Search the Community

Okay so maybe it was because I got to see it as diced eggs in the food processor before I puréed it but the purée egg salad isn’t bad. I cut the fat by using half low fat Mayo, half Greek yogurt like the recipe suggested and then cut it even further by using three eggs instead of two but cut out two of the egg yolks. This made around 1/2 cup. I didn’t put any onion in because I’m a little afraid this early out if missing a chunk but I used onion powder and it’s not bad at all.

I am here to add my vote for meal planning. I also have ADHD tendencies and I LOATHE food tracking. In the early days after surgery when I absolutely had to make sure I got in my protein and water, I managed to track by keeping a physical tracking notebook next to me at all times. I had to see the book to remember to do it. I stopped tracking around 5 months when I was consistently hitting my goals. Now that I am almost a year out, my weight loss has slowed (as expected) and I am finding it too easy to make poor choices if I don't plan ahead. I forced myself to actually track for a couple days and was shocked by how many calories I could eat and what I was choosing even when I "thought" I had been pretty reasonable. So, instead of tracking, which I am still terrible at, I've started meal planning and prepping ahead. For breakfast and lunch, I came up with a selection of maybe three or four choices I liked that have around 20g protein and entered them into my meal tracking app. For example, a spinach frittata for breakfast that I can slice into several servings, fruit cups that I make ahead for the week, single-serve packets of protein oatmeal or a protein bar for those days when I have to grab and go. For lunch, I make homemade chicken veg soup and also salad jars. I also like to make a batch of turkey chili to have on hand, which I store in single-serve containers. I also came up with a few snacks I like such as Greek yogurt with blueberries, or an apple with cheese. I also entered in my typical favorite 6 or 7 homemade dinners as recipes or meals in the app so I could easily add them to my day with one click. Before my shopping day, I try to plan my meals for the coming week. If I see my calories going too high or my protein not being enough, or whatever, on any given day, I can adjust accordingly. On a day that I eat oatmeal, I make sure my other choices are less carb heavy. If I have eggs for breakfast, I might plan to have a carb at dinner. I have the tab easy to get to on my computer, but printing it out each day would also work, as would entering each meal as a reminder in your phone's task list or calendar app. It is so much easier for me to look at my menu and follow it than it is for me to decide what to eat every day in the moment. It also means that if I can eat what I plan most of the time, I can have a restaurant meal or a dessert a few times a month without worrying about it or trying to track it. And since I tend to package up most of my make-ahead meals in single-serve containers, it's pretty easy to grab something to take along if I'm going to be out and don't want to have to hunt for food on the go and risk being off plan. The worst days for me are when everything in the house is an ingredient instead of a meal. That's exhausting and inevitably leads to snacking or poor choices. I find I need to set a regular day of the week for shopping when I can also have time to prep some items right away, before the food even goes in the fridge. I have the most success for the week when all my produce enters the fridge already washed, sliced, and portioned into fruit cups and salad jars, and when I can kick off a batch of chili in the slow cooker, a frittata in the oven, and a batch of taco meat to store for later in the week all at once. Freezing complete single-serve meals is another great strategy for those busy days when you might otherwise get off track. Like any habit, it takes a while to establish and may not be 100% perfect all the time, but I definitely find this helping me.

I am sooooo anticipating my soft foods beginning on Monday. I have been working on my menu and my grocery cart for a while. This is my menu so far. Monday-Snow Crab with skinny scampi sauce and mashed cauliflower Tuesday-Turkey Meatballs with peppers and onions (low carb marinara) Wednesday-Chili with side of zucchini, butternut squash and onions Thursday-Blackened Salmon with Brussel Sprouts Friday-Turkey Taco Fillings with fresh Pico and fresh Guacamole Saturday-Mahi with Jerk seasoning and green beans Sunday- Black Bean Veggie Burger Patty with carrots Lunches Monday- MUSH overnight oats (with protein powder) Tuesday- Spinach and onion Skinny Omelette Wednesday- Egg Salad Thursday- Greek yogurt with berries (and protein powder) Friday- Tuna Salad Saturday- squash and onion Skinny Omelette Sunday- Chicken Salad

