I'm attaching a picture of the amount of food I can typically eat at 8 months out from surgery.
I eat at restaurants very frequently for business and socially so I thought this might be helpful for some of you that have recently had surgery or are considering plication.
I ordered a BBQ chicken sandwich, baked potato and the restaurant serves biscuits. I ate 2 bites of the biscuit before my meal came, about 3-4 bites of the potato and about 3/4 of 1/2 the sandwich. I normally don't eat the bread on top of the sandwich, but I hadn't eaten breakfast and was pretty hungry! I also had 2 bites of banana pudding and 1 vanilla wafer cookie. I was very full and now I have dinner for tonight! :)
I will be posting another entry about my life now at 8 months out later.
Take care,
Jenn
I've had a few people ask about our business.
We design and manufacture plus size clothing. We specialize in 1940s and 1950s vintage inspired clothing. We have dresses, skirts, blouses and are getting ready to launch our bathing suit line.
Most of clothing starts in sizes 12 and goes to size 22/24.
Here is our website, we also sell on Ebay.
http://www.goodrockin-daddy.com/
From April 8, 2011
Yesterday was my 2 month anniversary since surgery and I've lost 30 pounds. The first month I lost pretty quickly and was down about 20 pounds the first 3 weeks. I stalled from Feb. 28 until Mar. 15 and finally lost 1 pound. Over the next 2 weeks, I lost another 3 pounds. So my weight loss definitely slowed down. These past couple of weeks I increased my water intake and my activity level. I have exercised pretty much every day since about mid-March. Even if I go on a quick 20 minute walk with my dog, I do some form of exercise every day. I am usually at the gym for at least 1 hour. My workout routine looks like this: Mon - Zumba (1 hr.) Tues - Walk/Jog (40 min. or 2 milesish) Wed - Zumba (1 hr.) Thurs - Walk/Jog (40 min. or 2 milesish) plus I take a dance class with my husband at night. Fri - Walk/Jog (40 min. or 2 milesish) or Zumba (1 hr.) If I miss the gym I will do a walking or dancing video at home.
I'm very happy and proud of my results. I feel like I've worked hard for my results. I exercise now with purpose. Before surgery (even with my band) I felt like exercise was almost worthless because no matter how much I worked out, I almost couldn't compensate for all the food I was consuming! Now I eat anywhere from 900-1200 calories a day. Somedays I eat more, especially if I eat out (which I do quite a bit for my business) but if I eat out I add in extra activity to try to make up for the extra calories.
I had this surgery to feel "normal" which I didn't with my band. I had difficulty eating healthy food with the band and now I don't. I do eat protein first, I drink Isopure and a lot of water and try to keep my carbs down.
Hope this helps anyone who is struggling or considering WLS.
Take care of you!!
From April 21, 2011
I weighed 250 this morning! I started at 283 about 2 1/2 months ago. Woo Hoo!! I actually decreased the amount I'm working out but I did increase the intensity of my workouts. Because of this I have actually been eating a bit more. I'm in Las Vegas for business so I can't update my ticker as I'm using my phone so it'll have to wait till I return.
I wont be officially working out while in Vegas and I'm going to be eating out a couple times a day so I'll see what happens with my weight when I get home. I'm a daily weigher so it's going to be weird for me not to weigh for like 5 days!! I'll be walking a lot and maybe dancing too so that'll have to count for my workout!
Take care all!! 
From March 30, 2011
I was pretty much stuck most of the month of March. When I went from liquids to mushies I figured I was going to stall for a bit but I increased my exercise to make up for the additional calories that I was getting. During the liquid phase I was probably eating/drinking around 400-500 calories. Once I got to the mushie phase I was eating/drinking about 600-800 calories and now that I'm on pretty much regular food I eat anywhere from 800-1200 calories, depending on the day and my activity level. I was stuck at 260 from the end of February until March 15. However, I stuck with everything that I was doing with my eating plan. I followed my doctor's plan about 95% of the time which includes eating 2-3 oz. of dense protein first, 2-3 bites of potatoes or mushy veg and eating every 3 hours. I kept my exercise level consistent except for 1-2 days per week when I increased my time at the gym by about 10 minutes. I've lost 2 pounds in 2 days this week and I didn't go to the gym at all this week yet! I've been taking 15 minute walks with my dog at night, I did a Zumba DVD in the morning and yesterday I took my son to the museum and we walked around and played for about 2 hours. I was too tired last night to do an exercise video and somehow, I dropped another pound!
