Blamo

I had mine done Oct 15, 2015 and hit 60 pounds lost.But like others have said, don't compare your loss to others, It'll make you crazy. The are too many varibles from person to person and certainly male or female. I am still working on NOT worrying about losing more or less from week to week. It's going, that is the important thing.

Good to see you here. It is a great thing that you and your husband can do this at the same time. Mutual support should make things easier for both of you. I too was concerned who I told at first and expected some "taking the easy way out" nonsense. I am lucky I guess because I got nothing but terrific support from my friends, family and coworkers. If you think someone might be negative, and I am sure that is from jealousy, don't involve them in this. But don't let it bother you. You have better things to do.

I am about the same length of time in also. I find if I eat too much, which I avoid, I will suffer some significant pain. The occuring gas will hurt as much if not more so I try to avoid that also. I was told I could not drink beer any more, it was not much of a sacrifice for me but I thought if I drink slowly it would be OK. I was wrong. One sip at a party and I was in great pain. Never again.

What I do believe in is reality, I know, based on limited amounts provided to all of us, what science and reason knows. I know what is possible. Bigfoot is possible. Bigfoot has NO evidence that it exists. When (or more accurately, if) someone finds reliable and compelling evidence of such, I can consider it a possibility. Also know that humans have a lot to learn, I keep the minor possibility that a superior being could exist but with NO evidence what so ever, I can not believe in it. Faith, the go-to answer for many is NOT enough. If one jumps off a building all the faith in the world will NOT make him fly. He will hit the sidewalk the way the theory of gravity teaches us so.

I love my cars and trucks. Heck I love all of 'em! I make my living as an electrical tech but on the side and for fun I build trucks, cars, motorcycles and even a couple of boats. I currently have a VW GTI VR6 that I absolutely love. I also have my Jeep Cherokee for four-wheeling and a Ford Ranger that is my next project.

I chose "Other" because .....go ahead and laugh, I thought surgery would be the easy way out. Just get the surgery and Bang! you lose weight. No discomfort, no sacifice......yeah, I was wrong.

Someone should define things like that to us new folks. I think it is a nutritionist. Something that is very useful for information as to what to expect, what to avoid and so on.

I might like to see local groups. I have good and supportive friends but, like some other unusual medical issues, this is easier to talk about with people who have been there and are going through it. Beside I would imagine the face-to-face support can be very helpful.

I have been told, correctly, that I tend to beat myself up about bad decisions past and present. I know the choices I made to end up overweight were not good ones. I know that if and when I behave in ways that will not help my weight loss that it is self-defeating and I feel very guilty about this. I also know that I have the ability to learn from these mistakes. The question is, when am I being overly harsh and when do am I simply accepting responsibility for my own actions? I can spend hours whining about how mommy and daddy didn't hug me (or feed me, or nurture me, or encourage me, or ......) but that won't accomplish much of anything. I need, or I think I need to face my issues as my problems and change the ones I have not tackled already. How does one know when we are blaming others or our failings?

Yeah BobbyD, My grandmother is the feeder in the family, she KNOWS I need to lose weight but wants to feed everyone. I guess that is the Italian thing. interestingly enough, I am the only overweight person on that side of the family. But to her credit she is amazingly supportive.

Please! books are a great and wonderful thing. I read quite often and if I can learn about myself all the better.

OH, I have put all.....well most of my past in the past. I have learned to eat correctly.....or better. When I fail, I take the blame for it myself. No one persons influence to eat a block of cheese is stronger than my own. Granted, I am unable to eat a block of cheese these days and have little desire to do so but at least I know why I DID have and worked fairly hard at NOT doing that anymore. I had the classic Food=Happiness issues from childhood. My parents didn't fight when we went somewhere to, usually grandmothers. Here I was fed and loved. On Sunday nights we all watched TV together and ate junk foods. It was pleasant. Very little fighting and we felt loved. This Pavlovian conditioning did wonders to me. Feed the stress. Lonely? pizza will cure that. Happiness might be at the bottom of that sack of tacos. Break up? Go to the buffet. Take three plates and call me in the morning.

