Globetrotter

If you have access to a Whole Foods or something like it there is no need to have only tomato and potato as your thick liquid soup options. Today I came home with butternut squash, tomato basil, spicy black bean, and french onion with the onions strained out. Can you tell I'm tired of broth? =)

The brand for my protein powders from the surgeon is Healthwise; 15g's protein and the beef boullion is pretty good, especially when mixed like I said with french onion and liquid beef broth.

I'll assume you meant the soup was heavenly, and not the pipes moving! ROTFLMAO!! :cool0:

from my surgeon, he sent me home with a variety pack of protein powders; beef boullion, chicken boullion, raspberry iced tea, hot cocoa, and they all have 15g's of protein.

I am 9 days post op; bending of any kind hurt a lot when I left the hospital but that has been fading ever since. At first I was frozen in a side position when I slept, propped up with many pillows, because sleeping on my back caused the gas to pool painfully in my intestines. I have pain in the form of hiccups if I drink too quickly/too much. These are not your regular hiccups, very painful. I am still struggling to get in the quota for liquids. I don't know if I am having acid reflux right now but I'm drinking warm tea and have a sort of icy burning sensation at the base of my throat. I've taken two chewable pepcids and they don't seem to be helping. I started out strong with energy when I left the hospital but I think that is because the hospital drugs were still in my system. A few days out I saw a marked change in energy levels and fatigue set in like I've never experienced, even after only 3 hours of activity. At nine days out I am walking around every day but in short bursts. Hope this sheds light.

I went to livestrong and began a profile for myplate but it won't let me put in the calories I want, it red flags me and tells me that is too low and won't let me post it. I'm in 2nd week pre-op on clears and am only supposed to reach 600 (ha, most days I barely make it to 250) but livestrong won't let me put less than 2000. plus there isn't a spot to track protein grams which is what I really need. I'll keep my profile but wouldn't it be great if there was one that allowed people like us to put in our very low cal requirements and tracked our protein and liquids?

LOL Timmy, you should check out my thread called "gonna pimp slap the peson who invented protein powder". I'm 9 days post-op and am in the depths of Protein powder nastiness. I guess we just have to suffer through, make it to soft food stage, and find a shake doe supplemental use that just doesn't suck too badly.

if you omitted the flour altogether you would still have a decadently delicious treat, maybe even better, it would be like gooey choco-lava, droool!!

Thanx Jane, as a matter of fact I am at this very mo drinking an atkins dark chocolate royale shake. though I find it lacking in the royale it is so far the best chocolate-adjacent bev I've tried. I'm also sipping on some miso broth. I must confess though that I am doing HORRIBLY in regards to protein and liquids consumption, I'm barely making 50% on the 60oz water and maybe 60% on the 70g's protein. There just don't seem to be enough hours in the day or ounce space in my pouch. Not to mention the excruciatingly gross taste of the protein powder that ruins broths instead of being disguised by broth. I wonder if this lack of calories/protein is why I have yet to lose...

Have you heard of aioli? It's flavored mayo and you can get it in most supermarkets, my favorite is garlic. I have two favorite chicken salad recipes; the first one is shredded chicken, aioli, mustard (your favorite style), garlic salt, & pepper. The second one is tiny dice chicken, regular mayo, lots of fresh cracked black pepper, tiny dice celery, a little crushed walnut, and chopped red grapes, maybe some mustard to taste. It's a modification of Sonoma Chicken Salad and due to the hard ingredients would obviously only be for a person way out from surgery totally cleared for all foods. Me, I'm on day 8 post-op so I'll just go back to sipping my disgusting Protein shakes. =( Oh! I just thought of something else, lamb is a wonderful source of protein and if you make a roast of it at home and have leftovers, cold lamb salad instead of chicken could make an interesting change.

Has anyone heard of bento boxes? They are the traditional Japanese boxed lunch. They are teeny tiny and arranging them can be an art form. I haven't been sleeved yet but am trying to think of ways to make my mental transition afterwards as smooth as possible. That's when I thought of bentos - they are Protein focused (we can take out the rice), tiny, and visually stimulating. Plus, for us, they wouldn't be tiny, they would be just right! We could eat an entire lunch, lol! So here's a link to a site. I think I'm going to look forward to spending time and care on my food, I've spent too long just throwing everything down my gullet. =) Just Bento | a healthy meal in a box: great bento recipes, tips, and more

I don't think our psychological frustration has anything to do with not understanding how this all works, I think one of the first respondents to this thread had it right; we've yearned for this for so long that any length of time in achieving our goals feels really long. I'm one week out post-op today and I haven't lost a pound. My clothes do not feel remotely loose, nor my bras, nor my rings. I am not yet able to get in my quota of liquids or protein, no matter how hard I try. Most everyone who has the surgery is pretty well informed on how things will work, even before they have the surgery, we can be logical and sensible. But that does not stop the heart from secretly wanting ourselves to be the exception to the rule and lose wild amounts right off the bat. My surgeon expects me to lose 75 lbs by the end of my first three months!!!! I wish!!!!

Um, sellout much? Does anyone else find the new addition of all these ads bothersome? So much has been given away to adspace it's like a NASCAR vehicle in here! And that hot corner in the top right, every time I accidentally go past it with my cursor it flips to some ad page for lap-bands. WTF - this is a sleever's forum!!!!

update on the crap-powder situation: thank you THANK you to everyone who gave me suggestions, such as using the flavor packet from ramen noodles. Today I bought lime shrimp ramen and drank the flavor packet - yum!!!! And hello campbell's beef consomme! At 10g's of protein it isn't high but the concoctions the surg sent home with me are only 15. So ... is french onion a clear liquid? If I take out the onions?

