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@@reree6898 It was, my big hurdle now is coming up with meals to plan. I love my Chili, but do not plan on eating it every day for the next three weeks. I know there are a million sites with great recipes, but it is a little overwhelming getting started. I am also a really picky eater, and don't like (THANKS MOM) a lot of veggies.

I said I would update you all, so here is an update. I had a Protein shake this am. I skipped lunch (was going to have tuna salad but was out) Had a bowl of Chili for dinner, I even allowed myself a couple of crackers. I'll have my daily yogurt tonight for a snack. Meal planning is a work in progress. So things are getting better.

@@Inner Surfer Girl Thank you for the advice. I have an admission to make, I am Bipolar, not just Bipolar but medication resistant Bipolar, I have a mental health team that keeps me more or less level and normal. However, when I ramp up over something, it becomes an obsession. Mental illness is a b***h. My meds keep me pretty stable, however I live in a highly supportive environment. That means, I have removed all stressors from my life that I can. I live a lone, solitary life. Very simply. This surgery was discussed for about six months before my psychiatrist was willing to sign off. My medications work differently now, as they are liquid and VERY rapidly absorbed, we are still working on a dosing schedule that works post op. As for a 12 step program, and I mean no offense to anyone. But that's not me. I do things on my own. If I have a problem I solve it. If it is not within my power to solve it, I figure out who's power it is in, and I get them to fix it. It's not that I have an issue asking for help, far from it, I ask for help all the time. I have just never been a 12 step guy. After a lot of thought, I have some ideas about how to change things. I need to plan my meals a week out. No more last minute decisions. As crazy as it may sound to some of you, I need to establish and maintain a food schedule. School was also causing a lot of problems, but I finished my last class this evening and I am off until November 30th. So I have nothing but time to work this out. Next semester I am only taking 1 class and that is online so it won't affect when I am home or my schedule. Like I said, tomorrow, back to basics, Protein shake in the morning, a good workout, a good lunch and dinner. In my downtime, I will plan out a weeks worth of meals. Shop, cook, freeze whatever. I do better on a schedule than having to make choices on the spot. I sincerely appreciate the advice, compassion and caring from all of you. I WILL get past this. I just have to remember the basics. If you are not planning to succeed you are planning to fail. Sorry this post keeps getting longer but I wanted to clarify why I made a statement earlier. As former military, I have a tremendous amount of discipline, you may even call it over the top, but it works for me, well when it works it works well. That is the idea with meal planning. I don't eat for pleasure or comfort, I eat because I have too. I don't crave a cupcake when I am sad, or happy or anything else. So, taking the decisions out of eating, and having a set schedule, for me at least I think will work well. I mean if I am hungry, I can have a cheese stick or something as an unscheduled snack, but that would usually be on a super high calorie burn day. Like a 6K calorie day when I have been on the go since I woke up. Does that make any sense?

@@Dub Thanks Dub you always know how to make me feel better!

I am ex-miilitary. I do not do mediocre, ever in anything. If I cannot do something exceptionally well, I don't do it. This however, is a ride I cannot get off of. I was not kidding about anorexia, I am worried my all or nothing mind will drive me there. I have decided to step backwards a bit tomorrow. Back to my beloved Protein shake in the AM. That alone is 400 calories, and yes, I record every single thing I imbibe. I made a killer Chili, and have had two servings out of the 13 the recipe made (thank god I froze most of it). I may take a hammer to my scale and smash it and just get my weight monthly at the Doctors office. I do not want to die. That was the whole reason behind this. If I wanted to die, I was well on my way. Thanks for the advice, I'll keep you all posted.

Been stuck in a stall for 3 weeks, or about that. Like perhaps 4 or 5 pounds over that time. Now I am DETERMINED to lose weight, I am down to 350 calories a day, no appetite, cannot stand the thought of eating, coffee, Water and yogurt(s) are my entire diet as of now. I am back to losing weight again but at what cost? I don't know what to do. I take my Vitamins and feel great, but know this is bad for me. Suggestions? Calorie reduction went from 900 > 700 > 500 > 400 > 350 and today as of this writing at 3:08PM I am at 202 calories for the day. Not even close to Protein goal, water is waaaay over. Gah, I think I made a terrible mistake having this surgery. I was more successful losing weight pre-op on my own. Still burning 4K-5K calories a day and even then I am lucky to lose a pound a day. NUT would yell at me and tell me to eat more. PA more of the same. I see my therapist on the 20th along with a new Pdoc, what to do in the meantime? Tomorrow is weigh in day, and I am afraid if I don't see a big loss for the week I might start becoming anorexic. HELP!

