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New to the forum, here is readers digest of my story. I am a 47 year old Caucasian male. I am on my third career. One kid to graduate HS this year, one to graduate in 2 years. Married 21 years. And I'm pretty good at lying to myself. I always told myself I was really good at dealing with stress. Never recognized I was a stress eater the entire time. I spent 15 years in EMS right out of college, 3 as an EMT, 12 as a Paramedic in a high performing urban 911 system. Then I went into the labor union world for another 10 years, negotiating contracts and working in workplace disputes. Now I work in Medical Insurance as a teacher/trainer/adult education specialist, teaching others how to handle appeals and complaints. I have some unique abilities that helped lead to me being 364 lbs (6 foot tall) in December 2020. I remain fluent in the 7-11 diet. I can look at a hot dog on the roller and tell roughly how long it has been on it. I consumed up to 2 liters of soda per day for many years. My partners all used to smoke, but I watched my grandfather die of COPD from smoking as a kid and have never touched a tobacco product. So in essence, I replaced cheap ass convenience store food and soda for smoking during my EMS career. My metabolism changed around age 30 and I just couldn't keep the pounds off anymore. And, this is important... I DIDN'T CARE. I was pretty burned out, crispy as a medic. I got a job offer to move into the labor union world, negotiating contracts and representing other EMTs and Paramedics around the country. I moved my family (wife and 2 young kids) to another state to work for a startup labor union. I took it. And I stopped exercising as I tried to conquer a new career field. What they don't tell you about labor work is that it is also high stress work. I cut soda out during those years but drank a lot of sweet tea and despite what my doctor, family, and friends would say.... I DIDN'T CARE about my size. The union I worked for went through an old fashioned union labor coup. My life was threatened and people intentionally harmed me personally and professionally. At the same time, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. The union I worked for was absorbed by a big national union player. I signed on with the big national player because I needed the insurance for my wife. We weren't in a good place, survival mode. I spent the next few years traveling for the new labor union, in order to have the insurance to pay for my wife's cancer treatments. When my wife was well enough (she still is chronically ill, years later) to travel, I moved our family back to our home state of Oregon. The labor union I worked for (who had approved my move) promptly laid me off. So back into survival mode, I became a statistic. Middle aged man, laid off, starting a 3rd career. I was hired by a Medical Insurance Company that paid very little, but jobs were scarce and it was what I had. I took a second job at a local grocery store and worked 60-70 hours per week for a few years. There's no such thing as dietary control when you are working that much and are that tired, and frankly....I DIDN'T CARE about my size. Over a few years, my financial situation has improved and while we are not well off, I no longer work 2 jobs. My PCP asked me 3 years in a row to look into bariatric surgery. I finally looked into it, and this is important... I CHOSE TO TAKE THIS PATH. The choice is important. The surgery is just a step to get there. It was time for me to grow up. I'm 47 years old, Life is damn hard and I need to start taking care of myself... I already have several other medical conditions associated with middle age. I frankly still don't care what I look like physically, but I can see the road ahead and don't want to go down that path (obesity gets worse, diabetes, HTN, Stroke, High Cholesterol, Heart Disease). I did this to myself by not being disciplined. So to make this lifestyle change, I need to be as disciplined as possible. I was ready. I CHOSE. IT IS TIME TO GROW UP. December 2020 - 6' tall - 364lbs RNY Surgery December 2021 - 316lbs I am 4 days post surgery writing this today. And I worked my ass off to change my relationship to food. That's my story... For what it is worth. I finally decided to grow up.

I have a friend who every picture I send her she comments on how thin I look. Sometimes it’s like ok thank you but I’m not concerned about the thinness I need advice on if i should buy this pair of jeans! 😂. I know she means well, though. I think some people in our lives are just so struck by a he physical change they don’t get over it for some time.

I’m 4 weeks post op and am struggling with getting food wet enough to swallow without feeling stuck. If I start with something that is moist, like tuna with mayo, by the time I have chewed it, all the mayo seems to be gone and I’m left with very dry chewed up tuna that is hard to swallow. Lately I have been eating food in a bit of cream soup, like a soft boiled egg in a tbsp of cream soup or broth. Then when I’m ready to swallow, I add a wee bit of the soup to hep it go down. Not sure if this is cheating or not. If I chew less it doesn’t get as dry but it’s too chunky for me. Do I need to go back to chewing school? 😂

Thank you for your story, it touched my heart. . Sometimes we dont have time to care about ourselves, we just have to do the best we can. You have still managed to bring up your family and care for your wife. Be very proud of your achievements and keep us posted on your journey. I so want your dreams to come true.

Some lose in that first week. Some don’t. It depends on things like how much fluid & gas you were pumped with during & after surgery. How long it takes your body to express it. How your body responds to surgery - the stress. You may have diarrhoea or be constipated over the first week or two. You may retain more of the fluid you’re consuming to begin. It’s all very individual as to what shows on the scale. Some surgeons actually advise not to weigh yourself for a week or more post surgery to allow for these factors as you can weigh more after surgery than you did before. (I weighed a good 2kgs more 24 hrs after my gall removal & took 4 days to get rid of it.) if you do weigh yourself after surgery don’t be surprised if there’s no loss or if there’s gain. But you could be someone who does have a loss in that first week (I did - almost 3 kg.) Your weight will be falling off you soon enough after & it will be fantastic. All the best.

Wow you are blessed. I just sneezed oh Lordy the pain! Lol so I started at 227 day of surgery 210.5 got home today 208 I’m not very gassy just learning my new normal I agree good luck to everyone!

My surgeon works out of this hospital and the dietician is the hospital dietician. I’ll call them after Christmas and see if they can recccomend another. It’s not like I am not trying to eat low fat most of the time. It’s just that I don’t want someone jumping all over the little stuff like when I eat regular cottage cheese when that’s what was available and not helping me with the bigger picture.

This is really helpful. I've had dreadful upper backache for the last couple of weeks and I never thought of muscle imbalance but of course there's less of me now so that makes sense. Also definitely investing in some new bras. Thanks all!

Keep plugging away on your liquid diet. It’s very important now that your this close to your surgery date. You can do this. You’re already expecting that a situation will be bad because you’re allowing it to happen due to a require liquid diet. If I were you, I’d sit with everyone else to enjoy the festivities. While they eat their dinner, you can have a nice hot bowl of chicken broth and your water. Be proud of yourself because you will be a healthy new person!

Now is the time to do the work to change your habits! I’m over two years out and still stay away from bread. Your nutrition needs are high, but once you’re on solids the volume you can take in is low. It takes vigilance and dedication to get in the nutrients you need. My program wanted me to get in 70-80 grams of protein per day. Protein was, and still is, the priority at meal time. Once I get in my protein I’ll have a small amount of whatever else the meal contains. Now this far out, and at goal, I’ve loosened up and have a bit more carbs but it’s still WAY less than pre op. I’m used to it now, and don’t have the intense cravings anymore that I used to have. I’m happy with healthy nutritious food with the occasional treat thrown in. If you’re really struggling and breaking plan already I’d strongly suggest contacting your program and scheduling a visit with both the nutritionist as well as the therapist.