MyGastricSleeveLife

I love, love, love ThinkThin bars. They have 20 g of protein & no sugar & are gluten free. My trainer at the gym told me about them back in January & I've loved them ever since. I plan on using them once I can have regular food again after my surgery! I found a few flavored I like the best & order them through Amazon because they're cheapest that way. There are ThinkThin & ThinkThin Crunch ones. The plain ThinkThin ones have the most protein in them. I haven't tried any bars made for Bariatric patients yet.

I've read a lot of people are lactose intolerant after surgery, so I think I'd just say be careful what kind you get. I know I have SF Popsicles on my list & I know someone mentioned fudgscicles at their full liquid stage. I think you still have to be careful though.

I made mine up by going by my past. I'm 5'9" (5'8-1/2 now by my surgeon's measuring) and I think the silly height/weight charts say 135-165 or something like that for my height. When I was in high school & college, I was about 150 & was very comfortable with myself. Therefore, that's what I said my ultimate goal is. My surgeon put 146 on my chart after looking at his height/weight thing, although I'm not sure how he got that number from the range. He also put 187 in a different spot & said that would be if I lost 67% of my excess weight (132 lbs overweight) which is the overall average for people with weight loss surgery according to him. He said that of course I don't have to stop at 187, but that's the average so he had to write it down. I might never get back to 150, and that's okay as long as I'm healthy. I just know that's what I weighed the last time I was healthy and happy with my weight & didn't feel overweight, so that's what I picked.

Awesome! Congrats in your loss so far!!

Countrysjr - what's your MFP name? I can try to add you.

Joni - how long have you done MT work? I did the Career Step program in 2006 & started working in March 2007. I quit for about 8 months at the end of last year to focus more on school, but started again with the same company in March because we could really use the extra money, especially since I'm self-pay for this. I've only been doing part-time about 10 hours a week lately, but I'll probably do about 30 hours a week this summer since I'm not taking classes.

Welittle - I'm self-pay too! I have sleep apnea also & was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about 18 months or so ago, but my doctor recently changed the official diagnosis to fasting glucose impaired because my numbers in the lab were okay and the insurance was saying I didn't fit the diabetes diagnosis! So stupid. Anyway, I'm looking forward to my new life & am really hoping I'll get off my CPAP & metformin! I have lots of lower back & hip pain that I'm sure will go away with the more I lose too!

Awesome!! What an inspiration!!

welcome aboard! I'm doing my pre-op diet now & have surgery on 5/14. Congrats on your weight loss so far! That's awesome!!

I don't know why doctors can be so heartless sometimes! He should know better! Stick to your guidelines & do what you can do. Everyone loses at different rates! He really has no right to say that to you if you're following your post-op plan! There are so many factors that come into play with weight loss, especially with surgery added onto it all. Just do your best & don't stress (since stress helps our bodies hang onto weight)!!

I'm a little nervous since it's major surgery - mine is set for 5/14 - but I'm also really excited about it! I need to change my life and this is my tool to do so! Even the last 4 days on the pre-op diet have shown me how much I need this! I lost 5 lbs in the first 2 days, but the last 2 days my body has hung on to everything. When I was talking to the psychologist on Monday, I said something like "this will be my portion controller" and I thoroughly believe that. In a way, I hate that I have to have this surgery done in order to control my portions. However, I know I can't do it by myself. I've tried too many times & failed. I am actually looking forward to not being able to chug down a Protein drink or a 32-oz Water bottle in 10 minutes (or less) after surgery! I'm a self-pay patient, which for me makes this even more important. The psychologist was self-pay also (she had surgery 4 years ago with the same doctor - I forget which surgery though) and she said she tells the doctor all the time that to her each pound she loses means the surgery really cost less (or was more worth it). You can do this & make your life better! Just stick to all your guidelines & you'll be a new person before you know it!!

