blashlee

This is what they sent me.

Hey all, I'm about 6 weeks pre-op so my surgeon has recommended that I start sampling Vitamins and gathering up what I'll need as far as vitamins and supplements. I ordered a sample pack of vitamins from Celebrate on recommendation from my doctor and her other patients and wow, I can't believe what they sent me for $3.00. There's at least 12-15 samples here... According to Celebrate, every sample pack is different but you will get at least one item from each category (Multivitamin, Calcium, Iron, etc) They sent me: Multivitamin Chewables in Pineapple-strawberry, Mandarin Orange, Grape Calcet Creamy Bites in Lemon (amazing!!!, will definitely be ordering) Calcium Plus 500 chewables in Cherry Tart and Berries & Cream Vitamin D3 500 IU in Orange calcium citrate Chews in chocolate and Berry Multivitamin Soft Chews in Orange and Very berry Multi-Complete in Forest Berry and Orange Iron+C 60mg Berry, 18mg tangerine, 30mg grape Celebrate ENS drinkable multivitamin + calcium in Cranberry Grape and ENS Protein in Chocolate So far I've tried the Calcet Lemon Creamy Bite and the Pineapple-Strawberry multivitamin chewable and both were great. Anybody else taking sups from Celebrate? What are your favorites?

Tinkerbell 10K at Disneyland 05/09/15 (I will be 5 weeks post op, hopefully it goes well) Disneyland Half Marathon Labor Day Weekend 15' (I will be 5 months post op and I am already training) Will probably sign up for more 10K or Half Marathons next year depending on how these go.

Have you tried ordering any powders to mix up? I have a few favorites: Strawberries & Creme Premier Protein (Found at costco.com, these are ready-to-drink no mixing required) Cellucor whey Red Velvet Cake Batter (powder) Quest Nutrition vanilla Milkshake & Strawberries & Cream (both powdered but mix up to be very thick) Isopure unflavored is good to mix into existing foods and drinks. Its hardly noticeable and doesnt change the texture on things. Isopure Vanilla Creme & banana Creme, both powders, great taste but lack a bit in texture. They're very watery. Best advice I can give you is to taste different Proteins and get a few flavors to keep in rotation so that you don't get tired of them or get bored. Good luck!

My surgery is scheduled for 4 days after my birthday. I'll be on the all-liquids phase of my pre-op diet. Everybody's already asking me what I'm doing for my birthday. The answer? Preparing for my rebirth. Cake is delicious and previously I would have glady eaten a huge chunk of cake for anybody's birthday. I'll have a Protein shake in a fancy glass and stick a candle in it to put out. I know it's going to be difficult but it's what I've gotta do.

@@leag78 smoking among other bad habits isn't just a bad idea if you're looking into having surgery, but it's actually dangerous. Smoking is inherently dangerous whether you're having surgery or not, but in regards to having bariatric surgery, if you're doctor is performing the procedure laproscopically, you're going to have 5-6 large incisions that need to heal, along with the healing that will be occuring inside of your body. Smoking puts you at risk for blood clots, which can seriously impede your healing and cause complications. You really have to stop and consider whether those few cigarettes every once in a while are worth that. Perhaps you and your sisters could find other ways to bond with each other besides bingo, which seems to be your smoking trigger. And also are they aware that you're not supposed to be smoking? Perhaps they should be and then they won't enable you by sharing their cigarettes with you.

Cinnamon Roll Quest Bars are my love affair. The Nutrimart stores in my area give you an empty box to fill up with 12 of whatever flavor you'd like for $24/box. I believe GNC and Vitamin Shoppe sell them individually also. Thanks for sharing this for free samples!

I love Coronado!! It's so beautiful. I can't wait to be able to go and enjoy it the way I deserve to. For now I walk/run around it and it's my happy place. In about two years I may be relocating so I hope to get out there as much as possible before I leave.

@@Djmohr Only my parents, boyfriend and closest friend (who previously struggled with weight and is fully aware of my journey) knew before insurance. Now that my insurance as been approved and I am about 6 weeks out from surgery, I've told more people but only those closest to me. One is a friend I've known for 12 years whose wedding I will be in about 3 weeks post op; another I've told has been very supportive and is coming to visit for the summer so I didn't want to surprise her, I felt I should be honest. I think I just need to tell people that I am closest to, otherwise I will feel like I am lying. I'm pretty much an open book, but I'm not sure how well this news will be received by most people I know. Perhaps I will take it day by day on a person-by-person basis who knows and who doesn't. It's not that it's a secret, I'm excited and proud of taking on this huge life changing decision. I just know not everybody is going to look at it that way.

