PlumpKitty

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1. Just because you can eat everything doesn't mean you should. 
2. Your malabsorbtion is enough to allow a treat occaisionally and not notice the difference on the scale so get over it when it happens. (some experts put their absolute must have bad foods in their diet and just eat them at a strange time. I just read an article called "chocolate cake for breakfast" by a trainer who says she NEEDS her favorite foods and just eats them in the morning so she has the whole day to keep her metabolism high enough to burn it off rather than eating it at night and letting it sit in her tummy turning to fat. This cuts down on over eating too as most people do not have time to binge in the am)

 No matter what I'm hungry for I eat protein and by the time Im done I have forgotten why or what I had wanted before. If you are craving foods you likely aren't eating enough to start with. Try eating foods that take a lot of chewing as it sends happy messages to your brain. I am so full all of the time its a rare occaision my tummy is not sending full signals to my brain. I did not allow the bad foods in my house for quite a while because I knew I would eat them. Currently I have no troubles with chocolate or healthy munchies in the house for hubby because I no longer look at them as food.
Keys to my success: 
never lick the spoon or  fingers! I used to taste everything as I was cooking, which wasn't a lot of calories but was just enough food to get my brain into munchie mode. 
Incorporating my favorite flavours into my new diet plan such as: meat crust pizza, chocolate calcium chews, chocolate protein shakes, and lots of variety in my protein meals in general.
I did have to write down what I was going to eat everyday the night or even week before to keep me on track in the begining. 
Keep working at it, youre likely not losing weight due to a stall or not enough protein. You can do it ;)
PlumpKitty

1. write down how many meals a day you are to eat
2. figure out your daily protien amount and divy it up in maximums of 25 grams per setting. (eg if you eat 4 meals a day and need 60 grams of protein strive for 15 grams of protein per meal)
3. Do not eat more than the volume you are allowed per meal. (ie 1 cup or 1/2 cup depending on your personal doc/nut rules.)
4. keep a list of protein foods with amount of protien per 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup posted on your fridge and another copy in your wallet.
5. Fill in the blanks

ex.
Meal 1 - 2 eggs 1 piece of toast (12 grams protein)
snack - small yogurt (3 grams protein)
Meal 2 - 2oz of cheddar cheese shredded on a garden salad (16 grams protein)
snack -  1 cup milk (8 grams protein)
Meal 3 -  3 oz tuna in a whole wheat noodle casserol (20 grams protein)
snack -  1/4 cup almonds (8 grams) and an apple
total 67 grams of protein without even using a shake

its that easy.. just plan ahead and dont make eating that last minute decision thing until you have been eating real meals healthy for a month or two so your brain is into the habit of your new menu items and you dont make stupid decisions on the fly!
PlumpKitty (94 pounds less plump)

Being thin? Probably not in all honesty. Being free of food addiction? Hell yes! The inability to eat large quantities or trigger foods for a few months will let those addictions go to the back of your mind where they belong. Can it really be good for us to solve our problems with eating? drinking? gambling? etc... You have a bad week and are depressed so you eat a whole pizza, bag of chips, and tub of dip. The result is the week was still bad and your calorie consumption at one meal equals a week of normal eating adding another problem to your problems. While you are in the addiction state you can't truely see how foolish it is you will find excuses to eat eat eat and no matter what you admit to, on the inside you still just want to eat regardless of the consequences. For this reason many people love the atkins diet and the once loved carb addicts diet. After following these diets to the letter people stop craving food and just eat their meals like normal animals. The only problem is they are just that, diets. Since you only have to do this 6 month thing I recomend reading up on diets meant to control carb cravings. A year after surgery this will all be ancient history so do what you have to do to get there ;) Oh and btw.. subway has drive though too :P

Personally I have been one step forward and 2 steps back for 12 years. So everyone who knows me knows how long I have tried to lose weight and manage to effectively only gain long term. I went from about 140 pounds when I met hubby 13 years ago to 327 pounds last summer. Many people are nervous about everything because of tv fearmongering so I really didn't want to deal with that presurgery. Once I had it done, lived through the worst of it I told people and got the exact reponses I had expected "Woohoo GOOD for YOU!!" Most people have seen me slowly dying these past 5 years as I moved from obese to morbidly obese to super obese. I had a hypertension stroke when I was 25 and had to be hospitalized after 3 days of my blood pressure up around 260/200. I was also diagnosed with diabetes and polycystic ovarian disease that year. The next year I had infections all year long not to mention 6 months of DAILY extreme diarrhea and vomiting no one was able to explain. My life long depression proceeded to get worse to the point where I literally only got out of bed to eat/gorge and get the only happy feelings I ever experienced from food highs. I haven't worked in 4 years and have literally been nothing but a house cat (hence my nick) for my husband to feed. For the last year I could barely walk and had to hold myself up with the walls and counters around the house. WLS was quite obviously a last resort for my situation.