@@TMG1980TMG I find the idea of a patch for Vitamins compelling if not for one caveat, I am part Wookie, wearing a patch requires shaving an area and keeping it hair free. I used the patch to quit smoking, and the shaving was horrible. However those numbers look good. Again the absorption is an issue, and the Patches not being waterproof is bad, as I sweat a great deal when I exercise. I think for many they may be a good option, however for me it just creates too much work.

I buy all my products from

I got the idea for the post after seeing in someones signature, "Never trust a fart" and it got me thinking about how bad things between myself and my ass have become. So I figured if it would start a discussion and get a couple of laughs at the same time, what harm was there to be done?

@@jessicabell620 Buy "The big book on the Gastric Bypass" by Alex Brecher, yes they guy who owns these forums. There is a link to his books. It explains in extreme detail what happens when you have RNY, including the hormonal changes that the Sleeve group does not get, and just exactly what happens inside you when you have the surgery. A well educated consumer is a good consumer. Link to book: http://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/weight-loss-book/products/the-big-book-on-the-gastric-bypass

@@lorri716 Me too! It sounds like we need to sit down and have a discussion about the do's and don't. Oh wait, asses don't talk, well unless they are running for political office!!!! (hahaha NOW I am laughing) Chili, is not working well. And that is bad, because I have 12 servings left, frozen and in the fridge. So my ass will just have to deal with it.

RNY has been around since the 1960's, it has been through numerous modifications over the years, but it's track record is unparalleled. Remember 6 or 7 years ago when everyone was going on and on about the band? Look how that disaster turned out. The Sleeve, to me falls in the same camp, there is not enough long term data for me to make an informed decision. That and I suffer from extreme GERD making the sleeve a no go for me. There is a reason most Surgeons refer the the RNY as "The Golden Standard".

In general since I was a kid my ass and I have not really had a good relationship. I guess we tolerated each other, neither really liking the other one. Since surgery, my ass has evolved into four distinct categories. 1) Normal, just like everyone else, a good BM once a day, and all is well. 2) Constipated, however I feel it coming on and counter with Prescription Miralax, Colace and MoM if it's bad enough. I got that under control. 3) Volcano Ass. No other way to put it, I get a few rumbles, which is a sign to rush to the nearest restroom and my ass erupts, there is no telling what is coming out. Things I never ate appear. I swear I have no idea how my ass produces the things it does during a volcano stage. 4) Emergency evacuate. This is rare, but I have had it, along I think with everyone else all my life. It's like after eating a bad scallop, and about an hour or two later, your body goes into emergency evacuate mode. There is something inside it does not want and it is going to use every or-face available to get rid of the unwanted matter. So, if you find yourself and your ass not getting along, know you are not alone. Tonight we discovered that the Healthy Choice Mayo I got, my ass does not like. So that chicken salad I made, is now a real question mark.

Okay, I admit I did not use the search feature again. I am 5 weeks post op and my skin is getting funky. I have read about 1000 creams, are there any that actually work? I am 47, and those are 47 years of VERY hard living. I smoked for a long time, have been fat, I am Bipolar, I have stress like no other human alive. Mostly I worry about my face. I do not want wrinkles. Any advice?

Unless they were designed specifically for the bariatric crowd they are unlikely to have the supplements we need. Further there are so many variables in Patches, (what percentage sticks, how much uptake your body gets from each patch, skin condition, the list goes on. For a pain med the Fentanyl that is measured in MICRO grams it works fine, but for a complex assortment of supplements I would stay away until a great deal of research is done. The one advantage, you can bypass the malabsortive component of your surgery, so you could get Iron and B12 simply. It may turn out to be a wonderful thing. I would like to know more.

