BigTink2LilTink

Good luck to you on your weight loss journey my friend. Though others who haven't walked in the shoes of a person morbidly obese, may say that surgery is the "easy way out", I'm hear to tell you that there isn't anything easy about this procedure at all. So the first tip I will give you is this, prepare to work your ass off, cause thinking that this is the magical cure all for your weight-loss blues is going to sourly disappoint you. You have got to prepare your mind and will power for this life changing procedure. Because its just that, life changing.

If you have an unhealthy relationship with food (i.e. using food as a cope mechanism, addict, emotional eater, etc) then I would highly suggest that you need to deal with those issues first before going under the knife. Get a very good support system in place to help you mentally deal with those things prior to the surgery. For me I had friends who had already had the surgery that I could lean on for advice, and I was seeing a therapist to deal with some of my emotional issues related to stress/food/and image issues.
Because once you get cut on and have 80% of your stomach removed, you won't be able to use food as a comfort release or coping mechanism as you may have done in the past. I learned that lesson the absolute hard way and I spent a good bit of my first year post surgery fixing and dealing with those mistakes that I made, because I wasn't as mentally ready for the surgery as previously thought. And experiencing dumping once or twice and needing IV fluids to be able to see, and comprehend again will make you follow the damn meal plans.< br />
Carbonation beverages I would just avoid, especially the first year or so. Now you will have a lot of people here that say never do it and some say its alright, I leave that up to you for you are an adult and can make your own decisions on that. For me I do rarely consume carbonated beverages (maybe a soda or hard cider ever 2 to 4 months at most), but I mostly find comfort in drinking flavored water, tea, coffee, and juice. I use to be about a 1.5/2liter a day diet Pepsi drinker and now I may have a can every 6 to 8 weeks at most and usually when I am out.

I haven't really had a beer in like almost two years but I have consumed hard alcohol like Tequila, Rum, Bourbon, and Whiskey. Alcohol is very different for me now in that I don't need no where near as much as I did pre-surgery to get a buzz. So because of that and the fact that I don't like the "buzzed/drunk" feeling I limit the amount of alcohol I consume too. If I am out socially I usually have one to two drinks at most and I sip them slowly throughout the evening to minimize the affects that the alcohol will have on me. As the farther out from surgery I have gone, my tolerance has slowly increased, but its nowhere near where it was at per-surgery. Again not a bad thing because alcohol, especially beer is empty calories, and gas which you will not need. Trust me on the gas part cause being bloated is an absolute pain in the gut literally.

I say all of that in the regards that you don't need the stuff really. Those first 12 to 24 months you should honestly be focused on eating properly and getting into a good workout/exercise routine so that you can continue to post gains(weight loss) while your VGS is still in its magical weight-loss phase. Cause eventually you will hit the stall and the tool will at some point stop being so magical. Get into good habits and work your ass off literally and you will see the difference.
Sex
Yes it will change. If you had low stamina and energy, it will increase. I mean you will have a lot less weight and body mass to deal with, so there is that bonus too. Also men tend to store testosterone in their fat cells, so the more fat you burn off the more testosterone you will be releasing into your blood stream. This means more Hair growth, stronger erections, huge sexual desires, and if you hit the gym a lot some more strength. Guys with erectile issues may see those issues go away when they lose the weight off.

Also your confidence will start to grow the more the weight comes off. You will look and feel better in your clothes. If you have a lot of fat padding around your pelvic area that will shrink away, which can help in penis growth a bit. Less fat around the "Ram Rod of Justice" I say the better for both you, your ego, and his/her pleasure (for my bi/gay friends there don't wanna leave you all out).
I say all of this because I too was in your shoes almost three years ago. Hell if they would have told me about the sexual benefits, as well as me buying normal size clothes in normal stores I would have done the surgery years ago. Instead all I heard about or feared was the complications from the surgery, and all the foods I could no longer eat. Yeah sometimes I do miss being able to eat anything I wanted to eat, but I wouldn't go back to it at all. Because now I enjoy so so much more out of life than what is on my plate.

I was sleeved on 4/20/17 and I've lost about 35lbs since then. Lost 30+ pre surgery.
So far it's going well and I'm feeling better. I had severe ankle pain even with prescribed pain meds twice a day. I'm no longer taking any pain meds for it and it only acts up a tiny bit at times. My hypertension meds were cut in half at the hospital. I was also able to discontinue using a CPAP and returned the machine within a month of surgery.

