Kindle

Everything was too sweet to me,too. Couldn't do my chewable Vitamins. Had to switch to capsules. I was diluting my Protein drinks with extra milk or Water. Had to dilute any crystal-light or Lifewater type drinks 1/2 and 1/2. Added unflavored Protein powder to every broth and diluted/strained cream Soup I could find. Drank a lot of decaf herbal teas. Taste buds returned to normal about 3-4 months out.

I don't measure or track anything either. Just eat until I'm satisfied.... At least 5 times/day including Snacks. But as a best guess, I'd say 2oz meat (1/2 of a 1/4 pound burger) and a 1/8 cup of veggies would be a filling meal for me. I can eat probably 1/2 -3/4 cup of Greek yogurt or thick Soup (like clam chowder). I usually can't quite finish a one egg omelet with cheese and a little bit of ham or turkey. Since I can eat so little, I still have a huge Protein smoothie everyday (24-32oz/30-40g protein) so I know I'm getting enough protein. Syntrax nectar cherry and apple, matrix vanilla, muscle milk cake batter, premier chocolate, and Garden of Life Raw Protein are my base shakes then I add milk or juice or bananas or berries, or Torani syrups to them for variety.

Nuts and protein smoothies. Have both everyday.

Sorry to say me too. Exactly the same! I find the volume and speed at which people eat quite disgusting. But I was shoveling in mass quantities myself not so long ago, too, so I just concentrate on my own plate and tell my brain to "shut up you hypocrite"

Unfortunately most "breakfast bars" and granola bars are super high in sugar and carbs. But since I hate the artificial taste and chewy globby texture of most Protein bars, I have had to try and find a compromise.... Natures Valley Protein Bar is made of real nuts with soy protein isolate that doesn't effect the texture. 10g protein, 6g sugar. Both the Peanut Butter dark chocolate and Salted Carmel nut are good Natures Valley Greek Yogurt Protein is also real nuts and soy protein isolate. 10g protein, 11g sugar. I've only tried their mixed berry and it's good. GNC Lean Bars. Texture like a rice crispy treat. 15g protein, 7g sugar. The strawberry yogurt is my fav, but the chocolate chip is good, too. Since I'm under goal, I've been trying to add more healthy carbs to slow weight loss. I just added some "not so high in protein but still not high in sugars" bars to my snack list.... Kashi pumpkin spice flax granola bar, Kind Healthy Grain vanilla blueberry and Puréed Organic Ancient Grains (just found them at Sam's Club and they contain quinoa, amaranth, flax, hemp, almonds, walnuts, peanuts and brown rice.

Btw, for those of you that had your gall bladder out, what's the recovery time compared to VSG?

We've been so busy at work this week, I only just got around to ultrasounding my gall bladder. No obvious stones, but the wall is inflamed and maybe I saw some sludge in there. I let my doctor know and he is leaving it up to me to pursue further or just wait and see if I have another attack. I'm going with the later, because in all honesty, I don't have time for surgery right now. January or February is really the only good time for me to take time off work. (My December VSG surgery date was a fluke). So I'm crossing my fingers for now and hoping I don't end up in emergency surgery. Slvrsax, don't know what to tell you except good luck!

I added unjury unflavored Protein powder to everything... Swansons Tortilla soup base Swansons Chinese hot and sour base Strain wonton soup broth chicken or beef broth Diluted and strained cream Soups...shrimp, asparagus, mushroom, spinach,chicken, etc.... Tomato soup Potato Leek soup Lobster Bisque Mash potatoes Split pea soup...blended for mushy stage Bean soups....blended for mushy stage Drinkable yogurt (Siggi's and kefir have the least crap added) I also used vanilla and chocolate Premier Protein as creamer in my coffee And I know you said no protein drinks, but there are DOZENS out there that aren't chocolate and have no sugar. Syntrax nectar and Muscle Milk are just two of many brands. Flavor choices include Apple, citrus, dreamsicle, fuzzy naval, lemonade, iced tea, cherry, cake batter, strawberry, Cookies and cream, banana cream, and many more....

I haven't skipped ahead, but I have been tempted. Not all doctor's orders are the same. I'm still in the full liquid stage, which I will have to stay in for two weeks. prior to that I was in the Clear liquids stage for two weeks, and prior to that I was on two weeks pre-op liquid diet. Put that all together and it will have been a month and a half that I will not have put anything in my mouth other than broth, protien shakes or thinned out Soup. That sucks and would frustrate a lot of people. Having said that, it's part of the price you have to be willing to pay when you sign up to get sleeved. I guess it was more than a couple weeks. Between preop and postop I had 56 days of diet restriction....33 of which were liquids. But at 6 months out that all seems so far away and insignificant (and a VERY small price to pay) when looking at the big picture.Good luck to you!

I make my own protein ice cream.... Cake Batter or vanilla or chocolate protein powder, water or milk, Greek yogurt and any number of combinations of Torani syrups (gingerbread, hazelnut and Carmel, chocolate, banana, Irish cream, etc). No sense starting up bad habits.

Nope, followed doctor's orders to a T. It's only for a few week. What's the big deal?

I had plenty of swelling. I looked like I was pregnant for about a week and it was a good 2-3 weeks before I could comfortably wear my jeans. Loose elastic waisted pants were a must.

I haven't like most of the protein bars I've tried...pure, premier, quest, muscle milk, etcetera. They all have a nasty artificial stale taste and aftertaste to me. And the thick, gooey, whey protein glob texture is awful. The only two I've liked are Natures Valley Protein (real nuts, not a textured glob) and GNC Lean Bar (like eating a rice crispy bar). Both come in a variety of flavors.

