You cheered for him on TV when he walked away with the Biggest Loser title and now you can read about Erik Chopin and his decision to forgo weight loss surgery and choose to lose his weight through diet and exercise. Erik's story about weight loss and plastic surgery appears in the latest issue of OH Magazine, as well as a sidebar from his plastic surgeon Dr. Andre Aboolian who explains what you need to know if considering plastic surgery. Readers will also learn about Lap Band fills; saline vs. silicone breast implants--what you need to know; finding intimacy; and fitness basics. You will also receive delicious recipes for the fall season and see before and after photos of your fellow OH members. This issue offers something for everyone whether you are considering weight loss surgery, already underwent weight loss surgery or are losing those excess pounds through diet and exercise. If you are already a subscriber, your issue is on its way. If you still need to subscribe to this bi-monthly publication, and receive six issues for the low price of $25, please click on the purple word Magazine at the top of this page or go directly to http://www.oh-magazine.com. If you have any questions regarding your current subscription, or need help subscribing, please email Annie at [email protected].

Hey Guys, Check out this new site I found...about emotional eating...its free and I love it. www.shedemotionalweight.com

Thanks for the support.  I wish more people would sign up and come the cooking club as well.  It is so awesome the things that my mom and I are finding to eat.  As far as having stuff in your cupboards ready to eat there are protein puddings out there called Instone (choc, vanilla, banana cream) they have 20 grams of protein and 1 or 3 carbs.  To me they are very tasty and come in 4 oz cans.  You can get them at GNC for 1.99 per can.  Try them out if you like them then go to www.netritiion.com and order them by the case you save a lot of money on them.  My mom and I order a case of each and split the flavors up and we saved over $44 instead of buying individually from GNC.  Also, there are cheese crackers out there at that site too.  They are made by Specialty Cheese based out of WI.  A 2 oz bag has 4 carbs and 20 protein.  These are such healthy snacks to have handing around you.  Also, Walmart carries Pork rinds these are great to melt cheese or fix up nachoes without the carbs.  I can go on forever with all the things we are finding. Loveaziza, How far out are you from surgery.  I know someone who had the gastric 5 years ago and she has put 20 lbs back on.  She doesn't pay close attention to the carb/protein thing that we should follow.  Now she is finding herself struggling to get those lbs back off.  I am surprised to hear that the people you know are able to eat anything.  I do find from ready other post that if you continuously eat carbs your body will become acceptable to them again (especially if you started dumping to begin with).  I found that if I avoid a lot of carb food I feel better and more energized.  If I go over 20 grams of carbs in one sitting I get sick and flu like feeling in my pouch.  So I never try to get to that point.  And I don't want my body to become acceptable to that.  So each day I try to get 80 grams of protein in and no more than 40 grams of carb.  If you are interested in some recipes that I have found send me your email address ([email protected]) and I can email you some those that I already have scanned to you.  I don't pick recipes that take hours to prepare just because I don't have the time.  I usually pick recipes that are fast to put together and either they need just the time to bake or they are ready to eat. After each cooking club I scan the recipes and send them out to all those that have signed up for the cooking club even though majority of them don't come.  Do you have support group that meets regularly from your area?  That is where I got those coming to the cooking club, get one started in your area.  It was easier to do than I thought.  I can send you my guidelines that I choose to start this and then I let it roll from there and get input from others.  I have gotten such great input from others that those that can't come during the week for the meeting has asked me to get one together on weekends where we cook together as a group and divide up the cost and split up what we amongst ourselves.  This will be underway sometime in Sept.  So if you ever feel you need a weekend trip....come on down/up to Fargo and join us.   Sorry this was so long, but I can go on and on and on about this.  It has me so excited and so determined to never get fat again and that starts with me changing my habits to utilize the tool given to me to the fullest.

Welcome and Congratulations 100 pounds is AWESOME! Those 30 will be off in no time. I wish there was a Gastric Cooking Club near me I would go in a heartbeat, I have no clue what I am doing, even though my brother in law had it, he eats whatever he wants now and don't gain and my husband had it and he eats the same thing for every meal everyday. And I can't do either so I wing it everyday. :( Anyway if you have some good recipes drop me a line! :) Thanks

welcome...congratulations on losing 100 lbs, thats amazing!!  I think your group sounds fantastic.  I live 60 mins south of Fargo otherwise I would be there in a heart beat.  I'm the opposite of you, I don't like to cook much.  I would just like to open the cupboard and have the food there.  I've had a hard time finding things I can eat that I like too.  The pressure to eat 60 grams of protein, especially in the begining is a tuffy.  Good Luck with your group, sounds like your doing great.