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It’s a testament to how effective this surgery has been that I nearly let the entire day pass without realizing it had been one year since my WLS.  It’s a testament to how grateful I am that my first thought upon realizing was that I needed to come on here and share my experience, to thank those that encouraged me, and to perhaps encourage and help others just starting out.

First, the prime stats (so far):

Body fat 56% to 21% (goal is 19% or less, priority #1)

Weight 375 to 207 (goal is 199 or less, not important but would be nice)

Pant size 60 to 36 (36 is still a bit snug, but then again so was 60 at one point)

Shirt size XXXXL/19 to L/16.5 (even an occasional M/16 fits perfect)

Shoe size: 13 to 11.5 (who knew?)

Girls currently dating 0 to 1 (admittedly I peaked at 3 a few months ago, but the goal is to maintain the current number, hmm, maybe that's really priority #1)

 

Surgery and complications: Surgery recovery was quick and relatively painless after the first day.  But I had a stricture at 4-6 weeks and couldn’t eat or even get liquids down.  Hospitalized for a week with dehydration, and the doctor couldn’t fix it on the first try.  Rather miserable.  But it was fixed easily the second time (different doctor, hmmm) and I was never in any serious danger.

 

What’s been really easy:  I had it really easy the first few months, pounds melted off, I was very motivated, I never worried much about missing food.  Protein was a struggle at first but got easier after a couple months.  I launched right away into a more active lifestyle than I’ve ever led before, and that continues to this day.  Buying clothes became if anything, too easy.  I’m a master of the thrift store now (combined with my GPS, some Internet info sites, and the ability to do minor tailoring at home).  I had to retrain myself to be pickier and limit purchases (before, if it fit, I bought it right away with little consideration for any other factor). 

 

What challenges I still face: I’ve returned to journaling my food most of the time.  I can eat 3000+ calories some days and not feel like I’m eating too terribly.  I rarely eat less than 2400, but am still losing anyway so far.  Continuing to lose weight and maintain my losses, therefore, may take some effort and yes, maybe even moderate dieting.  But it’s not the momentous task it once was.  2000 calories or less is definitely doable without suffering, it’s just not the default (and maybe not necessary).  Candy has become something I crave sometimes (even though I didn't eat it often before surgery), and after getting carried away for a while I still allow it but have to watch that it doesn't become a major obstacle.  I still play active sports several times a week and love it, but I’ve lost my desire to lift weights regularly.  Maybe the lifting will come back, maybe it won’t, maybe I’ll need that to achieve my goals, maybe I won’t.  I have gotten too lax with taking my vitamins.  I got a canker sore this week and it hasn’t healed.  Sure enough, I googled it and a common cause is vitamin deficiency, specifically B-12.  Coincidence?  Maybe, but it has been a failing of mine and a timely reminder to reset my habits.

 

In summary:  I wish I’d done it years ago, but am too busy being happy to focus on regret.  I am optimistic that I can achieve my goals and maintain these gains long term, but I realize I still have to take some initiative.  I am thankful to everyone on here that has helped me get to this point.  And I want to encourage people who need this surgery to move forward aggressively and armed with as much information as possible.

I have to admit, I became complacent.  Worse than that, I became ambivalent.  Things in my life were going well, I was pretty happy with how clothes looked on me, I had (have) a girlfriend I like a lot who seems unconcerned with whether I lose more weight.  At first I just assumed I'd probably lose weight even if I didn't stick to "the program."  Then when the loss stopped, I switched to kind of thinking I was "reasonably satisfied" being slightly overweight.

So two problems crept in: candy and lack of exercise.  The first started with Halloween and then kept up through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year.  But even when the free, "lying around" candy dried up, I found myself going out and buying it.  Hundreds of calories a day, for no good reason.  I wasn't a candy eater before surgery, it doesn't make me full post-surgery, and if anything, after 30 minutes I'm looking to eat (more candy or real food, even if I ate real food only an hour or two before).  As for the lack of exercise,  that was mostly caused by a knee injury rather than lack of willpower.  Even after things healed, I was slow getting back to regular exercise because of all the holidays/vacation/etc.

Anyway, a couple months went by and basically my weight stayed the same.  And my candy eating had gotten the point I often felt lethargic or tired. 

