njgal

I guess my concern is rather that products in Turkey don't have the nutrition facts as we are used to here in the US. As such I was wondering what brand, if any, doctors recommend, or people have used, tried and loved. Thanks though, worst case scenario I'll be doing exploratory visits to grocery stores.

Hello all, I'll be travelling to Turkey this summer and was wondering if those of you familiar with this can recommend protein shakes I can buy while there. Many thanks!

Cheers! Awesome going looking at your stats too!

Hello again with another update - 6 months this time- from your friendly neighborhood sleeve-bud. I’ve lost a total of 67 lbs so far. I was luckier than most; I didn’t get a stall or slow down until month 4. That first stall for about 2 weeks. It is right around this time where I started straying from following my doc’s instructions to a t. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not condoning that behavior; I’m just saying; that’s what happened with me. I am holding steady at 182 with a 5’6” frame and honestly; if I stayed right here going forward, I would be OK with that. My weight loss has slowed down; partly because, well; it’s been 5-6 months... and of course it would’ve gone faster if I were sticking to what I’m supposed to be doing. Quick side note: You know how when you first notice your collar bones it’s an awesome feeling? Well, the knocking together of your knees when lying sideways gets old pretty fast. Yes, yes, I know; clearly I prefer my knees knocking together to being obese but... Anyway; any suggestions other than a pillow between your knees (-which doesn’t always work) are welcome. Overall it is amazing how quickly one gets used to being a size 12 (as opposed to being a size 16 going on 18) and how quickly this becomes the new reality. It gets old receiving compliments on how much weight I've lost. I don't mean boring but I do mean that it gets increasingly difficult to relate to the person who I was.. I see obese people around me and recognize mimics or certain actions I used to do. I feel for them but only to a point where I vaguely remember being one of them. That isn't me anymore. I'm not one of those people who can say "I wish I had done this sooner"... after all it was a confluence of events that brought me to where I was and I don't think I would appreciate my current situation if this had not been something I have suffered for, worked for and prepared myself for. Sort of along the lines of "earned money is sweeter than found money" if you know what I mean. All in all, I have only three words for you: this is awesome!

Good, all things considering. I'm going through my own things.. have trouble sticking to the rules and keep straying. Can't seem to pull myself back on the wagon but for now I'm holding so I'm not obsessing over it. All good

Family will trip you up every time! Surf it out and get back to basics. Remember; you come first. You have to.

Hey... sleeved in October 2017... live in NJ, work in NY... how're you feeling?

Oh, thank you.. *blush* Look; you'll be like all us other post-op pals.. once you're over THAT hill, it'll be hard to even remember how anxious and nervous and curious and on-the-brink-of-things you were. Trust me! One thing that has helped me so far (and keep in mind I'm only 3 months post-op) and something my surgeon concurs with is not setting a goal... I mean, I know, we can't help it.. we dream of this weight or that.. live out numerous fantasies in our heads for when we reach that goal and usually I'd say goal setting is a pretty healthy thing to do (and yes, I secretly have a vague number in my head as well) but I don't voice it for fear of giving it too much power and I certainly don't plan accordingly.. what I mean to say is I want to give my body the freedom to settle where IT thinks it is healthy and happy... not where my brain thinks it should be. Look, there are many things one CAN change in life and then there are the things one CAN'T. My mother says "it's all good but in the end it doesn't matter what SHOULD, it matters what IS". Sometimes this hits the spot and weight is just such a topic for me. OK, now that the philosophical lecture is over; here comes the practical. Whatever you do be sure to follow your surgeon's recommendations. A decent practice isn't going to just prepare you for the surgery but for after the surgery as well. They will have given you (or will give you) an eating plan... something along the lines of first week liquids, second week liquids with chunks, third week ****.. and so on. Follow that to a T! Don't be afraid to ask questions.. I know for the longest time the whole liquid and protein thing was confusing as hell to me.But as far as the first few days are concerned; don't worry about the food.. really.. you will not starve, you will not be hungry, you will be OK. Focus on getting your liquids in and walking. Thinking back to my first few days I know it helped to actually set a reminder that repeated every 15 minutes. Get up.. walk... drink a few sips... lie back down. Rinse and repeat. It worked for me, maybe it'll work for you. As for where I am today? Happy to tell you but it won't matter because chances are it'll be different for you anyway but my morning usually starts with a glass of water which is right by my bed.. helps with the visit to the toilet and gets me started to a good day. Breakfast is usually some variation of eggs... with cheese, without cheese... with some sort of meat or not, it really depends on the day. Some mornings I have yogurt with a bit of fruit and granola and honey)... the amounts are clearly minuscule compared to what I ate prior to surgery but as long as I eat slowly and chew well I have no trouble keeping it down and it is more than enough. I prepare my tea and start drinking that about an hour after breakfast.. if not tea then water. I have a protein shake at around 11 and lunch at around 12:30-1.. lunch is whatever, sometimes a bar, sometimes a salad, sometimes a nice juicy filet mignon and some veggies.. another shake at around 3-4 pm, sometimes a snack (cheese? nuts?) and then dinner at around 6-7 pm with the family... chicken.. salad.. veggies.. really depends. Only thing I usually try to steer away from (try being the keyword because sometimes a fork of pasta or spoon of rice will make its way into my mouth) is rice or pasta or the likes. I mean, did I have chocolate for Christmas? Yes... do I take a bite out of my kids' sandwiches sometimes for want of bread? Yes... do I condone this behavior? No. But as I mentioned above in another response; I'm also not going to see these as cheating and go and punish myself for taking a bite. Again; everybody will be different but for me the downfall would be grazing. Not indulging in the occasional whatever. You'll be fine; do your research, ask questions and lots of them and know that there's really no sure way of preparing yourself for this surgery. Many things won't fall into place until you're actually on the other side. Good luck!

