JustSayMoe

Several Things:
1) My wife and young family (6 yo girl and 2 yo boy)
2) I need to stop the insanity. I weigh 400 lbs, have sleep apena, out of control diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. I'm not even 40!
3) My gut doesn't fit in a booth at a restaurant.
4) Very hard to buy clothes that fit at regular stores. I have a 50 inch waist and need 32 inseams. Almost an impossible combination.
5) I love hiking in the mountains. Extra weight and thin air make this extremely hard. I took a hike last fall and couldn't hike 15 yards up a steep trail without getting out of breath at 6000'.
6) Amusement parks/go kart rides, etc, etc

How about these? VSG on 2/14/13, preop starting weight 400.
Preop (max) 430:

1.2 pounds from goal:

It's been a while. I'm closing in on my goal. I was sleeved on Valentine's day this year. I'm down 213 from the heaviest and around 190 from the preop phase.

Hang in there. Keep that measurement tape around. I found that I would lose inches and pounds some weeks. Other weeks I would lose one or the other but not both. The scale isn't the only way to measure success. Stalls happen all of the time. Just keep hammering away, and you will break out.

I have really been going back and forth as whether to post here or not. I guess I am sort of a "forum person" in my hobbies and areas of interest, but I have to be honest, I have avoided posting on this site or even looking at it for a couple of reasons. I found this site only a few days before my surgery but when I found it I found more negativity and frightened people then I found inspiration. Actually, I have gone here and gotten the (bleep) scared out of me by a few posters, every time I see their posts I get knots in my stomach. The main poster that does that to me has a screen name that starts with the letter "i". Everybody is terrified of leaks and all the negatives of this surgery and I just haven't been able to relate to many of the topics. Below I will share some of the basics of my journey so far.
First off, I am a 35 year old male who is 6 feet 3 inches tall. I wasn't fat my whole life, I actually weighed 218 when I was 19 years old. That was pretty close to a "perfect" weight for me. I got into a business where the guys I worked with partied, ate, and drank to excess. Over the years I ballooned to 445 lbs which is where I have been for the past 2-3 years. In 2010 I was considering the lap band but chickened out. I was back on in 2011 but chickened out again. In 2012 I HAD to make a decision because I was put on Metformin for borderline diabetes and Lisinopril for borderline blood pressure as well. That was it. I started again with the nutritionist appointments and made an appt. to see my surgeon who is located downtown Chicago a few miles from my house. My first appt. with him was in early October 2012 and he suggested a VSG instead of the lap band because of the large amount of weight I wanted to lose. I left thinking about it and did the rest of my pre op requirements such as upper GI, psyche, EKG, etc. I saw my surgeon again on November 14th, 2012 and we decided on the VSG (which I really didn't know a lot about). We set surgery for December 21st, 2012.
Because I am a big fella, my surgeon put me on a 28 day pre op liquid only diet (to shrink my liver and loosen my skin) which I started on November 23rd, 2012 (the day after Thanksgiving). The first few days were tough but I have very strong will power and stuck to it, following the requirements to the letter. I didn't cheat even once. Again, not even once. After about 12 days it was smooth sailing and I just plugged away and kept up the exercise plan that I had been doing for over a year which was just walking 1.5 miles, three times per week at my local YMCA. I didn't weigh myself even once the entire plan and weighed myself the morning of surgery. To my astonishment I lost a staggering 49 lbs!!!!I I couldn't even believe it, to be honest with you I began to sob like a little girl! I went from 445 to 396. I was just so shocked. My surgeon told me that I broke his practice record which was previously 45 lbs for a pre op diet. Again, I LOST 49 LBS IN 28 DAYS!!!
On the morning of December 21st, 2012 I was ready for surgery at a major hospital downtown Chicago. I arrived, valet parked, checked in, and was laying on the table prepped for surgery within 1 hour just waiting for the anesthesiologist. I was in surgery about an hour and a half later and the surgery took 2 1/2 hours. I am going to cut the details of my hospital stay down so readers aren't sitting here all day reading. Any questions just ask me. I wanted to leave the hospital the next evening but my surgeon said that he wouldn't allow me to break two records and that I should stay another night. Quick recap, I was checked into my room after surgery at 6pm Friday night and was discharged from the hospital at 11am Sunday morning, less then 48 hours after entering my room.
Upon arriving home I checked my weight, expecting to have lost a few lbs, and actually gained back 2 lbs due to all the fluids that were pumped into me. I was back up to 398. My recovery went ok I think, I was in a lot of pain along my largest incision which is about 3+ inches wide. I was on Tramadol which sucks. It took me 9 days to finish the 25 pills that I was prescribed since I was skipping doses. I was home on Sunday morning and by Wednesday morning I was off to the YMCA where I walked only one lap around the track. I limped around and talked to my friends there before going home. I was back at the YMCA on Friday and actually walked 5 laps (a half mile). I finally weighed myself on Friday, one week after surgery, and I was down from 398 to 391. I weighed myself again on Sunday afternoon and I lost another 4 lbs from Friday to Sunday, 9 lbs in 9 days, ending up at 387 lbs, 58 lbs down in 38 days.
So that's basically that. It's been over 10 days now since surgery and I am feeling like a million bucks. Here are the "scary" parts. I am using the term scary because after reading this site I would have thought I was going to die from this surgery. I HAVE NOT been nauseous even for one second since surgery. I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOT thrown up, or even gagged for that matter, not even once. I AM ABLE to drink 60ozs of Fluid per day. I just started puree on Saturday, 8 days out, and it's been perfect. I had 4 ozs of low fat cottage cheese (which I LOVE) today as well as only one Protein Shake, a bowl of Tomato Soup, and plenty of Water. I AM NOT hungry, EVER. I just eat to live, that's it. Today I feel the best that I have felt since surgery. Every day gets better. My goal is to lose 220 lbs, 100 in three months from the start of my pre op diet on November 23rd. I WILL do it.
I know I left out a bunch so fire away (or ask any questions that you want).