Then suddenly I remembered I had goals left unattained, and they were about health, not lifestyle.  So I've cut the candy (well, almost, I allow myself a piece or two a day when I pass a jar, but not a handful).  And I've gotten back to three times a week at the gym.  The result is I've lost ten pounds this month, and  have set a new goal of losing 13 more pounds and seeing 199 by the end of April (reasonable, I think).  The date for my body fat goal (19%) will be reset after that, probably June or July.

I think my experience illustrates two points that have been reiterated many times before on here. 

1. Bad news: WLS is a tool, not a magic bullet.  If you don't work it, you won't achieve your goals.

2. Good news: WLS is a powerful tool that will give you a major assist if identify the proper way to use it.  To restart my loss, I didn't have to go on any crash diet and I'm not constantly struggling to maintain the changes I've made (unlike diets before, especially diets after months when there wasn't much left to lose).  I still eat a variety of foods and have very satisfying meals.  (If anything, I'm more satisfied now than before I cut the candy.)  I simply identified a couple problem areas and took moderate steps to fix them. Sp if you are stalling, before you undertake a major overhaul or give up because it seems hopeless, see if there are one or two key changes that might restart your progress.

So I've been on a bit of a stall for a while, only down about 4 pounds over the last month.  I actually briefly weighed 225 for about 5 minutes in late October (mid-week, unofficial weigh-in) and I'm still above that now.  I had hoped to crack 200 by the end of the year, and now February looks more likely.

I'm not too worried at this point, as I'm certain I'm still at a calorie deficit.  I lost pretty rapidly for the two months prior, so this was a possibility I considered.  I'm getting back into the swing of things with racquetball, but I haven't been lifting weights much since I injured my knee, and you can definitely tell.  Me legs, particularly my quads, are shrinking, and my muscle loss has picked up a bit according to the body fat math.  While my calories are reasonable overall, candy has become too much of my intake the last couple weeks (Halloween), just a few pieces a day but it has to stop.  I'm taking a break from journaling protein/calories right now, but if I'm not near 210 by New Years I'm going to bring that back

In better news, even though I'm not yet at an all-time weight low, I am at my smallest ever in clothing sizes.  38 pants fit easily and I could wear 36s if I wore them half as tight as I used to wear 56s. 44R coats are snug but buttonable.  I've lost a shoe size (didn't expect that).  I wore a 16-35 dress shirt today and it was only tight at the collar, and I even have a couple "Medium" shirts that fit, though sleeve length is becoming the limiter rather than belly girth.  I always thought  medium  was sort of the men's version of vanity sizes.  That is, men like to feel big (and no one wants to be "Small"), so we have medium so everyone can be a large or extra large.  Who knew it was a real size you could buy?

Saying I had a "good week" is like saying Stanford got a "good win" against USC; it's a considerable understatement. My knee is improving quickly, and I did rehab twice this week plus got into the gym twice for upper body workouts. My calories were exactly where I want them (a shade under 1500), and my protein intake is good too. All of this added up to my best percentage loss in over three months, nearly 7 pounds. Oh, and this weekend I had one of the best not-quite-WLS-related FARTS ever; I'll keep the details to myself, but this would make anyone's "list" of great post-WLS moments.

Well, I'm now over six months since surgery. I'm still slightly ahead of my projections, which a few months ago I considered wildly optimistic. Overall, I'm ecstatic.

Here are a few key stats:

Weight: 375 to 243
Body Fat Percentage: 56.0% to 29.7%
Pants: 60 to 40/42
Shirt: 4XL to XL
Sleep: Restless to Sound
Exercise: None to Frequent
Skin: St. Bernard to Shar-Pei (not everything can be perfect)

I'm definitely beginning to eat more in the last couple months; 2000+ calories is not hard to achieve if I don't watch it, and I bet 3000+ would be possible with total carelessness.  I see how some people stay fat despite surgery; willpower has not been removed from the equation.  But if I'm careful about the foods I choose, I can also be satisfied with <1500.  That was never even remotely possible before.  At some point on a diet plan, I always felt hunger was completely overpowering all efforts.  But now I feel like with vigilance, I'll be able to achieve the goals I set, and I'm looking forward to testing that hypothesis over the next six months (and the rest of my life).  For my 1 year anniversary, I want to be below 200 pounds and below 19% body fat.

