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Thanks everyone !!! Great ideas.

Very nice topic. Something fun to think about. Going to kick this around in my head a bit and see what shakes loose.

This is one of those situations that can only be described as........It sucks !!! I'm very sorry to hear your situation and share a lot of your concerns. There is hope and evidence that it will get better. I have a work associate that lost a tremendous amount of weight two years ago....1/2 his bodyweight. He did it at a time when he said his life was a whirlwind of stress......huge debts, marital problems, job issues....... His weight was worse due to stress-eating......one more big meal or snack would make everything better, but we know the story with that. He said he realized there was almost nothing in his life under his control at that point....nothing except what was going into his body.....and how much his body moved. He keyed in on this and made it a focal point every day....and nailed it down tight. I ran into him last week and couldn't believe this guy. He doesn't even resemble his old self. It's been a few years since he started yet he looks 20 years younger, no kidding. He said he ate Proteins, no sugary stuff, lifted weights and daily cardio. The guy is ripped now. The only way you can recognize him is from his fingerprints. No kidding.... it is the most unreal transformation I ever seen. I figure if a guy who succumbed to the same food & drink addictions that we do.......for decades, yet can make that huge of a change.....then the rest of us have a fighting chance with our surgery.....once we start feeling better we can do more exercise and hopefully the desire to sabotage our progress with bad eating habits will diminish. I've got to talk more to the fella and pick his brain some more. There is hope and evidence that it will get better.

I'm going to go with what gym clothes I have......I'll get dialed in on "fashionable" once I'm lean and mean.

Prayers sent for you @@rmag You are investing in your health and you'll be a better father for it. I wish I'd taken these measures when my son was really young. We've missed out on a lot of fun stuff due to what I'm now seeing as the numerous weight-related injuries I had. Doubtful any of them would have occurred had I been closer to goal weight and fit and active. Wishing you the very best and keep us updated.

Thanks. I wished I'd have asked before the first hernia repair. Sure would have been much, much easier to get out of the bed.

Thanks for the insight. I may be having an umbilical hernia repaired at the same time. The two prior times I had this done (hernia repair) were open incisions.....both outpatient at a surgicenter close to home.....two miles. I didn't know about being elevated on either procedure. Sure would have been better to recover two days in a hospital bed.

That's awesome, although that open road riding can be scary due to traffic. I've got a barely used mountain bike waiting for some riding !

No judging here. I was what I'd call a heavy weekend drinker until April of this year. I work rotating shifts so I have odd weekdays off during the week. An 18 pack or a fifth was usual fuel for a good day off. Seems crazy and out of control now that I reflect back, but it was quite normal at the time. I was never loud or obnoxious.....just "relaxing". I say that to say this.....I'm in no position to judge. In April I screwed up something in my back that knocked the wind out of me. It stopped me dead in my tracks. For the first time in my 46 years I was scared of my inability to do something. I missed six weeks of work and spent a bunch of time sitting around......thinking.....trying to heal up. The doctor said weight was a contributing factor. I began doing what I could to lose it.......while sitting around pumped full of meds. Pain is a powerful motivator for me. I quit drinking the day of my first visit to the doctor for my back. Didn't need the calories and didn't need the booze mixed with the meds. Six weeks of doing nothing kept me from going out to bars, clubs, restaurants.. It kept me away from a lot of temptation, So the back injury probably saved my life because it opened my eyes. It forced me to take inventory. Had I been mobile I would have done some AA meetings.

Thanks. I agree, this place is really special.

I've wondered this as well. I occasionally see folks who have post op goal weights that are still within "obese" or "overweight" ranges and just figured they must be interim goals but I'm not sure. I was given a number my surgeon thought I'd be able to reach.....but as far as the actual goal, I set that myself. I have some clothes that I want to wear one day....a couple of old jackets. One of them I'd never wear out in public.....just want to be able to wear it and know that I can......high school letterman's jacket. The other one is a cool leather jacket that I had in college and oddly enough....is still in style.....so it may see daylight again. Physical goals......oh yeah....I have a few of those, too.

Howdy Karl. I hope your strength steadily returns and you are feeling like taking those walks soon. About the wounds......were you advised to treat them with any type of topical medication ? I'll be asking you a bunch of questions here in a couple of months as I follow along with my own bypass. ????????????

