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I think that you can do all of this again. You may find that you can do it even better once you detach a bit from the impact that food has on you. I have always been an avid griller. As a hunter, I learned to prep wild game and bring it to the table for the family to enjoy. It was tremendously satisfying, too. In time, I learned that any of those techniques can easily be translated over to other types of food. I really began to enjoy not just grilling but the indoor cooking as well. My indoor game isn't as strong as say, my little sister.....who is a freaking wizard.....but it gets the job done. Feeding a teenager who is perpetually hungry and loves real food....not the microwaved, frozen food stuff his mom "cooks" is a not only fun, but needed. I went through the build up to surgery....diet was much different than before. I cooked very, very little and then not at all during the liquid phase both pre & post. I avoided the kitchen. Stayed on liquids for 4 weeks post and still avoided the kitchen. Went through another month with the soft Proteins and continued to avoid the kitchen. I remember distinctly that I had a 7 day off period that arrived on my 9th week. My teenager sat down with me and was very candid in his desires over whether or not I'd ever be cooking again. He said he was really worn out with the frozen foods deal. At first I simply laughed but then he drove home the point....he was sick and tired and he wasn't joking. It snapped me out of it and I went shopping later that morning and loaded up on ribs, pork shoulder, beef brisket and lots of charcoal along with stuff to make homemade bbq sauces and good side dishes. I grilled everyday of that that 7-day off and it was therapeutic for me. I was back in the game and happy about it. Happier than ever, in fact. I could make all the normal stuff I did before....the carb loaded stuff......and simply chose to not eat it. I could cook all sorts of stuff but had the newfound ability to select only what was appropriate for new way of eating. Amazing. I now enjoy cooking & grilling more than ever. It is fun, yet it has no power over me....which makes it even more fun. I think you'll see similar things occur once you have a new view on food and the types that you must have and not have.

Root concealer. Awesome name. It's what I find myself doing a good bit.....trying to conceal the old root.

LMAO !!!

On a great day, I'll stay under 25 grams. On a wild and crazy day....it'll still be under 100 grams. Normal.....under 50 grams.

LOL. I couldn't see enjoying much of any of that stuff......but a can see a recipe book or two being a nice addition to the arsenal. I'd never be able to eat the volume of food these plant folks live off.......but I could see making a vegetable juice drink to perhaps improve my nutrition. Hell, in my case.....I could substitute it for one or two of the cups of coffee I eat everyday. I can see how folks jump into the ring and dive headfirst into the "movement". We are, on average, a society of unhealthy folks....and joiners. We love to be in groups that we identify with. The only group I'm trying to exclude myself from is the folks in the graveyard. I'd like to stall that occurrence for a long time. A homemade V-8 type drink seems reasonable for me.....as well as adding in green crunchy, leafy vegetables to my normal Proteins. Just for shyts and grins I'd like to get my blood work done soon and then give one of the modified versions of the Engine2 28-day challenges a try and then more blood work after. It'll be fun. I've got the time and not scared to experiment. We'll see.

Nope. Never had that one. My problem is the cold. Can't stand it now. Pierces me to the core. I'm much happier in the current weather.

My NC relatives praise Duke Medical to the high heavens. Over the years they've had anything from back surgeries, knee replacements, intestine resectioning, to cancer related surgeries. The care they received was done by some of the top surgeons in their field. Duke is a special place. Nothing agains UNC, but I know where I'd most likely go if given the choice.

My favorite pureed food was........two scoops of Protein powder over ice and Water.......shake, stir and enjoy. Sorry....I didn't do pureed food stage. I was scared of it. I needed the extra time on shakes to get me further away from food, in general. I need those extra weeks to simply stay the course and redefine my thoughts and responses to foods. I had to approach it this way for my own well being. Glad I did.

Well said, ISG. Well said. I see some of the stuff first year folks say they are eating and my first thought is "how can they have room for that?".....then it dawns on me that they have room for these other non essential foods because they simply aren't eating the primary focus, Proteins. For me....it's never really been that I eat any more Protein than before......it's just that I eat far less of everything else. The beauty of me utilizing the "eat proteins first" method is that I'm always done after that. There is no room for other foods. Yup....mine doesn't focus much on numbers, but when I've pressed him....these are what he quotes as minimum averages.

