Hi WhatsAWally! I'm figuring this site out too and wanting to meet new people. I have 2 kids and a husband that works his tail off so I can't make it to any support groups. Today I am one week post op too! I had hernia surgery and the lapband placed at the same time, and I'm still sore but not too bad. I was grocery shopping 3 days out! The worst part was the awful shoulder pain I kept getting from the gas they put in me!! The way I look at things though, I had a c-section with my 2nd and if I can make it through that, this is a piece of cake. My starting weight was 242, I started the pre op diet 1 week before the surgery, long story, and lost 10 lbs which was enough for my Dr. I'm down to 226 now, which is a 6lb loss post op. I too am soo sick of protein shakes, and chicken broth! I want FOOD! I can start having low sodium soups and almond or soy milk as of today. I went through True Results and they have their own protein shakes, and they at least taste pretty darn good. I got extremely nauseous yesterday, had to be somewhere really early so I took an Adkins low carb shake with me, hadn't tried it yet, and when I got the chance tried drinking it. GROSS. I ended up not being able to eat anything til 1, I cheated and had some cream of chicken soup thinned down with a little milk as soon as I got home. Let me tell you it was heaven on a spoon! lol I'm not supposed to eat it though cause of the sodium, but I'm going to try to find some low sodium ones today. I have yet to take some before pics, I've been meaning to do it. Think I will do that today! Anytime you need to talk I'm here. I'm constantly getting on here for answers to questions and inspiration!

You're a brave lady being up and about at day 3. I know thats normal for a lot of people though haha. I can't do broth anymore, I had to switch to low-sodium cream soups so I could feel like I was eating real food. Its the strangest thing, I feel like I have this big appetite again even though I'm really only eating three times a day or so plus water. Congrats on your loss! I feel like its almost hard to lose when you're not eating much of anything because your metabolism shuts down for self preservation. As for your before pictures- don't worry, I don't think I'll put up the really bad ones until I have something good to compare them to lol!

Congratulations on the band. I use skim milk only in my shakes from day one. I never used water. That thought is gross. I use a little decaf instant coffee, peppermint extract and tons of ice and make the best thick shake. I have one very morning, oh ya, I use 2 scoops of the protein to make sure I get in enough. I had the band in July and have been drinking the shakes for one year now. By having the shakes for breakfast I lost 28 pounds before the band.

Good luck and welcome to the best site for help, opinions and laughs and cries.

Right, I'm thinking the same thing about the before pics!! lol The one I have up is about as bad as I'll let it get for now! Yep, I had to switch to the cream soups too. I've had so much broth it's almost like they're tasteless now. I've seen other peoples diets and they can have thinned down cream of wheat among other things. Oh well, this too shall pass! It'll be worth it in the end.

Yeah, I'm definitely starting to figure out ways to jazz the shakes up, they're a necessary evil and I'm going to be drinking them at least once a day for the next year so I may as well get creative with them!