After actually reading your post, and realizing how much weight you have to lose, and where you are, it raises some questions that need to be answered before anyone can give you any kind of honest answer to your question. The first is; why have you not lost more weight? There are in the grand scheme of things two possibilities, one, you are not eating properly. Two; your surgeon failed to make your stomach small enough. On the outside there is the possibility that you have stretched your stomach out and are eating too much due to that, however, that is pretty rare. So, if you are not eating properly, you could convert to a bypass and lose a bit of weight but you would gain it back. If your sleeve is too big, it needs to be fixed. Here is the second part of my post, and one I read far too little about on these and similar forums. How much do you move a day? Are you wearing a Fitbit (or similar device)? Weight loss = Burning more calories than you intake. Period. You could gain weight eating 1000 calories a day if you only take 500 steps a day. Move more, eat less, and better. Embrace the Stall was a great post. I am stuck in a stall now, and it's driving me crazy. But...... I stick to the program knowing this will pass. It has too. My caloric deficit for last week was 24K calories. My body will get with the program and yours can too. I took guts to write your post for the whole world to see. Now finish it. Solve the riddle. Are you logging your food? I log everything I eat. Get a fitness tracker. Figure out where you are and establish a baseline, then improve. If you are already doing all these things, eating right, exercising, tracking movement and food, then, you may have a valid question in regards to your sleeve. You were honest in your initial post, now it's time to get REALLY honest and personal. You can do this.

@Dub I was laughing as I typed it, but sadly it's so true!

This is by far my favorite thread on these forums. Whenever I see a new update I click like a madman to open it. This thread has given me more laughs than any other one, and it deals with real topics, good stuff!

To walk? The day after surgery, get going. Perhaps give it a couple days and work up to a good distance. It depends on how much walking you were doing before the surgery. I was over 8 miles a day on average with 5.2 miles in my morning PT. I did the 5.2 a week out and it was okay, I was nervous about hydration, but worked out a system that works very well. I actually just added 1.5 miles to my morning PT, and am still getting used to it, it adds a lot of terrain instead of nice flat trails, but that's good. As for lifting weights, I was cleared at 2 weeks for up to 20 pounds but nothing abdominal. I've just kind of held off until I am fully cleared, then i'll start back up with push ups and sit ups, then make a decision about my home gym, either complete it, or get a gym membership. I live in NH so walking in the winter is VERY hard, So I can either buy an elliptical machine or get a gym membership and use whatever they have there. It's costly either way. Although I see the gym as a better investment, in spite of the fact that I love my morning walks, I can only do them until the snow blocks my path, so I have 7-10 months a year I can walk outside. As for the walking thing though, after a week there really were no restrictions. In fact my surgeon, was miffed I had back ed down at the 2 week checkup, I listened to everyone screaming at me to "slow down" "you're healing" "don't push yourself" He told me to get marching. No limits, whatever I could tolerate. Hope this helps.

Sorry to say, but if you are like many on these boards, myself included this is just the start of open warfare between you and your ass. I'd give my left knee to have a normal BM once a day. I might go 6 times a day or not for a week. Back on Miralax now, day three and still nothing. Oh, but when it kicks in, well, i'll get a lot of reading done......

@@LynnAlex Very nice post, thank you for your kind words. You are correct in regard to slow and fast twitch muscles, also females are built differently, they store energy in a different way than man, so I think it makes for an easier marathon. I'm going to ask my PCP this week as she runs the Boston Marathon every year, and I want to see how she trains for that. As far as the distance, we've both marched more miles than that in the military (although that was a loooong time ago) We are discussing starting a FB page and making the walk be about something. My friend even suggested we make it about weight loss (he's been banded) and I don't know that I think that is the worst idea I ever heard. I just don't know how many more people would join up. Two or three people, okay fine. Fifty and now it's a whole new affair.

It was just this past Friday so a little over 3 weeks out, we went to a Mexican restaurant, I got refried Beans with a little cheese on top. It came in a bowl and I knew it would be too much, so I brought one of my little 10oz tupperware containers and got about 6 oz in it, and I ate about 4 perhaps 5 oz, and I took it to the movies and smuggled it in. I even brought my little toddler spoon! I nibbled on the beans while watching "The Martian" great movie btw.

Thank you, although now I feel the need to do more than 60 miles over 3 days......... <sigh> it's tough being a man.

@@WLSResources/ClothingExch Oh no, not at all, my post was to indicate that I don't judge. I make informed decisions for myself, but others can and will do whatever they want. It's all love and peace here.

I spent several years managing a restaurant, I am or was Serve-safe certified, I am well aware of the risks of eating raw meat. For me, it is a personal choice, I judge no one else. Do whatever you will.