SubVet688

My journey started when I admitted to myself that dieting and willpower would not be enough. The journey started when I sought out medical options. I know most people don't start counting there...but that is when it began for me. A year of hoops, fighting with the insurance, I actually gained weight. My surgeon put me on a 5 1/2 week liquid diet. If I didn't loose 25-30 lbs in 4 weeks, surgery would be cancelled because I WAS NOT COMMITTED ENOUGH!!! I made it, loosing even more by sleeve day. Now, that is where I count from on my weight loss. There are so many "firsts". First chewed food...BLISS, first day at the gym (Water aerobics) and ME getting into a bathing suit, making it through a 60 minute class! The first clothes I got too SMALL for. The first 100 lbs. lost. Your count down to a goal is a good thing. Once you reach a goal, Celebrate it, share it. Then determine what is your next goal and focus on achieving it. Best of luck on your surgery.

Great perspective! I was thinking this myself earlier. The sleeve was a new start. Not the first and not the last. This journey has many legs, some we complete, some we get lost on, some take us places we have never intended to go. My biggest issue is losing sight of those legs that were very successful.

I started counting the beginning of the last leg the day I had my first seminar about WLS and what options there were. The goal was the surgery. I have met that goal. Though I have a ticker in my signature with a start weight and end weight. My weight has never, ever really been my goal. It is just a means of showing progress toward my goal, which is to be healthy and most of all happy. I also have/had a ticker for surgery that I want to change for another leg, but I do not know what right now. I need to recover from surgery to figure that out definitively. Meanwhile that ticker is more of a count up from surgery. The big goal will always be the same of getting as healthy as I can and using my weight, right now, to track it.

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@@SubVet688 how are you doing 7 days post op? By Memorial Day you SHOULD be ready to throw some game on the grill. Just dangling a (pureed) carrot in front of you. SIP...SIP...SIP...

LMAO! mmmm pureed carrot!

I am doing great! Sipping as I type this. It's funny how excited I got yesterday when I blended Campbell's Bean and Bacon Soup with Quest general purpose Protein powder for a Protein booster. It blended nice and smooth and tasted oh so flipping good!

Made it yesterday with no pain meds until bedtime. It was more of an accident than planned I had already gone to just plain liquid Tylenol every 4-6 hours and gotten off of the hard stuff the doc gave me a prescription for during the day. Yesterday I never got uncomfortable enough to dose. Bed time I still take the hard stuff because sleeping is uncomfortable. I still wake when the meds wear off. For some reason laying down is uncomfortable to painful depending on position, and I can't sleep in one position all night, so pain meds for that. Though it is getting better by the day,

Memorial day sounds about right. I will have to look at my schedule and see if I will be ready for some game on the grill. In fact if I can do it, I just might have a BBQ celebration with family and friends!

sportsman guide sells allot of elk and bison meats if your not in an area for it

Thanks, but we have a local butcher, Blue Ribbon meats, that caries at least Elk, and Bison. I have to ask about Ostrich. If they don't cary it, they will get it. It's family owned and operated for generations. One of the few true butcher shops left in the area.

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Thanks for the input! Between this and what I could find with google, I have some great ideas what I can make for myself WAY down the line. I say way down the line, because I will be more concerned with sipping enough liquids to keep from dehydrating starting tomorrow.

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Is this still alive??

I really enjoy Bison, Deer and Elk meat now, but I am told with WLS (Bypass) that I must eat more fatty meats that are more moist. Drier meats cause digestion problems.

I guess I will have to try some out when ready after my bypass to see. Maybe marinades can add flavor and moisture?

I thought of this too and was thinking if ground add an egg to the mix, or something of that nature. I don't think I will have quite the same problem or as extreme a problem with the sleeve.

There was quite a volatile thread about a guys tool and size there of earlier. Well I am not exotic nor am I posting about "My" meat. Sorry lady lurkers.

