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I always want a drink after I eat, but I am making myself set my phone timer for 30 minutes after I eat. And you know, I forget about being thirsty! In fact my after dinner timer went off about 20 minutes ago and I still have gotten up to get a drink. It really does make me feel full longer, and helps me to eat less overall. Give it a try.

Now if we could just get Chris Christie ( Gov of New Jersey) to do a band to sleeve revision! Maybe then people would stop asking me if I had a lapband! Geez! That's all people seem to know about WLS! Maybe Elliott will join our group?!

Hmmm. I thought you were going to say the your blood pressure was low , cause that's what is happening to me. Are you taking any different meds? Even over the counter allergy meds? Drinking caffeine? If there is no explanation, then get thee to the doctor!!!!! At least call. If you are having headaches, get there now!

People keep saying to me that they never thought of me as "big." Is that a compliment? I always felt like the fattest person in the room. Even my surgeon commented that I would do very well BECAUSE as one of his smallest patients, I wasn't in that bad of shape yet. I started dieting in high school, and after 40 years of dieting all I had to show for it was an added 80 lbs, oh and runamok diabetes, high blood press, and heart disease. My BMI was 39, but lucky (?) to have co- morbidities, so insurance approved right away. Now, 40 lbs are gone and my life is completely different. No more diabetes, HBP, and chest pains. I can walk 3 miles without effort. I no longer crave foods, or even feel hunger. I have tons of energy. And my forgetfulness seems to be reduced. I thought it was just age-related. but maybe it was lack of good sleep because of my evening grazing tendencies. Another 40 to go! Now if I could just figure out how I am going to replace my wardrobe!

I am 9 weeks out and am getting 1100-1200 calories a day. I have lost nearly 40 lbs so far. I only ever counted calories when I was on a "diet" before the surgery. Now I am using My Fitness Pro to track my Protein. Calories are incidental to the 80-100 grams of protein. I am eating about a third of the food that I aye before. So that would mean I was probably taking in 3,000+ calories a day before the surgery. Wow! No wonder I had a weight problem!

Are you taking Iron? I was all backed up a few weeks back, even though the iron I was taking was supposed to non-constipating. I switched to Ferosal, a plant-based iron, and I only take it every 3 days. Plus I add fiber powder to my yogurt and applesauce. Things are working pretty well. I use stool softener if I feel constipated for more than a day. Hope this helps.

This is funny -- I went out with friends for my birthday a few weeks ago. They all know about my surgery and they also know I haven't eaten sugar for years. But the restaurant brought an ice cream sundae with a candle. After enduring the Happy Birthday song, and blowing out the candle, I tried to get someone to eat the sundae. NO ONE wanted it! I was embarrassed, but after years of sugar addiction, I am not going back there again! You'll probably discover that cake doesn't taste the same anymore. Happy birthday! Enjoy your day!

My evening treat is two Bariatric Advantage Calcium chews. They are caramel -- delish! I take calcium and magnesium in the evenings because they help with sleep.

Surgery was May 15. Down 38 lbs and three sizes! 42 more pounds to go!

Did you get a prescription for something like Protonix? If no, you can get a chewable form of Pepcid at Walgreen's. That helps with the stomach acid. Also, do you have GasX strips? They help cut down the gas pains. In addition, I chew Gaviscon ( the original flavor) when acid/gas builds up. It tastes like butterscotch. Chew it really well, and when it foams up, then swallow. It coats your stomach.

Sounds like stomach acid. Did you get a prescription for protonix or something similar? If no, you can get Pepcid in chewable form at Walgreen's. That helped me a lot in my first few weeks.

Interesting article in Men's Health about the efficacy and testing of Vitamins. http://news.menshealth.com/getting-enough-vitamin-d/2013/02/16/ It contains a link to the non-profit testing agency that tests and validates the efficacy of vitamins/supplements: http://www.usp.org/usp-verification-services/usp-verified-dietary-supplements/verified-supplements.

Yeah, I tried spaghetti and meatballs about a month out. I thought the meatballs would be soft and easy to eat. BIG mistake, HUGE! (Sorry, just watched Pretty Woman again.) Overfull is the only way I can describe it. And upset my little tummy. I don't know if it was the tomatoes in the marinara sauce, or the wheat from the spaghetti, but it taught me a lesson. Not to eat spaghetti. On the other hand, a couple of weeks ago I had Pad Thai with chicken. It contains rice noodles. I didn't have any problems with that. If you are going to try it, take small bites, slowly, and don't drink. I swear the spaghetti mixed with the Water I used to wash it down and it expanded! Taught me to remember not to drink until at least 30 min after eating, though, so not an all bad experience.

