Whatcha Eating Today VSGers? Tuesday, 7/31/2018

Good morning, all!

I had a super fun day at the movies yesterday and saw some excellent movies! Now it's back to real life. Two more weeks left for classes, so I've got to stay strong through the finish.

QOTD: Do you attend a WLS support group? What's it like? How often does it meet? Is it a free for all? Are there set topics ahead of time? Is there an agenda to keep the meeting on track? Tell us all about it! If you don't go to a support group, why not?

1: protein shake
2: leftover Indian food
3: sous vide salmon

liquid and vites: on track
exercise: running, yoga

How about you?

Happy Tuesday! Glad you enjoyed the movies Gwen sounds like a fun day. Watched Ready Player One last night and it was really good it def surprised me. Babysitting today and have to take my car to get my brakes done they sound horrible.

QOTD - I do not attend a support group but I think I would be interested to give it a try. I don't know where I would even find one. The one I was required to go to before surgery at the hospital was ugh just ok I wasn't really interested in going back after surgery.

B - coffee and protein

L - last of leftover shredded buffalo chicken

D - I think chicken drumsticks and mushrooms stuffed with cheese

E - 30 min elliptical, Ab exercises

I think I found my current one by googling "WLS Support Group [my county]" and "bariatric support group [my county]." Or something like that.

Although, technically, the one I go to is in the next county up, because I live right on the county line :D

I don't know how you can watch multiple movies in a row and adjust back to the "real" world. I always feel foggy after one movie.

Today I need to find a dog friendly activity as Justice is full of energy lately.

QOTD: Yes, I go to a monthly support meeting run by my surgical center. It is free and open to all. I also went to one in Florida last year (also free and open to all). For the one here, there isn't an agenda other than going around the table (there are usually 5-15 of us) and doing a brief discussion of your history and any current concerns. Newbies are encouraged to ask questions. In Florida they brought in a speaker at each meeting. At the one I attended a man came to talk about starting an easy to do at home fitness program after being obese and not exercising for a long time and how to progress it. I think I would like to have both - maybe a short talk (1/2 hour), then discussion? OR having a topic to discuss for a while as well as the other?

2 Years, 4 months post-op (maintaining at goal for 20 months)

Always lots of coffee...

B: eggs, cottage cheese and Canadian bacon

L: Tuna salad, pickles and cottage cheese

D: Grilled chicken

S: home-made yogurt

My butt is definitely very flat feeling today! :D

Morning, all. Glad you had fun at the movies - and only have 2 weeks left for this term. There is a light at the end of the tunnel - my husband always says, "that's not a light, it's a freight train." LOL. We also watched Ready Player One this weekend - and it was better than I expected. I always feel obligated to watch on demand movies whenever someone in the house has rented one - to get the most for our buck -even if it's a movie I'm not interested in, haha

QOTD: my doctor used to have a support group with a guest speaker, i.e., the nutritionist, therapist, plastic surgeon, but his website has not had updated meeting groups for a while. I never made it there anyway. I used to go to a group therapy for weight loss people. I enjoyed it very much and got to know each person well. However, it isn't covered under my insurance and was alot of money out of pocket.

B: cheese and crackers

L: leftover salmon

D: sharing a huge double thick pork chop with my husband/zucchini

E: walking again before the humidity returns

L/V: good

QOTD: Pre-op and immediately post-op I went to a patient organized group a few times, it was bad. There were really only two regulars and maybe 3-4 people at each meeting, and it was like the FB groups I've tried for WLS. Lots of back patting and cheering on of bad choices. One of the organizers had actually been fired by her surgeon because she kept getting ulcers due to refusal to quit smoking! It was not a good environment for me. (And it left me with the impression that RNYers are all super unhealthy. Now I know otherwise, but the people there were definitely a huge turnoff to RNY for me! I'm glad I've since met a lot of healthy RNYers.)

Toward the end of last year I found out that one of the local medical groups started offering a WLS support group locally and I started attending. It's once a month and I enjoy it. I've met some nice people and I've been able to mentor a few over the last many months.

Sadly, the facilitator is a really sweet guy and, due to this, he's not a good facilitator :D The groups tend to be a total free for all and, depending on who is there, some people will completely dominate the meetings. Recently another person contacted me about possibly doing a spin off group just for post-ops, and I countered with, "maybe we can make the current group better?" Since two meetings a month might be a big ask of both the participants and the facilitator. (Although I'd be game for a second meeting if we could manage it.)

We've come up with some ideas that I think will help. We've created an email address (and a blog) so that people can email between sessions with questions that we can then address at the next session and a blog to post information for those who weren't able to make it. We've come up with an agenda. We're going to limit introductions because, omg, those can get so long and rambling. The agenda will include social time, though, because I think that's really important.

I think it'll be positive to add some structure to the meetings, since I'm sure there are people who never come back because it's so discombobulated!

I know what you mean about the introductions! There needs to be a time limit and/or structure for some people. I try to keep to a couple of minutes but some will drone on for 10-15 just giving background.

Good afternoon,

Qotd yes I attend a support group. It's only opened to the patients that go through their practice. They have a peer to peer surgical support group every Monday and Tuesday nights. They also have a behavioral class for the surgical and medical patients every two weeks on Monday and Tuesday night and they are topics but now work interferes with that group.

B ham and cheese omelette, string cheese, pork and beans

L tuna, cottage cheese and baby carrots

D not sure since it's wls support group tonight so I don't know if I want to eat before or after.

Have a good day

QOTD: at the moment no. I have a hard time with anxiety...i clam up and don't talk. Online is my source of support...mainly here and a few friends. The group of friends I thought I had almost all wigged out on me.

B: protein shake

L: chicken fillet, 1oz pepper jack cheese, seaweed snack

D: 3 cucumber slices, 1 tbs creamer cheese, 1 oz smoked salmon and 1/2 cup riced cauliflower

S: 1/2 protein shake, 1/2 cup yellow squash, iced decaf coffee.