dlappjr

Thanks for the tip. I will check out craigslist and google some local cycle clubs to see if I can find a good deal.

@@catfish87 I did find out about trainers while at the bike store, but after dropping some loot on the bike and some additional accessories, it wasnt in the budget. My wife actually mentioned it too, as a friend at her work told her about them. She may decide to get me one for Christmas. Fingers crossed! With any luck, after riding next spring through fall, I will be able to ride in colder temps. I tried a 2 mile round trip to my gym one morning at 5am and it was 30 degrees out. My lungs hurt for the whole day. I decided below 50, I'm not riding.

Excited to find this thread. I just bought a new, last years model Trek 8.4 DS. So far I have only ridden a little as it is too cold here in Michigan. So looking forward to spring. @@Indieflickers did you ever get a comfortable fit? I hope so. I also got the cheap Amazon padded shorts. Hoping they work ok. I also got a slightly more comfortable saddle and some clip less pedals and shoes. It will be hard to sit inside all winter with the bike in the garage!

The hospital where I went said someone had to be there and stay during the procedure. Check with your hospital to make sure you don't have to have someone there.

Are you referring to Dr. Katz at CCMC hospital ? I don't think so. The Dr. Katz I am referring to is in Madison Heights, MI at St. John Providence Hospital. As it turns out, the original poster of this topic is going to a surgeon that is in the same practice as my surgeon, so will most likely have the same instructions that I had.

My apologies that they cannot see past their own messed up logic to support you in making your life better. Do you have any close friends or other family members who are supportive?

I wish I knew how amazing I would feel just a short time post-op. That, and how easy it is to get constipated. But that probably isn't the answer you were looking for.

Had it earlier. Seriously, life post-op, for me, has been so amazing. Not one thing I would change.

Its up to you how much effort you are willing to put into trying to change their opinion. I personally would not try to verbally communicate with them, as a means to change their opinion. I would rather not talk about it with them and then make sure I started making the changes I need to and start eating better and exercising regularly once you are able to. Next thing you know, you'll want to talk to them about how much healthier you are, how much better you feel. How much you need to buy new, smaller clothes and how hot you look. Then they'll be all crickets…. Let them do them, you do you. That said, I can't only imagine how much easier it would be if they supported you. since they don't, blow them away with your actions and results!

I also had heard about Biotin for hair loss and b12 for energy (from someone on the St. John Weightloss Facebook Group) so I added those, along with the recommended: 2 x daily Chewable Multi-Vitamin (Kroger Brand Childrens Complete Multi is what I use) 1 x daily D3 (Small tablet, but I also found a chewable at Vitamin Shoppe) 3 x daily calcium citrate Chew (I bought the strawberry and lemon Bariatric Advantage from the pharmacy at the Madison Heights St John) Just make sure you get the 500mg ones, so you only need 3 a day, if you get the 250mg ones, you need 6 1 x daily B Complex Gummy (I use this one from Vitamin Shoppe: http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/nutrition-now-b-complex-gummy-70-gummies/nn-3014#.VmnL_Ok6NUM) After my 6week followup, the nutritionist in Dr. Katz office told me not to take the B12 or the Biotin, until after my first 90 day labs, and only if I was deficient. I just got a call from them with my lab results and everything looks perfect so I will not start taking the Biotin or B12 again. Ultimately its up to you as far as what kinds or brands. Some are very expensive. also, check the Weight Loss center there in Madison Heights, they have samples and sell some as well. Oh, and I should note, Dr. Katz literature said no gummy multi Vitamins, as they are not a "complete" multi vitamin. I did use the Chewable B Complex wafers for the first 2 months, then switched to the gummies I listed above. I don't think we can use the gummies at first.

That is one suggestion I made to my weight loss center. They have a great support system for nutrition, but nothing as far as exercising or physical fitness. They said they are working on finding a certified trainer to work with their patients. Its amazing how broad and general the surgeons are about physical activity.