I couldn't stand the texture of puréed foods, so I moved right to soft foods, with my nutritionist's permission. Started out with soft scrambled eggs, cottage cheese and cream Soups. Plus, I had stews, cooked to a mush, then further mushed with a spoon. sugar-free puddings and applesauce are mainstays (still). As are mashed potatoes with really moist chicken (Boston Market is good for this). I didn't really like yogurt either, but Greek yogurt has so much Protein that I wanted to make it work. I don't eat sugar, so I find the prepared yogurts obnoxious. I take plain, 0% Greek yogurt, mix in a tbl of sugar-free blueberry preserves, and Splenda and convince myself it's blueberry ice cream. Good luck!

Sleeved May 15 and down 38 lbs! Plus, down to 1/4 of my diabetes and high blood pressure meds!

I am 9 weeks out and have lost nearly 40 pounds. No regrets about the surgery -- best decision I ever made! I am mourning my beautiful clothes, though. As an overweight, professional consultant, I have always spent way too much on clothes, and always put together beautiful outfits designed to camouflage my bulky parts (yeah, like that's gonna work). Some of my suits cost more than $1,000. I keep cleaning out my closet, and just took another load of too-big clothes to my off-season closet. I tried on my suit pants this morning and they look like clown pants! I've even blown past the suits that were too tight for me earlier this year, that I thought I would wear in transition. Not worth having taken in as it would be a complete reconstruction. Not really complaining, just whining. Certainly don't want the weight back that is required to wear those clothes.

I have a 401k loan (not for the surgery, as my insurance covered it). I can contribute to my 401k while paying back my loan. I think it's up to your employer's plan.

Whole Foods is actually right down the street from my house, so I go there a lot. It is my go to place when I am having a party -- their prepared foods are healthy and always unique. They have wonderful deviled eggs! The hot foods bar is always full of good things for soft foods phase. Try the turkey meatballs and mashed potatoes. If yours has a barbecued meats area, the pulled chicken is soft and moist with just a touch of mild barbecue sauce. I don't eat sugar, so I find prepared yogurts way too sweet. WF carries sugar-free preserves called St Dalfour -- the wild blueberry is my favorite -- that I mix with plain 0% Greek yogurt and some Splenda for a nice treat. I am 9 weeks out from surgery, so I'm not up to fresh fruit and veggies. But when I get back to them, I always buy them at WF. I did take a WF fruit tray to a BBQ last night for a healthy dessert, and everyone pounced on it! Finally, my doctor recommends their Vitamins and supplements. He feels that WF cares more about the quality and efficacy of their vitamins than other stores. Have fun!

Well, there's cheap and there's good. My doctor recommends Whole Foods for Vitamins because they care about what they are selling. Quality tested, products rotated when expired, etc. My second choice would be Vitamin Shoppe. I bought many of my vitamins from Bariatric Advantage because they had the chewables. My doctor wants all vitamins to be chewable. But things like Vit D, Vit E are small enough gel caps to swallow. For Fish Oil, I use a gel pack from Coromega. Avail at GNC. For cheap, I would think Walmart or Target would be the cheapest. Or, you can keep an eye on the sales at Walgreens -- they have lots of 2 for 1 deals. Don't know if I would trust the quality. Here is my vitamin regimen: 1. Chewable Mulit Vitamin from Bariatric Advantage 2. Biotin capsules from Bar Adv 3. B12 Reditabs from Bar Adv 4. Chewable Calcium from Bar Adv 5. Vitamin D capsules from Whole Foods 6. Vitamin E capsules from Whole Foods 7. Magnesium Citrate capsules from Whole Foods 8. Plant-based Iron (Ferol) capsules from Walgreens 9. Fish Oil gel pack (Coromega) from GNC

My BMI was only 39, but I have 3 major co- morbidities. Several people said to me that the didn't think of me as fat -- but I always felt like the fattest person in the room. So I lead my explanation of my decision to have WLS with the out of control diabetes and high blood pressure. And, after that I really don't care what people think.

I needed the salt. The protein shakes generally don't have any salt and the body needs salt. Drinking broths gave me energy -- because of the salt!