DLCoggin

Thanks so much for the kind words Paul! I have no medical experience at all. Although I am grateful for your trust, I'm no hero - just a guy that lived with obesity for a very long time and finally decided to do something about it. I have done, and continue to do, a fair amount of research. Mostly motivated by my belief that bariatric surgery is a life-changing, and in some cases a life-saving procedure. Many folks don't have the time to do the research themselves but still need honest and objective answers to their questions. I enjoy sharing my experience and the things that I have learned along the way from researching my own questions as well as others that come up on the forum. I'm certainly not unique. There are many very knowledgeable folks on this forum. We're all fortunate to have such an amazing resource!!

LOL!! Well I consider myself in very good company indeed! Thank you so much for the compliment!!

I keep saying I'm going to get my pic up and I never seem to be able to find the time to get it done. Got to get together with my son and see if I can get some shots!

Wow - what an inspiration! Congratulations and well done!!

Kevin I am so right there with you and honestly - it has nothing to do with conceit. It is so amazing, so exciting, such a boost to your self-esteem. I don't know about you but I fully intend to keep looking in that mirror and I hope the elation never stops!!

Thank you! It is so important for folks to share experiences like yours. I'm sure people who are struggling with nausea and vomiting and regret often don't believe us when we tell them that all of it will pass. But when it comes from someone like yourself who has just lived it - priceless!!

Have they given you a new surgery date? Have you talked to the pshchologist for an explanation of his/her concerns? Pshcy evals are usually pretty dynamic and can change pretty quickly following a meeting or two. I wouldn't panic. Just get the details and let us know what they say. Bumps in the road won't stop you from getting to your destination!!

Congratulations and welcome to the big losers club! I just gotta second jess - protein is so important. Isopure is often recommended while you're on clear liquids. I don't care for it but I drank it in the hospital but a fellow patient recommended Cytomax - much, much better!

I do exactly the same thing. My app allows me to enter my exercise and it then calculates the number of calories burned based on what the exercise was and the intensity level. More importantly, there is a setting which allows me to have the app deduct the burned calories from my daily total, or to just ignore the burned calories. I prefer to ignore the calories burned for the same reason as odiemom, I don't want it to become an excuse to eat more.

Good morning Ms. Katie! Calories per meal is probably not as important as your daily calorie total. And that probably is not as important as your average daily calorie total over a 30 day period of time. It's almost impossible to put a firm number on any of those because there are so many individual variables - metabolism, activity level, Water consumption and the amount of Protein you're eating all play a role. I lost 120 pounds over nine months averaging just under 1300 calories a day. About six weeks ago, my surgeon advised me to increase my calorie intake to 1800 a day. Concerned that 1800 might be a little too much, I've been trying to increase my intake to 1500. Average intake for the last six weeks has been 1421 - incredible as it sounds, it's harder than I expected to eat more! Lol! All of those numbers come directly from my food diary app that I've been using, every single day, since Dec. 7th of last year. You might want to consider starting your log by entering your current weight and then just eating what you would normally eat for a week and entering the numbers for every meal. Weigh again after a week. If your weight is unchanged or you gained a little, look at your average daily calorie intake for the week and then set a goal of 100 calories per day less. Try that for a week and make adjustments as necessary. You will probably find that entering everything you eat into your app is a little tedious in the beginning. Stick with it! The longer you use it, the easier it becomes because you build up your personal "database" of things you've eaten in the past and you can add those to any given day in a snap. Research has repeatedly shown that folks that maintain a food log lose more weight, lose it more quickly, and are more successful at maintaining the weight loss. It is an incredibly powerful tool that takes all of the guess work out of the equation. You're gonna love it!!

Stalls can last a month and sometimes more. How much Protein are you eating on a daily basis? You might want to try increasing your protein to 100g a day for a few days. That will sometimes jump start your metabolism and your body will begin to burn more stored fuel (aka excess weight). Increasing your Water intake up to 64oz a day often helps as well. How many calories are you eating daily? If they are too low, your body responds to a famine state by conserving fat and that can result in your weight loss stopping. Sometimes, just increasing your calorie intake will result in starting to lose again. And of course, your plan to increase your exercise routine may help as well. At nine months out, this probably isn't the first stall you've experienced. The average weight loss for RNY is 80% of excess weight. You've lost 74 pounds of your goal of losing 105. That's very close to that 80% number so it's reasonable to expect your weight loss to start to slow. That doesn't mean the last 31 are out of reach. It just means they may not come off as fast as the first 74. Perhaps the best advice anyone can offer is to stay focused on following the protocol, stay active, and stay away from the scales for at least a week, longer if you can stand it. You've already done a great job! Celebrate that success every day! Congratulations!!

