Boombalatty

Thanks, @395Ron. Good luck on the liquid diet and your journey. The pre-op diet I was on was pretty much low-carb Protein shakes, broth/boullion, and sugar-free popsicles. We could choose whatever we liked, though, as long as the shakes had >15g protein and <6g carbs. Also, you had the option to have one small solid meal a day (meat and green veg only), if you wanted, up until 2-3 days before surgery, then it was liquid only. Pickles were also allowed up until 2-3 days before surgery. I ended up doing all liquids except 3 smallish pickles with mustard a day until 3 days before surgery. That kinda sucks if they force you to eat (drink) whatever they sell instead of letting you choose what you like that meets the same nutrition requirements.

Thank you! I feel so much better than I used to. The change has been amazing. I've hit my initial goal of being under 250 (245 as I write this) and am shooting for 215, if possible, to have lost 300lbs.

I, like Dub, know you said no gyms. However, if it's because you are intimidated or bothered by the idea of others watching you, like I was, let me give you my story. I was a very large, but not tall man. I started going to a large local gym at about 460-500 lbs and I'm maybe 5ft 10in. (I don't remember my weight when I started.) I thought that I have to do this for health and I'd just live with the shame. However, it hasn't been bad. Everyone has been respectful and a lot of people have commented on my progress and the encouragement has been a benefit. That said, I still come home to shower. ☺

Yeah, I am about 11 months out from surgery and just hit my initial goal (now working on stretch goal). That may make a difference on how many carbs I eat. I probably eat 60-120g or so a day, counting fiber and everything. Some days more, some less. That said, the Quest bars only have 1-4g of sugar and the Combat Crunch have around 5g (but about 12g net carbs, so some other non sugar carbs). I don't remember exactly, but I think I started eating Quest bars maybe 3-4 months after surgery. It's really good that you are checking labels, though. You are right that there are a lot of Protein bars that are little more than candy bars with added protein. If you haven't seen the bars I've mentioned and want to try them or look at the nutrition, you can find several brands of them at GNC, Amazon (by the box), QuestNutrition.com (Quest only), netrition.com (individual or boxes), and Kroger sells Quest and Pure Protein here.

I just went and checked some of the Atkins bars again. If you are thinking they are low carb, then you are going off the net carbs, which Atkins labels explicitly. Quest and others don't necessarily do that, so you have to do it yourself. Atkins is taking total carbs and subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols to get net carbs (I don't know about subtracting sugar alcohols as a practice, but maybe it's okay... one of my diabetic nutritionists said to only subtract half of those). If you do that with most of the ones mentioned here, you get about the same (but double check).

The Combat Crunch are higher than the Quest, but I don't count Fiber carbs. Most of the Quest carbs are fiber. I also don't try to stay at 20-50g carbs for the day like some do. (I did in the beginning, but not anymore. I'm still low, but not that low. ) From what I remember, the Atkins bars were high calorie for the amount of Protein, so I was more concerned with that. If I remember right, some use a lot of maltitol, too, which is the most sugar-like of the sugar alcohols as far as glycemic index goes. That said, I didn't look at all variants of Atkins bars. I did eat some of the Peanut Butter fudge daybreak bars.

I've found some more brands recently that I like. Here is my list of one's worth looking into. Quest Combat Crunch (likely my current favorite) Power Crunch (original, not crisp or choklat) Some Pure Protein Premier Protein Fiber Bars D's Naturals No Cow Bars (only tried one so far, but I liked it) Some Atkins bars, but most of them I've stayed away from Chocorite Protein Bars (a lot like Quest, but half the size) I'm torn on the Krush bars. They are like Quest, but a little blander, even though they have more calories. However, I like the texture a lot... more dense cake like. I've only tried two of the six flavors in my sampler box, though.

All fruits are full of fructose, so have a good amount of carbs. Berries have the least, if I remember correctly; and bananas, pineapples, and mangoes are some of the highest. I thought apples were on the lower end, too, but berries have less.

On surgery day, I was 415. My first month loss below counts the 2-week pre-op diet (before hitting 415) Also keep in mind that I had already lost 100lbs before surgery during insurance requirements) Loss by month, starting with preop diet: 1st month: 30 2nd: 17 3rd: 25 4th: 15 5th: 15 6th: 13 7th: 17 8th: 13 9th: 11 10th (currently in): 10 so far with 1 more weigh in this weekend

Something that I found about 7 months ago is monk fruit (extract). It's a plant extract like stevia, but I like it better. I have bottles of liquid under the Skinny Girl brand I found at Kroger (or you can find online at netrition.com or other places, I'm sure). I use it to sweeten my occasional tea (iced or hot).

Another option for online ordering of some items is Netrition (netrition.com). I buy some items from them as they are cheaper for some stuff and have some items that other places don't. I also end up buying things from Amazon, Walmart, Albertsons, Kroger, costco, Vitamin Shoppe, and Celebrate Vitamin (website) depending on what I need, coupons and sales. Protein shakes, bars and powder have a long shelf life so I stockpile during good sales - my pantry is starting to resemble a GNC or something, but I'm far enough post-op that I doubt my tastes will change... and surgery didn't really change them either, in my case.

