Swanton_Bomb

Protein water is so bad! ?

Does your family know about the surgery? I think going to a restaurant this early out would be torture and I think it's ok to skip out on it if that would be easier. You don't always have to do everything for others. In a month or so when you can eat fish, you can resume the dinners out. It will still be hard but at least you can chew.

Interesting. I never heard of keto rash before. Is it common? The mouth funk is definitely ketosis though, I noticed it after 2 days, and unless you are guzzling apple juice for your liquids you are probably in it without trying because your carbs will naturally be so low at this point. The strips aren't too expensive and can be found in any pharmacy or online.

Yikes, I hadn't even thought of how hard a bar might be (I've never been much for bars). Most of the non-alcoholic options involve carbonation (my surgeon also says absolutely not, but some allow it). How low sugar are you? Can you do diluted cranberry, orange or grapefruit? Maybe tomato juice?

You would think that with intolerance to sweet tastes, especially artificially sweet ones, being so common after bariatric surgery that some of these companies would make their products less sweet. I bought a bariatric decaf cappuccino mix and I was really looking forward to it as an alternative to a cold shake. Even after thinning it out and adding extra decaf espresso powder it feels like I'm sipping a cup of old-school Sweet n' Low packets. You can always make something sweeter but it is so hard to make things less sweet when you can only drink a few ounces at a time. I understand products like Premier being sweet because they aren't marketed to WSL patients, but even the specific Bariatric products are ultra sweet. Back to adding unflavored whey to everything, I guess.

I know, believe me, I know! Crackers are a major binge food for me, more than chips or cookies. I have destroyed more whole boxes of crackers in one sitting than I care to admit. Have a little more soup, it won't take much to make you full, then distract yourself. Go for a walk, watch a good show on Netflix (I recommend Daredevil, Jessica Jones or Wentworth), clean out a closet, call someone. Get away from the table and kitchen.

Beyond the struggle of the liquid nastiness, I think the surgery screws with your hormones. I've been insanely emotional this past week, choking up at the slightest things. If a mildly sad or touching scene comes on tv I'm in tears.

I'm on Day 9, so the pain is fresh in my mind. The stomach pain got remarkably better at Day 6 and I haven't needed anything for pain since Day 5. I'm very surprised that they didn't give you a nausea patch. I had a nausea patch in the hospital and they put a new one on before I was discharged. Nausea is pretty easy to manage with meds, I would suggest you call your surgeon and get them to prescribe some nausea meds for you. As for that crampy feeling, I still get it when I am drinking, my doctor said it is normal. It is fleeting after a swallow and it is getting less each day. In a few days you will see the scale moving faster than you ever thought possible and you will start to focus on that. I'm struggling with my fluids and protein but each day I've seen measurable improvement.

That is very unusual. My doc is pretty liberal about the food plan (no liver shrink diet, just lose some weight and clears 2 days before) and you are allowed yogurt and ricotta cheese after 5 days during full liquids, but considering how hard it is for me to get down a few spoons of yogurt, I would never attempt chicken by 2 weeks. Bean puree maybe, but not chicken. This is one time I would not follow professional advice to the letter. I would go very, very slowly so that you don't make yourself sick, especially with animal proteins like chicken.

You have to tell us a little more. I know you posted about struggling with the pre-op diet. If that is the reason, talk to your surgeon. Pre-op and post-op are totally different struggles. I don't think anyone should have a major life-changing surgery without being sure, but how can you ever be totally sure? I was fine for months and then a few days before I freaked out completely, crying non-stop. I was terrified. I did it anyway because I realized that the worst fear I had was dying, and that I had a lot more risk of dying of obesity than I did from surgery. I also realized that I had spent six months going to doctors, getting weigh-ins, having countless tests and procedures, and since I have been contemplating this surgery for 15 years, the thought of it wasn't going to go away, and I would only have to do all that over again.

I'm still on full liquids, so I am assuming (hoping!) this changes, but everything tastes so bad to be now, and having to take teeny sips and nurse this horrible swill just makes it seem like I'm being tortured all day with this awful taste. Then there is the aftertaste that lingers. I will have the best dental hygiene ever because I am constantly brushing my teeth!

Taking photographs like a normal person. Simply not being unbearably embarrassed and uncomfortable in every situation.

You look absolutely gorgeous. Thank you for posting these pics, they inspire those of us just starting out. You have worked very hard, mazel tov!

Thank you, I will try this. The thickness is so gross, and at this stage it's harder to get down enough if it's thick.

I've heard it's wonderful, tasteless and easy to mix, but I've also heard there is a lawsuit because they claim to have 30 grams of protein and it's more like 15, sadly.

I'm on full liquids for two weeks, but my plan allows yogurt and cottage cheese halfway through the full liquids stage, and that has helped a lot. I'm one week out. One more week on these modified full liquids, then thin purees, then thick purees, then soft foods.

Have you ever tried the Unjury ready-to-drink?

Does anyone have a suggestion for a good UNflavored powder, or do they all basically taste the same?

I was sleeved on 11/8. I had pretty bad pain for a few days but it was managed well without too much medication. It's not easy but the scale moves so fast during the first week that you focus on that! There is a whole thread for November sleevers, do a board search for that and follow that thread.

We have the best intentions to stock up and prepare before surgery, but learn from my mistake and don't buy too much. I found Premier Protein the most palatable, I bought a metric shiz-ton of it, and now I have to hope that I can return it because your tastes change and I can't stomach it. Many people like Premier Protein, especially when mixed in coffee. I've been making my own with Greek yogurt and Fairlife milk. Fairlife milk is really helpful to have on hand, it has more protein and less sugar than regular milk, it is lactose-free and it tastes like regular milk. I've been using it to thin out other products that are too sweet and to use instead of water to give things a protein boost.

Oh my goodness! You were beautiful before, but now, wow. You are gorgeous. You must have worked very hard, you should be very proud. I was feeling very depressed and overwhelmed by my recent WLS today, and these pictures are inspirational and will help me muscle through, thank you for sharing them with us.

Thanks, Matt. That's good to know, this is the least gag inducing thing I have found. I can't wait until I am able to get protein from food. I don't mind protein chips or bars to supplement, but these drinks are truly sickening.

So I am really, really struggling with liquid protein and I'm trying different things. I have found that bariatric hot cocoa, while a bit too sweet, is much more tolerable, and it has 15 grams of protein, and if I make it with Fairlife milk instead of water it has even more. The thing is, the protein source is calcium caseinate, and I see things like whey protein concentrate or milk protein concentrate in most products. Is calcium caseinate an adequate source? Does it even matter what kind of protein it is: whey, soy, pea, rice, etc.? Thanks in advance!

Depending on your size, you can lose a lot in 13 days, how much does your surgeon want you to lose? I understand the need to shrink the liver but my surgeon asked me to lose 10-15lbs. in the six months preceding surgery, which was minimal and easy to do. He did not require a liver shrink diet, just two days of clears to clean out the stomach. This was very hard, but it's two days, you can do anything for two days. He said my liver was a little large but nothing he couldn't work with. This requirement of weight loss prior to surgery bothers me a bit because it keeps the people who struggle the most and need the surgery the most from getting the help they need.