Wow, you challenge me to write up my own routine...

AM - 1
2 SF Fiber Choice tablets
1 Viactiv multivitamin

AM - 2
1000 mg UpCalD in my protein shake

Lunch
500 mg Calcium Citrate in pill form.
250 mg magnesium
30 mg Zinc

PM - 1
1000 mg UpCalD in my protein shake (don't always have two protein shakes)

PM - 2
B-complex
1 Viactiv multivitamin

PM - 3
1000 mcg Biotin
2000 mcg B-12

PM - 4
500 mg Vitamin C
36 mg iron

VITAMIN A                        5,000 IU  
VIT B-6                                    14 mg         
B-12 (Sublingual)            2000 mcg         
B-12                               42 mcg        
Thiamine                           10.5 mg        
Riboflavin                          11.9 mg        
Niacin                              80 mg        
Folic Acid                      1200 mg        
Biotin                               1360 mg        
Panothenic Acid                 70 mg  
VITAMIN C                            870 mg
VITAMIN D                            1800 IU        <-- 1000 from UpCalD
VITAMIN E                             66 IU
VITAMIN K                            ?  
CALCIUM CITRATE         2,000 mg            <- from UpCalD
CALCIUM CITRATE            500 mg            <--- from another source
CALCIUM (Non- spec)          400 mg            <--- carbonate  
IRON (Ferrous fumerate)        36 mg             
Phosphorus                               ? mg
Iodine                                     ? mcg
Mag Ox                                  250 mg
Zinc                                          30 mg
Protein from 50 to 120 (usually between 70 and 120)

Lately I've seen an individual posting a lot who is either (a) proud of the way she flouts the rules, and encourages everyone else to do so, or (b) flaming raging mad at the world, fatties, etc for the way they view her.

I'm completely unable to fathom this behavior/issue/problem, but I thought that I would make some comments on it here.

It's hard for me to read the posts from this individual, and often I don't/won't because I feel as though she has a lot of conflict within, that comes out negative. I get a sense that she has a true disgust, an outright writhing eww-lookie-maggots type disgust with fat people. I don't know if it's disgust at herself and the person she was, or disgust at those who haven't begun their journey, or if it's disgust at everyone who is beyond some strange dividing line that she considers acceptable. At 230 lbs I don't think I fit in the "acceptable" club, which is why I don't much read her posts. Now please, remember if you're reading this that this is where I put my thoughts and ruminations. My thoughts on someone else's motives and opinions are simply that... thoughts. Certainly not "truth" but rather speculative instead.

Worse than the sense of fat hatred that I get from this individual, is the enabling ... the "eat it all" attitude that probably works smashingly well for her, but that won't work well for many of the folks here on this site. By encouraging and spouting such things off, I know that some individuals will look up to her, and try to live that life, when that is the true route back to obesity. In addition, it sort of seems to me that someone coming on here and talking about all the things they eat is a sort of taunt and flaunt. I am highly limited in what I can (or will) eat, and I could be taking it as a taunt or a flaunt. In my case it doesn't really touch me, as my limited food intake is more about my own tastes and desires than any rule book or anything else. I don't WANT to eat, I DON'T want variety, so that's all on me. But I worry about a lot of the other members of this site. Many members seem so emotionally and psychologically vulnerable, and I worry about them in the face of the emotionally strong flaunting/taunting them with their choices.

I know... I'm babbling. But it just seemed to me I had to comment on it. I'll never understand the angry reaction and disgust towards overweight people. In truth, I probably have ten times as much empathy, sympathy, and care for the situation faced by other people who are morbidly obese, than ever before in my life. Perhaps sometime I'll post in here about one of my newest students, "C"... who hurts my heart every time I see him.

