gmanbat

Very, very true. How did our minds get like this?! Do guys worry about this stuff as much as we do?! Can't speak for all of the guys, they haven't made me their spokesman, I don't work cheap. I am part skinny, in the shoulders and biceps, and part hangy-skinny, in the belly and inner thigh area. It is not ideal but it is quite adequate for my purposes. Wife likes me, I look good in clothes and even with my shirt off if I wear my pants high enough to cover my belly button. If I aspired to pose for the covers of romance novels I would be despondent. My body is like an old reconditioned Buick with a few dents and rust spots. It isn't perfect but it sure gets me where I want to go.

I am a tansplant to Florida from Ohio where I got my sleeve. Lost 130 pounds, got healthy, having a lot of fun...in the warm Florida sun!

The only thing wrong with coffee is the acid. The caffiene does not dehydrate contrary to commonly held bologna, it evens out with the Water in it. Therefore it cannot be considered hydrating. Skim milk is ok, Truvia ok. I'd watch drinking too much due to acid build up. Good coffee is the most valuable liquid next to blood.

We use stomach and abdomen interchangeably which is sometimes awkward. It is somewhat like Kleenex and facial tissue and Band-Aid and adhesive bandage, Perhaps he was referring to the outside area of the abdomen rather than the organ known as the stomach. The stomach would be quite a hostile place for a developing baby, especially at a chili cookoff.

Well said! The initial period after surgery when hunger is lessened gives us time to think about the priority we placed upon food. If we can see how overloaded we were with consumption to the exclusion of more important things we are on our way to solutions and permanent healthy eating. Here is an analogy that is difficult to relate. When I was a younger man, my hormones dominated my thought processes concerning procreation. Now that I am nearly 65 and testosterone has been subdued I look back over those times and marvel at how much energy was expended both entertaining and resisting those urges. Of course, if I really worked at it and got some shots, I could jump back into the fever. Not interested, the world has quite enough people, my wife has gone through enough, and life is full of other things to think about.

I received an email from Deb Dawley the Bariatric Clinical Director for the Center of Weight Loss Surgery in Bowling Green, Ohio where wife and I received excellent care during our weight loss surgeries at the skilled hands of Dr. Peter Lalor. It concerned an email they received from Bariatric Pal encouraging them to recommend the site to patients. Deb sent out a mass email to patients asking for feedback on the site. I was more than happy to endorse this Godsend of a forum to the surgeons, staff and directors at the Center of Excellence where Deb and I were launched onto our new and healthy path. What little I have contributed to this forum has been compensated many times back at me by the support, uplift and general camaraderie afforded by it's existence. Thanks, Alex, and may Bariatric Pal provide a vehicle for changed lives for many, many years.

I am ashamed to confess that due to the enormous size of my ego I seldom feel compelled to enter into any comparison battles with anyone over anything. It would be the equivalent in my mind to entering into mortal combat with a hamster. My sense of power renders the outcome a foregone conclusion and therefore too boringly trivial to engage in. Now if anyone thinks they have a bigger ego than mine give it your best shot!

To entertain myself I thought up bad answers to frequently asked questions posed to WLS people: "Is the food OK?" (asked because you ate so little) Oh, yes, I haven't had food this good since the Turkish prison. "Isn't weight loss surgery the easy way out?" Yes, it is. I was going to shoot everyone smaller than me to make myself look average but there is an ammo shortage. "How did you get so fat in the first place?" I was stranded on an island with a group of sumo wrestlers. I had the only gun. A year later I was the only one left. "How could you afford this operation?" Well, I got this e-mail from a Nigerian widow... "How could you do this to yourself?' I originally wanted to do it to you but couldn't get a Brazilian visa. "How did you lose so much weight?" I sent myself in a suitcase on American Airlines. They lost it. "How did you get those scars on your belly?" Picked up by a Pterodactyl. You wise guys got any?

