Hi everyone! I had a pretty good day yesterday - I deviated from my plan, but ate healthy. I can't believe how hard it is to eat high protein and not have it be high fat as well. I'm really freaking out about this whole doctor's report. I think I'm going to call the doctor's office and ask for a copy of the lab work, then do a bit of research on my own. Here's what I ate yesterday: B: Unjury protein powder in lemonade L: 2 oz. grilled chicken, 1/2 Power Crunch Bar D: turkey pattie with a tiny bit of reduced fat cheese on it and ketchup. I made a salad, but really didnt' eat it. I also had a dill pickle spear. Snacks: GeniSoy Lo Carb bar, Happy Herb pretzels Totals: Calories: 728 Fat: 25 (as hard as I tried, it was still 32% of my calories and the RDA is 30% max ... ) Carbs: 35 Protein: 89 I did 30 minutes on the treadmill (almost 2 miles) and I took another 30 minute walk last night. ***************************** Here's what I plan for today: B: Carb Countdown with Isopure protein powder L: 2 oz chicken, Unjury in lemonade D: turkey pattie with a small bit of cheese, pickle, about 15 medium shrimp, and a few pieces of asparagus. Snacks: Happy Herb Pretzels, Kashi Go Lean bar Totals: Calories: 718 Fat: 20 (26%) Carbs: 29 Protein: 95 I'm going to walk on the treadmill again in a little while, then will do another form of exercise later on this evening. Hugs to all, Nancy

Hi ladies! Yesterday I didn't plan anything. I didn't eat a lot, but I had General Tso's chicken (no rice) and I know that's not the best thing in the world to eat. I have had my scare from the doctor (see my post about that!), so I'm hoping to be very good today. Here's my plan: B: didn't have any L: Unjury in Lemonade Snack: 1/2 cup Carb Countdown milk with 1/2 scoop Isopure protein powder D: Turkey pattie with 1 t. ketchup, 1 dill spear, green salad with tomato, onion and cucumber - and a spritz of balsamic vinegar Snacks: Kashi go Lean roll Happy Herb Kamut pretzels Totals: Calories: 694 Fat: 18 (which comes to 25% of my calories) Carbs: 40 Protein: 85 I'm just realizing that fitday.com doesn't have a measurement for sugar - which I now have to watch. I've read that it should be at the very most 10% of your calorie intake. Guess I'm going to have to read labels more carefully. Fat should be under 30% of your daily calories - that's really hard to do with a high protein, low carb diet. I was checking out my menus from fitday.com in the past, and fat was always about 40 - 50% of my calories. Jeesh - figuring this out is going to be fun.... Hugs, Nancy

I don't blame you for being upset. I too just had my blood work done and everything was great but I got the same thing as you "your iron is a little low". But my doctor said as long as my multi-vitamin had iron not to take extra. But I know I've been a bit sluggish so I went ahead and started adding an iron tablet into my diet. I also found out like calcium, we don't absorb iron normally either and that the kind found in Feosol is the kind we absorb best. So I hear something different everytime. I think the actual gist of it all is they just don't know. They are very much still learning about this surgery and its effects and tweaking it the protocol. In my surgeon's program they have changed the diet plan at least 3 times since I've had my surgery. I had to wait six months to have beef, they now get it after 3. So makes you wonder, do they know what they are talking about aside from actually doing the procedure? My doctor was the same as yours, don't worry about the fat, you don't eat enough for that to be a concern. Concentrate on the protein. So I try to eat lower in fat things. Then you get the doctor's that say the stuff they do to the lowfat products to make them lowfat is actually worse than eating the fat. So how are we suppose to know? I truly believe we are all just science experiments with this surgery! Either way doll, maybe take that blood work somewhere else and get a second opinion? Have fun on your vacation and try not to stress!!!!! Love ya! Michelle

I had blood work done for my two-year visit to my bariatric surgeon. Since he's no longer in my network, my PCP orders the bloodwork. I went to see my surgeon last week, and he said that my iron levels were very low and it was imperitive that I start taking two iron pills a day. He said my cholestrol was borderline high around 198 and my HDL and LDL were pretty good. He wanted me to have another iron test in a month. My PCP's nurse just called and said that my cholestrol levels were elevated and so was the LDL (bad cholesterol). The heart inflammation marker was also elevated as was my sugar! I asked what the heart inflammation marker was and she said it marks for high cardio risk. She said I needed to eat a lowfat, low sugar diet and get exercise. She said everything else was good. I asked about the iron and she said it's a little low, but the doctor wasn't concerned about it!! What gives? Is each type of doctor only concerned about their own area? I told her what the surgeon said and that he thought the cholestrol was not too bad, and she said he probably wasn't looking at the whole picture - just what interested him. She said I was to get another blood test in October. I asked if these results were serious and she said if the doc thought they were serious, he'd want me right back. They are an indicator and the next step - if diet and exercise don't help - is medication.... After I hung up I was kind of scared. To be honest, I have to admit I've been eating a bit more sugar than I should be - do you think Splenda counts toward sugar levels? I do eat a fair amount of it and there are days that I seem to sprinkle it on EVERYTHING. I also haven't been paying much attention to my fat intake - the surgeon always stressed high protein, low carb, never mind the fat. Well, first thing I did was go down on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I really haven't been exercising on a regular basis, and it's something I WILL GET BACK TO. I've been having heart palps lately when I exercise; even a short walk and my heart is thumping in my chest. I've had them before and from what I've read, it's really nothing to worry about and should go away once I exercise on a regular basis. Low iron can also cause them, so we'll see what happens once I get those levels up. I'm going on vacation next week - I kind of wish I didn't find out until after, but what the heck - it will help me make some better choices and today is the first day of the rest of my (hopefully LONG) life. This is the motivation I needed to get back on track I guess. What bothers me is the difference between what each doctor deems 'important'. I mean, where does that leave me? With mixed messages I guess.... Anyhoo, thanks for letting me spill my guts..... Hugs, Nancy

Good morning July babies!! Yesterday was a fairly good day, not perfect, but pretty good. I ate everything on plan. Exercised 2 hours and 15 minutes (still didn't get in Pilates). The area of opportunity... I had a slice of pizza while sitting at the Arch grounds watching the fireworks!! I must continue to work on yielding to temptations!!! I'm back down 223, so I'm feeling pretty good about that. I hope to be 222 by morning... I think the extra hour working out is moving the scale! Check out my stats for the last week.. 6/23 223 6/28 225 6/29 224 7/02 228 carb city weekend! 7/03 228 added 1 hour of walking to work ou****er aerobics 7/04 225 7/05 223!!!! So let's see if I can finally get under 220 and stay there..... Yesterday's Actual: Breakfast: Tilapia Apple Sauce Snack: AchievOne Lunch: Tuna Lettuce Lite Dressing Snack: AchievOne Dinner: Steak Snack: Sugar free popsicles Diet Coke Crystal Lite PapaJohn's Pizza!!! UGH Nutrition: 1754 Calories 77 Fat 72 Carb 148 Protein ************************************************************** Today's Plan: Yesterday's Actual: Breakfast: Tilapia Apple Sauce Snack: AchievOne Lunch: Shrimp Lettuce Lite Dressing Snack: AchievOne Deli Turkey Dinner: Salmon Snack: Sugar free popsicles Crystal Lite Nutrition: 1245 Calories 36 Fat 31 Carb 147 Protein Exercise: 75 minutes - water aerobics 1 hr walking Have a great day!! Denise