4 months post op and only 10lbs from goal weight of 225. Killing this ****!!! I have a little loose skin right around my naval but thats pretty much it. from 300 to 235 in 4 months I expected much more.. The shorts i have on barely buttoned last summer and were really tight, gave me muffin top...Its amazing I feel so comfortable now, even in the extreme heat I barely sweat. Went to Las Vegas and it was 116 out and I barely was breaking a sweat, before I would sweat in 60 degree weather..

Horrible that you had to physically become a different person in order to get recognized at work.

Good luck to you on your weight loss journey my friend. Though others who haven't walked in the shoes of a person morbidly obese, may say that surgery is the "easy way out", I'm hear to tell you that there isn't anything easy about this procedure at all. So the first tip I will give you is this, prepare to work your ass off, cause thinking that this is the magical cure all for your weight-loss blues is going to sourly disappoint you. You have got to prepare your mind and will power for this life changing procedure. Because its just that, life changing.

If you have an unhealthy relationship with food (i.e. using food as a cope mechanism, addict, emotional eater, etc) then I would highly suggest that you need to deal with those issues first before going under the knife. Get a very good support system in place to help you mentally deal with those things prior to the surgery. For me I had friends who had already had the surgery that I could lean on for advice, and I was seeing a therapist to deal with some of my emotional issues related to stress/food/and image issues.
Because once you get cut on and have 80% of your stomach removed, you won't be able to use food as a comfort release or coping mechanism as you may have done in the past. I learned that lesson the absolute hard way and I spent a good bit of my first year post surgery fixing and dealing with those mistakes that I made, because I wasn't as mentally ready for the surgery as previously thought. And experiencing dumping once or twice and needing IV fluids to be able to see, and comprehend again will make you follow the damn meal plans.< br />
Carbonation beverages I would just avoid, especially the first year or so. Now you will have a lot of people here that say never do it and some say its alright, I leave that up to you for you are an adult and can make your own decisions on that. For me I do rarely consume carbonated beverages (maybe a soda or hard cider ever 2 to 4 months at most), but I mostly find comfort in drinking flavored water, tea, coffee, and juice. I use to be about a 1.5/2liter a day diet Pepsi drinker and now I may have a can every 6 to 8 weeks at most and usually when I am out.

I haven't really had a beer in like almost two years but I have consumed hard alcohol like Tequila, Rum, Bourbon, and Whiskey. Alcohol is very different for me now in that I don't need no where near as much as I did pre-surgery to get a buzz. So because of that and the fact that I don't like the "buzzed/drunk" feeling I limit the amount of alcohol I consume too. If I am out socially I usually have one to two drinks at most and I sip them slowly throughout the evening to minimize the affects that the alcohol will have on me. As the farther out from surgery I have gone, my tolerance has slowly increased, but its nowhere near where it was at per-surgery. Again not a bad thing because alcohol, especially beer is empty calories, and gas which you will not need. Trust me on the gas part cause being bloated is an absolute pain in the gut literally.

I say all of that in the regards that you don't need the stuff really. Those first 12 to 24 months you should honestly be focused on eating properly and getting into a good workout/exercise routine so that you can continue to post gains(weight loss) while your VGS is still in its magical weight-loss phase. Cause eventually you will hit the stall and the tool will at some point stop being so magical. Get into good habits and work your ass off literally and you will see the difference.
Sex
Yes it will change. If you had low stamina and energy, it will increase. I mean you will have a lot less weight and body mass to deal with, so there is that bonus too. Also men tend to store testosterone in their fat cells, so the more fat you burn off the more testosterone you will be releasing into your blood stream. This means more Hair growth, stronger erections, huge sexual desires, and if you hit the gym a lot some more strength. Guys with erectile issues may see those issues go away when they lose the weight off.

Also your confidence will start to grow the more the weight comes off. You will look and feel better in your clothes. If you have a lot of fat padding around your pelvic area that will shrink away, which can help in penis growth a bit. Less fat around the "Ram Rod of Justice" I say the better for both you, your ego, and his/her pleasure (for my bi/gay friends there don't wanna leave you all out).
I say all of this because I too was in your shoes almost three years ago. Hell if they would have told me about the sexual benefits, as well as me buying normal size clothes in normal stores I would have done the surgery years ago. Instead all I heard about or feared was the complications from the surgery, and all the foods I could no longer eat. Yeah sometimes I do miss being able to eat anything I wanted to eat, but I wouldn't go back to it at all. Because now I enjoy so so much more out of life than what is on my plate.