This post is about meat other than beef, pork, chicken, or fish. One of the support group meetings I attended, the lead talked about eating Bison and Elk meat instead because of the high Protein, low fat content. I have also thought of Ostrich,

I am really interested in trying some, if not all of these when I get to that point where solid food doesn't kill me. I was wondering if any other guys here have tried one or more of these, and/or if there were other meats high in protein, low in fat you have tried? If you have, how did you cook/grill it?

Grilling is my go to method of cooking. I know that is pretty stereotypical, but who cares! There is nothing like searing the flesh of some beast over an open flame for the purpose feeding you and your brood!

I was thinking of getting one as a reward, when I reach my goal and tone up some. It will either be left chest or shoulder. Sub warfare dolphins. I have always thought of having it done, but never did.

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the male forum is in shambles

LOL! The end of times draws nigh!

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I have read a lot of posts, and I know it is more a pre-op thing than a post-op, but I have noticed, and I am guilty myself, that there is a count down to the operation. That there is a lot blood, sweat and tears getting to that point. Like all the answers and a pot of success is just six days, 17 hours, and 2 minutes (for me) away. The GREAT FINISH!!!

I had to reevaluate this for me. Yes it is a GREAT BIG accomplishment, but it is more of a START than a FINISH. I see people saying gosh this pre-op diet is hard, I barely eat anything and it's liquid. Well reality check. That is pretty much what you are going to be eating for a month after surgery. Then I see the ones that say man I can't wait to bite into a big juicy hamburger and have all the juice run down my chin. I wonder if they will feel the same when that big ol' juicy hamburger makes it's second appearance.

I am not saying that I will never again have a hamburger, but I have my eyes set on 1/4 pound or less elk, bison, or maybe ostrich burger, with cheese, probably with a portabella mushroom "bun" and maybe some sweet potato fries that are grilled rather than fried, of which I will probably eat half, feel stuffe and out away for the next meal.

I am not saying don't wish or dream, but maybe analyze them a bit and recognize that part of the reason you are getting the surgery in the first place. MODERATION. This is a big word for me and for most of us I believe. Also using good food and not crap food. We all have to learn. I know this stuff and can regurgitate it ad nauseam, but practicing it, well there is a reason I am over 300lbs.

So let me just say I have 6 days, 17 hours, and 2 minutes until I START!!!

I have not had the surgery yet. I am scheduled for next Friday, the 25th. I am interested in what people have to say as well. I have already read many goods and bads, but it is cool to have it in one thread.

Hi all, my date is the March, 28th. After six plus months of supervised diet, my insurance has approved. I am excited and apprehensive at the same time.

I am interested in both the secret and the closed (but not secret) Facebook groups. Will someone please send me an invite to the secret one. My facebook is facebook.com/ramblindad. Thank you.

I finally have a date for my surgery after six months! I had to do six months of medically supervised diet, mandated by my insurance company. The date is scheduled, but not confirmed. My packet is being sent to my insurance for approval, bu confidence is high that it will be approved. At least they gave me a date on their books that is reserved, March 25th.

It has been a long haul and I have been relaxed, doing my time and losing a little weight. Now that I have a date and it is a month away, I am starting to get a little apprehensive, yet excited.

After a while I just stopped noticing the food commercials. The old me would have probably wanted to try that hot dog pizza thing but today it doesn't even look good.

I am just starting on the pre-op path and I can say that I have no desire for the hotdog crust even though technically I can. I love Pizza, and I love pigs in a blanket, their love child, I can do without.

The appointment went well. Looks like Gastric Sleeve for me!

No surprises occurred. I have to be on a six month medically supervised diet. I also have to lose 10% of my weight. Both for insurance reasons. I see the NOT and the APN on Jul 21st to start my diet. I will have to lose around 36 pounds. I will know the exact poundage on the 21st. That is the magic start date for my insurance. I also had to sign a contract to attend monthly support group sessions for a year post-op. Again insurance. I just love how they try to control everything.

