Lissa

SF pudding and SF popsicles. I was allowed as many of them as I liked, plus I drank a lot of broth. It's not no calorie, but it helped me get past the urges for both soda and coffee.

I adore them!! I eat one nearly every morning before taking my vitamins! I don't know where you buy them, but Sams has them in a 22 pack for around $9, versus the 6 pack for $4 at Walmart. This reminds me that I need to go get some cheese!

I love it! Now, do they make a "sleeved" version too?

great NSV!!! Rock that sleeve!!!

I started with light weights almost immediately after surgery, and I've progressed to heavier weights since I joined a gym last month. I'm doing high reps and low weights and I'm seeing definition in my arms and legs. Muscle burns calories all on it's own, so you will be well-served by strength training. The amount and scope of your strength training will be determined as much by what your goal is as it will be by how much you can do. I truly believe that weight lifting is helping some of my skin absorb, especially in my arms. That may be a big benefit for you! BTW, Congrats on 136 pounds so fast! WOW!!!

Every joint in my body is achy, especially my knees and shoulders. I've been working out pretty hard, so I know what's causing it. How do I treat it without totally stopping my workouts? Typical day for exercise: 7 am - hit the gym for cardio/weights. 4 days I do cardio, 3 days I do weights 7pm - hit the gym for more cardio. I do half an hour on the recumbent bike and I'm working on adding in the helliptical, between 5 and 12 minutes, depending on how well I do on it. The last three days, my knees have been aching. Aspercreme has been helping with the ache, but I pressure washed my house yesterday and I assume that the unaccustomed activity left me hurting in places that I don't work out. My shoulders, knees and elbows are all protesting today. The aspercreme helps for a little bit, but then they are all back to aching. I'm looking for the best way to treat it. I have access to a hot tub and I'm seriously considering hitting it now and again this evening, but I don't want to aggravate anything either. Help?

Butter, I just added elliptical to my routine, but I think I overdid it on the weights the day before I originally posted. I lived with chronic RA pain in my knees pre-surgery, which was pretty intense. This pain (from working out) was/is more of an ache, so I suspect that I have worked the muscle too much. I've also backed off to one cardio session per day, although I'm going a little longer than I did for one session before. So far, it's helping with the pain. I'm still a little achy, but nothing like I was over the weekend...and none of this recent stuff touches the pain I had from the RA before surgery! thank goodness!! Thanks for the A+! You'll hit your stride on working out and then nothing will stop you either!

Depending on your insurance company, it could be months or a year. Things like whether a supervised diet are required, etc will affect the timeline. There is a forum here for specific questions about insurance companies and their requirements. Perhaps you should explore that forum and see what other folks have experienced from UHC. Good luck!!

Welcome to the loser's bench! I'm glad you're starting to feel better! It's all bright from here!

Mina, WOW What an inspiring story, and all of your information is spot on!!! Good luck with your surgery and your journey! I know you'll be successful!! You have the right attitude. food funerals are natural, even normal, but they are negativity to ourselves. It's like our mind is subconsciously sabotaging our weight loss efforts. The sleeve is a tool to help us learn to control our minds.

I'd fill out a survey. I did one for another poster a couple of months ago and it was quite interesting!

Well, That's an amazing thing! At least you didn't spend a sleepless night before surgery... Good luck! Can't wait until you're on the loser's bench with us!

I can't wait for the pics!

I can't wait either, Patrick!! You should check out Paola, one of the posters here. She lost 80 pounds pre-op doing a similar liquid diet. I haven't seen her around lately, but she made some really good posts about how she lost that pre-op weight. It's great that your labs are so good!

I think you have a dairy allergy myself. Your symptoms sound like my last experience with a protein shake made with cow's milk. Call your doc in the morning, but avoid straight milk for a couple of days and see if it doesn't get better.

Before you buy anything pre-made, check out the blog at The World According to EggFace. She's got some great recipes that are WLS friendly and she gives a ton of Protein drink recipes that taste yummy without having to buy a premade something. I like the SF DaVinci syrups, and the Torani syrups are good as well.

I hope you don't have a leak either. The most common symptoms I've heard are pain, fever and throwing up bile. Webchickadee is right about the pain. Everyone that I've heard of having a leak all had a lot of pain from the get-go. If you're truly concerned, I wouldn't wait until tomorrow. I'd go tonight. Leaks can cause other infections and those infections can be deadly.

Great job!! I purposely don't log my food or worry about meeting anything but my Water goal on holidays. I've got to live with this sleeve, not diet for a time. Even if eating whatever I like on a holiday sets me back a pound or two, that's okay. I WILL get to goal. You did great today! I hope you enjoyed the time with family and friends!

I have no experience with the product you mentioned, but why not use regular foods instead? You should still be working on 70grams of Protein and 64 oz of Water daily. I'm at almost 9 months out and I still can't get in vegetables or carbs well unless I have a Protein Bar early in the day. If you've got enough room to want to fill up your tummy, try raw veggies instead, or use nuts or another dense protein. My concern would be a bezoar (google it), which is somewhat like a hairball in our stomach. If your sleeve doesn't handle that fiber product well, it may not digest properly, which could leave you in pain, or it could leave undigested fibers in your sleeve and cause other problems. If you're wanting to use this fiber to encourage bathroom movement, I'd suggest benefiber or something similar instead. I think I'd call the nutritionist and ask before using this one. BTW, It's good to "see" you!

I think it's great, too! Good job on planning ahead, but make sure you're getting in enough nutrition to keep you healthy FOR surgery. If you have underlying health problems, like diabetes, this pre-op diet may be too restrictive. I am still thrilled for you that you've decided to take this positive step for your health! Good luck!!

That's an awesome price! I assumed they'd be much more expensive as well!

I had to do something to remind myself to drink! I'd have played quarters with my water bottle if I'd thought about it! LOL

I take Tums because other forms of calcium interfere with other meds I take.

So far today, I've eaten two Pure Protein Bars and drank about 6 glasses of water, plus two cups of decaf coffee. I'm cooking chicken wings right now and will probably have some broccoli and cheese later. It's been a weird food day for me, possibly because I've been working on projects around the house.

I joined you teach. We have a really exclusive group for now!