Matt Z

I figured it would be nice to have a section where we could just confess to some of the potentially dumb things we've done, pre or post op. Just so others can see we are all human. I want this to be kept as civil as possible, where people can own up to things without anyone else chiming in with anything negative, we all know what we did wasn't "right" but I'm sure we ALL have done something we shouldn't have.

I'll start.

I cheated on my pre-op diet a few times. I also like to find loop holes and exploit the crap out of them. I drank beer for a week+ on my pre-op, because it didn't say I couldn't. I only stopped after I was forced to, because my wife asked my surgeon and of course they said "no"... boo. I also ate a whole slice of French meat Pie at my Dad's 60th birthday luncheon.

I cheated on my post-op diet/puree stage a bit too. I ate rice cakes and Protein chips or other veggie chips. Not a lot, but it happened. I "pureed" a steak and cheese sandwich once. I ate a few fried ravioli on my puree stage as well.

This past weekend, I had a beer. My wife and I took my parents out to dinner at a local casino, it's Restaurant week, so we found a good looking location and went out to eat, part of the deal was that you got a draft beer with your meal. So, I had a shipyard summer ale with my grilled chicken parm sandwich (only ended up eating 3 bites of the chicken and none of the bread).

I did all that thus far and nothing bad happened.
I understand the changes are to ensure we stick to our diets, but understanding that we are all human and WILL either slip up or just stray from our diets on purpose like I did. It's good to see that, it's possible to still live and be able to enjoy a few things we "shouldn't" without any negatives happening.

So, what's your WLS confession?

I'm right there with you. I *HATE* the extra skin... that's all I can see and it grosses me out... I love how I look dressed... and I've even started wearing tank tops and much more fitted clothing... but naked... BLAH so gross!!

Agreed. I started the Biotin like 2-3 months before surgery, haven't noticed any losses or issues.


And agreed... 😘

Yelling is ok! LOL
Yeah I swore I'd never break 230, then I did... then I was worried I'd never see Onederland... and I did. Then I thought I'd never see 180... and I did. Then I landed my "Half the man" milestone when I hit 185.

I'll see what I can do about the full length photo. At work right now and they are looking at me funny.

Being afraid is 100% natural. But the sleeve's mortality rate for "on the table" issues is amazingly low. In fact, ALL of the WLS now have super low "on the table" mortality rates. The numbers you might be looking at or hearing are usually skewed by old numbers, the surgeries have all advanced quite a lot even in the past 10 years.

As far as getting "too fat"... we all understand. It's not 100% your fault either and you shouldn't shoulder all the blame. It's a battlefield out there, horrible easy to access foods are all over. Advertising bombards our subconscious mind at every turn.

Let the past be the past. Stop dwelling on it and start moving forwards. The road ahead is going to need your undivided attention. You can't change the past, but you can control your future. So leave the past where it belongs, behind you. Now you get to start working on where you are going now.

Congrats on deciding to take back control of your life. The path laid out ahead of you is tough, and is going to require major changes to so much of your typical daily routine. It's going to get emotional. It's going to get stressful, it's going to be painful, it's going to be very hard. But. It's very worth it!

Remember, you are stronger than you give yourself credit for, be ready, post-op is an amazing journey!

We all have or will get frustrated with our weight loss.
We all have or will question if we are doing things the right way.

I'm not different.

I wanted to showcase why focusing on the short term isn't the best thing to do.

Here we have my 1 week weigh ins. I'm so super frustrated with this. I've got this goal I want to meet and it's getting tougher and tougher. 2.7 lbs is still a respectable drop. But, I see this line and it makes me sad.


Here is my month. 7.4 lbs. This isn't great at all. The downward trend is good, but the rate, really gets me frustrated.


Here is where things start looking much MUCH better. Here is my year in review. 85.2 lbs total. Here is where we can start seeing why it's so important to look at the whole journey and not just the small daily/weekly or even monthly numbers. I am proud and pleased when I see this chart.


And here is my full weight loss weigh in history. Here is where you can clearly see the struggles. You can see where I got the Lap-Band and started this whole process. You can see where the Band and I stopped working well together. You can see the gains and losses, all the super frustrating stalls. But what I really want people to take away from this is, the whole picture shows the real story. When we focus too much on the small things, we lose focus. When we don't take the whole journey into account, both past and future... we lose sight of our own successes.



I hope this helps someone to get through a stall or to realize that, it's never too late to start over.
Just keep moving forward and try your best not to worry about the small little blips when the whole history will show something much different.

Stay Strong.

Hey Taylor (don't worry about not taking my advise, I wont' get offended and call you out for making your own decisions.)

I hit 370 sometime in 2010 and decided to do something about it. I chose the band, the sleeve wasn't fully approved yet, and the bypass scared me. The idea of it being permanent changes to my anatomy bothered me. I wanted something that could be removed at a future date. So, I went with the band.

