Miss Mac

The hospital I was at did not give out Bari Bears, so I bought my own on-line and took it with me. Sure came in handy since its backside is hard instead of soft and can be used like a splint when you cough or sneeze. I also used it to support my IV arm.

Protein drinks....I have a variety of Isopure, Syntrax, and unjury, and my shakes can count as part of my fluids. I drink Water or decaf tea throughout the night. I add Unjury chicken flavor whey protein to a lot of my foods, and Unjury unflavored to others. Then I maximize protein in my meals. It is quite the orchestration to get all of this to work.

No problem with vomiting for me either.

I ate a lot of baby food my first two weeks. Now I am in soft foods and eating regular food from the kitchen, but I still put it through the blender and eat small amounts (1/4 cup). Once I ate a couple bites too much and got reflux for several hours. I have Omeprazole (a PPI) that I take every morning.

Don't know if it's really going to help, but I am exfoliating in the shower, and then rubbing on sweet almond oil or some other moisturizing lotion afterward. I heard that it makes the skin more supple and easier to transition and your weight goes down. I do know this - my belly is a soft as a baby's bottom.

Congratulations! Feels good, doesn't it?

Wear the loosest pants you have that won't fall down. Your belly may be a bit swollen, and will definitely be tender. Take a small pillow to put between you and the seat belt. Good luck with your surgery.

Yeah, I had to stop watching the Food Network and The Chew.

Biggest adjustment...being constantly on the alert for constipation. I take a stool softener morning and evening, and a couple of ounces of prune juice at bedtime. Plus I put Benefiber in and on everything I can.

Music, meditation, exercise, distraction.... I use them all. I suffer from post-stroke anxiety since 9/11/2010...a really bad day. My doctor put me on Sertraline (a generic Zoloft) and that served me well for a while. When I started my bariatric journey in August 2013, the bariatric physician switched me to Buproprion ( a generic Wellbutrin). There has been a noticeable difference in my anxiety level, plus the benefit of extra friskiness...if you know what I mean

The materials I was given say 30 minutes max...then put the fork down and walk away.

I mix my Protein drinks with whatever makes them go down. This morning I mixed strawberry powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury (21 grams protein) with Crystal Lite Lemonade, and right now I am working on a chocolate Extreme smoothie (35 grams protein) to which I added a sugar free fudgesicle. Don't judge .

Happy Hampster Dance for Miss Mac!!!!!! I made it to Onederland. 198.6 on the scale this morning. That's 37 pounds off since starting my program in August. I can't imagine putting 37 pounds of potatoes in a basket and carrying it around all day, now. I am stoked today.

No nausea for me once I got home. Take care.

I use the chicken flavor for soups, and the unflavored for sugar free puddings and jellos.

What we can eat is so individual. Many people do not tolerate eggs, yet for me, eggs are my go-to. I admit to eating baby food, because it did not seem to make sense to cook batches of anything right now. I have made a couple of Soups and put them in the blender. I add whey Protein to as many foods as I can. I think on my second week of soft foods I may incorporate fresh chicken. I don't see how something spicy like chili can be on my mushie list, but some folks are just being creative with what they have on hand. For my plan, it looks like the purees are just thinner versions of my soft foods list.

myfitnesspal was a godsend for me. I thought I was not eating all that much, but once I had to account for every bite I was amazed at how much I was eating. My NUT put me on 1100 calories, eat Protein first. One of my meals had to be substituted with a bariatric shake. I am not able to do much exercise yet because of physical challenges, but I lost 23 pounds pre-op by complying with the plan. In America, we are not used to being hungry, but its ok to be hungry for a little bit. Beware of slider foods - foods that you can unconsciously eat large amounts of without thinking...like popcorn, potato chips, pizza, etc. My worst slider was bananas. So, even though I am 3 weeks post-op and they are on my list..I don't dare. So, good luck. We are here to encourage you to be successful.

I would think that being 24 would not necessarily be a hinderance since you have sleep apnea, which is a strong co-morbidity. You could stay with the nutrition visits anyway because even if you don't get the response you want from Medicaid, the nutritionist can give you some coping skills and kitchen strategies to help you with weight control. Wishing you good luck and good health.

Yep! I was in the hospital for 8 days at the end of October for ischemic colitis - tons of IV antibiotics. As soon as I got home I began coughing and was pretty sick for a week, so I went to my primary doctor. He said I had bronchitis. I asked him how could I get sick with anything with so much antibiotics in my body. He called it a secondary infection and that it happens all the time. I am wondering if this is part of what people call a hospital acquired infection? I am much better now and was able to have my sleeve 12/23. Hope you get better soon.

Early on, not much because I was purchasing bariatric products on line. Now, I am in week 3 post-op and eating very little. My boyfriend just buys bachelor food for himself, so I would say our grocery expense has gone way down.

Every day when I first get up, but many (most?) others don't.

Prune juice for me, too.

I have been able to swallow my meds, too. I just don't try to take them all at one time. I spread them out all day so that I don't have to drink a lot of Water at the same time.

You could ask for lemon slices for your water and make your own lemonade.

For rhw94123 and others who miss Fresca......I had 2 packets of grapefruit Syntrax whey Protein and made some up with Crystal Light Lemonade. Unexpectedly, it pleasantly tasted like Fresca. I like it so much that I went back to mybariatricpantry.com and ordered a large container of it. They have about 10 flavors of nectar which you can get in a sample pack as well as large cartons. I find the nectars easier to swallow than the shakes. It has 23 grams of protein per serving.