For me, I wish I hadn't bought so many supplies before the surgery. I am so tired of looking at the huge Protein product stash I've purchased. I have a whole shelf on my pantry with premade protein products and powders, Jello, and baby food (until I took all the baby food to the local food pantry).

I guess I was afraid that I wouldn't feel well enough to go shopping, and I didn't want to be a burden to my husband if I could prepare in advance. That turned out to be far from the case.

I wish I had bought stuff in moderation, maybe some small sizes, instead of getting multiple huge tubs of stuff at the warehouse clubs.

What about you?

I bought several bottles of different flavored protein drinks - most of which I thought tasted nasty. I passed my unopned ones on to a friend who was having surgery. I did the same with a tub of protein and all of the chicken soup protein packets that I had ordered. I should have ordered one of those sample packets before I ordered anything in quantity. The other thing I would do different is do more work on my head in addition to making my food choices. The food stuff was easy for me early on. But now that I am normal and eating mostly how I will eat from now on, I realize the psychological stuff that led me to have a bad relationship with food is still there. I don't do the bad behaviors (mostly) but it's like an alcoholic taking it one day at a time. I wish I had started working on this stuff 6-10 months ago.

I am going to continue with Protein shakes indefinitely. I have about 16 pounds of chocolate and vanilla Pro Max and 3 pounds of unflavored Isopure. I would have skipped on the baby food, but SF Jello and pudding powders can be used to flavor Protein Shakes.

High protein makes me lose weight and I can make protein shakes that taste like real shakes. You know if you use at least 2% milk in them, they can be made into ice cream.

Here's one recipe I use from The world according to eggface:

strawberry Cheesecake shake

6-9 oz milk 1 or 2%

1 scoop of vanilla Protein powder

1 tsp strawberry SF Torani syrup

1 tsp SF instant cheesecake flavor

3 frozen strawberries

Whip in blender, serve in you best dessert glass with a tiny squirt of fat free whipped cream.

The shakes taste good and the possibilies are endless. I even did a pineapple shake.

I don't mind the actual products that I bought (although I am not in LOVE with everything), I just wish I hadn't bought so much. Eventually they will get used, but what a stockpile until then. I am not a cluttery person and I feel like I have too much junk.

For example: costco had a sale on the large tubs of Muscle Milk. Why did I have to buy two? The tubs are huge and since I only use one scoop per day in my coffee, I have SIX MONTHS of Muscle Milk on hand. This is not fun for a person who is not cluttery. That in addition to the two months of Premier shakes, and Protein powders I am not even using at the moment. Plus all the Vitamins I bought before just going with the Celebrate brand so I didn't have to think about if I was getting all I needed.

I should have just bought the minimum.

As for the head work, I am not sure how that will play out. Of course at four weeks out I feel in control with no cravings whatsoever. I don't think I had real cravings even before the surgery.

I did do some counseling and reading, and I do need to do some more. I used to enjoy drinking but now it doesn't interest me. I was majorly depressed about my weight and now I don't feel helpless or depressed at all. I am full of hope now. I hope that most of my eating problems are behind me but at least during the preoperative process I finally found a counselor I would go to, not just one who claimed to have knowledge of eating issues but was actually clueless. Don't get me started on that!

I am going to continue with Protein shakes indefinitely. I have about 16 pounds of chocolate and vanilla Pro Max and 3 pounds of unflavored Isopure. I would have skipped on the baby food, but SF Jello and pudding powders can be used to flavor protein shakes.

High protein makes me lose weight and I can make protein shakes that taste like real shakes. You know if you use at least 2% milk in them, they can be made into ice cream.

...

Those shakes sound really good, but I don't have much of a sweet tooth at all. I expected to be making protein smoothies post-surgery, and that is one of the reasons I bought all the powders, but I have no real interest. Also, quite a while ago I stopped using artifical sweeteners, as it isn't sugar that made me fat. So while I realize that these Protein drinks I am using for now do have artificial sweeteners, it is my long term goal to minimize sucralose, aspartame, etc., etc.

Also, since surgery, I can't imagine getting a whole smoothie into me before it separates and looks gross. I had been making them with frozen unsweetened fruit before surgery.

Actually, I would not do anything different. Well, maybe not have gone to the scale everyday. I liked it better when I didn't weigh myself on a daily basis. So much more rewarding. I liked the experience of my body readjusting in inches and discovering that my pants got toooooo baggy in a day time.

even in preparation for lowering our food intake, we buy too much. Its a cyclical problem. I made sure to buy one of each, chocolate and vanilla for Protein powders and some ready-made. Everything else is stuff I'd normally have in the house anyway - chicken broth/stock, ramen noodles (just using the seasoning packet, tossing the noodles - easily transported in the purse too!), SF Jello. I didn't go the babyfood route - I may at some point, but you can pick that up one jar at a time to see if it works for you.

If you have too much, purge your products and share with someone who could use these - check with a local infusion clinic - see if someone there has stomach or esophageal cancer that could use your excess.

I also have a lot of protein shake supplement in Chocolate and strawberry. I also have some powdered chicken and tomato soups. I did buy about 10 jars of baby food along with some gatorade etc. before surgery as I live alone and did not want to be a bother to anyone if I should need something once I got home for the first week or 2.