So I think the thing about stalls is to remain consistent. If there is something in your diet that needs tweaking, like maybe getting too many carbs or not enough carbs, go ahead and tweak it but following the doctor's plan does seem to work for most people. Of course, I was banded for almost 10 years so I think that has helped me with certain eating rules like chewing food really well and slowing down to eat. The biggest rule that I have a hard time with is not drinking while eating as I get pretty thirsty when I'm eating.
The thing I learned while being banded is that it doesn't really matter how long it took me to lose weight, what mattered was that I had a difficult time keeping the weight off once I lost it. I am more concerned with long-term diet and exercise changes than losing weight quickly. When I lose it, I want it to stay lost!!
Good luck to those of you struggling~
I ran my first 5K today!
I am a slow jogger and can usually run/walk 1 mile in about 17 minutes so I was hoping to finish the 5K in under 50 minutes. I actually finished in 52 minutes but that was mainly because my husband and my children saw me on the sidelines and my 4 y.o. son wanted to run the last mile with me. He ran about 200 yards and then decided to stroll the rest of the way! Then the last 1/3 of a mile he wanted me to carry him! So I ended up carrying a 44 pound 4 year old for 1/3 of a mile - so needless to say I'm very happy with my results!!
The other thing that I kept thinking of when I was holding my son was that he is almost equivalent to the weight I've lost and it was exhausting carrying around that extra 44 pounds!!!
Overall, I had a great day and am super happy that I completed my first 5K.
I'm going to start training for another 5K in a few weeks, then a 10K in the Summer followed by the Long Beach, CA 1/2 marathon in October. 
Starting weight: 284
Current weight: 247
From March 15, 2011
I've been stalled since the end of February and this morning I finally lost another pound!!
I was stuck at 260 and really wanted to be in the 250s but my body wasn't having any of it. I increased my exercise, water intake and protein and that seemed to do the trick! I officially weighed in at 259.0 this morning. Yeah!!
I'm going to Las Vegas in about 5 1/2 weeks and I'd really like to lose another 15-18 pounds by then so I'm going to focus on increasing my exercise slowly over the next month or so. My goal for April 7 is to be 250 but I'm going to try to surpass that.
At the gym I'm currently doing a 10 minute warm-up on the bike, 20 minutes on the elliptical (an increase from 15), and 30 minutes on the treadmill (an increase from 20). I will increase my time on the elliptical and treadmill next week by about 5 minutes. Hopefully, this will help boost my weight loss. I also do walking or dancing exercise videos at home if I don't make it to the gym. I had to take a look at what I was eating also and realized that I was eating a bit too many carbs. My dr. doesn't have a prescribed amount of carbs that I should eat but he does emphasize eating protein first, then any veggies (which I really can't have yet), then unprocessed carbs. I am going to be cutting back a bit on carbs and see if that will help.
From March 19, 2011
I've been wanting to try Zumba for about a year. The gym I currently belong to doesn't offer it at many locations or times I need so I haven't been able to try a class. I have done the Zumba videos but really wanted to try a class. I used to be a on the dance team in high school and currently take Swing dance lessons with my husband (for fun and because we have a plus size Rockabilly, Swing clothing line) so I think I can follow dance instructors pretty well.
I told the ladies around me that it was my first time and that I might crash into them. They were super nice about it and even showed me a few quick moves before the class started. The instructor was great and the class was very fun and energetic! I did the whole 60+ minute class and kept up pretty well but now I am super sore!!! My calves are killing me. I walked around the block tonight to see if I could stretch my legs a bit and ease the pain but no, they still hurt - but it's a good kind of hurt!! I was goin gto try to go to the Zumba clas tomorrow @ 9 am but my calves might tell me something different in the morning. I'll see how I feel. Overall, I really liked Zumba and think it's a great class, even for beginners. It would have been fun to have a friend with me so we could've messed up together!
From March 8, 2011
My starting weight was 283, according to the doctor's scale I weigh 262. My home scale is a bit nicer to me but I'll take a 21 pound loss anyday!
I've been exercising about 6 days a week and have lost about 2 inches off my waist and 3 off my hips. Overall I'm pretty happy with my progress. My next goal is to be in the 250s!!
Take care,
genepha
From Feb. 24, 2011
One of my friends mentioned that she watches exercise videos through her cable. I investigated this and found that I also have some exercise videos available through my Video On Demand thru my cable company. Most of them are short videos (6-10 min.) to try out different exercise types. I tried Zumba, which I've been wanting to try. It was only a 7 minute video but I did it all and was pretty tired afterwards. I also did a 1 mile walking video with Leslie Sansone(?). She is well known for her walking DVDs. Anyway - they were both great and I feel that I got a pretty good workout!
