ShrinkingBiker

drink the juice! Sounds nasty I know.. but it shuts that craving down. lol

look up rash guard shirts.. You can wear them under your regular shits and they are sorta like compression clothing.

Oh yea.. and move from Morbidly obese to just obese then to overweight.. Those should be in there too. BMI charts are a work of the devil.. That's right.. I said it.. THE DEVIL!!

Hey guys, I started a post when I first joined here, but I put it in the wrong forum, so I figured I would start a new one here.. A lil back story.. I am 36 years old (Male) from New Jersey. In HS I put on weight my senior year from about 185-190 to about 250, and then dropped back down to the high 100's for a few years. It crept up over time and I maintained at about 225-250 for most of my 20's. My 30's I ticked up to about 275ish and after getting married I got to my peak of 326. So, that covers my weight struggles.. Now the reasons for the sleeve.. Well, I was what I would call a heavy eater.. I worked on the road so I usually skipped Breakfast and got moving on my client visits.. lunch would usually be a stop at some fast food type place.. If per say it was the Arches.. I would get a double QP large, and probably a 10 piece nugget.. If it was a sub shop I'd get a whole sub.. You get the idea.. big meals that where not healthy.. I'd get home, and make dinner usually filling my plate with 2 portions of everything.. Then snack on chips or something later.. Drinking Coke the entire time.. Or Snapple Peach Iced Tea. So, last year I decided enough was enough.. I had tried diets here and there, but never really stuck with them.. Will power is not my strongest quality.. I spoke to some friends who had surgery (RNY) and decided to set up an appointment with Dr. Chau of NJ Bariatrics. I really liked him, and decided that I didn't need to look any further.. I had planned to meet many doctors, but felt confident enough that he was the man for the job. My insurance (through my wifes job) required a visit to the shrink and 6 months with the NUT.. So, I did it.. Got off of Sugary drinks, tried to make sure I had some sort of breakfast every morning and tried to change my meal choices.. I did lose a few pounds, but as soon as my 6 months was up, I pretty much went back to old bad habits, and ballooned up to my peak.. Insurance approved the surgery and I had it on 3/20. Pre op diet for me was shakes for breakfast and lunch, and then protien heavy dinner no carbs. I did cheat on 3 occasions.. once the first night.. I had a pb&j, then later in the week I had a sub for lunch, and finally 4 days before the surgery I had 1 hot dog.. Even with that, I still lost 12 pounds. The day of surgery came and I was sleeved! After the surgery, I spent 1 night in the hospital, and had issues with being "Tachy" my heart rate would sit at about 100-160 and they loaded me up with all sorts of pain meds in addition to my magic button of highness. :oP So, I will skip the details of what a bad patient I was.. you can see my blog for those.. Link is in my sig. I got home and was in moderate pain. I had to walk holding my belly up because the incisions felt like they where pulling and had to sleep on my right side because the largest cut hurt too much when laying. The pain only lasted 2-3 days at a constant level, then dulled down enough that I didn't need pain meds anymore. Since the surgery I've only had one minor event.. I had a shake one night for dinner and it didn't sit well. I got nauseous, but couldn't vomit.. Just sat over the bowl dry heaving.. It hasn't happened since and I hope it doesn't happen again. Also.. POOP! I wasn't expecting not to poop for a week.. That was strange.. but thankfully the ladies in chat are not shy about talking about poop and told me it was normal. Since my surgery which I am 5 days shy of one month, I now weigh 280. I saw my sister for the first time today and she was shocked! That felt really nice. I am so happy that I did this, and I get so excited when I pass my mini goals. I'll make a list of my mini's at the bottom of this.. I hope to be able to share events with my weight loss and life with you all in this thread, and also on my blog. If you are on the fence about doing this, I hope this might have tipped you in the direction of making that big change. Goals Be under 300 DONE Lose 25lbs post surgery DONE Be the weight I was when my wife and I got married DONE 275 lose 50 pounds total Be the weight I was when I met my wife 250 Loose 100lbs total 225 200 185 Long term goal

