Boombalatty

I don't drink cokes anymore and never really cared too much for beer, so I can't help with that as Water, diet lemonade, a Protein shake or decaf tea is all I drink. However, for a sweet tooth, I've turned to Protein Bars - just make sure you don't get ones with lots of sugar. Quest bars are really good. So are Combat Crunch, some Pure Protein, and the Chocorite protein bars. Power Crunch is good too, if you don't want to have a full stomach as they crunch down into nothing. Oh another recent find is the Carnivore Brownie - they are awesome.

I somewhat disagree with @Bufflehead. Some Protein bars are definitely bad, and all do have more calories than pure chicken or tuna. However, some can be very filling and satisfying especially if you have a sweet tooth. Quest bars have 160-210 calories for 20 grams of protein, so there are extra calories. Some of those are from a prebiotic Fiber - while not as good as vegetable fiber, i do find it filling. Also, I found that Protein Bars keep my sweet tooth at bay so I don't crave other 'real' sweets. There are also Chocorite Protein bars that are pretty much half sized (both physically and nutritionally at 100 cals 10g protein) Quest bars in a fewer amount of flavors. (I really like the yellow cake) The PowerCrunch bars are higher calorie for the protein (fair amount of fat) and much less filling - but taste great. I use them some before going to the gym since I need some fuel, but don't want a full stomach. I've also tried many other brands (Pure Protein isn't bad, but no fiber), but the Quest, Chocorite, and occasional pre workout PowerCrunch are my main ones. This is just my experience as others may have triggering issues with them since they are all sweet, so you would have to know yourself or watch your intake until you know.

Thanks. I'm down a total of about 236 pounds so far from the 515. 136 since surgery 8 months ago. I am really looking forward to the day I am literally half the man I used to be. (Although if I count the historic high, I guess I already passed that... but I tend to think of the 520-515 since I was at that weight longer. )

Dallas_P brought up a good point. Before the surgery, I had lost 100 pounds (I was very large - 585 highest recorded, 515 pounds starting wls effort, 415 at surgery) and was exercising regularly and I think that really helped.

The sleeve was my first surgery, so I was worried about it. It turned out not that bad at all. I was in the hospital for 30 hours maybe and very rarely hit the pain pump (mainly when getting up to walk which I started hours after the surgery). They gave me a prescription for liquid Tylenol with Codeine to take home with one refill. I maybe took 4 doses of it. I did take it easy for several weeks, though, as clock watching and sipping every 15 minutes was a full time job (and somehow the short term disability paid more than my actual job, so I stayed out for the whole approved time )

When your boss says your lab coat now looks like one of those 'flying squirrel' suits when it used to be tight on you.

I didn't do any lifting before surgery, but started about 8 weeks after.

Personally, I don't like the taste of cranberry, but know they can be good for kidney health. Every now and then I'll buy a bottle of cranberry pills from a grocery or drug store and take those instead of drinking cranberry juice. You might want to consider that if you are worried about the calories

I have access to two small gyms - one through my apartment complex and one through work, but I still continue to pay for a 24 Hour Fitness membership. For me, the big gym has much more available for strength training and machines that are easier for me to use since I have some arthritis as well. The smaller, free gyms are great for some convenient cardio, though. I also meet with a personal trainer at 24Hr once a week since I am still a newbie at exercising and don't want to injure myself. I would say if you can afford it, get a membership to a bigger gym. There is more variety in machinery and weights and that can keep you less bored and more likely to stick with it.

I have become somewhat of a Protein bar connoisseur after my surgery. I've tried a flavor or two of all brands that I've found with decent nutrition. My top bars are: Quest, Chocorite Protein (make sure it's the Chocorite Protein and not the Chocolite), Pure Protein Baked (not the regular ones), PowerCrunch original, and Combat Crunch bars. If you want something as close to a candy bar as you can get without it being too bad for you, the peanut Fit Crunch bars by Robert Irvine are good, but may be a bit carby, if I remember right. The Chocorite Protein I've only seen at netrition.com (awesome site - you can get Quest and Combat Crunch there as well) and a local low-carb shop. They are just like a Quest bar but half the size and some different flavors like yellow cake or red velvet cake. The Combat Crunch I get through netrition or the Vitamin Shoppe. The cinnamon twist ones are close to the taste of a cinnamon roll. They have a much better flavor than the Quest cinnamon roll to me. The others are really good too. I think that's about it. Now I'm off to find some of those mint chocolate Quest bars. ..I love mint chocolate.