istytehcrawk

Do whatever works for you! Everyone has different comfort levels regarding how open they are about their surgery; no one way to do it is automatically better than any other. What works for me or anyone else may not be a good option for you (that holds true for a lot of things to do with bariatric surgery, actually.)

I've had the apple melon Isopure, and it was pretty yummy, though kind of intense and I will probably dilute it if I get it again. The green tea with lemon one was okay but not nearly as good, and had a much stronger aftertaste. The only problem with Isopure is the cost, to me. Haven't had the Premier clear.

I gurgled a LOT for the first few weeks, but it has slowed down considerably now (I'm 7 weeks out from RNY). Still happens, especially if I take too big a drink, but not nearly as much as it was. When it was at its worst, sometimes I would open my mouth to talk and would accidentally sing a little tune from the air bubbles.

Do you mean the strawberry Premier Protein RTD, or a powder? I've had good luck finding the RTD at Walmart (along with chocolate, vanilla, and sometimes caramel and banana).

I effectively told the entire county, and then some. I'm a reporter for the county newspaper, and once I got back to work, I wrote an editorial commentary about having the surgery. (You can read it here if you want: http://enquirerdemocrat.com/taking-big-step-forward)

I have a 15-serving tub of Celebrate's chicken soup flavor meal replacement that I opened to try but didn't end up liking (I'm picky, and I only tried a partial serving, so not even one full serving is missing out of it), so I figured I'd offer it up here to see if anyone wants to buy it. $15 plus $10 shipping*. Retail, it's $28.95 plus tax/shipping. Info about it is here: https://www.celebratevitamins.com/meal-replacement-tub.html * = Yes, that's the actual shipping cost. I originally bought the tomato soup flavor and didn't like it, so I exchanged it and had to pay $10 to ship it back to the company to get the chicken soup flavor. Even if I *can* exchange it again, I don't want to spend another $10 to get yet another flavor I may not like.

For me, it's a combination of that, the lower sweetness level, and the fact that it was specifically recommended by my program.

Lately I mostly use Premier Protein (caramel, banana, and strawberries & cream flavors, in order of preference). I also drink Protein2O sometimes (grape, mixed berry, or tropical coconut) and occasionally buy the Isopure waters if I really need a protein boost (they're expensive, but they're 40g of protein in 20oz of water). I also have a tub of Syntrax Nectar cappuccino flavor (before surgery, I liked a lot of their flavors, but this is the only one I can tolerate now because the rest are far too sweet) and a tub of Equate (AKA generic Walmart brand) chocolate, which is also too sweet. I've found the Premier isn't as cloyingly sweet, so I've been using that more than the powders, even though it works out to be more expensive. I mix the powders with either skim (usually) or unsweetened almond milk (when I have it).

And hopefully it will pass quickly! I am so lucky to have not had any real nausea outside of the couple times I've dumped.

Yep, I just bought some FlatOut Light wraps yesterday (loved them before surgery) and used half of one to make a chicken salad wrap. It was delicious, even though I couldn't finish it, and the wrap sat well in my stomach, thankfully.

I do exactly the same.

I take 2 Flintstones multivitamins (well, the generic) every morning. As for protein, I like the Premier Protein ready-to-drink shakes or the Syntrax Nectar powders. I also get the Protein2O protein water, which is 15g of protein in 17 oz of water.

