BrantS1976

Best of luck to you for a speedy recovery from surgery, but I am sure you will do very well. What they say about walking is true. The more you get up and move post-op, the faster you heal. I also found it helped cut down on the need for pain meds for me.

Good for you standing up for yourself and being a good example for your kids. Based on everything you posted, it sounds like this is the right decision despite the fact that I am sure it is terrifying and hard to finally end the relationship. Thinking positive thoughts for you, and I am sure life will just get better from here. I am in awe of your bravery taking on this major change in life and WLS all at once. Your children will definitely be proud and will realize that they are blessed with a very strong mother.

I know up here around Seattle, it is possible to get brown rice sushi. I haven't tried it yet, but I have friends who love the stuff.

I also hate looking at photos of myself at my heaviest. Somewhere around 340 pounds I stopped seeing myself when I looked in the mirror. My face became fatter and I looked less like myself. The last month or two as I have gone below that level, I am looking in the mirror and seeing myself again. I can actually stand to look at the family pictures we took for Christmas, which I couldn't do with any pictures we took over the past few years. Everyday I just tell myself that I am on a journey and with each day I am becoming a better, healthier and happier version of myself. It works for me on most days, but we all have our down days.

I would recommend following your surgeons guidelines and being very careful as you test limits. I have experimented with rice in very small quantities and have been okay with brown or wild rice. Have not tried white rice as I can't see a benefit to eating it based on the limited nutritional value it has.

I didn't find I had any issues with the bariatric advantage shakes from a physical standpoint, but no matter what I did to them, and what flavor I tried, I just didn't like the taste as much as other brands. They also did not seem to mix as well no matter how long I stirred them or shook them in a shaker bottle. Premier also had the advantage of being sold at costco and being considerably less expensive.

Thank you, she will be a great support person. It's odd you posted here. I just read your introduction post and googled sleeve placating. Definitely keep in touch so we can see how you're doing. It seems like you're doing great to me. Btw, cute little baby I'd actually put "cute little girl" Bc I was thinking about my daughter and about died when I hit send!!! I'm a dork April No worries, before he had his first haircut, we were starting to get a lot of people asking "how old is she." I will definitely keep in touch. I am liking this site and the people on it. Seems like we can all be great support for each other. My wife is very supportive, but there is a lot of it that she doesn't quite understand, as you would expect if she's not going through it herself.

Sounds like a virus of some sort, not the Protein shake. Hope you feel better soon.

I know what you mean. At 383 pounds I was obviously conspicuous anywhere I went, yet was somehow invisible. I think some of that was of my own choosing. In hindsight I generally kept my eyes down and avoided interactions. While I still have a long way to go, I have lost 70 pounds and am already noticing a change in how I am treated. Women start conversations with me in the produce section of the grocery store (don't think they're flirting as my son was with me and the wedding ring on my finger is quite obvious), clerks in stores are more quick to wait on me, etc. While it would be easy to attribute this to a societal preference for thin people, I have to point the finger at myself too. I was more than willing to fade into the background and did my best to do so.

Congrats on deciding to change your life, and for raising a wonderful daughter. With her and other people in your life to support you, I have no doubt you will be a great success.

I think the negativity comes from two things. 1. - most don't know what plication is. Case in point I was at support group last night at my surgeons office and I was the only one out of 40+ people there who had the plication surgery or even knew what it was. 2. - It's most commonly done in Mexico, and that instantly draws criticism from some. I was very close to taking the Mexico route, but found a clinical study here locally in Washington. My wife was nervous about the idea of Mexico and felt strongly that I should have surgery locally so I had more follow up care and support available to me. I think the majority of it is from a lack of understanding about plication. I also think people can become very gung ho about the surgery they selected, as we all have strong emotions attached to this journey, which you would expect considering how this changes all of our lives.

I look better because my face looks thinner, but having lost close to 70 pounds, I am now seeing some wrinkles that I did not before. I'll take it. I earned every line on my face and I am looking better with each day.

Go Sophie!

I think no matter what your age is, you just have to be ready to commit to a major lifelong change. Most people I talked to when I was deciding to have surgery only had one regret, that they didn't do it sooner. Best of luck to you

Gregg, it could have happened to any of us. LOL Congrats on the weight loss. You are an inspiration.

Sounds like you are well on your way to success. Keep up the great work!

I love the lessons in your signature line. Several made me laugh as they are so true.

After care involves monthly appointments for the first year, every three months in years 2 and 3, with nutritional counseling every 3-4 months (or more often) if I want it.

You will feel too full, almost to the point where it feels like the food is backing up in the end of your esophagus. It's unpleasant. Eat slow like they tell you, and I know it is hard, and you will get a feel for your capacity in a short amount of time.

Nice date. You will forever remember tax day as the anniversary of a day when your life changed for the better.

Great blog. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

Thanks for the warm welcome and kind words Linda. It took me about a year to wrap my head around the idea and get to a place where I was ready and knew I could let go of the past, embrace all the required changes and succeed.

Good luck to you Grace. I was recently right where you are. I had my surgery October 24th. It is a bit scary, but it will be the best things you ever did for yourself.

They will notice. I wasn't originally planning on mentioning that I had undergone WLS, but the weight has been coming off so fast that everyone has noticed, and to my surprise as I began telling people everyone has been really supportive. The other interesting thing is as I tell people I am amazed to see how many people I know have other people in their lives who have undergone WLS. While it feels a bit uncomfortable at first, opening up and letting people know what is going on has been really great.

As a man who has had WLS, I just wanted to share that the confidence thing happens to men as well, and losing almost 70 pounds now has had a positive effect on my confidence when it comes to getting naked. I once read an article that said for every 35 pounds a man was overweight, he lost one inch of length down there. Having now lost almost 70 pounds, I am happy to report that losing the weight has the opposite effect, which has me feeling much more confident as we can get into other positions that my wife likes that we could not before.