Matt Z

I was just going to say, Might want to make sure you check with your surgical team for any restrictions... I've heard/read about some teams barring shaving for whatever reasons... always best to ask your team!

The best rule for trying new things... is to do it at home. Just think of all the things that can go wrong. Would you rather be home, where you have all of your comforts and easy access to an ER/Ambulance/ETC or would you rather be in the middle of a party city in a bar? I mean, you can totally do what you want to, but personally I always try to venture outside of the box in a situation where I have full control in case it's not as expected. You'd be better off ruining a normal night than potentially ruining a special one. Just my 2 cents.

I'm a band to bypass revision as well. There are a few things at play here. Your Basal Metabolic Tate (the rate at which you burn calories just by being alive) is based on Sex, Weight, Height and Age. So as those factors change, so does your Basal. Lower weight means lower baseline burn. Higher age also means lower baseline burn. So you may need to adjust your intake, or up your output. Walking alone isn't going to drastically move that needle. You should look into some muscle building, more muscle burns more fat. Also, and this can be a touchy subject for guys, at 62, your testosterone levels are dropping, which hinders fat burn and muscle growth. Might be something to check into with your Doc, have your levels tested to make sure they aren't too low. How's your water intake? Your body needs water to assist in fat break down. It's amazing what just increasing your water intake to over 64oz a day can do to your body.

Weight flux is normal ESP when you first start off on solids. Your body is going to need some time to readjust. Just as long you know you are hitting your intake goals and are getting all the exercise you are supposed to be, you'll be fine. You can be losing body fat and not lose weight, as odd as that sounds. There were a few times where I gained around 2 lbs in a day but lost body fat. So don't worry too much, just keep doing what you are supposed to be doing and everything will be just fine. And yes, your period will cause you to retain water, thus, extra weight.

Breathe. Why are you getting WLS? You don't have to answer here, just think about that. Is food more important than why you decided to undergo WLS? I fully understand your mindset. I grew up with a large Italian family. Food was EVERYTHING! I was also very scared about giving up all my go-to's and favorites. And it wasn't easy either. But guess what. I don't miss most of them. I've found ways around things, better options that get me close enough to that food that I don't miss it. And not everyone is the same with food and dumping. I ate a whole piece of pizza and was fine. I felt run down and gross, but I wasn't sick. I've eaten fried raviolis, same deal, outside of feeling like junk, I was fine. I have had issues with things I didn't think I would, like Tomato Soup. And had ZERO issues at all with things I never thought would be fine, like Hersey's Kisses. I can say, without a single shadow of a doubt, that I do not regret having the surgery. I thought I might for a bit, while going through stalls and smelling my kids toasting bread or cooking pizza... but, I got over it. I actually have some toast on occasion, I just go for the highest grain count I can. It costs more, but you eat SO much less that it almost balances out. Side effect of me eating better, so does my family now. And they are all becoming healthier people as well. Just focus on what you CAN do rather than what you CAN'T do. You'll have plenty of time to figure out your new stomach after you've been cleared to experiment. Always remember your "Why's". It's just food. You have power of it, not the other way around. You got this!

That's a pretty good question, I know certain vitamins are "covered" under my medical (I still have to pay for them, it's just very reduced) but I haven't heard of proteins being covered. Very interested in what others have to say!. Found this: https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/298409-did-you-know-your-protein-drinks-can-be-covered-by-your-insurance/ http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/4650295/Wow-Insurance-covers-protein-shakes-and-vitamins/

Good Luck everyone! The Fun is about to begin!

Any compression shirt should work as well. There are a bunch of Amazon that are superhero prints and are under $20. The one I'm wearing in my avatar would work well for a swim shirt.

Good luck! Hopefully you brought some dry mouth spray and some lip balm! If not, ask someone to run out and get some... SUPER helpful when you wake up and can't drink anything for a few hours!

How's your water intake? I know some proteins can leave a weird film/taste in ones mouth, but with it not going away after cleaning... could be a bacterial/yeast build up. Could be mild dehydration. Certainly keep your surgical team aware of any changes!

I can understand this 100%. When I was banded, the same hype surrounded it, no hunger blah blah blah. I was hungry constantly. And I ate like crap... food addiction is a real thing. After many years I went back and revised to the bypass. I took the recovery time from that to not ignore or shy away from the foods I wanted, I confronted them. I would look at something, and my head would tell me I wanted it badly. But I would just go over the reasons I chose WLS, the effects that food would have on my stomach, my weight and my life. I started taking back my life from foods. It's not easy by any means, but then again, if anyone told you WLS was easy... they lied to you. When you want something, and you aren't shaking from lack of nutrients... it's more than likely not real hunger. When you are facing food issues. Ask yourself why you decided to go through with the surgery. Who did you do it for? Who's in control of who? How important is that food over your happiness? How important is that food to your goals? It **WILL** get better. It just takes time and effort. But the struggle is 100% worth it! You got this!

Well, less weight is going to put less pressure on your bladder, so you *should* see some level of improvement from that aspect alone. UTIs, with less compressed skin around, you should have better air flow, so less sweat and bacterial build up, so UTIs should decrease as well. I would be curious how the required increased water intake is going to affect your situation, are you presently consuming 64-128 oz of water a day?