I wouldn’t even listen to that surgeon if you feel good and you’re still losing and you’re doing your activity honestly he’s just putting you in as if you’re a statistic. I really hate it when doctors do that. It’s like either. They think you’re lying about what you’re eating or they just assume that one thing works for everyone at the exact same rate. i’m doing OK I posted in another thread that I do have some medical stuff going on. I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer so I have been juggling my weight loss and fitness along with a whole lot of doctors appointments and scans and chemo. Surprisingly I think that it is my yoga and my walking that have kept me sane. I did stop doing my cardio class because they told me that the chemotherapy is extremely dehydrating and it was important to not get myself to warm like to avoid being out in the sun for a long time or anything like that and as I already mentioned on here before I sweat quite a bit When I work out. I am fighting the urge to have carbs since Thanksgiving, but part of that I believe is the steroids I get with my chemo. They told me it wouldn’t be an issue because I would be nauseous anyways and I wouldn’t be able to eat much but I haven’t been nauseous one day so far knock on wood. The chemotherapy actually seems to have increased my metabolism to wear, even though I am eating little things off plan and exercising a bit less I am still losing weight. They assigned me an oncology dietitian who told me that she does not want me to lose more than I was losing before the chemo, which is about 2 to 3 pounds a week. At first I dropped like 6 pounds and we were pretty worried but I honestly think it was just water weight or something. anyways, it’s been a challenge as I’m sure it has been for everyone to juggle whatever life events. Everyone else is dealing with, but I’m getting through it. My habits of packing food like turkey, jerky and cheese sticks and protein shakes or yogurt smoothies, and taking with me and freezing things have been my lifesavers. I don’t always exactly want to eat that and I’m giving myself a little bit of grace right now because of my circumstance but trying not to be too forgiving at the same time. I am actually doing my walk right now because I was out of town for a doctors appointment today and then I went and did a wig fitting because I’ve lost my hair for most of it anyways and I literally just walked in the door and ate my salad that I picked up on the way home for my dinner. I’ve got to get this done and get to bed early because I have yoga first thing in the morning. I am honestly just so thankful that I started this weight loss journey when I did and that my nutrition and fitness are in such a better place because I really truly feel like that is helping me already and it will continue to help me get through all of this anyways, I really hope everyone else is doing OK as well. It’s a crazy roller coaster for sure but we’ve got this!!

Interesting question! I don't have a ton of routine when it comes to meals, with the possible exception of breakfast. Most days I eat a yogurt parfait with Greek yogurt, fresh berries & protein boosted Kind brand granola. That said, I'm not opposed to other things like banana nut pancakes (a favorite), or even cold pizza on occasion! Lunch is most often leftovers from dinner since we still haven't figured out how to cook 1.5 meals (half for me, whole for my wife). Dinner is super varied. We both like to cook and like good food, so it might be just about anything. That said, I have found that I just don't enjoy big slabs of meat anymore. We do occasionally have red meat, but it's probably once a week or less. I'd say we have seafood based dinners 3-4 times a week and 1-2 vegetarian meals per week. I also eat a lot more beans than I used to. Overall, I don't focus much on macros. It's more about eating a variety of healthy foods and enjoying what little I can eat. As far as activity, there is no typical day. It can vary from nothing at all (I do one dedicated rest day a week), to running 12-14 miles or more on my long run day. In a typical week, I run 30-40 miles (my main sport), but I also do strength training a couple days a week and do a little bit of cross training either on the bike or on a stationary rower. Later in the year I'm thinking of starting a marathon training block. If so, I'll be increasing my mileage up into the 50-60 MPW range. I think one of the main reasons my diet may differ from the "typical" post WLS diet is because of the high activity level I have. I just wouldn't be physically able to do that volume of running without eating a lot more carbs to fuel my runs. In fact, getting enough calories is my current challenge, not getting too many. That's another topic for another day however!

Oh, I was feeling the same way with how we’re gonna go from liquid to purée. So I spoke to my nutritionist today and she said to start with egg whites, cottage cheese, cause it’s similar to yogurt and on the lighter side of things and then if I handle that well within 72 hours to progress to fish but steamed fish and tuna in a can with mayo. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for just some fish. lol 😂. This liquid diet just I’m so over it. keep us posted on how it’s going for you.!