Still Losing: It's been three weeks since my last blog post.  I've steadily lost more than ten pounds in that time, so things are still moving along pretty well.  I'm beginning to lose my fervor for obsessing about the surgery and weight loss.  I still glance at the discussion boards daily, for example, but I don't read many topics and post less.  Which is fine, and expected.  So long as it doesn't translate into complacency that prevents me from reaching/maintaining my goal.

Back to the Weights: Still active, but haven't lifted weights in a couple weeks.  An intentional week off (to heal a back injury, plus start a new lifting program) turned into an unintentional extra week and a half off.   I'm hoping to restart tomorrow.  I'm going to try a program called hypertrophic specific training (HST).  (Goofy name, if you ask me, I guess everyone wants a scientific sounding acronym these days.)  The idea is that steadily decreasing rep ranges weekly and increasing weights every session will stimulate more muscle growth while minimizing injury risk.  The standard routine is full body single set, like most high intensity training routines (HIT).  But unlike HIT you don't go to failure during most sessions, and instead go to a set number of reps with a weight that is usually below the maximum for the reps performed.  Higher rep ranges early in the cycle are designed to full your body into thinking that the weight strain is constantly increasing at a faster rate than reality, while also giving the tendons/ligaments rest to prepare the very low rep ranges at the end.  I'm not sure I buy into all of its semi-scientific precepts, but it will be interesting to try, and anything is better than what I've done the last few weeks (nothing).  In the end, I suspect that the differences are quite marginal among most of these different routines.  This may be less true for the peak-performance athlete, but I am not that guy.

Return of the Hunger:  My desire to eat has creeped up big time, causing my intake to go up a couple hundred calories a day (and that's despite resisting). After staying right around 1400/day for weeks with little effort (indeed, many days I had to force myself to eat extra protein), suddenly I'm at nearly 1800.

I have four competing theories for the increased hunger: (1) it's related to the time off from weight lifting; (2) it's purely psychological, and it's the sort of phase that made me rapidly pack on pounds before; (3) it's related to my body weight and genetics/chemistry, as this is the weight zone at which I normally start "starving" all the time; (4) it's normal hunger returning, and not a bad thing, since reasonable levels of hunger help people maintain a normal body weight.

It's hard to call it a crisis at this point.  I'd like to eat less to push the weight loss, but 1800 calories is still well below what I'll probably need to maintain a goal weight.  I'll watch to see if starts being a problem and then address it if necessary.

Small Weight Loss After two great weeks I was due for another slowdown, and it came. I took a week off from lifting, which may have contributed, though probably not much. Still, considering I was up as much as three pounds mid-week, a small loss (1.2 pounds) is nice and I'll take it.

Small Hair Loss The hair loss finally seems to be slowing.  Thank goodness.  I would estimate at this point I've lost approximately half of my hair, probably more.  As I've said before, I started with very thick hair, so it's still not a dire situation.  I can certainly tell now looking in the mirror, and a friend of mine noticed.  He had marveled before that even with my hair cut tight on the side, #2 guard, you still couldn't see my scalp; as he noted after my recent haircut, that's not the case anymore. But most men of my age would be quite happy to have what I have left.  A small price to pay for the benefits I'm getting.

Ratings Table: Designer, EAS, Elite, IDS, Isopure, ON

Ratings Table: SciFit, SciTech, Syntrax

A while back I ordered 70 1-ounce samples of whey protein powders.  I finally finished them all, and compiled a table rating all of them (plus a few others I’ve tried).  I gave each a score for first taste, aftertaste (some taste better or worse after a few seconds), staying power (how the first sip compared to the last, also my estimation of how likely one would be to get tired of this flavor before the tub was finished), and mixability (all powders mixed in the same shaker, with water and an ice cube).  The resultant scores are like grades; that is, a 5.9 or less is failing, and a 6.9 is about a D – not exactly a passing score.  Links to the entire ratings tables on my OH profile are included at the top and bottom of this post.

Here are some winners.

Best overall brand: Syntrax, Optimum Nutrition.  Both make great products, Syntrax wins for variety of good flavors, ON is the better value.

