Mandyrae

I am on my liquid diet and my poor boyfriend doesn't know what to do. I have turned into a crazy person..lol I am not starving per say but I miss eating. My boyfriend wanted to be supportive and do the liquid diet with me but of course I knew he wouldn't last..:smile: I don't blame him though, I am only allowing him to make and eat things I do not eat but I am not sure if that is working anymore.. I do not eat red meat and hate steak with a passion but last night I was ready to jump him for that steak lol. food was my drug of choice and just like any other addiction going through that cold turkey (mmm turkey) phase makes us all go a little loopy :smile:

Lashonda I feel the same way.. I love being a thicker girl and I don't want to be stick thin. Right now I am 375 (OMG that just brought tears to my eyes typing that) which is the heaviest I have ever been, and about a size 26. According to the charts I should be at 160 but my goal is 220. Once I get there I should be about a size 12/14 which I am pretty tall so at my height will look very healthy. I was 160 in high school and my family thought I had a eating problem since I was so skinny and my hip bones stuck out. In my early 20's I started gaining weight and loved the curves I got.. but had no idea how much I let it get carried away until the last few years. Now I just want to go back to being healthy and even found a surgeon that feels the same way which makes me very happy since I will not have the pressure to lose more then I want. I am soo very happy to see there is someone on here that feels the same as me. I know to some people the point of doing the surgery is to be skinny, and get into that 2 piece they have been dreaming of, but I just dream about the time where I wont get tired after walking around a store after 30 min and just start feeling better. My surgery is coming up this week and I am so ready...Good luck with everything and please keep us updated!

I like Syntrax nectar Protein powder the most. Vitamin Shoppe is a great place to buy protein drinks from cause they have a no questions asked return/exchange. I bought one I didn't like and even lost the receipt and still had no problems exchanging it for a new one.

I have not taken the Carnation drinks before but have read that a lot of people who do drink those tend to have problems with gas. Welcome To Syntrax - A Leader in Sports and Nutrition supplements This site will take you to the Protein Drink that I love the most. Syntrax nectar has tons of different flavors and with 24 grams of protein per scoop it helps you feel satisfied. I love the french vanilla and strawberry the most. I know if you call the company you can ask for their sample pack, they will send you I think it is 10 flavors for around $13. Once you find the one you like they sell them at Vitamin Shoppe. Sept 17th is coming up fast! I bet your excited. I have my surgery set for Sept 10th, both excited and nervous but ready to take this next step!! Good luck with everything!!

Hi Catherine and welcome! I am still somewhat new here myself. My surgery is set for Sept 10th.. and the excitement and nervousness are starting to kick in. Have you started your pre op diet yet? I started mine last Friday.. missing food but so far so good!

I LOVE Syntrax nectar Protein. They have sooo many different flavor choices. I have had the strawberry which taste like strawberry milk and the french vanilla taste like a milk shake. You can find them at Vitamin Shoppe and its about $35 for a huge tub of powder. 24 grams of protein per scoop. (I mix 2 scoops with 20 oz of skim milk) A great thing about Vitamin Shoppe is if you don't like the flavor they will return or exchange it no questions asked. I am not a chocolate fan but premier has a really good one. It's a pre mixed drink so great to grab when your on the go. One shake is 30 grams of protien. You can buy the chocolate at costco or they have vanilla online. It is $24 for a case of 18. You would be surprised on how satisfying those Protein shakes are. I am on my pre op liquid diet now and am not starving like I thought I would be.

I have 2 valves that are enlarged.. really not sure why, no history in the family.. doc said it could be from my weight, or he said even heavy caffeine drinkers can get enlarged valves. It is not bad right now so we just need to watch it. By losing the weight the valves will not go down but it may prevent them from getting larger so that is a big plus!

I LOVE Syntrax nectar Protein. They have sooo many different flavor choices. I have had the strawberry which taste like strawberry milk and the french vanilla taste like a milk shake. You can find them at Vitamin Shoppe and its about $35 for a huge tub of powder. 24 grams of protein per scoop. (I mix 2 scoops with 20 oz of skim milk) I am not a chocolate fan but premier has a really good one. It's a pre mixed drink so great to grab when your on the go. One shake is 30 grams of protien. You can buy the chocolate at costco or they have vanilla online. It is $24 for a case of 18. Nancy Marie is correct about Vitamin Shoppe and their return policy.. it is awesome. I bought the strawberry kiwi nectar and didn't like it at all but I couldn't find my receipt either so I thought I was out $35 but Vitamin Shoppe let me return that and exchange for another flavor.

I am due to have surgery on Sept 10th and decided to do the Christmas challenge... I want to lost 50 lbs.... Is that a realistic goal to have right after? I am pretty active person and I know some people lose some weight pretty fast in the beginning (mostly water weight etc) I just don't want to set a goal that is not realistic and end up getting obsessed with that number and be disappointed if I don't hit it.

After having my surgery Aug 26th canceled last min due to my chest xray showing an enlarged heart I saw the cardiologist this morning and finally got cleared for surgery! My new date is Sept 10th!!! Super excited and ready to get this over with... not looking fwd to having to do the pre op diet again though.

