I had my support meeting yesterday and my RD (who has known me since before surgery) told me that I needed to step back a stage and should not be adding fiber. I need to go back to soft diet/full liquid diet for the next 2 weeks until I see my surgeon for my check-up. I will see my doc for my 18 month follow-up + the f/up for the twisted gut/hernia surgery. And RD and I both think that my gut is not back to normal yet and may still be having issues. So00000oooooo, ugh, back on a soft diet starting today. She said that until my gut is moving with normal motility it's asking for problems to dump a bunch of fiber into it and not helpful to make it "scrunch" and "churn" and "work" as hard as it has to with a normal diet. Can I just say yesterday I was in complete denial and had HUGE cognitive dissonance! Oh well--today I WILL reign my wayward 2 year old in and put the brakes on her giving her structure and education!!! Will report how I succeed tomorrow! 5'4" 👵 17m PO (WLM) 135.0lbs (post-poopy) Saturday August 10 Menu: B1 - 6am - Protein latte (8oz decaff + 4oz PP Chocolate + grd cinnamon) (58cals + 1g nc) L1- 1:30pm - Texas BBQ -- no sauce (estimated: 1.5oz lean brisket + 1.5oz lean pork rib + 1.5oz p/b smoked sausage + 3bites green beans + 3bites potato salad (no sugar) + 1 onion raw (single ring) + 3 dill pickle slices + 1/4 pickled jalapeno) (340cals + 11g nc) L2- 2:30pm - decaff + 2oz sugar free International House Vanilla Coffee Creamer (80cals + 4 nc) AS-5:00pm - estimated -- 2oz rustic Italian pagnotta bread + 1tbsp evoo + 1 glass cabernet (360cals + 28g carbs) D - 7:00pm - estimated - 2.25oz boiled shrimped shelled deveined (107cals + 2g nc) Dessert - 8:30pm - estimated - 1/8 slice Cracker Barrel sugar free apple pie + 3 bites sugar free vanilla ice cream + decaff black coffee (65cals + 9g nc) BS - 10pm - 10 Snyder's peanut butter stale pretzels + 1 package CM seaweed snacks with sea salt + glass cabernet (200cals + 17g nc) I impressed even myself with this...and I "found" the peanut pretzels in the back of our pantry leftover from a last year family trip to Wurstfest in New Braunfels! Oy!

Like @ms.sss I felt like I ate all day yesterday--cuz um, I did!!! It was a planned UP day for me, so wasn't too concerned about it and gave myself permission to eat when hungry--whether it was legit hunger or head munchies/stress hunger. But the only rule is that it had to be legit food--no crap. And predictably, yesterday was a hungry hungry hippo day (AGAIN! LOL. And I found all your (ms.sss') extra cals!!) ((hugs)) Today will be a DD for me until at least dinner. Trying to defer TRE for 16-18hours IF. So far I woke up not hungry. Yay! And I'm gonna ride that wave til it breaks! Ha *snort!* 5"4" 👵 17m PO (WLM) 136.4lbs (pre-poopy)=I knew it would be up (wt) cuz um, hello, 2 glasses of wine were involved in the concert and extra bedtime eating...that stops today. But to be fair, not really worried cuz I have at least 2lbs of high fiber poop that is due for delivery today. Thursday August 8 Menu: B1-6am-Mocha Protein Latte (8oz decaf + 4oz PP) (58cals; 11g p; 1g nc) B2-11am-Egg white puff (85g ew + 28g crimini + 29g power greens + 14g turkey saus crumbles + 1/2 slice 2% DD American cheese + 1tsp Gringo Bandito Hot Sauce (111cals; 15g p; 2g nc) L-2pm-1 hb egg + turkey rollup (30g BH lacy swiss + 45g BH peppermill turkey + 8g arugula + dijon) + 60g cucumber slices + 2oz baby carrots + UACV) (ate this over 1 1/2 hours) (247cals; 27g p; 7g nc) AS-5:30pm-1 turkey rollup (30g BH lacy swiss + 19g BH peppermill turkey + Lowensenf mustard) + 28g baby carrots + 16g raw pecan halves + iced cinnamon apple tea with 9g psyllium husks (270 cals; 15g p; 2g nc) D-8:00pm-grilled chicken salad with ranch (28g iceberg + carrot shreds + cucumbers + purple onion + 2 bites gchix + cheese shreds + 1tbsp ranch dressing) + 2 glassed cabernet sauvignon (352cals--thank you wine; 2g p; 13g nc) BS-10pm-19g BH peppermill turkey + 1 lite mozzarella string cheese + 1 hb egg + 28g baby carrots (152cals; 17g p; 4g nc) (I may have a baby carrot "issue"...)

