Kindle

There are dozens of Protein choices out there, so just try and keep it simple. Try different shakes and pick the ones you like. Drink muscle milk if you want to. Don't drink it if you don't. I personally drink regular Muscle Milk. Much better flavor selection than the lite. Each scoop has 16g protein (I usually use 1 1/2-2 scoops per shake) and only 2g sugar. What's the big deal? A cup of plain Greek yogurt has 3 times as much sugar than that and almost everyone is told to eat Greek Yogurt. Besides Muscle Milk, I also drink Premier, Syntrax nectar, Syntrax Matrix, unjury, Spiru-tein, and Garden of Life. I've tried, but didn't like Jay Robb, Isopure or Pure. Like I said, it's just a matter of finding what you like because you will be drinking them for a long time. Good luck.

I ate it straight with a (tiny) spoon in puréed stage. Now that you mention it, I may get some tomorrow to dip my veggies in.

Oh, I feel you! I was making "deals" with the GI gods that I would be happy to never lose another pound if the infection would just go away.

I have no problems with sugar. Since passing goal, I actually eat a lot of fruit. I've also had ice cream, cake, pie, cheesecake, chocolate, muffins, etc. But fortunately I'm OK with just a bite or two....no desire to eat the whole thing. If you aren't one of the rare sleeve dumpers, avoiding sugar will be all on you (mentally) postop. But then again, surgery isn't going to "fix" anything besides portion control. Changing our bad habits and making good choices are things we have to do everyday for the rest of our lives. Glad you are thinking about this and being realistic about your expectations and potential pitfalls so you know what to work on. Good luck!

Hijack away! If it has to do with horses I'm all in. So where do you live? We definitely have opposite riding seasons. Snow keeps us off the trails from mid November until April. We can a few trails in May, but we can't access the highest trails till July. And I'm not much of an arena gal...too boring. I mostly trail ride, but do a little team penning and sorting for fun. Sometimes the sorting comes in handy when we run into range cattle blocking the trail. Did a competitive trail ride for our local horse rescue group fund raiser last fall and Kindle did pretty decent. I ride an aussie saddle. I'm Probably the only one around here that does, but if you like a comfy, secure ride, you can't beat an aussie. As for drinking, I keep a bottle hanging from my breast collar (no horn on my aussie) and at least another liter in my saddle bag so I'm always drinking on the trail. BTW, you all should post pics of your horses and "backyard"!

Fortunately have only seen 3 bears and that was while on foot, not on my horse. Very scary, actually. We occasionally see deer and elk, but mostly run across moose. I rode within 20 feet of a cow and calf two weekends ago. They sure make the horses pick up their pace!

That much gain in such a short time is always water weight. Keep doing what you're doing, other than stay off the scale. If you stress over every little pound, then you would be better off to weigh no more than once/week.

You are just two weeks out from MAJOR surgery. You wouldn't feel like playing basketball 2 weeks after a hip replacement, either. Be patient, relax, give yourself time to heal. This is such a short period of downtime that will turn into a lifetime of feeling better. I had my surgery just before Christmas, but I still went to a birthday party, a bridal shower, and 2 holiday parties while on my preop diet....just sipped water and drank my protein shake. Didn't eat a thing. I did skip Christmas dinner and a New Year's Eve party because I was wiped from travel and work. But it was my choice and the couch was calling my name . If you have the energy go ahead to the cookouts.... Make socializing about socializing, not about eating.

You look fabulous!

I'm only 45, but 90+ pounds later I do have a bit of a turkey gobbler neck and way more wrinkles around my mouth and eyes. I'm not too worried about it. I just started using an "anti-aging, firming" face cream and will see what that does. My insanely droopy boobs and sagging skin on my ass and knees are much worse than my face and neck wrinkles. But I definitely like being saggy and wrinkly better than being fat. No plans for plastics.

At the top right of the page is a search box. Type in your topic, make sure "forum" is selected, not "this topic" and hit the little magnifying glass symbol.

My preop diet consisted of... 3 Protein shakes/day (read the labels to make sure they have 20-30g protein and no more than 5g sugar)....I could replace a shake with unflavored Protein powder mixed in broth for a break from the sweet shakes. Certain veggies in unlimited quantities (spinach, broccoli, lettuce, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, tomatoes, green beans)....I used flavored vinegar or lemon juice for dressing on the lettuce At least 64oz water/day SF Jello or SF Popsicles. ( I made my own protein pops by freezing Protein drinks in silicone molds I found on Amazon) Didn't count calories or anything. Lost 22 pounds in 16 days (and I'm 45) And Cynthia Alexander's book is great.

Whey isolate proteins are the best absorbed, but any of the body building powders will be OK if that's all you have access to. Certainly better than orange juice.

For several weeks postop I walked on a treadmill about 1/2 to 1 mile/day. It helped with digestion and "moving things through". But then I got bored and stopped once my tummy started handling food better. I did no exercise between 5-12 weeks out because I had a C. diff infection that made me feel lousy and left me prone to dehydration, so I didn't want to do anything that expended more Fluid (like sweating) After that I rode my recumbent bike 20 - 30 minutes about 4-5 times a week until I got bored with that, too. Haven't been on it in almost 2 months. Between working 60 hours/week and playing hard on the weekends I have a very active lifestyle and I hate exercise. Dont have any intention of going to a gym or establishing a workout routine. I'm not encouraging you to not to do it, just wanted to say there's more than one way to be successful post VSG. I don't work out, I don't measure or track food and I still managed to pass my goal weight, maintain great muscle tone and look and feel great doing it "my" way. You just need to find your way and not feel bad that you aren't doing it like everyone else.