Walking only for first 4 weeks. I got clearance for weights and other exercise at my 1 month post-op follow up. I had no issues getting into weight lifting. I did make sure I had enough protein (100-110g) and liquids. I was already at about 1000 calories per day anyway. I never felt weak or under nourished, but I did ease into it. Within a couple weeks I was doing a lot more weight and longer on the elliptical. There are some good threads on exercise in the Exercise area of the forum as well. They are worth reading through if you have time.

Week 4 post op, I am outside in my driveway cleaning the interior of my car and I stand up to get out of the car and my pants just fall right down. Belt and all. It was pretty funny and I am glad not many people were outside. These are always funny stories, good for you for taking it in stride.

Oh my you get to eat more than i do. I only can have Protein shakes sugar free popsicles Jello and chicken broth thats it. Funny thing. I was just at our once a month support group meeting the other night and the nutritionist from the weight loss center asked how I felt about the pre-op diet. I told her it was ok, I followed it because I was scared to fail. She told me that a lot of people are getting dehydrated just before surgery because they feel too restricted on the pre-op diet. The practice is actually talking about adding more foods to the pre-op diet to try to counter act that. Keep with your plan, sorry it is more restrictive. I would rather be more restricted than try to break off of the plan and find out I had to delay or start again.

Everyones is different. I attached a pic of my pre-op diet from my book they gave me. My weight loss center uses a 7 day program, but I did it for 12 days. I wanted some wiggle room incase I fell off the wagon and needed to recover and still shrink my liver enough. I was worried that they would get in there and my liver didn't shrink enough. I did fine on the diet, I did however fall off the wagon one time. 5 days before surgery I cheated and had a double cheeseburger from McDonalds. I of course quickly regretted it and stuck to the plan the rest of the 5 days. I ended up dropping 25 pounds on that pre-op diet. My surgeon said the liver had shrunk nice and there was hardly and bleeding. Good luck to you, follow your plan and if you stumble, get back up and finish strong.

After the seminar, at my first apt. with the Surgeon, I spoke to a nurse first, who explained what would happen that day and who I would see. The whole appointment was about an hour and I met the nurse first, then the ins. person who handles all the paperwork and approval, etc., then I spoke to the surgeon directly, with a med student present. We went over options and what the dr. thought the best option would be for me. Then they explained what paperwork I would be required to fill out, what other procedures I would need to do before approval. This is where I found out what type of psych eval I needed and other requirements I had to meet both for my ins. co. as well as the surgeons requirements. Best of luck!

I think it is referring to the Liver Shrink Diet, but I liked it better when I thought she dropped acid.

Funny, when I was fat and people told me they felt so much better after working out. I would try and feel so tired and in pain. After dropping a little weight and then working out, I feel that feeling now. I don't feel tired or in pain. I also think that something happens when we drop all that weight between the pro-op and first 2 weeks post op. I have read that your body may see a boost in testosterone that is released from the fat you burn up in that sudden burst of weight loss during the first initial few weeks to a month. I am not a doctor but that seemed to make sense to me, as I was so full of energy and felt like a teenager again. It has sense slowed down a little but It was amazing to feel that vibrance.

I was a little worried about this but for nothing. I followed the plan, fell off the wagon one time and then kept on the plan again for the last 5 days and I dropped 25lbs. Everyone is different just do what you are supposed to and if you stumble, keep going.

Best of luck on the recovery. I hope you get healed up quickly. We started in a very similar place. Hopefully you will have a fairly easy go of it through the different food phases. It helps a lot once you can start eating scrambled eggs and stuff. You may already be there, if not, you are probably looking forward to it.

