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I still have to drink protein shakes for at least three weeks before starting the mushies stage. So I don't have any experience yet with blended foods. I suppose every body is different, and my body might be recovering more from the hernia repair I had as well as the Lap Band. Sorry I'm not much help!

Congratulation! Won't be long until you drop below the BIG 3. I got tired of sweet, cold and creamy too. I tried some hot tomato basil soup (strained out the basil leaves) and it was a life saver. I was allowed to have baby food meat on my full liquid stage, and I stirred some baby food chicken or turkey into the tomato soup for protein.

This is one treatment i swear by and literally the only thing i use other than shampoo and conditioner. Put half cup olive oil & quarter coconut oil in a small saucepan, heat it up gently until its just luke warm (not hot, you will fry your scalp) Put the mixture throughout your hair, scalp included and then wrap your hair in cling wrap (plastic wrap)... leave for as long as you require (i leave it for 1hr) Then wash as usual.... your hair won't be oily as long as you lather well. I do this once a week, and everyone comments how beautiful and shiny my hair is... I have also used egg or mayo for a Protein fix in the past, but i don't need it on my hair.

:biggrin0: I am at my 5 month mark after my sleeve. Weight loss is great, 2lbs shy of hitting the 100lb. YEAH... Only problem is I m having a lot of hair Loss too. Anybody else? I am trying to get in my Protein daily, I takeall my Vitamins. Will this stop soon. Please help. Thanks, Christina

I'm a planner...I feel better when I can plan meals for the week so I'm not sitting at work wondering 'What am I going to have for lunch today?'...since I didn't have time to throw something together this morning and couldn't figure out what to have this morning. So....I thought this might be a good idea if we all post a favorite meal or 2 that has 20 grams of Protein or more. I figure 3 meals X 20 grams protein = 60 and that way we have made our protein goal for the day. I'll start.... Breakfast: Muscle Milk Light - 20 grams protein, 160 calories Lunch: Wendy's Small Chili w/ 2 pkgs crackers - 20 grams protein, 270 calories Dinner: ummm yea, no ideas....hence this thread Now it's your turn :biggrin:

There's a lot more initial physical restriction with other types. Make sure to consult with your surgeon about all options.

Wish I knew the answer to that one. My hair is falling out too. I take everything everyone tells me to take, and I know I am getting the necessary Protein. I am not one that has trouble eating or drinking my Protein shakes. Nobody seems to have the answer to why it falls out or what makes it stop. I think it just has to run it's course.

approach your protein supplement like it is medicine. You MUST take your medicine or you will get sick. (this worked for me for a few days atleast... until I got to the mushy stage and then I never drank another one!)

Dal is an Indian dish that can be anywhere from smooth like a soup to a thick puree, It is made from split peas or lentils but I think chickpeas can also be used. Dal is a staple in india because most indians are vegetarian and lentils are high in protein.

My surgeon gave out a small handbook on post OP diet and most helpful thing in it was a recipe for high protein hot chocolate. Using protein powder make a smooth paste with cold water add chocolate packet and stur it into the paste, lastly add hot but not boiling water to the mix and viola! I was able to make mine 20 grams of protein in 10 oz. Also premier caramel shake added to decaffeinated coffee as creamer is luxurious...

My dear fellow pre-op cheater, I couldn't stay on the liquid diet either. My pre surgery weight was 446. So if I could stick to diets I wouldn't have had the band! I did some research and the over all deal is high Protein and low carb and low fat. That diet yielded me loosing 16 lbs in 7 days. If you need to eat a little, eat A little I say, but Heck, I'm no doctor. I was worried cause I cheated, but I still lost. Good luck.

thanks to everyone for their replies and input. my dr has not done any ds (which the first part is the sleeve). so his 6 sleeves done is all hes done. i definitely have had many conversations with him about the procedure and my concerns, and i am confident in his ability as a surgeon or i wouldnt of chosen him. of course i would of wished he had done more sleeves, but out of the insurance list i had to chose from (about 25 drs), only a handful had done sleeves at all. and as i stated, my dr had the most of anyone on that list with 6. i actually didnt chose him because of his 6 sleeves done, but i chose him because he seemed the most qualifed surgeon on the list out of the ones who had done sleeves with 100's of rny's and lapbands. and also he is working out of a well known ny hospital recognized for their excellence in bariatrics. the hospital, st lukes hospital in ny is also a major research center on bariatrics surgery too. i feel like im in good hands, and honestly, i couldnt afford to self pay right now, at least not in the states. so im kind of locked in to trying to find the best option that my insurance will cover. if i had to self pay, i would probably go to mexico to dr aceves as he seems to be very qualified as a surgeon and the price for going out of the u.s. makes a big difference. ill keep hoping for the best and hopefully it will all turn out ok. my first big step is meeting with my dr on june 30 (only 12 days away) and thats my final visit before he submits everything to the insurance. take care everyone and thanks again.

