Fiddleman

I do not know a good scale to suggest; my fat percentage is measured by either the hospital when I get check ups every few months or about every 3 weeks with my personal trainer at cross fit. The cross trainer uses calibers and is fairly accurate when compared to the fancy scale that the WLS Center at the hospital uses. She did recommend that getting measured using he water method is the most ideal, but that can get a bit pricy. I have never done this myself. I am thinking about purchasing an Omron scale or body composition reader in he future. I would definitely be open to other scales hat are better that folks have used.

You are such an inspiration to all!! Wow!

The following comment in another thread seemed worthy enough to have its own thread. People are attracted to people who radiate success. That is human nature I have found. The old saying is true: to make a friend you need to be a friend. I am not an expert on human nature nor or societal judgement of people, but am a keen observer of people in how they interact. This might come from years and years of seeking out acceptance and always finding rejection when moving among the flow of human interactions. And trying to figure out how to improve it before giving up a few years ago. Now after striving after fitness goals, I find myself standing with good posture and radiating positive exp<b></b>ression. I look people in the eye and show a real interest in what they are talking about. I am no longer the creepy fat guy staring at people, but the confident fit guy who is fun to talk with. It is a good place to be. Do not tell my wife (or do not get upset honey if you read this), but i get hit on daily when out. Any of you would be surprised at how clever and incognito women can be in doing this, but yes I pick up on it. No intension of ever acting out, but it pumps up my balloon with a little more helium. I hate admitting that, but it is so true! The way that strangers interact with me is completely different now and it feels good. Everything seems easier! Talking to people, asking for minor requests and more just seems to flow - like Water. I end each day with gratitude in my heart to spare instead of despair about why people reject me or some other internal struggle that manifests itself as depression or anxiety. I feel like each day ends worthwhile, a job well done and I have helped others in small or big ways. There is also so much more energy and I am not wasting my energy on negativity of any kind. It is not that it is not there; it just bounces off me without effort and none originates from me. I love that and it makes me feel so much "lighter" about life! I hope being this type of person is adding back some lost years. I do not blame my lost years on anyone but myself. I was very successful in terms of a great marriage, job and family life. However, I was burning up inside with depression and anxiety for a long, long time. This internal struggle immediately improved after surgery and now it is primarily gone which makes me think everything that I perceived about societal human nature from way back in middle school was caused by my interactions with food, even the depression and anxiety is linked back to chemical imbalances caused by eating the wrong balance of food items. You may or may not agree with me, but that is what I see. I would love to hear anyones' thoughts on it.

How did you feel near the end, at the end and after the 1/2 race? Was it a good feeling? Did you feel like you spent through a few of your lives?

Just getting on the treadmill regularly is great progress! Try walking a little slower and like bean says, march in place, until you get a solid land on the middle of your foot. Think about relaxing when you walk at a slower speed. Feel the warmth as life flows through you. That is what I like most about exercising, that magic point when the warmth starts to flow and heats you up.

Louise- moved my response into a separate thread called "societal judgement of 'attractive' and 'unattractive' people : a topic on human nature"

I also found apples are super awesome at giving me a full sensation. It must be the skin. 1/2 an apple with nut butter after eating 3 ounces of chicken sausage and I am golden...or is that red delicious! Lol!

Get moving on that treadmill!!!

Nice!!!!

I think Nicole has a legit reason to be tired in last couple weeks. Not only is she pushing through a personal transformation (in "vets thread"), but she just had gall bladder surgery this last weekend. We hope you feel better in short order Nicole and are your energetic self soon. Time to catch up on episodes of your favorite tv show!

Kyllfalcon and ms. Skinniness- thanks for the encouragement to take care of this issue. I am a strong believer in the statement "where there is a will there is a way" and I am strong willed so will seek out a way.

Niki- I can completely relate to your comment about dental phobia! It was extremely apparent from 18-36. but is almost gone now as a post op as that going to the dentist does not yield pain nor does it result in bad report cards.

Might I suggest you try a natural sleep aid with melatonin in it? I found that to correct my sleep issue had as a post of and no druggy feeling in the morning as you may get from the OTC sleep aids like Tylenol, excedrin or Advil PM. Not meaning to derail to thread, just throwing a suggestion to you.

Shrinking- I do think that is a wise approach. However, I am not really clear at how far along post op a person will need to be extra careful about changing direction. For example, is it a problem after 1 month, after 6 months - I do not know. I would think if you started at 1200 (or more) immediately as a post op you would not run into a problem with a tanked BMR. However, then you would probably not get all the benefits of weight loss as a post op and may be what is being termed a "slow loser." Not sure, perhaps others have a more definitive answer to this.