Very simplistic......yet very true. The further down the road I get the easier this tactic is to employ. At first....the early days....all it took was a television commercial to get those "oh, I'd love some of that....." in my head. It'd pass in a while. Now, I can be around those foods....hell, even prepare them for others......and not really think about them. An advertisement on television or someone walking into the room with a steaming hot pizza.....registers on my brain that it's there......and I can toggle the thought off. The stuff that interests me is what it on my menu. That's what gets my interest. The further down the right paths we go.......the easier it is to stay on those paths.

You've certainly thought about the impact and effect this will have on your work place and coworkers. It can be a maddening endeavor.....trying to make it all come together with the least disturbance. Never, for a moment, lose sight of why you are having this wls.....for yourself.....for your health. It's an easy detail that can get lost in all the other considerations. Maybe you can even move things up quicker than December. Speak with your insurance company's patient advocate very carefully and see the specific details. Many plans allow you to use any prior doctor's appointment where you were counseled on weight loss during that visit. My PCP and other doctors each agreed to fill out the simple form (provided by insurance company). Each of these forms, for me, satisfied a month of the 6 months. The only stipulation was that these sessions take place over the last 2 years. Each of my doctors agreed in an instant to complete the simple forms and help me speed up the process. My very first bariatric appointment was on July 1, 2015. We didn't think I'd be able to apply until Jan 2016. I satisfied insurance demands quickly and was eligible well prior to the end of year. My insurance $$$$ benefit wasn't so great in terms of bariatric coverage and ultimately I chose to self fund due to it being cheaper for me than using insurance (sounds crazy, I know). The surgery was in mid October 2015 and could have still been by then or November if I'd used insurance. Find out all the details you can from your insurance company's bariatric folks.....it'll take some digging around....but you can benefit greatly from some "inside insight" from them. Good luck

I occasionally supplement with Metamucil powder. It tastes great.....like orange Tang. Every couple of days I'll have a Quest bar for Breakfast, too. As James said, they are surprisingly high in Fiber and the apple pie flavored version is truly tasty. I've found that getting lots of fiber is a challenge with the sleeve diet. My surgeon recently admitted this and said I was perfectly okay proceeding as I said above. Good luck.

All of the Chike brand shakes were great to me. Excellent flavors without aftertaste.

Eating a salad for lunch at work right now, in fact. Small $2.30 side salad from the salad bar. I use spinach leaves as the base....thin layer. Hard boiled eggs, ham, cheese, sunflower seeds, bell peppers, some pepperoni and a couple cucumber slices. I'm almost 7 months out and have been enjoying salads again for the past month or so. It does feel good to get these back. I fully agree with everyone in that iceburg is a waste of time and space. I wish they had kale on the bar, too.

Outstanding !!!!!!!