See?! I told you there was nothing to worry about! You were worrying yourself silly. I am happy you are back and feeling great!

I am a massage therapist and was trained in doing lymphatic... and I think it is great that your doing it! It will help clear the the toxins in your system before the massage which in return will help with swelling and healing after the surgery. The only thing I would be careful about is after the surgery and your tummy. I know infections are not that common but if there is a chance that there is a infection/inflamed area you DO NOT want to drain that area. It could cause the infection to move to other areas of your body. If you have never had a lymphatic massage you may be surprised on how different it is from what you think a massage should be. The movement is very light and "feather" like. Also the therapist will be "pushing" the Fluid towards the closest lymph node around... Your body has them all over but the main lymph nodes are in your neck/armpit, groin, and the back of the knee. By pushing this fluid to those nodes your causing the fluid to "drain" It is a great detox massage and helps your immune system stay healthy but if you have some major health issues I would make sure you talk to your doc before you get the massage.

Well I was part of the August rush, was going to have surgery on the 26th and 3 days before my surgery I got the call that I had to cancel the surgery due to my chest xray showing my heart is enlarge..Had my EKG the other day and just waiting to get the all clear so I can set up my new September date!

Oh no, I guess that did make my boyfriend sound bad huh? LOL... No he is great with the support. When I started the pre op diet he decided to do it with me (and only eat lunch at work) that way I wouldn't be tempted to cheat... that is one of the reasons why I never ended up cheating.. there was no food in the house! He was just trying to calm me down and thought some comfort food and a movie last night would make me feel a little better. He felt bad when I started feeling sick but I don't blame him cause I was thinking about pizza way before he even said it

I have not had my surgery yet but many women in my office have. They have all done down in shoe sizes. It was like Christmas for me when they would bring me their nice expensive worn once shoes cause they couldn't wear them anymore.. =)

I was a week into my pre op diet (which was my Protein drink of choice along with clear liquids) when today my surgery was canceled (due to health issue so it was pushed back) I was upset so the BF suggested we order my favorite pizza and just relax tonight..... I have to say that was the worse mistake, I only had 1 piece and I got sooo sick from the grease. All through out the week I was on liquids I was so tempted to cheat and just wanted to eat but now that I had the chance to I have decided that I am going back to the diet tomorrow! I will do the liquids for Breakfast and lunch then eat very healthy for dinner, like chicken and veggies. I just wanted to share that cause the whole time I thought I was starving, and didn't really see how much of a difference that week made on my body. I am happy I got to eat that piece of pizza tonight.. it will make the next time I do the pre op so much easier!

My lab work also showed my vitamin D very low but my surgeon didn't see a problem with it, just asked me to start taking some along with my daily vitamin.

Has anyone gotten sick right before the surgery and still gone through with it? My surgery is Thursday and yesterday I woke up congested/coughing with a sore throat that is still here today. No one around me has been sick so I don't know where I got this but now I'm nervous cause last week when they took my chest xray they thought they might have seem fluid in my lungs and I had to get more xrays so they can check for sure. I find out today about the results of that. I am so worried they are going to cancel my surgery Thursday. I asked my normal doctor if they do find fluid in my lungs will that affect my surgery and she said no it shouldn't but of course I know its not her call. I should know later today though.

Well I got the results back from the new xrays... the fluid they thought they saw turned out to be my heart which they found is enlarged... So surgery was canceled until we know whats going on. I have some heart test on Wed and they said it will take a week to get results back (wtf really a week?!) I am really upset right now.. first of it just sucks I have finally gotten myself ready for this surgery and am just days away just to have it pulled away from me but also this was completely unexpected. There is no history of heart problems in my family and it is just a huge shock.

Knixon, I have had the same reaction from friends and family. At first I didn't want to tell anyone cause I though I was taking the easy way out and I was being hard on myself and since I was then everyone else would. But once I got over that and started telling people I was very happy to hear they all supported me. The people at work are excited for me.. always asking for updates and are cheering me on, same with my friends and Family. It breaks my heart to hear how others are being treated cause of this... I think the problem is people who don't have a weight problem of course would never understand but they see shows like biggest loser and think wow that person was 400 lbs and lost 200lbs just from eating right and working out.. and it only took them a few months. They don't see that is a 24/7 program that would be nearly impossible to get the same results from home. In the end who cares what those people think? Once you have lost your weight and are healthy they will see how it really benefited you and will have a change of heart.

I'm sure what they mean by tests is things like blood work, chest xray etc. I had to have a UA dip (urine test), blood work, chest xray and upper GI and all have to look good before surgery. My regular doc had asked me why the Upper GI, that she never heard of one done before the surgery but after talking to my surgeon it makes perfect sense. She wants to make sure my esophagus is working correctly and I do not have bad acid reflux. If I did have problems it would get worse after surgery. I would trust your surgeon... they know what they are doing and they want to make sure your in perfect health before you make this big jump. Hopefully by doing all that it will avoid problems later on. =)