I want to hear YOUR favorites!

Favorite Vitamins.

Favorite Protein powders.

Favorite recipes.

Favorite meal.

Favorite blender.
Favorite cup/drink.

Favorite plate.

Favorite food scale.

Favorite brands for other things that you use to help you stay on track!

I am curious of everyones answers b/c I am about to start buying b/c my Doctor stated I need to start vitamins now. I been changing my eating habits slowly. I already gave up coke/pepsi drinks. I am a month out on that. I am slowly switching to non-sweetened tea.

So, share your favorites! (:

Thanks!

I tell you something that has absolutely blown me away is the Hydro Flask. During my classes a gentlemen had his with him and kept going on about how great it was so I purchased one myself.

I can put Water and ice in this thing before I go to work, and that ice will still be there keeping it icy cold up to 24 hours later! It still amazes me. I knew that it also claimed to keep hot stuff hot for up to 12 hours, so I recently tested it out with broth. While it didn't stay hot quite that long. It stayed too hot to drink (I used boiling water) for at least an hour, and hot down to lukewarm for the next 6 or so hours. And it doesn't sweat on the outside either. I swear I'd volunteer to be their spokesperson, I love it that much!

It's a bit pricey, but well worth the investment long term, and they come in a variety of sizes. I've thrown all my other water bottles away, as they don't come close to comparing. Love it!

@@The Candidate - I totally agree!! I spent a bunch of money on other bottles and way to keep Water cold all day. Then I heard about the Hydro Flask and bought the 32oz. I absolutely love it!!!

Totally worth the price too!

I did awful on every Protein shake/powder I ever tried (to the point where I preferred not to eat at all), so now I live on a carefully cobbled-together diet of random things:

Frozen greek yogurt bar in the morning (low cal, low carb, 7g protein, I need something sweet in the AM)

Fairlife skim milk (LOVE this! Ultra-filtered high protein, high Calcium, low carb/low cal milk)

Sugarfree strawberry syrup or diet cocoa mix for my Fairlife milk

Low fat string cheese (7g protein, nice little snack!)

Couple tablespoons of cottage cheese with a tiny bit of tomato Soup on it (tastes like lasagna ricotta!)

I use the opurity bariatric Vitamin (vitamin made specifically for sleeve patients) so that I only have one supplement a day to take. Originally, I was supposed to take calcium as well, but the Fairlife milk has so much in it that my doc gave me the go-ahead to hold off on it and do a bloodwork check next month to see if I can go without it.

Honestly, I didn't buy special blenders, plates, etc. Sometimes I feel like we try to hype ourselves up through unnecessary purchases, lol. I keep it simple and try to stick to food prep/diet that I can sustain. It's a marathon, not a race.

My favorite vitamin is optisource, I love premier protein all flavors

I love the EAS Advantage low carb protein drinks! I eat a lot of roasted chicken and grilled shrimp. I also eat a lot of greek yogurt. I love Colby Jack Cheese cut into squares. I can eat 3-4 squares of that with 2 or 3 ritz crackers. I find that with most of my meals I am really focused on the protein part. I don't mind having a little potato salad, etc on the side because I am good about eating my protein first and then maybe one or two small bites of a side.

Oops...my favorite blender is my Vitamix! I don't think you need one to be successful but it has been fun to play around with different Soups and smoothies I can make in it.

My favorite drink is definitely unsweet iced tea. I love Water but unsweet tea is a welcome change!

I bought a food scale but ditched it pretty early on as my stomach was pretty good about letting me know when to stop.

At first I used a salad size plate (well, right after I used a ramekin) at home but now at 4 months out It doesn't matter much to me what size plate I have.

Good Luck with your surgery!! I am almost 4 months out and am 58 pounds down! I've gone from a size 20 to a size 12. Best decision I've ever made for myself!

Oops...my favorite blender is my Vitamix! I don't think you need one to be successful but it has been fun to play around with different soups and smoothies I can make in it.

