Kindle

I was in 22 when I started. Fortunately I had jeans I never threw out as I grew, so I was good through 20 and 18. I had one pair of 16's that I wore for about two weeks at the end of my last diet before gaining back into 18's. I managed to find 1 other pair 16 at the thrift store. Those are now getting loose and I bought two pairs of 14's on eBay. Needless to say I do a lot of laundry! And I just went through my closet and every pair of summer pants/capris/shorts I own now fall off me. So yeah, I'm almost pant-less, too.

Mixed nuts. I travel all day for work, so that's my goto snack on the road. Got a can of Planters in the console. But at home, apples with PB2 and edamame are my favorite snacks.

If you drank two premier proteins/ day, that would be 60g Protein and only 320 calories. Very doable. Even at 4 1/2 months out, I drink a Premier chocolate mixed with 16oz. Skim milk at least 5 days/week. (I could never stand the RTD shakes without diluting them... Too sweet and thick). That means I'm getting 46g protein, 350 calories and 27oz fluids in one "meal". Makes meeting my goals throughout the rest of the day easy without even trying....good thing since I don't track or measure my food. And ditto to the unflavored Protein Powder... I put it in everything I can.

Make that 4 cheers! Love em, and I started eating them in my puréed stage.

I had to dilute every Protein I found. I couldnt stand any of the RTD shakes..too sweet and thick unless I diluted them at least 1/2 and 1/2 with Water or skim milk. For powders if it said to mix with 8 oz I would mix with at least 16oz. I really liked the Premier Protein chocolate but only if I added 16oz skim milk to the 11oz serving. That made it taste like chocolate milk instead of a gross, over sweet, thick Protein shake. Have you tried Isopure or Syntrax nectar powders? Totally different tastes and texture than "regular" Protein Shakes. Personally, I thought the Isopures were gross, but I still drink Syntrax Nectar (apple and cherry are my favs) The other option is to add unflavored Protein Powder to broths and Soups and yogurt and anything else you can tolerate in order to get your protein intake up.

I developed a bit of lactose intolerance. cheese and Greek yogurt are OK, but I am now drinking lactaid milk (almond and soy milk don't have as much Protein as the real thing, so I didn't bother with them). I can't drink more than 6 oz of coffee before my tummy starts to feel sour. I haven't tried Pasta or rice because I don't really crave them and we aren't supposed to eat them anyways. The only bread I've had are the protein pancakes I made by adding Protein powder and extra egg to pancake batter. No problems and yum! In general, I have not had problems with anything I've tried past 3 months out.... Beef, chicken, pork, fish, ham, seafood, spinach, squash, green Beans, onions, tomatoes, carrots, bananas, apples, peaches, Thai food, pizza toppings, ice cream, chocolate, Peanut Butter, lettuce, wine, potatoes, eggs, nuts, bean sprouts, cucumbers, tamales.....

When I had my fecal transplant, the surgical center said they would bill my insurance but they knew it would be denied. Despite being an almost 100% cure for the C. Diff infection I had insurance companies still consider fecal transplants as "experimental". (The 5 rounds of antibiotics I had been on for two months that failed to clear up the infection is, of course, what the insurance company approves of) Knowing it would be denied, the center required I pay their portion ($1500) in full beforehand. The doctor's portion ($1650) was also billed to my insurance, but I will end up paying it all because my deductible is $5000. That was very expensive diarrhea! But it worked, you F..... King worthless insurance company! BTW, I used to have an awesome individual insurance plan that had $35 copays and $2000 deductible. But then along came Obamacare and my plan was discontinued because it didn't cover maternity (I have had an endometrial ablation so will never have kids). So the only Obamacare plan I could afford is this piece of shit HSA. The other ironic thing is even though I have a $5000 deductible, I can only contribute $3500 max to my HSA. there aren't enough cuss words on the planet to describe how I feel about this!

Yep, sounds about right to me. When I started puréed two bites would make me full for hours, so it was hard to drink all my fluids. Same thing with the transition to soft foods. I would drink most of my 64oz in the morning, eat two tbls of something mid afternoon and be stuffed till bedtime. It will get better... I could finally eat 1/4 -1/2 cup at 3 months out.

I'm almost 4 1/2 months out and I don't really weigh or track anything, so here's some examples of what I can eat in a single meal.... 1 Natures Valley Protein nut bar A little less than 1/2 cup chili 1/4 can tuna or crab meat with a little mayo 1/2 beef hotdog (dog only...no bun) and 1 deviled egg...which was probably about 2 small bites too much because I burped hot dog for like 1/2 hour. 1 inch cube of pork loin and 5 green Beans 1 Chobani yogurt with 2 teaspoons oatmeal I still drink 1-2 protein shakes/day to meet protein requirements.

I was told If it passes through a straw it is a full liquid. I ate cream of asparagus, cream of mushroom, cream of shrimp, cream of spinach, cream of chicken, etc., etc.... I diluted with water, strained out chunks, and mixed with Unjury unflavored protein powder.

Everyone's preop diet is different....this is a question for your surgeon.