Best vanilla: EAS, Syntrax.  Both are quite versatile, EAS gets the nod for value.  EAS vanilla in my morning coffee has become by protein drink of choice.  So far, it still seems to pack the same flavor as a Starbucks with cream, vanilla syrup, and sugar, and it’s far better than most protein drink flavors by themselves.

Best chocolate: Optimum Nutrition Chocolate or Chocolate Mint.  Both do well with this flavor standby. 

Best fruit: Syntrax Nectars—particularly Fuzzy Navel, Apple Ecstacy, and Roadside Lemonaid—are all fantastic, and provide a great alternative to those tired of the standard milky whey shakes.  I just wish the price was better.

Best of the rest: Can’t really recommend most of the other flavors.  Some are OK, but you’d almost invariably be better off buying a standard chocolate or vanilla and adding your own ingredients; this would usually give you better flavor, not to mention more flexibility when you get tired of cinnamon, banana, strawberries, whatever.  Possible exceptions include Syntrax Matrix Cookies & Cream and Elite Whey Café Mocha, which are both tasty and reasonably priced.

Ratings Table: Designer, EAS, Elite, IDS, Isopure, ON

Ratings Table: SciFit, SciTech, Syntrax

Maker	Flavor	Score	First Taste	After Taste	Staying Power	Mixing	Comment
Designer Whey	Chocolate	6.4	6.5	6.0	6.0	7.0	Pretty good chocolate, but I got a slight metallic aftertaste.
Designer Whey	Chocolate Peanut Caramel	5.3	4.5	4.5	4.0	8.0	Hard to judge.  Sometimes no matter how weird the flavor combinations (or perhaps because of) all I can think is, there is no way I'd drink this if it weren't a protein shake.
Designer Whey	French Vanilla	6.4	5.0	6.5	6.0	8.0	I must have mixed with too much water, because this came off really bland, though with a pleasant French Vanilla aftertaste.  I doubt it'd be great even double strength, though.
Designer Whey	Strawberry	6.3	6.0	6.0	6.0	7.0	I love strawberries, so it's too bad I can't find a good strawberry powder.  This is the best of a bad category.  Similar flavor to the Optimum Nutrition, but not as overpowering.  Nothing compared to adding real strawberries to a good vanilla, though.
Designer Whey	Tropical Punch	2.5	1.0	1.0	1.0	7.0	Just incredibly awful.  Creamy and tropical punch don't mix, and then there's a bitter aftertaste.
Designer Whey	Vanilla Praline	6.1	5.0	5.0	6.5	8.0	A bland vanilla.  I'm missing the praline.
EAS	Vanilla	8.4	8.0	7.5	8.5	9.5	This and the Syntrax are the best vanillas I've tried.  Given the price point (in bulk at Sam's), this one gets the best value nod.  Also mixes very easily.
Elite Whey	Berry Blast	5.5	4.5	4.5	5.0	8.0	Similar to the ON Strawberry, but not as aggressively sweet.  Still not something I'd drink again on purpose.
Elite Whey	Butter Creme Toffee	8.0	7.0	8.5	8.0	8.5	Not much flavor beyond vanilla at first, but a very pleasant butterscotch aftertaste.  Tastes good with water, great with milk.
Elite Whey	Cafe Mocha	8.6	9.0	9.0	8.0	8.5	Comes pretty close to the Café Mocha flavor from those General Foods International Cofee powder tins, which I drank a ton of in college (so maybe I'm just being nostalgic).  This will probably have a place in my cabinet as a hot morning beverage.
Elite Whey	Chocolate Mint	6.8	7.5	7.0	5.5	7.0	More mint chocolate than chocolate mint.  Not bad, though I think the intensity of the mint would wear on me.
Elite Whey	Gourmet Vanilla	6.9	6.5	6.0	7.0	8.0	Pretty good vanilla, not exciting but good for mixing.
Elite Whey	Green Apple	5.5	4.0	6.0	4.0	8.0	Poorly executed.  Just some apple flavoring in a vanilla-base powder.  Too weak to like, too strong to mix with something else.
Elite Whey	Orange Dreamsicle	7.3	7.0	7.0	7.0	8.0	I was hoping for more orange flavor.  It was nice, but the vanilla dominated too much.
