60&goin4it

@@395Ron Your weight loss sounds awesome! I'm so happy that things are turning around for you health wise, walking without a cane is a big step, no pun intended! you deserve the best, such an inspiration!!!

@@queenie's Gosh your weight loss is phenomenal! So glad to hear that!!! It won't be long & you will be at 100!! Thanks for updating us!!

@@whoahbabyy can you drink the premiere Protein vanilla shakes? It taste so good 1/2 & 1/2 with coffee. It gives me 2 cups to enjoy in the morning without going over my 1 cup limit, & maybe coffee isn't so bad diluted with protein shake!! . They only told me caffeine is dehydrating, but since I drink all my Water I figure its ok. I think you should still enjoy your tradition on Christmas morning its not that far off from Jan 14, just make sure you drink plenty of water!

@@Mogwaicat Glad you finally found something to drink, the Protein seems to be the most important other than water!! I bet the weight will start falling off of you even more!!

@@whoahbabyy Congratulations!! Good work! I don't want sweets either! thats a good things. I know I'm not suppose to drink coffee but I just started drinking a 1/2 cup every morning with the rest filled up with my vanilla Protein Shake for breakfast! Big coffee drinker so I have vowed to never go over 1 cup total forever. I know I know I can't be perfect & its cold out side!!! I can't wait to get under the 200 mark either. I weigh tomorrow so I will see where I'm at!!

@@395Ron Your weight loss sounds awesome! I'm so happy that things are turning around for you health wise, walking without a cane is a big step, no pun intended! you deserve the best, such an inspiration!!!

@@60&goin4it
You are most welcome.
And here is to wishing you a Very Happy Holiday Season!

Loved the post! Thank-You!

I have been reading studies in JAMA and elsewhere for well over a year, looking at all kinds of statistics. Initially my research was to determine which bariatric surgery was the best choice. Even after attending an informational seminar, where my surgeon went on to call the BNY GB the “Gold Standard” I had more reading to do. As it turns out for me, as someone who has taken medication to avoid GERD for the last 20 years, and my GERD evolved to the point that I now have Barrett’s esophagus, however it has not spread nor is there any signs of dysplasia so that is okay, but it ruled out the Sleeve for me. The band is no longer actively pushed, in fact the number of revisions from band to GB in 2014 actually was higher than the number of people getting the band for the first time. My surgeon said that in his opinion in 10 years the band will be considered a historical procedure and no longer done, or if still done, only on a very small segment of the bariatric group as a whole.
So why do we fail to continue succeeding? Let’s start by defining failure, in the context of this post. The failure I am talking about is, having surgery, getting to your goal weight, then after a year (or more significantly at three and five years out) gaining back a larger percentage of weight than is expected. The current system wide average, is that it is expected that all patients will gain back about 10% of the weight lost. It is less in the GB group then the sleeve, and the band is worst of them all.
Now understanding what I mean by failure to continue succeeding, here is the bad news. No one has done any respectable studies looking at WHY we fail to continue to succeed, the studies mostly compare success rates between the various surgeries and things like additional surgery, readmission rates, complication etc. I think I can explain why some people fail to continue to succeed, and when you think about it makes sense. It is actually the opposite of a positive new thinking called the “Aggregation of Marginal Gains” look at this link to read about it. It is a way to live life. To break it down, simply stated, you improve everything within your sphere of influence by 1%, the sum of all those increases can be, and if done correctly, quite significant. But you have to fully embrace the concept for it to work. When I say EVERYTHING within your sphere of influence I mean everything. A great example, when I used to cross the road going for my morning walk, I waited until an opening in traffic then I took a diagonal path across the road. This represented the easiest way to cross. Now I refuse to turn unless making a 90 degree turn. I improved my step count crossing roads by 1%. Nothing Earth shaking, but it adds up. Park 1% further away from the door. Walk upstairs instead of the elevator. Which I already did, however now I walk ½ a flight further than I need to go and them go down. 1%. Grasp the concept as a whole, and just imagine, improving everything by 1%, and not just once. Taking the stair example, I started off walking up just a couple additional steps. Now it’s a ½ a flight plus a couple extra steps. Soon I’ll be up to a full additional flight of stairs. Continue to push for 1% changes.
So now that this great concept is out there, you are probably asking yourself, what this long winded tool is getting at. We fail to continue succeeding, that is regain more weight than expected, in the exact opposite way we succeed. 1% at a time. You’re at your goal, your weight fluctuates up and down 2 pounds. It’s been a long time since surgery and you are not as sensitive to sugar as you were initially. So you are at a party and say what the heck and you have a small piece of cake. You don’t dump, in fact you have no ill effects at all. This is the start of the end. One piece of cake leads to two, which leads to other things you would not eat, but you’ve become tired of all the cooking, and a quick meal, is temping. Then it happens. You get on the scale and you are up three or four or even five pounds. Knowing you lost the weight before, you think no biggie, I’ll just make sure I eat right. Some do some don’t. Some become in their own mind failures at that point and fail to see the reason to continue with the program. *(Note the title of this post is not why we fail, NEVER think of yourself as a failure, EVER!! Look back at old pictures and remember you are a success!! Do not let the negative thoughts become reality, do not set yourself up for failure. Remember the old adage, “If you are not planning to succeed, you are planning to fail) They stop going to the gym, start old eating habits back up, and sure enough as they expected, the weight comes back as well.
So why do I post this now, and post it here? Because this post seeks to reinforce that which should have been taught to you in whatever mental health process your surgical group had you go through. The understanding that you are making a LIFELONG LIFESTYLE CHANGE emphasis is justified. I don’t have any cute puns or. gifs to attach. This post, I hope will help those approaching goal, those at goal and those who are new or even still pre-surgery, to understand, these changes never go away. When you remove something from your diet, it’s removed. I think of the things I choose not to eat as things I am allergic too. I choose a bit more extreme diet than many, I do not eat corn, potatoes, rice, flour, Pasta, sugar, fructose or anything processed. If there is something on the label I cannot pronounce, it’s processed, and I refuse to eat it. There are exceptions. I am going to see Star Wars Saturday evening, and I will probably cough up $50 for a small popcorn and a bottle of Water. This to me is acceptable. I Choose not to eat certain foods, but I can also eat them with the understanding that it is limited.
So if you read this whole post, congratulations on your tenacity. Hopefully it will enlighten you. Hopefully it will help you affect positive changes in your life. The Aggregation of Marginal Gains is a simple concept to employ, but life altering. And lastly always remember this, if nothing else from this post, put up a sticky note on your fridge or inside your car, or the side of a computer monitor, anywhere where you will see it every day, and remember this “I attained success 1% at a time, that is slowly, I will stop being successful in the same way, 1% at a time, or slowly. I must always be consciously aware of what I am eating and continue to plan to succeed”
Happy Holidays to all, and to those in your lives!!!

