Up at about 4:30 5:30 - 8:00 a.m. - morning beverages (hot tea, coffee, or diet lemonade, water, etc) B - 9ish depending on when I've fiished drinking. L - 12:30 or 1ish S - 4 or 4:30ish D - anywhere between 8 and 9 p.m. no food after dinner, hopefully... In bed no later than 10.

I was obsessing until I got so pi$$ed about the food particles comment... Actually, I just wasn't worried about it yesterday, I hurt that much... Today isn't that bad, but I figured, hey, I probably exposed enough people to my cooties yesterday, I'd give them a break today. Glad you're seeing your therapist... Things going better on that front?

I totally eat on a schedule. Weekends are less structures which isn't good but weekdays I'm very structured. 5-5:30 Protein shake on the way to gym 7:30 Protein shake on the way from gym to work 9:30 Breakfast 12-12:30 Lunch 3:30 Protein shake and maybe a piece of cheese 6:30-7:00 Dinner 9:30 Protein shake and maybe a SF ice cream/snack/piece of cheese

Oh geez, woman! Yup, you know your body. You are the only one that lives in it! I cannot believe the "food particles" crap. Hope you got your prescription and are feeling better soon. Any news on your labs from last week? Did they send them around the world or what? Hugs, Kathy

Honestly, I don't think anything miraculously happens at 18 months that causes *poof* our bodies to change what it absorbs. Wish I knew more of the science/physiology of it all, ya know? I do know that our intestines sensing will hypertrophy if they do not get enough protein. They sense that they aren't getting enough and they will grow. And they can grow feet not just inches as they attempt to absorb more. This is one reason that I have done and continue to do protein shakes. I wanted my body to have protein that it could readily absorb and not have to "adapt". Not sure how much I can control of that but I definitely tried. All that being said... Rich is 24 months post-op and has gained weight. Yup. So much for my two thoughts above: 1. nothing miraculous happens at 18 months and 2. drinking protein shakes will decrease hypertrophy. Anyway, I guess Rich wasn't paying much mind to quantities and such - he never really had. He just eats. His lowest weight was 242, I think. He hovered for most of the last year between 245 and 252 or so which is a good range for him. Well, at the end of July he faced the scale at the oncologist's office at 268. He looked like a deer in headlights. Shock and awe. LOL. I dunno what numbers he was seeing on the scale leading up til then since I know he does weigh himself at home and at the gym but I think he was a bit of a Cleopatra cuz he didn't gain 20 or so pounds overnight. Duh. He has made a few changes and I think he is down to around 260 now. We'd like to see him get back to 250 or so. Anyway, so the dreaded 10% regain (or is it 20%) or whatever they say can happen post-op - Rich obviously is an example of such. Am I nervous? Sure. And I was nervous enough that I kept some clothing. I hated to do that but practicality told me that 10 lbs is a size so I kept the next size or two higher - just in case. The rest got donated. Do I stress about it? No. Heck I just went up 7 lbs in 2-3 weeks from one Power Crunch bar daily (190 cals). I'm used to scale anomalies. My body overreacts to things. Always has and always will. I'd love to be able to hover in a say 3-5 lb range but I know my body has a mind of it's own at times. Just gotta do what I'm doing that seems to be working. I'm ramblin... Kathy