BigViffer

I went with the weight I was when I was most confident and physically happy with myself. 220lbs. That was when I met my wife. Anything below that is gravy.

1 - Live in Dayton, OH, but from Southern IN 2 - Gastric Sleeve 3 - Feb 2015 4 - 70+ lbs so far 5 - Roast beef with horseradish hummus 6 - No problems with food I should be eating. I had one chicken wing that made me throw up and tried a tortellini that did the same. 7 - I haven't had a back spasm in months! 8 - I got nothing, I really don't know what people would find interesting.

I am back to normal in regards to coffee. I also will sometimes have Javapro Protein powder. As long as I get my 64+ oz of Water in a day, I don't have any side effects. Oh, and normal for me is one in the morning and one in the evening with French vanilla soy creamer.

Walking is the one of the best things you can do post op. The weather was dreadful after my surgery, so I was literally pacing the halls in my house. Once my drain and pain ball were gone, we made trips to the local superstore so I could walk around there. There are many reasons that walking is important, getting rid of gas is one of them. It's no different than burping a baby. Walking allows the air bubbles to either escape through the esophagus if possible, or allows it to work through the bowel easily. I think the average person produces about a liter (by volume) of gas everyday. During normal activity, you pass that without even knowing it. When you are sedentary post op, those gas bubbles build up. So in short, walk walk walk!

I was finally "in the mood" about a month out. But I had a few issues after surgery that slowed me down (partially collapsed lung and hematoma). It took me until the two month mark until my wife had to tap out. That hasn't happened in a long time!

I just remembered you were talking about in resturants. Whoops! Don't be afraid to take your own condiments. I bring my own drinks to places I am going in case they don't have anything I can have. In restaurants, I have no problem showing my surgery card telling them I am just here as company with my family.

You don't have to go plain. I am one of those people must have a sauce or dip for just about everything. I know it stems from my childhood. Mom made pork and chicken dry on purpose. Fear of trichinosis back then meant everyone overcooked their poultry and pork. But I digress; I don't want the empty calories of condiments now. You can get the common hummus flavors that works well for veggies, but I have found some stores that have more options in their hummus. Spinach & Artichoke, White Bean & Basil, Curry, Sun Dried Tomato, Cilantro & Jalepeno... some really awesome stuff! But I have to say my favorite combo is the one I found first. Deli roast beef, swiss cheese, and horseradish hummus. The meat, cheese, and bean combo makes it Protein packed. I don't bother with bread or tortilla's or anything like that. Roll the meat up in the cheese so that your fingers stay clean and dip it into the hummus. Hummus has been a life saver for me. Prior to surgery, it was just hummus and pitas. I recently started buying plain Faget yogurt. I tried it right after surgery but my taste buds were not ready for it. Now it reminds me of a super soft cream cheese. I can mix sugar free coffee flavorings to make a desert yogurt. I can add spices or herbs to make a dip. Don't be afraid to try new things!

This was actually one of the reasons that I went through with the surgery. With my high blood pressure and medication, sex was... lacking. My drive was low, duration was short, and the intimacy was not as intense as I wanted it. At 5 months post-op, our sex life is back to our early years and just general affection between us is up again.

Funny coincidence, I had ranch dressing for the first time this weekend myself. Prior to surgery, I loved ranch dressing for a veggie dip and on salads. I have had a few types of salads and veggies since surgery, but they were with vinegar based dressings or the dip has been hummus. The first bite I had of the ranch made me want to spit it out! I thought at first as BeagleLover did, the ranch was bad. Nope, brand new bottle. It was so salty and just generally... odd tasting. I just chalked it up to another food that I no longer like. It's weird, but I am okay with it. I thought I would miss bread, potatos, tortillas and other foods terribly, but I am finding that it really is not that big of a deal.

I get what you are saying, but I really miss pizza. However, I am not looking to buy a crappy pizza. I just discovered chickpea Pasta and it is really good and packed with protein: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0611/1757/files/New_Nutrition.png?2144 This got me thinking about making a chickpea pizza crust. I have tried the cauliflower pizza crust, it tastes good but you cannot pick it like they show on the internet. I am thinking this may be the route to making a healthy pizza.

lol... just noticed this. You're my kind of an asshole.