From March 7, 2011
Ok so I've become a little obsessive about getting my daily exercise. I'm striving for at least 30 minutes per day. I alternate between going to the gym and doing exercise videos in my own house. However, yesterday I took my kids to the park and decided instead of sitting on the park bench and watching them play (like usual) I would go for a quick walk around the playground. I started out doing a power walk and soon both my kids joined me! It was great! Then today I took my car to be serviced and instead of sitting in the customer lounge I took a 25 minute walk. I also went to the gym but it was nice that 1/2 my workout was already done! Surprisingly I'm not finding it too hard to squeeze in my workouts, although I start back to work in about a week so we'll see how it goes then.
From March 5, 2011
Current weight: still at 260
I took the kiddos (2 y.o. and 4 y.o.) to the park as DH has been sicky-sick in bed with the stomach flu. It was nice to play with them as it was the first time I've taken them to the park alone since my surgery. I played soccer for a bit with my son but am still limited as my dr. doesn't want me to pick up anything more than 10-15 lbs. and my daughter weighs around 30. I wanted to walk the track but the kiddos had other ideas about swings and building sand castles so, no track for me.
After about an hour or so the kiddos started asking for McDonalds. They only get McDs once in awhile and it's always after the park. We have one of those fancy McDs that has an indoor playground and it was a bit warm today so we went there. I don't eat much red meat and haven't eaten a hamburger in like 20 years so I wasn't going to order one of those. I decided to order a grilled chicken caesar salad. I know it has about 400 calories with chicken,croutons and dressing so it's a pretty safe bet. I halved the salad and cut up all the chicken that I was going to eat - about 3 slices. I did use some of the caesar dressing and had about 4 croutons. Pre-surgery I could easily eat the entire salad plus a couple of left over chicken nuggets, a few of my kid's fries and apples, at least 1 large drink and probably a sundae. Today I ate the 3 slices of chicken along with a few leaves of the dark green lettuce. I chewed and chewed and actually counted my chews as I'm not really *supposed* to eat lettuce yet. It was so freakin' awesome!! I was full, I was actually a bit overfull - I think I took 1 bite too many. I walked around a bit and had a couple of sips of my Propel and I felt better. The experience was great because I was able to go to a fast food place with my kids and enjoy a bit of food, and a bit of play time. I wasn't obsessed with eating all the food in sight. I took the salad home and ate more of it for a snack and then finished the chicken for dinner. I probably left about 80% of the lettuce, all the tomatoes (can't have those for a while yet) and ate the chicken, the cheese and most of the dressing.
Next time I order the salad I'm going to switch the dressing for their Balsamic Vinaigrette because it has 40 calories compared to the caesar dressing which has 190!! 
From Mar. 1, 2011
Starting weight: 283
Current weight: 260
At 3 weeks (+ 1 day) I am able to start soft meats. I was allowed to add potatoes at Day 10 along with cheese, peanut butter, bananas, some crackers (graham, low fat Ritz), beans, hummus, oatmeal, cottage cheese, etc. After day 21 I was allowed to add moist meats. I have started with chicken. I haven't eaten red meat in any large quantity in about 20 years but have started to eat tiny bites of it if it is in chili. I prefer ground turkey meat anyway but haven't tried it yet.
This morning I had about 1/3 of a pre-made GNC protein shake (about 55 calories).
I am including a picture of my (leftovers) dinner tonight before I ate it and after. I had a business meeting today at Macaroni Grill and ordered Skinny Chicken (330 calories) with roasted veg: potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms (300 calories). I wanted to order off of the Kid's Menu as they have grilled chicken and broccoli (which I can't eat yet) because it was more appropriately sized but felt weird doing that during a business meeting. I switched out the pasta for the veg. I don't think it saved calories but pasta isn't allowed yet. For lunch, I ate about 1/3 of the chicken and about 2 small potatoes and 2 bites of halved grape tomatoes. I ate a little less than 1/3 of the food for dinner tonight. I'm satisfied, not stuffed.
I hope this helps those of you that have recently had plication and for those of you considering it. There's not a lot of information out there so when I was researching it would've been nice to see an example of someone's daily food intake.
take care,
genepha
From Feb. 28, 2011
I had my surgery 3 weeks ago today. My starting weight was 281 but I gained 2 pounds in the hospital so my official starting weight was 283. My weight today is 261. I've lost 22 pounds in 3 weeks. I actually lost 20 pounds the first 10 days then when I went onto mushies I stalled. I actually gained 1-2 pounds, then lost them again, then found them again, etc. 
