This is soooooooo hard

Pam, Thanks for the recipes, they sound yummy. My problem is my doctor doesn't have too great of a follow-up program other than right after surgery, so I don't know what I can eat or not. I try to research and make good choices and sometimes my pouch makes the choice for me. Kelly

Kelly, my curiosity and being a program coordinator makes me want to ask where you had surgery, but that's not any of my business! At five months postop., our patients are on a regular high protein, low fat diet; following these rules: 1. Eat your protein first and at least half of each meal. 2. Drink 64 ounces of water per day (no carbonated beverages ever period, end of story; coffee & tea only if you can get your water in and they don't irritate your pouch; if you drink milk/smoothies/etc., they count as a meal because of the calorie content). 3. NO snacking or grazing EVER, this is the one thing that will surely sabotage your weight loss. 4. Exercise a minimum of 30-45 minutes/day, 4-5x/week. If your surgeon made your pouch approximately 1/2 ounce or so at the time of surgery, now you should be able to eat up to 4-5 ounces of food. I say up to because it depends on the type of food, how much you can eat. I'm four years out and I can eat a whole six inch subway sub, but it's a lot of bread (which I don't need), and veggies (which take up very little space); however, if I eat a piece of grilled chicken or fish, I can only eat about a 3 ounce serving before becoming full. Are you part of a support group? They could be a great source of ideas about what to eat, things to avoid, things most people seem to tolerate. Hope this helps some, have a great weekend. Pam

Pam, The support group meets every Friday during the workday and I'm unfortunately the only nurse in my department and have to be at work when they meet. I went when I was off recouping from my surgery and they were great just not very time friendly to those of us who work. I had surgery at Vanderbilt and besides telling me what to eat or not eat directly post-op, they didn't do so well. Heck, I called my surgeon at 2.5 mos out and asked if he'd order B12 shots because my butt was seriously dragging and he refused. I've been taking po B12 and it helps a little bit. My doctor also does not draw any blood until the first 100lbs is lost so theres no knowing if you have any vitamin deficiencies. I go see him this Friday and am 5.5 postop and am hoping to figure out wher eI'm supposed to go from here with this. Most of the info I have gotten I have learned online, especially in this forum. Last week I quit trying to eat 3 times a day (a practice I started because they hubby fussed that I was starving myself) and really dropped my carb intake and managed to lose 10lbs in a week, which puts me at 103lbs lost from the day before surgery and 123lbs lost from my heighest weight last summer before surgery. I really, really try to get in 64 ounces of water a day, but I usually fail and manage about 48-52ounces in a day. As for exercise, I'm lucky to get 3 30 minute workouts at Curves in a week due to the kids schedules being so busy and none of them old enough to drive yet. Kelly

Kelly, would your PCP order the B-12 shots for you? A lot of our patients have switched from sublingual to injections and they swear by the shots! That's what I do, a shot the first day of each month. ANY exercise is better than no exercise, I think Curves is awesome. I know our group may not be to close to you, but you (and anyone else) is welcome to join our support group. We meet twice/month: the first Monday night of the month at 6:00 p.m., meeting room B, Williamson Medical Center, these meetings feature a speaker discussing a topic relative to WLS patients, May 2nd meeting will be on the emotional side effects of WLS, presented by Charles Ihrig of Athena Consulting & Psychological Services the third Saturday morning of the month at 11:00 a.m., meeting room C, Williamson Medical Center, these meetings are group discussion, recipe exchanges, clothing exchanges; next is 4/16 and we'll do a recipe exchange (favorite egg dish is the theme, but any recipe will do!), we may also have a speaker that morning about the importance of varying your workout routine (this speaker was scheduled last night, but had a car wreck on the way here, she wants to reschedule for 4/16). I have a friend who works at VUMC that had RNY there about 3 years ago, she works in SICU. I used to work there (for 5 years!). Kelly, feel free to call me here at work if you'd like 615-435-5980. Pam

KELLY, I HAVEN'T GONE THRU THE PROCEDURE YET SO I AM NOT MUCH HELP. I BELIEVE THIS WILL BE THE HARDEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE. I HAVEN'T EVEN GOT A SURGEON YET BUT I AM THINKING POSTIVE.LOL LOOK AT YOU. YOU HAVE DONE IT... HANG IN THERE. YOU CAN DO IT.

Kelly, I understand where your coming from... However, it is normal to eat a bit more then you did right out of surgery. Don't stress on that to much, okay? Good. Now about foods -- I'm not sure what you can or can't eat but my suggestion is... Try adding flavor to your foods, or eating them differently. Here's some suggestions: ~Tuna fish w/ crackers ~Lunch meat -- Ham, turkey, etc! Eat a 1 or 2 slices. ~Chicken salad ~Egg salad, rather then just eggs. OR even try eating your eggs in a different way, boiled, fried, scrabbled, etc... ~Yogurt, comes in many differnet flavors. Also a great breakfast food. ~Protein bars -- SouthBeach came out with some that are very good! ~Chicken, grilled or baked ~Shrimp -- Very yummy, very low in calorie, and high in protein. ~Grounded turkey -- make mini meatballs, or meatloaf, or burgers. Hmm... I'm sure there's lots more, but these are just suggestions! Good luck, and congrats on the weight loss! -Katie