TheGamer

I tried and tried to deal with the Bariatric Advantage chewables but the taste just made me gag. Tried Centrum and they were also vile. I eventually gave up and bought gummy vitamins

I lived on Propel for a while, so I'd imagine any sugar free version of Gatorade would be just fine.

I did "shake it up, let it go flat" thing with some carbonated flavored water I had around the house. It really wasn't as good without the bubbles

I don't think it's so much that people think the weight will be lost. After all, we've all probably got a history of being overweight for most of our lives, so we know that dieting isn't always going to work in the long run. At that age, though, she's not done developing and the vastly reduced nutrition of a sleeve could have repercussions to her development that aren't immediately evident. VSG is still a "new" procedure, medically speaking, and if there's not enough data out there about adults and the long term effects of the sleeve, there certainly isn't a lot of data regarding teenagers.

The whole point of the sleeve is that we can have other foods. While not ever eating them again is a choice, whatever you'd like to eat will not be denied to you forever. Even with the sleeve you'll still have to make choices about what you will and won't eat. Once you're healed and back on normal foods you can eat whatever you'd like. Focus on healing first, even though it's frustrating. I know while I was on liquids/softs I had a really hard time with it because it felt like I would never eat anything good again. Now, a couple months out, I can have a bite or two of whatever I want, as long as I'm focusing on my requirements first.

The rule I was given is no drinking 1/2 hour before or after meals. No drinking during meals at all. If you're getting a choking sensation, perhaps the foods you're eating are too dry?

I pretty much stayed on my pain meds on schedule the first few days, which meant a lot of sleeping (thanks, hydrocodone!). By the end of the first week there was a noticeable difference in the pain levels and I was able to move to it "as needed". From what I've seen on the boards, the amount of pain differs wildly from person to person, with some people seeming to get up and go crazy really fast and others of us just taking longer to mend.

I'm also one of those that weighs myself every day, mostly because I find it fascinating how much the little that I do eat impacts my overall weight. Over time I came to realize that my weight loss follows a pretty set pattern. I'll lose a lot on one day, then the next 2-3 days it will fluctuate back up, sometimes by a couple pounds. It will return to the lower weight and then the next day, I'll lose a lot again. It's been pretty predictable now that I have a couple months of data to look at and my weight loss graph is pretty amusing. I found that the more "solid" something is in terms of food the less I can eat and the fuller I stay. So straight liquids like Water? I can just kind of go nuts on those and really haven't ever found a point where I'm "full" of them. Soups are about the same. Potatoes and yogurts are a little better, veggies more than that, and then just eating meat (which is most of my diet at this point >.>) is what keeps me full the longest.

All body types are different and people lose and gain weight at different areas at different rates. For me, it's the legs that get smaller than everything else. Stick with it and eventually the fat has to come off, especially if it's the only place left!

I had a couple days where I was late with it. It's very easy to give yourself the injection, far more so than having someone else do it. I found that self-injections hurt a lot less because I'm much more aware of what's going on with my body than someone else is. What I would suggest is to find a time that works for you and stick to it. Less hassle.

We'd call what you make a type of BBQ sauce. Pepper sauce is a little different, where it's pretty much just peppers soaked in vinegar. It's clear or lightly colored and the consistency of Water. Here's what pepper sauce looks like: http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Pete-Green-Pepper-Sauce/dp/B000M0QWM8/ref=sr_1_3?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1356658819&sr=1-3&keywords=pepper+sauce You can make the same thing by putting vinegar and peppers in a jar and letting it sit. There are recipes available online for making your own.

Fruit is fine in moderation on my plan as a mix in for shakes. As much as I was sick of drinking them after my two week pre-op diet and two week liquid phase, I needed all the variety I could get I was given guidelines on the acceptable amounts to use such as no more than 3/4 c of blueberries, 6 small strawberries, 1/2 a small banana, etc.

Gas-X strips = lifesaver. I used the heck out of those my first couple weeks.

I was told no more than 19g of carbs at a single sitting, so that would still fit with what I was told, especially since I couldn't eat a whole serving unless I took an hour to do it

Greens is kind of a generic term for things like collard greens, mustard greens, spinach, etc. You can buy them pre cooked (they're really mushy) in cans. Pepper sauce is basically any sort of hot pepper, though commercially it's usually jalapeno in vinegar that's been bottled and left to sit so you've got this very mildly hot vinegar to put on it. It's primarily a southern US thing.

