Recycled

Soooo, that was you sneezing and slobbering all over all of the machines I was using yesterday . I must've used ten rolls of paper towels wiping things down, not to mention choking on the disinfectant I kept spraying in my mouth.

Oh my little grasshopper........what we seek and what we ask for needs only to be experienced........ Well.......you did ask for knowledge. Point being, you missed a really important part of the inquiry. It's obvious to me the designers of these power bars are nutrition geeks that never get around to eating their bars. And the marketing guys are even worse. I mean.......A picture of a slice of apple pie and calling it "apple pie". Really?? My guess is you will be trying alot and settling for the ones you can tolerate. Good luck......Enjoy.

Lap band or sleeve? Might as well ask do you like Chinese or Italian food. It needs to be a choice based on your specific personal circumstances. And those circumstances should be discussed between you and your Surgeon. Seeking basic information about both procedures and the reasons others chose their type of surgery, is certainly advisable. But I wouldn't base too much of your decision on recommendations from strangers on a online forum. Good luck with your choice.

ooops.......MyFitnessPal

I felt a sense of overwhelming peace and serenity. I was relaxed and........OH !...you meant from the sleeve. Nah, no difference.

You realize that by the mere mention of the getting a tummy tuck, it demands before and after pics. And keep in mind, if you want information, well then......As Hanibal Lecter would say......"quid pro quo" !

You don't weasel out of walking.....It's a de-stressor. Plus the cold burns more calories. See what you're missing. Get out there and walk. ( easy for me to say, it's 83 here today ​ )

Active with your Kiddos?? You became one. Those pics look like mother / daughter.

A book ain't gonna do it. We've all done books, programs, miracle drugs, plans, seminars, blah blah blah. This is it people. This is the last chance. There is no more bag of tricks. Tell yourself that reality. You can't do the stuff that you know caused you to fail in the past. You must be successful this time. And you know how to do it. So do it and stop making excuses. The self sabotaging is when you pick up that piece of chocolate, completely aware you shouldn't..... but you don't put it down. The sleeve won't make you put it down. Just do it. You chose this course of action to finally get rid of obesity......now stick to it. You won't be able to try something else later. Fight the urge. Don't keep looking for gratification from others in expected failure. Count the victories you've achieved so far and refuse to let them slide away. Fight to achieve more. I'm not preaching people......I'm living it too. If I don't succeed this time, I will lose all personal credibility for everything I do. I must make this work. Instead of saying "I know I shouldn't have done that" ......Tell yourself "I know I shouldn't" and DON'T do it. Find something correct to do, quickly! Drag yourself bitching and complaining to the gym, Once your there, it's over soon and you'll feel better. You'll still know it will be a job to motivate yourself to come next time, but you proved yet again you can do it. The reward is difficult. Make every pound you lose a victory you can't bear to let go of. If I gain back a single pound, I get really mad at myself and I double up on attention to every detail and tighten any sloppiness in my choices and routines. Never has the "give it an inch and it'll take a mile" saying, been more important. don't let it start to slide. Ok, I said I wasn't preaching and now I'm preaching. Nuff said. Get back on track and win this thing.

Two things here ring out. Your surgery was back in July 2013. And with tremendous swelling and pain worse than your surgery. These are symptoms that demand the expertise of your Doctor, not inquiries on a forum. Call your Doc. Better yet, go in to see him.

I actually grabed a Wendy's chili on the run. (3 ounces) First time I visited a fast food joint since surgery.

My surgery was Jan 9th and I've lost 54 pounds so far. The only issue is no matter how prepared you are for stalls, they still get to you. The stalls will help to keep you grounded that this is going to be a long hard effort and not a walk in the park. As far as surgery issues. None so far. I doubt there is anything anyone can verbally tell you that will alleviate all of your anxiety or nerves. This is a serious procedure that you have no experience with and no matter how much comforting, it's natural to experience fear of the unknown. So, all I can offer is my experience to pass on.......which is to say.....Relax. Read as much as you can to better understand the before and after and your anxiety will subside as you gain more knowledge of what to expect. You'll do fine.

Anticipation!!. Waiting for the day.....waiting for the surgery to be over.......waiting to go home.........waiting to drink more than a few sips......waiting to see the scale drop......wanting to eat (chew)........getting past stalls. It's always seems agonizing waiting to get to something and once there, we are anxious to get to the next stage. Relax. You'll be there in a flash and before long it will all seem very normal and routine.

Try logging on to MyFitnessPal. I'm under RecycledPlastic. You can view others food diaries and get ideas of what they are eating. Also......you'll get past sipping and be able to drink more, and only eating a couple of bites will also increase some. Variety of foods will increase too with time. But there will always be smaller portions due to the size of your sleeve. You'll get used to it. You'll be satisfied and not think much of it as time passes. Treasure it. The limits are what will get us to goal.

Already done. South Miami Hospital Bariatric Center. Dr. Anthony Gonzalez. perfect outcome.

Miami here. Where and who is doing your surgery?

