IncredibleShrinkingMan

The best Proteins at this point are ones that are ground up or made into meatball/sausage like consistency. Lean turkey meatballs have gone down fine, but I haven't yet had the gall to try a grilled chicken cutlet or the like. I really think I can wait until Thanksgiving to try real bird. I accidentally swallowed some raw ahi tuna without chewing on Friday and I drove to two different ER's (didn't go in) before the scare subsided. Say the alphabet chewing and then swallow. I've never had anything get stuck following this rule.

Following the Protein first rule, here goes:
Grilled chicken
Greek Yogurt
Soft veggies (you still don't want really crunchy stuff at this point)
Low-fat cheese
Low-fat dressing
And if you have room...maybe a cracker or two to satisfy any carb craving you way have...like wheat thins. You probably won't get to it anyway.

I learned my lesson pretty quickly. I was having my go-to Protein source (raw tuna) on Friday, and for the most part chewing until it was mush, but I slipped and swallowed a pretty big chunk whole, and that chunk included some of the connective tissue (unchewable). I had the worst choking sensation ever for about two hours and drove to the front of two emergency rooms. I know there are other foods that will be coming back into my diet in the next few weeks that I often didn't give one chew, and I will remember this episode and acknowledge that those days are over. My longing for certain types of meals is completely dwarfed by watching myself stop and move away from a quarter-eaten plate of food. You couldn't hold a gun to my head and ask me to do that pre-op.

All the sleeve is before weight loss is a tool with which to do it. Once you enter maintenance, all the sleeve is after weight loss is a better opportunity to stay there. Nobody fails, including the sleeve itself. It's just not a guarantee of anything, it's just better odds of a lot of things. If you experience weight gain a year or two out, then just get back in the game. The sleeve should still be helping you do that at that point. For everybody who talks about how stats are unreliable because of re-gainers not reporting or following up, I'd point out those studies also don't point to weight "re-loss." The most important thing to me out there is that it appears that our set points definitely change, which is more important than the loss or gain of any particular pound.

Pain is an absolute red flag at this point. About a week out I was running to catch a train (I couldn't drive yet) and my incision sites (which have since healed) totally rebelled, especially the drain site. I had been tempted to start jogging during my evening workout that night, but totally scrapped those plans in light of that experience. Now, 26 days out, I am giving it another shot. I will still listen to any signs of pain, as I am a best man this weekend and can't injure myself. Good luck!

The best Proteins at this point are ones that are ground up or made into meatball/sausage like consistency. Lean turkey meatballs have gone down fine, but I haven't yet had the gall to try a grilled chicken cutlet or the like. I really think I can wait until Thanksgiving to try real bird. I accidentally swallowed some raw ahi tuna without chewing on Friday and I drove to two different ER's (didn't go in) before the scare subsided. Say the alphabet chewing and then swallow. I've never had anything get stuck following this rule.

Pain is an absolute red flag at this point. About a week out I was running to catch a train (I couldn't drive yet) and my incision sites (which have since healed) totally rebelled, especially the drain site. I had been tempted to start jogging during my evening workout that night, but totally scrapped those plans in light of that experience. Now, 26 days out, I am giving it another shot. I will still listen to any signs of pain, as I am a best man this weekend and can't injure myself. Good luck!

All the sleeve is before weight loss is a tool with which to do it. Once you enter maintenance, all the sleeve is after weight loss is a better opportunity to stay there. Nobody fails, including the sleeve itself. It's just not a guarantee of anything, it's just better odds of a lot of things. If you experience weight gain a year or two out, then just get back in the game. The sleeve should still be helping you do that at that point. For everybody who talks about how stats are unreliable because of re-gainers not reporting or following up, I'd point out those studies also don't point to weight "re-loss." The most important thing to me out there is that it appears that our set points definitely change, which is more important than the loss or gain of any particular pound.

I learned my lesson pretty quickly. I was having my go-to Protein source (raw tuna) on Friday, and for the most part chewing until it was mush, but I slipped and swallowed a pretty big chunk whole, and that chunk included some of the connective tissue (unchewable). I had the worst choking sensation ever for about two hours and drove to the front of two emergency rooms. I know there are other foods that will be coming back into my diet in the next few weeks that I often didn't give one chew, and I will remember this episode and acknowledge that those days are over. My longing for certain types of meals is completely dwarfed by watching myself stop and move away from a quarter-eaten plate of food. You couldn't hold a gun to my head and ask me to do that pre-op.

