7 Bites_Jen

Protein is SO important at this stage for sure. It's important to get into the habit of weighing and measuring, but you might not eat everything - and that's okay. Do your best, but don't get upset if you don't get all the protein your supposed to get in a day (60-70 grams). Eat when you're "hungry" (or feel like you should) and stop eating when you're not hungry anymore. Don't wait until you're "full" - that can cause issues. These first few months are complete trial and error trying to find that "full feeling" and knowing what your sleeve will and won't tolerate. Try new things, and don't be afraid to!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you all know that our second episode is up, if anyone is interested! This week's episode is short and sweet. Let us know what you think and if this show is helpful! What would you like to see? http://7bitesshow.blogspot.com/2013/10/episode-2-something-for-everyone.html

Always follow your surgeons instructions - there's a reason for what they do! Some don't worry too much about liver size, mine did - if your liver was a certain size, he'd close you up and not do the surgery. That's the point of the all-liquid diets. There are lots of ways to make it palatable for the two weeks before surgery - and the full liquids stage after. Does he have you on a specific Protein shake? If so, you can add extracts and spices (cinnamon, allspice, etc.) to vary the flavors. If not, you can also make homemade Soups and stews and puree them (just omit any Pasta, rice, or potatoes for the two weeks). If your interested, we have lots of ideas on our first episode. Just click the link in my signature for the YouTube channel, then go to the episode called "Preventing Yuck in a Cup". Hope this helps! :-) Good luck!

Anything is okay in moderation. I agree with the ketchup though. You can find some with no high fructose corn syrup, but it's so much better to make your own. We have a great recipe for it here on our blog this week. It's also fun to make your own mayo, if you're not afraid of a raw egg most eggs are pasteurized now and if you add vinegar or lemon juice, it actually "cooks" the egg and kills any bacteria. Mustard is fine - just read the ingredients - some put sugar or HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) in them. Tartar sauce is super easy to make - just mix some mayo with some pickle relish for an easy one. If you like onion in yours you can add a little dried minced onion. Just make sure you watch sugar and sodium counts on everything!

Same here! I've had mine since 2010 and was sleeved in 2012.

I had one and never even knew it!

I have had similar experiences, the only difference is the person that I had issues with wasn't a "healthy person": I used to be the "fat one" in the group at 300 lbs. Now that I am under 200 lbs, I am no longer the heaviest person in my circle of friends. In fact, I am the thinnest one in the group. They all struggle with diet, exercise, high blood pressure, and diabetes and I don't. Each of them, in turn, has said something to me about going to easy way out and how hard they're working on trying to lose weight - while munching on a donut or pizza. One of them has even accused me of becoming a "health snob" and won't talk to me anymore. It's so hurtful and aggravating when people do things like this and turn their backs on us. It helps to remember that we did this for us and our health - not for them. If they have a problem with it - weather they're already healthy or overweight - it's their own issues, not ours. People that are unsupportive of our healthier lifestyle changes are toxic and not people we need in our lives.

I can pretty much drink what I want, but I limit it to ONE (I get tipsy a LOT quicker now!!). My favorite is organic apple cider and good wine. :-)

I just posted a response on this on another question ... Why lie about it? Why not just be up front and honest? Use this as an opportunity to inform and educate people on the sleeve and the truth about weight loss surgeries in general!

I've always been very open and up front about my surgery. If people don't like it, they can get over it, IMHO, LOL. That being said, if you REALLY want it to be private and personal, here are some thoughts: 1) Most of us had a hietal(sp?) hernia removed during surgery - you can just tell people that you had a hernia removed. 2) Why tell them anyway? If it's none of their business that you had surgery in the first place, it's not their place why you aren't at work, right? Explain it away with, "oh, just took some personal time for myself" - it's TECHNICALLY not a lie ... An alternative, though, would be to be honest about it! Use it as an opportunity to educate people on the sleeve and the truth about weight loss surgeries in general!

Scrambled eggs with cheese. I'd never been so excited about eggs in my life!! LOL

I HATE people like that!! "Can you eat that???" "Yes ... can you eat ..." okay, well I'm not going to go THERE, but you get my drift ... at least I hope you do! Seriously though, there are a TON of misconceptions about the sleeve.

Age: 37 Ht 5'6.5 Highest weight 310 Surgery weight: 285 Current weight: 185 Goal 155 Surgery date 07/11/12 Note: My weight has slowed considerably over the past three months or so. Plus I haven't been keeping off the carbs and stuff, so that's been hurting my loss as well.

Some flavor combinations that I loved: vanilla extract + orange extract SF chocolate + mint extract vanilla extract + cinnamon + allspice = snickerdoodle SF Chocolate + PB2 = Peanut Butter cup Also, there are flavored syrups on the market (Torani makes a great SF version!). They have raspberry, caramel, vanilla, chocolate, and quite a few others. Good luck!

This was my second surgery, my first was a C-section in 2004. The sleeve was so much easier a recovery!! The main pain I had was in my shoulders. The doctors put some air in your abdomen to expand it and sometimes it settles in your shoulders. But that only lasted a couple of days and felt better with walking. My incisions, on the other hand, didn't hurt very much at all. The big one was sore, but that's to be expected. Good luck!

I squished it against the top of my mouth with my tongue, LOL

I order appetizers, soup, or (if they let you) off the child's menu. But I have been very open about my surgery, so everyone I dine out with already knows that I'm not going to eat much.

Agree with all above. That being said, you'll probably be able to eat it again in a few months - I couldn't eat it until I was about 9 or 10 months out.

Love, love, love this post! Sounds like you're doing great! My tummy STILL makes those noises ... LOL

A friend of mine that is a weightlifter said to try the whey matrix variety rather than the whey isolate - he said it mixes better and tastes better. The brands he recommended were BSN Syntha 6 and Muscle Farm Combat.

Just realized which forum this was in, LOL. My mom had her revision done last September - she had problems not leaning on sliders as well. I remember when she had the band she would keep chocolate bars on hand as well as things like ice cream and other things. She doesn't do that NOW with the sleeve, but it took her a while to get into that frame of mind.

I am a year out and still have trouble resisting sliders. For me that would be popcorn, crackers, chips, etc ... Curse you, darn carbs!!

I didn't touch the popcorn thread ... Not in the mood today, LOL.

I loved my magic bullet. I never used the nutribullet, but I've heard awesome reports on it!

I didn't have a pureed stage - we went from full liquids to soft foods. There are a lot of great options out there for this stage - beans, canned tuna, chili, etc. In fact, our episode this week was on this. Hope it helps: