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Take them right after you have a shake. Thats what I did. And if you don't like the after taste, save one or two sips of your shake to take as a chaser after you finish chewing up your vitamins. I still do that when I take them now. I have one in the middle of my lunch, and the other in the middle of my dinner.

I love going to resturants still. I love that a meal from my favorite resturants now turns into 1 or 2 more meals. To me, it actually makes it more worth the money! My fiance and I try to share a meal if we're out and won't be able to get it home to the frige in a resonable time, but most of the time I just end up with delicious leftovers!

Well... no. I didn't make a food bucket list. I did go to 2 of my favorite resturants the week before I started my liquid diet though. I didn't want food to control me anymore... thats why I'd decided to have surgery, so I decided not to stuff myself and not to go crazy nuts and gain 10 pounds extra. Another thing that I know I did pre-surgery, and right after, that now that I'm on the other side I learned is a misconception... you can still eat nearly everything again eventually. You will have to let go of somethings because they fill you up fast (rice, Pasta, etc.) but, I can eat anything again, just a lot less of it. Which is both a blessing and a curse.

Well... I did not make my goal. I did find another stall though. I am at 218 and stuck there for 2 weeks now. Weight before surgery 286 Date of surgery 6/27/12 Weight starting at challenge: 236 Goal weight for competition 204 Current weight: 218

I'm angry. I think at myself. I realized that I could eat everything pretty quickly after I got on solid food again. I baby stepped each time I tried something, taking a bite or two and thats all. I'm 2.5 months out and 52 pounds down. I am ecstatic at that number. But, I've been at that number for 2 weeks, and was stuck at 47 pounds for 3 weeks just before that. I'm beyond frustrated that I'm losing so slowly now... I have 58 more to go to reach my goal. And added to my stress is that my nutrionist thinks I can hit that goal by the end of the year.... now I'm not so sure. I feel like crying because the weight loss is becoming so difficult again, and I think to myself, that PCOS is going to win... I'm forever going to be huge. Taking a step away from myself, I think that over the last 2 weeks I've taken advantage of being able to eat everything, and I need to work on controlling that. I need to lower the carb intake again, and choose better. I need to resort back to eating like I'm scared of eating something because it could disagree with me. I was terried of bread for weeks, but then... I tried it because I was at a resturant with my boyfriend and ordered a turkey sandwich. Cutting off the crust, I could eat half a sandwich. This felt wrong... I didn't understand how I could eat a half a sandwich. I was full, but not sick and content. Pre-discovery that I could eat bread okay, I would have just eatten the insides of the sandwich. The veggies, meat and cheese, and maybe two bites of fruit on the side. Then... I started being too "normal" again. (Oh, and I still don't eat pasta or rice. I haven't had any for 3 months). I'm a sandwich girl though. I love a turkey or tuna sandwich, and gladly will eat one everyday. Don't think I gorge on stuff. I don't eat sweets and I haven't stepped foot in a fast food resturant in more than 4 months, and the last ones I visited were Subway and Schlozky's. And I don't plan on changing that anytime soon. I'm proud of those changes in who I am. It really is just that I think, for my body, with my PCOS (insulin resistance) I'm eating too many carbs. All that weight loss happened when I was avoiding having any carbs. So, I'm going to focus on getting carbs from just fruit and incidental carbs found naturally in foods like nuts and beans. When we go out, I'll eat the insides of my sandwich and leave the bread behind. I need to just focus on making better decisions. I'm getting my head on right again. I'm kicking bread to the curb, its no longer welcome in my world. I have to do this. I have to lose 58 more pounds and reach my goal weight. HAVE TOO! Below are my before picture and my current picture.... I really wish I saw more of a difference.

Last night, my fiance tells me that he saw a girl in his store who was, "about the same size as you before surgery," and when I saw her shape I thought, "Thats familiar," and then I realized in that moment looking at this girl, how much weight you've lost. How much your body has changed shape. I'm really proud of you." After he said this, I was not sure if I felt happy or hurt. He told me, and still tells me repeatedly that he loves me no matter what shape or size I am. He tells me daily that I'm beautilful. I think I was just momentairly hurt in thinking of being large... embarassed that I was as overweight as I was. I was ashamed that he had to deal with me getting to that place. I am still struggling with self perception. I still am a chubby girl. I still have 45 pounds to lose. I feel flabby where I'm having some excess skin, and don't know if it will shrink up or not. I think maybe I need to take a picture of myself soon, and do a comparision. I haven't taken any pictures lately so I don't know how much of me I'm really seeing. I still just see a chubby girl.

Fantastic!! You're looking great!

What he said! And congratulations on starting your new life of loving you!

My fiance was scared when I talked to him about the surgery, but he knew it was important to me. He let me make the decsion, and then stood by my decision with me after I showed him all the facts. I sent him websites, links, and news articles showing all the research I had done about sucesses, and talked with him about the fail rates and the negative aspects of what I could face and told him that despite all those fears I had, I was still passionate about this. He told me later that he realized when I was ready to face a fear, and put myself in such an uncomfortable place for this surgery, and had spent so much time researching the negative with the postitive he understood it was important to me. I don't know if tell you my story will help you, but maybe. I hope that he can find a way to understand how important this surgery is to you. Good luck!