Thanks everybody for your encouragement. It is now day 6 and I believe I am just now beginning to feel the full brunt of this event. I'm very tired and the littlest effort poops me out. Today I've decided to get in the full 60oz of water, even if that means coming nowhere near my proper protein amounts. Dehydration is scary. I will also shuffle over to the market and see if they have any of these sugar free syrups you guys mention, something to reduce the nastiness of my proteins. For now I will sit on the couch in my pj's, wrapped in blankets, and read while staring out the window at the lovely foggy ocean view. It would help if I could get some kind of nsv here soon tho ...:crying:

so here I am, four days post-op. I'm mouthing around a cold sf popsicle, propped up by pillows. I've had 80g of protein thanks to the powders sent home with me by my surgeon. I hope Im done taking the liquid vicoden as it tastes horrible and gives me trippy dreams. Painful hiccups, seriously painful, and more pain with plain water than with anything else. Thank goodness for popsicles. Haven't begun taking my vitamins yet, any thoughts on that? I have a gummy multivit and a B12 complete. I went out to dinner with family tonight and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them eat and smelling the aromas, felt zero emotions of being left out etc. Am now sipping very cold lemon squirted homemade chicken broth, yum!! Surgeon used glue instead of stitches so that pulls and scratches a little, hurts after I stand up as things fall into place, painful hiccups, and can't sleep on my stomach which is turning out to be the most difficult thing of all. Any word on when we can do that? Haven't weighed myself yet, don't see a point, it's only been 4 days and any weight loss right now will just reflect the fluids and gases from the surgery. When I get back to work I will have an opportunity to weigh myself. I can wait a month! I am still wrapping my brain and emotions around the fact that I did this, it seems unreal, and then all too real. I've had the emotional tearful "what have I done to myself" moment, haven't had any NSV's yet - rings aren't loose yet. Just taking it day by day and trying to rest. Think I'll go chew a pepcid. Thank you everybody for letting me speak!! And where to I go to get one of those ticker thingies? :tongue_smilie:

Thank you Papillon, we WERE talking about Bento boxes, lol! I think taking the time to arrange a bento is not for everyone but for me I think it will be an outlet for the focus on food that I (and I'm sure many of us) still have. Some of the finishes bentos I've seen are so impressive, tiger faces on deviled eggs, bunnies made from squid sushi, little sumo faces carved into vegetables. A common complaint here on the forum is the worry over feeling left out at mealtimes and at the dinner table, I say have fun with your food, there's so little of it now we might as well make the most of it!

So here I am in the hotel room in San Francisco; all pre-op is done, I'm starving, and I report to the hospital at 6AM. Since I can't eat anything but clear liquids I am of course watching the Food Network! Now I see why we call it food porn!=P I have no fear regarding the surgery however there is still a part of me that is disbelieving, that wonders if this will actually work. It isn't rational or logical - I've read the forum, I know it works! But still ... So, the next time I get on here I will be post-op, gulp!! Ciao for now!!:thumbup1:

Dr. Jossart, I am on an oral contraceptive. I do not smoke. Many sleevers here on the forum have commented that they had to be on anti-clotting medications immediately after the surgery, as clotting can be an issue. Clotting is already an issue for someone on OC. Would someone on an OC need to cessate prior to surgery, or after surgery? The OC I am on is Yasmin.

I'm about to begin my surgery journey and read this site daily. I see how little are portion sizes and issues people have with eating at restaurants or on dates and it hit me - the silver lining to our portion sizes is that now artfully arranged sushi and fancy french cuisine are full meals!:tongue_smilie: A date at a sushi restaurant where two pieces of sashimi are slowly consumed wouldn't raise anyone's curiosity and that overpriced french dish with one sprig of something balanced on one morsel of something is suddenly just right! =) I guess I'm a dork but the image of this just struck me as funny.:001_rolleyes:

I've been a forum member for awhile now, I am going to be sleeved on July 14th with Dr. Jossart in San Francisco. I have been a faithful reader and contributor here on the forum since joining; I've read the successes, the stalls, the worries, the NSV's, the complications. I've seen the tickers showing weight loss, showing goal, showing loss beyond goal. And with all of this information, all of this knowledge, now that it is me heading to the OR instead of watching it happen on the forum, I am hitting this patch of ...not disbelief exactly... maybe some panic? I close my eyes and try to visualize the days immediately following surgery. The sipping of Water and broth, the gentle walking. I try to visualize losing 5 lbs, 10 lbs, 25 lbs ... and that's where I hit a wall. Maybe it is because I have never had a successful weight loss higher than 25 lbs before. I'm also having a difficult time grasping the concept that a few tiny sips of broth are going to fill me up and satiate me. I couldn't do this without the support and information this forum has brought to me but at the same time, I suddenly realize I will be doing this alone ... no husband who is doing it with me, no girlfriend who is maybe going to do it soon too... and once I finish vacation and return to work, I will be in a work environment 24/7 with people who don't know about it and wouldn't understand the first thing about weight struggle. I'm getting anxious too.

Thank you so much for understanding everybody!! I am getting ready start the travel journey that will take me home for surgery and journey it is; four planes, maybe a helicopter, buses, and four days straight of travel. Once I get there I am going to fall into my Mother's arms, take a deep breath, and focus on getting myself into the right mental, emotional, and psychological space to prepare for this leap for which I have assiduously prepared. Total weight I hope to drop from surgery to goal, 160 pounds, but I think that first 10 pounds is going to mean a whole lot.

Oh, an addition to my Farewell to Food meal, bruschetta on crunchy toasted garlic rubbed bread with heirloom tomatoes, basil, and fresh cracked black pepper and kosher salt. drooooooool!

no pun intended, lol! Seriously, can all those threads from that account be removed?

Wow, this never ocurred to me. Medic alert bracelets. No blind NG tube?