Your doing great you will make your goal before the next 6 months. I posted my status yesterday check it out. I really don't want to put a goal because I hope to become pregnant after 12-18 month post-op. Don't know if it will happen but if not maybe I can look into PS. Sharon -84 278/194/ ?

Here are my stats: Highest weight 331 surgery date (9-12-03) 317 weight as of today 245 total weight loss-86# I have been a slow loser, but I had serious complications that held me up on my exercising for a while. Now that I am exercising I am loosing faster. Hoping to get a new picture up soon. Evelyn

Hi Sharon your'll doing great. Here are my stats Consultation weighted 385lbs Surgery 9/25/03 355lbs lost 35lbs before surgery 3/04/04 a little over 5months weigh 251 lbs Lost 104lbs since surgery and 35lbs before a total of 139lbs I try to eat mostly protein and then some good carbs like a salad. Some days I can eat more than other days. I just started a new job, start to work at 5:30 in the morning. I get up at 3:30 am I dont eat breakfast that early so I have glass of water 20 oz and my vitiamins and then I have a cup of decaf coffee. I wait till my 1st break to eat breakfast at 7:30 then at 11:30 have lunch. The first two weeks I took deli meat and cheese like turkey breast. Now I am sick of these choices. I only have 10minutes to eat at each break. Does anybody have any ideas what I could pack to eat. Please email me some Ideas. I am aloud to drink while I work so I can get all my water in. Thanks Hugs MJ

You, know I keep reading the emails that we all send and I mostly hear about how much weight we have lost. We all think that we are losing so slow. I for one have thought that for months , but I read in one email where the person was not doing what he should have and as I look back I ahvent done eveything correct also. But more than anything I cant remember a time I have lost 76lbs in 5 months. So lets look at what we are doing and thank GOD for the loss that we have and get back on track. And if you see where we have done eveything correct and our weight loss is still slow, then lets still look at what we have done so far. I still have problems with protein and water and find that I dont get enough of either in. when I do , I see where I lose faster so that is the one area that I will concentrate on the next several weeks and see what happens. Good luck to us all and see later

I still say I get so confused when reading posts in this forum!!! See, my surgeon and his associated physicians who work with 'Rocky Mountain Physicians', are so strict when it comes to food after surgery. I was told that I was to have soft foods at first, with no sugar. Then, when I could finally digest things better, I was allowed to move to soft meats such as luchmeats, soft cooked eggs and soft vegetables, sugar free jello, sugar free yogur****er, skim milk, crystal light, broth. Now ( five months post-op) I am eating approximately 1/2 cup or 4 to 5 oz. of food. My surgeons recommend that their patients stick real close to the ammount guidelines - and at five months I am just about right on. And, we are strongly encouraged to stick to the formula that they have set up for us, which is : 3 bites meat and 1 bite vegetables! So different compared to what I read on these boards sometimes. Here is a short list of foods we are allowed to have, and what we are not: Allowed: meats, vegetables ( raw or cooked), small ammts of fruit ( somewhat discouraged), cottage cheese, cheese, sugar free yogurt, milk buttermilk, eggs, salad w/dressing, beans, beef jerky, broth, oatmeal and shredded wheat ( sparingly = once or twice a week). Plus more, but I can't list everything! Not Allowed: Sweets or anything with much sugar in it, breads, refined carbs in any way ( pasta, breadsticks, even potatoes, white rice), cofee, caffeinated Tea, Pop, well....you get the picture. Can you see why I get a little confused when I hear what others eat? I have heard that surgeons are different, especially in what they allow their patients to eat. And, ultimately, eating is your choice, and what you see as right for you, and even what you don't think is right. But.....this surgery is simply a band-aid, not a cure! If a person continues to eat what they used to eat before surgery, and ignores basic rules of health, etc., then likely they will at one point re-gain weight and be miserable once more! The surgery only gives us a tool to help us get a head start, get on our feet, and on our way to a healthier way of eating and living! Countless people have proved, however, that despite their most wishful thinking, the surgery was not the "cure". Only one of the tools that can be used to get somewhere with our efforts in not over-eating. IT kind of gives us a grace-period where we can't over-eat even if we want to, without getting such negative reporcussions that hopefully it won't be worth it! But it's our choice what we do with it, especially when our bodies reach a point where they tolerate most foods again! If we chose to continue to eat the same foods, until we are full, or overfull like we did before our surgery, we are no doubt going to end up like we did before our surgery - it's a matter of time! We have to change, if we want to stay thinner and happier in life. It's brutal, I know. . My surgeon approaches the weight loss problem from the perspective that it is an addiction. Especially for people who have gotten as obese as those of us who needed surgery did. My surgeon prohibits coffee, because caffeine stimulates the appetite. Soda Stretches the stomache, breads and high carbohydrate items promote weight gain, and make it harder to lose weight. etc. So the rules are for our own good. They don't, however, promote protein shakes, I guess because of the sugar content. They want us to stick strictly to the 70% protein, 30% vegetable thing, to keep us going with enough protein. So......does this long-winded writing answer the question you asked? LOL. Personally, I tend to want to eat things that I left behind. Eating was a coping mechanism, a long used vice to get through life. It was an addiction, and even after surgery it was extremely tough to give up my only vice left. ( I quite smoking years before, and I didn't drink much, but couldn't anymore because of the surgery too). In fact, giving up food has been process of emotions and fears, and all that comes with that. I am on the board today, because I really need a support system. I am feeling so fragile in my recovery. I was dying when I had my surgery, and now I am living. But, I know how easy it is to lie to myself and talk myself into the old behaviors that got me into trouble before with my weight and life! I have lost close to 160 lbs in five months! If this sounds too good to be true, it's not. I started at 479 lbs, so I had much to lose. In fact, most people would be at their goal by now, but I am only half way! But I am grateful. Still, I am craving to read about people who are successful and doing what they are supposed to do to stay in recovery from this monster of a diasease ( compulsive eating). Good luck to those *****ad this post. I wish you the best! If anyone needs support like I do , feel free to email me ( no death threats or mean letters please, LOL), at ([email protected]). Tammy