Matt Z

There are categories of Morbid Obesity (I didn't know this either until more recently). My comment about maybe being too big for the sleeve isn't based on anything other than the numbers you've posted and others I know personally that were close to the same size that couldn't... or had to lose 100lbs give or take before they could be sleeved. Not trying to give you anything other than information... no judgments... and I've never seen a single episode of "My 600lb Life"...

At 402 lbs and 5 foot 9... you should qualify for the surgery though (most) insurances... not sure what insurance you have... but I've never heard of any insurance not covering at least some of WLS with a BMI of 59.4... You are actually off most of the BMI charts... and are classified as "Super Obese" bordering on "Hyper Obese".... there isn't anything over "Hyper Obese".... That said, you might be too big to get Sleeved, have you considered or discussed Bypass surgery with your insurance/Doctors/etc?

@Frustr8 you know this post was almost 2 years old right?

Sorry I missed this reply, if you don't tag a user ( using @username) or use the "Quote" button, we might not get notified. I'm on GEHA, (Government Employees Heath Association) They partner with Aetna. I had BCBS for my band, they were pretty easy from what I recall back then. Hopefully you'll get your approval soon! If it's been more than 2 weeks, Give your insurance a call for an update.

Reach out to your insurance company for a list of surgeons in your area, then hit the web and check out their reviews.

You should be able to pick out a few items that you are able to eat at that point. This is where will power is going to be key, well that and the fact that you don't want to accidentally eat something that'll cause you to dump. Airlines really only care about liquids in certain sizes. You can bring protein bars and other "food" stuffs, it's just the liquids they get antsy about. Freeze dried and dehydrated items travel well.

That's great that you feel your surgeon knows what she's doing. I know mine does, I mean, I'm sure she didn't send me for an ultrasound of my gallbladder to find out if I had stones or not so she didn't prescribe me a medication that I didn't need for no reason.

Fluctuations are common. Maybe not that much, but it's possible. When you use the scale, do you leave it in 1 spot or do you pick it up and/or move it around? If you move it, that can cause scales to need to be calibrated, which can take 3-5 consecutive weights before it's back to being more accurate. Now, with working out, you are gaining muscle mass and retaining water in those muscles while they repair... so it's sorta normal to gain while working out at first. It will eventually turn around, just keep tracking your intake, keep your water intake as high as you can (64-128oz), our bodies can't process fat if it doesn't have enough water. Are you tracking body fat % as well?

You are not going to want to make this call on your own, wait until your surgeon/surgical team gives you the thumbs up. The "rule" is when your incisions are healed up enough that they won't pop up when they get saturated and soaked with water, typically it's 4 weeks. But again, let your team tell you when you are cleared or you can end up much worse off.

5 days out of surgery... odds are it's just gas/swelling/the fact that you are still healing.

At first, about 2 weeks post op I looked at the calendar was like "crap, I've got 6 more weeks of this.. ugh" Then I got cleared for the gym and to actually do things and I just didn't want to go back to work at all! Hell, even now I still don't want to be here. I really enjoyed being able to actually sleep and work on me. But... Yay Adulthood!

We were told to wait until at least 6 months... but that said, I've had a few oz of whiskey, the key is to take your time and to remember that alcohol is rather high calorie (depending I know). Seems like you handled things the right way.

Congrats! Good Luck and a Speedy Recovery!

Stalls happen... often. Are you tracking your intake? Are you tracking your water? Are you exercising? 60 mins a day? Are all your intakes where they should be? If you are burning more than you consume, then you'll be losing weight (or body fat)... it's entirely possible to be losing body fat and not weight if you are exercising/working out. It's happened to me several times already in less than 3 months.

I haven't been tested, but fat stores estrogen, so when fat loss, you can have out of wack levels. A buddy of mine's T was like 0, he's on shots once a week and says it's night and day difference!

Gottcha! And here I thought it was a health choice LOL (I'm not a fan of either myself)

How's your water intake? What surgery? Have you talked to your surgical team? Those symptoms can be dehydration or vitamin deficiencies, (or diabetes, thyroid issues, certain medications, etc)

Don't worry about much of anything except your diet and water (and some light exercising) at this point. The rest will come around. Worry about healing and learning your new diet first. Getting too attached to the weight number isn't a good thing, when you do stall... you are more likely to end up getting frustrated. Just keep doing what you are supposed to and everything will work out.

@joannaspanner Things that folks need to know to answer this question for you: Are you still tracking your food/Protein/Etc? How many calories are you consuming? Are you still tracking your water intake? How much water are you consuming? Are you exercising? How often? How much? Cardio only or Cardio and Weight lifting? Somethings to consider. As we lose weight and get older, our BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) decreases. BMR is the amount of calories you need to exist, think in a coma, alive but not moving. You can check yours here https://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/bmr As we get older and lose weight we need less calories, which means we need to either exercise more, or consume less. If you aren't tracking... start tracking again. The math is pretty simple, If you burn more calories than you consume, you'll lose weight. Water intake, our bodies cannot process fat if we don't have enough water to do so. So if you aren't tracking your water or aren't getting 64-128oz of water, start tracking and increase. Daily movement at work etc is great, but it's not really enough for weight loss, you should be in the gym at least an hour a day. And that brings me to muscle mass. Larger muscles burn more calories than smaller ones, so if you build some muscle, you will burn more calories the rest of the day than you would without larger muscles.

I'm almost 3 months out from my bypass and my stomach is still pretty large compared to the rest of me. I've lost some sizes, but it's still very "full" looking. Everyone loses weight at different rates from different parts of the body. You just have to keep up the exercising!

What Surgery? Answers will change depending on your surgery type.

Actually guacamole is fine... healthy fats and all.

Looks good to me. Sodium is a little high but that's expected for processed meats / "hot dogs" But yeah, everything else looks fine, sugars are low even though there is added sugar in the ingredients, fats are within reason... Sounds like you found a good alternative (if it tastes to your liking).

@patriciaguirre22 I also put a few short bandaids across the incisions perpendicular to the incision line to help "hold everything together" for the few 2 or 3 weeks. Not enough to completely cover the incisions, but enough to reduce the downward (pulling apart) forces.

This works so well! For the first few days I used a pillow, as the healing progressed I could just press the palm of my hand on my large incision site to hold everything still for a cough. Coughing is a good thing, so let them out!