Elite Whey	Pina Colada	7.4	6.5	7.5	7.5	8.0	Good flavor and pretty nice creamy aftertaste.  Not my thing, but I'd drink it again.
Elite Whey	Rich Chocolate	6.9	6.5	7.0	7.0	7.0	I don't hate this.  Among the Chocolates, it's not as good as Optimum Nut, but much better than IDS and Sci Fit.  Reminds me a bit of those fat free chocolate cookies/pasteries.  Some lumps.
Elite Whey	Smooth Banana	6.5	6.0	6.0	6.0	8.0	I mild vanilla flavor with some banana finish.  It's OK.
IDS	Banana	6.3	6.0	5.5	5.0	8.5	Like a banana candy.  You want that?  Then have this.
IDS	Belgian Chocolate	6.1	5.5	5.0	5.0	9.0	Not bad, but it tastes a lot like Slimfast.  I'm looking for something better.
IDS	Cappuccino	8.3	8.0	8.0	8.0	9.0	Rather good.  More coffee and less chocolate in this one than some of the other coffee flavors.
IDS	Vanilla Cinnamon	8.4	7.5	8.5	8.5	9.0	I can't decide if this is a really great vanilla, or if I should just be adding cinnamon to vanilla powder more often.  Either way, I like this.
Isopure	Alpine Punch	2.6	1.5	1.0	1.0	7.0	I hate tropical punch, especially with chalky texture and bitter, funky aftertaste.  Almost couldn't finish it.
Isopure	Apple Melon	6.0	6.0	6.0	5.0	7.0	Mostly honeydew flavor, and the chalkiness of Isopure actually works OK with this flavor.  Still not in the same league as better melon and/or apple flavors.
Isopure	Creamy Vanilla	7.0	6.0	7.0	8.0	7.0	Boring vanilla.  But if you are looking for a smoothie base, this might be ideal, as the flavor is very neutral and there are no calories wasted on fat and carbs.
Isopure	Dutch Chocolate	5.5	5.0	5.0	6.0	6.0	OK, not great, not interesting.  Isopure occasionaally has a gritty residue leftover.  Protein, flavoring, presevative?  I don't know, but it is offputting and prevents me from recommending the brand.
Isopure	Mango Peach	6.3	7.0	6.0	5.0	7.0	Very similar to blending real canned peaches into a vanilla powder.  The texture is still too chalky, but might work well blended in a icy shake.
Isopure	Pineapple Orange Banana	6.6	6.0	6.5	7.0	7.0	Crystal Light Pineapple Orange is almost identical in flavor to this.  If you love that, you'll love this.  I'm not wowed by either, but it's a good effort.
Isopure	Strawberries & Cream	3.0	2.0	2.0	1.0	7.0	It's neon pink! And unfortunately, it smells (and even looks) better than it tastes.  Like very used bubble gum.
Optimum Nutrition	Any Whey	8.8	8.0	8.0	9.5	9.5	I added it to 12 oz milk.  Not flavorless, like a tiny bit of vanilla and cream had been added.  It also made it incredibly filling early in the morning; I had to split it into two drinks.  Overall, the change was minor enough to consider it for a variety of applications (baking, yogurt, soups, etc.)
Optimum Nutrition	Chocolate Mint	8.6	8.5	8.5	8.0	9.5	This is about as good as a chocolate-based powder is going to get.  Works well both warm (like a hot chocolate) or cold (crisps the mint flavor).  I do tire of it a bit faster than the double chocolate, but it starts much more interesting.
Optimum Nutrition	Cookies & Cream	5.8	6.5	5.5	4.5	6.5	Seems pretty great the first sip but taxes you a bit as you drink it.  The fake cookie flavor can begin to seem plasticy.  Probably better off getting vanilla, which blends better with random stuff you might add.  Also, clumps really bad in very cold water for some reason.
Optimum Nutrition	Double Chocolate	8.8	8.0	8.0	9.5	9.5	Mixes great, tastes good, could almost fool you into thinking this was for recreation.  Not too exciting, but I don't get too tired of it either.  Also, ON mixes BY FAR better than any other powder, shake shake done, no lumps and few bubbles.
Optimum Nutrition	Strawberry	4.3	4.0	1.5	2.0	9.5	The flavor isn't too bad, it's just way too powerful sickly sweet, and nothing seems to cut it.  It wears me out way before I can get through a glass.  Maybe it'd be good mixed 2 to 1 with a vanilla.