The other thing I learned, besides what others have said, is that whey isolate protein absorbs more fully than whey concentrate. My doctor's office gave me a list of what they recommend & then put on the sheet that if I wanted to look for others, I should look for ones that had at least 15 grams of protein & less than 20 grams of carbs per 8 oz serving. I am pre-op now & have gotten a bunch of samples. So far I like the Chike the best, but I still have a bunch to try. Everyone is different so it's hard to say what you'll like! :-)

Have you done pictures & measurements? My husband is going to help me do pictures & measurements every week. Some people do it once a month. It really makes a difference! Have you noticed clothes fitting differently? That's also a big thing for me.

The hospital I'm going to has a support group & has a clothing exchange so people can bring in their clothes that are too big to donate to others who may need them. One of my friends who had the sleeve done over a year ago says that Goodwill is her new best friend because she can find things cheaply!!

Congrats!!! That's awesome! I'm on my pre-op diet now & have surgery on 5/14.

My ID is mygastricsleevelife

Congrats!! You look great!! I'm on my pre-op diet now & have surgery on the 14th!

Mine is the 14th. I'm on my pre-op diet now & have lost 5.2 lbs in 2 days on it so far!! Looking forward to surgery!

I'm on my pre-op diet now & ordered some different samples & a big container of Chike Strawberry from my surgeon's office. I love the Chike. I just got some samples in the mail today of Nectar ones, but the one I tried didn't mix well & tasted horrible, so I'll have to try some other way to mix the rest of the samples. I haven't tried my Unjury samples yet. From what I've read here, your taste buds change after surgery sometimes, so even if you like something now, you might not like it later. Be aware of that & don't stock up too much!

Yeah - everywhere is different & it could even be different from patient to patient depending on medical history. I had to see a cardiologist & have a stress test because I had an abnormal EKG in my primary doctor's office. I have a friend who needed a sleep study, but I didn't need one because I've already been diagnosed with sleep apnea. It really depends in your history & what they need to know to do the surgery well.

I think everyone is different & everyone's situations are different. I've told everyone at church, some people in college, and have posted about it on Facebook, started a new blog for it & posted about that blog on my other blog. However, there are a few relatives I don't want to tell yet because I know they would think I'm nuts! They aren't on Facebook so they won't see it there. They do occasionally look at my one blog, so they might see it there before I tell them, but that's okay with me if they find out that way. So far they haven't said anything & they live far away, so I don't think they know yet, but they might. For some people I've decided to wait until they see me after I've lost some weight & if they ask what I did to lose, I'll tell them about the surgery. I don't really know why there are a few I don't want to be super open with about it, I just do. However, I've basically made it known to 95% of people in my life.

Mina - every doc is different & some doctors have different rules for different patients. My doc has 2 plans - one for people w/ fatty liver & one for people w/o a fatty liver. Both have to stick to the same amount of calories - 650 cal, 70 g protein, 60 g carbs, 10 g fat - for a full 14 days before surgery.

My surgery is May 14th. I'm going to the nutritionist this afternoon & start my pre-op diet tomorrow. The surgeon had told me that it's protein shakes during the day & a high protein low fat dinner, but I'm getting the actual specifics today. We bought some of my liquid things for after surgery this weekend when we went grocery shopping. That made things more real for me!!

I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We use bread & water for the Sacrament. We have quite a few members in our congregation that have gluten intolerance (including me) & they bring their own bread & have it blessed with the rest on a special tray that is passed just to them (we pass trays around the congregation). I hadn't really thought about it after my surgery (it's scheduled for 5/14), but I agree with others - I don't think it'd hurt as long as you make sure it's really liquidy before swallowing it. I also agree with "red_delicious" that it's really the spirit of the act of Sacrament & Heavenly Father knows your situation. If you can only take the water (or whatever your church uses to represent the blood) or even if you can't handle taking any of it, He knows your heart and what you can handle & He will understand even if those around you don't get it! I know some of the people with gluten intolerance that don't want to bring their own bread, so they just take the water.

I agree - for me the peace of mind is worth wearing it even if it's not "necessary."