One part of me sees people with BMIs less than 40 getting WLS  and I think are you crazy?? Getting surgery when you only have a  few pounds to lose?? The other side of me says hell I wish I had done it when I was "only" 75 or 100 pounds overwieght lol. In some ways I know I needed to fail a lot of times to accept the risk of such drastic meaures. For every person out there who is at the begining stages of where I've already been I want to save them this agony and beg them to get therapy to decide if their weight gain is at its peak or simply the begining of a long and painful journey to morbid obesity where WLS risks are much higher due to the patients poor health. If you are here lurking and thinking about WLS you must already know you have a real problem.

If someone tells you getting surgery is the "easy way out" to weight loss you ask them the last time they saw anyone preparing to have major surgery that thought it was easy! Every single operation carries the risk of death, period. When was the last time you saw a jenny craig commercial that said "warning 1 in 300 people die from choosing jenny craig" or any other diet system aid. This is serious stuff for serious people and never forget that.

What I know now: I have 2 issues that made weight gain a gaurantee. There were a million other things but these 2 made it certain I would be fat forever.
1.   I could eat a lot without feeling satisfied, satisfaction came only from being full which took as much as 8 or 12 cups of food to happen.
2.   I LOVE FOOD. I love tasting, chewing, swallowing and digestion. I love shopping for groceries and going to restaurants. Cooking and preparing food were my hobbies. Every holiday and occaision was more about the food than anything else. Every day began with "what am I going to have for supper tonight?" and ended with a tummy stuffed full.

I didn't admit to myself how bad it was until I had let it go too long. I have literally lost 5 years of my life and at 32 thats a big chunk. If I had gotten this surgery 8 years ago when I was "only" 100 pounds over weight and "only" 24 years old I know I never would have regretted it even without being able to see the future.

I never thought I would "promote" WLS for other people. I thought it would be something that was great for me and I would never tell other people it was good for them just for diplomacy reasons. I was wrong. I feel like anyone with long term weight issues should really look into how WLS can change their life (possibly for the worse) but hopefully for the better.

I know that's crazy but that's my new feelings on the subject of the young and/or light weights getting WLS.

PlumpKitty (91 pounds less plump)

I don't really think people should have this surgery without accepting the risks. Death is the one that people worry about most. Its pretty rare but if you happen to be the one then you have to deal with that pre op. Not just for you but for your family too. After dealing with that you need to accept the risks you will be around to experience and to me these are much harder to deal with. Infections, complications, disease, and the worst of them all being fat again in a few years. 

On top of accepting the risks people should really accept the responsibility of their obesity. I have diabetes, PCOS and long term mental disorders. For a long time it was easier to blame the diseases rather than myself. The truth is that those these illnesses contribute to an overweight  body and mind but there are still many things a person can do to combat them which I didn't succeed at and that was all me. It doesn't matter if string bean Sally can eat 5 times as much as me, not excercise and still stay thin because life isn't fair and my body is the only one I have to deal with. If you don't accept why you are obese and how you got there I really don't think this surgery is the key.

Like quitting smoking, drinking, gambling you have to want and need to quit in your own mind. If you don't mentally get on board with this ceasation of a food focused life then you will gain the weight back after. I know people who had RNY because their doctors talked them into it. None of them maintained a healthy weight after the second year and all are over 300 currently.

Pre op is a great time to list every reason being obese gets you down. Never lose that list. It's also a time to list all of the past weight loss attempts (that you can remember) that failed and why you think they didn't work.

Just my opinion on the subject.

My Fave RNY Lifestyle Recipes:

BLT salad:
In a bowl mix 1/2 diced tomato,  a handfull of lettuce, 2 strips of well dried bacon crumbled and a couple of teaspoons of low cal/low fat salad dressing.