But on the other hand, you are right in the middle of your normal BMI, so maybe your goal weight was just too high. If you are eating healthy, getting adequate calories, feeling good, and your bloodwork numbers are good, maybe your body just hasn't hit its new natural "normal" yet.

What are you eating? Have you tried upping your calories with healthy alternative to the "low carb/low calorie/low fat" rules? Even though I still do protein first, once I hit goal, I started adding more healthy carbs and fat to my diet. Regular cottage cheese instead of nonfat, 2% milk instead of skim, more mayo in my chicken and tuna salad, real peanut butter instead of PB2, more whole grain snacks, real juice and regular Lifewater instead of sugar free drinks, an occasional 1/2 bagel with cream cheese, sweet potatoes, etc. I'm 9 pounds under goal, but have managed to slow my loss to 1 pound/week.

I am on the run all day, so no time for "meals". I snack all day...about every 3 hours...and drink Water and Protein smoothies in between. Non refrigerated Snacks include... mixed nuts beef jerky kashi whole grain bars Natures Valley nut bars GNC Lean bar seasoned pumpkin seeds Soy nuts whole wheat sesame sticks kale chips (easy to make homemade with a bit of olive oil and sea salt) On weekends I can usually manage access to a refrigerator, so it's... edamame guacamole with pita chips string cheese Chobani Flip Greek yogurt Plain Greek yogurt flavored with Protein powder Regular Cottage cheese with peaches (used to eat nonfat) apples with Peanut Butter (used to use PB2) homemade protein Popsicle Homemade "ice cream" made with protein powder, milk and Torani syrup Frozen blueberries I also "snack" on decaf herbal teas in the evenings. Drinking Celestial Seasonings Black Cherry right now. Some people may frown on some of my snack choices, but once I reached goal, I started adding more carbs and fat to try and slow my weight loss....still lost 9 pounds in the last month.

Just goes to show weight and clothes size is not necessarily correlated, even taking height into account. I am 5' 5" and also exactly 151, but I wear a size 10 or 12 pants. When I was 238, I wore a size 22. I am muscular and big framed, but unfortunately lost my boobs and ass after surgery.

I am in a levis size 12 and wrangler size 10 and I weigh 152. This is perfect for me and I don't plan on dropping anymore than another 5 pounds for a little "wiggle room".

Can you not sleep because of pain or just because you can't sleep? If it's the later, just take Benadryl. That's the ingredient in Advil PM that makes you sleep anyways, and then you avoid the NSAID part altogether. "As a class of drugs, they shouldn't be taken lightly even by "normal" people, and consistent use of NSAIDs should be done under the supervision of an MD"..... Very true. A good friend of mine had taken NSAIDS for years for various aches and pains (just like most everyone else). One day, out of the blue, he had a severe allergic reaction to a dose. He had to be rushed to the ER and even stopped breathing in the ambulance on the way there. Then the same thing happened to my own doctor after using Voltaren, a topical NSAID gel for his knee ( which he's used several times before). Neither of them can EVER take NSAIDS again. It's a crazy thing that can happen. I cut down my NSAID use drastically at that point (even before I was considering VSG) and just sucked it up through a lot of pain issues I would have previously popped a couple Advil down for.

Either your friend's friend or her doc are whacked. She is obviously having problems with the band and can have it removed for that reason alone. Or she could have it removed just because she wants to. I have a good friend who's had a lap band for 5 years and she is free to get it out anytime she wants. She is, BTW, the one that talked me out of getting the band. She had emergency surgery for a slippage and has had to have her port replaced twice. She has never lost all the weight she wanted and has a hard time trying to find her "Sweet spot" and has had lots of fills and unfills. But she's not quite ready to step over to the sleeved side yet.

So I just bought a pair of Levi's size 12. First ones since high school when I ran cross country! And I must say, at 45 I'm way hotter than I was at 16 (IMO ) BYW, I should clarify....I was in wrangler size 12's a month ago, but Levis are cut smaller and I could never wear them once I got "larger". Wranglers were always my goto because they were cut for women that actually had butts. Levis aren't. But now I have no butt and wranglers end up looking saggy. So I'm on the lookout for a pair of my old high school fav...Levis 501 button fly.

Totally normal. You will never get full on liquids. They flow through your sleeve like it's not there and into your intestines. I literally watched this happen on the screen when I had my barium flouroscopy 3 days post op. It was like pouring water down a drain. Your pylorus (the little valve at the bottom of your stomach that keeps things from passing through) closes when it senses solids so these things stay in your stomach longer to get "processed". Any restriction felt early on with drinking liquids is due to the swelling and inflammation in your new sleeve. Be thankful you can get your fluids in easily.

For me, I could basically out drink a football team before surgery, so I was looking forward to becoming a "cheap date" afterwards. Unfortunately that didn't happen. A couple drink experiments proved I am still pretty "alcohol -proof". It's actually become a motivating factor for me to not even bother to drink alcohol anymore. If I can't get buzzed, what's the point of drinking those empty calories when it has the same effect as drinking water.

I am trying to slow down my weight loss, but really can't eat more than I already am, so I am trying to add more healthy fat and carb calories. Here's some things you may try in your mushy stage.... Eat regular cottage cheese and Greek yogurt, not low fat. Make your shakes with whole milk. Eat avacodos and mashed sweet potatoes. Drink organic juices, instead of crystal light or other SF drinks. Add a banana or other fruit to your Protein shakes.

This is the one I was thinking of (especially for the "3 week stall"), but I'm sure there are others. I know Alex wrote one, too and I think it's in the Magazine section. http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html#.U7I2Stq9KSN