I Have Official Direction

Hey guys....just wanted to share with you- I have been keeping a food journal now for 7 days thanks to the direction from Melissa. On Thursday i went to the Dr. not my surgeon --but a Bariatric Specialist and i asked her at this point in the game where i should be at nutritionally. She told me that i should be at 800 calories; 35.5 g fat; 40g carb and 80g protein. This is very close to what Melissa had told me also. Well, i want you to know --that since Sunday of last week (7-15) i have lost 7lbs. shut up! I dont usually lose 7lbs in a whole month.......i have a renewed sense of encouragement and i want to personally thank Melissa for pointing me in the right direction..... It is an ah -ha moment for me ---i am sure that most of you might call it a duh?! moment---it just took me longer than most to catch on! Have a great day! here's to another great week! Dawn P.S. At Barnes and Noble they have a book called the DIETMINDER it is like a spiral notebook that keeps track of Cals Fat Prot Carbs and FIber- also medications and exercise as well......it is my new best friend!

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WEIGHT LOSS!!! I NEED TO GET A REALITY CHECK I AM JUST CRAZY ABOUT CARBS AND I NEED TO STOP IT OR I AM GOING TO SABATAGE (sp*) WHAT I DO HAVE OFF. AWWWGGGG DO YOU EXCERCISE EVERYDAY? I AM ALSO HAVING PROBLEMS KEEPING UP ON THAT TOO. THANKS FOR TELLING US ABOUT THE BOOK I MAY HAVE TO GO GET ONE OF THOSE AND KEEP IT WITH ME AT ALL TIMES MINI ME

MM I did not realize how many carbs i was taking in per day until i wrote it down and it was shocking - i was taking in as many as 70g per day! Now there is a HUGE difference between the 40 i am supposed to have and the 70 i was eating! Same with Fat... Another interesting thing I asked the Dr. was about the "honeymoon phase" and if it was over was this going to be the end for my weightloss---she said that the window for loss is really a whole 12 months --so all is not lost so to speak. I dont exercise every day--i wish i could say that i did......i try to do at least 30min of cardio (usu. treadmill at 4mph) 5 days per week....i put on my ipod and do it yuck..... Hopefully I will catch up here soon ----

Thanks for the numbers I am going to copy them to my computer. Melissa is great isn't she...thanks for the info... Erin

Dawn, that is great! I'm excited that you were able to see a Bariatric Specialist...there needs to be a lot more of those in the medical field from now on with the numbers of wls cases rising so dramatically. I hope that we'll start to see some of them here where I live before too long. After all, you can't keep bugging your surgeon forever because he/she has to be out there performing more surgeries! Good for you on the food journalling! It is something that I don't always enjoy but I make myself do it because I know I will be successful as long as I keep it up. And what a great tip on that book, I'll "force" myself to go to the mall to look at it and see if I have to get it. ;) And while I'm there I may just have to swing by the Christopher and Banks store.... LOL! (I love their clearance racks!) Molly

Aw Dawn, thanks for that kind post. I will tell ya though, what I do is what works for *me* and may not work for everyone else. My doc doesn't have a lot of guidelines for specific categories other than protein like fats and carbs. I came up with what I feel has worked best for me and seeing others on here and what has worked for them. I think those sound like good guidelines.. most here seem to get the recommendation for more carbs.. I personally don't want to go over 50-60 until I am at goal.. (I did today, which is NOT normal for me at all.. ugh). But with those guidelines u are sure to be succesful I would think and it sounds like you already are losing great with them. Keep up the great work, remember it is you doing it, so take all the credit