Being nervous is natural, the biggest thin you can do to help with the cold feet is educate yourself! Read here ad check out some of coggins links. He foud some great videos and articles. The liquid diet before depends on your surgeon. Mine yelled a me because I am on a 1600 calorie high Protein diet before not a mostly liquid only. The best thing you can do is find a protein mic u like NOW. Excess protein will help release glycogen stores in your liver, this will help shrink it for surgery. Remember that u need 60g give or take depending on your dr. I use optimum whey protein from GNC or bodybuilding .com and the mocha Cappuccino is amazing!!! It has 24g protein and I mix it with 2 cups of slim milk so I get an extra 16 ish from that. So 2 of those and your golden! Being scared is good, it's a natural response and it means that your seriouse and that you appreciate the gravity of the change. Try to relax and remember, life is what your choosing. Welcome to the journey.

My thoughts are that you need a new surgeon. If you have reflux, DO NOT get the sleeve. It will likely make it a lot worse. I was able to choose between bypass and sleeve because my A1c was less than 7 and because I don't have any form of reflux, so I chose the sleeve. My husband has GERD and a higher A1c and was advised that bypass is really his only option. Sometimes those that never had reflux get it with the sleeve and have to revise to a bypass to resolve it. And while the sleeve has less risk, the bypass does give about an extra 10% of weight loss. So definitely find a new surgeon.

I am a registered nurse with background in ICU, home health and now oncology in Oklahoma City. As you can tell by my username, I am ?nurse_ally?s mom.? What a fortunate person I am. :biggrin0: I have fought the weight battle my whole life, literally. I cannot remember a time when weight and food did not control my life. My lowest weight as an adult was 128 (I was underweight for 2 days!!!!) and my highest was 303 (sometime within the last year and a half). I have a cousin who had RNY several years ago, and he is still overweight...I don't know why because we have never really discussed it. Being a nurse I have taken care of several patients with complications from RNY and banding, and I knew that would never be a option for me. I am miserable and just supposed that is the way the rest of my life would be with hypertension, knee pain, diabetes (newly diagnosed), c-pap, etc, etc, etc. And Allison was heading that same direction. Here we go...I guess Allison must have been researching this for some time, but one day she told me she was getting sleeved. I had already heard of this from a coworker who was thrilled with the results, but that is as far as it went. I questioned her about the procedure, talked about the expense and that is when she told me she was going to Mexico to have it done. My response...HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!! We spent many hours discussing her research and I went through the process with her of deciding which surgeon, location and so forth. With the feeling that she had done her research well, I jumped on board for her to go ahead. She was sleeved by Dr. Aceves on 7-1-10, is back home and doing well at this point, and I am scheduled to be sleeved by Dr. Aceves on 8-12-10. So there you go!!! For her my thoughts are that I don't want her to live the life I have lived if there is any possible way to avoid it. My weight has controlled everything I have ever done, and I have missed out on a lot of fun times because I was too big to participate or just flat didn't feel like it. She is a remarkable young woman with the responsibility of two awesome children, and she needs to be released from Fat Prison. For me my thoughts are if there is even a chance that I may get rid of the extra person I have been carrying around on my back for the last 20 years, I'm there!!! That's my story in a nutshell. I could go on and on, but those of us in this boat don't need all the details...you have already lived it. Thanks for starting this thread, Kathy. It is good to have others who relate to us in more ways that just getting sleeved. My parting thought for now?LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!! :thumbup: Kathe

I never did the last supper thing, because I knew it'd only make the first month of liquids & mushies harder if I was thinking back to when I recently deliciously gorged myself silly. I sat around wishing I had a few times during my grumpy liquids phase, but it definitely wouldn't have helped any! I will say though that my surgeon didn't require a pre-op diet, just 1 day of clears the day before surgery, so maybe that made it easier not to indulge. I was also trying very hard to reach a personal goal of being under BMI 50 and under 300 lbs by the time I had surgery, so I was working hard to count calories and behave. I also tried to avoid eating anything that would be a dietary staple during the first month, like Protein shakes, Jello, pudding, cottage cheese etc. so I wouldn't be burned out on it as fast. I figure that gave me an extra few days before I wanted to chuck all my protein samples into the disposal and just sleep until the first month was over. :thumbup1: Having a concrete goal for surgery day and knowing from reading these boards that the first month would suck but after that it gets so much better really helped me stay focused and get through the surgery and the first month. Everyone was right, too! Take it one day at a time and then one week at a time and focus on getting through your first month with staple line intact and tissues hydrated. After that, you'll be back to trying out old foods and new foods alike with a new freedom that you never had before.

