Update and question...

Well, I have 4 more pounds for my 1st goal...under 300! I began at 339 and am now 303...36 lbs down oh my god! Don't feel much different yet, but people notice and that makes me feel better! Tomorrow will be 2 weeks, already feels like awhile ago. I get my staples out Thursday, can't wait for that. I've begun eating better...I had a mini meatball pureed with sauce last night for dinner and did fine. Night before did a small piece of pork pureed with low fat pork gravy. For breakfast I normally eat a 1/2 cup of low fat yogurt or 1/2 cup of non-fat cottage cheese. Lunch usually the same or 1/2 cup no sugar added pudding. In between I usually have no sugar popsicles, crystal lite, apple juice or 100% juice...I'm getting around very well considering. But I do have pain from the staples pulling, so I can't wait until they come out. So my question, what is everyone else eating...and how is everyone feeling?

Hi Jes..... We have the same numbers.....I started at 339 and am at 303 today. However, I was a little dismayed cause I've been at 303 for 2 1/2 days now. Weird huh? I'm eating almost everything. I did go see Dr. Roye Friday and he took out my stitches on the 6th stab wound. He did tell me to remain on pureed foods but no meat or chicken or anything, so be careful with that. I'm having cottage cheese, jello, and TONS of refried beans with sour cream. (I really like that right now). I'm waiting on Kristen to give me the low down on ricotta and spagetti sauce. Not sure how that concoction is supposed to be put together so need some guidance on that. But basically I eat whatever I want as long as it's pureed. I don't really strain anything anymore, but I do watch for lumps and fibrous things in the food. Dr. Roye didn't want to release me for work but I've just been doing too good. I have my release letter in hand and I think I may go in today for a couple of hours to see what's up. I'll have to spend at least that long down in HR trying to jump through all the hoops to get back in. They're very weird about coming back too soon or without physician approval. So that's my update. Doing very well. Hope to get past that darn 303 mark.......what the heck is up with that anyway.....I can't be in some sort of plateau already (but I'm still having a very tough time getting in enough water). I'm still at 40 oz. or less, which is crazy cause it seems like I used to drink my weight in water.......I've also been cleared for walking on the treadmill now, so perhaps that will help. I'm glad you're doing well and it will make a huge difference when your staples come out. Keep up the great work and before we know it, we'll never know what 300 pounds is like again. Won't that be something? HUGS and congrats.... Love ya. Shel

you ladies are both doing amazingly well! here's the lowdown on my pastaless manicotti: 1c FF/LF cottage cheese 1c LF ricotta cheese 1T italian seasoning 1/4 c. spaghetti sauce or to taste big handful of FF/LF mozzarella cheese salt/pepper puree all ingredients together. store in fridge until you want to eat. scoop 1/4c of it into mug, nuke it for 30-45 seconds. sometimes i'd add extra mozzarella to make it all stringy and gooey. i loved this stuff, and still eat it today.

Kristen: I heard people talking about this and didn't hear most of the ingredients before. Thanks very much, cause I'm ready to try this out. Did you have any problems with the cheese before the initial 4-6 weeks was out. I've not had any trouble with food at all, but don't really want to start now. The only real food warnings I got was about meat, especially chicken right now. But I would LOVE to put some mozzarella on this mixture. It sounds too good. Thanks again. This will probably be one of my staples from now on. HUGS. Shel

hiya! this was one of the first things i ate when i went to pureed foods. i never had an issue with any of it and haven't heard too many people mention issues with cheese, unless they're lactaid intolerant. it took me a good 4 months to be able to tolerate chicken, and even still.. i'm really wary of it. chicken breasts, unless cooked perfectly moist and tender, just get stuck - no matter how well i chew it up. i was lucky, when i had surgery, it was summer.. so everyone was having grilled meats. steak tips were my staple [and still are]. a lot of people are surprised i could eat red meat - but i haven't had any issues with it. only chicken and sometimes pork if it's too dry. try making some crab dip, too, if you like it. you can adapt just about any recipe. the only thing i learned was to not put scallions in it. it sounded like a fantastic idea, until one of them got stuck. i got the worst foamies. ick. lol good luck!

Kristen......... I thought I loved the refried beans and sour cream.........bought the stuff, threw some together, nuked it and OMG!!! It was soooooooooooooo good. I love this stuff. Best recipe yet. Thanks so much. Shel P.S. I bought some crabmeat and want to make a crab salad type thing and thought about the onion. I'm sort of staying away from onion of any kind as I hear it causes too much trouble. I plan on trying a whole lot of things......any more suggestions? The pastaless manicotti is a hit with me!!

i'm so glad you like the cheesy goop! i'm trying to remember what i ate for the first six weeks, and i'm pretty sure i only ate 6 different things because whatever i made, lasted an entire week. lol i think my mom made meatballs one night, so i kept some aside and pureed them with FF gravy. i ate a lot of crab and egg salad. i found the crab was easier to digest than the hard boiled egg, but i love egg salad. if i think of anything else, i'll let you know! bon appetit! kristen*

Hey Ladies- Im hanging in there. Over the last couple of days having trouble with protein, but did not know when to start pureeing foods so I have been living on soups. every protein I try is gross. I have acheivone on the way. I have 2 incisions that look like they are infected so I see Dr. Ryder next thursday. I have been using bacitracin and a bandaid to cover it. I went from 327 to 301 this morning. I was 303 for 3 days. I get about 48oz of water a day. I walk around my complex 2 to 3 times a day. Yesterday and today have been emotional days, I think because I just dont feel up to par yet. Has anyone else been feeling emotional lately? Well thats where I stand at the moment. Glad to see that everone is doing great! Keep up the great work. Shannon

Shannon: You're doing great. 303 must be the magic number, huh? But you got past it. I'm hoping that darn scale says something else when I go downstairs here in a few minutes. Emotional? Well..........let me see. I would say that I am hyper-emotional. OMG. I cry at everything and although I would not say that I feel depressed, I feel down. I would say I'm having a blue period and nothing is making me happy as of late. I do have a few big drama's going on within my family right now but I just feel blah!! I did have fun going into work yesterday. Hopefully, each day will get better and better as we heal and begin to understand what has actually happened to our bodies. I'm sorry to hear about the infections. My 6 wounds, even the one with stitches did great. No problems. The Dermabond seems to be loosening on some and they look good enough that I have no worries. But you're doing the right thing by having Dr. Ryder look at them. I hope all is well. I hear ya about the protein powders.....ARG!! YUK!! They don't make me sick but jeez they are gross. I do much better with food proteins. So I'm going to try Kristens pastaless manicotti tonight. Sounds pretty easy to make and easy to take to work. Also try some refried beans and FF sour cream. It'll get your protein intake up and you'll have more energy.....and it's good too. Take care and call me if you need anything. HUGS!!!!!! Shel

Hey Shell- U are doing great too!! I also have some drama going on in my family also, but it will all pass. I did by refried beans and ff sour cream last night, I also bought some egg substitute for breakfast in the mornings. So hopefully I can get some more protein in. I am in the next week going to pick up some stuff to make Kristens recipe. It sounds really good. Glad to see that u are doing good. Shannon