My favorite drink is definitely unsweet iced tea. I love Water but unsweet tea is a welcome change!

I bought a food scale but ditched it pretty early on as my stomach was pretty good about letting me know when to stop.

At first I used a salad size plate (well, right after I used a ramekin) at home but now at 4 months out It doesn't matter much to me what size plate I have.

Good Luck with your surgery!! I am almost 4 months out and am 58 pounds down! I've gone from a size 20 to a size 12. Best decision I've ever made for myself!

In just 3 months, you went from a 20 to a 12? WOW.

Right now, I am a size 20/22 (depends on outfit). I should have surgery in mid-Sept.

I live in NC right now & none of my family can come up for my surgery so my Mother-in-Law is going to help me right now. They won't see me until Christmas/New Years. So by then, it should be noticeable that I lost weight?

I didn't think that much would come off that fast. Wow.

I never been below a size 18 so I might have a field day when I can finally wear small size clothing.

@nylaj...I started at 240 and I'm at 182 now! I've had my share of stalls too where there were one or two weeks where the scale didn't budge! But I learned to be patient with the process and my body and eventually I started losing again. I'm almost 60 pounds down and people are finally starting to notice a difference!! I'm excited for you and your upcoming journey!!

I am 7 weeks post op and down 34 pounds ( but that also included the 9 pounds I lost on opti fast pre op) I started at 20/22 size and now I have bought some shirts that are 14! I feel amazing and best decision I ever made - only regret, not doing it sooner !

My fav protein is Premier - best bang for your buck

I also love Quest and GNC has Lean 25. I also take the vanilla shakes and add Maxwell House iced coffe )like those crystal light liquid ) to that in morning ! Yummy

I just got a Ninja blender with the cup and make some great shakes.

Also fav find is PB2 - yummy and unflavored (injury brand) protein powder

Best wishes!

My favorite protein is Isopure no carb whey, never had an after taste with that one, and I tried many protein powders. For unflavored I use Great Lakes collagen. I love my Nutri Bullet for shakes, smoothies and soups. My favorite drink is water, I flavor it myself. Most days it is something simple, like pineapple, watermelon, or lemon (you just put some chunks of fruit in a bottle of water overnight), but sometimes I have the time to be creative like basil, watermelon, mint, or cucumber basil...whatever is in season.

Good luck with your surgery!!!

Okay, I am more than a year out, so I'll tell you what worked for me at the beginning, and what is still working...

Protein shakes: I like unjury initially, then it became too sweet for me, I then drank one of the Premier Protein shakes every day, even though it killed me because of my lactose intolerance. I now am on to Quest bars, but I really only eat one on the days that I work out.

Meals: At first, softer foods were my go to, like stews and chili. I could eat about 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a sitting. Now my go-to meal is a salad with chicken on it. I probably eat some version of this every single day, lately my craving has been for Panera's Mediterranean quinoa salad. I can only eat about a half portion of it, but I order the full-size, and make sure I eat all of the chicken.

Snacks: This is something that really hasn't changed for me since surgery. I have been snacking on cheese, either string cheese, or some other portion controlled packaged cheese, like baby bellas since right after my surgery, I usually eat about two ounces of cheese per day. I did find that when I hit a stall a few months ago, and was looking over my diet, that I had started to snack on crackers and other carb-heavy things. When I cut those out was right about when my weight finally got under 150!

Vitamins and other Supplements: Here's what I take every day: My protonix (prescribed), a Vitamin B complex, and a stool softener every morning. Here is what I try to remember to take later in the day: a chewable multi vitamin, and Biotin supplements. I remember to take these probably every third day...

Fluids: Water, water, water. I go through crystal light, and iced tea phases, but water is literally always available, and I drink it all day, every day. My surgeon did tell me that diet soda is okay in moderation, so I usually drink one diet coke per day.

Workout: I had a weight lifting routine that worked for me prior to surgery, so once I was cleared to lift, I got back into that, and have been doing it fairly consistently since. Cardio was another story. I thought I hated running. Turns out I only hated running when I weighed 230 pounds. I started couch to 5k last summer, and now run 3-4 miles a couple of times a week. I am half-heartedly training for a half marathon... we'll see.

