gustavo52974

I can only speak for myself here, but I didn't see your post as particularly "harsh". At least you had a sound argument supported by some reasoning. I respect that whether I agree or disagree.

My pleasure. Trust me, I've had my moments too. There were times when I wanted to throw someone out a window because they were happily eating a huge bowl of macaroni and cheese in front of me. It passes. And you are more than welcome to vent it here--you wouldn't be the first! And don't let the harsh comments bother you. Everyone's version of "tough love" can be very different. You'll find FAR more support on here than not.

Trust me, you get used to it. People eating your "former foods" in front of you, that is. It WILL get easier. I don't know if my experience is typical, but I look at someone eating a hamburger and fries in front of me and I'm surprised at how little I want it now. And trust me, hamburgers and fries were two of my best friends! You go through a transformation with this surgery. It makes you look at food differently. And if your experience is anything like mine, you realize how strange it is how you need something so much for so long, and all of a sudden you don't need it anymore. It's almost religious. Hang in there. It gets better. Eventually you'll be able to eat most of the things you used to, it's just that smaller portions will fill you up. And you resent people less and less for eating the food that made you need the surgery to begin with.

Yeah, because being self-righteous is a better way to go.

Jealous?!? Hardly. For a doctor, he always looks sickly. I'd rather be fat than skeletal.

Ugh...he's always so smarmy. And he looks emaciated; not a manly body at all. I, too, am surprised he's promoting something other than "diet and exercise."

Exactly. It's totally human nature. Shouldn't we have tolerance for people who aren't sophisticated enough to realize they're projecting their personal demons onto us? How are we different if we bitterly criticize their behavior? Yes, I'd sooner date a smoker than an ex-smoker, but I try not to judge ex-smokers' self-righteous derision of smokers. After living in NYC for the last 11 years, I've had to tolerate a staggering amount of truly disgusting behavior from people. And I've had to learn not to engage and just ignore them because if I don't, it doesn't make me any better than them. I know this is more or less a "rant" thread, but the back and forth on this is becoming convoluted and circular.

Congratulations! How about Twobular? Tworiffic?

I'm finally getting hit on again, by both men and women. It used to annoy me, but now I bask in it. I never used to notice when women hit on me because that's not my bag, but now I'm keenly aware of it. So I flirt back. My wedding ring is still slightly tight, but I don't think I'll wear it for a while even when it fits again. Hehe. :ph34r:

"You'll never amount to anything, Albert!"--Pauline Einstein (his mother), 1890.

Are you taking vitamin supplements? I know when I have too much of the vitamin B family everything smells and tastes like burnt oranges.

I like it! The idea is to never let your body get used to your routine. Once your body gets used to whatever you're doing, it gets complacent. Mixing it up is a good idea. And yes, I became exhausted as well just reading your routine. But that's a good thing. Maybe I'll finally get off my lazy ass. It's been about 5 weeks since my surgery, so I should start hitting the gym again.

I've suffered from migraines since I was 9 years old. I've tried every over-the-counter medication and the only thing that seems to work for me is Excedrin Migraine. It's acetaminophen 200 mg, aspirin 250 mg, caffeine 65 mg. I just take the aspirin and acetaminophen combination because I get caffeine headaches.

Thanks for the advice. I'll see what I can do.

Yes, they exist and are more common than you think. A lot of my friends have had them done, including one who had calf implants. He had really slack calves and no matter how hard he worked out, he couldn't build his legs. He was one of those bodybuilders with a huge torso and chicken legs. Another friend of mine goes to Mexico or Europe every winter to have something done. He says its his Christmas present to himself. He gets a kind of implant in which the surgeon injects these "micro-beads" into his muscles that evenly distribute themselves throughout that particular muscle group. It makes the muscles huge without having that "implant look". Over the last few years he's done it to every major muscle group and he is monstrous. I think he's a plastic surgery addict though because he's literally had everything done: face lift, nose job, jaw lowered, ears pinned (his ears stuck out a little), etc. He now wants his voice loosened to give him that deep, rich, manly voice. Don't get me wrong--he looks good and not particularly fake. But he has the money to get the best surgeons in the world.