This was my last comparisons pictures from about 5 weeks ago. Pic to the right was about 6/7 years ago maybe 10 to 15lbs away from 600lbs. I was at or near my heaviest weight back then. And I'm now here in the 240-250's weight range. That what my sleeve has helped me achieve so far.

Sent from my SM-N920P using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm only 2 months out, but I have a few things to contribute that I feel are appropriate. I stressed a lot over which surgery to have. BMI 40 at the highest. I wanted something reversible. I was scared. My mother had early bypass in the 90's and she suffers terribly now from mal-absorption, cant swallow important meds, can't eat.

I got lucky with a rep for a travel surgery company over the phone who spent time with me discussing sleeve. Thank goodness she was insistent.
I'm having an experience that seems not typical, but I am believing one thing from research and limited experience.

Gastric sleeve makes the most logical sense as a concept when you break it down. Individuals vary but logically . . .
It does not actually change the flow of the human body, or digestive system, it just keeps the natural flow, but reduces the pouch of your stomach size. It does not leave foreign objects like the band, port, etc in the body. Scarring is minimal, invasion is lower, recovery is faster. For me the recovery has been so fast it's almost unbelievable. It simply restricts you from overeating and presents you with a nauseous reminder to STOP, or SLOW DOWN constantly. Recovery seems to be the fastest for a general observation, Side effects for me have been nearly non-existent. I had a home made seltzer yesterday as an experiment (I do NOT call that "soda") and surprise, I did not die, explode, tear out my staples. Like all things in life, be smart, listen to your body. Seltzer provides an oral stimulation I enjoy within reason, and a squirt of some taste also can happen. Vitamin effectiveness is too early to gauge at 8 weeks, but at least taking those larger pill presents no problem like the eternal suffering my mother's radical bypass endures for 25 years, causing non adherence to Vitamins, which then causes more problems. My anecdotal research tells me men have a vastly different easier experience when compared to women overall. ANECDOTAL. I'm just 2 months out, and of course years of a journey lie ahead. Oh by the way, I'm also HIV positive, 35 years healthy, never needed meds until proactive treatments started recently, and even those I have no problems with post surgery.

Negatives I'm becoming aware of . . .
you can find unhealthy high calorie foods that can slow or stop weight loss and slip by the restriction process. My personal example is Low Sugar Fudgesicles. I'm craving chocolate, I did not used to. I used to binge eat popsicles in general, now regular popsicles taste weird, but the Sugar Free Chocolate products like Peppermint Patties, dark chocolate, in general also help because they have a laxative effect. I ate too many "Outshine' fruit low sugar popsicles last night watching Netflix (with no chill unfortunately) - and I vomited in my sleep, which strikes me as a bit potentially dangerous. I hope the negative reinforcement works. Tastes seem to change a bit. Cravings change. Whiskey/Scotch/Vodka tastes gross now unless it's an expensive super high quality bourbon. That may seem minor to you, but taste and craving changes can seem bizarre. I can sense a long term danger that mentally, I will "figure out" how to outsmart the surgery when I'm stressed and resorting to old eating behaviors and patterns. Last week I went to support a friend who is a cabaret theater singer, and there was pressure to order food and drink to keep the prime seating location we were in. I felt guilty for the waiter with me milking an appetizer and one drink for an hour and I pushed it ordering more food, and more alcohol, ill advised. I gained 2 pounds just from that stupid exercise. Thankfully avoided vomiting, but perhaps that would have been better mentally. My weight loss was so slow at first I was genuinely scared then angry. Then I resumed cardio exercises and teaching Zumba, which is twice as much exercise as just taking Zumba. Then the weight started falling off. Muscle tone is weird. I need to lift weights as I did when very overweight. It feels different.
Hope this contributes and helps.

Looking good there madam. Keep up the working.

Hey I can do that now too.......It was weird the first time I did it. I was like, hey I can cross my legs. I can cross my legs just like a normal person can.

After a while you will be able to increase calorie intake the farther out from surgery you are. But you have got to get a firm understanding on nutrition and what does and doesn't work for your body post surgery to consume. As for gaining muscle yes you can have success in doing it. But just like with everything else losing weight gaining muscle, toning shape, losing inches, that take consistent effort. You have to be consistent with the working out (not just cardio, but actual weight lifting and body training), eating sensible and right, and avoiding habit forming things that will make those gains you get in the gym not last as long as you want them to.

