J9harrison

I love GNC Total Lean(RTD) swiss chocolate flavor. It has 170 calories an 25g of protein. I’ve also had the vanilla bean flavor and thats good as well, just tastes a little too sweet in my opinion.

I agree the weight loss is great and Im hoping I will either lose a few more pounds or at least maintain before my first fill. I can’t wait to eat eggs though!

I am two weeks post op and I am doing well with my liquid diet. The only problem is that I am sick of liquids! I don’t really get that hungry which is surprising(and a great thing), I just want to have some sort of texture when I eat. Mushies don’t really have a whole lot of texture but Im going to be very happy when I can eat them. Just needed to vent a little.

I was told by my surgeon to remove them after a week. I was a little freaked because I thought the cuts would slip open, but everything was fine.

I was told to only bring my mask in case I needed it after surgery(they had cpap machines there). I ended up forgetting it that morning but was told it was not a big deal since they had masks on hand, they just thought I would be more comfortable with my own.

Hi aandbsmommy! I have Tricare prime and was banded a week ago. Here are the things I had to do before everything was submitted to tricare.. *Referral from PCM to surgeon(Met with surgeon twice before they submitted the paperwork) *Some blood tests *Psych consult(needed PCM referral) *sleep Study(needed PCM referral) *See a nutritionist once before surgery(My only out of pocket expense of $100) The whole process took me four months but only because the place where I was getting my sleep study done was booked for three months. Once it was submitted to them I got the approval within five business days. Tricare is pretty fast in giving you a response as long as they have everything they need. As far as weight requirements they either want 100lbs overweight with 2 comorbitites such as sleep apnea, diabetes, high blood pressure etc, or 200% over your ideal weight for your height and body frame. I have not had a fill yet but they do cover them, I think you just have to have an active referral from your PCM. If you have any questions we cant answer, feel free to call them. They are so helpful!

I agree the swiss chocolate is the BEST! I actually decided to go with the total lean after the sales person told me they had them because I remembered a post you wrote about them being so tasty a few weeks ago. So thank you NJgirl32! Highland, it has 6g of carbs. isit5yet, I have not tried the strawberry but will definitely give them a try!

Thank you Debora Anne and saraannie! Congrats to both of you on your success so far as well! I am hoping it wont take me that long to get to my goal but only time, diet and exercise will tell!

Im glad you found something you like allicap! I had heard the chocolate flavored MML was pretty bad thats why I chose the Cookies and cream flavor but no luck. I will definitely give the Isopure chocolate a try if I get bored with my current shakes.

I wish you luck Franco. I just had my surgery a week ago and I was so nervous before I thought I would have a panic attack before I was wheeled into the OR. After i felt silly because the procedure is so quick and not as bad as I thought it would be. Let us know how everything goes!

Thank you roziecakes and congratulations on your amazing success so far!

Yeah im sure they do try to push their GNC brand products more than others but ultimately I am glad I switched. I am sure gagging so much and wanting to puke is not good while Im still healing. Thank you both for your input

Not raining on my parade at all. I am realistic about this and I do know that i might gain weight during my healing time and as my hunger increases. But i can still be happy about this loss Thank you brbm6!! It is awesome to see the scale go down!

I weighed my self today and was so happy when I looked at the scale!! Im down to 192 and I am one week post op!! I was at 225 before I started my pre op diet and 201 the day of surgery! I hope to see those numbers go down every week!!

it was 3 days post op for me but I did drink some milk of magnesia since that was on my post op home care instructions if I felt constipated.

Before surgery I purchased Muscle Milk Light Cookies and cream flavor at GNC. I had my first shake one day after surgery and I thought it was so gross but drank it anyway to get my Protein intake. By day 3 i couldn’t stomach the stuff and every time I drank it i felt soooo bloated afterwards but I just chalked it up to gas. Well yesterday I go to GNC to see if I can find something different and I told the sales person about my surgery and what I was drinking. She told me that Muscle Milk Light is not a good option for bandsters because it has a lot of Fiber and it expands in the stomach giving you that bloated feeling. I ended up buying the GNC total lean ready to drink shakes in vanilla and swiss chocolate and absolutely love them. Has anyone else heard this about Muscle Milk Light? Im not sure if she was right but I sure don’t get that bloated feeling after I drink my new shakes. I did check the nutritional info on the MML tub and did notice it only had 1g of dietary fiber per serving. So I am unsure if thats what was causing the bloated feeling. I know different shakes work for different people but just wondering what others experiences have been with MML.

I was banded 6/14 so I am right there with you! Have you used an ice pack at all? I had the same kind of pain especially where my port is so I started using the ice pack a lot more especially at night time and it really helped. I still get a little pain when Im sitting down/up or bending down but its bearable.

I think it might just depend on your level of restriction and if you can get it down. Im a week post op so have not had bread yet, but the surgical coordinator who works with my surgeons office has had her band for 6 years and she can eat all types of bread except white sandwich bread. I think you should try it just be cautious.

My doctor told me that if i could tolerate it right after surgery it was fine. Just take small sips and see how you feel. I started drinking them on the second day and I was banded on the 14th.

My surgery date is June 14th! Im so nervous but excited at the same time. Good luck to all my fellow June 2011 bandsters!!!

Thank you for your responses. I will definitely give the variety pack a try!

I found out my surgery date yesterday(VERY excited ) and I have started getting prepared for my post op liquid diet. I have purchased a tub of muscle milk light(cookies n cream flavor) but I was wondering if anyone has tried the isopure fruit flavor? My local GNC had the sour apple, blue raspberry, pineapple and orange flavors. Has anyone tried these flavors, and if so which were your favorite? I would like to have variety so I don’t get tired of drinking the shakes. I appreciate any input and if you have any other suggestions that would be great!!

Hello all! I’ve been reading this forum for a few weeks now and I told my self I would not post until I received approval. Sounds silly, but I was soooo afraid to jinx myself! I got the call this morning from a Tricare coordinator and everything is good to go! Pre-surgical testing is set for June 8th and my surgery should be June 14th. It was still up in the air pending insurance approval, so I will find out this coming Monday if that is my date for sure. For anyone dealing with Tricare here are my stats. I started out at 5’2 and 225lbs my only co-morb was sleep apnea. I was so afraid I wouldn’t get approved but I am ecstatic that I was!! Over all they were really easy to deal with. My surgeon required that I lose10% of my weight, which I did and I am currently at 205. So that means Im not required to do a liquid diet but I will be doing one for at least 5 days before surgery to get myself ready for the post-op liquid diet. Reading this forum has been so so helpful and I will be sharing my journey as time goes by. Thank you all for reading!