Inline6E46

I've posted on several other threads, but I'm generally not an active poster. My name is TJ. I'm 26 years young. I was sleeved on July 20th. I weighed in at 337 pounds when I decided to have this surgery. As of this morning, I'm down to 272 pounds. Managing to get my 60 oz of fluids a day and I'm a few days into my Protein shake stage. Can't wait to go back to the gym in a few weeks.

I think there are good parts and shady parts to Tijuana just like any other City. However, I spent my time in the good areas. The hospital and hotel are in nice areas so you should feel comfortable. The roads in TJ are rough though so do expect to bounce a lot if you go anywhere after surgery. It can get a bit uncomfortable, but never really painful. The shopping areas are great for souvenirs and cheap RX medication. The people seem nice overall. The hotel was amazing - comfortable beds, nice pool area, amazing view from the balcony. And complimentary broth and popsicles. Make sure you also order tea, their hot tea is pretty good. The hospital was just like a hospital. Maybe not quite state of the art, but everything functioned well and the staff are competent. The nurses and doctors were there anytime I needed something and even came to check on me to see if I was comfortable. Make sure to keep your compression socks, I forgot to take mine. I'm sure I've left out quite a bit - if you have specific questions, don't hesitate to ask. I can answer them here in case it helps other people as well.

I just don't want to end up like my dad - he takes 12 or so types of medication for everything from high blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes etc. I just want to be healthy.

I was sleeved by Dr. Kelly on the 20th. Dr. Kelly, his wife, and Omar were amazing. They took time to keep interacting with me and checking up on me. Cessy (sp?) gave me a tour of Tijuana prior to my surgery. A few days after, Omar spent several hours with me getting souvenirs, lunch (broth), and roaming around TJ. Dr. Kelly is a great surgeon. No leaks, minimal discomfort, and I almost feel normal (minus the fact that 5-6 spoons of brothy Soup fill me up). Just make sure you keep pestering the nurses for pain medication the first day or two. I "tough guy'd" the pain a few times and didn't ask for additional medicine, but I probably should have. Good luck.

26, Grad student, getting sleeved tomorrow by Dr. Kelly. Can't wait

Im having surgery with Dr. Kelly on July 20th. Booked my ticket via Priceline last week and it ran me about 461 from BWI to SAN. In terms of exercise, I started out at 337 and hit the gym. Ive been fluctuating between 290 and 296 for the last week or two. I do about 3-4 miles and mix my cardio with weight training.

Hey Lissa, thanks for the tip! I'm limited by the amount of reps I can do.in one minute. Keeping proper form and enough speed, I can usually do 25-30 reps in a minute. Circuit training revolves around rotating exercises every minute with no pause and break. For example, I do a minute of bicep curls, minute of cardio, minute of lateral presses, minute of cardio etc. The entire "circuit" takes me 23 minutes and I do 2 of those. So I can't really increase reps, but I can increase weight which is what I've been doing. And considering I do 2 circuits, I do about 50-60 reps total. 25-30 of them are continuous. As far as diet is concerned, I know I should cut out the bread completely, but if I do, I feel starved until lunch. The bread kinda helps to curb the hunger. Maybe I can eliminate one slice and see how that goes.

Quick update. Currently still carrying on with circuit training, but I've eliminated leg exercises completely. If I do leg exercises, I find that I can't do elliptical after. I've also upped the weight several times on most of the machines. Eventually, when I build up some more strength, I will move over to free weights. On the elliptical, I can generally pound out 3 miles in 40 mins on resistance 3. I try to stay at about 70% of max heart rate. In fact, its getting harder to get my heart rate up which is why I upped the resistance in the first place. I was hopping on and had trouble breaking HR of 135 25 minutes in. As far as the weight loss goes, I was 311 on the day that I started and I'm currently at 293. I thought I would lose weight quicker, but I must be building muscle too (I must be insane, but I swear I can feel muscle). Diet is as follows: Breakfast: 2 eggs over medium, 2 wheat toast, 1 tbsp salsa Snack: fresh fruit Lunch: a la carte salad from cafeteria at work - romaine lettuce, chicken, carrots, kidney Beans, onion, parmesean cheese, and fat free Italian dressing Snack: 1/3 cup raw almonds Pre workout - Powerbar Post workout (M,W,F) - muscle milk Dinner: Chicken, Broccoli, Salsa Myfitnesspal usually puts my caloric intake at 1750-1900 calories a day and I usually burn between 750-800 a day at the gym. Workout schedule: Mon, Wed, Fri- 2x Circuit (23 mins per circuit), 15-20 mins elliptical Tues, Thur - 45 minutes elliptical For weight machines, I'm up to about 75 pounds for most machines and I can do those continuously for the entire minute. I started off at 30 pounds. I try going up one weight every week especially if I don't hit the point of failure. Looking for criticism (constructive or otherwise), comments, concerns etc.

What a huge change in less than half a year! Congrats!

When I had surgery for my deviated septum, they knocked me out. It was funny because they told me to count back from 10 and I actually made it to 0. That's what they say anyways. It shouldn't be a huge deal, don't fret!

You made this decision for the betterment of yourself which directly benefits your family. I think thats motivation enough. You'll make it through just fine, I'm sure of it. Chin up!

8 year smoker. I quit this past February with the aid of Chantix. Smoked for the first 2 weeks on the drug, then stopped. I only get a mild urge to smoke when I drink, but I've cut back on the drinking too so win/win. Some people hate the crazy dreams but I loved them.

I've confirmed that I can use short term disability, but they're making me burn 3 personal days. Not a huge deal since I've used no vacation time and I've worked every holiday this year.