Take stock of why you want this. For me, it was a scared skinny (well scared less fat so far). I had some issues and was diagnosed with diabetes and my blood sugar was so high it messed with my eye sight temporarily (thankfully). The day of the diagnosis I made an appointment with a surgeon. I say diabetes was the best-worst thing that happened to me to finally kick me into gear since I've been obese since childhood. I had to go through 3 months of a diet for insurance and did so well that I thought of backing out near the end. I did that years ago with the Lapband (backed out after some dieting) but gained all that weight back and then some. So, I guess to battle your nervousness, take note of your goals or fears of what obesity will do to you, your past (have diets failed you?) and do research. I read blogs, books, watched YouTube videos and shows like My 600lb Life to keep me motivated and to help with anxiety about it being my first ever surgery and being such a life change.

I'm a 38 year old man (if that matters) and at my first consultation with the surgeon was 507lbs. (515 when I finally, really got my butt in gear about weight loss...585 at highest recorded weight years ago) Anyway, my surgeon didn't really say anything specific about losing weight that I remember - but he probably did say the more I could lose before surgery the better. For insurance, I was required to do a 3 month diet and he likely knew. During that time, I started exercising and eating better and lost down to 415lbs on surgery day (about 5 months later due to insurance delays and scheduling). I think the exercise and weight loss really contributed to my easy recovery from the sleeve surgery.

I wish I was given numbers for anything other than meal volume. I'm an engineer, so I like numbers, but my surgeon doesn't. His guidelines were 3 meals a day with size limits (4oz for 6 months, then 6oz, then 8-10oz after a year) and maybe a Protein snack or two, if needed (no guidelines to know, though). Protein first and at least half the meal should be protein. Then veggies, then fruit if there is room, then last carbs (which you won't have room for until maintenence). I basically adopted protein targets from others on this board and shoot for 80-100g per day. It means I do 3 meals, 2 protein Snacks per day and the bariatric staff seems fine with me doing that, but I don't bother telling them it's to hit my adopted protein goal. Oh, I did mean to mention that I personally hit about 50-100g of carbs per day, depending on how many Protein Bars I eat (some days it's 2 or even 3 on really crazy days). A good chunk of that is Fiber from protein bars, but there is also incidental carbs, occasional high fiber low carb crackers/tortilla and carbs from chewable supplements.

I had some before surgery during the medically supervised weight loss my insurance required. I made biscuits and lemon muffins with it. I threw out the rest before surgery. It did have an 'off' taste to it compared to regular recipes, but nothing so bad that I didn't enjoy it. Like others, however, I haven't tried it since my surgery (sleeve) 9 months ago. I have thought about picking some up recently, but it only comes in large packages and I would only want it very infrequently at this point since I still have weight to lose and really need to save the stomach room for more nutritious foods.

It's hard for me to tell because I lost so much before surgery for 'normal' reasons (38 year old male) and keep what little I do have cut very short. I don't think the surgery made it worse, but I do take vitamins almost religiously and have taken extra Biotin pretty much since the beginning since it seems to help with dandruff where I do have hair.

I hope it doesn't affect roller coasters. I haven't been on one in many many years due to my size, but being able to ride again is one of my motivations for having the surgery. Due to life it may not be this year I get to find out though.

My first weigh in the day after the surgery I was 3lbs heavier than before the surgery from all the IV fluids.

I don't worry about small portions when buying. I just bring it home and section it out and freeze or I cook a bunch and freeze/refrigerate the left overs for later. I know that technically gets rid of the freshness past the first meal, but for me the convenience is worth it.

Actually, if it's what I just saw on Groupon, at 24.99 a box, that's no different than just going to the Quest Nutrition website and buying them from the manufacturer at their normal price... unless Groupon has free shipping.

Oh, I should clarify... the balanced diet stuff was only for the 3 month period my insurance required. Not the pre-op diet or post-op as those differ, even from the same NUTs.

I guess it depends on the doctor/nutritionist. All the NUTs I saw (one when diagnosed with T2 diabetes, then 2 for the supervised diet for insurance approval for surgery very soon after - one quit the practice after my initial visit) all wanted me to eat a reduced-calorie balanced diet which included whole grains (white potatoes... well white starches in general were discouraged, but not completely off limits) That said, I would stick with what YOUR doctor and nutritionist wants, especially if this is for insurance approval as bad notes from them can cause denial from your insurance.

My surgeon gave us an option on the pre-op diet. You could either do all liquids (with some pickles) or liquids with one solid meal a day. The solid meal had to be small with only one serving (about 3-4oz) of lean Protein and a serving of non starchy vegetables. I should probably wait until I get home to look in the manual as this is all from memory, but I think it was 3-4 Protein shakes a day (they had a limit on carbs in the shakes and minimum protein requirements), unlimited sugar free Popsicles, sugar free Jello, broths, bullion, mustard, sugar free mints, other low cal condiments/flavorings and dill pickles on the liquid-only (except the pickles, obviously). If you had a solid meal, reduce one Protein shake. I did the all liquids and a couple of small pickles with mustard every day. You had to do this for two weeks pre surgery and the last two days HAD to be liquids only (no pickles).

I like the Premiere Protein shakes. I've tried some powders, but I prefer the convenience of the premixed shakes and found Premiere to be easy to find where I live and I enjoy the taste (mainly the chocolate or strawberry).

It's different for everyone depending on how much you need to lose and your body. I personally lost 30 pounds the first month after surgery. I'm a 38 year old male who weighed 415 at the time of my vsg surgery.