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I can shop in regular stores and shop for clothing cut for women, instead of men's XL. I can swing up into my saddle without having to find a log or rock to stand on. And a I don't feel bad about making my horse pack me around the mountains. I can walk up hills or up stairs without getting winded. I can make it through a whole work day on my feet without my knees and ankles screaming in pain. I wake up in the morning after being at a party the night before and not be hungover. My monthly bank statement keeps getting bigger because my grocery store/liquor store/restaurant bills are so much less.

In general, I always go for Protein first and I drink a 30-40g protein smoothie everyday. Other than that I don't track or measure anything, but I know I eat plenty of carbs......milk, 100% fruit juices, whole grain bars, bananas, pineapple, apples, pears, peaches, mango, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, craisins, sesame sticks, whole grain bread, quinoa, potatoes, Beans, corn, peas, Cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, granola, etc. on a daily basis. If given a choice between a sugar free/no calorie drink or the real thing, I take the real thing because I don't like the taste of artificial sweeteners. And I go out of my way to specifically eat things high in Fiber. The only things I really limit are Pasta and rice (because I get too full and can't eat the "good stuff"), alcohol and sweets. But I have had ice cream, cake, muffins, Cookies, toffee, chocolate, pie, whiskey, wine, vodka, tequila, etc...... In moderation and without guilt. At 9 pounds below goal and still losing, I can honestly say in my case, carbs are not evil.

I think it would help to step back and get a little perspective. This surgery is a commitment for the rest of your life. The preop is only 2 weeks for shit's sake. I was so excited for this change, I actually started my preop 2 days early just to be able to say "yeah, here I go!" It makes no sense to put this much effort into whining and complaining and questioning something that is a tiny fraction of the big picture. You want to be thinner and healthier, right? A couple weeks of liquids is a small price to pay. The years of maintenance you have in front of you is a hell of a lot harder than that. You might as well start changing your relationship with food now, because that's what it takes to be successful long term.

Brands I use include Premier Protein, unjury, Syntrax Matrix, Syntrax nectar, Muscle Milk, Spirutein, and Garden of Life. Really didn't like Jay Robb or Isopure. The flavors I have right now include unflavored (to add to soups, casseroles, pancake mix, etc), chocolate, vanilla, banana, strawberry, cherry, lemonade, apple, cake batter, and red velvet cake. I also add berries, bananas, peaches, mangos, PB2, Torani and DaVinci syrups (hazelnut, Irish Cream, pumpkin pie, caramel, and gingerbread) and Mio, Dasani and Crystal Light flavor drops (strawberry lemonade, pomegranate, blackberry and tangerine ) I have had a protein smoothie every day for the last 10 months, so variety is key! As for fiber, I add Garden of Life Raw Fiber, or benefiber or Metamucil or Suprafiber to my smoothie everyday. If you find you are having issues with constipation, it's insoluble fiber you need to take, not necessarily soluble fiber.

I had my sleeve done at OCC, too. Done in December 2013 and better care than I could have imagined. Two extremely skilled and experienced surgeons (Dr. Ortiz and Dr. Martinez) and I've had great followup with both Dr. So and Dr. Martinez. I'm 9 months out, well below goal and still losing a pound here and there. I Feel incredible! Check out this thread for dozens of successful OCC stories.... http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/261806-dr-ariel-ortiz-and-obesity-control-center/ And their website is www.obesitycontrolcenter.com. You deal directly with them, not a third party Medical Tourism company.

Thanks Slvrsax, I just saw your dance studio pic.....you look great, too! Just FYI, My after shot was taken with plenty of flexing, strategic posing and long shorts so the flabby, lumpy legs and varicose veins don't show

Obviously, you don't lose all your weight up top and don't change from the waist down. What you are seeing are proportions. If you carry your weight low, you will probably always carry your weight low. It's genetics. I still have big thighs, but also lots of loose skin on my butt and thighs, so obviously I lost a lot of fat down there. Really no loose skin up top because I didn't have as much fat up there. Went from a size 22W jeans to a size 7, so even though I'm still the same "proportions", I lost plenty down below. As for exercise, anything I do to focus on my legs will just build more muscle, and make them even bigger. Here's my after picture...see still big thighs, but looking fabulous!

My surgeon required a loss of 5% body weight before surgery. I lost 22 pounds in 16 days preop.....9% of my total body weight. 3 Protein shakes/day and leafy green veggies only. How long did you have total to lose 43 pounds, because that's 13% of your total body weight and quite a task.

The best way to avoid stalls is to continue to follow your meal plan and STAY OFF THE SCALE!!!! Seriously, if you don't weigh, you won't be subjected to depression from the stupid numbers that don't really mean anything. Measure your success by how you feel and NSVs because those are the things that matter. If you follow the plan you will be successful. Or, you can just keep stepping on the scale everyday and keep making yourself miserable.

Not only can the insurance company say no, but so can your surgeon. I was self pay in Mexico and my surgeon will send you packing if you don't lose the preop weight you were supposed to. Makes surgery too risky.

Another good recipe site is Bariatric Foodie http://bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com/p/favorite-recipes.html Banana nut bread, cupcakes, muffins, Cookies, casseroles, Soups, side dishes, Entrees, Breakfast dishes...... The bananas foster French toast is super yummy! I've tweaked some of the recipes by adding unjury unflavored powder for even mor Protein.