Fettuchini Suprise:
Equal amounts of diced cooked white chicken meat and diced cooked broccoli, enough store bought fettucini sauce to make wet, mix and serve in 1 cup quantites (suprise no noodles!)

Pizza:
In a bowl mix 1 pound of extra lean ground beef, 10 crushed whole wheat crackers and 2 whipped eggs. Press evenly into a large enough baking sheet to make a thin crust. Bake at 350 until brown (about 10 - 15 minutes) remove from oven and top with zesty pasta sauce (I use Hunts zesty red pepper) and all of your favorite must have pizza ingredients and lots of cheese. Bake again for 15 minutes or until topping are perfect.
NOTE This is VERY filling. One pizza makes me 12 - 16 servings  I top two sides differently to make variety. Once the pizza is cold and cut up it freezes well with two layers of plastic wrap. (Great for when family wants real pizza and you dont want to miss out)

Pork Fried Rice:
Use equal amounts of cooked brown rice, diced cooked white lean pork and veggies (I like onion, green pepper and mushrooms diced finely). Fry with a touch of olive oil and soya sauce for 10 minutes. (This is nice when you have left overs to get rid of) I freeze this in 1 cup portions usually I can only eat half at a time so 1 container will do me two meals.

Ham and Cheese Omellet
Most people have their own recipe for this but its one of those really good protein meals that is yummy and people tend to overlook when bored with their diet. I like to make mine with onion, green & red pepper and mushrooms. I have discovered that a raw omellette mix will freeze so now I make a batch of fried omellet ingredients and after measuring make 6 1 egg 1 egg white omellets pouring each into a small storage container to take out of the freezer the night before. I nuke it for a minute, stir and nuke again and voila yummy fluffy ham n cheese omellet with no mess :)

At least 1/2 of everything I make turns into individual servings in my freezer. I have been making at least 1 hot meal recipe a week for months so now my freezer is completely full of a wide variety of quick to make me sized meals that I love. 

Well I'm a little late with my monthly report but I'm here now :P I had my 5 month surgiversary on February 19th. I am currently down 90 pounds and in a long weight loss stall. I know I will lose faster once the snow is gone and I can get out more so I'm ok with it. It has been another very very ill month. My period was horrific and worse than usual at 10 days long, I got yet another cold that felt more like the flu with my weak resistance and then fun of all fun, impacted bowels. It took 3 days, 4 enemas and a few pairs of gloves to correct the problem  but it was only painfull when I was sitting, standing, laying down or moving :P

I had a doctor's appointment and she said my blood work was perfect and is attempting to get me some new antidepressants since the ones I have are time release and very ineffective after bypass surgery. All in all Ive been very tired and very depressed but I have been moving forward anyway.

Good news: I had two big barbie day sales on ebay this month. I went house shopping and found the perfect little home for us. Buying a house is a lot more work than I had expected but it will be worth it. I'm strong enough now to take care of a house again (or at least I will be soon enough.) We are very excited about the move and will be finalized March 2nd and closing on April 13th. So this May we will be out of our tiny space and moving up to a moderately small space.

I'm very happy with my progress into becoming human again and work daily at correcting everything I've let slide for the past 3+ years. Just 65 more pounds to lose until my nipping and tucking :)

*Kisses and hugs to all*

What I am about to type is absolutely in the TMI category in most any other forum but since it applies here I will just say: viewer discretion is advised...

I have been very ill for a few weeks on unrelated matters. I have not been able to excercise or even really get around very much. After a little more than a week of constipation I began taking a liquid laxitive at night for 3 nights in a row, nothing happened. I moved on to a complete liquid diet and stool softeners for 5 days and again nothing happened. Today I began cramping with a desperate urge to move my bowels and after an hour on the flush of grunting, spasming, praying and some various other manuvers I resorted to something no one should ever have to do to themselves. As an attendant for elderly people I was on occaision required to glove and grease up to massage out impacted stool in a clients rectum. Today that knowledge came in very handy (no pun intended) when my stool was in a position that made sitting down painful and still unable to evacuate normally. After relieving some of my worst pressure manually I called hubby (my super hero) and he came home from work with enama kits in tow. Half of one bottle later I felt amazing miraculous relief. I am still somewhat impacted and in need of more work but am really to exahausted and sore to try another today.