Thanks Inner Surfer girl, I will look for that book. Mimisan, that is exactly what I am asking about. There is probably a pile of reason why we got here. Poor, cheap food certainly added to my issue. I had a disscussion with my nutritionist about how cheap, high carb, high calorie food is all around us. I spent a lot of time (but not money) on fast-food, Instant noodles and such. It's cheap and easy. I had a high stress/low pay job that had a Burger King, Wendy's, Dangelos, McDonalds, Taco Bell and a ChineseBuffet all within walking (and smelling) distance. Not that I would actually walk to any of them.

I think what I am trying to avoid is spending my whole self-learning adventure into a "mommy, Daddy and Aunt Peggy fed me" issue instead of simply saying "I got fat because I ate garbage and too much of it". It seems like society wants us to do that. I think, in my humble if not misguided opinion, that I will or could do better by claiming responsibility for my girth. Was I taught the wrong eating habits? Do I eat because happiness has got to be the main ingredient in a lasagna? Heck yeah! I also need to face that (which I think I am) and fight it. And also face the fact that no matter how far I come, I still have to learn more. I am currently working with someone who is teaching me to feed the psychology properly and is doing great things to keep me from eating my past.

I went into mine alone. I flew to Vegas (which I hated) spent one week there and flew back. No, it wasn't the greatest time ever, I felt very alone most of the time. I did meet some really nice people who were there also for the same reason however. I didn't really have much choice in the matter as my wife's schedule got goofed up. Just make sure everyone involved has a contact method of anyone they need to, that was one thing that got fouled for us.

If any of us knew exactly what we were doing we might not need to be here in the first place. Seriously though, I am right there with you, stresses come from all over, some come and go, some seem to take residence in our lives for a while. I am also very new to this site and to this process in general. I would love to think I have this whole thing figured out but I know deep down, not so much. I guess the goal here is to help each other and somehow make it through.

"I've made a board on Pinterest and have started collecting high Protein, low carb recipes to try. I'm just not very good at cooking. " Aggie, Try this if you like; I add vannila Protein powder to a container (6 ozs?) of Chobbani cherry vanilla yogourt. I even add two or three frozen cherries (bagged, Dole, I think) It makes a nice healthy, tasty and thick meal with the protein we need.

Aggie, I am so very glad you posted this question/concern and I hope the reponses you got helped you. I am finding the support here is a vital part of what I...and we... need to accomplish our goals. I did not realize this stall would happen and it seemed that after about five weeks out it has happened to me also. I was beating myself completely because I thought I was doing something wrong. I only lost one pound this week. I knew I was not perfect, cheese is my dreaded foe, but I also knew I was not "cheating" much. Of course the wonderful nutrionist that I am working with explained I few things to me that I should have seen myself. And like several have said, Protein is key. Our bodies don't "want" to lose weight. It is a genetic advantage to have some extra. Well....was, back when the hunters of the tribes may have not gotten a mammoth or whatever the heck they tried for.

I know exctly what you are saying. It was such a natural habit for me also. I am fighting that bad habit everyday.

I am not, nor was I a huge fan of "exercise". What I have found already is that even in the short time since my procedure that I have considerably more energy so that I can return to what I do enjoy. I love hiking, biking, rock climbing and diving. All of these require a good amount of physical stamina. I did set up a few things in my basement to work out there also. I think getting this surgery and NOT increasing my activity would be wasteful and even potentially a set back.

The weird feelings are, like others have said, competely normal. I sat in a hotel room after my surgery wondering if I made the right decsion. The flight home was hell and I am certain if anyone spoke to me I would have attempted to throw them out of the plane. Now, slightly more than one month in, I wish I could have done this a few years ago. I am very happy with the results.....and I just started. I know this was the right thing to do and regret none of it. I can hike again (already) I will be biking again soon (if the snow doesn;t fly first) and, fingers crossed, get back into rock climbing. Support is vital. I am new here too but it seems that one can get a lot of support here (some tough love too it seems) and certainly a belly full of information. If you feel you have no one to talk to, post here. There are a bunch of folks who can and will listen.

Me personally, I like not having coffee (or alcohol) any more. I even tried a little of both and don't see any reason to bother.