@@whoahbabyy can you drink the premiere Protein vanilla shakes? It taste so good 1/2 & 1/2 with coffee. It gives me 2 cups to enjoy in the morning without going over my 1 cup limit, & maybe coffee isn't so bad diluted with protein shake!! . They only told me caffeine is dehydrating, but since I drink all my Water I figure its ok. I think you should still enjoy your tradition on Christmas morning its not that far off from Jan 14, just make sure you drink plenty of water!

That's so odd. I drink unsweet tea...
I drink tons of water. (Well my require amount)
And that's what I was thinking... still enjoy it. It's just coffee.
I haven't tried it yet. I have unflavored protein though lol

Wow ur awesome Ron keep up thanks for the update as my self I lost 70lbs my surgery was. Oct 23 2015 can't wait to hit 100lbs

@@whoahbabyy can you drink the premiere Protein vanilla shakes? It taste so good 1/2 & 1/2 with coffee. It gives me 2 cups to enjoy in the morning without going over my 1 cup limit, & maybe coffee isn't so bad diluted with protein shake!! . They only told me caffeine is dehydrating, but since I drink all my Water I figure its ok. I think you should still enjoy your tradition on Christmas morning its not that far off from Jan 14, just make sure you drink plenty of water!

Exactly! I miss the cold! I've been drinking half cups of hot chocolate with water... but I mean, that's probably not any better.
Why is it we can't have coffee yet? I can Jan 14. At 3 months out but idk. I plan to have some on christmas morning. I seriously can't do christmas without it. Esp this year. My mom and grandma and I would all drink coffee watching me and my sister/kids open ptrsents. Even as a kid, my mom would pour me coffee on christmas morning. And this is my first year without both my mom and grandmother here with us. So I plan on having a little.

@@kvoneye & @@Onelife I think we are all loosing around the same, hopefully we will just keep on!
@@sleevemylife I'm glad you got it figured out & on your way to having more energy!! Your weight loss is great!! Congrats on the awesome #s! Get rid of the too big cloths!!!

@@soonergirl619 Wow you are really doing good on the weight loss!!! Fantastic news!!