Stats first: HW 427.4 (Jan. 2) SW: 413 (Feb. 15) Last week: 372.8 Today: 371.6 (been stalled there since Saturday) So, down 1.2 since last week, 41.4 since surgery, and 55.8 overall. Stats aren't as good this week as they were last week, but I'm okay with it because, as I noted yesterday with the pic, I'm finally starting to be able to see a difference. The size 28 jeans I only barely fit into a couple weeks ago are already getting a little baggy, too. Wish I'd thought to take measurements before so I could compare that aspect of it. Went shopping at Goodwill on Saturday and got a pair of jeans to shrink into (size 24!) and a handful of shirts to do the same with. Really ready for the weather to warm up so I can switch to capris and flipflops instead of jeans/socks/sneakers (I hate socks). Food is going somewhat more smoothly than it did last week. Made chicken salad last night and had it on a FlatOut Light wrap. Didn't eat much before I was full, but my stomach didn't give me issues with it otherwise, so I count that as a success and am glad to have something semi-bread-like to incorporate into my diet. (Still plan on making @Tealael's oat-based biscuit things at some point to try.) Had a bit of a problem with my stomach not liking grapes this week, though it did fine with them last week. Similarly, one day I ate half a chicken burger patty for lunch and it went down fine, then when I tried to eat the second half for supper, it came right back up. Not sure what that was about. Buying an elliptical tonight, if all goes according to plan. Haven't been motivated to go walking due to craptastic weather, so hopefully having that in the living room will help me actually start getting some consistent exercise. Still having issues with constipation off and on, which is annoying, but I think I'm starting to figure out the right combination of stool softeners/Benefiber/Miralax to keep things moving.

It turned out delicious, but I was only able to eat about 1/8 cup of it on about 1/6 of a FlatOut before I got full.

Stopped by the store and picked up a pack of the FlatOut Light wraps. Am currently in the process of making my family's chicken salad (chicken breast + crushed pineapple + light mayo + chopped pecans) and can't WAIT to have it on the wrap (I loved to eat it that way before surgery). Hopefully the wrap cooperates with my stomach!

I have Health Alliance through the Illinois Marketplace, and it has been a dream so far. First letter approval and very friendly and helpful when I've called with questions or with the one issue I had (dietitian was supposed to be pre-authorized with the surgery but wasn't, so I got a charge for it even though it should have been free, and they fixed it right away).

Never heard of them, but at a quick look they're more expensive than I want to pay for something like that. Thanks for the tip, though!

I loved the Flat Out wraps before surgery, so I'll have to try them again and see how my stomach feels about them. My stomach didn't even like toasted 100%WW, so I'm avoiding bread at all for a while, unfortunately.

I haven't been able to notice a difference in myself with my weight loss, but today Timehop showed me a picture from a year ago today (I was wearing the exact same shirt, ha!) and I can actually see it for once.

I kind of felt the same way when I first joined in January. It helped to start small, by mostly lurking and occasionally commenting on threads directly related to my experience (such as those with similar questions), and I've gradually expanded from there. I'm still not the kind of person who will comment on every post, and I stick to portions of the forum relevant to my experience (for example, I'm a female who had the bypass, so I stay out of the forums for other specific surgeries and the guys' room, among others), but overall I comment a bit more freely now.

Yes, I went home with a drain on my right side. It was taken out at my one-week post-op appointment, and it hurt something fierce, I think because it was pulled right past the muscles that were already the most sore. My mom had said hers felt weird but didn't hurt when she got them out following her double mastectomy, so I wasn't prepared for how much it hurt. (It probably didn't help that my pain meds had worn off because we unexpectedly had to wait a couple hours for my surgeon because she was stuck in surgery.)

I bought six of those pre-op as part of my stocking up for surgery process, because I knew they'd come in handy, and they definitely have! So have the little 2-ounce measuring cups that measure both ounces and tablespoons.

I've heard of cloud bread before (which this seems to be a variation on), but I'm leery because of them being egg-based, as I don't like the taste of eggs. Are the ones you make eggy-tasting, @FluffyChix?

I'm 6.5 weeks out from surgery, and I'm desperately craving a sandwich or wrap or something of the like. Just eating the cold cuts/cheese or chicken salad or whatever isn't cutting it. I don't currently have any food restrictions from my team (I'm allowed to try whatever I want in small amounts), just whatever my body decides is a no-go, but it's already rejected 100% whole wheat toast, so I'm terrified what it would do with soft bread. Would a wheat or spinach tortilla be a better option? What about a FlatOut wrap (well, part of one, since they're large)? I haven't tried any of the above yet because I'm leery of dumping again like I did after just two tiny bites of the toast, but I'm not sure if there's a better way to get over and/or satisfy the craving.

I second the Lands End suggestion. I've never bought them myself, but a friend got a pair of skirted swimsuit-style capri leggings there, like these: https://www.landsend.com/products/womens-swim-crop-leggings/id_269396_57?sku_0=::BLA