Dub

......but under lock and key, of course. It tastes too good to leave unguarded. Sipping on the best iced coffee I've had at the moment. Iced coffee = 2 scoops of Chike Moca Iced Coffee mix + on cup of ice & Water mix. The powdered Peanut Butter is great, too. Their Protein powder makes killer shakes. This will be good stuff to keep around in my desk at work for easy Snacks and Meal Replacements. Warning, though, the coffee mix does have expresso in it so it is caffeinated. I'm generally not an iced coffee fan....but this is going to be welcome stuff for that last snack on night shifts. Their Protein Powder is excellent mixed with water & ice.

Pretty much everything I've ever had while staying in a hospital is something I want to avoid. Pretty sure it will be the same once I have my bypass surgery, too. Cool. That is very encouraging to hear.

@@dhrguru Thank you. You're experience really helps. The fact that you are going from not much exercise on to couch-to-5k post op is hugely inspiring. Great story about the family pizza night and then going on to read labels and apply discipline. I've been finding myself doing much more of this since my first appointment with my nutritionist. Having the daily calorie budget keeps me focused on how I "spend" it on every meal & snack. Whats' really funny to me....is that after tracking everything consumed on myfitnesspal for the past two weeks.....I looked at the monthly charts. While I've stayed below goal (on average) on calories......the sodium amount is really high. Gotta work on that aspect......especially if I won't be slugging back 30oz cups of ice Water on a whim. I kept most of the clothes that I bought from when I dropped a large chunk of weight on Atkins a few years ago. Gained most of it back now.....but it will be nice to break out those clothes again as I work my way back down to the weight this bypass surgery, eating plan and exercise takes me to. I'd gone from wearing 6X to 3X shirts. It's even started buying some 2X shirts. My efforts thus far have me back wearing 5X and some 4X now. @@red37 Thanks I'm really looking forward to the $$$$$ savings, too.

Thank you, TXMISSY. I believe that I'll wind up sharing that same regret.....not doing this much sooner.

I think you are doing an awesome job! Keep it up. You should follow what your doctor and nutritionist says not the trainer. I was eating 750 calories and burning 2,000 for the first 7 months. Now I'm eating 1,000 and burning 3,000 a day. I was 280 at surgery date now I'm 180lbs it been 10 months. So you can do it! That is some highly impressive work you two have been doing. Much respect. Funny how some folks just think this is a magic act. You two are getting there through a lot of hard work and discipline. Well done.

Great results !!!!! I can't imagine what your 12 and 18 months pics will look like.

I've been using the generic stevia, splenda and nutra-sweet in my coffee and iced tea. I'll give the Monk fruit stuff a try when I'm in the store again.

Back in 2010 I had surgery on right ankle to repair a torn ligament. Went back to work after 3 months off but it hurt like a beast. Decided then to do something about carrying all this extra weight around. Atkins (induction phase extended) and lots of daily walking for 8 months and I lost 120 pounds. Gained every bit right back within 3 years......but for a while.....a short while......during the lighter weight......there was no knee pain....no back issues.....no ankle pain......everything felt great. Doc took me off the arthritis meds, blood pressure meds.....and every other medication I was on. I am so very grateful for that experience. It allowed me to glimpse.....and enjoy......how good I'm soon going to feel again. The cool part is that I hope to blow by that 120 lb mark and exceed 200 lbs lost. My knees are both going feel brand new again. So is my back. So is everything else. I can't stress how easy it was to spring out of bed.....get moving......stay active on long work days and come home ready for yard work and other fun stuff. Life is better when lived leaner. I have seen it. I know I can kill it on the pre-op diet.....but then the new tool arrives that will really help me get things dialed in. If I do my part I will be able to maintain a good healthy weight forever. I am absolutely convinced that proceeding with bypass is the right thing.

That sounds great. Good deal on finding a nutritionist that you like. I was lucky that way, too. The schedule ahead really sounds like it's going to line up perfectly for you as well. More good news. You are on a roll. Enjoy the smooth sailing. Sure is going to feel good being a few months past the surgery and having trouble finding clothes in the closet that, while baggy, will still work. Gonna be fun.

Amazing 8 months. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amazing 8 months. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing 8 months. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing 8 months. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing 8 months. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing 8 months. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here ya go,Jdc, Best tasting & lowest sugar amount bars I've ever had: http://www.questnutrition.com/protein-bars/ Take a close look at their nutritional labels. Unbelievable. Great products.

Best wishes to you Lovelyorchid !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Howdy ! You summed up some of the exact same stuff I was feeling. I figure that I'll be in better physical shape at the time of the bypass surgery than I was in on my last three surgeries....hernia repairs and an ankle repair. Each of these found me at a higher weight. I say that to say this.....don't worry unduly about the surgery. They will take very good care of us.....especially good care because of the nature of our conditions. They are experts at conducting surgery on folks with high BMI. Experts, I tell ya. I'm sure I'm going to get a good long liquid diet due to my overall weight being so high...not just my BMI. His surgical instruments can only lift organs of a certain weight. He was honest about that upfront and has me really motivated to stay on track with the new calorie restrictions now and burn off what I can leading up to the surgery. You are only half my weight. You'll do great in the OR.