Normally when something like this happens I would always say go to the hospital but since I have enough first hand experience with the subject I felt fine to work things on my own until I had exhausted my resourses.  Impacted bowels are serious and if left too long can cause real damage. The easiest way to prevent this level of contipation is regular activity, a balanced diet and plenty of fluids. For those of us post op often a balanced diet is unlikely and try as we might adequate levels of fluids are not always met. So please know the signs of severe constipation and have a game plan ready before hand. It is very common for people post RNY to become constipated as their diet changes from liquid/purree to solids. Normally I would drink lots and walk lots (or do some vigorous housework activities) when constipated and right myself easily but my illnesses made that diffuct these last few weeks.

This is a very classic/typical case of impacted bowels so for any who are not educated on the subject I hope you will note the signs and take precautions or get help as needed. (the most common signs of impacted bowels from my experiences are: long term constipation, difficulty passing gas/movements,  liquid stool after much pushing [the fluid is moving around the obstruction] and general intestinal discomfort)

Plump Kitty (89 pounds less plump)

I have felt food controlling me most of my life. The thing that truely attracted me to RNY wasn't the weight loss but the ability to make food a minimal issue in my everyday life. I am so tired of eating, gorging, binging and the guilt after. I truely do not believe DS would have cured that guilt just because I would still be losing weight. For me the RNY creates a physical barrier to a life long mental issue. Obviously I have to use it right but even if I go astray I will never be able to eat like previously. I don't want food to be my crutch for life. People like me who fail on RNY always end up going to DS so they can eat lots and lose weight. I really just want to eat less. There is a certain new level of sanity that has accompanied my pouch and tiny meals, I'm still in awe of feeling full after only a few bites. I love not spending the whole day eating. I read one guys daily meal plan after DS and I got tired just reading the long list. I don't miss the uncontrolled binging at all and I esspecially don't miss the guilt of being a complete glutton. We all have gained weight and are losing weight for our own reasons so this is not a judgement about other people's choices just a comentary on my own.
PlumpKitty (88 pounds less plump)

Ok some notes that may help:
~~@ Self paying is different than insurance paying. You are constantly reminded that if you mess up you not only get fat but you lose a lot of money (mine was $20,000 which is enough for me to take spending it VERY seriously)
~~@ I told the doctor and the phycologist the same thing, I HATE excercising. I hated it when I was a kid I hate in now and I have hated it every day in between. I have been skinny and super obese and either way I still hated it. I said I'm not going to lie and say I will follow this or that excercise regiment as I know I will eventually quit it. Both doctors said fine, I will just have to be more concerned with my calories forever, work harder at being active in my hobbies/work and it may take longer for me to reach goal but that if I watch my diet I will. (I enjoy walking for a 1/2 hour to 1 hour a night with my husband, it doesn't sound like much when everyone else is going on and on about their amazing gym/arobics routines but I am not losing weight any slower than them)
~~@ I am obsessive and use it to keep me on track. I plan meals and read calories/protein/carbs for fun. I find GREAT recipes of food that is too protein rich to overeat. I keep a daily routine involving pills, suppliments, and the right foods to keep me sane, hold back the head hunger and keep me satisfied. (I discovered a long time ago that regular servings of grains/cereals will make me crave food more than anything else so I avoid it as much as humanly possible) Like another lady from another post I have discovered a new love for cooking for my husband and make his every meal now while eating none of it and enjoying my own special diet.
~~@ you wont have to worry about being desperate to feel full. Once your pouch is healed and you have feeling back you will feel full at every meal on 1/2 cup of meat. Always serve food in the kitchen and eat at the table. When your tummy is full or your plate empty the meal is over for you. You will have to eat so slowly it will probably take you as long to eat your 1/2 - 1 cup serving as it takes your family to eat thirds and dessert. So no time for lingering!
~~@ I, like most people here, was a gobbler and you just aren't able to do it after surgery. By the time you are able to eat somewhat normally (after 6 months at least) you have hopefully already gotten yourself into your new habits.

I learned A LOT from other peoples failures and successes with this surgery. I think the longer the surgery is performed and the more people share their experiences the less likely we are to make the same mistakes. 

Plump Kitty (85 pounds less plump)