Maker	Flavor	Score	First Taste	After Taste	Staying Power	Mixing	Comment
Sci Fit	Caramel Apple	5.3	4.5	5.0	2.5	9.0	Bland vanilla with some apple flavor.
Sci Fit	Chocolate Marshmellow	6.8	6.0	6.0	7.0	8.0	Lots of protein powder chocolate, not much marshmellow for me.  Nothing special, but not bad.
Sci Fit	Chocolate Peanut Butter	5.9	5.0	5.0	4.0	9.5	Boring with light fake peanut butter.  These falvors are not my thing, but I doubt this is considered great by anyone.  Mixes ideally.
Sci Fit	Coconut Cream Pie	7.8	7.0	7.0	8.0	9.0	Pleasant pina colada flavor holds up better than expected.  A good flavor on this hot day.
Sci Fit	Cookies & Cream	7.1	6.5	6.5	7.5	8.0	Mostly vanilla flavor.  Not as exciting as some of the other C&Cs but also not as tiresome (safe and boring).
Sci Fit	Cool Chocolate Mint	6.3	5.5	5.5	5.0	9.0	So-so mint with a powdered milk background flavor.
Sci Fit	Ice Cream Chocolate	6.1	5.5	5.0	5.0	9.0	Another boring chocolate, definitely a protein shake.
Sci Fit	Ice Cream Strawberry	7.3	6.0	7.0	7.0	9.0	Pretty bland strawberry flavor, but that's better than the overpowering flavor in most.  Reasonably pleasant option.
Sci Fit	Ice Cream Vanilla	6.9	6.0	5.5	7.0	9.0	It seems all of the Sci Fit powders taste about the same, with only light flavoring.  Give that, this plain vanilla seems less annoying than most others.
Sci Fit	Island Banana	7.4	7.0	7.0	6.0	9.5	Banana flavor overpowers all others, like a banana Runt candy.  I liked this more than I expected.
Sci Fit	Lemonade Smoothie	7.4	6.5	7.0	7.0	9.0	Like vanilla flavor with light lemon flavor and aftertaste.  Same effect could be gotten by buying the vanilla and adding just a tad of lemon Crystal Light.
Sci Fit	Moccachino	7.5	7.5	6.5	7.0	9.0	The coffee flavors work well for me.  This one has a distinct protein powder aftertaste, but it's still better than average.
Sci Fit	Raspberry Delight	6.4	6.0	6.0	5.0	8.5	The light raspberry flavor actually works pretty well with the Sci Fit base.
SciTech Nutrition	Cantaloupe (IsoFruit Delight)	7.3	8.0	7.0	6.0	8.0	Refreshing if cold.  Hits this flavor on the nose, but I'm not sure I love the flavor  Mixes well with lots of bubbles.
SciTech Nutrition	Green Apple (IsoFruit Delight)	7.5	8.5	7.5	6.0	8.0	Gets the right flavor, but first impression is stronger than second.  I wonder if it has staying power. Mixes well with lots of bubbles.
SciTech Nutrition	Almond Coconut	7.8	8.0	8.5	8.0	6.5	Much better than I expected. Textured flavor like pistacio pudding (but almonds instead, I guess), real dried coconut flakes.  Mixes poorly.
SciTech Nutrition	Alpine Milk Chocolate	7.4	7.5	8.0	8.0	6.0	A rather pleasant chocolate, with dark chocolate mini-kisses that all stick to the bottom.  A bit clumpy mixing from all the parts.
SciTech Nutrition	Banana Yogurt	6.5	7.0	6.5	6.0	6.5	Tastes like the name, with freeze-dried chunks of banana that need 30 minutes or so to reconstitute.  Pretty good, but I'd rather use fresh banana.
SciTech Nutrition	Cherry (IsoFruit Delite)	3.9	4.0	2.0	2.0	7.5	Hard to even identify as cherry, and the aftertaste has a putrid chemical quality.
SciTech Nutrition	Pineapple (IsoFruit Delite)	7.5	7.0	7.5	7.5	8.0	Well-executed pineapple flavor, refreshing with no bad aftertaste.  Mixes well, but you have to wait for it to settle.
SciTech Nutrition	Raspberry Yogurt	7.6	7.5	7.5	7.5	8.0	Very thick and creamy, nice flavor, well done.  My main problem is that I feel like my protein powder should have more protein.
