joatsaint

If it is labeled as a "meal replacement" shake, then look at the carb count on the back. My doc said I could have as many "Protein shakes" as I wanted as long as I stayed below 20 total carbs per day. "Meal replacement" shakes sometimes have lots of sugar in them.

For me, food started tasting bland after a few weeks but soon returned to normal. I no longer crave the old carbs I used to love - hamburgers, fries, fried pies, Pasta, rice. I don't know if it is because of the surgery or if it was the forced sugar detox I went through the weeks post-op. I think my taste buds went cold-turkey for 3 months and now healthy stuff (beans, lentils, yellow squash...) tastes really good and I look forward to eating it. :-P I haven't had the desire to eat any fast food in the past 10 months. I was craving a hamburger really bad during the pre-op liquid diet and promised myself one as soon as I was back on regular foods. But I still haven't cared enough to go get it.

You should just put a note on your food that says, "I've randomly poisoned one of these, feel lucky punk!?" :-P At work, my boss saved a piece of cake in the fridge by putting a note on it that read, "Kyle's cake, please do not eat. P.S. I've already licked it." P.S. I'm not a jerk either, but sometimes Frankensleeve is kind of an ass.

From what I've seen, it really depends on your insurance plan and their requirements. Some people are self-pay, that would speed up the process. And each doctor has their own preferred path to surgery. My insurance requires proof of a six-month doctor supervised diet, but if you have a co-morbidity like high blood pressure or sleep apnea, then you don't have to do the six-month diet. I did my whole program - 7 day liquid diet, EDG, bloodwork, x-rays, psy eval and surgery in 21 days. My doctor does WLS like he's working a conveyor belt, but he is good!

Here's what I lived on for several months. I like it A LOT! One of my favorite Mexican foods. I've been eating this stuff for about 4 weeks straight. I got all the ingredients at Walmart. It cost about $4 for 2 days worth of meals (4 - 6 meals in my case). It's very filling and sticks with me. 1 lb of chicken breast. 1 pkg of Taco Bell Taco seasoning. (I tried other name brand taco mixes and the store brands, Taco Bell tastes the best and is just as cheap. There is a Taco Bell chipolte version as well, but I liked the regular version the best. ) 1 can of gebhardt refried Beans w/fat. (I tried the non-fat version and I like the fat version better. It only has 2grams of fat per serving.) Salsa or Picante or Taco sauce to taste 1 pkg of your favorite shredded cheese. I grill the chicken breast and run it through my food processor. Mix the taco seasoning with about 1/2 cup of Water and mix it thoroughly. I mix it in my Protein shake shaker. Toss the chicken into a pot or pan and add the taco seasoning. Bring it up to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Mix the chicken and beans in a bowl. Add some salsa if it's too thick for your taste. Spoon some of the mixture into a bowl and top with cheese and salsa.

Sorry to hear you're having a tough time. I went through it too. I started hiccuping the day after surgery and stretched my staples. I was hurting for 5 days and then the pain started fading. I didn't take any meds, the liquid pain killer made me want to retch. :-P

I had to learn to get in enough fiber. I add a tablespoon of flaxseed to my meals if I can mix it into my Soup or refried Beans. Or I will just add it into the pot as I'm cooking. When I am desperate, I take Milk of Magnesia - 3 shots! ;-P

I was off for 9 days and needed every minute of it. :-) But I was in a lot of pain. I've seen people post that their recovery was so easy they were back at work in 3 days. So with no complications, it's normal to take between 3 days and 2 weeks off from work for recovery post-op.

Don't forget to subtract the indigestible carbs in the flaxseed. And I would switch over to one of the low carb premade shakes from Premier Protein or EAS carb control. They are pretty cheap at $1.25 to $1.75 each. at Sams Club or Wal-Mart. When I was doing the low-carb diet, I pretty much only ate beef, chicken, eggs, and cheese. It is way too easy over do it on the carbs eating anything else.

I prefer gebhardt - regular, I don't like the fat free version. .

I noticed I could start eating more at about 2 months, I went from eating 1 or 2 tablespoons every 15 minutes to eating 1/2 cup in 15 minutes. Then agian at month 9 I could eat 3/4 to 1 1/2 cups per meal depending on the density of the food.

I tried to get in enough fluids... that's it. I was in a lot of pain and just spent my time going from my chair to the bed. I didn't worry about eating or anything else.

This may sound silly, but to get past my anxiety about surgery (I had never had surgery before VSG or really ever visited a doctor) I pretended it wasn't going to happen. I guess you could call it the "Scarlet Ohara" method. Anytime I started to think about the surgery, I'd tell myself that I'd think that another day. Worked for me! :-)

At 5 weeks, my diet revolved around refried beans/salsa mixed browned turkey hamburger cooked with onions and beef bullion - boiled eggs and protein drinks. My diet is pretty boring. The upside is it doesn't encourage overeating. :-P

Here's a video I made discussing what I went through when I took the psy eval. It may ease your concerns.

Here's my youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/Frankensleeve/videos I really enjoyed the videos both of you have put up. I wish I had started my videos from the start of my VSG journey, but I really didn't want any pictures, much less video of my old fat self. Then after surgery, it took months before I had the energy levels to do much more than motivate myself to go back and forth to work. So I'm kinda late on the whole vlogging thing. :-)

I only eat out once per week. I usually go to a buffet restaurant where I have lots of healthy choices, like Golden Corral. I usually eat a little of the following: steak, cauliflower, brussell sprouts, salad and I allow myself a little not so healthy stuff - a little square of meatloaf, 1 chicken strip or 1 piece of fried fish.

I subscribed to your channel, really like your videos. What model camera are you using? The video looks amazing.

I have never tried her recipes, but many recommend eggface's site: http://theworldaccor...reed-foods.html Here's the google search I used to find puree recipes: https://www.google.c....41.IyRvgdGtZOU During my puree stage, I basically ate cream of mushroom Soup or refried Beans with pureed turkey hamburger or pureed egg salad. But I was only able to eat a few ounces per day of any of it. I stick to what I know and I didn't want to go to a lot of trouble looking up recipes that I might not like.

I ate some once I was allowed full foods again (about week 4). I didn't have any problems with it. And I found the best jerky EVER! Oberto Bacon jerky :-P