TheGamer

I can't speak for others, but the majority of my sleeve related dietary purchases, from sweeteners to Vitamins, bars and protein powders are done online to save expense. If someone wants to use protein shots (I find them hideous tasting, personally, but to each their own) then it seems far more constructive to point them in the right direction at least than to tell them that there is no acceptable alternative. The goal here is to educate, yes? We *should* be looking at the labels of what we eat. We *should* be discriminating consumers. While it does get annoying to say the same thing many times, each person that takes the information to heart is one more educated in the proper information who can, in turn, educate others.

My first few weeks were inaccurate as well. I experienced the week 3 stall with a couple pounds of weight gain right in the middle of it, yet my clothes continued to get baggier and my sizes went down. Now, though, a couple months out, I'm running at about a 2k caloric deficit per day and my weight loss is generally steady at an expected 4-5 pounds a week.

Then you need to update your information, OTR, to reflect that there *are* non collagen/gelatin Protein shots available on the market. You keep saying the same thing to people, but your information isn't accurate. While most of them aren't 100% whey, there is an all whey protein shot available. The Yes Whey protein shots by Protica were given to me in the hospital and are the only shots that my surgeon would let me have. They are 25g of protein per tube and they are 100% whey protein.

My only carb guidance was "no more than 19g at once". Having said that, when sticking to the bariatric eating plan of protein > veggies > carbs, my daily intake is usually under 25g, and most carbs are usually dietary fiber from beans or other sources, which I do not count. Basically carbs are the last thing you want to eat. They're unavoidable in any sort of normal eating, but just minimize them.

You have a pretty low starting weight, so you're not going to lose as rapidly as someone with a much higher starting weight. Start weight, metabolism, diet, and a number of other factors go in to how much weight you lose. What's important is that you *are* losing and that you will eventually reach your goal. Honestly, if you look at what everyone else is doing and get yourself in a negative mental loop of "Why am I not losing as much as this person or that person?" it's only going to put you in a bad space mentally. Instead, focus on the positive things that only relate to you and your weight loss journey like "I got in all my protein today." or "I walked for ten minutes longer this week than last week."

I've tried the Centrum ones and they sat about as well as the BA ones did, which is to say not at all. There's just something about the taste and consistency that my body disagrees with.

PB2 is a powdered peanut butter that has less calories and fat than regular peanut butter. I get mine from Amazon as it's usually cheaper.

Having tried and failed at multiple other vitamins (they make me want to puke), I finally figured it was either going to be gummy vitamins or no vitamins, so gummy it was.

What's worse is I've done it more than once. Just make sure there are no pockets of dry powder when you go to swallow >.<

I love to eat PB2 dry >.> Just don't inhale any, because ohhhh it hurts

Thankfully I've been surrounded by supportive people both in my family and by friends and coworkers. Nobody who's seriously struggled with weight would call this an easy way out. In fact, this, at least for me, was my last resort. Even then, I put it off because I didn't want to resort to such an extreme measure. If I could have done it the "right" way, I would have, but every time I would diet I would feel starved and deprived and miserable and every time I would fail and feel worse about myself because I couldn't do it. I have no doubts that this surgery saved my life.

I love the Progresso beef and barley soup. It's delicious!

Are you relying on Protein drinks/supplements to get your required protein in? What does your daily intake (diet) look like? My understanding is that there's really nothing we can do to stop the hair from falling out. Getting in protein and Vitamins is a start to help keep hair, but it seems that everyone loses some. I have heard that it will grow back, but many people say that it never is as full/thick as it was. Some people will supplement with Biotin to help, but there is no real scientific evidence to support using biotin to stop hair loss or promote hair growth. Most "evidence" is anecdotal one way or the other. The list of vitamins you shared sounds about right and minus the zinc, that's what I take. I've noticed some changes in my skin, mostly because it's looser now. The texture has changed. My hair hasn't changed... yet. I'm waiting for the inevitable, though. Most of us get in about 64 oz of water/fluid a day. That is enough to keep healthy and hydrated. As for the prilosec, I think it's pretty common for us to take. I'm currently taking Zegerid, which is basically prilosec with sodium bicarbonate in it, which my surgeon recommended. I think that the reduced capacity of the stomach along with the tube shape contributes to a greater incidence of acid reflux, which is something I never experienced prior to surgery. I had a post surgery issue with esophageal spasms that made a PPI a necessity. I've not yet bothered to try and not take it, because I'd rather not risk another stomach acid incident. The community here is a good one and I use it in place of a traditional support group. There's one in my area but they meet in the evenings when I'm at work, so I'm never available to go. I've found people to be willing to help and generally if there's a question, someone's experienced it and will pipe up about it. Welcome and good luck