Sorry for the long-winded response, I hope it helps!

Okay, I am more than a year out, so I'll tell you what worked for me at the beginning, and what is still working...

Protein shakes: I like unjury initially, then it became too sweet for me, I then drank one of the Premier Protein shakes every day, even though it killed me because of my lactose intolerance. I now am on to Quest bars, but I really only eat one on the days that I work out.

Meals: At first, softer foods were my go to, like stews and chili. I could eat about 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a sitting. Now my go-to meal is a salad with chicken on it. I probably eat some version of this every single day, lately my craving has been for Panera's Mediterranean quinoa salad. I can only eat about a half portion of it, but I order the full-size, and make sure I eat all of the chicken.

Snacks: This is something that really hasn't changed for me since surgery. I have been snacking on cheese, either string cheese, or some other portion controlled packaged cheese, like baby bellas since right after my surgery, I usually eat about two ounces of cheese per day. I did find that when I hit a stall a few months ago, and was looking over my diet, that I had started to snack on crackers and other carb-heavy things. When I cut those out was right about when my weight finally got under 150!

Vitamins and other Supplements: Here's what I take every day: My protonix (prescribed), a Vitamin B complex, and a stool softener every morning. Here is what I try to remember to take later in the day: a chewable multi vitamin, and Biotin supplements. I remember to take these probably every third day...

Fluids: Water, water, water. I go through crystal light, and iced tea phases, but water is literally always available, and I drink it all day, every day. My surgeon did tell me that diet soda is okay in moderation, so I usually drink one diet coke per day.

Workout: I had a weight lifting routine that worked for me prior to surgery, so once I was cleared to lift, I got back into that, and have been doing it fairly consistently since. Cardio was another story. I thought I hated running. Turns out I only hated running when I weighed 230 pounds. I started couch to 5k last summer, and now run 3-4 miles a couple of times a week. I am half-heartedly training for a half marathon... we'll see.

Sorry for the long-winded response, I hope it helps!

Question - is it safe to take a stool softener daily? I don't go often & I know the Nurse told me I need to take something, but wasn't sure if something daily was okay?

@@Nylaj

I take one daily. It's OTC (docusate). I am a nurse, and know that many of my patients take one daily, some twice a day, so I felt comfortable with a daily pill. I was trying for a long time after surgery to not need one, but that led to some, shall we say... uncomfortable situations? I still don't go daily even with it, but it's way better with it than without it.

Don't worry about a scale because it is volume you need to worry about. I have a cheap single serve Hamilton beech blender that is good for protein shakes.

Isopure vanilla or chocolate was the only powder I could stand. I changed up flavors by adding MIO to already blended shakes.

Fair life milk has been my go to for shakes.

In the beginning I bought small Rubbermaid containers to bring my lunch to work. They help you portion.

Hope this helps!

I have a question. I recently was told by my NUT to try the Fairlife Milk, I finally found it at the store. I got skim milk as that is what I drink to begin with. I checked the date before I purchased and of course it is good for many weeks.

My problem was when I opened the container it smelled really bad. I checked the date. Poured into a glass, ok really doesn't smell. Tasted it. Tasted fine. I asked my husband to taste as my taste buds have been all over the place since surgery. he said nope its good. then I got him to smell when the container was opened! it is so bad the smell... is this just me? Is it just the container?? Has anyone else noticed this?

I was using a cheap blender too! The only thing driving me nuts is I am washing it all the time, so I purchased a Nutri Bullet because it has many small mixing \ blending containers with it! I tried it out last night it works pretty good.

I use unjury and premier shakes and unflavored Protein powder!

I do like blender bottle's for shakes too, and that way I take them to work with me and on the go. and I love the containers that go on the bottom of the bottles that hold your protein powders or Vitamins etc.

I need food idea's so I am hoping more people reply.

Good Luck!