Almost 9-weeks Post Op

Hello everyone! I thought I would just provide an update on where I am. Thursday I will be 9 weeks post op. I have lost about 43-45 pounds. I am feeling GREAT! I have finally purchased a protein powder that can be mixed with water, but have not tried it yet. I can pretty much eat anything, but must eat slowly. Have a couple of incidents where things didn't quite go down and then I must throw them up. But I feel better afterwards. I still have not tried milk, sugar or soda. I stay away from chips, popcorn and bread because I know how much I like them. We, my boyfriend and I, are now walking about 3 days a week and just purchased a weight and bench set! I cannot wait to start using it. I am looking for other food ideas. I am tired of chicken, shrimp and tuna. Any receipies would be great. I have tried fruit again and it works pretty good. I did have one more dumping syndrom. It was from Boston Chicken, I think I was really hungry ate toooooo fast and possibly toooo much. Anyway, hope to hear from some of you soon. Thanks again.

Do a search on here for recipes. Also check out Splenda.com and http://www.angelfire.com/ok5/vbowencookbook/ and http://www.vitalady.com/ They can be tricky to find but they are there. I had my surgery 12/6 and I eat normal. Steak, Chicken, Fish, Tuna, Salad....I am fighting to stay away from as many carbs as I can. I started at 314 and I am 270..44lbs lost I have found here lately that chicken is really heavy on my stomach so dont eat too much or too fast. I have also found that if I need to throw it up to drink a little even though I am miserable and that will make it come up. Jennifer

I love zucchini boats! Jenny-O or any turkey sausage (italian style), with onion, bell pepper, and italian style diced tomatoes, sliced black ofives and diced mushrooms (I like portabellos), zucchini pulp, and either a packet of spaghetti sauce, or the canned stuff (just look at your sugar content). Take 2 zucchinis and hollow out a "boat" in the middle. Keep pulp to toss in the meat sauce. Put the zucchini halves in a big ziploc bag, and microwave for about 4-5 minutes, let them stand. They should be just the slightest bit firm. If still too firm, nuke another 1 minute and let them "steam" in the bag. Spray a skillet with olive oil, brown turkey and all ingredients together, except the diced tomatoes and sauce. Then drain if you need to (Jenny-O didn't require me to), add sauce packet/sauce and tomatoes.. simmer until everything is warmed through. Can let everything cool, and freeze anything you don't use. I usually get 4 meals out of this, depending on if my husband hounds in, or how big the zucchinis are.

Hi Kimberly, I am a week ahead of you, have lost 37 pounds. You are doing an awesome job!! I know what you mean by staying away from those bad carbs-they will NEVER be good for you. I am that way with sugar and definitely have no intentions of having soda again. I am too much of an addict to sugar and sweets to even try them, I must convince myself that I do not need or want them and I have been successful thusfar. Fruit is my only sweet (and crystal light). I also drink snapple (diet) different flavors and drink propel. You know, crabmeat is delicious and something else you can try. Have you had the inside of a taco, or an enchilada. Those go down pretty easy. Also, I really like the beef fajita tacos, they go down real well for me but I have to eat and chew very very well and sometimes I get a part of the meat that I know will cause problems , I dont swallow that part. You may want to try chicken tortilla soup, they sell at boston market and taco cabana. when I go to chipotle, I order a burrito in a bowl and I get 1 tortilla with it, I can manage to eat 1 tortilla, no more than that. I had chinese food today- spicy schechuan (Sp???) chicken was delicious. It was very tender, had a "gravy" that was spicy and had broccoli in it which went down very well too (I had not had broccoli yet). I also ate a spring roll with it. Very good. Meatballs are good, either with ragu or with gravy. I ate a corner of a hamburger last Friday and it went down good. I dont do too much bread because I am a carb-addict. I will indulge myself sometimes and I really go light on fried foods but do enjoy them occasionally. I shared a plate with my friend at work at the BBQ place, we had ribs and sausage and 2 sides--I ate 1 rib and the small saucer of beans. I made some beef stew last week--lots of veggies and I just used lean stew meat, browned it in a skillet and used the beef stew seasoning mix. I even made cornbread (used soy milk) and had a microscopic piece of that. Thats good to make on a cold day when you have time for it to cook the meat really well and get it real tender. Good source of protein. I drink a protein drink for breakfast every day. I want to start drinking one when I get home in the evening after my workout but havent gotten there yet. My friend and I often share plates at lunch and we are always trying new things so if you have a particular restaurant in mind and want suggestions, let me know and I will see if I can help with some suggestions. My friend is really getting a kick out of this, we split the cost and I take what little I am gonna eat and she has the rest. Sometimes we will split the leftovers, most times I dont want to see the food again so I make her take them home. She is eating less, losing weight and saving money by splitting lunch with me. Overall, I dont dump real bad, I just feel mild symptoms of what appears to be dumping and that is enough to get this ole girl to stop eating/drinking whatever the offending food may be. I drank part of a protein shake from walmart that had too much sugar, I did not fini**** because I started feeling the pounding heart and yucky stomach feeling. Thats all the sign I need so I immediately stopped drinking it. NOTHING is worth that feeling. Sorry this is so long but I just got to typing and thinking and typing some more. Let me know if you need anything. Angela