Hi All:

These have been posted before and I think it is a great way to try a great-tasting protein drink. It has a high protein to weight ratio. That means that the 26g serving size will yield you 23 grams of protein. Other protein drinks I have tried have a 30g serving sixe and 15 grams of protein. The rest of the 15 g is sweetener or filler or whatever else they put in those protein supplements.

YOU CAN ONLY ORDER THESE BY PHONE. THEY ARE LIMITING ONE PER PERSON. IF YOU HAVE NUMEROUS PEOPLE IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD, YOU CAN PUT IN AN ORDER UNDER THEIR NAME AND CREDIT CARD. SYNTRAX'S PHONE NUMBER IS 1-866-333-7403. ASK FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE (THEY CLOSE AT 5P.M. CENTRAL TIME, I THINK) and place your order for 10 samples for $9.99 UPS GROUND shipping.

Bodybuilding.com has all the flavors available. Search "syntrax nectrar" 2.2 pounds 36 servings is around $28 and their grabngo packs are $24 for 21 individually-wrapped servings of one flavor.

Bodybuilding.com has a good price on click coffee protein but melting mama is the best one to contact for  all the click protein promotions!

Question: the max protein the eggface uses in her recipes is quite expensive at gnc. does anyone know a website that carries this protein for a reasonable price? what flavors do you all like of the max protein?i know even if i don't like the protein, i can always make protein ice cream. i am soo sick of sugar free popsicles and crystal light pops. i wish grocery stores carried healthy protein ice cream.

I like the herbalife unflavored protein powder and their shakes. i go through  reputable sellers
t hrough ebay (always fresh products--great service) because i don't want to go through a local distributor that wants to recruit me into the herbalife organization. Herbalife chai latte ranks up there along with click and my syntrax nectars.

i buy the unjury once a year. i like all the flavors but i prefer the syntrax. The unjury soup is okay.
If i had to do preop again, i would do unjury for two weeks  instead of the expensive and bleh tasting medifast and optifast for 2 or more weeks. UNJURY HAS SAMPLES--ABOUT TWO BUCKS FOR EACH FLAVOR. you have to check with your doc, of course. for those that are mandated to do the optifast/medifast "hell" you might be able to find affordable products at dietdirect.com--they have a lot of protein-enriched liquids that are less than a buck a serving.

when i go on a roadtrip vacation., i like the smartforlife.com. Yup, those are the gimmicky cookie diet folks! Their cookies are okay and prevent my convenience store snacking that i do mostly on weekends (choc chip is the best IMO) but what i love are the shakes--the powder is premixed in a little bottle. you have to add water voila! i love their shakes--it's cheaper to go through costco.com and search "smart for life" or through their website. The SMARTFORLIFE.COM company  sometimes lower the price of items if you ask.

Here are my favorite Syntrax Nectars: fuzzy navel, twisted cheffy, chocolate truffle and capuccino. They mix well in a shaker bottle and not in a magic bullet. As people have mentioned. they have a "foam" bot a not-so-heavy protein taste. i mix them with skim milk, soy milk, filtered water, g4 gatorade, vitamin water zero, powerade zero, crystal light, coffee, orange juice (i love the tropicana 50--coupon on tropicana.com--it has 50 perecent less sugar than regular oj).

I HOPE EVERYONE GETS TO TRY THE SYNTRAX NECTAR SAMPLES! iPlease post where you get your wls samples, what you paid and what you got in the sample pack!

Hi All:

Has anyone tried the Bariatric Advantage Vitaband form of vitamins? Do you like them? Where do you buy them at the best price?

I'd love to see experienced bandsters posting their high quality lap band vitamin regimine.
I currently take a multi-vitamin from my local health food store and supplement with calcium nitrate from wal-mart and an iron supplement from target.

I want a high-quality vitamin regimine that is recommended for us bandsters. What do y'all take from the bariatric advantage and celebrate lines. are there any other popular vitamins formulated for us banded folks?

