O.T.R. sleever

Firstly let me say, you look great.

I didn't read the entire thread, so forgive me if this has already been suggested, but, are you eating enough?

If you are still you are still trying to lose weight by restricting caloric intake & exercise, then you are going to call me crazy.

At this point in the game , your body has adapted to surviving on low calories. You need to calculate your base metabolic rate & add your caloric burn to it. Then bring your caloric intake up to at least that number for about a month. This will convince your body that it is being well nourished & it will quit holding tightly to fat stores. Then you can go back yo the pouch test or any other calorie restrictive diet you choose. You'll notice that then & only then will your body release the fat stores. If you don't reach your goal in 2-3 weeks bring your calories back up and repeat the cycle.

OTR- looking great' date=' keep it up! I am going in on October 8 for my sleeve and I have concerns about maintaining muscle mass. Id like to ask 2 questions : first, how long did you wait until starting to lift weights? Second, did your skin bounce back well or do you have some hanging?

I'm about the same size (frame at least) that you are in the before pic and I'd like to know what I can expect.

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips.[/quote']

I was about 2months post-op when I started doing push-ups, dips & simple exercises like that. When those got too easy I bought a 120 lb weight vest I started with 40 lbs in it and continued with the same exercises, I'm up to 60lbs in it now, so I've still got another 60 before I max it out.

Being a truck driver I am somewhat limited as to what equipment is available to me. Also, I do still keep a pretty significant Protein intake. Thankfully at this point I can drink all the Protein I want.

Remember, you already have muscle under the fat. It takes a lot to move our higher weight around. So our initial effort is to retain the muscle we already have, not necessarily build more.

This is about 80-90% about what goes in your mouth & 10-20% about the exercise.

There are 2 mind sets on this journey. Some ask "what's acceptable" others decide on "what's best" I've chosen the later. I no longest eat bread, white rice, Pasta, or potatoes. Nor do I drink anything with more than a handful of calories.

I do have the occasional treat, but my "treats have gone from once or twice a day to to once every week or 2. And I've gone from eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's to 1 Haagen Däs bar. If I get cheesecake I don't buy a whole cheesecake, I buy 1slice so the temptation isn't left there staring at me.

If you can, rid your kitchen of anything unhealthy. Only buy indulgences in single portion sizes. I know the big bag of chips is only 1 more, but if you are like me, the big bag only lasts 15minutes longer than the small one. And has 10 times the empty calories. (No I don't really eat potato chips, but that is because of my self imposed "no potato" rule, not because I can't.)

Skin has for the most part shrunk. I do still have some extra around my waist, inner thighs & under my chin, but it's one HELL of a lot better than all the extra weight. Women are regularly commenting on my cologne, hair & clothes again. I have not had that for years.

I cannot tell you that it is easy. What I will say is it is worth it.

I'm going to respond to this I a few hours.

are you still a "hall" monitor??

Umm no, last I was told there are no more mods here only a couple Admins. Of course that could have changed in the last couple months & I wouldn't be aware of it.

Hello!!! Oh my! You can fry my bacon anytime big guy! Yummy on your progress pictures!

I wouldn't mind if you were the gravy on my hot potatoes!!

Sorry sweetness. Just the talk of bacon, potatoes, gravy, butter, etc turns me off. But I do appreciate the flowers

Thank you err body.

its a button at the top of this thread called "unfollow this topic" feel free to click it if u don't like what's going on here..lol

Is this directed at me? If so you read something into my post that wasn't there.

Whoo hooo!!! Sexy sexy.

Great job! Another Onederland resident

Welcome to Onederland. You do know that pics are a requirement though. Right?

This place never changes...

I ate like a pig for at least a month before my surgery. Lots of people will tell you that food Funerals are a bad thing. Personally now at 15 months post op I can't see where it harmed me at all. I think I'm doing well.

Nice job OTR! Where are the "before" pics for comparison? Because (and this is a true compliment) you don't look like you were ever obese to begin with!

(Also what are you doing with your hands in the first one?) Just curious' date=' is this a body builder pose I'm unaware of?...honestly looks like you are washing your hands...lol.) [/quote']

This is the only before pic I have(well actually it was 2days after surgery). And my hands in the top pic were just pushing down on the counter a bit.

My goal is to be healthy and still maintain some muscle mass

I still have a way to go, but I don't think I'm doing too badly considering I'm still recovering from knee surgery, thus my exercise is limited.

Hope this helps someone.

For those who don't know, I started at almost 300lbs. And in almost no notable muscle.

I've got a major regret.

I didn't do it years ago.

You are sounding like my jr high students

Don't worry, you won't have to read my posts much longer.

I told you so!!!!

Hi all

Was wondering if any of you hav surgery in UK and were able to negotiate the price with the surgeon. I know this sounds odd but I have read in another forum that one lady managed to reduce her price by aprox £2k? Just wondered if this was realistic?

X

I'm not in the UK, but there is an old saying, "money talks". If you have the cash to prepay the surgery everything is negotiable. .

So saying thank you equals hero worship in your world? Around here' date=' we just say thank you to show manners, be polite, and demonstrate that we are grateful.

You must either have a lot of heroes or be very ungrateful.[/quote']

You're about to get flamed.

You might consider only using 1scoop of your Isopure powder. Your body cannot absorb more than 30 grams of Protein in a sitting.

My mid morning snack (get out of my head)

Let's clarify things....

We will never charge our members for membership to our community. Regular membership will always be free!

We're planning to offer a premium membership option in the future. This membership would include no ads on the site or apps' date=' free eBook downloads, upgraded food and weight trackers, more storage and other premium options.

I hope this clarifies things.[/quote']

As much as your work has benefited all of us, I really do not understand why anybody would even think you would do anything to hurt this forum or it's membership.

If you are a fan of Quinoa (I am) I highly recommend checking out Feed Adam. It's a a project that focuses on teaching women in empoverished areas to farm small portions of land. The organization purchaces the premium product these ladies produce at a premium price allowing them to provide for their families and retain their dignity.

How does this relate to this thread? The product they are working with is Quinoa. Not only can you feel good for helping an organization like this, it's also the cheapest place I've found to get Quinoa.

http://feedadam.com/mobile/products.php?menuid=13

This is great advise... Thank you. Another question... It says we can eat any cheese. ANY? Like string cheese... And if we eat sliced cheese' date=' I'm assuming same rule... Eat slowly and wait between bites??? I'm soooo nervous.[/quote']

I'd avoid really hard cheeses for a bit, but pretty much any common cheese is fine. Yes, eat slow & measure your portions.