Before VSG, I generally did not take the effort needed on my dental appearance to keep a good mouth full of teeth. One praise as a post op is that I have really taken ownership of my dental care and I am finally returning from dental cleanings without having to also schedule a cavity, a crown a root Crown or an extraction. The last 3 are fairly big issues, but started to feel like the norm as an adult over the last 10 years. I brush with prescription every morning and floss with those tooth picks (those are a miracle for flossing haters like myself!). Every evening I use Total care mouthwash. You are supposed to wait 30-60 minutes after using prescription tooth paste to drink any liquids or use mouthwash, so it makes it challenging to brush again with being a good post op drinker and eater. I am eating all the way until I go to bed in order to get max Protein daily. Anyways, the results have been great! My gums are a healthy pink and not hurting of teeth. I have lost 4 molars already in the back. I never did get implants to fill the gaps and now the rest of my teeth in front and on the sides are starting to show signs of gapping in a big way. Not every tooth and not too obvious unless you are close up looking at my mouth, but very obvious to me. Would getting implants now correct this issue? I don't have the money for 4 implants because the cost for each is really high, even with dental insurance. Did others take corrective action on their dental appearance as a vet and would anything help me? Am I too vain about this? I secretly want a perfect set of teeth I guess, but do realize I am getting older ( 40 in a few years) and it ma not matter so much.

Hi all- rant on. I have been fairly blessed ( luck??) as a post op to not get hanging skin. I am tight everywhere and it probably has to do with exercise and diet because, man, my weight was really obvious in my upper body (stomach, chest, back) pre op. however, I do not have any panni, moobs or batwing issues so do not need plastics for those. if I would want to perfectly create a flat surface, currently there is 1/8-1/4 "lip", I might want to get an extended TT in some distant future. Will this go away? Not sure. What is obvious is a belly button area that looks like the Sarlacc Pit: http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/blog/post/716780/alternative-star-wars-costumes-for-halloween/ Star Wars geeks will "get" this reference (scroll down a little for the image). Does this smooth on its own over time from ample exercise? Would TT surgery help? My wife is going to have VSG soon and we have agreed she will get the plastics as we will not be able to afford two sets of plastics. I want her to feel good about her body in a bikini. She will be first. Rant off.

As a post op I can drink tap water again and it tastes good without needing to enhance with flavor. This is huge. Those that are post op will truly understand what I mean.

First, you are welcome of course to do what suits you. Everyone has a different body type that may react differently to my suggestion of eating TDEE number of daily calories. Eating TDEE works well because it will reset your BMR if has been set too low because of extended period of eating low calories. Low calorie is defined as under under 1000 calorie. A lot of us, including myself, start out at eating 600 daily as a post op and am quite good at dropping the weight at 600-900. a day. This is good and the amount of calories the sleeve was designed for you to dramatically lose weight. However, eating low calorie has some drawbacks. It leaves you hungry and makes it easy, almost effortlessly, to gain weight. The reason for both is that low caloric intake drives your BMR (aka "the metabolism") way down and will make it quite easy for calories to be stored as fat. This is not "bad," but is simply your body saving energy for the future in case it has another case of famine. Sadly the post op diet of eating way less then TDEE - 300 is interpreted as famine by your body. The good news is that you can definitely retrain your body to understand that, yes, you need to eat more without storing it. This requires you to *slowly* increase your caloric intake to TDEE - 300 in order to eat, but still lose weight in terms of fat loss. For example, my TDEE is 2154 and eating approximately 1800 calories a day has made it possible to eat mostly protein all day long without gaining any weight and not being hungry. In fact, I still can lose weight by doing this even at healthy BMI weight. I eat healthy foods, of course, but am careful about eating proteins first in order to try and hit 170 g a day ( .92 * BMI ideal weight of 180). Do be careful about adjusting your caloric intake upwards. You need to do it slowly in order to slowly convince your body that more is indeed better. For me, it took a few months of gradual increase to go from a daily amount of 900 to 1800. Focus on driving up calories first by eating more protein per meal. Eat meals often during the day, like 6-7 times. next, make sure to add in healthy fats and carbs. a well balanced set of the macro nutrient ratios are key in order for the body to process protein effectively. I am also exercising daily, but do not know if this is necessary when increasing caloric towards TDEE. I assume the answer is no, it is not necessary. Eating a well balance set of macro nutrients is key to making this change and at least 80% of the answer to losing weight with this balanced approach. In other words, you need to get your diet balanced or exercise is not going to mean much and not help much. Sorry that is the simple truth. Eating Paleo (no dairy, sugar, breads, etc) has really helped me in finding the right balance of protein, fat and carb, but I am certain there are many other ways to do this successfully as a post op. You do not need to eat Paleo, just balanced. Others have been able to increase their calorie intake to TDEE with a balanced approach to diet and also with daily exercise according to posts here on VST. And they are maintaining or losing towards goal with success. Read enough posts and I am sure you will agree. Again, do go slow as your body is quite comfortable on low caloric intake as a post op. Your body is pretty finicky in terms of caloric TDEE requirements. Forcing your body out of TDEE comfort zone too quickly will cause weight gain. Good luck !!