Follow up to Smoothies

Hey Lyn and Diana ... I'm so glad you're here with me ::smile:: and thank you both for asking the obvious question, I should have mentioned this in the original post.

The first few weeks after GBS surgery you are at the mercy of protein drinks, so trust me I have tried most of them. What I think is the best one out there is Whey Isolate 28. I get it at GNC. I joined they membership thingie because this stuff ain't cheap and with the membership you get great savings the first week of every month. Another thing I really like is GNC will take back any product, even if you have opened it and tried it. Like I said I have tried almost all of them - powders with even more protein - and a variety of flavors, I returned most of them and they never gave me a problem. So instead of having to buy the tiny bags to "just try" a flavor, I buy the big tub of something which is much cheaper ... if I love it, great - if not, I take it back and try something else.

For ME I am stuck on the chocolate because I'm not allowed to have real chocolate and this particular one is good enough (and can be "doctored" to be even better) that I feel like I am getting a treat. Vanilla was pretty good too. I hated the strawberry ... caramel was gross ... and malt made me gag, lol.

They have other liquid protein drinks in flavors like fruit punch, melon etc that you can buy in single servings ... to be honest they are nasty, BUT I keep a tiny ice cube tray full of them in the freezer and when I come inside from taking a walk or gardening and I am so hot, I pop one in my mouth and *bam* 3-10 grams of protein down within seconds. And like I mentioned yesterday you can mix them with frozen fruit and use even more of the liquid.

Let me know if you give it a try. And please let me know of any new smoothie ideas that you come up with that you think are yummy.

Today's tip ....

I'm not trying to act like I reinvented the wheel with this ... trust me I know everyone has been doing it forever. But just like it took this surgery for me to finally comprehend that PROTEIN is the key to weight loss, it also took me a year post op to discover the wonderful world of protein smoothies. What can I say, I'm a very slow learner aka hard headed as hell. ::grin::

So last night (on day 15 of Ambien withdraw and no sleep) I was forced to watch infomercials .... the Magic Bullet to be exact. Now truth be told I bought the Magic Bullet about 5 years ago and made homemade salsa once and put it in the back of the cabinet never to be seen again. Long story short after watching the obnoxiously annoying couple make everything from 3 second nachos to Alfredo sauce in my sleep deprived haze, I got worked up into a Bullet frenzy. First thing this morning I went in search of the silver genius and got started making a breakfast smoothie.

In my Bullet cup I put:

1 cup of coffee

1 scoop Whey Isolate 28 protein powder (28 grams protein)

hand full of ice

.5 cup milk (4 grams protein)

1 Tbsp of Peanut Butter (3.5 grams of protein)

It was SO freak'n good! I mean almost "treat worthy" good. Now don't get me wrong, the calorie count on this very well may not be worth it to most people. But if you are exercising ... and you eat very little like I do (most GBS patients), the benefit of the protein in this far out weighs the calories. Also, you can tweak this anyway you like ... don't add the peanut butter and limit the amount of milk and the calories drop by a huge amount and it is still very yummy.

You can also use other liquid protein drinks (which can be a little yucky) and make a smoothie with frozen fruit to cover up the taste.

Even if you haven't had GBS or Lapband you can benefit by getting added protein in their diet. Let me know if give one a try. ::smile::

Below 170

This mornings weigh in: 168.8 - I haven't been under 170 my entire adult life. I love these numbers ... I weigh 168.8 and I have lost 163.2 - isn't that wild? ::happy dance::

Well I'm back ....

As much as I hated Blogger I have to admit that I'm a paste eater and just could not find another Blog that I could figure out. ::sigh:: So almost a year post op from my Gastric Bypass Surgery, I'm backkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk. ::grin::

I've been speaking to pre op patients at the hospital and need a place to share tips and tricks with them (or anyone else who is interested) that I have learned along the way ... and let's be honest, anyone that knows me knows I seriously tried Facebook but I can't say ANYthing in 142 characters. ::Big Grin::

Pre-Op ... Weight 332 pounds

The day before surgery. There is actually a bruise the size of a football on my stomach from trying to squeeze into a booth at the Outback just a few days before.

Please feel free to write to me at stacy.stiles.francis@gmail.com with ANY questions, comments or just say "hi". I LOVE talking about the surgery, my progress, strategy on how to get through it ... anything and everything. It is not uncommon in the beginning to feel like you made a huge mistake ... I promise you that feeling will pass. If you need someone to talk to I'm here. ::smile::