I will upload a photo of myself pre-vsg surgery to my profile. :embaressed_smile: I am so looking forward to posting photos along the way of my shrinking self. :smile1:

Each day seems to get a bit better than the last, now on my 3rd day home after vsg surgery. My belly is still very sore. Thank goodness for the pain killer (roxicodone! - discovered I'm allergic to hydrocodone, i.e., vicodin, in the hospital, nausea, hallucinations and an itchy mouth is not my cup of tea) or I wouldn't be getting sound sleep. I am not one to take meds, especially a narcotic, but it truly is necessary in this case to keep from getting too exhausted fighting agains the pain. I have a strong pain threshold, but this is some serious surgery and it is required. I plan to discontinue the roxicodone by tomorrow and change to children's liquid Tylenol, if needed. I'm also meditating and doing some conscious deep breathing exercises for relaxation.

My first blog entry was super long and wordy, but wanted to admit to some things and put it in writing.

Today a trip to Costco is in the plans to buy some protein drinks and a scale with my honey. I'm so looking forward to weighing myself today. (This is a statement I would have never made before.) So far on this 4 weeks liquid diet phase I've had Chiobani Greek yogurts (honey and vanilla) with Beneprotein added and a couple of the sample protein mixes I received from the nutritionist. I've tried the Bariatric Advantage Chocolate and the Unjury Chocolate. The fav out of these is the Unjury Chocolate protein mix shaken up with Plain Soy Milk - just like a chocolate shake, rather tasty. After reading other posts, it seems like the follow-up diet is different in other locations. I'm surprised when I hear people are eating more of a pureed diet 2-3 weeks out from surgery. The instructions from Stanford are a 4 week liquid diet phase, six protein meals a day, post surgery, followed by 2 weeks of a pureed phase diet. The liquid phase includes yogurt, cream of rice/wheat and protein drinks. I've never been a fan at all of artificial sweeteners nor drinking sweet things on the regular. I tried the Gatorade with protein and Crystal Light, but the artificial taste is rather revolting to me. Additionally, I don't think it wise to fuel your body with artificial chemical anything. So, I'm going to stay as natural and organic as possible, well, except for the prepackaged protein drinks and mixes - simply for convenience. I've been getting in the required daily protein amount, thanks to adding beneprotein to most everything. I've really only been drinking water and herbal tea in between and find it much more satisfying than anything with artificial sweetener. I'm also making sure I get all the required protein in 'cause I really don't want hair loss! I'm just not quite ready to lose the dreadlocks yet or have them thin out too much.

The healing continues.....