You are 100% right BigFrank!
People shouldn't always believe everything their doctor's tell them. My surgeon wanted to do a DS on me, which statistically was a better option. I wouldn't have it due to the increased risk and life long issues associated with a DS. You are basically trading obesity for side effects.

Hi Nakeia, I was 445 at the start of my liquid diet which lasted 28 days. In that time period of 28 days I lost 49 lbs and was sleeved on the 28th day at 396 lbs. There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON that you can't lose ALL of your extra weight. The battle is in your own head. Once you master that you will succeed. Read my story here: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/234244-new-guy-here-youve-got-to-read-this/page-19

I'm not in your area, but I started right at 400. My max weight was about 430. I'm 216 now and ounces from my goal.

Hi all! I haven't been here in a while (I guess since I reached my goal weight), but I missed hearing everyone's stories and updates. As for me, my original goal was to be at 130. My weight on surgery day was 183lbs, however I am now at 109. I keep losing weight and I am not sure if its something to worry about. I don't want to get super skinny. I am 5;2"....When I was in high school I weighed 108. I am 1lb away from my high school weight. Yikes! I'm worried about the sagging skin on my thighs. Everywhere else is ok. I had surgery Feb 28, 2013. On my surgery aniversary I am planning on getting breast implants, brazilian butt lift and a thigh lift.

You look great!

It's been a while. I'm closing in on my goal. I was sleeved on Valentine's day this year. I'm down 213 from the heaviest and around 190 from the preop phase.

I was that way too. I enjoy food and cooking. I'm doing my best to adapt to the new sleeve.

How about these? VSG on 2/14/13, preop starting weight 400.
Preop (max) 430:

1.2 pounds from goal:

Spent a little time cooking this weekend. Recipe with pics here: http://sleevers.wordpress.com/2013/09/15/crockpot-chicken-tikka-masala-recipe/
This is a little more fidgety than my typical recipes but still doable. One short cut is to make twice the recipe of the chicken kebabs I posted. Split the chicken in half and use half to cook on stove-top and the rest, add to your crockpot.
Don't be intimidated by the list of ingredients, they all get processed together and thrown into the crockpot.
Here is the chicken tikka recipe. Make about 1 lb of chicken tenders/thighs this way.
Ingredients for the masala
Grind together the following in your food processor:
1 onion roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic peeled
4 in piece of ginger roughly chopped
1 green chile
3 large tomatoes
1 small can of Tomato paste
2 tsp home-made garam masala (or store-bought)
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander (grind coriander and cumin together in a coffee grinder)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of water
Additional Ingredients to add later
1/2 c half and half or cream
4-5 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
Method
1. Pour the masala ingredients into your crockpot. You want a fairly thick mixture.
2. Add the marinated chicken. Honestly, if you run out of time or couldn’t be bothered to make the chicken tikka recipe, just get some fresh chicken and add it in.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-6 hours until the chicken is falling apart.
4. Remove the lid toward the last hour of cooking and add in the cream or half and half and mix well. If you want a thicker curry, leave the lid off.
5. That's it! Enjoy. I think this would taste good with Zucchini "noodles" or Spaghetti squash because it's got a really rich taste and may be too much by itself. Typically it's eaten over rice, but we probably don't want to do that.

My mom made me cook one meal a day since I was 14 so I've been cooking for a long time. In India we don't use recipes so you have to learn to get a feel for food. So I make these up. It's fun

Pictures and nutritional info at: Protein, and easy. What more can you ask for?
Ingredients
1/2 lb pork cut up for stewing (I’m trying to make smaller quantities, you could use a lb and double everything else below) 2 small chopped roma tomatoes 1 chopped jalapeno pepper OR Substitute 1 can of Rotel tomatoes for the fresh tomatoes and jalapeno) 1/2 c frozen pearl onions OR 1/4 c chopped fresh onion 1 small sweet potato cut into four large pieces 1 can green chile, chopped 1/4 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp chipotle pepper (ground) 1 tsp salt Method
Place all ingredients into a crockpot and cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 hours. Alternatively, cook in pressure cooker for 10 minutes and let the steam release on it’s own for 15 minutes.

How about these? VSG on 2/14/13, preop starting weight 400.
Preop (max) 430:

1.2 pounds from goal:

How about these? VSG on 2/14/13, preop starting weight 400.
Preop (max) 430:

1.2 pounds from goal:

How about these? VSG on 2/14/13, preop starting weight 400.
Preop (max) 430:

1.2 pounds from goal:

Linda The first 2 days if the pre-op diet were lets say CHALLENGING; however, once you get passed them it will be a breeze. Just keep yourself busy. I cleaned my apartment over and over. I detailed my car like 20 times. My goal was to get as healthy as I could for the surgery.

Peein' out the pounds! Should be a song title.

Thank you everyone for the advice. I had my appointment and it went alright. The psychologist cleared me for surgery...he only recommended that I reestablished with a therapist as I admited it was helpful for me in the past...next step is the nutritionist!

Dec 30 here too!! University of Penn! Can't wait and congrats

Congratulations! Mine is a week from today...YAY! I am emotionally ready...have been for awhile. Adamfishaa how are you doing? Feeling better I hope?

Do you mean your surgery is on 12/30/13? If so, congrats! I had mine on 11/20/13 & I am finally starting to feel normal again. LOL! Stay confident and show all of those doctors that you are ready for a change! It is SO worth it!!