Hi! My packing list is super small. comfortable socks; compression socks: wireless bra; heating pad. Same clothes for arrival and leaving. Pillow for car seat belt pressure. For the liquid diet; I am allowed sugar free items like pudding and jello. I love pineapple too! I got Pedialyte popsicles and made some homemade yogurt popsicles too. Homemade cream (yogurt) veggie soups help a lot with hunger! On my clear liquid it’s broth, I made 3 types for variety , vitamin water sugarfree, Gatorade, sugar-free Popsicles, and Jell-o, as much as I want. The doctors are very big on staying hydrated so that’s my main focus. Very wise to stock up on meds!

this is a great idea! way to be ahead of the game!! For this weeks meal prep I did: Breakfast Sausage "McGriddles": Macros: 257cal 8.4g fat Carbs 13g Protein 28g Fiber 2g Serving size 2 regular or 1 biggun! I dip mine in 1tbls of lite syrup. 1C of Kodiak protein pancake mix 1C of egg whites 1/4C reduced fat cheese 16oz of Jenni-o Turkey Sausage Makes 6 Big muffins or 12 regular size cupcake size Then I bought of fruit, so I washed and cut it up put them in zip lock gallon bags for our lunches Veggies: broccoli, carrots that are washed and cut up Chicken breast that I cooked: I have been making wraps for lunches and then I use it for dinners Yogurt bark: Dannon lite and fit strawberry cheesecake yogurt and fage 0% yogurt, sprinkled strawberries on top and 1/8C of granola; spread on parchment paper and put in the freezer for a couple of hours then I took it out and broke it up and its in the freezer. Cottage Cheese Brownies (THESE ARE AMAZING!): Macros 79cal Fat 4.1g Carbs 19g Net carbs 2g Protein 6g Makes 6 servings (I baked in a 8x8 pan but I will do these again in muffin tin) 3/4C cottage cheese (I used 2% good culture) 1 egg 80g of swerve sugar 1/2 tsp of instant espresso powder 1 dash of salt 45g of Cacao Bliss or raw cacao powder (not Hershey's) 40 Dark Chocolate chips (I used Lillys)

I tried your greek yogurt cheesecake hack two days ago (just the greek yogurt & mix, I was lazy) ... I was immediately, irrevocably captivated. The thickness, the texture, it's so perfect. I've had a little bit two days in a row now, and my protein macros have skyrocketed. I topped it with a handful of fresh raspberries, and I now know exactly what I'll be bringing to summertime potlucks & bbqs. XD

I had all those emotions too for my RYGB. Now we are into the post-op stage of me practically going overboard to make sure I follow the diet exactly and remembering to take all my meds. It did not help that I had a major change in medicines and had just picked up several bottles of things that were just discontinued. (My brain: Look at all that wasted money...) But we got this and it will all be worth it! For everyone on stage 2 of the liquid diet (what my doc calls stage 2, essentially the non-clear liquids and such being added back in), all my instructions say about yogurt is that it has to be thinned. How much water are you all adding to 'thin' it?

First of all Happy Birthday. 🎁 and congrats on your 20 pounds loss and your first non scale victory (the stairs) 🎉. The chili was a really good choice and good for you sticking to a couple of bites of the cake. Your husband sounds super sweet and supportive. They actually have a birthday cake yogurt too. I can’t remember what brand it was but went I seen it I was like ooh I’ll have to remember that. I do log my food. I actually use the Baritastic App and it has worked great so far but i ran into a snag with it tonight. I made Turkey meatballs and it does have Turkey meatballs in the database but I’m pretty sure they are smaller than mine were because one meatball was way less calories than I estimated. I wish it had a way to add a recipe and say how many servings you had. I like the app because my phone is always with me and it also notifies you to take your vitamins and to drink and all that if you set it up. Plus you can log your measurements and weight. The book certainly is sufficient too if that’s what works for you though.

I spoke to one before I was discharged and she told me the most basic stuff 1 week clear fluids 1 week fuller fluids 4 weeks purees Then some examples of food to have during each stage. Qtys are like cup wise but no mention of calories anywhere. I am currently on full liquids so I'd have a protien shake premade or powder using almond milk or normal milk + frozen Berries Greek yogurt low fat non flavored And I made a oat and chicken chicken soup which I blended and I have q cup of it a day. I did call the dietitian today and she said just eat healthy and I am eating right No mention of calories 😭😭😭 I am literally fetching info on this website or tiktok and just going eith it with the knowledge I got.