It will certainly pass. I was concerned as well during my stalls (yes plural, they can happen at any time! 3 weeks is just most common) I'm lucky enough to have a scale that does body fat as well, so I could see the weight gain, but I also could see the fat loss. Your body will pause and re-calibrate itself when it needs to, these are the "stalls". There is also a stall around when you start to change up your food intake levels, consistency, even type of food depending on your personal situation. The most important thing to remember is, keep hitting your metrics, keep up the exercise and you'll be just fine!

Right there with your friend! I'm a little over 2 months out now, and, I too had some crazy depression. Both before and after, I always kept it to myself. The best thing I did was to start focusing on what I could do, rather than what I couldn't. Progress isn't always easy the first few weeks. Between the swelling, medication, and your body trying to figure out what the new normal is, it's very easy to miss positive things. If your friend has a scale and doesn't have a body fat tracking option, let them know that, weight is just 1 part of the whole puzzle. Try to pay attention to the small things you take for granted. IE, I went to the movies with my wife about 3-4 weeks out. It was raining so I jumped over a puddle without thinking the way I would typically do and I was shocked when I landed farther away from where I anticipated. I overshot a damn puddle because I applied the same amount of force to my jump that I would have when I was heavier and the result was quite a surprise to me. This whole process takes time. It's a long distance trek. I know it can be frustrating not knowing how long, it's like reading a book and not knowing how many pages there are, you never have any idea where you are in the overall scope of things.... until you get there. As long as your friend is hitting the metrics set forth by the doctors (water intake, protein intake, calorie total if they are tracking that) then they are going to be just fine, just as long as they keep it up. One step at a time, One day at a time. I've found happiness at the Gym. I feel SO much better after a good workout. It's to the point now where I can't wait to just get through my work day so I can go to the gym, burn some fat and build some muscle!

Congrats! Have fun!

That's an interesting question. Part of me feels that if you didn't get to ingest, then it shouldn't count. But the other part of me knows that some of the food is getting absorbed through the mouth and some will make it past the pouch. Have you posed this question to the WW folks?

There are quite a few on Amazon for decent prices, I got the Superman one seen in my avatar for $19 /free shipping on Amazon. I've also got some under armor ones. I **LOVE** my compression gear! Red Plume Compression Gear great prices, just understand they come from Korea/China and take a little longer in shipping.

I'm drinking some Isopure Unflavored protein blended with frozen mango, carrot, banana, strawberry and kale right now. Can't state the protein at all. The biggest thing to watch for with adding protein to soup is to make sure it's not too hot, protein will coagulate when it gets too hot.

This will range based on Sex, Age, Height, Weight, Current Physical Restrictions etc. The best thing to remember is, that if you consume less than you burn in a day, you will lose weight. As stated above, most of us are not told a specific calorie goal, just to make sure to hit protein and water intake targets. Just make sure you are getting enough of the important stuff first.

This is going to be a 100% personal "thing". Not everyone dumps on the same stuff, and not everyone dumps the same way. Dumping symptoms vary drastically from person to person and even food to food. It's really a "try and see" situation. Some increased sugars and fats don't phase me at all, I can eat Hersey Kisses by the handful and not have any problems, which kinda sucks because now I have to chose to avoid them rather than having them cause issues and not be worth eating. Best thing to do is stay in touch with your nutritionist and when you are cleared to start trying foods, do so at home with plenty of time to deal with any of the dumping side effects. I eat a bowl of Tomato Soup and felt like I had all my energy zapped, had to go lay down and ended up sleeping for like 3-4 hours. It's a tough learning journey trying to figure out the new you. Good Luck!

Just keep doing what you are supposed to. Your body will stall or pause while it re-calibrates itself. As long as you are hitting your metrics, getting your exercise and doing what you are supposed to be doing at 3 weeks... you'll be fine. Does your scale also do body fat? If not, it's entirely possible you are losing body fat but not weight, happened to me a few times already since my revision. The length varies from person to person, but just rest assured knowing it does pass! Just keep staying on target! You got this!

I managed several very high grossing adult stores on the East Coast for a number of years. I've been exposed to quite a lot. Waterbased actually doesn't get as slippery as oil based or silicon based because your body absorbs water rather quickly. I don't recommend oil based to anyone using protection as oil breaks down latex and other rubbers, and you have to be careful with silicon based because it will eat certain products (typically the softer toys/etc) The wife and I have used coconut oil for almost 10 years now, not a single issue or concern reported from any doctors. Obviously each person is different, but it's a 100% natural, pure food grade item... it's easy to find anywhere (you can to go the town supermarket to get it!) and it's fairly cheap.

Pure food grade coconut oil should be right around the same level of pH as what the vagina should be (I know some can test towards the neutral level of pH, but neutral is just that, neutral). Clearly everyone is going to be different, but I've heard from quite a lot of folks that have never had a single issue with using food grade coconut oil.

I think the wellbutrin side effects have been misread, one of the most common side effects of wellbutrin is not an increased sex drive, it's listed as "Loss of interest in sex". Wellbutrin Side Effects

Good luck! But don't stress about it, there is a very heavy mental aspect to this as well. Tip with the lubes, try a dab behind your ear before you go slathering your nether regions, you wouldn't want to have a reaction that's less than pleasant if you are sensitive to something in the lube. At least with the lubes meant for added sensitivity, also, check with your partner, they might have some "adverse" reactions to added stimulus *wink*. For non-sensation adding lubes, pure food grade coconut oil is AMAZING for both parties! And it's good for your skin!