Matt Z

LOL yeah, I've been doing a lot of ab exercises to help with my back issues. I almost couldn't keep the grin off my face when I was able to do 3 sets of 10 of incline bench crunches while holding a 25 lb plate. And the fact that I can actually start to feel them is just so damn cool LOL.

Here is my updated before and after set. 140.4 lbs loss between the first and last columns. I'll be looking into plastics as some point, but it's not *needed* really, just not overly jazzed about how I look naked. But I'm so happy with how I feel and how I look clothed.

And to update, I'm 114 lbs lost in 11 months at this point.

Just take your time spread the water out over the whole day, don't try to pound it all in one sitting, you'll figure out how quickly you can drink pretty fast, it just takes trial and error to figure out what speed is right for you. Once you figure out how fast your stomach/pouch/sleeve drains, then you'll know around how much you can drink at once and then how quickly you can do that again.

Just checking in... Miss you all! My mom has lost 15 lbs last month using IF! I'm floating just around the 200 mark, a little above a little below but I'm pretty happy overall so... that's fine. Here's an updated photo from this past Saturday night. I love looking sharp... makes me feel so damn good! Even if I *STILL* don't see myself the way everyone else does, I know I look good, but I don't see it / feel it typically... when I get dressed up I sure do though!

If there is ANYTHING that the RAVE culture has taught me is... it doesn't matter what you look like, how old you are, how "lame" you look... it's all about doing your own thing and accepting everyone else doing their own thing. PLUR Peace Love Unity Respect.... really an amazing crowd to have fallen in with. I was big into techno and rave / edm music pretty much forever, but even though I grew up in the 80's and 90's with the rave scene budding all around, I never got a chance to go to one... until I was 40! Now I go every chance I can!

I haven't bought anything specific for the milestone... but I've got a TON of new clothes already! And some new Costumes for the Rave's I've been going to! It's so great to be able to be active again! Here are some photos: The Green suit is from New Years Eve Neon Masquerade Ball The Bunny Suit is from Jan 4th, a Tim Burton themed rave

My heaviest weight was 370. In 2010 I had the band installed (such a mistake, waste of time, money and effort IMO) March 10th, 2018 at my Pre-Surgical check in I was 310. March 21st, 2018 at check in for surgery I was 294.4. I had the band removed and revised to the bypass. Today, January 23rd, 2019. 308 days after surgery... I hit a number that I haven't seen in more than 20 years Onederland. I'm down 95 lbs since surgery, 110.6 lbs from pre-surgical. And a staggering 170.6 lbs from my heaviest weight. I need to thank so many people that if I tried, I'd forget someone and then we'd start with the hard feelings. So I'll go with this. Thank you. If you've helped me through this in any way, shape, or form, Thank you.

SO.MUCH.FUN! 7 pm - 3 am of non-stop dancing, 2 different DJ booths, one inside, one in a giant heated tent that was lit with ONLY black lights! (the image of me and the other girl are in the tent, the others are from the main floor) Pre shave photos but it lets you see the whole suit head to toe, not as cool with the blacklight flashlight, but you get the idea.

God no... this person is actively trying to get me fired (on and off) more than likely because I call them out for all their ****, and horrible work ethic, and federal fraud/waste/abuse. Seems like they feel they are untouchable and we share the same supervisor... and the supervisor doesn't do anything because they suck as a supervisor. (not as a person, just... some people should NOT be in a supervisory role because they can't do the hard/uncomfortable things that are required.).

If only... I can get when people don't like me for a reason... I don't understand when people don't like me for no reason... But thank you!

Oh... and I shaved. And went to a NYE rave in a full UV reflective suit and mask. Woman in the photo with me is not my wife (not sure who it is really either LOL)

Still IF'ng... sorry I haven't been around. Some issues at work are preventing me from using this site all that often... and by "some issues" I mean "Someone saying I'm "Blogging" all day... not in "trouble" but I have to chill for a bit. Still fighting to get under 200. Closest I've been at this point is 200.8 When I eat like an a$$hole, the numbers rise a bit... so, at least I know I can maintain pretty well.

I've done both. 23andMe gives you the choice on what happens to your DNA. Ancestry.com did not. Odds are, nothing bad is going to happen to you. If someone *REALLY* wanted your DNA, they could get it, it's not hard. I wouldn't be concerned about "who" has access to your spit DNA when your blood, samples, surgical waste, etc is all out there and available to anyone with the right access or need to know. These companies aren't going to just allow ANYONE to willy nilly access your DNA, they would go out of business if they did.

Everyone is going to be different, but as long as you just keep working on your water intake and just keep trying to get a little more, you'll get there soon enough!

Current medical research is showing that the human body needs between 90 and 110 oz of water a day. And that's for NORMAL humans. This doesn't include increased need for exercise. The human body uses water to process fat. So, if you aren't giving your body what it needs just to do it's normal day to day, fat loss is going to suffer, greatly. Not even getting into the whole persistent dehydration state thing. Do your best to try to hit 128 oz of water a day. I know it seems tough, but just do your best and you WILL see the benefits of doing so!

A little trick I picked up over both my WLS's, using the incentive spirometer (or not) when you get to your max inhalation, hold it for a few seconds and "compress" it a little bit by bearing down into it a little, not enough to cause pain, but enough so that you feel the increased pressure inside, this helps force the gasses out of the cavity where they can be trapped.

Did they give you an incentive spirometer? If so... make sure you use it every hour, it really does help for those gas pains!

You can still get your protein in with shakes. Just make sure that the protein is listed as an "Isolate" and not a "concentrate". Isolates are milk based, but are highly filtered and have little to no lactose. Generally people with lactose issues have no problem with protein isolate. Concentrate is simply a milk concentrate so lactose is much higher that one would expect. Good luck!

This is misleading. Required, No. Beneficial, Yes. No amount of anything will ever change the fact that, the larger your muscles are, the more energy they will burn, full stop. Also, after WLS, with Visceral fat loss leaving muscles and connective tissue with extra slack due to the missing fat padding, you *NEED* to exercise to tight up loose ligaments, tendons, etc.

Good luck! I'd so much rather it be nothing, then hear something bad happened to you!

Give them a call back and let them know about the poop situation. It's VERY important that they are aware of it as well. Pain or not, there could be major issues given the vomiting and nausea symptoms as well. They need the full "Tip to Toe" picture of what's going on otherwise they can miss a diagnosis. With WLS, it's better to over share with your team than to leave things off the table!

I'm curious. You are following your surgeons orders of not consuming fiber (not sure why they said that, maybe the sugar...but they sell sugar free versions, I take it daily, zero issues) so, wouldn't you follow this logic and see what your surgeon says about taking a stronger laxative? And how's that water intake? Every time I hear "I'm constipated" generally water intake is lower than it should or could be. I would certainly NOT start a laxative while you are vomiting and nauseous. The bigger concern is, you are vomiting, nauseous AND not evacuating. Those symptoms could point to being impacted, an intestinal stricture, or other issue preventing your waste material from processing. I'd *REALLY* suggest calling and talking to your team ASAP... just in case.

Congrats and Good Luck!