I've been pretty quietly going through the motions toward getting approved for my RNY. My insurance approved, my PCP approved, and my surgeon has gone ahead and scheduled me for April 6th. So far, only my parents, boyfriend and about 4 of my friends know what I've been up to. I'm feeling a little bit apprehensive about letting too many people know what I'm doing. For one, I'm afraid of being judged. People seem to have this misconception that WLS is the "easy way" to lose weight (I used to be one of them). I'm also afraid that people will try to talk me out of it. Whenever I talk about everything with my mom she says "Well if you're still sure this is what you wanna do..." as if after all the time and money I've spent on getting approved, I'm just going to change my mind LOL. I know that it will eventually come out as the weight comes off and as my eating habits seem "weird" compared to the way I used to eat, people are going to wanna know how I did it. How open were you with your family/friends/etc about having WLS? Were they supportive, not supportive, nosy, curious etc?

try Quest Nutrition recipes. They have a lot of recipes with their Protein products that look fantastic. I've made cupcakes with their protein powder; they were a little dry but only because I didn't have one of the ingredients the recipe called for and tried to substitute (fail on me)

Quest Protein Powder in Vanilla & strawberry Premier Protein in Strawberries & Creme Cellucor Whey Protein in Red Velvet Cake Batter Isopure banana Creme Isopure Vanilla creme Isopure Alpine punch (RTD, not the powder) Isopure unflavored These are Proteins I've tried so far and all have great flavor and consistency. I tried Cellucor Cor-Fetti Cake Batter and found it a bit too sweet.

@@SleevedNFree thank you, I will! I haven't found a local support group that I'm happy with just yet so this site has been really helpful.

Hiiiii. Black girl heavy in San Diego, CA (worst place to be overweight, all this damn beach and I don't even enjoy it LOL) I'm having RNY on April 6th, I just found out I got my insurance approval and stamp of approval from my PCP today. I am excited, relieved, terrified, nervous, anxious and ready all at the same time. Thanks yall for sharing your stories <3

I'm 27 and I'm having RNY on April 6th. I explored surgical options years ago, but there was a lot of hoop jumping with my insurance, and to be honest, I didn't have the right mindset. I viewed it as a quick fix to my problem and my weight mostly bothered me for cosmetic reasons. To be honest, I'm glad I waited until I was a little more mature and developed the right mindset, even though it meant gaining an additional 30 lbs and enduring a little bit of embarrassment and shame. I knew people who got WLS young and ended up gaining all of their weight back. I think when you have a weight problem in your younger years, it's harder to get in control of, especially if people around you don't have a weight problem.

I just got one today, would love to have some Fit Friends arhughes87@gmail.com

My surgeon's office books a date while approval is pending because the OR can fill up quickly. It's best to have a date and have to reschedule or cancel than it is to wait and not be able to get a date. Congrats on getting your date!

I have been approved and im scheduled for April 6th. Let the countdown begin!

San Diego

Congrats on your surgery and glad to hear it went well! I'll be relocating to Georgia in about two years (hopefully to Atlanta) and one of the things on my list is to make sure I find a good bariatric surgeon to see there in case I need to. I'm having my bypass april 6.

Has he seen a doctor and had his glands and everything checked out? If you've removed snack and junk food and he's an active child but still gaining it could be something medical.

Good luck and congrats on taking steps toward being healthy. I was thinking of having the band by my surgeon and I discussed it and thought bypass would be best for my lifestyle and goals. Keep us posted on your recovery and progress!

I've found that a lot of people who are against what you're doing are either 1) ignorant to what it is you're actually doing. 2) afraid for you. 3) afraid to "lose" you. I have a few friends I know I'm going to have to keep my distance from because they are big social eaters and for years I've been their fat friend who's down and willing to go to buffets or get ice cream etc. I have to simply tell them I can't be that friend anymore and if they care for me at all they will understand and respect that. It's dangerous if they don't.

I got my date. April 6!

Thank you! If your ins co takes a long time just stay on them. A lot of insurance companies will drag their feet or create roadblocks to avoid paying and they hope you'll just give up. Never give up, you're paying for insurance for a reason.