kimbernada

I've mixed it with pudding. Use the sugar and fat free pudding mix. Mix the pudding and milk first and then add the Protein powder. What I do is mix two servings of the Protein powder to make two "big" servings of the protein pudding, since you typically use 16 oz of milk anyhow. (Cow milk seems to set up better than soy milk.) I tried using some of the unflavored stuff with oatmeal and it was not appetizing at all. I use the Isopure unflavored. I have used the unflavored with the Big Train protein powder. One scoop of the unflavored, one scoop of the Big Train, 12 - 16 ounces of Water. I think that ends up at 36 grams of protein and only 170 calories. (That's way better than a Luna Cookie Dough Protein Bar for the same 170 calories and only 12 grams of protein, although I do like these Protein Bars.)
OH!! Speaking of Protein Bars, Quest makes some to DIE FOR flavors. They have cookie dough and chocolate brownie that taste like the real thing. They have lots of other flavors, but these two are my absolute favorite. You have to nuke them for about 10 seconds... and then... Mmmmmmm.... The cookie dough one tastes just like a warm gooey chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven, except that it's healthy and doesn't contain a lot of crap. 190 calories and 21 grams of Fiber. The chocolate brownie is also amazing. I don't know what kind of magic powers they possess, but again - heat it up a little and it tastes just like a real brownie. (Well, to me anyhow.) I don't like either when they are at room temperature. (If I keep one in my front pants pocket, it seems to warm up enough.) A box of 12 is about $25 at Amazon.com - so they are a tish over $2 each. I don't have one every day, but when I DO, I really enjoy it.

I have tons of mini stashes. I keep nuts and Protein Bars and Jerky in the car. My cars glove compartment is like a mini dooms day prep storage! I have powdered Protein pre measured also that I carry. Those little containers for baby formula that hold a pre measured amount of formula powder are perfect for protein. I can get a bottle of Water from anywhere add my powder and keep going. Also, freeze dried fruits are good for keeping and stashing. The way I do it is once every two weeks, I stock up my little stock piles. I find that ziplock snack bags are the perfect size for me to fit portions of nut and dried fruit mixes. The key will be for you to pre-plan as much as possible, I find most convenient stores these days will also carry muscle milk and pre mixed Protein Shakes, so eeven if you are out and about if you can get to a gas station you should be able to at least find some kind of Protein Drink also. There will be days and times like this one that it won't work out, but such is life, don't worry about it, prepare better next time, and good luck!

I try to keep some kind of Protein Bar or nuts or pick up a greek yogurt. Since almost nothing has any nutritional value at the venues, having something available is your best bet or packing a lunch ahead of time. We don't have some of those luxuries any more but it is okay. We are eating better now so we have to think ahead. Next time you will do better. It will be fun to come up with smart new ideas for times like that. By the end of the season you will be a seasoned pro.

I make an Iced Mocha with 1 scoop of Protein Powder (chocolate), a cup of Decaf coffee, about 1/4 cup milk or FF half and half and a squirt of sugar free choc Syrup. I make the coffee and put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes. I blend it up after the coffee is cooled and pour it over ice or sometimes I put ice in the blender. I drink it every morning. I am 7 weeks post op.

Big Train makes iced coffee flavored Protein Shake mixes. I absolutely LOVE their Fit Frappe Mocha flavor. Well, it can be iced or hot, I think. (I don't like hot coffee.) If you have a Sam's Club near you, they have the best price at about $25 for the 2 lb container. Amazon has the same size for about $45. Some of them have caffeine (like the Mocha). I typically make a shake with my Syntrax Nectar chocolate truffle, 8 oz. light soy milk, 4 oz Water and then add one scoop of the mocha shake. Blend it all up and have a snazzy mocha shake!

OH! And there's a Syntrax Nectar Cappuccino Protein Shake mix flavor too. That's yummy too. No caffeine in it though.

Big Train makes iced coffee flavored Protein Shake mixes. I absolutely LOVE their Fit Frappe Mocha flavor. Well, it can be iced or hot, I think. (I don't like hot coffee.) If you have a Sam's Club near you, they have the best price at about $25 for the 2 lb container. Amazon has the same size for about $45. Some of them have caffeine (like the Mocha). I typically make a shake with my Syntrax Nectar chocolate truffle, 8 oz. light soy milk, 4 oz Water and then add one scoop of the mocha shake. Blend it all up and have a snazzy mocha shake!

