BigTink2LilTink

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.

For the first time in 19 years (June 1998), I weighed in at less than 200 pounds this morning! This is a big deal for anyone losing weight, but it is an especially big deal for me as I started at almost 400 pounds (397 to be exact). I now have only 19 pounds to go until my goal of 180 pounds. I am overcome with emotion today, but I am so pleased and proud of my success that simply could not have happened without changing my relationship with food. And I can't help but think about the 99 pounds I lost during my six month pre-op diet program while I was jumping through the insurance company's hoops. Without having done that work, I would be celebrating getting under 300 pounds today, not getting under 200 pounds. That time does make a difference! At 7.5 months post-op, I've lost 198 pounds; I am wearing 33/34 pants and shorts, medium shirts, and my new suit size is a 40 regular. My labs are perfect, and my skin is in remarkable shape considering that I have lost half of myself.
Life is amazing!
Onward and upward! I'm almost there.
Happy weekend, everyone.

So I was sleeved on April 3 and am finally getting back to normal. However, a lot my tastes have changed. And even one that I didn't think of. A few days ago, my wife and I were fooling around a bit and I took a little "diving trip". But things tasted very different. Anyone else have that? Or am I just readjusting to flavors?

I feel the same way. I notice more if people are overweight. I got the surgery after I had been working from home so I don't see my coworkers often. I topped out at 470 pounds and 99% of the time, I was the largest person in the room. All those coworkers looked to be at sizes I would have loved to be at. Now I go back and see the coworkers at 212 pounds, and suddenly they look bigger. I'm noticing some are bigger than I thought and actually bigger than I am.

Good for you. Hopefully I have the same kind of success in losing all the weight in need to to be able to reach my goal weight once I have my surgery. And like Tink said, it is horrible that you had to lose weight to succeed in your job like you have. Thanks for the input.

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.

Someone made a thread on here, I haven't seen it in a while, it was late fall early winter.

I don't think they meet in Collinsville anymore but someone had started a new group that met at STL public library. They always met on days I had work deadlines and had to work late, so I could never make it.

You know what? I was just thinking about this very subject. I guess now that I am thinner I now notice people who are overweight. It doesn't disgust me or anything. I don't feel bad for them and I sure don't think that I am better than they are. I guess I just now notice that they are there. I was almost 50 when I had the RNY surgery last October and I wonder everyday why I waited so long. Just my $ .02.

I don't give a damn if you are in the right place or not. This is AWESOME. Congrats buddy!!

I don't know if this is necessarily the place to post this, but I just got married!!!! This woman has been by my side through the last 2 and a half years in this journey. She met me when I weighed over 600 pounds. I am now back down to my playing weight for football in college, but I am much healthier and and in better shape than I was then. I still have a lot of work to get under 3 bills, but I am extremely happy to head down this new path in life.

@@doxaholic
What do you guys think do our minds really change that much that we forget who we once were? Or is it all in oneself?
I have not forgotten how far I have come. I was compassionate before surgery. I'm still a compassionate person after my weight loss. I know what its like to walk in the shoes of a morbidly obese person. I would never disrespect someone based on weight.
On the dating side. I don't want to slide back. Weight wouldn't be a deal breaker if it was the right guy. The other part to this is I'm now athletic. I find other men that are athletic attractive. I would not have this type of attraction when I was obese. I would have been way too intimidated.

That is a very hard thing, what the other poster said about never dating someone who was obesee, now that they where at a healthier body weight(goal weight). We have worked so hard to change our bodies and improve our health, that sometimes it might seem taboo to date someone who is obese, for fear that their eating habbits will pull us back to unhealthy ways. Every person has to come to their own resolutions about their bodies and weight, in their own time and way. Bariactrics is not a fix all, it's just part of the bigger solution.
From my own personal experiences, it is very difficult to stay on the diet/task at hand when you are the only one in the house with restrctions on diet. And sometimes there is resentment on both sides. I wish sometimes that my husband could feel the distain I feel when I've gained weight and my bras don't fit or my jeans are to tight, it sucks. I know that going backwards will literally make me go backwards. Sometimes I think the spouses who are not surgically intervined need more therapy then we do.

I was watching some you tube videos and came across a young man that lost all the weight. He was talking about that now that he is thin he would never date anyone that was overweight because he was not looking at going back to where he was an an overweight person would only drag him down. Now i am not thin My journey just started however if i were ever to get thin i would hope that i dont turn into some of the people that make fun of me now. However i also see his point of view only about the being healthy. What do you guys think do our minds really change that much that we forget who we once were? Or is it all in oneself?
Sent from my SM-G920P using the BariatricPal App

Maybe you are just not meant to be in a monogamy style of relationship. There isn't nothing wrong with being non-monogamous, as long as you are up front and honest with your self and your future partners about that. However there is a whole hell of a lot of wrong with cheating and misleading someone. Sound like you have a lot of marital issues that you need to resolve with your husband, whether it be counseling or if you agree that a separation/divorces is the proper course of action.
I would strongly suggest you get that (marriage issues) resolved first before trying to take on any new relationship partners whether you are poly-amours or just married in an open-relationship dynamic. Because separation is not divorce, and if your husband isn't comfortable with you taking on multiple sexual partners, then your already damaging marriage is going implode on itself way more quicker than you can imagine. Trust me when I tell you that no one new worth being with is going to wants to come into a relationship where there is already underline drama at hand in it. And that is especially true, if you are coming in as said relationship a secondary partner or Friends with Benefit (FwB).

Edit:
Just realized that this was an almost 3 year old topic. Sorry for bringing it up to the top, just something I felt I could add some insight too on as I am a poly person and practice honest open non-monogamy relationship dynamics.

@VSG_Man_Vs_Food My recommendations are an extra pair or underwear, and the helpful suggestion to never trust a fart. I also felt that using GasEx strips were very helpful in decreasing the discomfort associated with the gas used during the surgery. Good Luck on you journey!

It's been corrected. Thanks for bringing this to our attention!

Dear BariatricPal Staff,
I've noticed that there is a forum titled "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgendered Sleevers" and I take issue with this since the word "transgendered" isn't a word because "transgender" is an adjective, not a verb.
I can raid your fridge (though I shouldn't), that fridge was raided.
I can weigh myself in the morning after going to the washroom, I was weighed.
I can post a topic on BariatricPal about how "transgendered" isn't a word, that topic was posted.
I can defrost some chicken for dinner and serve it with lentils, that chicken was defrosted.
No one can be "transgendered" because transgender is an adjective, not a verb, in the same sense that no one can be "blacked", "gayed", "Asianed", etc.

Posting here too, because I am SO EXCITED!!
my six months post op shot. The first is from about a year ago, at my heaviest; the second is about a month post op; the third is today!!

People discriminate.. it's the nature of humanity. I've experienced it myself as an American with a lot of Canadian companies out east (Ontario, Quebec).

Yes!!! And Yes!!!

I'm well on my way.♡
Hw 395
Sw 356
Cw 263
Gw Zen
Surgery date 12-27-16

Sent from my SM-N910V using BariatricPal mobile app

You go from maxipads never being large enough for your panties, to them being too large

I put my jeans in the dryer to shrink them. They are still too big

That's a great problem to have![emoji12]