Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians (RMAP) Patients

Awesome, thanks!  I am going to plan on attending on Wednesday then.

Yogurt

  Over the past year or so, I've had numerous conversations with WLS patients about yogurt. Some like it, some don't. Some believe you should eat it, some don't. It's been referred to as a "slider" food (a food that doesn't have enough consistency to stay in your pouch for long).

For what it's worth, here's my take on yogurt.

UP UNTIL NOW:
My body seems to crave yogurt. For a long time I believed it was because of the calcium. While that might be the case, I'm not of the belief that's because of its sweetness. Most yogurts are insanely sweet. Case in point, Kroger's regular yogurt has 43 grams of sugar.

I personally prefer yogurts without Aspartame in them (the light thick & creamy by yoplait or the Weigh****chers). Each of these yogurts (6 ounces) are 100 calories and are sweetened by sucralose (splenda). While both taste great (I think the Weigh****chers is better), both of them are also sweet tasting. I believe that makes it easier to eat more and have it curb your appetite for less time. Weigh****chers has 6 grams of protein, 3 grams dietary fiber, 17 grams of carbohydrates (12 grams of sugar) -- and it's the better of these two (by a slight margin).

CURRENTLY
Recently, a dear friend of mine put me onto a new type of yogurt. Kroger's (available at Smith's only) has a yogurt called "Carb Master." Yes, it actually says Carb Master on the label. It only has 4 grams of carbohydrates (3 grams sugar) and 1 gram of dietary fiber but get this, it has 10-12 grams of protein. The result is a yogurt that isn't as good tasting (since it's not as sweet) but I've found that it's way more filling and curbs your hunger for longer than those other brands. And it only has 80 calories (6 ounces). I highly recommend it.

As I've always maintained, the more simple carbs you eat (and sugars count here), the more you trigger your hunger. Your body burns off simple carbs FAST and it raises your blood sugar level quickly. Once they've been burned off you have a crash and your blood sugar level drops and your body suddenly wants more. It's like a drug. That's why things like nuts, beef jerky and other meats stay with you longer.

Beef Jerky/Sodium

  If you eat a lot of beef jerky, you might notice your weight loss slowing down. If you're eating the appropriate amounts, at the appropriate times, and not deviating much for your diet, then the problem most likely is the high sodium content in the beef jerky.

I LOVE beef jerky and eat a ton of it every week. It's and easy food (already prepared), tasty, and it has a ton of protein. However, it does have a tendency to cause water retention. So you can still be losing fat (your body still has to eat) but the scale might not reflect as much because of the water retention.

There are two ways I've found to fight this. (1) Up your water content. As long as you flush your body with a ton of water, it has a hard time retaining water. I usually find if I'm retaining water (even with the beef jerky) it's because I'm not drinking enough. (2) Every so often I go off beef jerky and focus on other things (and stay super close to the eating plan including my water level). This really gives your body a flush and if you've been retaining water you usually notice a huge drop in weight (though I'll warn you if you're retaining water you'll be visiting the little boys/girls room a lot over the course of the next couple of days).

I hope that helps.
Sean

I seem these days to be fluctuating between 223 lbs and 230 lbs.  Right now I'm at 227 lbs.  I'm very happy with where I'm at weight-wise so I'm not trying to lose any more weight.  In fact, 225 was the goal I set before surgery.

Now I save up and figure out the timing of the plastic surgery.  First up will be the lower body lift.  Even though it's major surgery, I can't wait.  I expect I'll probably lose 15-20 lbs with the procedure which, scarily enough, will put me close to 200 lbs.  Who would have ever though?

To put that in perspective, my BMI was like 62 before surgery.  If I ever get to 195, I'll be at a normal BMI. While I don't need to get to 195, I'm of the opinion that if I'm able to get the plastic surgery I want (upper arms, thighs, lower & upper body lift), I'll probably be there.

And the first is just a couple of months away (barring anything major happening in my life like [*knock on wood*] losing my job.

Sean

My Tailbone

  Sorry I've been so neglectful with my blog lately. Life has been hectic. My work sent me out to Boston. I flew out to Baltimore and then took a connecting flight to Boston. On the way back, I flew from Boston to Atlanta and then to Salt Lake City.

One thing they don't tell you going into this surgery is that when you lose your weight, you feel your tailbone a lot more. I'm always finding I'm sore there. And the flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake City was no different. I thought I was going to die it hurt so bad.

But there is always a bright side. In this case it's that I fit in the seat without a problem. Even on the Baltimore to Atlanta flight when I was in the middle. It's so awesome sitting in a seat without overflowing. Yay!

I hope you all are finding little things like this on your journey. Revel in each and every little wonderful thing that happens to you. It's a great ride.

Sean

That is a great WOW, on the airplane.  Congrats! 

One other thing that they don't tell you is that your libido will be affected.  I've heard a few say that their libido decreased.  I'm not sure if that's because of everything you suddenly have in your life that wasn't there before or what but for most of us our libido will increase.

Yes, INCREASE!

It's kind of scary in a way.  I haven't had a libido like this since I was 18.  It has to be because my body is truly healthy.  Healthier than it's been in a really, really long time.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because you really need to keep this in mind and be ready to deal with it otherwise you might end up making decisions that aren't good for you.

Just a quick rant:

I've recently found that my weight loss has stalled.  I got down to 223 lbs (which was 2 lbs under my goal weight) but more recently I'm up to 230 where I have settled.  I'm perfectly happy at this weight.  Other than my excess skin which I'm hoping to have removed as soon as I can afford it, I'm very happy and feel great.  But I've wondered why the stall.  I've only lost 85-90% of my excess weight.  (keep in mind I'm not quibbling about it, just wondering)

So I started taking a micro look at the calories I ingest every day.  I am prone to eat simple carbs here and there throughout the day.  Especially at work.  Not a ton, mind you, but a few little cheats here and there.  As I analyzed it, I realized how many calories I am letting into my diet without even really knowing it.  One piece of bread is like 100 calories.  All in all, I think that's how anyone eventually gains some of the weight back.  It gets to where you can eat normally and so you do.  You can't eat as much but you get into this false sense of security because of how easy it was to lose the weight.  Now you have to pay attention.

This is why I've advocated a food journal though most people (myself included) don't do this.  But with the success I had using a food journal and turning it in daily to a friend (having a competition with her for best journal really helped too), I think I'm going to go back to that, see if I can get back to 223 again.

Wish me luck.

if you haven't checked out my blog yet, it's at www.seanstransformation.blogspot.com.  And for those of you who have been there before, there are a few new entries.  I really enjoy those who have emailed me after visiting my blog.  It's always great to hear from everyone.

Who wants to tell me how to put in a ticker here on Obesityhelp.com?