Fiddleman

How about popping a few mentos before drinking that diet coke! Lol. Kaboom. Just having a good time...

I will be in Kauai with the wife in a couple weeks and am planning to do Rum tasting at the brewery they have in town. Should be fun!! Maybe I will even get brave as a post op and eat some rum infused cake (would be my first desert experience). Enjoy the wine tasting!!

Hi- most new post ops start out with Syntax nectar, unjury or pure Protein Shakes (rtd). My WLS center highly recommends Nectar to every patient (they have done the research with regards to effectiveness, taste, etc). She does say that your tastes for protein shakes may change post op. In other words, find out *again* what type of shake you like as a post op and do not buy a lot as a pre op. Both Syntrax nectar and unjury have sample packs where you can determine what flavors you enjoy. For example, do you enjoy fruity flavors like strawberry or sweet flavors like Oreo. I am a *huge* fan of Oreo flavor both pre and post op. Regardless of the branding, try and pick a fast acting 100% whey protein as it will help you heal faster. That is key as you want to get in a lot of protein during that first few weeks from your shakes. It helps if you enjoy it!! You can also experiment. For example, mixing together chocolate truffle, PB2 and butter Scotch SF pudding makes for a tasty buffer finger shake. Awesome! Once you are further away from surgery day as a post op, you might look into some more specialized protein to help with exercise recovery (cardio and lifting). However, do not worry about that for a while. Good luck!

I had my first drink at 6 months. Doctor and NUT recommended we wait 3 months and to ease into it. Alcohol may affect you differently as a post op. It might be a good idea to drink on occasion or in moderation if you are going to as calories add up fast. For me, 1-2 drinks a month, mainly as a social thing.

That is really great! Congratulations!!

My WLS Center (Swedish in Seattle) has reached out to me yesterday to participate in promotional material (web site and flyers) in addition to upcoming TV spot. What a wonderful validation of WLS as a solution for morbid obesity!! It will be so much fun and there is also swag and incentives that come with doing it.

Touche Laura.

Thanks everyone! The rewards of post op success far out weigh the little inconveniences along the way. Living life now and not afraid to get out there and give back to others as well as enjoy all the new experiences. My success is really the culmination of feedback and guidance from all of you. We can continue the long trail of successes on VST by keeping it a positive, fun and energetic experience for everyone. Reading daily certainly keeps both my spirits and motivation up. Removing morbid obesity and evil clutches of unhealthy eating from my life and replacing it with a fit and meaningful daily existence has really set me free to have a positive influence on the world around me.

I have not told anyone at work about my WLS nor have I seen more then one person on my team face to face in the last 12 months (work @ home and not traveling on business due to tighter controls). I told her at a lunch that my transformation was from high protein, low carb diet and running / cross fit ( she does both types of exercise also). I guess the cat will be out of the bag after these upcoming events. <grin>. Danger: Uncharted territory! Lol.

Another 1.2 lb gone last night for 7.2 total. Man I am on a roll this week and into low 170s, but getting strong all over. I blame my stall for last 2 months on too many carbs / calories from protein bars.

Yes, this happened to me as well at month 6 and on. In last week, cutting out refined sugar from diet has helped a lot, even small amounts like 2 g. Also eating dense protein of 3-4 oz every 2-3 hours helps. Eat more good carbs and fats. Good fats in the GI tract sends a signal to the brain to stop sending the hunger signals. I have 3-6 g of omega 3 daily from company stronger, faster, healthier. Weight is starting to drop again at month 9. Stalled out between month 7-9, but lost 6 lb the week as of yesterday. Dropped another 1.2 lb over night. After making sure I do these things, hunger went way down.

http://www.hapilabs.com/products-hapifork.asp If you have trouble eating slow or too much during post op, check out this product! I wish this was available back before my surgery and post op as a commercial product to buy. You can track your eating habits with your computer, smart phone or tablet. Cool!! This little electronic fork will help us get into the hard habit of being a mindful eater. That is, eating slower by putting less into your mouth at a time and by waiting in between forkfuls. Of course, if your are n purée stage, then you need to convince them to make a HAPISpoon for yogurt, apple sauce, etc. I have to say that being a mindful eater in the traditional sense of being a post op is still hard for me to do at month 9. I have not and still do not take more then 5 minutes to eat. Shame on me! However, if I had the HAPIFork, I would have done a lot better at it.

Yes, happens to a few of us (or more that have not posted). It could be low blood pressure and/or low resting heart rate. How are these numbers for you? It could also be an inner balance issue where your body is catching up to the loss of weight. Additionally, it might be related to Vitamin or mineral deficiencies. It might even be a sign of dehydration. There are so many potential causes. For me, I think it is low resting heart rate (44 BPM). At my month 9 follow up, the RN wanted me to get it checked out because it has been low for a few months. Not being in the medical field, I hope one or more of these suggestions will help you. If you still are having trouble, you can always go talk to your PCP to figure out a next steps like labs to checks blood levels.

I find Tonic Alchemy superior to Amazing Grass and am currently on my second bottle of it. Love it! It not only helps me with energy and detox, but also with inflammation issues. 71 different veg, fruit and herbs. Taste is not bad.

All I can say is stay away from the horror stories unless you have a lot of resolve to be successful or get thrills out of being scared. Hey, i like watching horror movies for the same reason everyone does. However, they don't dig at me in a way that keeps me up at night. Those VSG horror stories should be told, but I can see how scary they are making it for the pre ops. If you are not strong in your resolve to have VSG on your own accordance and get easily spooked about the upcoming surgery and post op experience, be careful how much you read into them and how much you personally need to identify or emphasize with them. There is nothing wrong with giving any one who needs empathy some empathy if it helps them get through their rough experience. with that being said, every complication is part of the 2 % statistic so there is 98% chance you will have zero or minor complications. Minor complications might be trouble eating for first week, diarrhea, constipation, etc. stuff you can handle because being sleeved is worth so much more then those small issues. I even had a minor complication that put me in ICU fora few days following surgery, but hardly remember it. It is fading fast because my mind is occupied with all the benefits that have come from taking my life back from the clutches or morbid obesity. We all face the possibility of gall bladder, liver or kidney issues in the future. However, we were not really living before surgery were we? A lot of us had numbered days considering our health issues. Taking the brave step to have VSG is an opportunity for all of us to live and experience the wonders and beauties of life. Isn't that worth it? Keep a positive mindset about the whole experience. That applies to most endeavors in life. Don't let the negativity floor you. Use the information on VST in making your decision. Both good and bad experiences exist with good experiences being 98% and bad experiences being 2 %. Always keep those statistics in perspective when researching information about your upcoming VSG experience.

Thanks!

Sounds like fun. Take some pictures to share!

Two seasoned chicken skewers and 1/2 bell pepper. Both from costco. Simple and filling. [ATTACH]11702[/ATTACH]