I have never had a keloid. My scars did not keloid and you can barely see them. I can only pick them out because I know exactly where they are.
My hair shed but all of the shedding was not due to WLS or losing weight. I'm prone to anemia and if my Iron slips just a little, my hair sheds. It also sheds with stress, and my business is very stressful. My hair is growing and filling in very fast this year. I wear wigs anyway so it doesn't matter to me. I like wearing wigs because they support a more active lifestyle. I keep my hair braided so I don't have to care about it for exercise and I wear wigs when I go places. I really love it. I'm also natural so wearing wigs allows me to many more styles than I would normally.
Any time you take a lot of Vitamins it can cause a texture change in your hair for some people but not all. My hair is like a #4 but if I am really pounding iron, it will go to a 1B (not talking texture but color), my texture stays the same.

^^^^^^^^^
This

Also

LOL!

After a while you will be able to increase calorie intake the farther out from surgery you are. But you have got to get a firm understanding on nutrition and what does and doesn't work for your body post surgery to consume. As for gaining muscle yes you can have success in doing it. But just like with everything else losing weight gaining muscle, toning shape, losing inches, that take consistent effort. You have to be consistent with the working out (not just cardio, but actual weight lifting and body training), eating sensible and right, and avoiding habit forming things that will make those gains you get in the gym not last as long as you want them to.

My hair grew back the same but I was always permed. I lost my "edges" and my hair grows slowly. As well my face is much thinner now so long hair looks weird on me. I wore a wig while my hair grew back, then I cut it short and keep it cut as it is easier to maintain. It does grow back though.

My scars did not keloid. In fact they have faded so much you can't see them. Surgeon did a great job on the incisions.

I will be five years out in December. Living my VERY BEST life. I am 139lbs down. I weigh 133.9 (started at 273). I write books, I travel, I live well. All is well over here!

you missed one
3. She's not yours it's just your turn.....

I'd say I've gained a *bit* of muscle...

has any lifters here have success gaining muscle? increasing calories has to be rough

Sleeved 12/21/16
SW 386
CW 281
   

Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Yup this above. I would also add to also be kind to yourself. Get it in your head that you are not going to lose weight every day/week and some days you will actually gain weight. Its natural as your body adjust, retains/release Water and what not. Also to add on to the goals thing, try new things that you haven't don't before that you felt like your prior weight before limited you from doing.
Case in point this last weekend I went to a water park and rode a 2 story water slide. No way you would have gotten me to do that 3 years ago. You wouldn't have gotten me in a water park, let along in a water park shirtless and riding stuff like that. Take it all in and enjoy your accomplishments. Cause some days when its hard, you will have these sort of memories to lean on to help keep you moving forward.

This was my last comparisons pictures from about 5 weeks ago. Pic to the right was about 6/7 years ago maybe 10 to 15lbs away from 600lbs. I was at or near my heaviest weight back then. And I'm now here in the 240-250's weight range. That what my sleeve has helped me achieve so far.

Sent from my SM-N920P using BariatricPal mobile app

So on Facebook tonight a bunch of my friends are posting new profile pictures showing when they first joined Facebook vs what they look like today. So needless to say my picture indeed made an impact. This picture on the left was taken back in April/May of 2007 and I was 27 years old at the time. Yeah I was around 575-580lbs give or take back then. I wasn't quite at my highest weight, but I was indeed flirting with it at that time the picture was taken. Fast forward to tonight's picture, and I'm closer to 250lbs and I'm 36 years old. So nine years later and a whole hell of a lot smaller to say the least. My mom asked me how I felt about the changes, and I told her I felt better. I absolutely feel a hell of a lot better.

11.....I am 11lbs away from my own personal goal weight. post workout tonight pictures.

The


Now the pictures of the blue suite are from this past weekend,which was my birthday weekend as I was treated to a night out on the town at a Burlesque show.

The red suite here is from my oldest brother's wedding from about a month and a half ago.



In other words people. I am now starting to actually appreciate how I look. It has taken a long time for me to mentally get to this point where I don't see the "Fat Man" anymore. Even after the surgery and easily dropped the first 200lbs I still saw the "Fat Man". Now I am not seeing him at all. A good clean suit does do wonders for the confidence that is for damn sure.

Sorry, but I can't stop sharing this ****. Every time I look at it, I am like WOW, I'm actually doing this ****. I am actually changing who the hell I am.

Another Gym night picture session from tonight. I can actually see my waist getting smaller now, which is kinda cool to see. Went from a 58/60 waist to now in a very comfortable 36 waist now. Tonight was just some arms and back work with weights. Tomorrow will indeed be a legs day.