Whether its the cold or the ? hidier? clothes when weather turns is the WORST time of the year for me snack temptation wise.

Ive been struggling not to indulge in full fat sweets and real cheese ( which is half butterfat unfortunately) not to mention those devil-made ? baked? rippled potato chips ?

What are your favorite HEALTHY and LOW CAL snack go tos this season?

mine are old fashioned ? kettle cooked ? ( but the kettle is actually a teflon coated electric cooker bottom with a wire thingy to toast and roll the corn kernels making them taste nutty) popcorn made without oil and raisins w butter buds ( freeze dried butter solids 100% fat free- sold as popcorn topping but i use it in everything) and sometimes mixed with lowfat microwave popcorn .

A huge bowl is hours of munchtime and you wont wear it ( or regret it ) the morning! Kids and guests love it too !

here is the ? old fashioned? popcorn maker i use ( $21 bux from Walmart)

2) spanakopita ( fresh spinach and fat free feta filled phillo dough pastries or roll) . Phyllo dough is very easy to make virtually fat free ( i use spray oil , plain breadcrumbs or ground hazelnuts sprinkled between sheets and a bit of butter buds for flavor) and a sweated golden chopped onion, three cloves chopped garlic toasted, a bag of fresh spinach and a package if fat free feta and 1/2 package fat free kraft mozzarella and greek spice mix ( or salt n pepper) for the filling)

3) air fried sweet potato fries

4) hot fat free or very lowfat soups - super filling and warming and very low calorie.

5) fat free low sugar and high protein (Kodiak mixes! ) homemade baked treats in small quantities ( had to consciously train myself to do half and quarter recipes) - like fresh fruit cobblers and crisps , mini muffins, ginger cookies even occasionally sugar free brownies.

6) believe it or not Lettuce! You can eat a ton of it and Romaine for instance or chopped cabbage stands up great to warm low cal dressings like Thai peanut sauce or Miso/ ginger/sesame.

what are YOUR fall favorites?

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At the beginning of your journey, Pre-op.... did you take a group of classes to help you understand what BAriatric surgery can and cannot do? COPING skills are all you got post-op since the surgery is just surgery. It cannot fix or control your mind and your thoughts about food. That's a tool that has to be used with the others to get/ keep/ stay successful post-op... yup, it's for the rest of your life. Folks doing pre-op diets/ pills/ and even revisions to get it. All this stuff needs to be worked out with your PCP and your bariatric psychologists and all are based on your private medical records. You need facts to get you success. As you've read... it's not easy and it's just not the surgery.

Eat Chinese food and salty snacks the night before your weigh in ....keep eating salty and sipping liquids until you step on the scale -

bet you end up 35 !

good luck !

The 35 (with comorbidities)/40 (without)BMI is pretty much industry standard in the US, so it's unlikely to find coverage outside those limits. Some surgeons may go to lower levels on a cash basis, but most in the US stick to the industry standards. The lap bands (and I think balloons as well) have been FDA approved for BMI 30 and above, so that may be what your PCP and RD are referring to, but neither are particularly viable or long term options, though may have some benefit in special cases.