Jan, Thanks for stopping back again to one of the best month boards of all time. We are certainly glad to have you back. Please come back when you can, but especially let us celebrate your century mark with you. It looks like the big 100 hurdle will be will cleared very soon for you. BTW...your picture says it all. It is easy to see the happiness on your face..you look marvelous. John

This is an old post but it might help. Shake It Up Baby: 14 Ways to make a protein shake not suck by Joshua Carter You said to yourself "I know, I'll buy the 10 pound 'Bucket O' Whey' and save myself some cash!" Then about one pound into it the thought of chugging down one more scoop of that crap makes you want to yack. Well, we've all been there. For some reason I seem to go on protein source splurges. At one point I went to my local Costco and saw how cheap those palates of eggs were. I bought one and within a few days I had eaten all of them. So I went back and got more and quickly devoured them as well. I repeated the cycle for a few weeks, and then one day I decided that was it. The palate was still half full and I tossed it in the tra****hought that if I had to even look at another egg someone was going to get hurt. I later did the same thing with tuna and then cottage cheese. Only now, some years later can I handle eggs again, but I haven't had cottage cheese or tuna in quite some time. So here's the rub - you need to get your protein, and you don't need to throw out your 10 pound bucket. Here are 14 ways you can make your protein shakes tolerable again. These are just a few of my favorite tricks, try them and be creative. 1) Change brands I got stuck in a protein rut and kept buying the same brand. So for a switch I tried another brand. Truthfully, it did not taste any better, but at least it was different. This can be huge and one of the best ways to not neglect your protein intake. You can also mix the brands- a scoop of this and a scoop of that. 2) Add Fruit Adding fruit can be a nice change of pace as well. Frozen fruit can be great as well, turning it into a smoothie. Watch the amount though, as too much fruit can add a ton of sugar. Berries like Strawberries and Blueberries can add a lot of flavor for not much sugar. 3) Add Crystal Light Crystal Light is a sugar free drink mix that comes in all sorts of flavors. There are two ways to do this, you can 1) pre-mix it in water and then add your protein to it, or 2) Just add a few sprinkles of the Crystal Light mix to you protein shake and remix. You could also use sugar free Kool Aid. 4) Add Peanut Butter Ah, my personal favorite. Basically everything is better with peanut butter. Once again watch the amount as peanut butter calories can add up quickly. Almond butter and others are good too, but Peanut Butter is the king. 5) Add Pumpkin This is a good one around the holidays. Get yourself a can of unsweetened pumpkin pie mix. Add a few tablespoons to your shake and mix it up. You can also add some pumpkin pie spices like cinnamon and cloves for some authenticity. 6) Add Sugar Free Quik Got Vanilla? Want Chocolate? Add a little Sugar-Free Nestle Quik (or other sugar free chocolate milk mix) and voila! This also works great when you combine it with peanut butter. 7) Add Cool Whip Whey shakes can definitely be bland and blah. Adding a little Cool Whip (preferable the lower fat one) can make it nice and creamy. Works great with Peanut Butter (see a pattern here?) 8) Add Extracts I haven't used this one too much, but every once in a while I'll add a few drops of peppermint extract and green food coloring so I can relive my boyhood memories of Shamrock Shakes at McDonalds. 9) Add Ice This one almost seems like a no brainer. Protein shakes can be bad tasting, but they are worse if they are not cold. Adding a few ice cubes and mixing it in a blender makes a huge difference. 10) Add Cinnamon Another easy one. A few sprinkles of cinnamon and you have yourself a new shake. 11) Eggnog Another holiday fave. Adding 1/4 - 1/2 cup of eggbeaters (raw eggs could be hazardous) and a half a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract and you have yourself an eggnog protein shake. 12) Cheesecake A couple of tablespoons of low-fat cream cheese along with some vanilla extract and you have a cheesecake protein shake. Yummy. 13) Mocha If coffee is your thing, then adding some cold coffee to your chocolate protein shake can turn it into a frappacino. 14) Root Beer Float Another one of my favorites is to mix my protein in diet root beer (Diet Barq's Root Beer). As close to a root beer float as you can get without real ice cream.

Loss since surgery: 97lbs New Cumulative Total: 2636

Lost before surgery 114 pounds Lost post surgery 115 pounds Total being 229 pounds New Cumulative before surgery 2312 New Cumalative after surgery 2313 New Cumalative if you add them together 2427 I wasn't sure if you wanted just after surgery loss or everything since I started losing Sabrina

Checking in after being gone a LONG time. Here's my stats, almost to goal Highest - 232 DOS - 225 Today's - 127.5 2.5 pounds to goal!! Feeling great - wearing a size 8!! YAHOOOO!!