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Does anyone know when Syntrax Nectar Protein Powder will be available, specifically the roadside lemonade flavor. It has been out for several weeks, maybe a month or more? I noticed that other flavors are out, too. I am wondering if the company is having supply issues, or if it’s being discontinued.

It can be so hard. Maybe start by eating a healthy breakfast and lunch every day, and worry about dinner as you regain some of your healthy habits? That has worked for me, along with not eating lunch till I finish my big container of Crystal Light. (I’m still working on hydration after lunch…) Starting with small steps may be more manageable.

Yes! Chia seeds daily in oatmeal.Also add to oatmeal cookies and pancakes.

Agree. The texture is thicker with protein powder in oatmeal, pancakes, and cookies. Not necessarily bad (in fact, it helps when too much water is added to oatmeal), just different.

I found Genepro to be pretty tasteless, but stopped using it after a few months because of some dubious things I read online about it, and the newest version doesn’t contain as much protein as the former ones claimed to. I now use Syntrax medical unflavored. It has a slight taste, but better than several others I tried. I can’t taste it in oatmeal, pancakes, or breakfast cookies. I think it would have a taste/texture in water, though. GL!

Shelf-stable snacks: Keto cereal (no added sugar, low fat, like Catalina Crunch). Also sipping soup-to-go (check nutrition label, Butternut Squash soup is good) if you can microwave for 1 minute. Mini-containers are great (4 oz. glass baby food containers, available online) for meal prepping. You can prep for the entire week and it makes it easy.

Great discussion. When I was a teen with a BMI of 33, I would have been on the borderline. I ended up getting down to a slightly-over-normal body weight by age 21, but spent years after that going up and down, never able to get low enough (for long enough). So in retrospect, I would not have been a good candidate yet as a teen. However, I wish I had done the surgery 10 to 15 years earlier. My own children are obese, even after our family has changed so much nutritionally (due to my changing first). I am willing to pay for my own children to have it if/when they are good candidates, and want it, when they are young adults. If they were more obese, I might feel differently about getting them considered for surgery earlier. But I wonder what the qualifications are for teens to be recommended for WLS, and if they are different than for adults. There have to be some good reasons why the AAP would recommend this for some teens, that the pros outweigh the cons.

If you’ve seen today’s news, the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending WLS as an option for teens who have struggled with obesity. The comments online are mostly negative. If you were obese as a teen, and surgery had been an option for you as a teen (money is a whole other story…), would you have taken it?

If you order from the Bariatric Pal store: I sent this message to customer service about 5 weeks ago, and they said they would look into it. The same thing happened AGAIN today. 😡 If you agree, please consider sending them a note, too. ***** Dear BP Store, Until this week, all of the products that I have purchased from your store has come with a return label that indicates “BP Store.” However, my latest package contained the words “Bariatric Pal” on the label. It might seem small, but for those of your customers who are not public with our surgery choice, this can be revealing, embarrassing, and could even lead to our health information inadvertently shared. Would you please consider changing the return label to the old “BP Store” label? Most of the products I get from your store can be purchased from other places, and I may need to consider this to protect my health information. Thanks for your consideration!

Update: The latest return label is back to BP Store! Thank you! 😀👍🏻 Unfortunately, the newer boxes being used (Netrition) have a larger Bariatric Pal printing…sigh…at least there are a couple other brands listed next to it. So it’s harder to assume. I would love a plain shipping option.

Ugh! It’s not a fun part. I will agree with the other posts about cutting it shorter, perhaps shoulder length or shorter. Curls will help fill in the gaps. Although my hair started growing back after about six months, at almost 2 years it is still not back to how it looked before surgery. I still have parts around my forehead that are only 2 inches long, I hope they are the last to fill-in. But definitely worth the trade-off! Hang in there, it will get better.

I would have said groceries…but the food I eat, along with protein supplements, is better quality and more expensive. Restaurants: there’s the savings! The one day a week we eat out, my meal costs half of what it used to.

Thanks!