Nov 2011, I had the band installed. Surgery wasn't that big of a deal, I was kept overnight because I have sleep apnea. Pain was moderate but tolerable. After what was covered by insurance, I was out of pocket somewhere around the 5k mark. I took 2 months out of work, mainly because I had to drive to and from Boston, and travel times were minimum 1 hour, upwards of 4 hours, so I wanted to be 100% healed before doing all that driving. I followed all the instructions I was given, got my fills and adjustments as required, and ultimately lost 70 lbs within a year or so. (combined with the pre-op diet etc).

I'd get stuck on things maybe once or twice a week. Leafy greens and other fibrous veggies that didn't chew down to "baby food" were uncomfortable enough where I started to avoid them. I got stuck on lean meats, etc. So I got frustrated that, the healthy foods I was supposed to be eating, caused issues thanks to the band.

I gained a bit back, then fought to lose it again, this happened a few times. I never could break that 300 mark, no matter what I did. The band was easily eaten around, things I shouldn't be eating... were the things that didn't cause issues. I became depressed, I felt like a failure, the band was reported to have all these amazing benefits... and I wasn't seeing them, I stopped checking in with my surgeon unless I needed some adjustments due to illness or getting stuck badly enough where my stomach swelled up. I was still way too overweight, wasn't eating as well as I should be, I just wasn't happy with how things were not living up to the bands reported outcomes. After almost 7 years with the band, I finally dragged myself back into my surgeons office, defeated, and I confessed to my surgeon that I was a failure. Boy was I surprised when she told me that my outcomes and dealings were typical, and that it wasn't me that was the problem, it was the band. She went out to tell me that 2 of the major manufacturers have stopped making bands and replacement parts for them. We discussed our options for revision, I was set on the sleeve. My surgeon said she refuses to do band to sleeve revisions because the staple line for the sleeve runs right across the band area, and that scar tissue build up at the band site increases the chances for staple line failure. She advised that others in the same practice would do the sleeve revision, but she won't because of the added complication rates. I trust my surgeon, and I really wanted her to do the revision because she installed the band in the first place. So, I pondered for a bit and finally decided that the bypass, as scary as it sounded, was my best option. Restriction only didn't work for me with the band, why would I think that restriction only with the sleeve would be any different. I needed the malabsorption to ensure that I would lose the weight I needed to.

March 2nd I started my pre-op diet, March 21st I was revised to the bypass and I'm down almost 60 lbs since March 2nd. I truly wish I went bypass from the get go. The revision surgery was not uneventful. What should have taken 2 hours, took 6+. My band, even though all scans, imaging, scoping showed nothing wrong, the band was 100% completely encapsulated in scar tissue and took my surgical team more than 3 times longer to remove. I'm not even sure what would have happened if I left it in place.

Hopefully that answers some of your questions, if you have more, please feel free to shoot me a message.

Change.

That's it. Just, Change.

Get comfortable with that word, because it's the most important thing required to make WLS work.

You. Must. Change.

I try to IF between 6 pm and 8 am. IF was the key to the success I've had, I got "stuck" at 230... IF got me through that and down to my current of around 180. It's great because it's free, and it works.

Good Day all! I still IF every day! Really don't know how I didn't do this before! It just feels so natural now.

Floating between 185 and 190, still right around 18% body fat. But I can wear a medium shirt and a 33 waist

Had a bunch of challenges, but I'm working through them.

I try to IF between 6 pm and 8 am. IF was the key to the success I've had, I got "stuck" at 230... IF got me through that and down to my current of around 180. It's great because it's free, and it works.

Common pitfalls.
Focusing ONLY on your weight and not including body fat %, overall composition, lean mass, physical body measurements. You will stall, there will be times when you just stop losing weight, or gain a little even. This is a problem when you are only looking at your weight. Because you could be losing fat, gaining muscle, etc... but if you don't pay attention to the whole picture, you can and most likely will be come frustrated and discouraged, because you "aren't losing weight"
Not prepping ahead of time. Start getting your Water intakes upward of 128 oz a day. Get your sugar intake down to as close to zero as possible. Start getting your Protein levels up. Start exercising now. Start all the habits you'll be forced to adopt after surgery now.

Get ready to avoid temptations, "slider foods" etc. There are a large number of bad foods that you won't have any trouble eating, get your will power ready now.

Be ready to not be "typical". All the numbers and %'s and everything you'll hear being tossed around. Those are simply averages and that's it. Don't expect to lose 100 lbs in 3 weeks (if you laughed, you haven't read enough of these threads), you might even gain weight right out of surgery. Be ready for your weight to be all over the place for a little while. But give yourself a break and take the time to heal first.

Take **EVERYTHING** in stride, focus on the long term goals and not the day to day.
Be sure to be strict with your diet and goals, but be flexible enough to give yourself a break if you slip up.
The Sleeve is a tool only, it WILL NOT magically make everything go away. Not everyone losses the hunger sensation so just assume you won't, that way if it does come back or never goes away, you won't be disappointed before you even get a chance to start.

All in all. Stay Strong, Focus on WHY you wanted to have the surgery and keep those goals reachable.

If you have ANY lactose intolerance, stay away from any protein that contains Protein Concentrate. Find yourself a protein that ONLY has Protein Isolate. Like Isopure for instance. Whey Protein concentrate is exactly what it sounds like, it's a concentrated milk protein, but concentrates do not filter out lactose. Isolates remove most, if not all, lactose.