I had the pulmonologist's tests and he cleared me and waived the sleep study requirement. If you don't snore, just say that to him and you'll be out the door. They really don't want to be in the business of holding up people's surgery. NP's and PT's, though, that's another story...

It lines up with what the treadmills say when you place your hands on the bars, so certainly no less accurate than those!

As I struggled with increasing weight, I never once threw anything out (unless it was ripped or otherwise beyond repair), because I always had high hopes that I would return, whether that be by D&E or surgery. I am just lining everything up in order of decreasing size, and I am not graduating myself down a size until the bigger garment absolutely does not fit by any standard, partly because I really like loose-fitting clothes regardless of what size I am. I also don't love shopping (not because of fat stigma), so I hope this process can happen with minimal expenditures on clothes (except when something is extremely compelling, then I'll buy whatever is slightly smaller than the size I am walking into the store to give it the longest life).

Whenever you go to an appointment where body weight and nutrition are the subjects of the care, it will always be there. However, when it is not a current diagnosis, some may still treat it as one because of the always elevated risk that we could backslide and re-enter that reviled land. Same with diabetes, many medical professionals never actually officially removed your diagnosis as a condition since they prefer to treat that (and obesity) as dormant and in remission, rather than cured. But that is obviously a fiery debate that you can read all over the internet. Of course, there's an elevated chance we return to either of those conditions than the average skinny person whose never had either one. For the most part, though, it would just appear as part of your past medical history. And who cares about the past. We live for now and for the future.
If it makes you feel better, if you go to a specialist for reasons unrelated to weight or weight loss surgery, I don't see why it would ever be noted as part of your history, even in cases where you need to list WLS as part of your past surgical history. It isn't a label that follows you around except in cases where your past weight is directly relevant to a current condition or treatment plan.

If your date is not supportive or you have not told him/her, then I imagine it would be excruciatingly difficult. Otherwise, I would assume it would be a non-issue, unless copious amounts of food are integral to your date, in which case there would be some red flags and you'd be best off left-swiping.

You all need to ditch these f*ckers immediately. Love is not the be all end all...support and complementation are. OP and the rest of you, this is obviously worse than the more typical situation we read about here, in which the partner butters you up and says there's nothing wrong with you and doesn't want you to stop being able to eat pizza and burgers with him/her. This is far more toxic. No person on earth is worth being with if the cost is a diminished sense of self. And that is true whether you are having bariatric surgery or not.

Your weight loss will be slightly greater with the RNY, so from a success standpoint, that is an even better call. However, it is pretty clearly a greater sacrifice with greater potential complications, and if the basis of going with RNY is the unavailability of the sleeve, and not because RNY is what you want, I might actually postpone. It is a big decision between the two. I have awful GERD myself that has only gotten worse after sleeve, but nobody tried to block my surgery on that account. If you can, I would seek to have it treated so that it gets down to the level the surgeon will be happy with. If, in the mean time, you become comfortable with the RNY, do not second-guess it at all.
P.S., are you getting your surgery at Toledo Hospital? I almost had my surgery with Dr. Pat White there, and my family knows both him and Dr. Parodi. Great place, good luck.

I think the Fitbit Charge HR is the best deal...it functions as a watch, heart rate monitor (this feature is why it's $20 more than the basic Charge), and floor tracker, none of which the Flex has. It also has all the basic calories burned, steps taken, etc..., so you don't have to keep looking at the phone app to see your progress...just press the button. I wouldn't go for a Surge because it is just twice as expensive because it is equipped with GPS, and I don't understand why anybody needs GPS to keep track of distance. Unless you go such long distances that you need help finding your way back (in which case you may be off the beaten path and it can't help you anyway).