I'm so sorry to hear you've been feeling miserable. It's difficult enough to do this on a good day; turning it around after being sick is definitely not easy. Unfortunately I don't have a magic solution and I do understand the virtue of analyzing and accepting myself and I avail myself of those options plenty but when it comes right down to it, holding myself to a higher standard and just carrying on has always done the trick for me. Sometimes the why doesn't even matter; you just move on. Today is a new day (or if you're mentally better equipped than me do it by hour; don't waste the whole day because one thing went wrong in the morning etc), take it as such and do your best. You are clearly further out than me, so far be it from me to lecture you on what works but I have a feeling that in the long term it'll help me manage this lifestyle better if I don't think of eating certain things as cheating.. if I want a cookie; I'll eat a cookie.. if I want a sandwich, I'll eat a sandwich... if I want pasta; I'll eat pasta... what I am currently working on establishing is the "eat protein first".... then, if there's still room, work with that. Who knows what I'll be saying in a few months but one of the vets on this board once said something to the effect of "eat your protein first.. not with something, not one bite protein, one bite something else... but eat your protein FIRST" and that made sense to me; it still does. So yes, I'm trying to eat protein first. I hope it'll reduce my chances of gulping down other things... at least to a point. Oh, and skipping your medication to see if you still need it? Well, you're still here and if doing that taught you a lesson then you're better person for it, right? Trial and error is probably best done with non-life-or-death medications and it does sound like something I might do... the sheer number of pills one takes is overwhelming so I get it. Any day I can get out of taking something extra is a bonus good day! Cheers!

Hello everyone... greetings from a cold New Jersey thursday. It is time for an update. I was just thinking about how I scoured every comment, every topic, every bit of info I could find pre-op.... today I check in because I had set myself a reminder. Life is back to "normal" and I am soooo over this checking-in every minute of every day thing... but I'm not all heartless; I remember (vaguely) what it was like and I had promised myself I would check-in and update every so often so as to give the next generation of sleevers reading material; so here's the skinny (yes, yes, I know): I was sleeved 1/10/17 and yesterday I had my three month follow up visit with my surgeon. Incidentally yesterday was also the date I hit one-derland (199.6, yay!!) so it all tied together rather nicely I say. My weight loss has slowed but all in all I lost 50 lbs already. I love buying new clothes though I don't go crazy because I know I have some ways to go yet. My knees didn't hurt for a while but I must've abused those puppies a little too much before, because now I'm getting lubricant injections every few months, but all good... something funny I realized was that apparently I had been straining my neck out (most likely to prevent a double chin from showing) so that now I have neck pain and constantly keep reminding myself to auto-correct my neck posture. It just looks funny more than anything else really. I'm a 14 now.. I don't remember ever caring much about dressing well before, even when I was 'smaller'.. now I go all out and love getting dressed up. As much as it probably has something to do with age and overall state of where I am in life; I also believe it has something to do with the direction I'm moving in. Clearly I hadn't planned on ballooning to 250 lbs before but the upward trend seemed to discourage me. Now that I am clearly moving down it only seems to fuel my interest in making myself look good. For the first time in my life I am "one of those women".. you know? not just the clothes but I try to take better care of myself in general. Heck I even moisturize now.. who'd have thought? Oh, and I do yoga now... I used to read comments of women who were saying the higher they went in weight the less non-yoga type pants they would wear.. to a point where all they wore were stretchy pants. I am the opposite way; the more weight I lose the more confidence I have to wear them.. never would have been caught dead in one before. They're actually pretty comfy I realize I actually ended up wearing yoga pants with a long comfy sweater and boots the other day. OMG, I was such a cliche but so darn proud of myself you should have seen me. I kept giggling at my own vanity. And I receive tons of compliments (which I can totally see getting over at some point but for now they're balm for the soul). So yeah, 50 lbs down in 3 months... not bad, eh?

Hello y’all.... so what brands are there and where does one find them? Not a fan of powder and I use premier chocolate ready shakes in the US but should find an alternative I can buy when over there for a trip soon, so I would appreciate your recommendations.

Depends on your surgeon. What’s their protocol? Some allow it, some don’t. Mine had no liquid diet; I got to have breakfast the day before and then liquid until midnight. Nothing after that until surgery. Best to check with your surgeon. Good luck.

I don’t know either... hadn’t realized it until was explained to me that I had done it.

Oh, I’m at 30 lb now.. one can’t change stats on the app and I rarely access the forum on a computer but you haven’t missed much with my progress [emoji4] If I didn’t have a reminder to weigh in weekly I would probably not step on the scale. It’s not so much about the pounds for me as it is about establishing good habits now. We’ll see how that goes. As far as being back to “normal”; well, a friend of mine ended up being an outpatient and drove himself home... others take it easy for weeks. I was pretty much back to normal 2-3 days after I was home; so 4-5 days post-op. Once you have your liquid intake under control I don’t see a reason why you shouldn’t be back in action but water (i.e. liquids) is key. It won’t be child’s play but it’s definitely doable!

Luckily I had my annual ob/gyn check today and I’m good but yep... now I know not to! Thanks!!