This week I had a stall so for the next 5 days I have gone back to the diet of protein shakes. I am hoping that this will jump start my weight loss again. I do not mind the shakes and usually use them once every day for a meal replacement so that I can have some things that may be a little higher in calories at another meal or special occassion. I did have to toss a couple jars of baby food as it was so bad that even salt and pepper would not make it edible. I would suggest that before you have surgery that you buy a jar of what might appeal to you and try it before buying several jars. The Lasagna and chicken and noodles were edible when doctored up.

Also I like to have the packaged soups for times when I might be going on the road and want something quick that has protein and is good for me.

I would have started exercising more frequently from the start. It is easy to think in the begining that you dont need to exercise because the weight is just falling off. I didnt realize that if I had been exercising that 6 pounds of my weightloss would not have been muscle. I thankfully have been able to correct this from exercising now, and have actually recovered that 6 pounds and gained 9 more pounds of muscle since. I felt so weak back then when I was losing all of the muscle and it really has made a difference in my energy levels by just getting out there and getting busy! I am in a bootcamp now and it feels wonderful to get my ass kicked....lol

If I could do something different - this is something born only of hindsight, but I would have read more books (although I read alot) and would have tried to work it out in my head if anything happened while I was recovering, such as bad news or emergencies - but I guess you cannot anticipate some of what can come your way (as some of you know, my Mother passed away on my 1 week post-op date. She was 58 and it was totally unexpected).

Some things I did do but did not need, BUT would do again (before you read it, let me explain I have always been what I call a pesimistic optimist - I plan and implement, then if nothing happens so be it):

-My medical records stored on an online email account, and a memory stick, as well as my life insurance policy, health insurance info, etc. A list of meds, too.

-a bug-out bag that I added some specifics to. I had baby wipes, hibiclens, and small "kits" of sterile gauze and tape,but added packets of protien powder and a small shake bottle (I always keep a bug-out bag, emergencies will not wait until you recover).

I also added an old-lady( lol sorry) push cart that you can fold and unfold to my useless gadgets in the trunk in case I had a bit more than I could carry somewhere for awhile.

-make sure you have the correct phone numbers for emergency services in your area on you phone and listed somewhere - 911 may not be able to find you if you use a cell phone.

-towing/roadside assistance - even if you do not normally use it, make sure your service includes full tow, full tire change and if possible the "ride home" feature. I usually change my tire but even two weeks out I would not want to risk it. Probably not for awhile.

- If I had not had a hubby that could stay with me while I was (am) healing, I would have probably signed up for the life alert home system for at least the first couple of months.

If it sounds over the top, everything I listed took me less than two hours to shop for, arrange, confirm, etc...

Come to think of it, I am going on a trip next week so I will be taking some of this stash away with me. That's a relief!

Oh, exercise! I was back at it almost right away. Especially since I had the post-surgical gas shoulder pain for over a week! I was on my elliptical just a few days after surgery (with surgeon's blessing). But it was just for 15 - 20 minutes. Now I am back to 30 minutes of more intense. But right after, I would do anything to get rid of that miserable shoulder pain. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

I don't think I could do a bootcamp yet. Eek!

Thanks for the exercise tip. I'm walking but not much else. I'm only a week out so will will sit on my exercise ball and do weights. I'll keep walking too.

Amanda, store the excess stuff in the garage. I made a special cabinet for my stuff and bring it in as needed. If not garage, then a storage space in a carport? That way you won't get the cluttered feeling.

I don't have a sweet tooth either, but I enjoy the shakes. May drink 1/4 cup at a time and leave the rest in the blender in the fridge and whip as needed?

If I knew then what I would now I would have pushed for surgery many years ago instead of listening to the doctors tell me "Oh you can do this yourself by dieting and exercising". Well I did that and wasted so many years of my life on yo=yo dieting and being miserable with myself and my life. Today I feel that I have been given a NEW LIFE and wish that I was younger but I intend to live the rest of my days with a new appreciate for things that some take for granted.

I think I would have had my surgery during the summer... It's winter in Chicago and I can't "workout" yet, so I like to walk.. It's TOOOOO cold outside!! I need to buy a treadmill!!! And I would have made a greater effort to lose more weight during my 6 month supervised weight loss program...

Other than that, I would change nothing!!

I think I would have liked to have the surgery while I was younger - but I also disagree strongly. Hindsight is 20/20 but ten years ago I think I would not have been ready to feel comfortable with myself, I would have felt like I was giving up.

I am just happy to do it now - and now I am in a much more stable place financially, at 28 I would have had to take out loans and accumulated sooo much debt - and then pay it off just to be able to get loans to afford the plastics!

I would have had a real food funeral. I only had about 2 oz of chocolate weight watchers ice cream the night before my surgery and wish now that I opted for a juicy steak instead. *still thinking with my greedy brain*

I also was lost when it came to the mushy food stage. I suppose I wouldn't have known how to prepare for it anyway because I was so turned off by lots of foods anyway. It still would have helped me to research my options and different recipes that could have gotten me through (the world according to egg face blog/website is the bomb!). That mushy/soft stage was tough!