I'm taking lots of vitamins now, mostly all related to my hairloss. Last night when I washed my hair, I still lost a lot, but, less than I have been, so I'm hoping... praying... I'm reaching the end soon.

You'll be fine!! After I made it through the rough Patches, I can 100% say it is the best thing I could have done for myself. And I'm still in the middle of my journey. You will hit rough spots, and you will question several times in the first couple of months right after the famous question, "What the hell have I done?!" But, when everyone on here tells you, "It gets better." They really mean that. It does, and it will. I'm reminding myself that right now as I go through the last scary thing I hope I face, which is the scary hairloss. I'm 2 months into it, hoping this month I see it slow down or stop. Congratulations!!

I was diagnosed with Barrett's prior to my sleeve, though my surgeon was not intimidated by it. Also, what he found was not a full blown inflammation. I'm glad that your diagnoses was a fluke! Unfortunetly, it runs in my family.

I remember that I didn't care what it tasted like, it was the first liquid I was allowed to drink, and man was I thristy! I don't recall it making me feel bad though. My doctor was really pleased with everything, and I then got clearance to drink so I was ecstatic.

Also, I have a question for all of you that have already gone through the scary hairloss stage. I know it seems to typically last 3 months for most folks. Is that 3 months of scary hair loss? Or just when you started noticing heavier than normal hair loss?

I must have a lot of weak hair!! I'm trying to hold on. I'm in the heavy shedding stages... and doing all I can do. Every suggestion.. I don't care if its in vain. I have to try. And I figure that if nothing else, maybe it will grow in the best new hair ... better than before. I had hair down to nearly my waist, and as soon as I noticed a little bit of shedding last month, I went and had it cut to my shoulders (like in my avatar pic). I'm considering cutting it it again now that I'm in the super heavy loss stages because its already grown about an inch and half... my hair has always grown fast. I hope that works in my favor... becasue right now the top of my head is sooooooo thin. I cried about last time I washed my hair I was just so overwhelmed.

I'm not sure really when it happened, I just know that I was having some amazing weeks. I was losing 5 pounds, 3 pounds, woo hoo go me. And then thud. It's TOM's fault I'm sure. It is his week to visit. Being a PCOS'er I'm not used to this, but I'm having regular periods now. Almost like clockwork every third week of the month, here comes Tom. This time, Tom brought on the funk. My hormones must have been going banannas because I was an over emotional twit. I cried at the drop of a hat, everything was touchy for me. I was grumpy one minute hating the world, and the next I was crying at the cute puppy. Crazy. So, hormones out of wack, plus being stressed out over lack of weight loss, scary hair loss, money, wedding planning, house building, and work burn out... I just wanted to curl in a ball and let the world spin on for a few weeks with out my participation. Thankfully, Tom is packing up to move on out this month, and my hormones are getting back in place. I'm feeling back to my old happy self, and can jump back on the fitness wagon. I get really, really frustrated when these moods hit me know, because they derail me everytime. I haven't experienced one of these depressions like this one in a long, very long time. No matter how many times I told myself I had no reason to feel sad, I just wanted to cry and hide away. I'm engaged to my best friend, and I'm so in love with him! I've lost nearly 70 pounds! I have the cutest little Shih Tzu, and so smart! I'm getting my first house built! I'm moving closer to my family and old friends! Yeah... thats whats wrong. I'm so ready for all these things to happen, that I'm wanting to turn the page on where I am right now. I'm so close to having everything that I'm not living in the present, and embracing these ending steps of this part of my journey. I'm ready to be out of my apartment, and in my house. Away from this crowded suburbian area I live in, and back to a sllightly slower rural subarbian neighborhood. I'm ready to reach my goal weight! I'm anxious too, since my NUT and doctor want me to reach it by 12/31 as my goal. I've got to really hussle if I'm going to make that happen. Last weigh in I was 218 (pre-Tom... I refuse to weigh myself while he visits). I'm hoping to weigh myself on Sunday and see at least 215. I can't wait for one-derland! I'm sooo stinkin' close! I haven't been there as an adult.. I was close, 203 in about 2004, but never hit it. I've come a long way baby... I'm going to get there this time.

Roadside Lemonade from Syntrax... its what helped me through the "OMG I'm sick of drinking thick sweet things." phase. http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=IO-1018

Oh... I really liked the Chike shakes, they have a great taste.

Don't feel bad. I read on this site from loads of people how bored they got with chocolate protien, but you know I never did. And its the one thing I still actually look forward to drinking from the dreaded 6 weeks of healing where I had to rely on protien shakes alone. My favorite is still the Chocolate Splendor from Unjury as well. I never tried the strawberry, because well... I like chocolate flavor so much more. I have a huge tub of Roadside Lemonaide, a bag of cookies and cream, and vanilla protien that I can't seem to bring myself to want to drink.

If there is anything left... I'm intersted in size 14 and 16s.

My nut recommended Pure Protien's bars and Luna Bars. I like them both a lot, but tend to like the Luna bars the best.

I've been curious about those new Silk drinks. I'll have to pick some up and try them. I think I'll try mixing in some unflavored or vanilla Unjury into them. Mmm... now I'm thinking I need to hit the grocery store after work.