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There is something to be said for the Quest brand of Protein bars. 21 grams of protein and ~17 grams of fiber.......good stuff. Just like @@LipstickLady said.....avocados are outstanding. I love fresh guacamole....easy to make and always tasty. I'm going to pick up some flax seeds next time I'm in the store. Great suggestion there. They are a healthy add-in for certain.

Considering I remember how big a deal it was the first time I ran ONE whole mile, it's pretty incomprehensible that I will soon be running 26.2! I was doing C25K back when I was 31 years old. I ran a whole mile straight on my treadmill. I called my husband down to the basement yelling and screaming. He probably thought I was dying! And then when I got off the treadmill, I called my parents crying. That's how proud I was of running ONE mile! Powerful !!!!!!

A lot of factors weigh in, no pun intended, on which procedure is best for you. It spent so much time just getting to the point where I made the decision to have wls. It seemed like a whirlwind of decisions made very, very swiftly to decide which wls to have. It is something that needs to be customized to your needs, lifestyle and future way of living.

Yup....had a some times where I'd question myself. Then the pain from my back would remind me that I needed to get serious amounts of weight off my frame very quickly as prescribed that the spine surgeon who would be having to sharpen his scalpel if I didn't do so. I've had great success with losing weight in the past....just never kept it off. This time around I had to get it done. I simply had to. Now....not quite a year later......I'm extremely grateful and glad that I did this. There's been a near immediate relief felt with the weight coming off. Back injury healed.....feeling much better.....now off all blood pressure medications.....feeling much, much better. I have great confidence that this sleeve is a tool that will be around for the rest of my days and helping walk the walk.

I'd thought initially that I wanted a bypass. My pcp was very much enthused about the sleeve procedure and so was my bariatric surgeon. I eventually decided to go with the VSG due to default. My surgeon warned me that it was a bit more risky for me due to him have to also repair a large abdominal hernia. If the repair failed early on....it could involve my newly rerouted plumbing and be very dangerous. He was much more confident with me having the VSG done. The ability to take regular meds was a bonus, as I have arthritis in my knees and back and good old tried and true Advil offer me relief. Now.....10+ months past my surgery I am very happy that I went with the sleeve. Very grateful and very confident that it will provide me with a lifeline tool to combat weight loss.

That is outstanding. I can't even get my mind wrapped around those distances. Great job.

Imagine my shock when I came home from the hospital with an 11 lb gain two days after surgery....... Lots of inflammation and Water retention, I suppose. It flushed out soon enough and the losing began. Be a patient patient and it'll all work out. Stick with your plan and enjoy the ride.

Sure beats the 3-4 Protein Shakes that my surgeon allowed per day. Sounds like a buffet by comparison, lol. You can do it. It's all worth it in the end.

Well....look at it this way.....you are getting your Protein in.......eating low calorie but not silly low......exercising frequently.....all good strategy. About the only thing you may consider is to closely track your carbohydrate intake and maybe flirt around with ketosis for a while......shake things up a bit.

Couple of my NSV's this week.... Took a minute to check the blood pressure......all is well and I've been off all blood pressure meds for two months now. Was also having early morning coffee. Took me a few minutes to actually wake up....realized that in the dark I'd grabbed an old t-shirt that I'd been saving. Didn't think it'd fit as it's an athletic cut 2XL. Well....it would seem that it fit with room to spare. Made my day start off with a confident feeling. This time last year I as wearing 5xl and 6xl shirts. So damn grateful.

So you are 35 lbs away from a goal of 150 and you surgery was ~ 5 months ago............ All I can say is you are making some killer progress, closing in and are sure to make it.

Very cool NSV. I was hugely relieved when I could finally....finally shop in virtually any store and buy clothes. So much more variety and way cheaper than the big & tall stores......or in my case, the bigger & taller stores. No longer have to fear losing my bags on air travel. If it happens.....no worries.....a quick trip to any mall and clothes are replaced. Very cool NSV. Hope you get well quickly.

Good one. I'm so very damn grateful that I truly enjoy Water. I've seen folks talk about how they can't stand it. That's gotta suck. Staying hydrated feels mighty good.

Yup. These along with some calcium citrate chews and some Iron chewables can be all taken spaced apart so they don't interfere with each other being properly absorbed.

The journal sounds like a good idea. When I've felt like I was doing poorly I would track my food intake. Seeing the calorie & macro breakdown was really helpful to let me know the impact of my grazing and straying off plan. I'll tell you another thing that really helps, too.....is getting on the treadmill or elliptical and punching your weight and watch the calorie burn at the end of your session. When you feel how much work it takes to burn 500 calories......you'll think twice about grazing. You can trust & believe that you'll think twice.

Good grief that's a pile of food for a pre-op diet compared to what most of us were restricted to. You'll never be hungry with that much intake. Space it out over even intervals and the ride it out. The time will pass swiftly and you'll have great weight loss momentum going into the surgery.

If you can drink the shakes then do so. Gotta get your protein intake up to meet your goals. You likely see wait loss occurring then.

At three weeks I found out I was having low blood pressure. My meds were adjusted and I was feeling much better in a few days. The real energy boost came for me around week 8. That's when it seems that my body simply "woke up" and everything sorta fell into place.

Not sure about what your post op diet looks like. My surgeon was very clear and laid out a very simple eating plan. Specific meal sizes that were initially all chicken, steak, fish.....then at 6 months begin adding crunchy vegetables. So....by definition....it's a keto diet to begin with so there is no other strategy for me but to follow the normal post op diet. Stalls are what occur when I don't.

Standing ovation for this post. Excellent points made.

I had a tremendous reduction in back pain after the sleeve surgery. It's getting better over time. Back pain was one of the major reasons I opted for bariatric surgery. I did have some very strange shooting nerve pains up and down my legs after two months......lasted a few weeks and then went away. My pcp attributed it to things moving around and shifting positions with the weight loss and that everything would settle down soon. He was right. It subsided shortly after that appointment.

I started hitting the salad bar at work for lunches somewhere around 3 months. I get a side salad and it's without lettuce. I'll put a thin layer of spinach and then add eggs, chicken, cheese and etc. Newman's Own light vinegarette dressing.

Did a Western Caribbean cruise last April. Fun trip. Laying around the pool and going to the comedy shows. The ports we stopped at were so so....but the trip was very relaxing.

Hospital may need to give someone instructions for your care. It'll need to be an adult, I would think. Someone that will be there with you that first 24 hours.