You have a thumbs up from me. I only weighed a few times for the first 3-4 months. Never suffered through a stall because I never knew if I had one (except when I was sick 2-3 months out and ended up going to the doctor a lot. I didn't lose a thing for a month but didn't care because I was so sick). I did start weighing weekly after awhile, just so I had something to post on my ticker If you've spent any time on these boards you've probably read a lot of posts whining about stalls and slow weight loss. Drives me nuts. You will be so much happier just judging your success by NSV's and how great you feel. Oh yeah, I did take pictures, too. My sister went to TJ with me for surgery and she wanted updates (we live in different states). So glad she made me do that because a picture is worth more than any number on the scale.

For me, Eating and drinking were an unwelcome chore for 3-4 months. I just wanted to go through the day without having to ingest anything. After that, it's like a switch was flipped, I felt "normal", my appetite returned and I could finally enjoy food again. Hang in there. You just had MAJOR surgery and you need to. give yourself time to heal. It all gets better with time.

Kudos to Miss Mac for stating everything so spot on. She's right. The preop diet and even months of immediate postop restrictions and healing are nothing compared to the lifelong commitment we all face. I'm only 9 months out but already have less restriction and have no problems eating/ drinking anything except carbonation. Don't get me wrong, I can only eat a fraction of what I could eat preop at a single sitting, but there's nothing physical preventing me from grazing all day. What I've discovered is that this surgery and all that goes with it has allowed me to reboot my brain and my relationship with food. Eating is now about nutrition, not satisfaction. The dramatic weight loss and feeling so great is incredibly motivating to maintain this lifestyle. But I am still only in the infancy of my journey and only time will tell how things turn out.....

I was told yesterday that I now look like a prepubescent boy....no butt, no boobs, no hips. Not to mention I had an endometrial ablation years ago, so no period. Any suggestions on how to complete the transformation? I'm thinking I need to start farting more, learn how to play video games, and go ahead and wear all those jeans that are too big without a belt to keep them up. Geez, talk about lifestyle changes!

Honestly, I wasn't offended by the comment. It's true and pretty funny. I spent the last 30 years dealing with big boobs, a huge ass and bulging thighs. I will gladly spend the next 30 wearing boy shorts with pride. My inner woman has not been threatened at all.

I make pancakes with Bob's Red Mill mix, Garden of Life Raw Protein vanilla, milk, two eggs and a little extra baking soda and powder to make them fluffier. I make the whole batch and freeze them so I have 30 second microwave protein pancakes whenever I want. I like my pancakes sweet, too, and the GOL Raw Protein adds a rich, nutty taste along with the sweet vanilla because the protein comes from sprouted seeds. On the weekends I usually have 1 pancake with butter and real maple syrup and a side of turkey sausage for breakfast. Mmmmmmm. I will pick up a box of Kodiak mix next time I run out of Bob's.

So two weeks ago was my Doctor's oldest son's 18th birthday and we went out for pizza and chocolate cake with ice cream. Yep, ate em all! So last night we went out for Thai for his other son's 16th birthday. I didn't order a thing...just got a small plate and nibbled from everyone else's orders.... Green beans, chicken dumplings, shrimp wontons, duck curry, and spicy tofu. And a 1/2 glass of wine. And besides the usual chocolate cake and ice cream for desert, someone ordered fried banana cheesecake. Yum to all...bad doctor

Gone and Gone and Good Riddance! In fact, just yesterday I was told I look like a prepubescent boy. Made me laugh, because it's true. I have awesome lean muscle tone in my arms, back, and abdomen and no boobs, butt or hips. And I'm thrilled. The only bad part is the loose, wrinkly skin that covers my toned muscles on my butt and thighs. But finding clothes that fit is so easy and if it weren't for all the loose skin where my boobs used to be, I probably wouldn't even need the A cup bra I'm in now ( formerly DD) I had an endometrial ablation several years ago, and I don't miss my "curves" any more than I miss my period!

See my original post and reread the label. The levels you just quoted are for THREE scoops. A single scoop is fine.

I didn't weigh very regularly that soon after surgery. That way I never knew if I was stalled or not. The only weight marks I remember that soon out was up 5 pounds 1 week after surgery and down 17 pounds at 7 weeks out. As you can see by my ticker, your rate of loss (especially so soon postop) has nothing to do with your overall success. Stay off the scale, quit bumming and start enjoying this wonderful new life.

It's fine...this brand is in my local grocery store and I've bought the vanilla when I ran out of my Syntrax Matrix vanilla. And you don't have to do the full three scoops. Our bodies can't absorb that much protein in one sitting anyways. 1 scoop/20g at a time is better.

I had a severe C. Diff infection and never once ran a fever. My PCP tested for it on the second day I had diarrhea because if my recent history of antibiotics, both from surgery and then a tooth abscess a couple weeks later. The first test came back negative, but they used an ELISA antigen test, which can have false negatives. After the diarrhea hadn't cleared up in a week, I insisted they retest using PCR. It came back positive. 8 weeks on 2 different antibiotics didn't not clear it. Ended up getting a fecal transplant....instant cure!

I actually did use the meth answer once. And when one person asked if I had cancer (actually 3 people have asked that) I told them, yes, testicular cancer. Love that deer in the headlight look!

I was pretty much like you and far as steady weight loss (except I had 1 month-long stall when I was sick between weeks 6-10). At about 10 pounds before my surgeon's goal I started adding in more fat, fruit and whole grains. I also started getting a little more lax on the "Forbidden" foods like rice, bread, pasta, desserts and alcohol. Well, that was 17 pounds ago. I hit his goal and then my personal goal and kept losing. The loss has gradually gotten slower and slower, but I think I might finally be close to the end. Basically from a mental and dietary standpoint I've been in maintenance for 3 months.....my body just didn't know it . Since I'm already eating what and how much I want, I'm not really doing anything different. What kind of transitional changes are you expecting to run in to?