Arts137

Hmmm, also look up "hydrostatic hypotension". Drink a lot of fluids, and if on BP meds your MD might want to cut it back a bit (but do not do without consulting with your MD)

Yep I did 2 weeks of OPTI. I never minded the taste (heck, I liked it). The first few days are HARD, but hold firm. After day 3/4 it does get better! Remember, this "fast" is important to shrink the liver and help your surgeon!

you can have anything you can puree... but that might not be cool at a family dinner? Moist and chew is the good ^ advice. PS, try some before TGiving. You also don't want the slimies or the barfies at the TGiving dinner!

We have learned a Great Deal from the Angles and Saxons And the Great Value of the present participle is clear as well... And we are now ALL "enabled" in a new and exciting way. Let's create a new "Schoolhouse Rock" "Just add ed"

still makes sense, LV!

Please tell us more. When were you sleeved. How active are you...

hmmm news to me. Thanks for the research sites Laura

marianade portions cubed in an acid marianade (lemon juice or orange juice (cut with H2O and spices) for 25 or 48 hours and make a slow cooker stew. The marianage will cut the gaminess. These meats are very lean, so you CAN add some good fat.

Oh yeah, right... As I said somewhere I ALWAYS gave the family two choices... Take it or leave it. If they left it then they had two more choices, encapsulated in the old contry saying "Root hog, or die".

My evil fat brain Skippy thinks this is a glorious wonderful post and will be glad to treat us all to this marvel. Which means that I won't touch it. Life is SOOOO unfair... :-)

Consider purchasing The Big Book of the Gastric Sleeve. Great resource!

My little friend. It will all work out in the end. If it hasn't worked out... it ain't the end.

The ONE advantage of having the kids grown and out of the house. I cook a LOT, but am lucky that my darlin wife supports a lower sodium, fat (etc) approach. When raising kids I ALWAYS gave the family two choices: Take it or leave it.

Fluffnomore... Great post. I 'specially like: "And most of us have at least one person in the back of our minds that we wonder about, somewhere..." or two or three. But at my age I know ONE thing. I am easy to love and hard to live with. My wife is amazing and STILL loves me AND wants to live with me. And that is so so so fine, fine, superfine. If she'll keep me, I'll sure keep her!

game girl has got it right!!!

Also impact of hormonal changes... Check with the MD, there are approaches to address!

Amen to Madam Laura. You have let your fat brain use the stall to fall back to your fat behavior. But you can get on the wagon if you want to. Do you? Go back to day one and start over and stay on the program. Your fat brain will be watching, and want's you to fail. FIGHT!

OK, I'll take a different tack. I do not care which man (or woman) you end up with. BUT now is NOT the time to make such decisions. Your emotions are completely kerfloowie at this point and you should NOT make these life decisions in the first year out after surgery. http://www.weightlosssurgeon.com/old/bariatric-surgery-guide/a-new-way-of-thinking/emotional-issues and http://www.obesityaction.org/educational-resources/resource-articles-2/weight-loss-surgery/relationship-challenges-before-and-after-weight-loss-surgery Please DO NOT make any decisions that you might regret! You got time...

Abby, worry not at THIS end. Follow your program and get to your target weight in a healthy way. Then there are MANY tricks to stabalize and maintain.

This is your Fat Brain thinking. I work to control MY fat brain every day. I cannot give "Skippy" (the name of my fat brain) an inch or he'll take a double Wendy's, milkshake and a couple handfuls of oreos...

fascinating: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/weight-loss-surgery-may-reverse-signs-aging-docs-say-2D11600482 Not the sleeve, but... I am surprised and wonder if it will hold up!

Jeepers, was that ^ my post??? and it was. Sigh, I'll try again... funky web page... We all have such hopes for this surgery. And for many of us this is a last ditch hope. Who on earth would choose MAJOR surgery if we could have lost weight and kept weight off with diet and exercise. Physically the sleeve works. It restricts the stomach size ... and we have a TINY stomach. Now, in the early post surgery days, cut yourself a break. HEAL, Get your Water in, then focus on Proteins. DO NOT BE CREATIVE... follow the program as strictly as you can. No smoking, reduce caffine, no carbonation, take your vitamines, and try to increase activity. That said, the sleeve does NOT fix the fat brain, and we each have a fat brain (I call mine "Skippy"). Skippy wants to eat, mostly junk. Skippy already knows how to eat 'around the sleeve', and each and every day I have to deal with Skippy's bad manners. I must plan, I must eat ONLY what I plan to eat. Maybe some can be lax, but I can't. Here's a good article that will help as well: http://www.weightlosssurgeon.com/old/bariatric-surgery-guide/a-new-way-of-thinking/emotional-issues Fluffnomore, You know how I react to the inevitable talls and the d*** scale in others. Well I am in a two week stall and despite my good brain understanding what is happening, Skippy keeps saying "see you have failed, have a couple tacos" It NEVER fails, Skippy is always watching...

We all have such great (and "last ditch") hopes for this surgery. None of us would have chosen major surgery if we could have lost (and maintained) weight loss with diet. Physically the sleeve is a fine tool. Follow your program and heal from surgery. Get your Water in, then focus on Protein... Emotionally, however, the sleeve does NOT 'fix' you. And we all have fat brains. You MUST commit to a forever lifetime/lifestyle change and change your relationship with food. THIS IS HARD for each and every one of us. But with control of your fat brain, the sleeve cannot fail. Without control of our fat brains, I do not believe that the sleeve can ever work. Here's something that might also help: http://www.weightlosssurgeon.com/old/bariatric-surgery-guide/a-new-way-of-thinking/emotional-issues

Art be my first name and "s" starts my last name and 137 is the cosmological constant... Google it.

Ok ok ok... Show us... There ya go...