Someone had this in their sig:

WEight Loss so far (down 120 lbs, 63 since surgery)
Mth  Weight   Loss
-8     350
-7     318          -32   <---- very sick, eating nothing for a month
-6     327           +9   <---- Felt better, ate more, decided to look into WLS
-5     321            -6  
-4     314            -7
-3     307            -7
-2     298            -9
-1     294            -4
  0     293           -1   <--- Had surgery
  1     267          -26  <--- first month after surgery
  2     258            -9   <--- Felt like I was stalling this month
  3     247          -11   <--- felt better
  4     241            -6   <---- Is it OVER? (no!) 
  5     230            -11   <--- went back to work!

6        223  <---------------- Current Mini goal, which puts me at 70 lost since surgery, 69 to go!

There is a big brouhaha on the various boards about Calcium. Some say that the RDA for calcium is 2000 mg elemental calcium. (As in 1000 for normal peeps, and twice that for WLS peeps).

The problem is that the UpCalD stuff which is where I get the majority of my calcium is 500 mg Calcium Citrate. The know-it-alls on the board say that this means that for every 100 mg of calcium citrate there are only approximately 25 mg of elemental calcium. Thus when I think I'm getting in 2000 mg of Calcium (the simplistic recommendation), I'm actually only getting in 500 mg.

Now I have a couple of questions about this huge brouhaha. When the docs say 1000 or 2000 mg of calcium do they REALLY expect it to be elemental? I just spent twenty minutes trying to find the US RDA (on the USDA webpage) and 1000 seems to be the recommended levels, though I didn't see "elemental calcium" mentioned anywhere. *shrug*

Another of my calcium thoughts is thoughts on the reason we are asked to get all this calcium in post-op. It's because we malabsorb calcium, especially calcium carbonate. So if we get in calcium citrate, at twice USRDA, we'll likely get in a sufficient amount. Of course Sally might need 833 mg to have the perfect amount, and Joe might need 1,278 mg to have the perfect amount, these are all just estimates. The correct amount for each individual varies.

Now, if I didn't take any Calcium before my RNY, the result is that perhaps only half of the Calcium in my diet will be absorbed compared to before. And if my diet is one-tenth of what it was before, then I'm getting approximately one-twentieth of what I was getting before (which probably wasn't much). SO, if I take in 2000 mg of calcium now (or approximately 1000 if the naysayers about UpCalD are right), then I'm absorbing between 500 and 1000 mg which is, truthfully, probably the same amount as I was getting in pre-op from diet alone, on a good day. I probably often didn't get in nearly that amount, since days, weeks, but probably not months would go by wherein I would have very little calcium rich foods.

SO, if my body is getting more calcium now than before my RNY, should I be freaking out about bone loss? Truthfully this is not something that worries me that much (and yes, I may someday read this and wish I had known). Part of the reason I am not worried about these things is my family history. My mother had extremely large and sturdy bones up until her death at 61. Her mother had sturdy bones up until her death in her late 70's. My father's mother had sturdy strong bones, and her mother only started to experience issues with her bones when she reached her mid-90s. I think she was 93 when she suffered a broken hip. Being German and Swiss, those women had very strong sturdy bones as part of their genetic makeup. This is why I am a large-framed woman with very large bones, and why I will never reach my own ideal weight. I'm cursed/blessed with a sturdy solid skeleton.

Anyway, now that I try to put it all down on "paper"... I see that my thoughts on Calcium aren't solidified. But I'm not ready to panic about the UpCalD...

SO... do I order more UpCalD, or do I get those big horse pills, or do I just double, triple etc my calcium intake? I'm inclined to just double the calcium intake. Instead of putting one scoop of calcium in my protein shakes, I'll put two, so that means 1000 mg or 250 mg per shake, 2000 mg per two shakes or 500 mg... depending on perspective/belief. I will then attempt to get an addition 500 mg in through diet...

This seems best. Overall.

Oh, and Monday, when I have my well-woman exam, I'll express my concerns and ask if they can do a bone-density test or something like that. To use as a baseline. Then in six to eight months I can get an additional test to see if I'm declining.... and so long as all is well, keep it to once yearly, just to map my progress. I'll also ask their opinion on the whole elemental versus not-elemental.