My husband had commented before I even had the surgery that he was scared that I would lose the weight and then leave him. He's also mentioned that again recently. I told him that he was stuck with me.
However, I personally know a few people whose marriages weren't strong enough. My brother's is one of them. His former wife had gastric bypass done and decided she wanted to date. Yeah, their kids were 8, 6, 4, and 2. (They are now 24, 22, 20, and 18.) Anyhow, two husbands later, I think she's settled down. I do have to say that her third husband is a really nice guy.
Anyhow, at least some of us KNOW that our spouses are insecure and we can work on that, if that is the route we want to take. (Which for ME, it is.) Dammit, I paid Match.com $25 to find me a husband. I'm not going to just go find another one. Especially when this one is finally trained!! (Just kidding on the trained part. Sort of.)

I'm just changing my mentality about food. I approach it a lot differently now

It could just be that you are adding muscle to your body. Or have you tried a different scale? (What if your scale is broken?) Way back in time, I was hitting the gym really hard. I dropped several sizes in clothes but hadn't weighed myself. When I finally DID hop on the scale, it showed that I had only "lost" 10 pounds of fat.
You are obviously losing fat as your body is shrinking!! I'm thinking that you are just gaining muscle from all of the hard work that you are doing at the gym.

You did it!!!

You did it!!!

My surgeon did not place any such restrictions on me. In fact, he specifically said I could have all of them but not before 3 months out, in very small quantities. He also said post surgery some of these things may no longer agree with me. Soda is probably one that won't because the carbonation might be painful.
Honestly, I haven't had the desire yet (except coffe, which I have been able to drink since 6 weeks out) but I am looking forward to a glass of wine.

You should have three meals and if you get hungry two small Snacks. It's really important to be getting at least 64 oz of Water a day. And at least 60 grams of Protein that's why it's really important to eat Protein first because you really can't consume that much. Also wait 30 minute after eating to drink again.
Snacks can be cheese, hummus, Greek yogurt,

BUT... I HAVE asked co-workers if I could smell their fast food bag. I told them that I promised I wouldn't exhale my germs... just wanted a big ol' whiff of their burger and fries. I do that if someone brings in donuts too. Mmmmmm... sometimes the smell is really all I want.

Oh, and I can't STAND the smell of my urine. (Not that I intentionally try to smell it.) LOL I know that for some people, their sense of smell is heightened. I don't really think that the sense was heightened in general - other than I love the smell of food, even if I am not the one eating it. LOL I just notice *MY* smell.

I crave a lettuce salad with Ranch dressing, croutons, a little shredded cheese, a little bit of bacon and sunflower seeds. I mean CRAVE - as in, I sometimes dream I am sitting down to a HUGE salad. I know I can eat a salad, but I only have a small bite because Veronica (my sleeve) fills up too quickly. Way too quickly - which is a good thing, but my mind is devastated sometimes.
I also eat on a small plate. I think it's a bread or dessert plate. We even bought extra ones so that I have a stack of 10. We had already switched to using luncheon plates for our meals about a year prior to surgery. The hubs only uses a regular plate now if it is a holiday meal or if a baked potato is part of a meal - he has to mash his out all over the plate practically. We use Corelle dishes because my Rheumatoid arthritis made it hard to carry the stoneware. This is super handy though because there's a Corelle store at the factory outlet mall - individual pieces are super cheap.