I recommend powder/shakes so that you can hit your Protein goals. You can only eat/drink so much in a day so it needs to be protein packed. Powders and shakes are the easiest way to do that. My favorite is UMP Vanilla: http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/beverly-international-ultimate-muscle-protein-vanilla-2-lb-powder/i3-1004#.VZ7iuPlViN0 Good texture and good flavor. It doesn't bother me to get a clump of powder in a drink with this stuff. It is really good. The lady at the store called it the Ferrari of protein powders! My second favorite is any Java Pro: http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/search?search=java+pro# Same story with this one. The powder just tastes good. But it has caffeine so I limit it to just a few a week.

I wouldn't worry about building muscle any time soon. All of your food is going to go towards repairing your body and energy levels. Once you get closer to your goal weight, then you will have the surplus protein that is used in building muscle. The best you can hope for at this time is lessen the muscle loss. I know I have lost a lot of muscle and strength since surgery. But I still do light weights everytime I go to the gym to keep as much muscle mass as I can.

I am now 5 months out. After meeting with my NUT, the protein goal for me is 90g a day. I still can't hit it every day though. My calories are approximately 1300. They fluctuate. I have slowed down the weight loss, but I don't feel shakey as sleepy all the time either. If MyFitnessPal is to be trusted, my net calories for the day is as low as 500 though.

Oh yeah, pain meds are infamous for causing constipation. Did you mention that in your earlier posts? I could have missed it. That is a big part of why I hate being on pain killers for any length of time. That and I hate feeling "fuzzy". Is that juice helping any? I have not heard of anything other than prune juice, but I haven't really looked since it works so well for me.

If coffee didn't send you to the bathroom prior to surgery, it most likely won't affect you after the surgery. The reason coffee sends some people to the bathroom is that coffee affects some peoples muscles in the large intestine. If you get the jitters from coffee like I do, then coffee could very well help you have a movement. However, if you are like my wife and coffee has no affect on you and you can go to bed right after drinking a cup, then it probably will not give you any benefit. Another thing to consider, if you are easily affected by coffee, your digestive system is going to be sensitive. You may go from constipation to diarrhea quickly. My Dr described Fiber as being similar to The Force. It surrounds everything and binds it together. If you are constipated, it makes it less dense. If you have loose stool, it binds it together. If going #2 is painful because of larger stool, it is because of constipation. You are getting "backed up" and the stool continues to get bigger. The bowel will continue to draw out Water from the stool until there is nothing left but a hard and dense waste product. So the sooner you can pass it the better. Otherwise you can get an impaction. Not fun. The result may seem the same in some people, but the mechanism is quite different. Fiber from natural sources will work for everyone. Coffee will work for some. Good luck.

Oops, there were 4 posts removed! I only put these back in because We are adults here and can resolve disputes like adults. As you can see, there are no name-calling other than what I have already called myself. No hard feelings from members, and there was even a helpful post removed. So mods, please leave these comments in so that other members can learn something from it. If either Babbs or drmeow want their posts removed, then that is different. I'd concede to their wishes of course. My reply: Then there was a helpful post by drmeow: An excellent observation! I should take note the next time I am reading this forum how I am feeling before signing in. I usually read and/or comment on posts after coming back from the gym at my lunch break. I am usually tired, very thirsty, and somewhat hungry. I don't normally pay attention to how I am feeling emotionally though. I could be frustrated because I cannot do the exercises from my heydays, but I have not given it a thorough analysis.

Funny you should mention that. On the second week I was watching Paulie with my kids. It's a family movie about a parrot that can truly speak looking for his little girl owner. Got a lump in my throat over a kids movie! I had to watch several action flicks afterwards!

Hmmm... two posts have been removed from this thread. Babbs comment and my reply. Why were they removed? We weren't in a pissing contest.

Man, I know how you are feeling about this. There appears to be huge differences between XXL & XL in mens clothing as well. I personally have only been shopping at the Thrift stores or Goodwill. So far I have gone through a pair of pants about every three weeks. I mean; I'm not complaining or anything, but it would get expensive if I were to buy clothes at a retail store!

Only if you are lucky. Mine was like a passing pineapple.