Help me out, folks. I want a lap band vitamin regimine that tastes good and that I can follow for life. I can afford to spend 300-400 dollars a year to not have any bandster-related future vitamin deficiences. I currently spend 20 bucks per month and know I need to start paying more for quality vitamins that are bio-available and easily and effectively absorbed. I prefer the fruity flavored chewable kind of vitamins. AND, YES I TOOK FLINSTONES FOR 20 YEARS (from childhood to adulthood). I started taking regular over-the-counter vitamins since being banded 5 years ago. I do get most of my nutrition from food and I do feel that all bandsters need some sort of vitamin supplementation to avoid potential future deficiencies. There isn't much research on bandster vitamin needs and I have never met a bandster that has their vitamin levels checked by regular blood tests.

Would love to see a VITAMIN forum for us bandsters! Yes, we need to take our vitamins just like RNYers, DSers, Sleevers!

So, bandsters, what's a high-quality, band-friendly routine I can follow?

Cheers,
Angel
Banded July 2004/Drs. Ortiz/Martinez Tijuana,Mexico
260 starting weight/250 surgery  weight/200 plus or minus 5 pounds current weight
50 percent weight loss attained/goal weight 135-140
I have 6cc's in a 9.75cm (4cc) Lap Band. I am hoping to be at goal 135-140 in a year! Thanks for the encouragement all of you have provided me! LONG TERM BANDSTERS WORLD-WIDE, SHARE YOUR BAND SUCCESSES AND YOUR BAND SORROWS!

Post Date: 5/27/09 8:52 pm
hey there:

I AM SEEING MORE AND MORE  RNYERS AND BANDSTERS WANTING TO GET REVISION SURGERY! BEFORE YOU CONSIDER IT,  TRY LOSING IT THROUGH A HEALTHY DIET AND EXERCISE. THESE ARE THE ONLY WAYS TO SUSTAIN WEIGHT LOSS. DON'T BECOME TOO DEPENDENT ON YOUR TOOL.

and if you fail the revision, will  you have another revision?and aother? and another?

you have to understand that your surgery was YOUR PLAN A AND YOUR PLAN B.

Diet and exercise will have to be part of our lives forver.

I have lost 60 pounds of the 120 I needed to lose since my lap band 5 years ago. Am I discouraged? Sometimes. I have never said to myself (yeah, 40, 50, 60 pounds gone forever as i have seen countless times on this board)> I say to myself "60 pounds gone for today, 60 pounds to go and ONE DAY AT A TIME.

There are no guarantees in WLS or revisions :))).

Wishing you lots of success,
Angel

Banded 2004 ortiz/martinez
6 cc in 4 cc band with little restriction
60 pounds lost from 260 to 200. today i was 194 hoping for progress
60 more to go

hi there:

my guess is seven to ten years. i was banded in 2004 along with several of my friends. two of them had erosion ( a very very, rare occurrence but more common to those bandsters with too-tight of a fill). their erosions have had scar tissue but other than that, their stomachs a wonderfully healed--thank God!

banded patients are hard to find from the 90's. there are several great posters here (Sandy RN--you always have such informative posts) from 2003.

I try not to be too band-dependent. i am working on portion control, increased proten and exercise as the real components of weight loss.

if there are bandsters from the early 2000's (Europeans, Aussies, etc.), please chime in!!

all the best,
Angel Cheers,
Angel
Banded July 2004/Drs. Ortiz/Martinez Tijuana,Mexico
260 starting weight/250 surgery  weight/200 plus or minus 5 pounds current weight
50 percent weight loss attained/goal weight 135-140
I have 6cc's in a 9.75cm (4cc) Lap Band. I am hoping to be at goal 135-140 in a year! Thanks for the encouragement all of you have provided me! LONG TERM BANDSTERS WORLD-WIDE, SHARE YOUR BAND SUCCESSES AND YOUR BAND SORROWS!

Hey there:

After I had my surgery, I had 6 full-dinner business functions to attend.

When asked, I told people that I had an ulcer and my doc wanted me on a BLAND DIETof liquids.

The medical test excuse is a good one but what if you have to see these people every day at work.