I totally agree. While I do try to keep my daily calories around 900 (rarely less than that now), I still let myself indulge in the good stuff. Granted, most of my "indulging" has been within the last few months - with Christmas and Easter goodies. (Why are all the typically "bad" foods called goodies?) We didn't have any of that stuff at our house, but the in-laws and my parents did for Christmas and almost ALL of my co-workers had Easter candy. OMG... one of those Reese's flat eggs has 90 calories! After this bit of over-indulging, I have learned that I just cannot have chocolate readily available to me. I can't. I couldn't before surgery, so I obviously can't afterwards. Having the sleeve doesn't stop me from eating the high calorie slider foods. We do not keep ice cream in the house anymore. (sugar free fudgesicles, yes.)
We did have a pint of Ben and Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough a few weeks ago. The hubs wanted the container for a photo shoot he was doing. We shared it. I scooped out the first inch or so and put it into a little glass condiment dish. He ate the rest. It was FABULOUS! (What's scary is that pre-surgery, we would get a large pizza delivered from the local pizza joint - split it - and then for dessert we'd each have a pint of B&J's ice cream.)
We still have pizza once a week. I can only eat one slice and I'm hiccuping. One SMALL slice. Picture a frozen pizza cut into eight slices and that's what I can eat. We've switched to making semi-homemade pizza with turkey pepperoni. I still can only eat one piece. Sometimes my head tells me to eat that piece really fast because then maybe I could sneak in another piece before the sleeve catches on that it's full. But that's a load of doo-doo -- but I don't because then I have to face the consequences of an angry sleeve. (Throwing up pizza is not a fun thing.)
I even still make myself a plate of nachos (well, tortilla chips with melted cheese). However, it's on one of my little plates and probably only has about 10 bite size tortilla chips. I log it in My Fitness Pal.
I guess to me, as long as I log it and I am hitting my calorie (900) and Protein (80 grams min.) goals, it's okay. The Easter candy? Er, yeah. I might have logged it all. Which... makes it not okay. The one good thing I learned is that sometimes cycling calories is good for weight loss. Having a couple of higher calorie days seems to help ME with losing weight. I still lost weight over Christmas... but around Easter, while I didn't GAIN, I also didn't lose. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a coincidence that the weight loss stalled. I know plateaus happen, but.... funny how it happened shortly after the candy appeared at work.
As to candy, I do have a HUGE bowl of Dum-Dums and Jolly Ranchers on a top shelf in my cubicle. Those aren't trigger candies to me. My co-workers like having some kind of candy to grab when they want something "lighter". I might have a Dum-Dum maybe once a week and I don't care for Jolly Ranchers. I intentionally bought stuff that is sort of "meh". Why do I buy candy? I like bringing something sweet to the meetings I run. We used to have a candy closet where I could grab a bag of mixed stuff to bring to meetings, but they are cutting back on expenditures, and the candy budget was cut. (The horror!!) So.. I first tried Tootsie Pops, but I found that they were still a trigger - so once those were gone, I switched to the Dum-Dums and Jolly Ranchers. (Ick, just thinking about Jolly Ranchers makes my taste buds recoil.)

I totally agree. While I do try to keep my daily calories around 900 (rarely less than that now), I still let myself indulge in the good stuff. Granted, most of my "indulging" has been within the last few months - with Christmas and Easter goodies. (Why are all the typically "bad" foods called goodies?) We didn't have any of that stuff at our house, but the in-laws and my parents did for Christmas and almost ALL of my co-workers had Easter candy. OMG... one of those Reese's flat eggs has 90 calories! After this bit of over-indulging, I have learned that I just cannot have chocolate readily available to me. I can't. I couldn't before surgery, so I obviously can't afterwards. Having the sleeve doesn't stop me from eating the high calorie slider foods. We do not keep ice cream in the house anymore. (sugar free fudgesicles, yes.)
We did have a pint of Ben and Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough a few weeks ago. The hubs wanted the container for a photo shoot he was doing. We shared it. I scooped out the first inch or so and put it into a little glass condiment dish. He ate the rest. It was FABULOUS! (What's scary is that pre-surgery, we would get a large pizza delivered from the local pizza joint - split it - and then for dessert we'd each have a pint of B&J's ice cream.)
We still have pizza once a week. I can only eat one slice and I'm hiccuping. One SMALL slice. Picture a frozen pizza cut into eight slices and that's what I can eat. We've switched to making semi-homemade pizza with turkey pepperoni. I still can only eat one piece. Sometimes my head tells me to eat that piece really fast because then maybe I could sneak in another piece before the sleeve catches on that it's full. But that's a load of doo-doo -- but I don't because then I have to face the consequences of an angry sleeve. (Throwing up pizza is not a fun thing.)
I even still make myself a plate of nachos (well, tortilla chips with melted cheese). However, it's on one of my little plates and probably only has about 10 bite size tortilla chips. I log it in My Fitness Pal.
I guess to me, as long as I log it and I am hitting my calorie (900) and Protein (80 grams min.) goals, it's okay. The Easter candy? Er, yeah. I might have logged it all. Which... makes it not okay. The one good thing I learned is that sometimes cycling calories is good for weight loss. Having a couple of higher calorie days seems to help ME with losing weight. I still lost weight over Christmas... but around Easter, while I didn't GAIN, I also didn't lose. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a coincidence that the weight loss stalled. I know plateaus happen, but.... funny how it happened shortly after the candy appeared at work.
As to candy, I do have a HUGE bowl of Dum-Dums and Jolly Ranchers on a top shelf in my cubicle. Those aren't trigger candies to me. My co-workers like having some kind of candy to grab when they want something "lighter". I might have a Dum-Dum maybe once a week and I don't care for Jolly Ranchers. I intentionally bought stuff that is sort of "meh". Why do I buy candy? I like bringing something sweet to the meetings I run. We used to have a candy closet where I could grab a bag of mixed stuff to bring to meetings, but they are cutting back on expenditures, and the candy budget was cut. (The horror!!) So.. I first tried Tootsie Pops, but I found that they were still a trigger - so once those were gone, I switched to the Dum-Dums and Jolly Ranchers. (Ick, just thinking about Jolly Ranchers makes my taste buds recoil.)