I'm sorry to hear that your surgeon would not help you. I know many people that end up with RNY because they do not or can not fight for the sleeve. Best wishes with your RNY, and during your surgery and recovery. I'm sure you are disappointed. Like I said, you could always strap some weights on your ankles, and other stuff to tip the scale in your favor. Sorry, I know it's not "right" or the moral thing to do, but I can 100% tell you that if VSG would have not been an option, I would of had my band removed, and stayed fat. The long term complications with RNY are just not worth it. I'm not trying to scare you, but if you haven't, check out the revision forum on obesityhelp.com and see just how many people are revising from RNY to either ERNY or DS. I know you need permanent, I know you need surgery. I understand all of that, but why not possibly find another surgeon that will work with you, and why is he trying to force RNY on you? Does he not sleeves? Does not have many sleeves under his belt? I mean, RNY is a more expensive surgery by several, several thousand so that is a big reason why some surgeons push it instead of the sleeve. I'm not saying that's the case for your surgeon, but it's happened, and I know people that have been in that position.

Thank you for your advice. Yes I agree. I like chicken and will try it as long as it's crunchy. My concern is that I need help to figure out my protein amount per day. I have to have 70 grams at least a day. I made a appointment with my nitritionist but not until January.

@@asantiago My personal opinion but if you are going to try it, i would make sure there is some type of Protein vs just veggies and carbs. I do eat thin crust pizza every once in a while and I mean cracker thin crust. I do make sure there is alot of meat and of course it is not the most healthiest of meals. BBQ chicken pizza.......

33 lbs in 3 weeks is huge but yes, it will slow down. You have to have Water and Protein for your metabolism to keep going. It's up to your surgeon when you can start working out and how intense he wants you exercising. Also, you can't dump off smells....they may make you sick or upset your stomach but it's not dumping. Dumping in caused by either carbohydrate or fat intake but you have to actually consume them..... Good luck!!!!

I am starting to loss the nervousness and gain excitement about this journey. I meet with the BariatricPal NUT last night and got lots of positive comments and made a plan for this month of food log weighing Protein and healthy eating out choices.( also only eating Out twice!) shall be interesting! April surgery date seemed a reality to her if not even march! Seems surreal a bit still but so excited and the positive changes are helping me emotionally. Here's to starting the new year right! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hey I too have twins. They r three and my reason too. I developed some medical issues while pregnant with them and thought I wasn't even going to be around for them, that scared me. Since then I've been trying all I can and then I found out some coworkers had WLS done and I was like this may be an option. After extensive research I'm very comfortable and confident with this option. This forum is amazing too. I don't post as often as I'd like, but just reading others comments are wonderful. I wish u luck and congrats in the twins. They can be such a handful, but can't imagine it any other way

Hello, so here is where I am I have been to my seminars, got the approval from my Insurance, now in order for me to schedule my Surgery Date I must lose 10 pounds by Friday. I have started my Protein shakes but don't know if that will be enough to get the weight off. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated. Second I am 5'2 230 pounds can anyone with my similar stats tell me how their weight loss went (fast, slow, stalling)? I am getting closer to getting this done and while I have done lot's of research I still have many many questions. Nellybell

I am almost into my 6 week pre-op diet which is mostly protein drinks. What I have heard that helps with the sweet tooth is SF pop-cycles or SF jello. It's the one thing that you'll get to eat after the surgery so it might help before. What helps me is I use a little more Mio in my water. It makes it sweet and helps me with my craving. I have quit everything like you but the soda is the one thing that is difficult for me. Considering where I was 4 months ago I have quit a lot of things that are bad for me. Can't wait to hear how your pre-op appointment goes

So I had my first fill yesterday and all went well. I feel some restriction but its nit tight. I told the doctor I do not want to be tight. It took ten minutes tops! I went in and they had me fill in a few questions about n how I was feeling and how much I can eat . They discussed my concerns and desires and took my weight. Then he had me lie on the fluoroscopy table which has a small round X-ray head that is stomach sized. He quickly located my port and told me I would feel a slight pinch (. No big deal ). And put a small needle into my port . The syring had saline in it he put in 3 Cc's and had me drink a thin oink flavorless liquid then he watched the monitor to see how the liquid flowed through my band and esophogus. It went down nicely so he Added another cc and had me take another drink. On the monitor you could see that the liquid did not go down as smoothly so he went back down to 3 Cc's and said that should leave me comfortable but add restriction. I drank more Water before leaving and all was well. That day I ate mushy food only and today I can eat whatever as long as I chew chew chew. I can feel a slight restriction but its not too evident yet. I'm hoping its enough. I don't feel stuffed after drinking a 8 ounce Protein shake but I feel satisfied. For lunch I had Soup and dinner I had chicken, and some Beans with no problem. I ordered veggies but they were too hard and I was afraid they'd stick. I ate the whole leg and 10 small bites of the beans . I certainly ate more than 1/2 a cup of food. Perhaps 1 cup ? Hopefully the fill works!