maalleh

I use the Unjury protein products and when I saw this I called Unjury. Heating it does NOT make it unusable by the body. It's probably more of a texture thing. Who wants clumpy hot chocolate? The dietician I spoke with likened it to an egg. Raw, the egg white is a gelatinous liquid, but placed in hot Water it becomes solid. Still protein to the body none the less. Good luck on your journey to a slimmer more healthy you.

I love my Vitamix. I add unflavored protein powder to all the soups and smoothies that I make. I've had one for several years, just never used it much. Now it sits on my counter and I use it several times a week. Tonight is Vitamix tortilla soup night. Yummm.

I had an arthritic attack about a week after surgery. I did take some tramadol for the pain, but that medicine is hard for me to tolerate. I asked my doctor at my 3 week checkup what I could take and he told me to take celebrex as it was a cox2 inhibitor, not an NSAID. I also take neurontin, but that was never an issue. I just had to crush all my meds for the first few weeks, and crushing was not easy especially with the flare up in my hand. But I made it and you will too. Good luck.

KevLev, I would love to join your support group. However, Saturdays are out for me. It is my Shabbat. An evening meeting works best for me. Good luck with your group.

Has anyone tried the skinny dip noodles? www.skinnydipnoodles.com I ordered some so will have to wait until I get the shipment to try them. Their website has lots of recipes, many adaptable to the WLS diet. I tried the miracle noodles a couple years ago but did not care for them. I do like some of Hungry Girl's shirataki noodle recipes. You can buy then in some supermarkets by the tofu.

I had the steak and egg breakfast bowl for dinner yesterday. It was fantastic. When I placed my order the gentleman taking the order was almost giddy with excitement and said I was the first order from the new Hidden Menu that he had taken. All in all I was with a large group of people and 4 or five of them also ordered from the Hidden Menu. I will definitely be back.

I was sleeved on 12/17 at the ripe age of 67. I feel great now and am looking forward to living life with a lot less weight. Even though I have lost 44 pounds since I started my pre-op diet I can already tell as I can walk the bigbox stores without getting short of breath. And I have already gone down a size. I wish I had done this sooner but I guess now is better than never. Hang in there Betty, Katie and Oliver's Mom. Together we can do it. Is there a group for the 50+ sleevers?

I was all ready to have the RNY as a couple of my friends have had good success with the RNY. When I met with my surgeon, he would not do it because I have had some abdominal surgery which he said could cause the bowel to become stuck. He suggested the sleeve as the RNY could be very risky due to my age. I am 67 and I couldn't be happier. I was sleeved on 12/17. Now I am 5 weeks out and experiencing a stall for the last week. I just have to persevere and I'm sure it will eventually break.

I mentioned I was thinking of having WLS to my best friend and she was in that same boat as your grandmother. "Don't do it. It's too risky. Just go on a diet." Well if it was that easy of all the diets I have been on one surely would have worked. Diets worked for a while but never long term. I finely made the decision to not tell her anything more about it until it was over and done. And that was hard because it too 8 long months to get thru the approval process. Now she has lots of questions as she is also overweight but probably not enough to qualify for surgery. She is happy that I went ahead with it and came out with no complications. Keep you chin up. Your grandmother will thank you in the end.

Another benefit of all the Protein is stronger nails. I never had strong nails, they would break and peel and never get any length to them. Now they are very strong and getting long. My favorite protein is unjury, not too keen on the Vanilla, but enjoy all the others. Does the liquid such and almond milk that you mix it with count as part of your liquid intake? Or do you have to mix it with Water in order for it to count as part of you liquid?

I like the unjury Protein powder. You can get single serving packets of all their flavors to sample before you buy a full container. My NUT turned me on to this and I have not found any one of them that I don't like. Get them from www.unjury.com Good luck. BTW the tomato soup with carnation dry milk suggestion sounds very tasty.

Thank you O.T.R. sleever. You just saved me a bunch of money.

What is the botanical name for chia seeds? I have something called BenVia Gold which is salvia hispanica. Could this be the same thing?