Since I'm pre-op and new to the boards here, I definitely am NO kind of expert on WLS. I have to say, though, that I agree most with those who are saying that surgery doesn't mean you have to become an ascetic monk and deny yourself every pleasure you used to take with your tastebuds. Kind of like saying that one bad breakup doesn't mean you HAVE to become celibate--although that might work for some, it's not a requirement. A bad breakup affects everyone differently: some become anti-relationships, some "hook up" every chance they get, and most find a low-key middle of the road.
Second time tonight that I've equated food to romance. Hmm. Maybe I need to write a cookbook/romance novel. "Fifty Shades of Grey Poupon"?

I do this to my husband's and my son's food!!! LOL

I crave a lettuce salad with Ranch dressing, croutons, a little shredded cheese, a little bit of bacon and sunflower seeds. I mean CRAVE - as in, I sometimes dream I am sitting down to a HUGE salad. I know I can eat a salad, but I only have a small bite because Veronica (my sleeve) fills up too quickly. Way too quickly - which is a good thing, but my mind is devastated sometimes.
I also eat on a small plate. I think it's a bread or dessert plate. We even bought extra ones so that I have a stack of 10. We had already switched to using luncheon plates for our meals about a year prior to surgery. The hubs only uses a regular plate now if it is a holiday meal or if a baked potato is part of a meal - he has to mash his out all over the plate practically. We use Corelle dishes because my Rheumatoid arthritis made it hard to carry the stoneware. This is super handy though because there's a Corelle store at the factory outlet mall - individual pieces are super cheap.

I crave a lettuce salad with Ranch dressing, croutons, a little shredded cheese, a little bit of bacon and sunflower seeds. I mean CRAVE - as in, I sometimes dream I am sitting down to a HUGE salad. I know I can eat a salad, but I only have a small bite because Veronica (my sleeve) fills up too quickly. Way too quickly - which is a good thing, but my mind is devastated sometimes.
I also eat on a small plate. I think it's a bread or dessert plate. We even bought extra ones so that I have a stack of 10. We had already switched to using luncheon plates for our meals about a year prior to surgery. The hubs only uses a regular plate now if it is a holiday meal or if a baked potato is part of a meal - he has to mash his out all over the plate practically. We use Corelle dishes because my Rheumatoid arthritis made it hard to carry the stoneware. This is super handy though because there's a Corelle store at the factory outlet mall - individual pieces are super cheap.

BUT... I HAVE asked co-workers if I could smell their fast food bag. I told them that I promised I wouldn't exhale my germs... just wanted a big ol' whiff of their burger and fries. I do that if someone brings in donuts too. Mmmmmm... sometimes the smell is really all I want.