I definitely recommend to take it easy and absolutely listen to your body! a little bit at a time I started with trying yogurt and protein and then all of a sudden my body didn’t tolerate it and I had to go back to clear liquids. Definitely continue with the medication. Those have been a blessing to me. I am going to stay on Nexium for the next two months per my doctor. Do not do the vitamins. I would definitely recommend wait on vitamins until your purée stage if you have a delicate stomach. Vitamin and vitamins and I think that’s what really affected my stomach and why I had to river back to liquids. Congratulations on your surgery.!!

Yes everyone's programs are different for sure and I agree with @ShoppGirl that if you have the option of a meal go with that. My program was 12 days pre-op diet - the first 10 days were 2 shakes - my team had a guideline for the calorie/carbs/sugar count they should have - and then a lean protein with a non starchy veg dinner. All other diet/no sugar drink options were fine - seltzer, diet soda, tea, black coffee, broth. I think I could have 1/2 cup of milk and a yogurt somewhere in there. Day 11 was liquids only - shakes, jello, broth. Day 12 was clear liquids only basically broth lol. Thankfully I was released from the hospital at the pureed stage and did not have a full liquid stage, but even pureed was not it after awhile. Vitamins and supplements you don't have to really start until after as long as your current bloodwork doesn't show any deficiencies. I had to start chewables only for the first 30 days and then could move to capsules.

I was allowed greek yogurt on my full liquid too, but I found it too thick in the beginning. I watered it down with a splash of milk until it was a thinner consistency, but after a week or so I was able to get it down on it's own.

I'm with a lot of folks here - overnight oats are a go since it's so easy to prep ahead and have them on hand at the ready. Usually for a single serve I mix 1/4 cup oats (you can likely also put them in a food processor or blender to make it slightly smaller but not process enough to make oat flour) 1/4 cup non fat plain greek yogurt 1/4-1/2 cup milk of your choice or even a premade vanilla protein shake. 1 tsp chia seeds (agree it doesn't have a taste, just a texture and adds fiber and a lil more protein) 2 tbsp of pbfit splash of vanilla sprinkle of cinnamon you can also add a sweetener of your choice depending on how sweet you like it after the other ingredients are mixed. and depending on my mood - i'll add in a little bit of banana and or sugar free mini choc chips. It's very customizable after the base.

Did you see the idea for the ricotta bake? I have posted it a couple of times but it’s really good. I will add though that with the purée stage I was eating a lot of cheese and barely any fiber and between that and the shakes the constipation was pretty bad. I ended up adding some purée oats with the NP permission and some purée veggies with Genepro unflavored protein powder mixed in and I added a teaspoon of soluble fiber to my daily proffee and all that seems to have helped. The other thing that is pretty good is puree egg salad. I just made it like normal then put it in the food processor. Well I did use less of the yolks and subbed some Greek yogurt for half the low fat Mayo to cut some fat. I thought it was gonna be really gross honestly but it pretty much tastes the same. The other thing I did was to purée a whole container of salsa and I add that to my scrambled egg beaters and my purée refried beans for some flavor.