I live in the Aubrey area and was sleeved at Presby Dallas on 12/17 by Dr. Nicholson. No complications to note. Have lost a total of 43 pounds including what I lost on the pre-op diet. Still having problems with constipation and arthritis. But other than that I am feeling pretty good. Found a new wardrobe in my own closet as I did not toss or give away my too small clothes. They may be a little out of style but will hold off purchasing new for now. Need to find a support group possibly in the Frisco or Plano area. Blessings to all pre and post sleevers. May 2013 be your year to shine.

Thanks everyone for posting your positive comments. i found this site after I was sleeved on 12/17/12. Had I found it before I might have reconsidered given the problems I had getting insurance approval. I have not had any problems post-op. Except constipation. Right now I am battling an arthritis flare-up which has nothing to do with the surgery. Am taking tramadol for the pain wich is a bummer, Can't take NSAIDS. But this too will pass. Have a blessed New Year

I am new to this forum so will tell you a bit about me. I have been overweight most of my adult life. I guess my first diet was about the time I graduated from college. But before that I would hide and sneak food setting up roller coaster that would plague me for from late teens into adulthood. I learned early on to reward myself with food, for good behavior, bad choices, hurts, boredom, most anything was rewardable with food. The big white box in the kitchen became my lover. I think I’ve tried almost every diet out there, some with good success for a time and some not so good. As time goes I will share more of myself here, Fast forward 60+ years. My quality of life is not what I want in my later years, so I finally told my PCP that I was ready for weight loss surgery, mind you he had been suggesting it for years prior. Needless to say he was elated. I submitted my paperwork at a seminar in April 2012. My insurance company had a 6-month waiting period and lots of requirements to be met. I met all the requirements and then some by early November and submitted it to the insurance company for approval. I got an immediate denial. My company is self-insured but administered by Cigna. After many calls to Cigna and hours on the phone they finally fixed their error and I got the approval. I was sleeved on 17 December 2012. Today, I am one week post op and feeling better now that the gas seems to have gone away. I still have trouble getting all the liquid and Protein and Vitamins in a day but I do my best. I was not happy when I got home and found out that I had gained 8 pounds. That's when I went searching and found this forum.

My experience with CIGNA was a long drawn out process. I submitted the forms to my surgeon at an informational seminar back in April. The insurance coordinator sent me a list of requirements that I had to meet before it could even be submitted to CIGNA. Five year diet history which I got from my PCP, four meetings with a nutritionist, a psychological evaluation, and a few other tests. I had a minor health set back in July and was hospitalized. Once I got back on my feet I completed the necessary tests and scheduled my consult with the surgeon in early October. My paperwork was submitted to CIGNA the next day. I was advised to expect an answer within 2 to 4 weeks. Well 4 weeks went by and nothing, so I stopped by the doctor's office. I called CIGNA the next day and they did not even have my paperwork. What? Apparently or so I was told CIGNA had changed the way doctors submit paperwork and evidently mine didn't go thru. They resubmitted my paperwork and I got an immediate denial letter stating that WLS was not covered by my benefit plan. I contacted my benefits department and was assured that it was covered and to call CIGNA and have my doctor call too. Well I called CIGNA almost every day for the next week. After about the third call an associate went thru my company's contract an lo and behold there it was on page 62 WLS was a covered benefit. After that it probably took another week to get their systems straightened out and I got my approval. I was sleeved on December 17. I had to be my own advocate. If you believe it should be covered don't give up.

If you would rather purchase the Vitamix on payments you can check qvc.com. Often they offer the VM for 4 to 5 monthly payments, You only need a credit card to purchase and they bill you for those months. That way you can purchase it interest free if you don't have the cash.

There are a couple other options. One is the Blendtec, a little more expensive, smaller footprint on your countertop, and a little more powerful than the Vitamix, blendtec.com. The other is the Nutribullet much smaller. I see infomercials on it all the time. Says it emulsifies but I don't have first hand experience with it. Have friends that have it and they love it, but they are not sleevers. nutribullet.com I am anxiously awaiting the time when I can add blended vegetable drinks. I am only one week post op today so have another couple weeks to wait. Shalom.