I expected that to happen so I wasn't too worried. I also wasn't allowed by my dr. to do any formal exercise so I just increased my walking. I've been walking about 1 mile 3 times per week. I started slowly back at the gym on Friday (2-25). I did 10 minutes on the recumbent bike, 10 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes on the treadmill. I burned around 250 calories so overall, not a bad workout to start. I am going back to the gym today and plan on increasing my time on the elliptical to about 12 minutes but keep everything else the same. I'm trying not to rush it and get hurt. I injured myself pretty badly about a year and a half ago (I tore my achilles) by trying to do too much, too soon so I'm taking it slowly and easily this time around.
I'm very happy with my progress so far. I have my 1 month check-up on March 8 and I'd like to be down at least 25 pounds (which is 20% EWL for me) but we'll see.
My goal is to lose around 75-85 more pounds. With the band the lowest weight I got to was around 176ish. My hubby thought I was too thin at that weight but I remember being pretty comfortable in my own body. I believe I was around a size 12 at that weight so I'd be pretty content near that weight plus I have a whole box full of cute size 12 and 14 stuff waiting for me!!
take care,
genepha
From Feb. 22, 2011
So far I've tried about 10 different types. I've decided the best ones are the ones that I make myself in the blender. However, I will be returning to work soon and that is just not an option for me in the morning because 1) I don't have time and 2) I can't use the blender in the morning because it will wake up my children. So I've decided to try the pre-made protein shakes. I'm not a big fan of milk, even soy milk so I can't say that I love the milk based ones but here are the ones that haven't made me hurl so far:
1. GNC Total Lean - Lean Shake in Swiss Chocolate, 14 oz.
25 grams of protein, 170 calories, 24 vitamins and minerals, lactose free, 6 grams of Carbs (3g are dietary fiber and 2 g are sugar), 6 g of fat (1.5 g saturated, 0 g trans fat).
Decent taste, I liked it better cold. Even though it's lactose free it still has kind of a milky taste because it has diafiltered skim milk (It just means they remove the carbohydrates). Comes in a nice, plastic easy to carry-with-you bottle. Overall I'd give it a 9 out of 10.
2. GNC Total Lean - Lean Shake in Vanilla, 14 oz.
Basically all the same stuff as the chocolate but I didn't like the taste as well. I would use this one as a base to blend stuff fruit with later on. It would be good blended with ice, blueberries and strawberries and then I'd have 2 smoothies. Yum! 7 out of 10 straight outta the bottle.
3. Isopure Zero Carb, 20 oz. - Alpine Punch
40 grams of protein, 160 calories, 0 carbs, 0 sugar
I like this one because it's a clear liquid, not milk based. It's more like a punch. It's not very sweet and takes some getting used to. I like to have it in my car or in my purse BUT the major drawback is it comes in a GLASS bottle. The glass bottle is soooo inconvenient and heavy. Grrr! To make transporting it easier, I poured it into a water bottle and refrigerated it. Isopure needs to make it in a plastic bottle and it'd be a winner! I give it 8 out of 10. Losing 1 point for flavor and 1 point for the stupid bottle.
4. Kirkland brand weight loss shake, Milk Chocolate, 11 oz.
10 grams of protein, 230 calories, 44 g of carbs, 2 g of fat (0.5 saturated fat, 0 g transfat), 24 vitamins and minerals
I put this one on the bottom because it really is the worst one for carbs and protein, however, I think this one is the tastiest, probably due to all the sugar in it!! The ingredients list starts with Skim Milk, Water, Sugar, Cocoa, Corn Syrup - Yikes!!!My husband bought these for me the first week after my surgery because I couldn't go shopping myself so now they are just sitting in my kitchen. I'll take them with me to work and throw a few in my car and have them as back up but most likely will not use them. I give it 4 out of 10 due to the high carbs and sugar.
5. Medifast Dutch Chocolate Shake- 14 grams of protein, 13 g of carbs (4 g dietary fiber, 9 g sugar) 110 calories, 1 g fat
These aren't really pre-made but I can make them in a shaker instead of a blender so they'll count. They taste pretty good when blended or mixed with ice. There aren't big clumps even when using the hand shaker. But they are not pre-made. I give it 6 out of 10 for the relatively low protein and high carb ratio and inconvenience of having to blend myself.
I think Costco has the Premier Protein shakes which are supposed to be pretty good and have like 30 g of protein. When I feel up to it, I'm gonna head over there and buy some of those. I'll report back later in the week.
genepha
Well I couldn't resist weighing myself because I am scheduled to start mushies today. I weighed 283 when I came home from the hospital and this morning I weigh 263. That seems crazy to me!!