As a sugar substitute I'd recommend you switch to liquid sucralose. Sucralose is what's in splenda, but in a liquid form it has no carbs. You say you love sweet tea (it is delicious, and now I'm craving some!) but as an example, a large McDonald's sweet tea has about 230 calories. That's about 1/3 of my total daily calories with no nutritional benefit at all. Made with sucralose it's every bit as sweet but has zero calories, which is much better for me. Like everything in life, this is a choice. I don't "have" to eat any certain way. I can, at this point, eat pretty much whatever I want to, but I have a limited amount of food I can take in on any day and that means I have choices to make. You may be different than I am, but I know that for me, I didn't do this to go back to my old habits. My old habits were what made me an insane 383 pounds with joints that ached, high blood pressure, and an ass too fat to fit in 95% of the chairs I tried to sit in. Like the poster said above, it's possible to have some REALLY good food and it will still be healthy food. One of the most important things I learned was now that I was eating less, I could afford to eat well, something that I had never really tried to do. Rather than having a pound of hamburger handy, I get a smaller cut of steak. Don't judge the rest of this based on the first few weeks, which are terribly miserable. Focus instead on all the awesome things you'll get to do once the healing process is done

Probably. I use the Degree antiperspirant 48 hour formula and that stuff rocks socks. It lasts all day with zero issues.

If I get "hungry" (and that's a big if) it's usually something that I register mentally but can completely ignore. I do make an effort to eat every 2-3 hours, something with good protein like meat or yogurt or cottage cheese. Sometimes what I really am is thirsty and some times I just want to eat for the sake of eating, which is when I either get something very low calorie (I'm a sucker for canned greens with pepper sauce) or find something to distract myself.

A "milkshake" type drink is not a clear liquid, even if you make it with Water. That would be for full liquid phase. While chocolate nectar would not be okay, something like Crystal Sky Nectar would be.

I was allowed protein powder drinks on clear liquid such as isopure, protein shots like nuwhey, and powders like nectar.

I didn't have one. My surgeon wanted me up and moving around as much as possible, including bathroom trips.

As silly as this sounds, I can't live without my microwave steamers. They're pretty cheap at $10 each and I have one that's for veggies and one that's like a flat tray. For a simple, portion controlled, healthy dinner all I have to do is put a piece of salmon and some broccoli florets in the tray, season them with a little salt and pepper and in 5 minutes I have delicious food. It's great if you have no kitchen (like me) or are in a hurry or just plain lazy when it comes to cooking

I'm not quite sure I comprehend where the "dis" in my reply is as my reply had nothing to do with you specifically. What I was advising against was doing anything (such as further calorie restriction) simply because other people are eating less, which is a valid response. Cutting down to an arbitrary number of calories just because someone else is at a lower number post-op is not a healthy weight loss mentality, as our health should be the first and only priority rather than playing a game of "who can eat the least after getting a sleeve", which is rather akin to the unhealthy pre-op starvation diets that I'm sure any number of us tried and failed at. I'm sure you can agree that the amount of weight you lost in weeks 2-3 post surgery were not entirely indicative of the amount of weight you'd lose later on and I'm sure you realize that any number of factors like starting weight, height, metabolism, and exercise will impact overall weight loss from person to person.

It's entirely possible that you yanked your internal stitches somehow. Just take it easy and if it doesn't go away in a day or so then call your doctor's office. Also, if it hurts when you touch it, don't touch it

This isn't a race against what other people are doing. Just because one person is eating 1000 calories and another is eating 600 and another is eating 800, that doesn't matter. If you're losing weight then you're doing it right and sometimes if you're not losing you're *still* doing it right. It's possible that you're hitting the week 3 stall (do a search for it and you'll see the number of topics that's spawned) where you will lose little or nothing or maybe even gain a couple pounds for a week or two (or three). As long as you're getting in enough protein, water, and nutrients then it's okay. The diet you're eating now is very different from the diet that someone 15 weeks out is eating. They've probably returned to solid food, vegetables, and a number of things that you're not eating 3 weeks out, so please just concentrate on healing well