Hi All! Good morning and happy Tuesday!  The sun is shining brightly here in DC.  And I have great food choices on my menu so this makes me happy :)

Quick q: I have a 5 month follow-up with my surgeon next week, so I will ask then, but in the past few days I have really been experiencing dizziness at times - likely low blood pressure, and I don't expect any of you to dispense medical advice, but are others experiencing this?  And was it blood pressure?  Iron?  Just curious.  I am trying to keep my calories around 800 and working out much more intensely so that may contribute.  Also, the weather is turning hot and steamy. Anyway, thought I would crowd source ideas here!

Time Since Surgery: 5 months Friday

B: Believe Mocha Latte protein drink

L: TBD - my old Sales VP is taking me to lunch; maybe sushi?

S: 2 oz Boar's head turkey, 1 oz pepperjack cheese (so I don't pass out at the gym lol)

D: Leftover doner kebab chicken meat with some cabbage, onion, tzaziki sauce (from last night)

V: Just took 'em

W: 12 oz of coffee in, 24 oz bottle of water next to me

E: 50 minutes personal training after work, some treadmill after that

Without lunch, my totals are 508 calories, 58 g protein, 10 g carbs.  Not bad.

Side note: look at this amazing deal for the Ninja blender on Woot!  I have a blender already but I have never seen it this cheap! http://www.woot.com

What's on your menu today?  And thanks for sharing pics yesterday!  It's great to "see" y'all!  Em

organic chicken meatballs with spaghetti sauce with extra onion added.

Wish I had your sun here in Illinois,Em as we are having clouds and rain today. I had some dizziness at times in my journey and mine was blood pressure issues. Once I had my medications adjusted to lower doses it went away. Getting things caught up at home today since I was gone all weekend. May do some sewing too as I started a denim skirt and have been too busy to work on it. Post op almost 21 months and weight at 119.6 today after I made sure to eat yesterday. B 1/2 c steel cut oats with nuts and 1/2 banana with peanut butter L left over pork loin and some cottage cheese S Greek yogurt D 31/2 oz ground beef patty and 1/2 c sweet potatoes S 3/4 c Greek yogurt with some nuts. On track with vitamins and fluids so far. Once I finish my cup of coffee I will do 30 minutes on the treadmill and 20 on the bike. At some point before bed I will fit in 200 crunches. Have a good Tuesday everybody! 

Yeah, I feel like it may be BP - I have always had very normal BP and have never had medications so who knows.  119 lbs!  You're teensy!  I think I say that everyday lol.  Post a pic one day if you are so inclined :)  Give us a goal to strive for!  (well I could never reach 119 but you know what I mean...seeing you all fit and healthy and small!).

Good morning all - it's a lovely day here in the Philadelphia area as well - keeps me happy for sure. I took the MyFitnessPal plunge yesterday and I definitely like it. I'll have to get used to it's interface, but the food database is already so obviously better than FitBit. The only thing I wi**** did better was tracking liquids! 

Time since surgery: 8 weeks today (though I'll wait until the 18th to say it's my "surg-iversary")

B: 2.5oz cottage cheese, 1 morningstar farms maple sausage pattie

S: 12oz Nectar Lemon tea protein shake

L: 2oz cherry Light & Fit greek yogurt, 1 lite string cheese

S: 12oz Nectar Lemon tea protein shake

D: 2oz turkey taco meat, 2 tbsp (maybe) guac, 1 tbsp plain greek yogurt

S: 12oz Nectar Lemon tea protein shake

TOTALS: Calories 624, Protein 114, Carbs 20, Fat 10 

W: on my way

V: morning done

E: Aquacize

Tonight is *hopefully* finally the night that I try water aerobics! Knock on wood nothing goes wrong with the pool or my car or the people I know and love. Geez. Gym bag is packed so I can run through home and get to the 6pm class.

Forgive this possibly silly question, but...is there such a thing as too much protein?

Nope I have never heard of too much protein.  I am far from an expert but I have seen some others who get over 100 g per day, consistently.  It definitely blocks me up, if you know what I mean, but your body requires protein so kudos to you.  I bet you could cut back to two shakes a day instead of three if you wanted, but then again your NUT may require three.  We all have such different plans!  Mmmm turkey taco meat!  A definite fave of mine!

LOL. Honestly I've been wondering when I'm going to be constipated and knock on wood I haven't really experienced it yet. Gassy? Totally. Maybe I'll keep being lucky. 

Yes, I'm going to be cutting down to two shakes now - my NUT recommends 3 a day for the first 2 months, then down to 2 - so I'm almost ready to bring it down. I'm excited to do so since that will mean a few more calories up for grabs for real food!

Question for you about your pre-work out snack - how have you been timing that? I definitely felt the burn yesterday when I upped my elliptical training and am thinking I want to try something like a string cheese pre-gym but I'm concerned about drinking! I end up drinking a ton of water during my work out, but on the other hand I almost think if I eat my snack a full 45 minutes before starting it might not really fuel my workout the way I'm hoping. 

I am really struggling with feeling faint during workouts so I don't have a good answer, I am afraid.  Might be worth doing a separate post?  My trainer says to increase calories and I am sure my NUT will too but I really want to maximize this time and if I can get by on 800 I don't want to have more.  It is hard to find someone who understands my regime of WLS + exercise + honeymoon period + no carbs lol.  I had some chicken 30 minutes before my workout today and then started drinking maybe 10 minutes into my workout and I only got faint once.  

I cannot believe you aren't constipated.  You. Are. So. Lucky.  I have to take a laxative every 2-3 days and that doesn't even always work lol.  

Hey Em,  my NP at the surgeons office recommended I take a dose of Mirilax daily to keep things moving. I went 8 days with no bm.  Miserable.  Now that I take the powder daily in my coffee all is good :).   I may go down to half dose soon. 

Look up orthostatic hypotension. If it is when you change positions, this may be what is causing your dizzy spells. I had this often while losing, rarely now.