massindex

I've been trolling around the other boards so I didn't know this was out here. I'm in Henderson (when not on the road) if anyone needs some assistance or just wants to talk. My wife is also a sleever.

I'd have to say a 10. I had surgery 53 weeks ago and I've lost 200+ lbs so I think that's a 10. It's pretty been what I expected.

Yeah, the 'negative' reenforcement we get from the sleeve helps us learn. Don't like that feeling.... :sad_smile:

Good for you. Walk away from the dark side of the force :wink1: Anyone who thinks this is easy, needs to walk a mile in our shoes. WLS is a tool, not the cure-all. There are plenty of people who have failed because they lacked discipline and desire. Ignorance breds hate and hostility and you don't need it.

You will be able to drink normally. I certainly can. I don't gulp anything, even now, but its very normal in any other sense. Just keep sipping and you'll find that your intake will steadily increase.

I understand the follow-up care issue, which would be true anywhere you went outside of your local proximity. No doctor can refuse you medical attention just because you had a procedure elsewhere. They can make up other reasons, such as they are not accepting new patients, however. I discussed having my surgery with my doctor before I went and he was all for it. He felt that the medical benefits far outweighed the risks and he said he would be there for me for post care if I needed it. In my case, I was strung out for 2 years by CIGNA before they decided one month prior to my surgery that they wouldn't cover it. I appealed it and it was denied. I had no other options and going to Mexico probably saved my life. I don't regret it and I think the people I met in Mexico were outstanding. However, given the choice, I would have had it here.

Something else to consider is what your deductible will be. I self-paid in Mexico because my insurance with the company I was working for did not cover it. My wife, on the other hand, was covered my policy when I changed jobs. We elected to have it here although the deductible was close to what I paid in Mexico. We had such a good experience in Mexico that is was difficult to convince my wife to have it done here and we had no waiting period in either place. I eventually convinced her that it made sense to have it here and avoid the travel. But that was the only reason we elected one over the other.

Just a note on the follow-up... I met with a sports nutritionist after PdxMan's comments. She pretty much confirmed what he had to say. She is going to work up some diet thoughts for me and my special needs. Let's see how this goes...

For everything that you've said you want to do, it sounds like it your legs will be the most important of your strength training, which is good. Your legs were probably stronger to begin with (it takes a lot to move us around at the weights we carried) and are less affected by the WLS. Upper body and core are the more difficult to maintain or strengthen from my view point. I could do single rep leg presses of 785 lbs before the surgery, or 1.83 times my weight. I can now do 400 lbs on single leg presses, or 1.94 times my weight.

We all know that the surgery is not a guaranteed way to lose weight. It's a tool in the process. Maybe men look at it differently than women but I know how many miles I ran, biked and swam and also sore I was on some days. I lost the weight, not because of the surgery but the assistance of the surgery. That's why I own it. I'm proud of what I lost and those around me are proud of it also. Every one of my lost +200 lbs involved some sacrafice.

Just for a different view, I pretty much tell them that I've lost over 200 lbs. I felt I needed to own it in order to accept my decision to change my lifestyle. Hiding it was something I did when I was overweight.

Forget about telling anyone else (but the people here) until the pounds really start to melt away. Then when they ask, you can tell them if you want. We are evangelists and we now own our lives.

I would do it again in a heartbeat! I retook control of my life instead of the food controlliing me. The limits the sleeve has placed on me forced me to make the lifestyle changes I needed, I'm SOOO much happier now. I just finished my second half-marathon with only 3 weeks turnaround and now I'm entering Sprint Triathlon season. There are so many things open to me now that I wouldn't have tried before. I'm like a kid in a candy store (pun intended). My wife saw what it did for me and she just had her sleeve done 2 weeks ago. We are going to be skinny together!

We're out here...just trying to get a word in occassionally

You know I got some good advice once on this board when the same thing happened to me. I was told to just say, which I did, "I'm trying to lose weight and nothing appeals to me right now. (Smiling) I just want to go with this as long as I can." Everyone laughed and we moved on. Several weeks later, the same thing happened again. I just said "I like the results so I'm sticking with what works (Smiling)." It no longer became an issue and now is a source of admiration.

Ditto...

There are a couple of entries somewhere on this site on how to do it. I went to Http://www.tickerfactory.com/weight-loss to create my entry and account. After that was done, it gives you a URL to copy. That is applied as a link to your signature in your profile. You can add other items in and around the ticker. There are some step-by-step processes here somewhere though.

My life is so different in so many ways it would be hard to describe. Let's just say that I control my life now and I'm not controlled by the food anymore. Just remember, each of us is our own vehicle and the journey time is our own.

Lot to cover here, from my view. I'm year out but almost at maintenance so I think I can qualify for answering from my perspective. I'm about 1200-1500 calories per day and I exercise regularly, although somewhat competitively. I could have pretty much anything I want but I've changed my lifestyle and I'm pretty religious in choosing a healthly lifestyle so I don't want anything to do with my old lifestyle. I still can only eat small amounts and I'm really used to asking for 'to-go' boxes or 'doggie bags'. I can eat socially with friends but I just don't focus on the food so much. All of my friends are very supportive and question what and how I'm doing it so it's not much of a problem. I also snack occassionally but again, because I cna only eat a small amount, it never really gets out of hand. I'm changing from a protein diet to a slightly higher carbohydrate diet because I'm running half marathons and doing triathlons on nearly a monthly/six week basis so I can achieve better results but at age 55, that will change at some point and I'll go back to a higher protein diet for weight maintenance. Does that help?

This is all good to know. I'm going to meet with my doctor and nutritionist tomorrow and work on a plan. I'll let you know what we work out and then I'll share how my training goes. I think there are a number of people who need this kind of education, especially myself.

And here is what I shared.... Thanks so much for sharing. As you said, there isn't a whole lot out there for us VSG runners. I started with the Sprint Triathlons because I like the variety so the longer distance running is newer to me. I had so much damage to my knees from Div 1 football that I wasn't sure I could do it anymore. So, on a lark, I did a 13.1 on January 15th in LA. I finished it but ran into the issues I described although my knees didn't bother me at all. I figured it was my training (non existent) so put myself on a regime. Then I scheduled the last marathon I did 3 weeks later (I know, I'm an idiot, but that's my style). I'm running at an easy 10 min per mile pace right now. I'm around 1200 - 1500 calories a day, mostly Protein (80-100 grams per day) but I hadn't done any carbs (swore off most carbs) until the day before race (old style). I have a 5K coming up in 2 weeks and another Tri in a month. I'll try the process and see what happens. Maybe we can break some new ground here :biggrin5: .

Yu know its funny but these little milestones like "I ate 3 shrimp", "No nausea or vomiting" or "I had 3 oz of ground turkey" are such big things for us! I guess that's why we need these forums to share the uniqueness of what we put ourselves through to change our lives.

I sent him a message. I'll wait for his response.

I just recently hit my 200+ lost number after my first year and I'm nearly at my goal weight. But don't anyone measure themselves against me! Each person is their own vehicle and on their own journey.

Thanks dorrie. I'll do that. He must have some info on this.