theoldmusicbox

Imo Sleeve is better than bypass. Less complications, less risk of malnutrition, most don't have dumping syndrome. My aunt had bypass, I had sleeve. Similar results, but I seem to be better off and she says she wishes she would have went with sleeve.

yeah, i lost almost 50 lbs between april 1 and june 5th by very strictly following my NUT's guidelines and starting the daily walking. so, on april 1 i was 373 and on surgery day i was 328.

a little bit, yeah. but that's the price i have to pay for getting to 373. it's not so bad most days, but, then some days, you just feel like a deflated balloon i seriously doubt that a person can drop this much without some excess skin, but, i believe that the circuit training has made it better than it could have been. you HAVE to do some kind of toning workout, or you will end up looking like a sharpei dog. i don't think you gotta go nuts with it, but, if you don't do something, it will be bad. as for me, i'll take the little bit of deflated balloon that i have, over the balloon about to pop that i used to be good luck

I am 5'6". I started this year at 373 lbs. I was sleeved on June 5th and this morning, my scale said I am 219. I also was a bottomless pit. Once, I had a contest with buddies at Quaker steak all you can eat wing night, and I won by eating 64 wings at one sitting. Then, after the ride home, I had desert. So, I feel ya on that. The 1st month does kinda suck. I was very fortunate and had the picture perfect recovery. No complications at all. Not everyone has it that smooth, so, be ready, mentally, just in case. My advice is start walking everyday once you get home from the hospital. Even if it's just to the corner and back a couple times. Then go farther as you are able. Don't rush the 'workouts' or you risk hurting yourself. Give it about 6-8 weeks before you do actual workouts, and start over like you're just beginning so you don't hurt yourself. I'm about 6 months post op now, and I do circuit training. I have more energy and stamina on my 800-900 calories a day than I ever did on the 6000 I used to do. I like my burgers still, though typically I do turkey or ground chicken burgers, but bread is still not really my friend, so I usually cut out a piece of flatout bread for my bun. I tried steak for the first time post op in august, and I didn't have a problem with it, so I have one whenever I want. As far as beer goes, not for me. I don't do soda or beer, so I have no firsthand advice on that, but have been told after 6 months, small amounts are possible. Just remember, beer has like 200-300 calories, so, make that decision on if it's worth it for yourself. All I can say is, I feel great now. My goal was to be between 175-220. I hit the top end of my goal today at about 6 months out, and I feel like I got my life back. I'm not tired, weak or lazy. Ok, some days I'm lazy, but, that's not surgery related. But, yeah, feels great.

emilybites.com has been the key to my success. i never believed that healthy food did not have to suck, but, she proved me wrong. i have lost 150 pounds and my non-op wife has lost 70 mostly due to using emily's recipes. she may be a WW website, but she is a wls angel! also, for some other good ideas, my 2nd goto site is http://bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com/ she is also phenomenal.

i had my surgery on june 5th, and was cleared for food the friday before father's day which was around june 17ish. i actually had a bit of grilled porkchop. mmmmmmm the best food you ever eat will be the first food you eat after the liquied diet. chew slow and long and savor every tiny bite.

1cup of plain greek yogurt 1/2 cup of either 1% milk or buttermilk 1 packet of hidden valley ranch dressing mix (dressing mix NOT dip mix) blend with hand mixer and you have awesome low fat low cal ranch dressing. not sure on the buttermilk, but if you use 1% it has 255 calories and less than 2 grams of fat in the entire almost 16 oz jar or ranch dressing! mmm mmm good.

i was at about 400-600 a day for quite a while. now at 6 months out, i'm around 800-900 a day. focus first on your water, protein and vitamins, after that, worry about calories.

http://gastricsleeve4me.blogspot.com/ http://bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com/ http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2009/10/party-time-confetti-bites.html http://www.emilybites.com/ these are my go to websites for recipes. emilybites has a line of recipes for 'cupcake' meals that are awesome, easy to make, and convenient to take to work. good luck with your journey

yep, after losing 145 lbs of 'insulation', i constantly am feeling like i'm going to freeze to death. lucky for me, since i work outside, my boss got me new carharts since i looked like a rodeo clown in my old ones!

awesome! make sure that you work with your primary doctor on the bp meds. i thought i was good to go, but ended up taking about 4.5 months before i could actually stop taking them. good luck on your journey

if you do the soup, run it through a strainer first. that way, you don't accidentally get the actual chicken. too soon for that. i rotated between cream of chicken and potato soup (both strained) for my full liquid diet dinners.

everyone is different. my advice, please don't weigh yourself everyday. i know that it is tempting, and you may have to have someone hide the scale to accomplish it, but, if you weigh once a week, you're less likely to be dissappointed. it took a few days to kick in for me.

this month's speaker will be talking on 'surviving the holidays'. should be a good one.