Hello folks! It's been a while since I posted; been somewhat all over the map just trying to figure out what and when to eat and how to up my hydration. I finally settled on the fact that I'm just still not liking eggs, which is annoying, that tuna, salmon, and chicken are my go-to protein sources, and carbs?? UGH. I literally had two providers in my back to back nurse practitioner then nutritionist give me conflicting advice regarding carbs at my one month post op. Due to a rescheduled appointment I had that appointment on 9/11 as opposed to the week earlier - my surgery was on 8/5. The nurse told me that my energy level was probably flagging because of not hitting my hydration goals and that eating carbs after hitting my protein goals was fine, as long as I avoided sugar. Then the nutritionist came in and talked about how I should still be avoiding carbs in order to hit ketosis, and that supposedly once I hit ketosis I'll feel like a million bucks. Eesh. I've been tracking everything in my Baritastic app and I have only gone up to 31 carbs like, two days since my surgery, and it was because of applesauce and cream based soup. I'm wondering when I'm supposed to start feeling fantastic?! The third week plateau was REAL and incredibly obnoxious; I didn't see movement on my scale for almost a week despite hitting my protein goals and struggling to hit my hydration goals. I broke through it, though I'm still not losing as quickly as I'd like. I find that eating Greek yogurt in the morning serves me pretty well, and I've also noticed that sometimes I have to split my meals into 'part one' and 'part two' in order to hit my protein goal. Like; I'll have my yogurt, wait the thirty minutes, hydrate for a while, hit the timer, then 30 minutes later have another small protein snack. It's definitely been a struggle to keep my energy up and not get burned out on this whole thing. I felt like I was rocking along until after purees, then I just ended up baffled as to what I could or should eat. Honestly, the limits on vegetables don't seem to be holding particularly true for me; I've been fine with tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, onion, mushrooms, carrots, and beans. I've not had much as far as fruits - one day I was out and didn't have any food with me so I got a kids meal from arby's with a bottled water, just the meat from a slider, and a packet of applesauce. I split that applesauce pouch into three portions, honestly, and only ate about half of the deli meat they gave me. Maybe I'll try to find more recipes using cream cheese - I'm annoyed that my grocery order didn't have the cabbage I ordered because I was looking forward to making some of the unstuffed cabbage rolls for this week. Guess I'll have to suck it up and go to the store for the missing items tomorrow. I bought an exercise bike I'm looking forward to using - It's a recumbent bike and I haven't figured out the right TIME to try to use it. It's been a bit of a struggle to find the timing between meals, hydrating, meds, vitamins, housework, etc but hopefully returning to this forum will help me get more on track. For anyone it might help - I've found that low fat cottage cheese and tuna melts made on a zero net carb small tortilla with 1/3 a can of tuna and two thin slices of colby/jack or a skim/reduced fat mozzarella string cheese are my main sources of protein. A couple of days ago I made a veggie mix of zucchini, broccoli, bell peppers, and a bit of diced onion. I've sliced up thin bits of both chicken and pork separately and use some of that zero sugar stir fry sauce to make meals of them. It works, even if not particularly exciting, and has a nice flavor at least.

Just a thought whilst reading through others comments. I know you said that carbs are hard to increase, however I think that is the culprit. I work out 6days a week and I am closer to 80g of carbs and 30 ish g of fat most days. You don't have to eat bread but fruits, and veggies have carbs. I am not saying goes balls to the wall, but if your working out then 1800 cal is not cutting it. My BMR to maintain is close to 2500 calories, I eat about 1500 cal right now just because I cannot physically eat that much. I checked to see how many calories I need to gain weight and I would need to consume 3300 calories a day! I am not saying stuff yourself, but eating every 1/5-2hrs will be beneficial- add granola to your yogurt, protein bar right after working out, eat some peanut butter balls with oatmeal, maple syrup, caco nibs or chocolate chips, add cottage cheese to eggs with a handful of spinach. Beefing up your meals will help you feel better. Maybe you know all this but just my two cents

Go back to the basics! Prioritize protein, cut out sugar, stick to 140g total carbs, 40g fat. Meal Prep and go for daily walks Its doable!! You got this! This is my diet at 7months post op with an 1hr + of exercise 6x a week (exercise is 30min weight lifting and 30-45min cardio) Wake up: Café latte premier protein and decaf cold brew Breakfast: egg whites, Jennie o turkey sausage, cheese and Pico de Gallo Snack: fruit and mini jerky stick or popcorn (lesserevil brand only 50cal low carb and has some protein) Lunch: usually a salad with pasta, veggies, some crunch (wonton strips, crispy onions, croutons) dressing is homemade (Greek yogurt, hidden valley ranch dry mix, fat free Italian dressing to thin it out) snack: Oikos or Dannon Light and Fit yogurt with granola Dinner: I get fancy- last night I had an Egglife wrap put 2TSP of pest on it, 3oz grilled chicken, 10g of reduced fat mozzarella cheese, 1 tlbs of picked jalapeno, 1 tbls of red onion and 10g of shredded Parmesan cheese Dessert: a couple of yasso popples, or Ill have a few bites of my hubbys ben and jerrys (lol) This is my normal day to day with variations but I usually end up with about 130+ of Protein, under 90g carbs and under 50g of fat. I am not perfect at all but meal prepping really really helps my week be successful. I also track every single thing (bad or good) in Netdiary and I pre-track my day the night before or the morning of, this allows me to see what I have going on and if I decide to eat a piece of sugar free chocolate or make myself an iced coffee with sugar free creamer, I can see if my macros fit it. Lately I have been going over but I am still losing weight. I have surpassed my goal weight and am still losing- lot slower- so I am trying to figure out how to eat a bit more so I can maintain. I love this journey and am having so much fun with it (crazy I know) but I am an open book and am happy to help with meal plans, meal prep and exercises!