When I have a fill, I go on liquids for 2-3 days. On those days, when asked, I say my ulcer is acting up (never had an ulcer so I don't know how to respond if anyone questions me further).
Some people are even so sympathetic, they offer to drink liquids with me at lunch with me. he he
my syntrax nectrar protein mixes have been a hit at work! they also love my unjury based chicken soup.

i have had no one suspect wls. also, don't publicize that you are drinking an optifast or medifast shake. when i see somebody doing the liquid diet thing for two weeks, they always get the "are you having weight loss surgery" question. i never ask and i never make remarks about  certain people's 20 pounds a month weight loss. but people in my company do! there are always wls rumors or bets going around my office so i am glad i only told close family and friends about my surgery.

i cannot believe how many conversations at work there are about the lap band or realize band since these companies have commercials on tv and radio constantly.

wish you tons of success and compliments on your new "you."
 Cheers,
Angel
Banded July 2004/Drs. Ortiz/Martinez Tijuana,Mexico
260 starting weight/250 surgery  weight/200 plus or minus 5 pounds current weight
50 percent weight loss attained/goal weight 135-140
I have 6cc's in a 9.75cm (4cc) Lap Band. I am hoping to be at goal 135-140 in a year! Thanks for the encouragement all of you have provided me! LONG TERM BANDSTERS WORLD-WIDE, SHARE YOUR BAND SUCCESSES AND YOUR BAND SORROWS!

Post Date: 5/27/09 12:15 am

This was on msn.com

The Truth About Diet Soda

The authors of Eat This Not That reveal some hard truths about low-calorie sodas.

By Dave Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, Men's Health

Find more: Test Your Nutritional IQ The 8 Worst Breakfasts in America Buy Eat This, Not That! Books

We talk a lot about “watching what we eat,” but if you never gave a thought to what you ate and instead watched only what you drank, you could probably cut 450 calories a day out of your life—that’s nearly a pound of fat trimmed away each week! That's what a study from the University of North Carolina found. Americans today drink about 192 gallons of liquid a year—or about 2 liters a day. To put it into perspective, this is nearly twice as many calories as we did 30 years ago.

When confronted with the growing tide of calories from sweetened beverages, the first response is, “Why not just drink diet soda?” Well, for a few reasons. Eat This, Not That! did some research and found out some hard truths behind the low-calorie (and nutrition-free) beverage. The story isn't as clear-cut as you suspect, and it might make you think twice the next time you're looking for a thirst-quencher.

Hard truth No. 1

Just because diet soda is low in calories doesn't mean it can't lead to weight gain.

 

.insertLinks {border-bottom:1px solid #DA7429;border-top:1px solid #DA7429;padding: 3px 0 6px 6px;} .insertLinks #headText {font-family: tahoma,verdana,sans-serif;color:#DA7429;font-size:138%;line-height:1.2em;padding-bottom:7px;padding-top:2px;} .insertLinks li{font-size:80%;line-height:1.2em;}More Healthy Eating Advice

• America's Healthiest Supermarket Foods
• Best and Worst Burgers
• Search: Find More on Nutrition

 

It may have only 5 or fewer calories per serving, but emerging research suggests that consuming sugary-tasting beverages—even if they're artificially sweetened—may lead to a high preference for sweetness overall. That means sweeter (and more caloric) cereal, bread, dessert—everything. Considering there are 15 calories in every teaspoon of sugar, that's not good news if you're watching your weight.

Hard truth No. 2

Guzzling these drinks all day long forces out the healthy beverages you need.

Diet soda is 100 percent nutrition-free—and it's important to remember that all that useless liquid is taking up space that could have gone to more healthy alternatives. On the positive side, it means you won’t be taking in equally non-nutritious, calorie- and sugar-packed options. But it's just as important to actively drink the good stuff as it is to avoid that bad stuff. So one diet soda a day is fine, but if you're downing five or six cans, that means you're limiting your intake of healthful beverages, particularly water and tea, which is high in antioxidants.

Plus, a recent study from Johns Hopkins found that restricting liquid caloric intake is a more effective way to lose weight than restricting calories from food. There’s no better place than by eliminating anything on our list of the 20 unhealthiest drinks in America.

Hard truth No. 3

There remain some concerns over aspartame, the low-calorie chemical used to give diet sodas their flavor.

