Fiddleman

My weight loss is coming to an end. I have lost 150 lb from my highest weight per-surgery and I have been told by a couple people around me I could lose about 20 more lb. that works out to be about right and places my weight at 190. I might go to 180, but am not sure yet and will need to see how I look at 190. I already feel like a million bucks. I want to thank everyone on the forum for supporting me and answering my questions since my surgery date (7-2). Now that I am close to transitioning into weight maintenance, I have a few questions. Most of them are cosmetic in nature. 1. I have a little hanging fat under my chin. I would not say I have a double chin, but it is not quite firm. Will this disappear in my last bit of weight loss? Will exercise take care of it? I do exercise almost every day in term of cardio and some weight lifting. How would one lift weights to tighten the area under the chin? Mouth stretches? Lol. Have others considered doing this. 2. I wear glasses for a relatively mild prescription ( probably from decades of computer work, who knows...) my wife has mentions that I might look better without glasses. All I know are wearing glasses most of my life and don't know anything else. I don't really want to mess around with contacts. Should I consider LASIK surgery? I haven't really looked into it, but think that to having to find my glasses when they fall off my night time stand might be helpful. I do have attractive eyes as others have told me ( don't worry, I am not a very vain person and this is what others have told me). Have others considered doing this? 3. I have always had extra chest and back hair. Should I get this waxed off, shaved off or removed in some other way? Might be helpful if I go into body building or something like that in the future. Lol. Do other guys consider doing this? 4. I have tried to exercise and weight lift during the weight loss phase. For whatever reason, I still have some lose skin around the middle. It is not terrible and I could live with it, it it would certainly look better if it were tight whenever i am shirtless such as swimming at a public pool or at a beach ( going to Mexico end of dec 2012 and Hawaii next may 2013). Should I get cosmetic surgery for this? Do other guys consider doing this? Thanks for your responses. You guys are awesome. I am looking forward to posting before and after pictures next month (6 month post op). I am also looking forward to buying new stylish skinny clothes from real stores and not hand me down clothes from value village and goodwill.

For milk, I tend to use light vanilla soy with my shakes because I was a bit lactose intolerant for the first few months post op and got to like the creamy vanilla flavor. Now I can tolerate non-fat milk again, but I only use a little bit as needed in my coffee. I will probably continue with the light soy because i like it more than non-fat milk now and it has fewer calories and more grams of Protein per serving.

Sounds a lot like the first week I was in the hospital after surgery. My chest was constantly hurting, O2 levels were around 75, pulse dropped to 35 all the time, etc. i had a fever almost constantly the first week around 100. it was a good thing I was already in the hospital so I could ping the nurse to have them check stuff out. The gas was the worse part because I could get any liquids in without excruciating pain when sipping. Everything got better at around 5 days post op, but it was about 3 weeks Neil I started to feel 1/2 way normal again without feeling completely drained. Oh and I did spend the first 3 weeks blowing into the spirometer until I got my lung capacity back. The surgery really did a number on my lung capacity, but fortunately no pneumonia. You should probably just go the the hospital for sanity checks, just in case there really is something going on.

Scrambled eggs with feta cheese and dill are now my favorite breakfast. I was not much of an egg person before the sleeve surgery. Now I like to have yummy eggs 3-4 times a week, yolk and all. If concerned about yolk, the egg beaters with yellow coloring looks just like eggs, but without the yolk. They taste a little different and feel a little different in your mouth, but may be a good alternative if you want just egg whites.

As soon as you wake up and they give you permission to walk. Before you know it, a nurse will be in your room getting you out of bed and down the hallway. Try and build up longer and longer distances as the days go by. Walking does wonders for your healing and helps you release that uncomfortable gas.

Great time to start new habits post sleeve. I don't know about you, but a couple of my really nasty habits just vanished after getting sleeved. First one is impulsive and emotional eating. Good bye apple fritters, i don't miss you. Good bye 10 oreos, i don't miss you. Good bye a whole package of donut holes, i don't miss you. I hated the way you would pick me up and then drop kick me into the depth of despair. That one is obvious am I am sure most can relate with it. The second habit is not so obvious: drinking. I have had no desire for any drinks post sleeve. Good bye Long Island teas, I don't miss you. Good bye beers, I don't miss you. 3rd habit gone is soda. Goodbye coke zero I don't miss you. Good bye dr diet pepper, I don't miss you. Last habit gone is energy drinks. Good bye rock star zero, I don't miss you. Good bye 5 hour energy I don't miss you. And I definitely do not miss the crashes that follow. Now here are some habits I have developed. Hello 3 hour Protein meals. You are a good companion that keeps my energy level and my emotions in check. Hello daily exercise. You keep me full of energy and good spirits and overall healthy body. You help me sleep better and feel more rested through the day. Hello Water. You keep me feeling alive and full of life. Hello new outlook on life. Hello more authentic relations with those in my life. Hello life. You are worth living again.