I've had some change in tastes.. I really can't stand sweets at all anymore.. I never was big on them to begin with, but I would like ice cream now and then, and soda.. but we stopped soda after my first trip to the NUT almost a year ago. I still crave (and love) Franks Red Hot and vinegar stuff.. But I find creamed Soups to be too rich now. Minor changes, and good changes too. I think some of it is in our minds.. We did a very drastic thing to our bodies and it might be out sub-conscious steering us away from what made us do it in the first place.. The mind does strange things sometimes.. I used to make this dish that was kielbasa, sour kraut, Sliced onions and bacon all cooked together.. I LOVED it.. I had it one night and shortly after had a really bad kidney stone.. not related obviously, but the pain of the stone made me violently ill.. I thought I was going to die, and was throwing up all over the place uncontrollably and painfully.. A few months later, I made that dish again, and just cooking it started to turn my stomach and I to this day have been unable to eat it.. Obviously now, at a month out from sleeve there way in hell I can eat it.. but you get what I mean.. lol

She's pre-op not post. I answered in your other question.

your doc should have given you a list. I mine was a shake for Breakfast and lunch then a Protein and vegge for dinner. Vegge for snack. I don't know how strict your pre-op diet is.. I see somet that is liquid only, somethat are more atkins style, some don't have them at all.. So, it's pretty all over the place.. I've said it before and I will keep saying it.. The medical association or whoever puts out bariatrics guidelines should have a standardized diet for all doc (or at least the ones in the US) use to make things easier on us in this internet age.

I never did a sleep study, but I was a snorer.. When I came out of surgery the doc told me tat he felt i had mild sleep apnea and that it would probably go away as the weight came down.. and It did.. A couple of weeks post op I am no longer snoring at all. I have issues with insomnia which is in part due to not working, but worse then I've ever had to deal with.. It's like I can go lay in bed exhausted barley able to keep my eyes open and just sit there in the dark for hours, then give up and go to the computer room check some stuff out on the net, then try again.. Usually get to sleep by 4-5am.. Very frustrating.

you are not alone.. I was pretty much the same way.. I can tell you the pre-op diet REALLY sucked, and I did cheat (3 times) but overall I stuck with it as much as I could. You will not be thrilled with life for the next 2 weeks, but in the end it will have been worth it. I can also attest that after surgery things change.. majorly. You loose that hunger (or at least I did) and while I had cravings, it is easier to stick with because you just can not have solid foods for a while. The liquid is about all that you will be able to get down anyway. I am about to move into soft solids, and while I can eat more then I did, I am still held to about 2-3 oz of food because I simply can't eat any more then that. Most of the time I leave a good portion of what I set to eat on the plate.. I always weigh my food before hand and just don't really "like" eating anymore. Things still taste good to me, but I just have a bite or two and feel like I am done. Stick with it, and you will do fine. It's just a hard 2 weeks then your entire life will change.

sometimes you can't.. you just have to do what's best for you.. Unless this is a case of him having to fund it.. I originally only planned to tell my mother, step father, one brother, and my sister. .. I know how my father is.. he's negative about everything. I just choose to go with the supportive side of my family, and show him with results that this was the right choice for me.

I'm a little older then you (36) but if you need to bounce things off of someone feel free to shoot me a pm, or add me on facebook. link is below.

Congrats! I think that is the first thing I have noticed on myself is my face is much slimmer.

I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you that I was 5'9 and 326 just a month ago when I started my pre-op diet. (sleeved on 3/20) I am now 283. The band to me was not the choice.. My reasons where: 1. I didn't want something implanted in me that needs to be adjusted multiple times. 2. i saw too many people that either lost and regained, or ate just as much just took longer.. 3. I saw a lot of revision / removal people who had a surgery and had to have another one for various reasons. 4. I just liked the sleeve option best after doing research on side effects of the other surgeries. This is a choice you need to make with the consultation of your doctor. I am glad to hear that you are seeking another option if not satisfied with your doctor. You need to do what is best for you.