Honestly if you are sure you want the surgery there isn’t much to do to prepare. You need to find a couple of protein shakes that you like and buy a few. Ideally not too many because some peoples tastes change. You may be allowed some yogurt or pudding and cream soups. They can be bought ahead as well. As long as you have someone who can to the store for you. You should be good with that. Do any preop labs or tests they requires and get your house as organized as possible for when you come home. Everything doesn’t have to be out. Just at counter height. They want you to walk every hour when you come home anyways so it’s good to have some stuff to do. The longer you have to wait the longer you have to second guess things.

Hi, sorry I have been absent. I was sleeved a week ago today. I stayed in hospital two nights and didn't have any real problems. Liquids went down pretty easily and I got 1litre in on the first day and the drip was taken off that afternoon. They left the cannula in and it started bleeding - it was in my elbow bend and I think I did something when I bent my arm too quickly - so they took that out too, which was great! I tidied up my room, put on clean clothes and took it easy. I even got let out for a couple of hours to visit my father-in-law in the public hospital next door. He is nearly 90 and the end is coming - they thought it was close on Tuesday although he has picked up a bit since then. Slept intermittently the first night and rang the bell for pain killers a few times. The second night I slept fine - but they woke me up for obs at 11:30pm and 5:30am! Ugh! Then I went back to sleep after the 5:30am ones and my surgeon woke me at 6:30am! I gave up after that My husband turned up 9ish so I got up and showered, dressed and packed and was sent on my way with Palexia (opioid painkiller) and a reflux medication. We went to visit FIL for an hour or so then got an Uber to our short stay apartment. I had to go to Sydney for surgery - I live in Canberra - and the doctor said I should stay in Sydney for four more days. So that was Thursday, day 2 post op. I didn't do anything else that day. Friday was ok, I'm not having any trouble consuming liquids although plain water is the hardest - it gives me a temporary lump in my chest and sometimes hiccups. One thing that really bothered me on Wednesday and Thursday was that when I lay down to sleep at night I felt like I had a tennis ball in my chest. I had to sit up for a while. The surgeon said it is common with the surgery and I also had a small hiatus hernia repaired and it can be part of that too. I found that not taking tablets and drinking water immediately before lying down was best but I haven't had it since. Saturday I hit a wall mentally. I think it was a lot to do with being away from home - I always feel a bit "wrong" away from home but usually I'm travelling which means (a) fun (b) eating and drinking what I like and of course post surgery none of that was happening. I went for a short walk with my husband in Hyde Park Saturday evening and it helped a tiny bit. I felt really depressed and like I'd done the wrong thing and that I'd never lose weight etc etc. Because I'm autistic I had a couple of autistic meltdowns at my poor husband who copes with them quite well. So unfair, he was doing his best to look after me. Sunday I said I didn't want to do anything but after a while I said to him we should go for a walk. Unfortunately it was hot and humid in Sydney (Canberra has an inland elevated dry climate so I don't do humidity well), but we went out for two hours. I had to sit down a lot - no energy plus the humidity ugh - so it was slow and I only did about 5,000 steps but it was a good thing to do. We walked through Hyde Park, down to the Art Gallery, through the domain, up to Macquarie Street, round to Circular Quay. It was Australia Day so there were heaps of people out, which made me nervous about someone walking into me and hurting my incisions. We had lunch at the Quay - fish and chips for him and a banana smoothie for me - I ate the tip of a chip with aioli but I chewed it to death first, and chewed some fish and spat it out (I know, gross). We caught the light rail back up to Town Hall and went "home". He went back to visit his Dad and I watched YouTube videos and even edited one of my own (I have YouTube channel on, don't laugh after what I said about being away from home, travel). Monday we packed up and came home. The relief of being home! I still felt a bit funny bit it wasn't too bad and last night I gave the kitchen and butler's pantry a really good clean so I was obviously feeling a lot better. Our cats (6) sit all over the bench and leave hair and dirt so after a week of being away it was pretty grubby. Plus my husband cooked me some soup and he is messy to say the least. Today I'm back at my desk getting on top of things and having that shower in my own bathroom was unbelievably good. I'm shaky and weak this morning so sipping on an Optifast shake. I've been tracking food in My Fitness Pal. I was craving hummus for lunch yesterday - I saw it in the Qantas Lounge on the way to the plane haha - so when we went shopping for food I bought a tub and ate half of it for lunch. Then I tracked it and the calories are unbelievable! I thought it was mainly chick peas but the half a small tub was about 850 calories so I won't be doing that again. Michael is going to make me some and put only a tiny bit of oil in it so it should be a lot lower in calories hopefully. I hope all this is of some use to others about to undergo this procedure! Or else I've just been rambling to no purpose I think I can start puree today but tbh I've been eating thicker stuff like hummus and yogurt already.