Do a search for "week 3 stall" on the site and you'll see that a stall at week 3 is pretty much par for the course. It will pass. Stalling is a part of weight loss. Some weeks are better than others, but if you're sticking to your plan then you will lose. You probably won't lose it as fast as you want (who doesn't want to lose more than they're currently losing, amirite?) but you will lose and the weight will come off.

My favorite bars are the Quest bars, especially the cinnamon roll ones! They've got 20g of protein and usually 15-20g of good fiber. They're very filling.

I tried and tried to deal with the Bariatric Advantage chewables but the taste just made me gag. Tried Centrum and they were also vile. I eventually gave up and bought gummy vitamins

I lived on Propel for a while, so I'd imagine any sugar free version of Gatorade would be just fine.

I did "shake it up, let it go flat" thing with some carbonated flavored water I had around the house. It really wasn't as good without the bubbles

I don't think it's so much that people think the weight will be lost. After all, we've all probably got a history of being overweight for most of our lives, so we know that dieting isn't always going to work in the long run. At that age, though, she's not done developing and the vastly reduced nutrition of a sleeve could have repercussions to her development that aren't immediately evident. VSG is still a "new" procedure, medically speaking, and if there's not enough data out there about adults and the long term effects of the sleeve, there certainly isn't a lot of data regarding teenagers.

The whole point of the sleeve is that we can have other foods. While not ever eating them again is a choice, whatever you'd like to eat will not be denied to you forever. Even with the sleeve you'll still have to make choices about what you will and won't eat. Once you're healed and back on normal foods you can eat whatever you'd like. Focus on healing first, even though it's frustrating. I know while I was on liquids/softs I had a really hard time with it because it felt like I would never eat anything good again. Now, a couple months out, I can have a bite or two of whatever I want, as long as I'm focusing on my requirements first.

The rule I was given is no drinking 1/2 hour before or after meals. No drinking during meals at all. If you're getting a choking sensation, perhaps the foods you're eating are too dry?

I pretty much stayed on my pain meds on schedule the first few days, which meant a lot of sleeping (thanks, hydrocodone!). By the end of the first week there was a noticeable difference in the pain levels and I was able to move to it "as needed". From what I've seen on the boards, the amount of pain differs wildly from person to person, with some people seeming to get up and go crazy really fast and others of us just taking longer to mend.

I'm also one of those that weighs myself every day, mostly because I find it fascinating how much the little that I do eat impacts my overall weight. Over time I came to realize that my weight loss follows a pretty set pattern. I'll lose a lot on one day, then the next 2-3 days it will fluctuate back up, sometimes by a couple pounds. It will return to the lower weight and then the next day, I'll lose a lot again. It's been pretty predictable now that I have a couple months of data to look at and my weight loss graph is pretty amusing. I found that the more "solid" something is in terms of food the less I can eat and the fuller I stay. So straight liquids like Water? I can just kind of go nuts on those and really haven't ever found a point where I'm "full" of them. Soups are about the same. Potatoes and yogurts are a little better, veggies more than that, and then just eating meat (which is most of my diet at this point >.>) is what keeps me full the longest.

All body types are different and people lose and gain weight at different areas at different rates. For me, it's the legs that get smaller than everything else. Stick with it and eventually the fat has to come off, especially if it's the only place left!

I had a couple days where I was late with it. It's very easy to give yourself the injection, far more so than having someone else do it. I found that self-injections hurt a lot less because I'm much more aware of what's going on with my body than someone else is. What I would suggest is to find a time that works for you and stick to it. Less hassle.