Lindsey, Congrats on your decision to move forward. I'm 7 months post-op from my sleeve and very, very happy with the results thus far. I have a long way to go....but I've never been more sure in my life that I'll get there. It's a wonderful certainty. One that makes me grin at awkward times, crack jokes in serious moments and otherwise go through life in a more upbeat way than I ever have. Ever. The really cool thing about that last paragraph is that I'm just one of many around here on BP that can say the same thing. We are living proof that things can get better. I say all that to say this......it has been a process. 7 months ago I could begin to see how it would unfold....how I would feel.....what size clothes I would be wearing.....what I would be eating, etc. All I had 7 months ago was the very straightforward plan that my surgeon laid out......simple and easily done. I had to trust & believe that I would be able to grow and develop my menu later on as my stomach capacity moved up to 1 full cup of food per meal by the one year mark....as my surgeon promised. I trusted. I believed. It's been very simple and straightforward. I learned that I could always kick the weight loss up a notch or two by doing a Protein shake only diet at any time I cared to do so. Every so often I'll bust through a stall with a 2-3 day liquid only reset. I learned that I could get in the needed protein with my 1/2 cup meal sizes that I was doing at the 6 month mark. My surgeon then encouraged me to increase to 3/4 cup sizes for the next few months and to continue with current protein amount but to add green vegetables to fill the new capacity. The last few weeks have found me adding broccoli, kale, spinach, grilled asparagus and the like to my meals. I love the Fiber increase but know there are other menu refinements in my future. I love grilling and for the most part I've been able to enjoy this hugely during my weight loss. Now, though....I'm also enjoying getting that crunchy food satisfaction from the vegetables. Good stuff. I watched the Forks Over Knives movie and the related Engine 2 Diet movie yesterday. Good stuff. Very thought provoking. There are certainly meal ideas and themes that I can adopt to my way of eating. My stomach capacity is never going to allow me to eat the volumes of plant based foods that these two suggest.......but it does open up the realm of making vegetable smoothies to get in more of these into my system. It's a process. It's been initially about getting the weight off my frame. Certainly that's been a healthy thing. Now it's about refining my diet and enjoying taking it to knew healthy levels. Hoping to get more heart healthy, too. I never could have seen the myself drinking Protein shakes, low sugar vegetable juices and enjoying packs of flavored tuna this time last year. Then....I was all about shoving down pizza, Pasta and other similar garbage. I was sedentary and running on polluted arteries and my body was telling on me. Now....I'm reaching for a better life through improved health. I want to be off of as many medications as possible. Just the amounts and frequencies of NSAIDS intake alone has been hugely decreased. Co-morbidities are slipping away......slipping away in small doses.......good stuff. Take the small steps you can see now. They will lead you to other steps....other possibilities, some that you can't even begin to envision now, but they will be clear later on......Trust & Believe.

BMI of 58 when I started the pre-op process. Now it's 36, 7 months postop. 180+ lbs lighter now with much more to go. Feeling great.

It would take a lot for me to ever completely give up meat. I'm intrigued by many aspects of this way of eating, though. For instance, the author makes a Breakfast Cereal mix for a couple who are trying it out. He put all sorts of stuff in their bowls and it really looked great. They seemed pleased with the flavor and the crunch. He said each bowl has 30+ grams of Protien and 25+ grams of Fiber in addition to many nutrients. I could use such a breakfast idea. I'm sure there are other high Protien meal ideas to be found, too.

I did. I used then and still use now, Splenda and sometimes Stevia. I used pre-mixed vanilla or chocolate Protein shakes as the creamer. Sure was a great way to get past the hunger. I did. I used then and still use now, Splenda and sometimes Stevia. I used pre-mixed vanilla or chocolate Protein Shakes as the creamer. Sure was a great way to get past the hunger.

I did. I used then and still use now, Splenda and sometimes Stevia. I used pre-mixed vanilla or chocolate Protein shakes as the creamer. Sure was a great way to get past the hunger.

I've never watched the show......but am laughing my butt off at that pic of her shirt.

Third time's the charm, right ? I have no regrets about my sleeve surgery....none. It would have been nice to have done so much sooner..... The benefits have been awesome !!! I wish you the best and know you'll see the best, too.

I watched the Forks Over Knives movie yesterday.....and then watched the Engine2 movie....both on Netflix. Very compelling stuff. I'd like to learn more about it and how I can meet my Protein goals with this. I'm getting the Engine2 book and will read it. Once I'm done....I'm thinking that I may try the Engine2 28 day challenge. What have I got to lose, right ? My concerns are will the diet be sleeve friendly and will I get enough protein. I'm certain that I'll learn more in the time ahead. I'm intrigued by this. That is a big deal, too, by the way.....as I've been a tremendous fan of grilled meats for as long as I can remember. I'm not saying that I'll totally give up the meats.......but then again who knows. I think I may even go see my PCP and have bloodwork done prior to any diet change and then if I do the 28 day challenge and stay on it....I'll go back and have it checked again. Nothing to lose, right ?

Being dehydrated always makes me feel like crap. I couldn't imagine that crappy feeling on top of the respiratory infection. You've got to find a way to get your Water and Protein in. I wish I had a great suggestion as to how....without feeling nauseated......but I'm guessing it will be easier once you feel better and that will occur once you get your water and protein in.