Mine was more of a location than anything else. Checked the hospital where my Cardiologist was associated which turned out to be a "hospital of excellence" and then looked up the bariatric Surgeons that operated there. My Surgeon was the chief of surgery there and had a seminar where he reviewed the different procedures and and the rest is history.

Your post motivated me to seek out the Quest bars. After reading impressive nutrition values on the label, I gave them a try. As usual, the flavor descriptions on the label couldn't be farther from reality, but they still aren't bad tasting. The real benefit is the carbs for the gym and the fiber. You were dead on with the benefits there. I was able to cut back on my daily dose of Colace. Nuff said there. They work. A bit pricey, but good choice. Thanks.

Funny how we just don't seem to be able to follow instructions. I know exactly what you mean. I would blend some stuff and when it left chunks in the blend, I would just say..."Oh well, that's close enough". Besides, chewing is sorta blending, right?! And how are we gonna know if we don't try. I mean, others didn't have to wait two weeks, so what can it hurt. Just a small taste. Hmmmm. no reaction. Good enough for me.......time to move on to next stage. Maybe not the best reasoning, but I'm sure alot of us do it anyway. Hopefully the docs have a fudge factor built in to their recommendations.

I think there is more worry and doubt in our minds during the qualifying waiting stage than the actual surgery. Are we gonna be approved? Are we gonna prove we can lose weight before surgery? Are we gonna gain weight? I don't care if I get approved? I've always failed at losing and this is no different. What if I don't change after surgery. I enjoy the food too much and don't want to give it up. I'm fooling myself ! ! I couldn't get my mind into the process and it just didn't seem real to me. I continued to eat as I always had. I even gained a few pounds and made excuses as to why when I went to the monthly PCP appointments. I felt guilty constantly thinking I should be trying to get used to the eating habits or I'd be in big trouble later. But at the same time it felt like I was being asked to kill my best friend and I wanted to cherish whatever time was left. So I ate. Not just normally. I went out of my way to re-visit my favorites to get in a farewell, so to speak. And while savoring those delectable dishes, my mind was reinforcing the thought I would never get used to "rabbit" food. During those moments I reveled in the pleasure of food and the thought of some undesirable WLS was the last thing on my mind. The months passed. I continued going to appointments to keep up appearances of my big deception. And as delays set in and additional tests were required, it just made it more likely that probably nothing was gonna change. I wasn't sure if I cared or not. Either way, why bother to try to adjust to some unnecessary weight loss requirement if the surgery wasn't gonna happen anyway. Hmmm, did I really think that or was I trying to subconsciously sabotage the process. Who knows. Out of the blue, the "call". Your approved......now pick a surgery date! After hanging up the phone, nervous anticipation sets in. It's real and the surgery doesn't even make me flinch. The life style change afterwards does. Can I really do this? I should have been getting used to this for the last 8 months. Damn, this is gonna be 10 times harder now. Two weeks. Are you kidding me. Pre-op diet tomorrow? Cold turkey? This is just too soon. Breathe..........think about the skinny you. Think about not dying from a heart attack. Whatever, just get on board, cause your life changes in two weeks. OK, panic is over. I've been on the pre-op for two weeks and it wasn't so bad. I really can do this. Surgery is tomorrow and I'm anxious to feel the pounds coming off and see me changing. Wow, that was fast. Surgery is over. Not as bad as I was prepared for. The post-op stages seem game-like. Drink this now. Walk. Now you can eat blended stuff. Not bad. Learn about nutrition. Choose the good stuff for the tiny stomach. Easy pesy. And I'm losing. I am doing it and really losing. Alot. It is gonna work and it appears I can adjust. And most importantly, life moves on and I adapt and change. Who would've believed it ? The food choices are fine. The nutrition requirements are fine. I'm satisfied and I don't feel I'm missing any foods from my pre-op life. My mind is set on the future and my goals and whatever doubts I had pre-op are distant memories of a past life. Message: Don't sweat the waiting period!

It would be nice if in the "Recent Topics" posts box, the category or room was listed along with the recent post. It might avoid alot of controversy when responding to posts and being unaware of the category. ie: powder room or guys room etc.

Easy or not, enjoy it while you can. Running used to really help me reach weight loss goals. But now I have had bi-lateral knee replacements (my obesity contributed to that too) and while they say you can run with the implants, I just don't want to add any undue additional wear which might cause them to need replacing again. But walking still fits the bill and I do alot of walking and treadmill. Swimming works great too.

I'm one of the lucky ones with cardiac issues. I don't feel trainers are knowledgeable enough about cardiac issues and will either be too cautious or unaware of the limits. So I basically just try to follow the limits set by my Cardiologists. Having to modivate myself with the stress of possibly keeling over and having to take heart rate limiting meds, (beta blockers) makes exercise sessions at the gym extra difficult. I envy those with trainers.

Thanks for the info. I have been searching for various snack ideas. This is a good one. I found one on Targets sight while browsing.

You headed in the right direction already. I would just try to absorb as much information as you can about the surgery and more importantly, the diet and lifestyle change that you will need to follow to be successful both in the short and long term. The Surgeon will fill in specifics for your particular surgery and you can research alot right here on BP. Use the search and read, read, read. Good luck with journey.