Freebies!!!!

The most important part of this life changing decision to have weight loss surgery is to make healthy life CHANGES after.  BeliteWeight has does a fabulous job of preparing me for my preop and postop diet by giving me the information I needed to do further research on the foods, proteins, liquids, etc that would work best for me.  Like I mentioned in a previous post, I research everything before making a decision.  In all of my digging around the Internet I came across the post from a sleever on a support site that recommended contacting companies and asking them for FREE samples of their products to try before you purchase.

 If any of you have shopped online or gone into GNC and other nutrition stores you know how crazy expensive protein powders, clear protein drinks, vitamins etc are.  So you know how nice it would be to get some products to try first before paying $60 for a 3 pound container of protein powder that tastes......well yucky. 

So, I grabbed the freebie and sample horse by the reigns and took off.   I spent hours online requesting samples, coupons, etc.  Here are my suggestions of what worked best for me:

1. Make a list or get your info sheet from your doctor, program, nutritionist etc of the "recommended" brands, products, types of foods/liquids/vitamins etc you will need.  I used my list from Belite Weight and 2 other resource lists I found. 

2.  I went online to the websites of all the brands, manufacturers, companies, etc.  Surprisingly, many of them had an actual link to request samples or coupons.  Some of them required that you "like" them on Facebook.  Easy breezy.

3. If the websites did not offer a sample, then I would go to the contact info and email someone to make the request.  I simply explained that I was having Gastric Sleeve surgery soon, noted that their brand had been recommended by my doctor/nutritionist/surgery coordinator etc and would like to try the product before making a purchase.  Almost all of them emailed me back within a day or two and either offered a sample, coupon, or put me on a list for future samples.

3. I did general searches on Google/Bing for "FREE or SAMPLE.....protein, low carb, bariatric, etc etc".  That was fun and fabulous!!  Found a lot of goodies this way.  Just take time and play around with the wording of your Internet searches.  I can save you some time and tell you not to search for "Free Protein" because you will get tons of links for carb-free, gluten-free etc.  Do "Free Protein Sample" etc. 

4.  A lot of my searches took me to "freebie/sample" websites.  I didn't join any to get the free samples.  I would just find one that didn't require me to fill out a 30 minute form to get to the samples.  The same freebies are on most of the sites.

Tips:
-Don't request samples you can't use.  I made sure the nutritional value, proteins, carbs etc was exactly what I needed either for preop, postop or both. But....don't forget that you will not be ingesting full servings of some of these proteins. 

-Only make one request per sample/company.  Leave some goodies for others.

-Be sure to respond to any messages you receive from a person, company, etc thanking them for the freebie or just for their response.  I am sure they get 100 requests a day so I am super appreciative of the time they take to respond to me even if they cannot offer me a sample. 

The freebies and samples I have received so far:
-4 pack of full size packets of Muscle Milk powder
 (Vanilla, Graham Cracker, Chocolate, and Cookies and Cream)
-Awesome sampler pack from Atkins (3 bars, coupons, Carb counter, etc.)
-4 protein powder sticks from Mr. Olympia Ronnie Cole
 (for Bodybuilders but you can make this work)
-Five....yes 5 $1 off coupons for EAS products. (My fav shakes)

*Ebay has also been a great source of bargains for me.  You need to know what you are getting in DETAIL.  For example Isomax and Isomax Zero Carb are totally different.  We (sleevers) need the zero carb for our clear diet.  Just know what you need, check for expiration dates and feedback and you can get good deals.  For example, I got 72 Atkins bars (not expired) for my preop diet for $50 (she also sent me 4 Crystal Lite or Propel Zero drink powder sticks, tons of Atkins coupons, and some sugar free candy) and I got 5 NEW packets of Unjury Unflavored Protein for $5. Unjury packs are about $2 per pack and that doesn't include shipping.  I didn't pay shipping for either auction.  These were awesome deals.  I def did not want to buy a big container of the Unjury Unflavored until I tried it.  Here is a pic of the packs I got on Ebay. 

Unjury also has an AWESOME deal on a Starter Pack.  They do not give samples but this starter pack is totally worth the $21.20 you'll pay.