I have no doubt that your husband wants nothing but the best for you. But his reasoning that because diet and exercise work for him, it will work for you, is not supported by science. There is virtually no scientific evidence that supports the simplistic "eat less, move more" approach often given to folks has any realistic chance of success with people with a BMI of 30 or greater. If going on a diet or starting an exercise program resulted in persistent, long-term weight loss - we would not have an obesity epidemic. This link will give you some insight into why - http://www.drsharma....or-obesity.html . This doctor is an MD and a PhD, Professor of Medicine and Chair in Obesity Research and Management at the University of Alberta, Clinical Co-Chair of the Alberta Health Services Obesity Program, founder and Scientific Director of the Canadian Obesity Network and Past President of the Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons - just to name a few of his qualifications. On the same page you'll see more than a dozen other links, most related to the treatment of obesity. This is a link to a white paper titled "Medicare's Search for Effective Obesity Treatments - Diets Are Not the Answer" - http://motivatedandf...s_dont_work.pdf . There is a considerable amount of information in this paper, much of it quite technical. But the following is a quote from the paper which sums up their findings relative to diet and exercise: "First, diets do lead to short term weight loss. One summary of diet studies from the 1970's to the mid-1990's found that these weight loss programs consistently resulted in participants losing an average of 5% to 10% of their weight. Second, these loses are not maintained. As noted in one review, 'It is only the rate of weight regain, not the fact of weight regain, that appears open to debate." Another study found that virtually 100% of obese patients that successfully lost weight with diet and exercise regained all of the lost weight, or more, within one year. A fact that will come as no surprise to the majority of folks reading this post! Now compare all of that to gastric bypass statistics: average excess weight loss for RNY is 80% with 50% - 75% maintained at five years post-op. According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, bariatric surgery can improve or resolve more than 30 obesity related conditions including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea, hypertension, and high cholesterol. Again, I do not question the motives of friends, family and spouses that think diet and exercise are the answer. I do question the validity of their position. And challenge anyone to present any scientific, objective evidence demonstrating any non-surgical option that has an equal or better long-term success rate for the treatment of obesity and the many serious co-morbidities associated with it.

You might want to try to verify that independent of your surgeon's office. I know the government has been looking at this for months and a lot of folks have been waiting for a decision. It's possible that whoever you are talking to is unaware of the decision that is just a month old. You might want to let them know and give them the link. We all know that everything we see online is not always accurate but the link is to a .gov website and if it was an error, it's likely that they would have pulled it by now. Note that the announcement says "Medicare Administrative Contractors acting within their respective jurisdictions may determine coverage of stand-alone laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy". That says to me that it's not an automatic approval but if you meet the requirements, I would think your chances are good. Good luck!

Nope. My surgeon told me to lose at least 20 pounds pre-op. Period. No weight loss, no surgery. Never even discussed any kind of diet. Just lose the weight. Worked for me - I lost 35 pounds pre-op!!

There are a lot of soy protein bars out there but availability in grocery stores is another question. I can't give you any brand recommendations. I love Pure Protein bars but they are whey protein. Soy protein is an excellent plant protein for folks who are lactose intolerant or vegetarian. I'm neither one so I don't have much experience with soy. If you Google "soy protein bars" you can get a ton of brand options quickly - but then comes the hard part, trying to find them in stores. But you might get lucky and find them right away. Some nutrition stores will likely have them but in my experience they tend to be quite expensive for just about everything they sell. Pricing on nutrition items like protein bars, shakes and powders varies widely so it pays to shop. Taste varies widely as well so I wouldn't buy too much of anything until you've tasted it. There are some very good online stores who have reasonable pricing on just about all things protein! Good luck and please share the results of your search with us!!