My wife and I could turn our weight loss into a phoney money making scheme with just our pictures. ( warning: old guy reminiscing again) Reminds me of a friend of mine who was involved with the mob. He and his brother owned a string of nightclubs and paid off the police force, the mayor, and the governor. My friend was also an excellent card dealer, could deal up to the 5th card down, set up a game any way he wanted to. He had money to burn. He met Jesus and quit the rackets. Miraculously, he wasn't killed by the mob. He became a preacher and lived on a very modest income. At times, Vegas would call him offering big bucks to come and deal, many times when he was in dire straits financially. He always said no. To some people integrity is the greater possession. If you sell your soul you don't have a spare one.

Great work, my friend!

Your lips are scary. They bring back childhood traumas of when I was a cute kid and my large aunties would come at me and put those disgusting wet puckers all over my poor freckled face before they suffocated me with a hug into their endless airbag bellies.. But other than that you have certainly earned an honored place among the vets. We love ya, LL!

http://www.klove.com/blog/post/2012/07/23/Talking-with-Bart-Millard.aspx Bart talks about his weight loss surgery. There are conflicting reports of whether it was RNY or the sleeve.

Emathy: it can be VERY diifficult to quit. It is indeed a strong addiction. Admonition: you must quit. Smoking greatly increases you chance of complications. My surgeon would NOT operate if he had the slightest indication of smoking still being entertained. His only complication...a near death...was smoking related. Encouragement: you can quit, for good. Sleeving is hard as you are coming to know, it is a drastic change. Throw all your drastic changes in together. Be an all out warrior for your health. Eat well, exercise like an athlete, breath clean air. You are more powerful than burning paper and leaves. Freedom!

When I was my fattest any big anger or the stress of worrisome things would put me in a dangerous place heartwise. I avoided them like the plague and learned to divert myself into other thoughts and activities. Basically I would just pray about things and then forget them using what I call applied apathy. I have found that not caring about things beyond your power to change is a blessing. I throw the load on to Someone who has the ways and means. Now that my heart has a better environment to beat in I have kept what I learned back in Fatville. Letting people live their lives and not being responsible for controlling them or for the consequences of their bad choices is a protection to my own emotional well being. I still dispense my wisdom but once it is out it is on its own and depends on hearing ears.

I am very glad it went well for you! Way to go!

http://www.viralnova.com/mans-transformation/ This guy fought hard and kicked butt. Although he did not have bariatric surgery he shed the fat by extremely hard work. His whole life story is here in pictures. Note the last picture which shows his totally toned body with the layer of loose skin on it. He is seeking help for reconstructive surgery.

I will be 65 in December. I was sleeved just a couple of weeks after I turned 64. I do not think I would have lived this long without the surgery. I am as strong as I was in my 20's. If I had a more resilient spine I would be unstoppable,

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shedding-the-old-me-my-200lb-weight-loss-journey This page contains a video of Jordan's journey. Very inspiring!

You'se guys is my people! Wisenheimers!

Lots of recipes including....cheesecake! http://www.proteinpow.com

I don't know. I posted it before I read it. I saw cheesecake and that was it.

I used to explain in response to quizzical looks why a big man like me is eating so small. Now I just act like it is a non-issue and say nothing. I get very few questions. Most folks have enough sense to mind their own business. The obnoxious ones who have the policy, "The fact that thoughts appeared in my head grants me permission to verbalize them", get standard non-answers..."Don't have any room for more....not that hungry...the food sucks" Forget that last one.

After I graduated from my small town Iowa grade school I was bussed to the big city Junior High. I was shocked by the low expectation level of the teachers and also the ambivalent attitude of the students toward their education. My grade school teachers were education tyrants and demanded learning the basics. The Junior High teachers were seemingly interested in getting a paycheck. But beyond the negatives it was a beautiful time to get to know people who were alien to my culture. That time was as valuable as the academics. I live with a gastric bypass cutie and get along famously, we had the same goals, took different paths, ended up in the same place. Every immersion into a new scope of personalities and viewing angles opens the possibility of misunderstanding due to the differences in our frames of reference. We can all learn from one another and it will be an overall positive experience if we take it easy on each other. And things will go much more smoothly if everyone just agrees with all that I say.

I really like these visuals. They are both disturbing ang charming. It must be fun being you. But that is my opinion and I am stranger than any stranger that you don't know. :ph34r: