Fiddleman

Thanks again for your encouragement to sign up for some races. I am sure once I complete one, I will be addicted to races.

I am a guy, so my response may not carry as much value as hair is pretty short compared to women's hair. My hair shedded quite a bit during month 3 and 6 even though my protein and vitamin levels were high. I did not take any biotene. It stopped falling out at month 6 and it is in pretty good shape today (month 9). My hair never fell out by the fist full; rather it fell out 5-10 hairs at a time. It was most noticeable when I would use my IPad. The hairs would pile up on the screen.

My very best NSV occurred late last week: to be asked to participate in a professional photoshoot and tell my story for my WLS Center website and other promotional material. It is exciting to be able to do this and to have an impact on many future WLS candidates!

How exciting for you!

I signed up for local races in June, July, Aug and Sept. Basically one a month starting in June. Giving myself a little over 1 month from today to get used to training outside. These are all local 10k races with the exception of October run which is across the state and a 1/2. I think a summer of racing 10 k will train me for 1/2. I can always do the Galloway method of run/walk if I find myself bonking too much when training for 1/2. What do you think ?

I haven't signed up for one yet.

That is really good to hear bean.

Pussification....heh. I wonder if that is in the urban dictionary.

One of my biggest peeves when I was a heavier person was flying coach. It was so embarrassing to sit in between 2 strangers and very uncomfortable on those trans continental flights of 5-6 hours. Super embarrassing to ask for the extension belt. The stewardess always tries to be discrete about it, but I could feel everyone's eyes burning into me. I loathed business travel because of these issues as an overweight ( morbidly obese) person. To avoid some of this awkwardness, I would pay the extra 200-400 to upgrade and fly first class. It certainly was a much better experience for my bruised ego, but the costs really added up. Fast forward to today where I am at goal weight and will be flying for the first time as a post op in 3 weeks. It will be a flight to Hawaii for a family vacation. I am so excited to sit in the seat and, wait for it, wait for it, have extra room on my sides. No one will have a clue why I will be doing the happy dance the whole flight over, except my wife! So looking forward to vindication of a former fat guy on this flight. I will always have empathy for other heavier people going forward as I will never forget my own prior pain. My approach is to treat them with care, respect and dignity.

So happy for you! Thanks for sharing.

That is awesome!! Thanks for sharing!

I get excited when I can do air squats and lunges without turning red. Also when my 34 jeans fit comfortably, almost loose.

I am happy to help. Have a good day!

I honestly do not think Laura was trying intentionally or unintentionally to be mean. She has a kind heart and has helped many with their post op struggles. Now let me see if I can offer some advise... I know where you are coming from losing the 30 lb pre op. I too lost 30 lb pre surgery to drop from 360 to 330 and felt great having done this without surgery. However, not once did I consider I could do it on my own because of past failures. You feel that with enough will power and determination you could complete the job with diet and exercise. You may be right , but a vast majority of people, including myself, lose and gain the same 30, 50, 100 lbs over their adult lifetime because their resolve wanes either during weight loss or during maintenance. And then they gain and repeat the cycle. Only the next time your starting weight will be higher. I got really depressed because of this insanity of not being able to reach my ideal weight. I have done this 4-5 times in my adult life. I appreciate the VSG in that it "breaks" me at surgery so I am forced to discover and build good eating habits over the first 6 habits. I am forced to go through the different eating phases and distance myself from the bad eating habits of the past. This change in behavior takes time to stick. It cannot be done overnight or even in a week. Even if my health-based resolve were to wane in the future, I still have these habits as my foundation and the sleeve as insurance in case I do eat too much. The sleeve will not allow that. I am looking forward to all the positives of enjoying life again... Keep calm and carry on. You made a good choice. The regrets you are dealing with now will get smaller and smaller as your successes get larger and larger.

No glutamine in my supplementation. Is it only for joint recovery or something else?

You can get them at a natural food store. Trader Joes and Costco sell them. You can order online from Amazon. I have ordered online from Amazon for several months, but now buy from Costco because it is a better price. At Costco a 2 lb bag costs $11 and no shipping costs!!

Him, I lost 180 lb so...

How about bonking on the last rep of a lift?

OMG- need a disclaimer: no horses were harmed in the creation of this thread. Lol.

It is a real study, but was some think MIL saw on TV. For this reason, I am unable to share the actual medical study with you.

Dense protein with a certain amount of fat will help with satiety. Eating a certain amount of fat is important because it triggers the brain that satiety has been achieved and will also train your body to get energy from fat instead of glucose (warning: broscience response). Do not eat carbs if hungry!! They will only make you more hungry. Dense proteins and good fats first.

I do not know the answer to that, but I would think standard gene splicing occurs from parent DNA strands. So even if you are a model of fitness and good appearance, the children will also get a certain percentage of the other DNA strand, affecting the aggregate DNA strand.