Ask your surgeon. Coffee can be very acidic and irritating to your stomach. (Even decaf). I drank a lot of herbal tea postop and tried coffee about a month out but it upset my sleeve. I tried again later and it was OK. After 3-4 months out I've had a big travel mug size every morning. I actually like using Premier protein vanilla for creamer. I switched to decaf before surgery and never bothered to switch back because I haven't missed the caffeine. But I've read about others starting back to regular coffee within a week postop with no problems.

I wasn't hungry for the first 3-4 months. It was a chore to eat and drink. But after that I felt great, got my appetite back and could eat whatever I wanted. Including my favorite foods. But since I've been eating healthy ever since surgery, I've discovered a lot of new favorite foods I never knew about because I ate so much crap before. I eat when I'm hungry which is at least 5 times a day. I still go out with friends and choose the yummiest food on the menu that is "good for me". Sometimes I only order an appetizer, share it with everyone and then nibble off of their plates. So I actually end up eating a bigger variety of food than I díd before. Family and holiday events are the same....just a little bit of everything - stop before I get full. It's been nice not to be uncomfortably full and sluggish after those big foodfests. I thought I would miss stuffing my face, and sometimes I do when something is REALLY tasty, but the advantage of feeling this good far outweighs the occasional negative.

I really haven't had negative comments, but I had one person say they were sick of dieting and wished they could just have surgery like I did. She was just being a patronizing bitch, so I turned the tables on her and gave her my surgeons name and contact info, told her all about the the preop and postop diet and how lucky I was not to have any of the complications ( which I described in detail) How now I can eat anything I want, as long as it's not bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and sweets. Exclaimed how great I feel now that I can't drink beer and don't wake up with hangovers anymore. (She's a big partier). Made suggestions on the best vitamins and protein powders to get, talked about drinking at least 2 liters of water everyday, and how many great bariatric recipe websites there are. Described how nice it is to only have to eat an appetizer at a restaurant, so I was saving so much money. The more I encouraged her, the more excuses she made of why she couldn't do it. I put a positive spin on my whole experience, but I think I made my point about how " easy" this all is.

Well, southern Utah certainly has it's own beauty. I love the layered orange and yellow landscape. I actually have chunks of sandstone from down there decorating my bedroom and living room. And yes, I will envy you this winter. For those that aren't familiar, it starts snowing here in October and stops around June. That trail I was on was impassable due to snow just a month ago. P.S. How much Protein do you think is in the Emporium's Huckleberry shakes? .

Thanks! As for excercise, Check out the third paragraph of the quote right above your post.

DITTO DITTO DITTO!

And lipstick lady, you DONT want to see a picture of my bum! I don't know which is saggier, my butt or my boobs.

Thanks guys and I try to never lose appreciation for the beauty around me. There's a plaque in my kitchen that reads "If you are lucky enough to live in the mountains then you are lucky enough". And it's right next to the plaque that reads "Thou Shall Not Whine" BTW, I'm in eastern Idaho on the "good" side of the Teton range. And by good I mean about 2 million less tourists/year than Grand Teton National Park on the other side. The trail I took the pictures on is one of the more popular ones over here, but we still only saw 7 people on the 6 hour ride. Most times we never see anyone. Cody's mom...it won't be long before you are back in the saddle and it will be fabulous! And save up for a new saddle....I actually had to get a new one with a 3" smaller seat....my most expensive NSV. As for mounting, I still look for a log or rock or stand her downhill to get on in order to minimize the pull and twist of the saddle and girth. It's better for them anyways.

I don't like the taste of chewables or gummies so I went with capsules.... Garden of Life Vitamin Code for Women. It's whole food based, not chemically synthesized and contains Probiotics and enzymes. Has better vitamin levels than the bariatric ones my surgeon recommended. Source of a Life Gold is another good whole food based vitamin that comes in chewables, liquid and tablets. As for calcium, I was taking Solaray calcium capsules that I would just open and mix in my Greek yogurt or Protein smoothie. But my calcium was high on my 6 month labs so a I stopped taking them.

My favorite snack is mixed nuts. But I also reach for Peanut Butter, edamame, cheese, plain Greek yogurt flavored with Protein powder, cottage cheese, roasted soybeans, seasoned pumpkin seeds, Protein Bars, and Jerky. As for the whey isolate, it is real food. And it is the best source of protein there is as far absorbtion and bioavailability....better than meat, eggs, soy, etc. It comes from making cheese. Basically, they mix rennet, enzymes and cultures with milk and let it settle in a large " tray". What settles out is the curd, which they remove and age to make whatever cheese they are making. (Or eat it plain....ever eat cheese curds?). The protein in the curd is casein. You will see this as an ingredient in a lot of protein powders. The liquid that settles to the top is the whey. Then they dry this, making whey Protein Powder. Whey isolate is just whey protein with less fat and lactose. You can actually see this in yogurt and cottage cheese...that watery liquid that sits on top is the whey. As for the taste, there are dozens of different brands and flavors of protein powders out there. You may try picking up or ordering samples to find one you like. I get 30-40g protein daily from my protein/fiber smoothies. The base flavors I use are chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, apple, cherry, lemonade, and cake batter. Then I mix in a Fiber supplement and either fruit, Torani SF syrup, PB2, or Water enhances for variety.

Good luck tomorrow.....See you on the other side!