I got the all clear 4 weeks post op. I started with some easy lifting. I found this article and it helped me make a routine that was both physically challenging, yet safe in a way that allowed me to gain strength and stability without much risk for injury. The Ultimate Weight Training Workout Routine After reading through a lot of this, I realized that there were a few things I needed to do to ensure I wouldn't over exert myself. I landed on doing two different workouts and alternating them. Workout A on Monday, Workout B on Wednesday, Workout A again on Friday. B the next Monday and so on. Each workout was what could be considered full body, as I didm;t focus specifically on legs or arms or shoulders, etc. I downloaded a cool little app on my iPhone called Fitlist. It allowed me to make routines and add the number of reps and weight for each rep so I could pick up where I left off from the previous workout, and allowed me to bump up the weight and/or number of reps once that became easier to do. Within a couple weeks I upped the weight a little and a couple weeks after that I upped the reps from 8 to 10. I now do most exercises at 3 sets of 10 reps. I figured out how much weight to do by doing a set of 8 and making sure the weight was just right so that I could only do those 8 reps. Meaning I didm;t have any additional strength to do another rep, but I wasn't failing at 7 reps either. The only thing I did to my diet was make sure I was taking in enough Protein. I was already up to 1000 calories per day and went from 80g protein to about 100g protein. I take in about 200 cal and 20g protein before my workout in the AM and another 150-200cal and 15-20g protein within a half hour after working out. Then Breakfast which is usually eggs around 1 1/2 hr after my workout. I also started doing the elliptical at the same time as the weights. I went from 8 minutes to 10 minutes in a couple weeks and now do over 2 miles in 20 minutes before my sets of weights. I also have started trying yoga. Its amazing how out of shape my core is. Just a simple plank for 30 seconds makes me want to throw up sometimes. I found a cool app for that too called Swork It. It has stretching, exercises and yoga instructional videos. Now that I have longer endurance and am down some significant weight, my next endeavor is going to be 9round. I think that will help me burn a lot of fat. Best of luck @@BrandonKea, it is a huge game changer once you start working out. I stalled for 3 weeks but still dropped size. I went from 5xl to now shopping for 2, sometimes 3xl. Take it easy and only do what you can. Your body will adjust quickly and soon you will be amazed at what you can do. My gym has an assisted pull up/dip machine. I have never done pull ups before. I can do 5 pull ups on that machine because it helps offset your weight. Huge confidence booster and big time motivator!

I think that when it gets to a certain point, you know if you have to leave or not. That said though, I just want to play devils advocate for a second. You may have thought about this or talked about this with others, or maybe not. Our significant others are going through this change too. I can understand them maybe fearing the change in us for reasons such as our added confidence, more attention from the opposite sex, possibly the desire to stray. I think that as long as you have discussions about these things and do a little to try to calm that fear in them, the rest is on them. If they still continue to belittle or sabotage or act other than supportive in anyway, after you have voiced your displeasure and reassured them that you are still in love with them, then you can be sure of their intentions. If after that they still act out, then drop the hammer on them. As much as I try to give the benefit of the doubt, we are in the middle of a life changing thing. The last thing we need is a negative spouse or SO that doesn't want to play nice for fear or jealousy. We lost how many years hiding behind layers of self doubt, embarrassment, the weight of a society that shames people because of their weight or looks. Time to make adjustments in our life. Either they are on board or not. Best of luck to you as well! I hope it works out however is best.

It seems to me that his conversation is turning towards more of an attempt for our approval for you doing something drastic to wake up or otherwise jolt your relationship. You don't need our approval for that. If you are seeking a response that empowers you to act, then I would say this: If you are serious about arriving at a decision of weather to stay and work it out or leave, you need to prepare for the worst case either way. As for the joint account, I would start by having your paycheck deposited into a personal account only you have access to and then transfer money into the joint when needed. If you need to make a move and he has a grip on your account, it will be hard to get away from that without his approval. We only get one side here so I am taking your side by default in this instance. From what you have said in the previous posts, he seems like the type that is cheating on you and while showing no signs of affection or love towards you, he probably won't think twice about making it impossible for you to leave easily. Make sure you look out for you and arrange things in the background before pulling the pin to see if it will end or not. That way you are prepared for either case.

Agreed. I would fear not knowing what might have been much more than the fear of being made to look like a fool if it doesn't work.

That right there ^ is probably the best response and course of action. Either way you look at it, You have to do all you can to survive, just like on our weight loss journey, the same can be said in your relationship.