As I struggled with increasing weight, I never once threw anything out (unless it was ripped or otherwise beyond repair), because I always had high hopes that I would return, whether that be by D&E or surgery. I am just lining everything up in order of decreasing size, and I am not graduating myself down a size until the bigger garment absolutely does not fit by any standard, partly because I really like loose-fitting clothes regardless of what size I am. I also don't love shopping (not because of fat stigma), so I hope this process can happen with minimal expenditures on clothes (except when something is extremely compelling, then I'll buy whatever is slightly smaller than the size I am walking into the store to give it the longest life).

As I struggled with increasing weight, I never once threw anything out (unless it was ripped or otherwise beyond repair), because I always had high hopes that I would return, whether that be by D&E or surgery. I am just lining everything up in order of decreasing size, and I am not graduating myself down a size until the bigger garment absolutely does not fit by any standard, partly because I really like loose-fitting clothes regardless of what size I am. I also don't love shopping (not because of fat stigma), so I hope this process can happen with minimal expenditures on clothes (except when something is extremely compelling, then I'll buy whatever is slightly smaller than the size I am walking into the store to give it the longest life).

If your date is not supportive or you have not told him/her, then I imagine it would be excruciatingly difficult. Otherwise, I would assume it would be a non-issue, unless copious amounts of food are integral to your date, in which case there would be some red flags and you'd be best off left-swiping.

You all need to ditch these f*ckers immediately. Love is not the be all end all...support and complementation are. OP and the rest of you, this is obviously worse than the more typical situation we read about here, in which the partner butters you up and says there's nothing wrong with you and doesn't want you to stop being able to eat pizza and burgers with him/her. This is far more toxic. No person on earth is worth being with if the cost is a diminished sense of self. And that is true whether you are having bariatric surgery or not.

Happy (belated) Birthday, and welcome to the new decade. It is a painful awakening, but the first year of my 30s has taught me so much about life, and having surgery and losing weight are just by-products of a new person that has emerged from the depression and self-loathing that the end of my 20s brought. I had surgery the day after my 31st birthday, and it was and still is the best birthday present ever. I didn't even care that I couldn't having the usual cake and pizza. It felt so much better being free to dream and start again, and I hadn't even gotten on the table for surgery yet.
Good luck, pushpin. Remember there is so much that can and will get better in your mind and in your life before you even lose a single pound. We are the real surgeons here!

Your weight loss will be slightly greater with the RNY, so from a success standpoint, that is an even better call. However, it is pretty clearly a greater sacrifice with greater potential complications, and if the basis of going with RNY is the unavailability of the sleeve, and not because RNY is what you want, I might actually postpone. It is a big decision between the two. I have awful GERD myself that has only gotten worse after sleeve, but nobody tried to block my surgery on that account. If you can, I would seek to have it treated so that it gets down to the level the surgeon will be happy with. If, in the mean time, you become comfortable with the RNY, do not second-guess it at all.
P.S., are you getting your surgery at Toledo Hospital? I almost had my surgery with Dr. Pat White there, and my family knows both him and Dr. Parodi. Great place, good luck.

Extra soft saddle! I have been looking everywhere for something that satisfies back there and have found absolutely nothing! So I spend almost the entire ride lifted slightly out of the saddle to ease the discomfort. I can sit all the way back on a downslope because the force exerted is somewhat lighter during those stretches. Additionally, if you find a good position and stay there, you will eventually grow pretty oblivious to the discomfort (i.e., the pain centers in your brain will stop responding so vociferously). Good luck!

It's virtually impossible not to feel that way. Bariatric surgery is not just a major procedure...it is an epic transformation, and the end of life as we have previously known it. But once you are on the other side, it is an amazing feeling, even with the various sources of early discomfort present.
My best advice would be to start living your life as though you have already had it. That will give you an advancement on the euphoria that comes with completing the surgery, and you can start to realize early benefits of the surgery that come before even having the procedure. If you do all of that, then the only thing different once you finally reach the other side will be the smaller stomach. We need to stop viewing everything associated with this procedure as a restriction or a taboo. It is better to look at both the endeavor at large and all its individual parts as elements of freedom and opportunity that we earned. And yes, we earned it by making this decision. We didn't necessitate it with our obesity, as we are among fewer than 1% of obese people that ever decide to have it in the first place. Congratulations and good luck!