Hi Susie!

Let me just say...OMG the Optifast! I really loathed that stuff! I had it
pre-operatively as well and to be honest it was making me really ill. In the end
I had to switch over to the bars that are in that range and I didn't actually
manage to loose very much as a result. I was worried that the doctor was going
to send me off to loose more weight. He didn't bless him :)

I hear what you're saying about listening to your body. The two things I try to
do every day are to get the 50gms of protein in and to drink all my water. Other
than that, I tend to eat what I feel like eating. I do a lot of home cooking and
I've been slowing introducing new foods. The interesting thing is I'm not
craving junk or other empty foods at the moment. It's like a miracle and I hope
that particular effect of the op stays with me forever LOL! I am noticing my
caffeine craving is back though...

Straight after the surgery I found I really wanted liquids most of the time and
I guess that makes sense considering what I went through. I ended up drinking a
fair bit of the celebrity slim drinks which were only marginally better than the
Optifast *shudder*. Now I find egg flips very useful because of the things that
changed for me is that I don't like any really solid food first thing in the
morning (which is a big change because I was always such a breakfast girl)

I'm really sorry you've been so sick :( A gall bladder gone bad is no joke. I
had mine out in 2005 after 3 years of trying to convince my GP that I was in
agony. He didn't believe me until my friend managed to drive me to his surgery
in the middle of a major attack. Needless to say I was on the op list pretty
quickly after that.

Anyway, thanks so much for the kind words and the encouragement. You're so lucky
to be half way there. Good luck!

Cheers
Debbie


--- In awls@yahoogroups.com, Suzanne Carlton <suzannecarlton@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Debbie
>
> Great decision and good luck with it all. I had surgery in July 08. I am 43
yo and am about 5ft 7. I weighed about 127 to begin with, but lost 6-7 k on the
pre-surgery diet (Optifast). I am now sitting right on 100.
>
> I haven't actually been trying to diet too much, just working on paying
attention to my body and how and what I feed it. I had to go back into hospital
to have my gall bladder out in November and have had bouts of pneumonia and
chest infections, so I am just now getting into a good exercise routine and I
expect the numbers to start going down again. I am aiming for 65-75, so I am
about halfway there.
>
> I still think the surgery was a great decision and I know that I would not be
where I am today without it. Best wishes to you and let us know if you have any
questions. People here are really happy to help.
>
> Cheers
>
> Susie
>
>