The few I like / can handle are all milk-protein or whey protein, lol. It's this ridiculous little circle of "Ooh, this one isn't dairy/whey! But wait, look, stevia which always tries to murder me. Okay, this other one has sucralose and I'm okay with that -- but it's milk-protein so fml." I do have one shake or (decaf) profee a day, but usually either split in two as a snack or to replace my lunch (cause lately lunch doesn't want to sit right 80% of the time, unless it's yogurt or shake). Either way, it usually doesn't happen until after 10am because again, dairy/milk and my meds absorbtion issues. I was really frustrated for a while when I first was having meds / supplement absorbtion issues due to how ridiculously I had to time everything. I've ironed (hehe) out most of the drag so it's easier to handle, but it's still frustrating when I seriously just want my cup of comfort coffee earlier, or am really feeling yogurt for brekkie. My care team says it might be something I have to do for the rest of my life, but my PCP and endocrinologist both say that when my labs come back improved enough that I can cut out out more meds / supplements, I should be able to have a less annoying schedule. We'll see.

It seems to be all carbs that give me trouble, although "bad" carbs make me sick almost immediately. My body went from constantly craving carbs to seemingly not being able to process them anymore. It's really weird. And frankly, annoying. And I agree, a few of my doctors are seeing numbers on the scale and bmi and not me as a person and my overall progress. I've lost 246 pounds from my highest weight. And 213 pounds from my original surgery weight. And that still doesn't seem like it's good enough!!! My current weight is lower than some other people's final ending goal weight. THEIR doctor's are ok with that, yet MINE seem to think I need to lose more, more, MORE!!! This is how people fall into disordered thinking and eating. I'm trying very hard for that NOT to happen to me again, and this is not helping. Also, yes I have started adding a Chobani Complete liquid Greek yogurt to my snacks. They have 20g of protein, 15g of carbs, and 180 calories per serving. I've got myself up to 40 carbs per day with that (without working out) and seem to be doing ok, so I'm going to go up to 45 carbs daily without working out (that's where I was at but with workouts) and then sloooowly try to increase from there and see if I can. My body just really resists carbs, so it's really slow going.

Ok, so I'm 2 years and 4 months out from my 1st surgery and 1 year 3 months out from my revision. I'm still losing (trying to stop losing but so far I'm still losing an average of 4 pounds per month) so I haven't experienced the rebound weight gain yet. I can tell you I eat popcorn all the time. I also eat smokehouse almonds, cheese cubes, salami and/or peperoni slices for snacks. I eat Rebel ice-cream, keto brownies, sliced apples mixed with fresh blueberries and raspberries, Greek yogurt with fresh berries and monk fruit sweetener mixed in, keto cake with sugar free icing, French toast with keto bread, fresh berries, and sugar free syrup. If I want "guilty" food, I have something like steak, 2 spoonfuls peas mixed with mozzarella cheese, and 2 spoonfuls of Bob Evans mashed potatoes. I don't tolerate carbs very well, so I have to be careful with them. I also have kettle chips fried in avocado oil, 1 packet (instead of my former usual 2-3) of oatmeal such as cinnamon apple or banana cream, and minestrone soup and crackers (only like 4 or 5). Everything is a balance. Nothing in excess, no large portions, no "off plan" foods too often. Just a little here and there and whatever you have should be fine. Just remember to keep working out, keep moving your body, keep prioritizing protein and you should be good.