If you mean the step after puree then I am most looking forward to ground beef. I start softs next week. There are lots of good stuff added to my diet at the soft solid stage.

costco has the real one.. it's part of their road show demos They wanted 500 for it last time I was there.. I decided to go the magic bullet route. Just can't spend that much for a blender that in all reality I won't use that much.. plus we already have a ninja and food processor when we got married. It is pretty nice though.

I'm sorry that you feel all alone. I can tell you what my wife told me (she is very supportive but she is right) I chose to go with this "diet" and while she loves me and supports my choice, she isn't dieting, so there will be things she eats that I want, but I need to remember why I chose to do this and man up.. Most of that is fitting to you.. cept maybe the man up part.. lol We all I am sure have gone through stages of frustration. We have made a HUGE change in our lifestyle, and any change is hard at first.. Just stick with it, stay strong, and come to us if you need support. If you need someone to talk to feel free to message me on here, or friend me on facebook. That goes for anyone on the site. I'm only 3 weeks out, but that doesn't mean an outside eye can't put a different perspective to situations.

I'm right there with ya.. drink burp, eat burp, sometimes just burp.. I hope it passes one day, but if that's my only side effect (other then shedding pounds) I am ok with it.

Pre-op was the hardest part for me, but it was worth it. Just stick to your guns! I don't know if your diet allows but carrot and celery sticks really helped me with the hunger.

Congrats! I'm down 27 3 weeks out and a total of 41 since pre-op! It's so awesome feeling isn't it?

The first 2 weeks I did get grumbles but it wasn't really hunger.. I think it was a mix of gas and stomach healing.. I try to weigh out all of my food to between 2-3 oz so that I don't make myself too full / sick. I also try to plan out meals.. I try to have 3 "meals" per day and 2 Snacks. I'm only in puree right now, but i will run you through typical day.. Wake up have Water and take my heartburn med. about 20 minutes later 2-3 oz of Breakfast (egg, roast beef hash, or oatmeal) kill off a bottle of water between breakfast and lunch Snack (yogart or cottage cheese) if I feel the urge, usually skip Lunch (tuna, leftover, soup) Water between dinner depends on what I want.. Tuna, seafood salad, stew, chili Snack weight watchers snack sized fudge bar or SF ice pop Water and sometimes a fruit juice like Cran Raspberry, cran grape or apple. It doesn't look like a lot of food.. and I am early on (3 weeks today) but I am never really hungry, and if I feel like I am, I usually try to take a couple sips of water before getting food and that usually kills the hunger. Some days I only get 32oz of water, but most days I get at least 3 or even 4 16oz bottles. I found that our tap water does not agree with my stomach for some reason, so we go to costco and get bottles. I'm going to get one of the britta filters and see if that helps.. I just hate using all those bottles.

My first visit counted toward the 6 months.

you will do great. Best of luck

good luck. See you on the loser bench

congrats

Your relationship with food will change.. Isn't that why we are all here? Yes, at times it is hard, but for me, seeing my chance of diabetes go away is better. Having my wife tell me I haven't been snoring in the past 2 weeks puts a smile on my face. Seeing the scale read less and less each week solidifies to me that I made the right choice. I always had a bad relationship with food. Unlike other things that are bad for us, food is one we can't "quit" but we can utilize tools to help guide us towards making better choices. I'm not on the boat of "you can never have this or that again" I believe that you should have treats once in a while.. But having 4 oz of something is much better for you then having 1-2 pounds. Having a happy meal down the road is much better then having 1 large fry, large coke, 2 burgers and maybe a nugget.. You can still enjoy food, you will just be enjoying very small portions of it. I had the same thoughts as you.. My wife said a few times that she was worried that she didn't want me to do something I would regret when I am unable to eat big meals and have a good time... I'm 3 weeks out and down 41 pounds since I started pre-op diet (lost 14 on pre-op) and am sooooo happy I made this choice for myself. It is all up to you, but I think if you don't do it in a year you will be kicking yourself.