Lol, like the one day I don’t do something homemade and have to grab something as I’m running errands bc I’m running late for work...

5"4" 👵 17m PO (WLM) 135.2lbs (pre-poopy) Wednesday August 7 Menu: B-decaff black L 3pm - 1 hb egg + herbox bouillon broth AS 4:30pm - huge green smoothie with psyllium D 7pm - turkey salad HUGE BS 9pm - 1 hb egg

I just finished day 8 today. Some time around day 6 it got a tiny bit easier bc I really started focusing on timing my shakes religiously. Once I was on a schedule I felt less hangry. It’s not easy, though.

Okay so I have a whacky work schedule. Like work until 11pm one day, have to be there at 6:45am the next morning kind of schedule. Some nights it’s flat out impossible to eat any quantity for dinner bc we don’t get breaks. I literally have to eat on the run (hence my ability to put down an entire hard-boiled egg in

Okay so today is my 6 month surgiversary!!!!! Omg, can’t believe it’s been 6 months In celebration, decided to go back through my closet and try n items that have been too tight on me These pants are size 12 Old Navy pixie cut pants. Picked them up at the consignment store 2 months ago bc they were only $6 and they were there NWT. Today they fit me. Size 12. Omg, if someone had told me on February 6th, I’d be wearing pants like this today, I’d have had a better attitude when I woke up in the recovery room. 🤣🤣

5"4" 👵 17m PO (WLM) 134.4lbs (pre-poopy)=scale is a lying liar that lies and this is a fluke reading Monday August 5 Menu: I was doing great until last night. For some reason, I thought it was a good idea to go into the kitchen and make a Wasa cracker crack with liverwurst and cheese. A cracker mayo delivery system. At 8:30pm. I was already in bed watching tv. It was 8:30pm. And I'd brushed my teeth. But it sounded like a plan. I don't even know or understand what prompted me to buy these and bring them in the house again. LOL. See? This is how I got MO and won my lifetime ticket to the Obesity Ball. Hairbrained schemes like this one. Thank you very much lizard brain (hedonic pleasure center/medulla oblongata/POS). You're welcome. B1 6am - black decaff and lots of it. B2 lasted all day - black decaff and lots of it + water L-nada AS-iced protein coffee with 4oz PP + decaff (cuz I was close to poking my eyes out from hunger) D-caprese salad + grilled shrimp & chicken boob + sauteed broccoli with garlic BS-Wasa sourdough cracker + longhorn cheese + liverwurst (lite) + mayo

Okay, I was also on the hunt for some espadrilles, and found some! On sale, even. I am going up to BC next week on vacation, and wanted some comfy, but still cute, shoes. I went with sunshine and flowers for today’s look. Ignore the derp face.

Grass fed beef enchiladas with salsa verde, egg and avocado.

I ate a bit of the chicken and beans. I didn't eat much. But, yes, I was all in on the quacamolie. I dug the chicken out and fed the rest to my dog. 🤪🤪 My restriction is tight.

I’m definitely trying to focus on the purpose of it. I’m just sooooooo hungry. And I feel like I can’t go anywhere or do anything bc my stomach is a mess and everything out in the world revolves around food.