SciTech Nutrition	Strawberry White Chocolate	6.8	7.5	6.0	7.5	6.0	Nice base flavor with freeze-dried strawberries added.  Needs to sit for a few minutes to get the right texture.
SciTech Nutrition	Tropical Blast	5.9	5.5	6.0	6.0	6.0	Nothing special, sort of orange pina colada.  For this number of calories I either want more protein or more flavor.
SciTech Nutrition	Vanilla Pineapple	5.1	4.5	5.5	4.0	6.5	Vanilla (with a slight licorice flavor, it seems) is OK.  Most of the pineapple flavor comes from reconstituted pineapple bits that float on the top.
SciTech Nutrition	Vanilla Very Berry	2.5	2.0	4.0	1.0	3.0	Pronounced powedered milk flavor, which I hate.  Not much protein per serving.   Freezedried berries are an interesting touch, but they aren't enough to make this good.
Syntrax	Chocolate (Essence)	7.0	8.0	7.0	6.0	7.0	I'm having a hard time judging this one.  It seems like it's much better than most, and at the same time I'm bored with it.  Maybe I'm just tired of chocolate powders.
Syntrax	Simply Vanilla (Matrix)	7.6	7.5	7.5	8.0	7.5	Mostly vanilla, but a bit of a banana pudding flavor.  I'd get tired of this as a flavor by itself, but it would probably make a very good base for some interesting smoothies.
Syntrax	Apple Ecstacy	8.8	9.0	9.0	9.5	7.5	This probably gets sour apple flavor as well as a protein drink could, and it holds up great.  Extremely foamy mixing.
Syntrax	Cappuccino	7.6	7.5	7.5	8.0	7.5	Coffee with heavy nutmeg and some almond flavors.  Pretty good.
Syntrax	Carribean Cooler	8.0	7.5	8.0	9.0	7.5	Perfect pina colada immitation, coconut and cream with a nice aftertaste.
Syntrax	Cookies & Cream (Matrix)	8.6	9.0	9.0	9.0	7.5	Perfectly achieved, nice vanilla with what tastes like real Oreo bits.  Refreshing and hard to get tired of.
Syntrax	Crystal Sky	7.0	6.5	6.0	8.0	7.5	If you like tropical punch, you'll probably like this.  I don't.  All bubbles right after shaking.
Syntrax	Fuzzy Navel	9.1	9.5	9.5	9.5	8.0	Great!  Crisp, tart, an actual pleasure to drink. The best protein drink I've had?  Might be.
Syntrax	Lemon Tea	5.6	3.0	4.0	9.5	6.0	A dead-on impression of something I hate. If you like the canned Lipton Brisk, or the similar Crystal Light flavor, this is your protein.
Syntrax	Orange Cream (Matrix)	5.9	6.0	8.0	5.0	4.5	Very vanilla taste, nice sharp orange-cicle aftertaste.  Extremely lumpy.  Hard to judge this one.
Syntrax	Perfect Chocolate (Matrix)	6.5	6.0	6.0	6.0	8.0	Your basic chocolate, better than average, but not memorable.
Syntrax	Roadside Lemonade	8.5	9.0	8.5	9.0	7.5	Tasty, actually tasty.  Pleasant, tart, and refreshing cold.
Syntrax	Strawberry Kiwi	7.8	7.5	8.0	8.0	7.5	Like strawberry Jello, sweet and a bit tangy.  Not something I'll buy, but better than the standard strawberry flavors.
Syntrax	Tealicious	5.9	4.0	4.0	8.0	7.5	Hard for me to drink, bitter intense tea flavor.  This is not the sweet tea of the South, it's almost like green tea.
Syntrax	Twisted Cherry	7.9	8.0	8.0	8.0	7.5	A sour cherry candy flavor, and it comes off pretty well.  Nice intense tart flavor, clean aftertaste, even smells appealing. Just wish there was less foam.
Syntrax	Vanilla (Essence)	8.1	8.0	8.0	9.0	7.5	About as good as a vanilla is going to get for mixing purposes, no fat or carbs and a pleasant base for whatever you'd like to add.