Butterthebean

Best of luck with your surgery. You beat cancer....you can beat this. With the sleeve in your arsenal, and your inner strength and courage....you'll succeed.

Lipstick.....if I wasn't already spoken for.....

My comparison was to say that WLS saves lives just like chemotherapy. And that neither are the easy way out, they are often times the only cure. Do you disagree?

This surgery is no more the easy way out than chemotherapy for cancer patients.

Ouch. Yes they told me that happens all the time. Apparently I'm the only one who ever had a cat bite a hole in it, rendering it useless. I thought you were gonna try to top that with a story a about a king cobra or something.

Great analogy. As feedyoureye said, so many folks always say they wish they had done it sooner. Me too. Yeah I tried everything, but I wasn't trying anything that had a chance in hell of working. When I went down my WLS path, I had my eyes opened. That 6 months I spent with the NUT really lit a fire in me....and educated me on how much time and effort I had wasted on fad diets, extreme measures silly games. I wish I could have gone down this path 20 years ago because honestly in all that time nothing I attempted ever had a chance. It was all just recycled versions of the same pipe dream.

Fiddle I'm gonna try this. As of now I can't do any pull-ups. And never have. So if I can get 1 by the end of the challenge that will be a victory.

There's a great book called slow burn by stu mittleman. The guy ran 1000 miles in 11 days. I've talked about his book before. In it he lays out how to run long distance without needing a lot of carbs, especially the high sugar/starchy type. All the pasta, potatoes, bananas, energy gels and drinks that most runners eat...he doesn't eat ......and I try not to when I'm being disciplined. He shows you how to run in the fat burning zone so you don't need carbs before a run. It's worth a read for those of us runners who don't want to or can't eat a bunch of carbs. My pre run meal is usually protein and fats. Boiled egg and almonds is my normal meal. My wife and I ran our half marathon yesterday and while I had my usual....she ran it fasted with no problem. The carbs aren't necessary for longer slow runs. Now short sprints and all out efforts are another matter.

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. "Eat papa eat!"

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. "Eat papa eat!"

I never tried hypnosis but I did listen to those "weight loss" subliminal tapes...LOL. They made me hungry.

Missus Clause says if you try it she will unleash her Santa-Fu.

Fiddle...you will appreciate this. After the run I took an ice bath to ward off inflammation. Not the most pleasant bath.....I'll let you know tomorrow how well it worked.

I bought an Omron biopendence body fat measuring device and it's quite easy to use. They measured me with to calipers and it was within 1% of the Omron. I'd love to get measured with a bodpod someday.

I'm of the mindset that if you're happy with your weight, then you can forgive yourself a little indulgence during these crazy times if you know you can jump right back on plan as soon as it's all over. But if it's gonna set you on a 3 week binge, or if you're gonna beat yourself up about it and feel awfully guilty, then better off filling up on protein before the party and abstaining from the goodies. A little bit really does reignite the cravings for more.

Best of luck on your surgery. I hope you will post to let us know how everything went. Speedy recovery!

Here's me before I got promoted to full Santa.....I was just an elf.

Thanks sweet pea. It went very well considering I didn't have long enough to train. Had a great time and it was a blast running with thousands of other santas. I've been looking forward to this day since I got released to exercise after the TT. It was everything I hoped it would be. I'll do another one next month and I hope to be in better shape by then. Puts my MTD up to 78.

I hope you get some good news. But it sounds like even if you don't you're already looking on the bright side. To me, your point I swell taken....that of all the risks of WLS, the risks of staying obese are much higher.

I don't think you or anybody else has been censored at all. But I do feel there are certain subforums dedicated to certain groups to discuss their commonalities. Amongst others, there is a religious forum to discuss your faith and devotion to god. And this is not it. Just like men are asked to stay out of the powder room and women are asked to stay out of the mans room.

Nuts!

Running a half marathon today in this outfit. If that ain't fun I don't know what is.

Good luck on your upcoming surgery Michael. I have to say after day 3 it was a cake walk. Those first few days were not fun but not so much because of pain. More so because you can't eat or drink much....your body has to adjust to that. I felt weak, but only need pain medication once. I will say, if you need it.....take it. Better to keep the pain at bay than try to tough it out. There is no need to do that. But honestly it's not that bad for most guys.

Hey hunter. I completely get it. I have to say...I'm 44 and my abdomen was never going to get better until I had a TT, which I did. But my chest did get better and is still getting better. But....until then, there are numerous compression garments that you can wear which may help. Here's some examples. They are a bit pricey but much more effective than just an under armour type shirt....these things really hold stuff in place. They seem restrictive at first, but you very quickly get used to them and like the feeling of things not bouncing around. http://www.makemeheal.com/mmh/product/compression_garments/male/index.vm

Thank goodness I'm married. Christy....I can only imagine. I think in time it will get much easier. It will definitely take some trial and error....some testing of the waters.....and some grit and courage. But don't hold yourself back. Enjoy the new life.