Somewhat shallow post ☺️ I am frustrated with my hair. It’s been about a year and a half since surgery. It has been thin, and different textures/thicknesses. I got the wispy ends cut off, but it all looks dry and weird. Like a wig, or cotton candy, or something made of straw. Not like life before surgery. (I am so happy I had the surgery and would do it again.). I tried hot oil, different conditioners, blowing it dry differently, styling differently. Dermatologist said I could try Rogaine, but not sure I want to risk more hair loss. Any suggestions from those of you who experienced something similar? I usually go to a discount salon for trims, but feel like I may need further assistance. Do I call a salon and ask for someone who works with post-surgery hair?

Thanks for the responses. I finally got blood work done, everything is normal. However, the response about protein made me think that there might be a conditioner with protein in it. Not only did I find this, but also a shampoo and cream, all with protein. My hair is not perfect, but it is better than a few months ago. Perhaps it will even get better when the hairs that are more newly sprouted finally grow longer.

Do you bake for your family after surgery? I committed not to eat anything with added sugar. I have a very strong will on this, and I believe it has helped my success greatly. I made two baked goods for my family this weekend, and oh, was it difficult to take these warm delicacies out of the oven and smell them, then to see my family dig in to them. I had to leave the room! 😂 Although I went to my stash of sugar-free chocolates, it was not the same. I am wondering if it would be selfish for me to stop preparing baked goods…what does everyone else do? Or is there some sort of easy, WLS-friendly, baked good that could compete with warm brownies and banana bread?!

It’s wonderful, and so strange! The first time I walked into a regular clothing store, I felt that everyone was staring at me because I didn’t belong there. It was shocking not even to wear the largest size in the store. Sometimes, I still see clothes hanging in my closet and think about how tiny they are. Yet, they fit. We are the same basic people on the inside, and yet our exteriors change greatly. It is strange how many people in society see us differently, and treat us differently.

That is a tough one with work events coming up, and surgery soon after. I wonder if you could find something on clearance, end of season? Or at a thrift shop? I had saved a lot of clothes over the years and was able to get through the weight loss stages without buying too much. I really started to build my wardrobe again about seven months after surgery. Since then, I have lost maybe 12 more pounds. A tip if you are female: dresses are more forgiving in changing sizes, than pants. For example, I have a short-sleeve size 2X dress with an elastic waist, that has fit me nicely with probably an 80 pound difference. I did have to stitch the arm holes tighter because they were too wide. Whereas pants will fall off if they are a size or two too big.

My insurance didn’t cover it, and neither did my husband’s. Had to do self-pay, which at least meant no red tape to do once I was cleared by the surgeon. Insurance did cover the pre- and post-op visits, including an outpatient visit due to a complication. Still worth every penny! I sometimes think about how much money I am saving my insurance company by being healthier now…seems like they should be encouraging people to do WLS since it’s more than worth it to them in the end…

Yes! Some people just don’t understand. WLS is still losing the “natural way” by changing one’s diet. It’s just we are put on a more level playing field as far as appetite and stomach capacity. I don’t have time nor energy to deal with judgmental people so the less they know the better.

I had sugar free ice cream about 3 months post op. I have it a few times a year and enjoy it still!

Another idea that I learned from someone on a post a while back: if you had any other medical condition, and sought treatment for it, are you obligated to be truthful with anyone who asks about you? Such as mental health—does anyone deserve to know that someone takes medication for depression?

Yes, that patch was the cause of my blurry vision. It cleared within 12 hours of removing the patch. I was scared after surgery when I asked my nurse when the blurry vision goes away. He said I wasn’t supposed to have blurry vision, so I thought I had had a stroke… The patch wasn’t in their system because I had put it on at home as my surgeon instructed. While the nurse went to talk with the charge nurse, I did my own research with my husband on his cell phone, and we figured it out ourselves. They really should coordinate better!

Up to you! No one’s business unless you want them to know. I said I was having surgery, and when I returned to work, basically said I was eating differently when asked about the weight loss. (Which makes me uncomfortable to have people ask about my body) I had tried and failed so many years that I didn’t have confidence WLS would work. If I didn’t lose weight, I figured people would say that I was such a glutton that even surgery wouldn’t help. If I lost weight, people would say I took the easy way out. I did tell my husband and two family members who protect my privacy.

Oh no! Was the soup very hot? Protein powder can clump in heat. Maybe try letting the soup cool a bit? My oatmeal cools for 15 minutes before I add protein powder. Protein powder is also excellent in pancake batter and cookie batter.