dcfolan

I like the Bolthouse Farms protein enriched drinks. They come in mocha, hazelnut, and chai. They taste very good, are available in the produce section of the supermarkets, and don't have artificial sweeteners. They do have caffeine, however (an appetite suppressent) and make a nice breakfast or snack. You really need to keep track of your calories, though, 'cause they can add up fast.

I've tried tons of Protein shakes and most of them have been vile (in my opinion). I've found three that I find acceptable: Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein - grocery store/organic foods store. Nutrition facts: 8 oz serving, 178-199 calories, 2.5 g fat, 29 carbs, 10g protein, 45% Calcium, 150% Vitamin C, 150% Vit B12 -- best taste, my favorite, but kinda high in calories. Comes in Mocha, Chai, and Hazelnut. All have caffeine. unjury shakes - chocolate with milk, vanilla in coffee. Check out Welcome to the UNJURY Homepage - need to be patient mixing this together or you get a chunky layer on top, and coffee can't be too hot or it'll curdle the protein. Atkins Chocolate Royale (all other flavors taste too strongly of vitamins). Nutrition facts: 11 oz serving, 9g fat, 6 carbs, 15g protein, 40% calcium, 30% vit C, 25% Iron, 30% Vit B12. These can be found at the vitamin stores (GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, Vitamin Store, etc.) and sometimes in the diet aisle at the grocery store. Everyone's got different tastes, and some folks do fine with soy products and don't notice the aftertaste of things, or that scratchy-throat vitamin unpleasantness (Isopure zero carb - good protein, low cal, really need something to drink afterwards). I can force my way through a lot of the different Protein Bars (really not worth the pain, by the way) but I need a good tasting drink. Good luck in the Protein Drink search. When they say "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" - they really mean it for the Protein drinks.

I felt very fatigued until my calorie intake increased from 800 calories per day to 1200 (at my 3 wk visit I graduated to the next level of eating). I almost instantly felt better. Maybe if you add up your calories to see where you are? I also know that if I lose wt quickly, I feel kinda funky. Don't know if it's released toxins or what.

I had to stay overnight with nothing ingested (they brought me ice only after I promised not to swallow it). Then to get out of the hospital I had to drink 1 ounce of water in an hour. Then 4 ounces of the worst chicken broth I'd ever had (neon yellow and kinda sludgy) in an other hour, then 4 ounces of optifast in an hour. It was sort of an escalating level of vile fluids - except the water, that was sweet relief. But still, the broth and optifast were better than the barium! I was finally released at 7pm.

I had 1 gallstone measuring 1 cm, which is apparently pretty big. My doctor said that it's best to have the gall bladder out first, 'cause as you lose wt you can be more at risk for gall bladder attacks. He also said that it's better not to have the gall bladder out at the same time as the band in case any gall leaks out, or a stone makes a break for it into the body. So they scheduled me for the gall bladder surgery and then 3 weeks later for the band. Unless you have to have an open band surgery, in which case they can do it at the same time. I guess it's 'cause they can grab it easily rather than trying to baggy it and whisk to liquid.

It's totally understandable, though. People tend to have a lot of identity wrapped up in their appearance and when it changes drastically (and even not so drastically) it can be scarey. One starts to think about how vulnerable it can feel to be small. Most of my life I've been overweight and therefore "large and imposing" - if only in my own mind. My husband insists I'm tiny, but I know better. Certainly you can do it, but it could be worthwhile to think/fantasize about how you'll feel when you're at that normal weight you're reaching for. I took a one day class where they took us through guided visualization. One of the visualizations was to imagine yourself at set intervals of weight loss and to explore how you felt emotionally with that image. I don't know if this helps at all, but at least you know you aren't the only one with these conflicting desires and fears.

Two weeks ago I had my gall bladder out (well, almost 2 weeks) and I have a planned trip to 6 Flags tomorrow. I have 4 incisions that kind of look mostly healed. Should I avoid the really fun stuff like the twisty side-to-side things like the tilt-a-whirl/round-up or just stick to the "family" stuff like carousel level. I don't like rollercoasters, so that's not an issue. I'm half way between the gall bladder surgery and the band surgery and need to use the tickets or give up on them for the season. But I also don't really want to hurt myself by imposing strong forces on a still healing body. Has anybody gone ahead and done modestly physically demanding activities in that timeframe? Many thanks for any input!

I did email my doc but haven't heard back. Thanks for the feedback. I also have a follow-up appt with him on Thursday so he can grumble at me then. I avoided the rollercoasters (they were kinda scarey looking anyway). I learned that if I put the belt across my navel, it protected me from the bar rubbing against that spot and the other side-to-side rides didn't jostle me badly. I decided to take it one ride at a time and assess how I felt and if anything ached. The Scrambler, Kontiki, Teacups, Carousel and baby rides all seemed ok. But after 5 hours of walking around, I was pretty exhausted. The rides weren't any worse than the several hour car ride to get there.

I found popping a couple frozen strawberries and blending with the lemonade Crystal Light made a huge difference. Otherwise, I find it too acidic.