The hunger I've felt during my pre-op diet is a good thing, in my opinion. It lets me know I'm alive and reminds me I'm heading in the right direction. Just being honest......I need to feel more hunger in my life. Before this year......I can't really remember being hungry very often because I was snaking on junk food. @Djmohr nailed down some great advice above. "Head Hunger" What an accurate description. I'm going to wager that solving the riddle of "head hunger" is as big a part of the game as our restricted calorie intake.

It was an easy decision for me. Everyone at work has seen me struggle these past few months with my back. They've been expecting me to go for back surgery. They've asked what I am doing about it and I've told them that extreme weight loss is the key to many of my ailments. They've already seen me make big eating changes and weren't surprised a bit about following 4 different doctor's suggestions to have WLS. Most of them know folks or are even related to folks who have done the same. They have been very supportive. It's going to help me be better at my job and in life. I've yet to encounter anyone who didn't support the decision. My little sister did it 15 years ago and has maintained excellent weight results ever since. This brings the family support to the forefront. I am very fortunate in that I don't have to worry about much in the way of negative feedback from others......thus far.

I'm sure we'll all go through a wide range of emotions.....but one thing I'm fairly certain off......I won't be mourning lugging around this extra weight and grunting & groaning after doing mild work. I won't be mourning being out of breath after climbing stairs.....or the knee pain from doing so. I won't be mourning how I feel after a 13 hour workday. I won't be mourning how I feel after long car rides. I'm looking forward to the leaner me ahead.

Howdy folks. I hope you are all doing well. I will officially join your ranks in a few months when I have my bypass. Until then I'm trying to get ready as much as I can. I didn't want to intrude into anyone's thread so I figured I'd ask here and hope people joined in. I've been warned not to stock up too much on powders, bars and such as things may taste different later. I'll just have a variety of stuff here but not big quantities of anything. Some Chike Protein, Oikos Triple Greek Yogurt and Quest bars for starters. We always have chicken breast and tuna on hand. Anything else that you recommend having around those first several weeks? I'm concerned about comments concerning difficulty drinking the required amounts of Water. I've always just gulped down what I needed.....when convenient. I suppose now I need to get used to having a water bottle close by all day long for sipping. Kinda freaked about this because I enjoy drinking water and maintaining that good well-hydrated feeling. I'm planning on taking two weeks off work for the surgery. Interested to hear what your experience was on time off and how you did going back. I can minimize or maximize the amount of walking I do on the job. I already keep packs of tuna, powder & shaker bottles, sugar-free drink mix and quest bars in my desk. I only have a couple meeting-lunches at work each month. I'll deal with those as they arise. No control over the menu. I can always just say I've already eaten and sit there sipping my water. Clothes? Did you already have clothes ready for the shrinking new you? I have some smaller sized stuff that will most likely see me through until surgery, but then it's going to be hard to gauge what to do. What has your level of exercise been post-op compared to the months before? What's been the biggest surprise to you after having the surgery? What do you wish you'd done differently in the months leading up to it? I've got a ton of random questions. Hope you don't mind chiming in. Thank you !!!

Asked for popcorn and given a hard boiled egg. Sounds like a childhood day with one of my grandfathers...

How big of a pill are you talking about ?

Newbie Posts: 5 Joined: May 2013 Surgery: LAP-BAND Surgery Date: Nov 1999 Just curious....is this information below your avatar correct ?

Been a huge fan of my CPAP for the last 10-12 years. On my 3rd machine now. It will improve your life in many...many ways.

It's the hernia.....is my guess. I've not had weight loss surgery yet but have had a couple hernia repairs. The pain from their hernia repairs sucks bad. Really bad. You'll feel better and do great with the WLS as your hernia fix heals. Avoid doing anything that makes you cough. Best wishes.

Best wishes !!! You'll come through like a champ.

I have an upper endoscopy next month. Did the phyc eval this week. Had my first visit with the supercool nutritionist last week. First of 6 visits. Looking forward to the next one. She is hugely informative and educated me quite a bit. Her approach is to meter out more info each session and to modify my calories, foods and methods more each session with the goal being to have me naturally transition into the post-op way of eating. I think these are most of what is required. The other test ahead of me is to burn off every ounce of weight that I can prior to the surgery. I was counseled on this by the doctor. My BMI is super high.....but so is my overall bodyweight. The ability for him to get around certain organs during the surgery can be compromised by the weight of them. Burning it off ASAP is the only thing that be done to safeguard against this. It would suck to wake up in the recovery room and be told that he had to close me up without performing the surgery. This is giving me a lot of motivation to work hard now. I'm anticipating a longer than normal liquid diet leading up to the surgery....not insurance related, though. I am wondering what other hurdles that my insurance company is going to throw in the way. I guess I'll find out soon enough.