O.T.R. sleever

Hi Steve, Congrats on your surgery & on starting your journey to your new life. I'd really like a bit more insight on your daily diet, but something that jumps out to me right away is that you appear to be mislead on what a Protein shake is. Since I don't know what GNC product you are using I will skip that one, but I'd like to address the Ensure. Ensure is a Meal Replacement, not a protein shake. I'm looking at a strawberry Ensure right now & it only provides 9grams of protein but slams you with 250 calories & 40carbs So let's say you are drinking 4 of these in a day. That's 1000 calories 160 carbs and 36g of protein. That is about 1/3 the protein that I would recommend for a man. About double the carbs, and right about the total caloric intake I get. I advocate a 10/1 calorie/protein ratio. So at the end of the day if you are going to consume 1000 calories you should be getting 100g protein. The first thing I'd do is scrap the meal replacement shakes & find a protein supplement you like, or at least can tolerate. Here's a few you can try:

First off congrats on losing 110lbs! That is a huge accomplishment. Now for the kick in the butt. You know what you are doing wrong, so the real question here is how to correct it. You simply must at minimum double preferably triple your protein intake It's no surprise that you are falling to temptations, protein is what keeps you satiated. You need to plan your food & drink before the day begins. Eating is not a casual thing to do when your "hungry" or "feel" like eating anymore. Get a food journal or planner, and instead of writing down what you eat after you eat it you should plan your meals & Snacks in advance. Planning= Preperation= Success 30g of protein? I'm guessing you are not using any protein supplements. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, you need to use something. Back to basics. Plan a diet that gives you protein throughout the day, & plenty of Water. Keep in mind eating white carbs creates cravings for more white carbs. So make it a point to resist the temptations & it will get progressively easier Also don't discount the advantages of seeing a counselor. We all have issues with food & many times they can help us to recognize why we continue our unhealthy eating habits.

My highest weight & surgery weight are the same so I refer to that. Start weight 289 (05/23/12) weight as of 09/0912 ------ 210

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/47767-anyone-have-a-relatively-easy-recovery-story/ Here's a thread that might help you a bit. Unfortunately many of us that have had & are continuing to have great experiences feel bad posting how easy this is for us.

I only weigh on Saturday mornings, so this info is about 5 days old. I was 289lbs going into the O.R. on may 23rd. 108 days later (15weeks 3days) on September 8th I weighed in at 210lbs 79lbs gone forever

The reason your doc says to wait 2 years after surgery is because your skin shrinks much slower than the rest of your body. You skin will continue to shrink slowly for 2 years. So getting plastics before that could very well be a waste of money. Not to mention , you might not stop losing once you hit goal.

Check out the Iolite

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/47767-anyone-have-a-relatively-easy-recovery-story/ Don't sweat it, even if the first few days are bad, it's such a small price to pay for the rest of your life back. Here's a link for you to check out.

Amy, there are a few things to consider here. The video you were watching, 1. how far post-op was the poster? 2. how much weight was lost? 3. How old was she? Keep in mind, your skin will continue shrinking for 2 years, possibly longer. Yes, you will likely deal with loose skin in the earlier stages, but the loose skin you see 6months out will still shrink a lot. I'm not saying it will all go away (though it might). But if you really want to see what the reality of loose skin is, you really should be looking at people 2 years post-op, and still as you already know no two people are the same.

Just in case nobody else says it, blender bottles are pretty good. It's just hard to find the green ones.

Not that I would recommend going against your doctors recommendations, but, I've been eating spinach, kale, arugula since week 4. I'm not really a lettuce fan, closest I get to that is a bit of spring mix.

It sounds pretty gross, but really it's not that bad, just bad enough to want to avoid repeating. It is really just thick saliva. If you don't chew well enough or eat too fast you will likely experience it. Initially for me iwas like my mouth was watering, and I just swallowed like prettymuch everybody does. Then after a few minutes I was experiencing a fullness that was a bit much. I went to the restroom and spit up the "slime" not at all like vomiting, more like squeezing toothpaste.

I didn't notice your protein intake. How is it?

I would recommend shaving your head & then you don't have to worry about loss & it will show support for those fighting cancer----- win win

Hi, I was sleeved by Dr. Ponce de Leon on may 23rd, a couple hours after Candyman was. I really don't know what to say about the experience. It was so much easier than I thought it would be, I have nothing bad to say, never experienced any pain at all. Had a bit of nausea immediately after surgery, but that only lasted a few minutes (till I.V. drugs kicked in) the staff at the INT is very attentive. Trish is a heaven sent. She definately goes above & beyond as a coordinator.

The Ron Bennington cupcake. Just one of my former weaknesses.

It's working

Yes, it melts in your mouth.

Yuppers quite normal. Unfortunately though this moodiness is not going away anytime soon. You are gonna have to work on controlling it, and I would also advise explaining to your husband & kids why you are this way, so that they understand & know what to expect. Now so that you understand, I'll break it down the short way. Estrogen is stored in fat cells, You are burning fat cells at an abnormally high rate Burning fat cells release their estrogen stores into the blood stream So, now you are being bombarded with massive amounts of estrogen. Can you say moody, and short tempered?....... I new you could. So now you can break it down to hubby and tell him that the price he's gotta pay to have a sexy thin wife, is to deal with your moodiness till the weight is gone. After that you can't blame it on the estrogen released from fat anymore.

Click makes a proteined coffee. I don't like the taste of coffee so I really don't know much about it. You might check their website though.

09/08/12 Well looks like I skipped a week, so I am reporting a 2week loss of 7lbs. Was kinda hoping I would get to Onderland before the loss slowed down, but I'm sure I will survive waiting an extra week or 2 to reach that goal. The good news is I am now 210lbs. And tbh, I'm looking pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. The only thing on me now that I'm truly disgusted with is my double chin. But, meh, it's just a matter of time.