I had about 3 oz of protein drink this morning and met friends for lunch at Cheesecake Factory. I had the broth from their chicken tortilla soup, which was fabulous!I also had 3 small bites of mashed potatoes and 2 teeny pieces of turkey. I was pretty full. My friends ordered a piece of cheesecake to share. I resisted for awhile basically because I was just too full to eat 1 more bite. After about 20 minutes or so I did take 2 small licks and it really was like heaven! but that was it - 2 licks and I was done!
So far I'm loving my new little tummy especially compared to life with the band!!
From February 20, 2011
I officially started mushies on Feb. 17 - 10 days after my surgery. I had a post-op appt. with Dr. Billy on Friday, Feb, 18 and an upper GI. There was 1 area of concern with my new tummy but nothing to worry about or that would require surgery. The top part of my tummy where my band is was left a little larger than Dr. Billy wanted. I have an underperforming gallbladder that might need to come out later so if I need to have my gallbladder out, Dr. Billy can take it out and then adjust my plication if needed.
I weighed and am pretty much hovering around 263-265. I knew when I got off liquids and went to mushies I would stall so I'm not too surprised with my weight. I can't exercise yet but I am going to increase my walking this week to help with weight loss.
I'm going to include my mushy diet (so far) for anyone interested:
Breakfast: Optifast shake blended with ice and 2 oz. water, 2 oz. milk
Snack: 1/2 stick of string cheese, water
Lunch: about 3 oz. of chicken tortilla soup (strained or blend the big pieces), I add a little bit of shredded mexican cheese blend, water or crystal light w/ Unjury unflavored protein
Snack: sf pudding (I usually blend in some Unjury unflavored protein), rest of string cheese
Dinner: 1 egg scrambled with a little cheese on top, 1 large tsp. of mashed potatoes, crystal light w/ Unjury unflavored protein
Snack: sf popsicle, or 1 graham cracker w/ a teeny bit of peanut butter (YUM!!)
I forgot to mention that I also drink Isopure (about 1/2 a bottle per day - 80 calories, 0 carbs and 20 grams of protein!)
I feel like I'm eating all the time but I'm trying to get in 40-60 grams of protein. The unflavored protein is helping!
I was stuck at a shopping center today with a non-working car so I ended up having to eat some unplanned food. I didn't expect to be there for lunch but I was lucky to find a place that served chili. I drank 1/2 a protein drink this morning and by 1 pm I started feeling a tiny bit hungry.
While waiting for my ride I walked around the shopping ctr and found a BBQ joint, a Mexican fast food that doesn't serve soup and Quiznos. I know Quiznos has soup so I tried their chili - it was the lowest calorie option because their chicken noodle wasn't ready yet. It had the most protein-20 grams (also the most carbs-26), 6 g of dietary fiber and 1050 mg of sodium (less than chicken noodle) and 230 calories. I thought I'd eat about half. I ate about 1/4 of it and was stuffed! I asked how many ounces are in the cup and was told they have two sizes 6 oz. and 10 oz. I ordered the bigger one so I guess I had about 2.5 oz.
I brought it home and had it for dinner. I measured 1/2 a cup, mixed with a tsp of chicken broth and finished a little over 1/2 of it and had about 3 bites of chocolate pudding.
Very happy with my little tummy's capacity! This was what I was looking for with the band but didn't get!!!
Take care,
genepha
I had my follow-up with Dr. Billy today and an Upper GI. My plicated stomach looks very good. There was 1 area of concern where Dr. Billy might want to tighten later if needed but other than that all went well and I was cleared for mushies. I drank 1/2 an Isopure during the morning - 80 calories, 20 grams of protein.
On my trip home I stopped for lunch. I ate about 3 small bites of scrambled egg, about 2 ounces of french onion soup and a couple of small pieces of the cheese on top of the soup. I'm stuffed!! I don't quite know the full signal yet but started sneezing soon after I finished so I figured that might be my full signal. I used to sneeze if I ate too much with the band too. I think I'm gonna start carrying a measuring cup with me!
I'm gonna go walk now.
Take care,
genepha
Today is my official 1 week.
My starting weight: 283
Today's weight: 267
Lost so far: 16 pounds
So when I see the numbers I wanna check my math and make sure it really is 16 pounds in 1 week. That seems crazy! I can't believe it's only been 1 week. It kinda seems like a lot longer!! I think the liquid diet does that! 
Ate out twice this week, mostly had broth but had a couple of tiny bites of refried beans blended with broth. Yum!!!
So far very happy and recovering nicely.
I will be seeing Dr. Billy on Friday for an upper g.i. and my follow-up. Looking forward to weighing on his special scale and to see my progress!
take care,
genepha