I was never a touchy/feely person before surgery, but I was at least apathetic of it when I saw it. I have noticed however that I am having a very real emotional response to things I read or hear in person. And it is disdain or outright aggression. I swear I want to slap the person who utters the words Journey or Chapter. You know the ones, "Beginning my journey!" Starting a new chapter of my life!" Ugh. And the crying. Oh god they never pass up a good opportunity to talk about how they cried about something. "I saw something I couldn't eat!" "Someone ate in front of me!" "Someone said I took the easy way out!" et cetera, et cetera... There will always be something you will not be able to eat. And someone will always be there to eat it right in front of you. We all know it was not the easy way out, so whoever said it you can ignore with impunity. Even though this topic is in the Guys Room and I put Guy Room in the topic title, I know the women will come in and read it. Calm down ladies please, I don't mean just the women. I repeat! It is not just women that do these things. There are men as well. This is not a journey nor a chapter. Those both have a beginning and an end. This isn't a TV show written to tug on the heartstrings about a character overcoming adversity with inspirational music coming to a crescendo at the moment of victory. This is a lifelong change in how we are going to live. Why romanticize it? It is what it is and trying to emulate the sappy crap you see on TV doesn't make it easier or harder. Post surgery life is what it is. It's not a contest to see who suffered the most and then leads the happiest life afterwards. During my research phase and conversations with my surgeon, I discovered that hormones are fat soluble and there will be heightened levels of hormones while we are losing weight. Maybe that explains why others are sappy or trying to describe their journeys or chapters or whatever they want to call it, but why am I not that way? So tell me guys, anyone else feel this way or is it just me? Is this my emotional response to hormonal dumping?

I had my surgery on 2/17/2015. I just checked my entries and I started back at the gym on 3/30/2015. I wanted until I spoke with my surgeon about being safe to go to the gym not only because of the physical exertion, but also because it is a hotbed of bacteria. I had a hematoma that had to be kept open and packed, so it took a while. When I was finally healed up enough to not worry about infections, I was told to do exercise as tolerated. I started doing only cardio, stationary bike, treadmill, and elliptical. Then I added light weights and simply moving my body around the core. As long as I didn't feel any pain, I would continue what I was doing or add something new. I have known the people that work in the rec center for about 7 years so I had no problem telling them that I had sleeve surgery. They recommended I start off on the ab machine so that I was using a lighter weight than my body weight. Now I am using the ball with a medicine ball in my hands held infront of my face to ensure proper posture while doing crunches. I don't remember what I started out doing, probably 30 crunches with 3 sets of 10. Now I am up to about 200 crunches a day. I also do oblique crunches to make sure I am strengthening all of my core and not just my abs. I have a little pattern that I follow. I start with the medicine ball and do ten "around the worlds" in each direction.Ball in left hand bring the ball behind you and pass it to your right hand. Bring your right hand around to your front and pass it to your left hand. Repeat 10 times. This is to keep my shoulders loose and to increase range of motion. I have to do this since I also had shoulder surgery and it is a hold over from my rehab days. Then I do 10 crunches on the ball with the same medicine ball held in front of my face. Next is what ever weight training I am doing that day. Shoulders and back, bi's & triceps, or chest. One set of whatever weight and then I go get a sip of Water from the fountain. This gives me the rest before I repeat the process and helps me hit my water goal for the day. On a shoulder day, I will do about 7 different exercises with 3 sets. In between those are sets of 10 crunches on the ball. Then I switch to the cable machine for 2 different oblique exercises. After I finish with the weight room, I go over to the cardio for 30 min to get a good sweat on. It took me a good two months to build up to that. I want to stress that I am not trying to build muscle though. Back when I was far more into weight lifting, it was all about muscle growth. I am only trying to stave off atrophy and muscle loss right now. I am not doing anything over 30lbs EVER! I am only 4 months out, you cannot gain muscle mass safely at this stage. Worry about gaining muscle and definition after you hit your goal. <edit> Woah, that turned out to be a book. Sorry about that, didn't mean to go all Steinbeck on you!

I'll second this. I liked prunes before surgery so it was a no brainer for me to use them for this very reason. I also eat dried apricots and dried figs for a snack. My surgeon said it was better than stool softners because they do not leech Water from your body to keep you regular. Prunes, apricots, and figs have the same amount of fiber BTW. So if you can't stand prunes, try one of the others.

lol, I have some bad news for you. 4 months out and my stomach makes noise all the time! I have a friend who is going to Celebrate his 2 year mark in July. I heard his stomach at a bar over the music! It's just air bubbles moving through the digestive track. We'll live. Hell my wife and I snicker about it all the time.