Hypertension - gone. Diabetes - gone. sleep apnea - gone. Joint pain - gone. High cholesterol - gone. 120 pounds - gone. BMI - Normal (24.2). I would do it again in a second and I would not change one thing. I'm loving the new me and you're gonna love the new you!

Works great! Not only with protein shakes, but by itself. Try Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and sweeten it with Splenda to taste. Absolutely delicious, 40 calories per 8oz serving, and 50% more calcium than regular milk. I drink at least one glass per day, sometimes two. Love it!!

It's really unfortunate but I think folks often read well intentioned but misleading weight loss stories and develop unrealistic expectations as a result. The truth is that the fact that your weight loss is different from mine means absolutely nothing. Absolutely. Nothing. We are all unique. There are countless variables. A one size fits all simply does not exist. Stay focused on following the protocol, stay active once your doctor clears you for exercise, and stay away from the scales for a week at least, two would be even better. Your body is going through a lot of healing. And a lot of changes. Give it a chance to find its own way, in its own time. Trust the process. You're gonna love the new you!!

I'm loving all of this foot putting down!! Lol! You're gonna love the new you!!

Some pouches are more "trigger happy" than others. And everyone heals at different rates. You didn't specify what doesn't induce vomiting but you may want to focus as much as possible on getting all the protein you can. Try to get 100g a day for at least several days. My surgeon requires her patients to get 100g a day all the time. The body uses protein a lot for repairing and replacing damaged tissue. Protein may also help jump start your metabolism which often results in your body beginning to burn stored fuel more quickly. Losing two pounds a week is an excellent, healthy rate for weight loss. You didn't say how much you've lost already but if you continue to lose two pounds a week for the next ten months, you can add 80 pounds to what you've already lost! Any thoughts of regret will be a distant memory long before that!

Only 25 pounds in five weeks?? When was the last time that you lost 25 pounds in five weeks pre-op? You're doing fantastic!! Congratulations!! "Body image" is almost entirely in the brain which is a fancy way of saying that you see what your brain expects to see. Even though we all can see a dramatic difference in your photos, your brain is lagging behind. Crazy as it sounds, it's quite common to hear folks comment that they can't see the change in themselves even though everyone else does. Be patient - your brain will catch up and you're gonna love the new you!!

What was the diagnosis for the cause of the pain? Glad to hear that you're out of the hospital and feeling better!!

According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, the sleeve has been approved as of June 27, 2012. The decision reads in part: Medicare Administrative Contractors acting within their respective jurisdictions may determine coverage of stand-alone laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) for the treatment of co-morbid conditions related to obesity in Medicare beneficiaries only when all of the following conditions A-C are satisfied. The beneficiary has a body-mass index (BMI) ≥ 35 kg/m2, The beneficiary has at least one co-morbidity related to obesity, and The beneficiary has been previously unsuccessful with medical treatment for obesity. You can read all of the information at http://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/details/nca-decision-memo.aspx?NCAId=258&ver=2&NcaName=Bariatric+Surgery+for+the+Treatment+of+Morbid+Obesity&MEDCACId=26&IsPopup=y&bc=AAAAAAAAIBAA It's been a long time coming but looks like it is here!

I would suspect the OJ as well. Lots of sugar and pretty acidic for two weeks post-op. I think I'd stay away from juices for a few more weeks at least. And as you now know, you definitely don't want to drink 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after you eat. Hard in the beginning but you get used to it and really don't give it a second thought after a while. You're gonna love the new you!!

The cravings will eventually pass so hang in there. In the meantime, there are a ton of healthy substitutes. Chips - try Kellogg's Special K Cracker Chips. They come in a bunch of flavors including sour cream and onion, ranch, and a number of others. 110 calories for a 27 chip serving size. I think they're excellent and a great substitute for chips. I also eat them in situations where I would have had french fries before. Snickers - Try Pure Protein Chocolate Deluxe protein bars. They're delicious, 180 calories, 2g of sugar and 20g of protein. And they're amazingly filling! They're available from a number of places online and offline but Target has the best prices I've found. My high protein food list is over 125 items now. If you don't have it already, post or PM me your email and I'd be glad to send it to you. Lots of good stuff on there!