dooter is right. i'm about 6 months out and am currently in my 3rd stall. this one is a doosie. it's been about 4 weeks since i've lost anything. but, i know that eventually, it'll pick back up. it has every time so far. she is also right about chucking the scale. if you weigh yourself every day, you are setting yourself up to be bummed out. 1x a week is plenty. however, that is personal opinion and lots of people on here do it everyday, i've just noticed that, for me, it's less of of bummer during a stall. good luck.

good luck on making your joyful noise sis!

for the first couple of months, i was at about 500-600 a day. around the end of the 3rd month, close to 800. now at almost 6 months out, i average anywhere between 800 and 1000.

oh yeah, and when they ask about the diet, i tell them that she makes me stay under 1500 calories a day, high protein, low fat, moderate carbs.

this is how i have handled these problems. i tell people almost the entire truth. 1) my family doctor told me at the beginning of the year that if i didn't get under control now, i would be a diabetic in 2 years, dead in 10 and someone else would be walking my daughters down the aisle when they got married. then he referred me to a nutritionist. 2) after meeting with our nutritionist, she put me on a very strict diet, tailored to my specific weight loss needs. 3) after i lost the first 50 pounds, i was able to really get started in an exercise routine 4) it has been a huge adjustment for me and my family, and a lot of hard work, but it's paying off and i'm really starting to feel like a new man. this will also help when it comes time to order your food. here is some survival tips. be proactive, try to be the one that picks the restaraunt. that way, you know there are things that you can eat without worry. let the waiter bring you a glass of Water. you dont have to drink it, but, it will save you the problem. try to get something that looks bigger than it is. Soup is great! you can eat more of it, and some restaraunts have good low cal Soups. or, just order off the appetiser menu, or pick something that has good Protein and lots of veggies and eat what you can and push the rest around so that it looks eaten. and finally, talk. talk about anything, and everything. trust me, you will be thinking about what you're eating much more than they are. as long as you keep the conversation going, they wont notice that you are only taking 1 or 2 bites every couple of minutes. relax, they will probably be so happy for you, that your NUT diet story will be so good. just try not to wince when they tell you that at least you are losing weight "the right way". good luck

dreamfield Pasta agrees with my sleeve. also, if you want something that you can NOT tell is NOT pasta, and is totally fantastic, here is a link to my favorite thing in the world. i have actually served these at parties and been told that it was some really good pasta! http://www.emilybites.com/2011/07/lasagna-cupcakes.html enjoy!

Sorry artsong, I misread your question. I can't see why not. I think it's mostly people from our surgeons, but, I'm sure we wouldn't kick you out if you showed up

Yes, every week, we have a few no ops come to listen and ask questions. I really enjoy my group.

It is nice. It's a 2 hr session. 1st hour is a speaker to give general wls advice, then we break up by wls types and basically share what we've done. It's been a great help just knowing that we have others that have been where we are. And, the sleevers are a fun group at our meetings

i recently started using the chocolate peanut butter flavored powder by body fortress. i like it. mixed with 8oz skim milk, it's just under 200 calories with about 30g protein. and i like the taste. i get it at walmart for about $15 for 24 servings. not bad price considering the unjury was $23 for 17.

i started out by following my NUT's guidelines adamantly. pre-op, she gave me guidelines and the best thing i found to help was a program called ADVOCARE. NO, i am not promoting that program. i never used the shakes or supplements, but the recipes used in it were really close to her guides, so, i used recipes from the advocare site. i also started walking everyday. i started slow. first, 1/4 mile 2x a day, then 1/2 mile, etc. etc till i started walking about 2 miles a day. i was able to lose 50 pounds between april 1 and june 5. i got my sleeve on june 5. after i finished the complete suckfest of the liquid diet and moved on to the other fazes, i started researching different ideas for food because i had gotten bored with the advocare recipes. thank God, i discovered a site called http://www.emilybites.com/ the recipes on her site are a heaven send. it is real food. Good food. and there is so much there that my family doesn't get bored. i also use http://bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com/ alot for ideas. anyway, after i healed up to the point that i could handle it, i started doing more exercise bike and moved on to cardio. now, my brother (who looks like a white vin diesel) designed a circuit training style workout for me. it takes 30 minutes 3 days a week. then on 1 day i do inclined treadmill for 30 min, and 1 day i do 30 min ex bike. i've been through 3 stalls now. a 1 week long, a 2 week long, and i just finished a 3 week stall. but, as long as we work for it, it will happen. i have to say that i owe a lot of my success to my wife and kids. they let me take over the kitchen and i only cook things that i am able to eat. my wife is happy because a) that means i do the grociery shopping and cooking, and ( since we are all being more active and eating better, she has lost 65 pounds just being my support. trust me. it takes work. but it can be done. we just needed a tool to help. finding food that is healthy and at the same time, does not suck, made all the difference in the world for me. that, and getting off of that stupid couch. you got this, you can do it too. and hey, if nothing else. i'm rooting for you! good luck