TheRealMeIsHere!

EAS AdvantEdge are RTD and not thick like the others

have you tried EAS AdvantEdge RTD, they are not as thick as some of the others. The chocolate fudge and strawberry are my favs, but the cafe' caramel is also good. If it's the milk like flavors that you don't like try Isopure Zero carb, there is a rtd and powders. Also nectar makes many flavors of powder that are good.

true, the volume I eat and the food choices I make are FAR better than pre-sleeve. It's pretty much ONLY salad that I can eat alot of.

It's actually difficult to tell who's the mom and who's the daughter!

I think nausea is fairly common. Your stomach is healing and has a huge incision, if your dr. didn't give you a scrip for Prilosec or another PPI, call and ask. If you are already on a PPI, mention the nausea to your dr., he may give you something else.

my thoughts EXACTLY!

feedyoureye, you look AMAZING!! Thank you Feedyoureye and Fiddleman, I really do enjoy sitting down to a large crunchy salad. I do add some lean Protein to it also. I knew it was a good option as far as calories and nutrition. I guess I was just alarmed that could fit so much. Don't want to do ANYTHING that could potentially cause 'fat me' to come back, LOL Especially don't want to stretch my sleeve, as I absolutely LOVE my tool.

As far as meals, I eat only lean protein about a 1/2 cup. Once or twice a month I may have 1/2 a sandwich on whole wheat. Once or twice a week I eat a bite or two of potato/pasta or rice. But my diet mainly consists of small amounts of lean/ff protein. In the afternoon I get hungry and enjoy the crunch of a salad with some red wine vinegar. I stay very close to the eating plan that my nut recommends. Until 18 months out, I was eating so little that she told me NO OTHER foods besides protein, until I am reaching my protein goals. Since then, the only thing I've changed is having a salad in the afternoon as opposed to an unhealthy, calorie laden snack. Thank you so much PdxMan and RJ for the helpful feedback.

I was kind of thinking that the veggies are mostly Water and shrink down. Like how you can have a HUGE mound of raw spinach, but cook it and it's reduced down to maybe a quarter of what it started out as. It's just terrifying to see how much salad I can eat. But I guess, since the amount of meat I can eat is not huge, about 1/3 cup, then my sleeve isn't stretched? Try this experiment. Take your salad and put it into a blender. Add 4 oz of water and blend. Pour this into a measuring cup. Whatever is over the 4 oz mark is what your salad has been reduced to. Salad has always been one of those things I can eat a good portion of because it does reduce well, whereas the dense Protein is pretty much already reduced to whatever it is going to be.

I still eat the dense protein first. As a matter of fact, that is ALL I eat at a meal. I rarely eat 1-2 bites of a carb (pasta/rice/potato/whole wheat bread) Sometimes a half sandwich, maybe 1-2 times a month. I eat a salad, mid afternoon, because I get hungry, then and don't want to eat something high calorie. Yeah, as far as meat, my limit isn't much more than it used to be. But why can I eat so much salad in one sitting, without feeling overstuffed?

My dr. said the longer I wore the binder or some kind of compression, the better the final result. Wore mine for 3 months

LMAO! woohoo! Congrats on the ribs, who woulda thunk they were hiding all this time? .

an amazing transformation of mind and body!

It's bogus Our center does not obtain skin from these patients for several reasons. First, this method of obtaining skin is cost prohibitive. The amount of transplantable tissue obtained from tissue reduction surgery is minimal when compared to the amount of tissue obtained from a cadaveric (deceased) tissue donor. The procurement costs would be much greater as it would require the services of doctors, nurses, anesthetists, and other health care professionals as well as the use of an operating room and other hospital services. Cadaveric donation requires only trained tissue recovery technicians, and they can procure tissue after the body has been sent to the morgue (rather than in an operating room), thus keeping expenses to a minimum. Additionally, cadaveric donated tissue can be used for transplant soon after recovery (as soon as quality assurance testing is complete), however, the FDA requires that tissues recovered from living donors must be placed into quarantine for six months. At the end of six months, all serologic testing (HIV and Hepatitis) of the donor must be repeated before that tissue can be used. It is extremely difficult to obtain a skin graft from tissue than has been removed during tissue reduction surgery. The usual procedure for tissue reduction surgery involves the removal of skin and underlying attached tissues, often several centimeters. Skin grafts used for transplant (burn patients) are only 15/1000 (0.015) of an inch thick and do not include these underlying tissues. Skin grafts for transplant are obtained by the use of a surgical device called a dermatome, which peels off a very thin (0.015 inch) uniform layer of skin. I do not know of any tissue bank that would pay for a donor's tissue reduction surgical expenses for the purpose of obtaining skin for transplantation. If you are interested in donating your tissues upon your death I would encourage you to share this information with your family. Your gift can save lives and greatly reduce suffering. Can I donate a small piece of skin in exchange for money? No. Our center does not obtain tissues from paid donors. In fact, the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and Federal regulations prohibit monetary inducement for donation.

I take Walmart Active Kids chewable complete Vitamins. Early on, took two a day, now just one. Also, in the beginning, took liquid Iron, calcium (Tums) Vit. D and b12. My insurance paid for most, the rest I got for less than $10.00 each, for several months supply. Why does your doctor want you to take so much Christian?

Dannon has some new flavors of light and Fit Greek. Caramel Macchiato strawberry Cheesecake and Cherry chocolate They are amazing, as well as all the other flavors!! Can't decide which I like better http://www.lightandfit.com/light-yogurt/light-and-fit-greek/cherry

thank you!

Oh wow buplee!! That sound delicious. Do you have a dehydrator or do you dry them some other way? I would love to dry my own fruit.

Great idea!!! Just check the label on the dried fruit, many add sugar

Yep, I also get plain FF Greek yogurt and add Splenda and extract or unsweetened cocoa, lime/lemon juice. I hear that crystal light powder, those packets of frosting creations and Splenda or SF jello is also good.

The Dannon Light and fit Greek does not have sugar, that's why I get it.

at first, your weight will go up, due to swelling, and you will wear at least a size or two bigger. Once all swelling is gone, you may wear the same size as now, just better.

YES, just had a panni/TT on 10/17/2013. First printed the ins. criteria from their website. Took that to my pain management dr. who wrote a letter echoing EXACTLY what ins. wanted. Wrote my own stuff about how my co-morbidities are resolved, importance of exercise in keeping weight off and co-morbidities gone. How excess skin impedes exercise. Took all that to plastic surgeon, was approved in less than a week.

AWESOME news!! My apnea went from 48 apneas/hr to 6 Hypoapneas/hr. Pulmonolgist said as long as it's over 5, ins. will pay and I could use CPAP or not. I tried for two weeks to go without CPAP, and slept HORRIBLE! I think I'm just so used to it, it actually relaxes me, I put it on and it's like aaaaahhhhhh!!!!!......