I will get most of the pre-op check list done in one day, on August 6th. I have to do some sort of fasting test first thing in the AM (NO coffee DAMN IT!), then I see the NUT for pre and post op diet evaluation, then the shrink for a psych evaluation, then some other stuff I can't remember and don't have my notes in front of me for. Anyway after the that day I will only have an Upper GI and my diet left to finish. The Upper GI has to wait until I drop under 350lbs, because that is the weight limit on the table. WTF is up with that? Oh well, I have to lose it anyway for my 10%.

It was a good appointment, now on with the show. I am on my way!

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I have been up to a 52, now I am in a 44 under the dunlop. I look forward to being able to wear my pants back up at my waist level and not on top of my hips. When I was in my best shape (right after basic training) I was at a 36 waist, though really a 35. The 36's were just a bit loose and 34's were a too snug. So for me ideally a size 36 would be ideal.

Not sure if I will ever get there, but I plan on at least a 38 at my waist. Right now where I used to wear my pants I'm looking at a 54. Just starting though and have not had surgery yet.

Hello all, new here as of yesterday. My first appointment is today. I have already been to the seminar and liked what I saw, so today is the consultation. Part of which is the decision as to what type of WLS I will shoot for. I say shoot for because it hasn’t been decided which surgery is best for me and there are a lot of hoops to jump through, not only doctor required, but INSURANCE required. The biggest one is the six month medically monitored diet required by my insurance.

The other stuff is pretty standard easy peasy stuff as I see it. Not stressed about the psych eval, already know I am crazy. The only stress I am feeling right now is if my STUPID insurance decides that the weight loss I have from the mando diet I have to do will indicate that I do not need the surgery. I have been down that path. I have lost 100lbs (which still was not to goal) in the past and gained most of it back. I am tired of the yo-yo and the work/emotional hits involved with it. Not to mention the stress it is putting my body through. I am also older and have to work harder just to lose a pound. My rational side of my mind says don't worry it will show in the diet, the psych eval, the Nutritional eval, and all the other hoops I have to jump through that yes it is justified. Then the irational side says yes, but the administrators of your health insurance are dumb asses. (Please excuse the language, navy veteran here and that is how I think and talk. Generally I would say get over it Francis, but I understand there are those that may take offence here, where none is meant.)

Today I will go over with the doc which surgery is for me; Gastric Bypass, Gastric Sleeve, or LAP-BAND. From what I have read, seen at the seminar, and talked about with friends that have all three, I am leaning toward the Gastric Sleeve. We’ll see what the doc says.

The second part of my appointment will be with the Doc’s Patient Relations Manager. She is an insurance guru and will help me get approved. She also helps with getting through all the other hoops. Scheduling me for all the pre-op checklist stuff and I get the feeling pretty much walking me through everything, or at least handing me off to someone to hold my hand through it all. The office staff I met at the seminar seems pretty friendly and helpful.

So hopefully I come out of my consultation with a warm fuzzy feeling.

See you all around!

I have seen a lot of thin people drink Protein shakes. So there must be something to

It. I bought mine today and will drink tomorrow.

Just watch the carb count of the shakes you choose. Body builders drink a lot of Protein Shakes but they tend to want to gain weight. Look at the carb to Protein ratio carefully.

Agreed, watch the carbs. You want a Protein powder with really low carbs and higher Fiber. The more Fiber and protien the more full you will feel. Check with your bariatric doc's office too. i know mine has his own powder he designed specifically for his patients. It's pretty good too.

My insurance requires six months of medically supervised diet priot to approval as a standard, so don't feel alone. I haven't even started yet, but I know it is comming so I can handle it. I have been dieting my whole life so six months will be a walk in the park.

I also am looking forward to maybe learning something new in an adversary free atmosphere. Most of my docs have been adverserial about my weight which puts me off as well as makes me confrontational. Anyway the team from my surgions office does not seem to be that way, so I am kind of looking forward to it.