2Big2Skate

Are you drinking lots and lots of water? Quitting smoking is a bear. But you'll get over the hump with the food replacement. My dad ballooned when he quit. It was about 6 months before he was right. But its the best thing he's ever done.

I am devouring a bunch of raw veggies all day long. (on a 1000cal/day preop diet myself) Cauliflower Radishes Raw broccoli Baby carrots sugar free gum Wegmans carries some calorie free dressing but its kinda nasty

Depending on your physical level and possible injuries, the ellipticals may be painful or dangerous. I have a back problem and the up/down motion of the elliptical (combined with all the weight), makes my disk fire on the nerves after a short period of time and my left leg goes numb. The bike immobilizes the spine to some extent while still letting me work those big muscle groups in my legs and get a good sweat going. Bikes also come in a recumbant option to further alleviate certain stresses. I think as the weight comes off, everyones goal should be to get to the higher intensity ellipticals. But be smart and listen to the the body you have today, with its current limitations. An injury at this point might keep you out of the gym for 3-4 weeks!

I'm being sleeved by Noel Williams at UPenn at the end of the month. I live in King of Prussia.

Think about the reasons you chose the surgery. The long life of health you'll have. The people you'll enjoy it with. I'm pre-op and I worry about disasters in the OR - damn you hospital dramas on TV! But I tell myself, "if you dont have this surgery, you're going to get diabetes and be sticking a needle in your butt and maybe lose a foot someday." or "you'll be driving one of them motorized scooters down the aisle at your kids weddings" Those were my motivations for choosing surgery. You made a great decision to take control and stave off all those future problems. This is the hardest part! You can get through it!

Do your cardio first thing in the morning if you can. Try to get 20-40min. I find that gets me burning all day long! Don't get hung up on what kind youre doing or what machine you're on, if youre sweating, youre doing great! If the higher intensitry stuff is too much right now, stick to the bike. Showing up is what's most important. Don't set up hurdles for yourself. Make it a routine that you cant imagine breaking. Your body will adapt and improve and before you know it, you can start blending in a couple minutes of higher intensity machines. I started bike only and now I do 20 on the bike followed by 10-20 on a skiier or stair climber. Those things HURT!

You can put unflavored right in milk.

Hi there, I just got approved by UHC for the Sleeve on 10/31. I started my 1000 cal diet today and so far so good. I've got all this head knowledge and I think I'm prepared. But I'm sure there will be times when I dont know what the hell to do and just need a little bump in the right direction. If anybody is willing to help me through this I'd really appreciate the support! Thanks Jay

I'm just outside of philly.

Good luck! I hope post op is a breeze for you!

Can you chew sugarfree gum to get the effect of chewing? How about the "jockey diet" where you chew meat but then spit it in a trash can and just ingest the juices. I'm scared of this phase!

Non muscle building? What's that mean? Whey isolate is whey isolate right? I'm confused with what your NUT said.

Can you recommend a brand/model of pop that's acceptable? I'll try to learn to love them.

That makes me sad.

Does "no suger added" on a fudge pop count? Or are sugar free only the fruit pops? Don't laugh, I never shop!

What's the biggest danger, if youre body is not making you hurl it up? Is it that you'll stretch the sleeve? Or that food will pass to quickly to digest? I have this same fear since I eat way too fast too.

So happy for you! How's the drinking going? Is it a challenge to stay hydrated and get protein?

We're here for you. That's why this place is so great. We all know how each other did it already! Celebrate without having to 'splain! Even if we toast each other with small volumes of high Protein broth sipped through a straw!

Is it for pain control or recreational? If its the latter you might want to talk to your psyche consult about what you get out of it and if you can get to a place where it isnt really a benefit anymore. I'm not judging either. Ive had to make the same decisions about whether I want to keep alcohol in my life post op. These aren't easy decisions. At least your choice is calorie free!

Reach out to your babysitters and see if any have time to come over and stay all day as a "mothers helper" for a reduced rate. They won't provide medical care but they can keep the kids off your back which is worth a million bucks when you dont feel your best!

Is cottage cheese a no no? Or can you just not get enough grams of Protein in a small serving? That's where I've always grabbed cassein for working out.

My wife is overweight, but not enough to qualify for any medical options. I worry that my feelings for her may change when i start losing weight and she's still big. I'm trying to prepare but I dont know for sure what will happen. There's a lot of emotional junk rolled up into this surgery for all of us. Would I trade my marriage for some better health and appearance? Noooo, I ... arrggggh this stuff's hard.

Edited after reading your update. I think some good old fashioned couples therapy would help a bunch. I recommend a real low thing called "weekend to remember". It's kinda like a marriage vow refresher course and its a bunch of people so it doesnt feel like youre in therapy. We've done it twice. I like it cuz the speakers are funny. Also please be careful comparing him to other people. Would you want him comparing you to wives on TV? Is that fair? I wish you all the best.

That's how the shakes help you lose weight! They make you hate food!

Congrats on this big first step! It's wonderful news that you're able to take decisive action and make such a major decision to improve your life! I'm worried when I hear you say you hope the surgery will make you stop hating yourself. This surgery is a great health improver, but there's no guarantee how you'll feel about yourself afterwards. You could easily end up skinny but unhappy. I'd guess we all come into this with pretty low self image due to all of our previous failures at weight loss. But I would recommend taking some time to understand what's contributed to your self image and weight issues to this point before actually having the surgery. For most people it's not just stomach capacity that led to the weight gain. For those of us using insurance, we had to sit down with a psyche professional and they usually poke around and try to unpack these issues for each of us. Your doctor can probably recommend someone similar that works with MWL patients. I think it'd be a great benefit to you if you reached out to them for some counseling before making your mind up. I hope I don't sound preachy. I would just hate to see you spend all that money and go through everything and end up unhappy. I will pray for you and I hope you get to a really great place!