Swiftflow

Its all going to be worth it tomorrow! Im all set for tomorrow morning myself! We are going to rock the sleeve!

I think this statement is Key. I am SOO very happy that pnw218 and Tiffanyismajor and stoongal and any others I have not read about had great personal experiences and are doing well! Please understand I value your input on the VSG forum and your stories have inspired me. That said I am going to have to say that in watching Tiiffany's video log of the pre-op and 2 surgery videos I would say that they would not meet my standards either. I could list off the things I saw that made me uncomfortable, but I think each person needs to make thier own judgments and not just accept mine. For some this may be a calculated risk they are willing to save money with. If so more power to you and I wish you the very best in your choice. I mean no harm to anyone, and this is only my personal opinion.

2 more days... this wait is killing me!

Haha! Im 40 and already feel alive! I just have shorter spurts of alive and get winded... Lets just say now our "alive" moments will last longer and come more often. I am still that same 20 year old kid at heart--will be nice to have the body and fitness to match!:thumbup:

Way to take charge--Oh what I would give to be 25 and had this option presented to me--you are going to rock this thing! I'm right behind you on 4/28. Keep us posted on your progress!

Started Vlog today YouTube - VSGswift's Channel Subscribe to keep updated on my journey

Alright I made my first vlog today on youtube. Just a short one to start with--Subcribe if you would like to track my progress with me! Thanks! YouTube - VSGswift's Channel

You might try those sites for sample packs as well. I did get isopure unflavored off of amazon and that way I can just mix it with a crystal lite flavor I like. I also recommend that bottle called the blender bottle --its a shaker with the wisk ball in it that helps mix it up better.

IF you have a local surgeon--or even a local office that does Bariatric surgery even i you are going to Mexico. Call them up and ask them to refer a doctor that is understanding of the proceedure and supportive.

Allot of these bariatric websites will offer free shipping if you order a certain amount of products at one time. bariatric eating.com is free shipping after $85 for example.

+1 to this advice. This is how I broke stalls in low calorie dieting and it is a great way to vary or "trick" your metabolism. I recommend the varying calories even before you hit the stall. or in your case even after you have passed it--don't let your body get used to 600 calories every day.

On the greek yogurt--I got the one with blueberrys the other day and it was good.

Welcome! I am 6 days away now and I can't stay off the boards either. Great info here! Wishing you all the best.

I have also been considering starting a vlog on youtube... To vlog or not to vlog.. Thoughts?

Awesome! I love the positive outlook and start to this--you are going to do great! ROCK THAT SLEEVE!!

At the end of the creation there is a section called "bbcode" You copy the link in there and then paste that link into your signature file. The signature on this site is on the left menu after you select the User Control panel link (User CP) for this site. You can also just paste the link at the end of your messages, but having a signature does that for you automatically.

Wed 4/28? Me too!!

I went to my pre-op class and this is actually the way my Doctor's office teaches thier drinking rule. You can drink until the first bit of food hits your lips, and then 30 mins after the meal. I was pleased to hear that.

Even if you physically had to drink shakes, you could up your calories with healthy shakes too. I have just ordered a product called suplimed The Weight Gain Supplement That's Your Sensible Weight Gain Solution to help me up my calories on my off days (lots of calories packed in to small doses 4 oz or 1/2 serving can get 254 calories) this is just the one I liked, but GNC and other stores have other product options too. I am about to use my 3 days on 1 day off practice with my vsg to maybe try and prevent a stall. I will keep everyone posted on how that works. My plan is 3 days at 600-800 calories, 1 day 1500-1800 calories. repeat. There is no way early in my sleeve I can get 1500-1800 healthy calories without using a liquid suppliment, so I am planning ahead. My number is higher with 1500-1800 based on my studies of Base metabloic rate for my desired goal weight and body fat percentage. A female will typically be a lower number than that--web search for Base metabilic rate (BMR) on how to figure out your own. Also once I can eat regular food easily I will adjust the suppliment amounts to match the calorie levels and try to use shakes more as suppliments then and not a mainstay.

Also DFW area. My doc only has the day before surgery starting at noon on clear liquids--so happy about that! Rant: I'm not sure why many have the blanket pre-op diet for this procedure. It's the same procedure they used on 60+ BMI patients as the first stage to get them ready for a Duodenal Switch after they drop some weight. Maybe some want to see the commitment level. It cant just be for liver size because in almost every case they have operated on someone with a higher BMI than you in the past--meaning if I don't diet is my liver going to be larger than the 60 bmi patient that did a diet? Maybe they don't want to have to use the extra incision for an additional liver retractor...Not sure--just a rant... My surgeon does the DS procedure on a regular basis and may be used to working around the larger liver and thus does not require it... Edit: Not to say you should not follow your docs recommendations--its just weird that it is not a standard recommendation.

Just my thoughs based on my weight loss experience: Whats the total on that calorie wise? Just at a brief glance, your calorie intake could be low and your body is in starvation mode or adjusted to the long term low calorie diet. Some possible changes to the ones you already mentioned: 1. try to up your calories a couple of days to jump start your body into burning again 2 days at 1000-1200 calories (edit: healthy foods --use shakes as additional suppliments and not main meals) 2. take a long term approach of 3 on 1 off-- 3 days at low calorie 1 day maintenance level calories (based on your base metabolic rate) This helps prevent the body from ever getting used to the low calories all the time. Again these things have worked in the past on stalls--I obviously have gained it all back and am awaiting my sleeve to help me keep wieght off and not just be a professional dieter. stall article : http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html

I am pre-sleeve but I like the Isopure plus alpine punch--I hope I still do post sleeve. Its zero carb so its a mild taste--not too sweet or fake punch tasting. I could tell that if you added more Water to the mix the taste would be very little twinge of flavoring if you thought the straight punch was strong for you. I have the unflavored powder on the way so I will test that with water first then try to add lemon or tea to it. By the way I buy so many different things off of amazon that I get the amazon prime (free 2 day shipping on amazon shipped products) this has paid for itself three fold because I order allot of heavy shipped items this last year (bulk liquids/powders, cooking supplies, etc.) the amount you save from no sales tax and no shipping are great.

I am glad my surgeon does not bypass the educational requirements for self pay indeed! In fact Tomorrow I have a full day of classroom training getting me ready for the surgery. Im sure after 12+ years of doing WLS they learned that education is key to success and they would only be hurting there own success rate if they did not require the manditory learning. This is in addition to required seminar, labs, EGD, sonogram, doctor consult, and EKG to make sure you are ready for this.

Don't worry, you will forget this post soon :thumbup1: I tend to believe the resolution of the sleep apnea will improve your mental sharpness far more than hunger hormone could affect it. I'm sure there are plenty of well fed scholars that could agree. Also do a search on medical studies on how exercise effects memory. If I can get down to a "running weight" again I may enjoy some of those benefits as well!