LOOKING FOR FELLOW JEWS IN NJ

I am scheduled for surgery on 5/31/05. I'm in the middle of testing and psych and nutritionist visits. Looking forward to surgery, but very scared!!

Hi Besty, You got one out of two....I am very Jewish but I live in NY. Good luck on all your pre-op things to take care of...who is your surgeon and what procedure will you be having? I am 5 years post op. I started at 302 and this morning I am 135. Although all new beginnings are scary and it is so normal to feel the way you do try to relax about it all and take it one day at a time. feel free to ask me anything since I am a post op old timer! lynne

Hi Lynne, Thanks for answering my post. My surgeon is Dr. Ibrahim and I'm having gastric bypass. Is that RNY? that I've read about? I'm so glad to hear of your success and hope I do as well. I'm almost 64 years old and understand that the losing is MUCH slower the older you are. Thanks for your good thoughts. What does "very Jewish" mean in your reply? Betsy

I live in NY but I am also Jewish. Not many post on the board I find it can be helpful to have others who go through the same experiences, such as the many holidays! Gastric bypasss and RNY are the same thing. I had the lap band but many issues are the same. Email me - [email protected]

Hi Betsy! I'm Linda from Michigan......Lap RNY 9/03.....and doing well. Hope you are too! Yes, the older you are, the harder to lose wt....but you WILL lose weight! So keep up the good work! It is so worthwhile. Happy July 4th

hi Betsey a member of the tribe here, but in upstate NY. Hopefully surgery was done and you are healing nicely. Not to early to start thinking about your rosh hashana and yom kippur traditions and food. There are some good new Jewish cookbook that are lighter fare and you can even find some with diabetic recipes so very low to no sugar. One thing I know that helped me was to plan an activity that had nothing to do with food For Rosh Hashanah we go to a local apple orchard and pick apples- we make sugar-free applwsauce in a crock pot We do Tashlich- we take the bread crumbs to a river only we really make it a big hike into a water fall Yom kippur is trickier- I had the DS partly because I take medication NSAIDS regularly-there is no way I can fast without getting seriously ill. Judaism is so great-we are not allowed to harm ourselves. So I spoke to my rabbi-how spiritually I hated not to fast. We compromised- I spread my eating out farther between meals, eat less than usual and for me I just use protein drinks (for me that is a sacrifice I hate almost all of them). It really helped to talk to my rabbi about it---I did it way before the high holidays which can be so crazy for her. Then lets talk break the fast most people use dairy-only I can not have it. I went to a friends house and there was desserts lots of those, bagel (nope not for me) cream cheese (oops not for me) lox (too salty) and then there was a small pitiful amount of whitefish----well can you say hungry. I got smart the next year I offered to bring a meat dish- I was very up front and explained my needs and offered to bring tuna salad, egg salad. Being a mensh she refused and had a huge fish selection and fresh fruits the next year for me. The funny part everyone was thrilled- 4 others were doing atkins, 2 south beach and the men just like the meat. The salads and fruits were wiped out and a ton of desserts were untouched I could go on and on for each holiday after 3 years and teaching religious school I am a lover of all holidays and live them to the fullest even now as a DS. I will not do any holiday begrudingly only with ruach I forget to get to this board very often maybe we can get it more active too!!