Aspartame is 180 times sweeter than sugar, and some animal research has linked consumption of high amounts of the sweetener to brain tumors and lymphoma in rodents. The FDA maintains that the sweetener is safe, but reported side effects include dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, memory loss, and mood changes. Check out our guide to the 11 most controversial food additives to see how aspartame stacks up.

The bottom line is this: Diet soda does you no good, and it might just be doing you harm. The best way to hydrate is by drinking low-calorie, high-nutrient fluids—and choosing healthy alternatives, like the ones you'll find in our list of the 16 best drink swaps.

Now that you have a hold on your liquid assets, upgrade the rest of your grocery list by avoiding the 13 Worst "Healthy" Foods in the Supermarket.

Find more on MSN Health & Fitness:

• Search: Sweeteners
• Is 'Healthy Soda' an Oxymoron?
• Avoid Hidden Dangers When Eating Out

 

Provided by Men's Health

Hi All:

I was banded in July 2004 and will be banded 5 years. I check the board monthly and am so glad there is so much more information available today than there was when I was researching weight loss surgery.

I chose to be banded because it was a reversible procedure and I thought in 10 or 20 years, with medical technology as quickly as it is progressing, banding would no longer be done, RNY, DS and VSG would be long gone as viable surgical options and instead replaced with true, safe, non-invasive procedures. My band is just fine (Thank God) but I have never believed that it is a lifetime implant. For example, my dad's pacemaker has already been replaced and my mom's hip replacement from 10 years ago needs to be revised. These are lifetime implants. Hopefully, our bands will last 10-15 years-let us pray!

For newbies out there, no matter how good  insurance you have, never asssume emergency surgery for you is going to be free or lowcost. For those of us thast have insurance (with a wls exclusion), an emergency medical fund is essential. I have been thrilled when I read about one you being able to save enough for plastics but I have never read anyone mention that they have money set aside just for a wls emergency. IT IS essential. I travel extensively for work and wherever I go, I have the name of the local band surgeon and where to go for a fill.

Here are my stats. I am 35 yrs. old, 5'5" and started at 260. I lost 10 pounds on the pre-op liquid diet which took me  to 250. I lost another 30 pounds on the 6 week liquid diet which took me to 220. In the next 2 years I lost an additional 40 pounds which took me to 180 in 2006. I am now 200 so i have lost and maintained a 50% weight loss. Was weight loss surgery a good investment? I think so. I like to do a cost per pound analysis. I have currently spent $3500 for fills and $8500 for the surgery. $12000 for 60 pounds or $200 a pound. For those of you bandsters  that paid out of pocket divide your pounds lost by your surgery and maintenance visit costs and you'll get a cost per pound.

I would love to see posts on this forum from patients 5-10 years out of surgery--what ever surgery type you had. Share with us what the "weight loss real world" is like.

More importantly, the questions I'd like to pose to everybody out there. What weight loss surgeries will we be discussing on this forum 10 years from now? Will our bands be still in place? Will the DSers have a modified new DS? Will the RNY still be the gold standard in the U.S. I'm not looking to start a debate about weight loss surgery methods or inspire negativity or drama.

Just posing a straight up question to look 10 years into the future. As you can imange 10 years ago, we were discussing phen-fen and had no idea what a RNY or a DS or a VSG or a gastric band was! So 10 years from now guys, what do ya think? Will peple have gastric stimulators, a revised TOGA procedure via endoscopy, biodegradable bands (yes, gastric bands that do their job and break down in the body with no surgery), brain electrodes to lose weight (like recently featured on Oprah), a weight loss pill.

I am not a medical person but I love to discuss technology. So chime in everyone. What new wl technolgy   will we be discussing 10 years from now on the OH boards?

By the way, I am filled to 6cc in a 4cc band and I have little restriction. I do like my band and am not thinking about a revision. I'm happy with my 60 pond weight loss and will try to lose 60 pounds in a year's time.

ALL the best,
Angel

Banded July 2004
Drs. Ortiz/Martinez Tijuana,Mexico
band  filled 6cc in 4cc (band still in good position but little restriction) cannot get any more fills--band full
260 starting weight
250 surgery  weight
200 plus or minus 5 pounds current weight
50 percent weight loss
goal weight 135-140