Thanks man! Yeah, that would have been a cool picture. There's another picture of me kissing his cheek, which turned out hilarious, but I thought that would be too much in a mixed forum like this. Unfortunately, I haven't been much in a "don't mess with me" mood lately. I guess that when you're so easily discriminated and criticized for being overweight, you get to a point where you try not to give people a reason to pick on you. Remember, when you're fat you're supposed to be jolly or something.

Aww, thank you! I completely agree. One of the reasons I'm not still muscular is because I had had several injuries that made it impossible to work out as heavily as I was. And by the time I was all healed I found myself looking like I do in my profile pic (seriously overweight).

Thank you for your response. But, actually, I asked my sleep apnea doctor about muscle weight vs. fat weight. He said it didn't make that much of a difference. And I've known plenty of bodybuilders with even 5% body fat who still have severe sleep apnea. The weight on your upper torso can still create a problem, especially if you have weak neck muscles like I do. In the attached pic, I was at about 12% body fat and I was 215 pounds. This is obviously way above my goal weight. It was just a thought. Besides, you have to consume tons of Protein and calories to get back up to the size I was and I doubt that's going to be possible now that I've been sleeved.

Ok, I was a good boy and did a search before posting, and I didn't see this topic addressed yet. Besides the fact that I have sleep apnea and I was pre-diabetic, a good portion of why I'm doing this is for vanity. Yes, I'm vain. I'll admit it. Healthy is, in fact, just swell. But I'm too sexy to be fat. Go ahead and slap me if you wish. So my question is: has anyone had muscle implants after they reached their goal weight? Please don't misunderstand: I fully intend to go back to weightlifting after I've been cleared to do so, but I really don't want to go over 165 pounds; muscle weighs more than fat. And my sleep apnea doctor told me that if I reduced my weight to that amount or less my sleep apnea would go away. But I really liked being muscular. I can't imagine muscle implants would weigh that much, and it might help solve the problem of loose skin in certain areas. They're doing wonders with implants these days and the science of it has come light years from even just 10 years ago. I've attached a pic of myself at my most muscular (circa 2002-2003). Any thoughts, experiences, negative comments about my shallowness?

I use my "before" pic as my profile pic as a reminder of what I never intend to be ever again. I decided to show myself in all my glory rather than an extreme closeup of my face as many others do because I think it's important to keep things in perspective. However, I'm only about halfway through my journey and I want a to wait until I'm at my goal weight to take my "after" picture. It'll be more dramatic that way. Rest assured though: there WILL be an after pic. Besides, the fact that I'm standing next to a wax statue of Morgan Freeman is kinda cool, no?

Sending you waves of positive energy!

Just an hour ago, one of the secretaries in my office asked if I had had my eyes done. She knew there was something different about me but she couldn't figure out what. I just said, "Yep!" and kept walking.

Yep, me too. I had my surgery on July 9th, and it still says July 8th. It won't change for me.

How many days of liquid diet did you have to do? 2 weeks How much weight did you lose during it? 10 pounds How many days (if any) did you have to stay at the hospital? 2 days Did you have any complications? No How long after surgery did you try to eat normal food? (non-puréed, etc) I can have solid food at 8 weeks. How soon after surgery did you feel mostly or fully back to normal? This question is vague. I took two weeks off from work, which was enough. If you're asking when I will feel exactly like I did before the surgery, I can't answer that because I'm only about 5 weeks out. Please share any extra comments about things you weren't expecting or tips: Follow the diet plan your nutritionist and surgeon gave you. I'll say it again: FOLLOW THE DIET PLAN YOUR NUTRITIONIST AND SURGEON GAVE YOU. And no cheating. If you can't follow the plan then you're probably not psychologically ready for this surgery. Just my opinion.

You should have thrown up on HER.