I am sitting here with a sore throat. It worries me with my weakened system.
Ron's update:
I have been losing my hair for three weeks now. With all that I went through that is to be expected. I have a bald spot on the back of my head from laying in the hospital bed for so long. That probably won't grow back until my body decides it has enough energy to grow hair again.
Current weight: 302.4 lbs. Only 3.4 more pounds to Twoderland.
I have lost:
100.6 lbs since July
53.6 lbs since 6 Oct surgery
4.8 lbs last week
I have to lose approximately 12 more pounds to accomplish my first weight loss goal. It is to lose 100 lbs, from my doctors scales, and do it in less than 6 months.
I am in size 50 pants. Down from a 58. Part of this is I have shrunk enough to stop wearing them on my stomach and I am now wearing them at my waist. I started out in 6X shirts now I am wearing 2X.
I can now put my socks on while sitting in a chair. Before the only way I could put my socks on was to sit on the bed.
Although stairs are still a struggle I am walking without a cane.
My mom calls me a melting snowman. My stomach has a dent in it where my loose skin (soon to be my apron) is starting to droop.

Update!
I hit 50 pounds loss today! And went down a Complete pant size. Probably 2, but I have found that I wearing too small of clothes before. And now those same clothes fit me a lot better. I have an entire trash bag full of jeans that looks horrible on me.. way too baggy. I have never been more excited in my life. I've been doing excellent with fluids and Protein and all this christmas shopping and christmas activities have me walking. I eat pretty much everything, minus a few things. I switched from rice to cauliflower rice and use zuchinni noodles instead of Pasta, stuff like that. Lettuce wraps instead of Buns. And turkey instead of beef. But I still eat beef, turkey and chicken. Some pork (no bacon..hated it anyways) and I'll have nibbles here and there. My biggest problem is pretzels. I eat a couple to curve my salty crunchy craving. Sweets. Blah. Don't want them really. I just miss my coffee. So I'm looking forward to that. My first post op apt is Jan 14. Hopefully I'll be 26 pounds lighter by then. I want to be 199.9 when I go!

I tried that small Protein "shot" too. It was a bit too sweet for me to stomach, but lots of protein in a small bottle.

Success! Ish... I finally found a Protein Drink that I can mostly tolerate. New Whey Protein Shots. 42g of Protein in 3.5oz.
Sounds awesome, right? Lots of protein, little bitty drink...but it's like drinking liquid jolly ranchers. Sickeningly sweet and a little syrupy thick.
I was unsure about this drink, it's got mixed reviews, but my nutritionist says it's good and acceptable for us.
Now for the real fun...I have to plug my nose to drink it and it still makes me feel all gassy and weird. But...but...I actually hit my protein goal for the first time since surgery!

@@SleeveandRNYchica Hopefully your doctor understands stalls. Although mine never mentioned anything about it before surgery when I went for my 6 week checkup and mentioned them to the doctor he told me not to worry about them. He said that often weight loss happens like steps with plateaus instead of a straight line down. I think what they want to see is a downward trend and that you are getting in your Protein, Water and Vitamins.< /p>
I have noticed that since I upped my calories to 800 a day and added a few good carbs that my weight is coming off nicely. Also drinking all my water helps alot.
Don't worry about what your doctor will say - just adhere to the plan. Knowing you are doing the right things and that the weight loss will eventually start again is what is important. It sometimes takes awhile for our bodies to do what we want them to do! Hang in there...

@Sleeveand RNYchica stalls are a part of the process. I am 8 weeks out from surgery and already stalled twice - the first time for 4 weeks and the second for a little over 2. Nevertheless, when I look at my total weight loss since surgery I cannot really complain. I have lost 20 lbs - that is an average of 2.5 lbs a week. Not bad.... in the scheme of things.
Hang in there and keep following the plan - it works!

@@kvoneye Great news !!!

@@kvoneye You are doing great with your weight loss! I'm down 22 but with a week longer having surgery! Looks like we are loosing very similar! I'm just taking it day by day! I do well with my Protein, always rely on my Protein Shake if I haven't ate much. The Water is harder for me, I get busy & forget. Have to take benefiber every day to keep things moving. I'm staying completely away from all sugars, don't even want to start on that again. I walk when I can more days than not. Hope you meet your goal, if not I'm sure you will have loss as much as you have already & plus some!!! Best of luck to you, I'm right with ya!!

@@kvoneye & @@Onelife I think we are all loosing around the same, hopefully we will just keep on!
@@sleevemylife I'm glad you got it figured out & on your way to having more energy!! Your weight loss is great!! Congrats on the awesome #s! Get rid of the too big cloths!!!