So everyone knows about adding this to Soups and smoothies and yogurt, etc. But I'm 4 months out and always looking for ways to up my Protein with "regular" food. I am NOT a cook, so I apologize for the lack of measurements. I usually just wing it. I made a previous post about the protein pancakes I made by adding powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury and an extra egg to Bob's Red Mill pancake mix. I made a bunch of pancakes that I froze and now have 30 second microwave protein pancakes whenever I want. My second experiment was simply adding 2 scoops (42g) of Unjury to the mushroom Soup part of traditional green bean casserole...you know, the green Beans, French fried onion, mushroom soup casserole. I was craving that on Easter Sunday (it's a tradition) I gave 1/2 to a friend and spent the last week eating a little bit every day. Third "recipe" is crab cakes. Mixed together canned crab meat, mayo, mustard, Old Bay spice, pepper, fresh bread crumbs (from the heal of a loaf of 9grain bread my roommate had) and 1 scoop of Unjury powder. Let it sit and chill in the fridge for an hour then cooked a small patty in a bit of oil and damn! IT WAS GOOD! I just keep the mixture in the fridge and make a patty whenever I want. And then there's the crust less quiche... 4 eggs, spinach, mushrooms, onions, cheese, ham, 2 scoops Unjury powder, and a little milk. Poured it all in a shallow pan and baked at 400 degrees untill done. Cut it into small portions and froze them. Again, I've got yummy "quiche cubes" to heat and eat for Breakfast when I'm in a hurry. I welcome any other ideas!

I was told to take my antacid capsules (Omeprazole 40mg) for two months, no exceptions. And I did. Then I tapered to 20mg OTC strength for 3 weeks and then stopped. On occasion I still take a couple Rolaids when my tummy feels sour, but so far I'm one of the lucky ones that hasn't gotten GERD. Guess I'd talk to your surgeon if you want to stop something he's prescribed.

Didn't even need the ones I was sent home with.

I drank so many sweet Protein drinks for so long, at 4 months out I STILL don't crave anything sweet. I bought pudding to eat when I transitioned to puréed food at 3 weeks postop and it's still in my cupboard. And all the SF Popsicles I stocked up on are still in my freezer. As for Water, be prepared to sip sip sip all day long. I can drink pretty normal now, but in the beginning getting Fluid in is a full time job. I had a Clostridial infection that caused diarrhea 2-3 months out and had to get IV fluids 3 times because I got so dehydrated.

Just keep in mind that although it is unflavored, doesn't mean it has no taste. It has a distinctive whey taste (although less so than the Syntrax unflavored I tried). So it isn't that great just adding to juice or lightly flavored things. It's best if the flavor of what you are adding it to is strong enough to mask the whey taste. In the beginning I added it to every kind of broth and dilute/strained cream soup I could find for variety and a break from the sweet protein shakes. And with those you have to be careful of the temp (keep it under 140 degrees) or it will clump. Good Luck!

Thanks for the link. I'm still burned out on sweetness from all the Protein shakes that I have no desire for Desserts yet. But I'll bookmark it for future reference. As for the denaturing, I'm sure it does, but there's no texture issues because it's in a quiche. Heat doesn't "destroy" the protein...just changes the texture. Just like the difference between raw eggs and meat vs cooked.

Have you tried non-whey Proteins? I've seen pea Protein and egg protein supplements. Garden Of Life makes several protein products with sprouted seeds as the protein (gluten free, soy free, dairy free. Syntrax nectar and Isopure are whey-based but may go down better than the powders. Warm liquids like unjury chicken broth went down easier for me in the beginning. Have you tried Greek Yogurt? Refried Beans? Puréed split pea Soup? eggs? PB2? Milk? Soy milk? Almond Milk? Soft cheeses like Velveeta or laughing cow?

Kinda sounds like you do need to see another doctor if you aren't getting any results or proper instructions. Has he done any diagnostics to see if you have a stricture or gastritis? Any medications?

Congrats on staying strong. It was so nice to read your post today instead of one titled "I cheated on my pre op and hate myself" tomorrow . You got this!

Congrats... Nice car! and thanks for the incentive. I had been saving for a down payment on a new truck for two years, but ended up using all my savings to pay for this surgery. But now I will start saving again! Maybe it will be my reward for maintaining two years out.

Does your friend work for your surgeon in Mexico? If not, she has no idea what he does and does not do. Talk directly to your surgeon or one of his nurses about your concerns. I asked about all of this before going down for my surgery so I knew I would receive blood thinners and that I would be given compression stockings to wear and that I should get up and walk the aisles if my flight was really long and that I should walk through the airports if I had a layover and not get a wheelchair. I had no problems flying 3 days postop or driving myself home from the airport.... A 5 hour drive during which I stopped several times to get out and walk around.

The hardest thing is all the compliments on my weight loss. Now that it's spring, I'm seeing a lot of clients and people I haven't seen in a long time. They all compliment me on how great I look. Even the guys are mentioning it. I've never been one to seek attention, so it's kind of embarrassing. As for all the other "stuff", I don't miss anything because I'm not restricting myself. If I want it, I eat it. I didn't have surgery to be on a diet for the rest of my life. Fortunately a little taste is all it takes to satisfy. I'm only 4 months out, so that may change, but so far so good.

Ditto on Dr. Ortiz and Dr. Martinez at Obesity Control Center. Everyone at OCC takes great care of you and I have no surgical complications. Love my sleeve.

I was self pay because my insurance won't cover WLS. But even if they did, my deductible would have been $3000 (it's now $5000 thanks to Obamacare). I had been saving for a down payment on a new truck for 2 years. Then last spring I decided to have this surgery. It took another 6 months to come up with all the cash. I spent the time researching and preparing for surgery and my new lifestyle. Paid just over $7000 for surgery, travel expenses, supplements, Protein drinks, etc. and I still drive a 14 year old truck . I have excellent credit, so I could have gotten a loan, or even just put it on a credit card, but I didn't want to spend all the extra money on fees and interest. If you don't have the credit to finance, you may have to do it the old fashioned way and save up for it. For me it has definitely been worth the long days of working overtime, the missed vacations, the missed concerts, and the not going "out on the town" with friends for 2 1/2 years. And it's way better than a new truck!