I have noticed a difference in thickness. It should be dally noted that sitting in the fridge for a few hours also chills it nicely. They say that gelled seeds can last a couple of weeks in the fridge, but I don't think I'll be chilling my shakes for that long any time soon? Do you grind your own seeds? I have read that fresh grounds seeds might taste better.

It might might not be as smooth of a schedule as you think it might be. There might be complications which may extend your stay. Even the minor complications like not being able to get your O2 levels high enough, not being able to swallow or not being able to go to the bathroom on your own are reasons your stay could be extended. This is major surgery! Inoperable you are able to find someone who can cover for you with the kids while you take care of your own recovery process in the hospital. Just as a reference, I was in the hospital for 5 days when it should have only been one overnight. The reason is for most of the minor complications I listed above.

My NUT has said during both pre and post op support groups that drinking soda is not a good idea. It is not only because of the carbonation, but she also said it is a gateway for some to fall back into old destructive eating habits.

I bought some tasty dried seaweed from trader joes today. The package has 4 servings and each serving has 2 carb, low sodium and no fat. It is slightly sweet and has some sweetness to it. First time I tried it and found it pretty yummy as a snack option with some protein. I had about 1/8 of a serving ( a few pinches) because I only wanted to sample it to see what I thought of it, so no impact really on daily nutritional counts.

I am wondering if iron is really important for women? I take a Multivitamin that has about 10% RDA for iron, a Syntrax matrix Protein shake and eat 120 oz of solid protein a day. Not sure, but I think the protein I eat makes up for the iron that is notin the multivitamin. It is mostly chicken and salmon with beef here and there. What do you think?

Lookin' good. Keep up the great work!

I have been using chia seeds for a week and cannot say enough good things about them. Finally, they allow me to have a predictable BM schedule, even several times a day after eating. Miralax, MOM, drinking lots of Water, coffee and other remedies did not give me this type of predictability and regularity. Some of these other remedies may wrk, but are more forceful or give you the opposite problem of diarrhea. A cleaner bowel actually translates into a more efficient digestive track causing your resting Metabolic rate to improve. Translation: more calories are burned as food is converted into energy more efficiently for your body rather than turning into stored fat or making you tired and sluggish all the time. I encourage others to try out chia seeds if they haven't already done so. You will wonder why you didn't try it before. It may take a couple days to really start working, but once it starts workmen, you are golden every time you take the seeds. I like to put 1-2 TSP ground seeds in my shakes. In the morning I have a light soy shake and in the evening I have a water shake. Putting a shake with seeds into the fridge for a few hours or overnight produces a nice thick shake that keeps hunger at bay. I am serious. I often don't feel like eating on my 3 hour schedule because of the fullness. However, I do keep to the schedule because it is best to fuel on a schedule for optimal processing of food by my body 6 meals a day every 3 hours where 2 are shakes and the others are 2-4 ounces of solid Proteins and sometimes an ounce of vegetables. Keeps me stable all day long. And it works wonders as a sleeve diet during the loss phase. Make sure your sleeve is at a place where you can consume these seeds. After all, the seeds are very small and could potentially cause issues ( in my mind) if your sleeve is still not healed enough. I have no idea, but thought I would put that disclaimer out there. I found a nice grower off of Amazon that sold me 3 lb of chia seed for about $20. There business model is customer service and good prices so they husband and wife company will treat you well. they even sent a handwritten letter with the order telling me about them and eating raw foods has changed their lives. how many companies do you know of that will do that? anyways, the chia seeds from them were a good deal considering I bought my first 6 oz supply from a local natural health store for $8. Good luck!

I may be making this up, but the conversion of glycogen to energy in your muscles is an energy net negative. The fat just turns into energy and is used until it is gone. You also lose some Water by evaporation through the skin. This is my guess from common knowledge about how the body works. Others may have a more accurate scientific description.

Wow, that is so awesome. You are in a good situation to really make a positive impact on others who are considering this wonderful approach to putting he obesity disease into omission. Plus you will get famous and will perhaps get considered for other commercials. And then you will not only be famous, but " rich and famous." Congratulations. What a validation of your good life choices. I got sleeved by Swedish weight loss as well by Dr McMahon. Perhaps I will join you someday. Lol. Down 125 lb so far in 5 months and looking forward to losing my last 20-30 lb.

No reason in particular. I just wanted to capitalize on the antioxidants and disease preventative nature of high doses of Vitamin C. If someone tells me what I am doing is a mistake and why, I'll definitely listen.

Cliff bars are loaded with sugars. Good if you are climbing up a mountain, but not so good as a daily meal.

Wikipedia says the the adult upper limit is around 2000 mg before any ill side effects occur. I am wondering about taking 4000-5000 mg daily spread out. I have 1000 mg powered c that i add to 32 oz of water. It is about 1 tsp. So far things have been fine without side effect over the last few days. There are many benefits that come from high doses of c. What do you think?

I woke up without it in also and without my cpap being used. I was surprised, but then a female nurse had to put it in 2x after I failed to go normally after a day. 2x because they had to let me try again after the first time. Oh the horrors. I think that was worse then the surgery. LOL!