You are looking at things the wrong way. Saying you'll NEVER be able to do something is wrong... very wrong. Quite a high number of Bypass patients, myself included, have almost no issues with almost all foods. I can eat pretty much what I want at this point, just over 6 months post op. I drink beer, eat sweets, etc. No issues. I had 2 donuts the other day and that made me feel like crap, but no dumping or other issues other than feeling super run down and icky for a few.

If you focus on ways you plan to fail, you will fail.
Focus on the things you can switch out. I'm a huge ice cream guy. I could eat a whole pint and want more. I found Halo Top ice creams, protein, no added sugar, low fat, super low calories and they taste good.

I don't eat white flour anymore, I choose to eat the high grain count stuff or fiberone has an 80 calorie wrap.

Look for the things that you can swap out, and that will satisfy the cravings while still falling inside of your diet restrictions. It's not hard, you just have to do a little bit of work at first.

Revision from Band to Bypass was legit the best thing I've ever done. I'm still dealing with some odd body dysmorphia, I still "feel" fat. Like when I'm not paying attention, my spacial awareness is that of my fat body... but I'm not "fat" anymore, so that's an odd thing to deal with. But it's getting better day by day. I don't have any issues with feeling like I'm missing out on food or anything, we still go out to eat, I just pick better items. Your taste buds will change, some folks they change only for a little while, some, forever. I've lost my craving for super sweet things, for the most part.

With sagging skin, my max weight was 370 and I don't have much sagging skin at all... I've got some, but it's totally hidden with clothing.

The bypass is reversible. It's risky, but it happens. The **ONLY** weight loss surgery that isn't reversible is the sleeve, because the sleeve 90% of your stomach is removed, with the bypass, it's all still there, just shifted around.
The other side is to realize that, food addictions are real, even if you don't believe you are addicted to something, doesn't mean you aren't. Some of it is habit, habits take a minimum of 2 weeks to break.

Why do you want the surgery? You don't have to answer here, but keep that in mind whenever you start to get frustrated or sad at things that... more than likely won't bother you later down the road.

I knew that if I didn't do something to lose the weight, I would be cutting my life MUCH shorter... I don't want to do that to my wife and kids.

I'll tell you this. over 90 lbs dropped since March and I feel fantastic. Food does not drive my life, I still enjoy lots of food items, I can hike without issue, I take several flights of stairs without breaking a sweat, I actually did 8 floors of a Federal Hospital in 1 go, just because I wanted to see if I could do it, and my heart rate got to a whopping 121 bpm. I'm prepping now to climb a mountain.... I wouldn't even have been able to entertain the idea 6 months ago.

It's ok and totally understandable to be afraid, scared and unsure of the future and all the changes that WILL be required with this surgery. But one thing is certain, if someone stays overweight, they are guaranteeing they will have medical issues down the road.

In this situation, you can drink to clear it. They tell you not to drink while eating as to not force the food through or cause any expansion, but in a situation like this... you can drink to clear the blockage.

My bigger question is, why are you eating real foods only 3 weeks out of surgery? Most folks are on puree's for a full month before moving over to soft solids, then normal foods.

Still around, still trying to provide help and support where I can.

I'm right there with you. I *HATE* the extra skin... that's all I can see and it grosses me out... I love how I look dressed... and I've even started wearing tank tops and much more fitted clothing... but naked... BLAH so gross!!

This might be why, when you consume foods like this and then go to bed your body can't burn them off... try switching your cheat meal to the middle of the day to see if that helps any.

This is exactly what you DON'T want to use. Caffeine AND NSAIDs.... that's a double no no. One of the pre-op checks I had, I was asked if I used NSAIDs in the last month or so... I hadn't, but they said if there was usage, that the surgery *might* get postponed due to the NSAID usage. Don't take anything you know is prohibited after surgery, so close to your surgery without discussing with your surgical team.

💜💜 Hi Cash!!! 💜💜
CONGRATULATIONS

Good Day all! I still IF every day! Really don't know how I didn't do this before! It just feels so natural now.

Floating between 185 and 190, still right around 18% body fat. But I can wear a medium shirt and a 33 waist

Had a bunch of challenges, but I'm working through them.

Here to go, not the best, but eh lol  

Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Here to go, not the best, but eh lol  

Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Good Day all! I still IF every day! Really don't know how I didn't do this before! It just feels so natural now.

Floating between 185 and 190, still right around 18% body fat. But I can wear a medium shirt and a 33 waist

Had a bunch of challenges, but I'm working through them.

I still can't really run much, but that's like a life time thing, born flat footed so running sucks anyway. Strong, I actually feel weaker. Because I used my weight as an advantage with doing things like moving or lifting stuff. Now, I've lost all that weight backing me up so it's a little odd. I actually had people pick me up, including a small female... that was a trip, getting picked up by such a tiny person blew my mind.

Haha. Not quite. "Jabooty" is still with me, but one day, may she rest in peace! I ran my third 5K this morning. I feel strong-ish. Do you?!