Those Hondas run forever, though. I wish they made a convertible Accord Coupe.....I'd all over that. My 16 year old son has been hinting around about a new Civic Coupe LX in Rallye Red for him. Sharp looking car but I don't know if he'll have headroom at 6'7". He's wiry thin, though. It'd be a car that would get him through high school and college and beyond. In an age when folks are getting taller.....airline legroom is shrinking. Sucks outright. At least I'll be able to skip the extender and not have to wedge into the seat like a canned ham. Well said......born again.....SLIM. Sounds great to me. Is your BMW one of the Z models ? Ah......the mighty Hemi Cuda. American Muscle car at it's finest. Loved those cars. One of the cars that I've test driven in the recent years was a new Hemi-powered Dodge Challenger. Long doors, easy access, good headroom and legroom......drove great. I was really impressed. It was an eye-opener that has had me wanting one ever since. I think one of the reasons I was so enthused was the fact I drove it after being let down by my experiences on a Camaro test drive the weekend prior. Headroom was not there and it was just a poor fit. The Challenger, though......I can easily see one of these as a fun daily driver. Since I was 16, I've had 3 Mustangs, a Prelude, an Accord and then it's been a series of 4WD trucks. I haven't hunted or fished all that much over the past few years, but that may be something that changes significantly after I trim down. I plan on hanging onto my current truck for as long as it's feasible to keep it running as a hunt/fish truck.......even though I've been tempted to trade it on a new Jeep Wrangler a time or two over the years.

Well done !!!!!!!!!

Different strokes for different folks but what works for me is to cut out all the non-Fiber carbs, stay below maintenance level on daily calories and walking a lot. I also found that cutting way back on sodium and drinking Water all day long while doing the above leads to really fast weight loss. I burned off 120 lbs in 8 months doing this. It was a few years back and I've done very, very poorly keeping it off......but it does work fast if you need to burn off some weight quick.

I've tried to approach it with a "why wait for the surgery to begin losing" view. It's been very revealing. I cut out beer, rum and all other alcohol at the very beginning. Turns out to have been easier than cutting back simple carbs. I've caved in to doughnuts and pizza more than once. A back injury woke me up and had me consider the bypass surgery.....healing has been stubborn but it's occurring while I'm slowly losing weight.....hoping to be able to begin exercise very soon. This will help me better prepare for the bypass procedure. I really needed to face this stuff now.....well ahead of my surgery. Like I said....it's been really revealing.

Very cool. I had no idea they had those on the menu.

Very cool. I had no idea they had those on the menu.

Good call. Scary stuff to be considering and even scarier so soon.

Things I'm looking forward to post-op: Arthritis pain in knees easing up Back pain diminishing Cleaning out my closet of all the oversized clothes that are temporarily in there Having active hobbies Air travel with much greater ease....just complaining over legroom Perhaps a new car once I reach goal

I am looking around now at the various versions of the Fitbit. I can't wear watches or such on my job so the One is sounding like a good option. I called their customer service today to inquire about an XL band for the Flex. They do offer them after you set it up. She said it wouldn't be accurate in my pocket, though. Would the One model work if worn on a lanyard around your neck, inside your shirt ?

Celery

Well done. You are on the way to great health !!!!!

I think it's more a matter of subject matter comfort level.......or non-comfort level. Folks with normal weight issues talk about it freely among each other. It's no big deal. Standard conversation topic. Folks.....like me......with overweight issues really don't care to talk about it......to the point where it's a taboo subject. I know I avoid discussing it like the plague. It's been that way for me long enough to have become my knee-jerk reaction when the topic comes up. I tend to get overly defensive if pressed on the matter. To them....it's a simple topic.....to me it's bad juju. I don't have a clue if this will ever change for me. I suspect it may. Perhaps after 200 pounds burned off and many, many miles on the treadmill and a fun-filled lifestyle will bring me to the point where such talk is routine.

Excellent thread. I'd typed out a long reply on my iPad that was just wiped out by the iPad hating tendencies of this site. Suffice to say that I'm DONE, too. Back and knee pain 24/7 is driving me nuts.