BellaHope

Dr Umbach was also my surgeon. My experience was awesome! His team was great to work with. I was self pay so I didn't have any insurance requirements. My recovery was so smooth that I was walking around the Hoover dam two days after my surgery.
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Why are you even trying to stay under 1000 calories? Did your surgeon or nutritionist instruct you to do so? My nutritionist just wanted me to get 100 grams of Protein per day in and not worry about calories at all.
I did start worrying about calories once I was at goal and trying not to LOSE any more weight during my marathon training. I started tracking calories to make sure I was eating back all that I was burning. Turns out, I need a good 2400 calories a day to maintain at goal because of how much exercise I do.
During my weight loss phase, once I was all healed up and eating solid foods without issue, I would guess I was eating about 1400 calories a day? And I managed to lose all the weight and keep it off. Not sure why you would need to stay under 1000 unless you are completely sedentary. Too large a daily calorie deficit can have a permanent impact on your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight and keep it off in the future.

Why do you feel like you need to stay under 1000 calories? What is your Protein target? Mine is 100 grams so 1000 calories is unrealistic and unsustainable. What does your NUT advise?

Dr Umbach was also my surgeon. My experience was awesome! His team was great to work with. I was self pay so I didn't have any insurance requirements. My recovery was so smooth that I was walking around the Hoover dam two days after my surgery.
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I live in Madison and I am already planning on getting my arms done. I am only two months out so I have a bit of time before I will be ready. I will definitely look into your surgeon though. Thank you for the recommendation! Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

I did self-pay through Blossom 5 years ago. I've dropped by when in Vegas and they are as great now as they were then. I have terrific restriction still.
I would recommend Dr. Tom Umbach and his staff, for sure.

I am scheduled for surgery June 29th at Blossom. So far my experience had been positive and the staff is great. Btw...all of his staff have had bariatric surgery so they really know what you are going through. Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

-crowding onto a subway train with gazillions of people pushing and shoving and being the only one being looked at ("if only that guy would get off this wouldn't be happening...uh, yea it would)
-watching the sigh on somebody's face when they arrive at the row on a plane and realize they are my seat partner
-having every take out place in town have my order memorized and then watching them in shock when I order something else
-and others...

Losing a lot of weight can be psycho-spiritually profound! Many people on this journey find out that they have become more them selves, not less. More confident, more comfortable, more welcome, more active, more brazen, bolder. The process of losing weight, can definitely change your perception. But the core of who you are, that will not change. If in the core of who you are you are badly hurt, or unhappy, that will still have to be addressed. If in the core of who you are, you are joyful and content, you might find out that you can hold even more joy and even more contentment once there is not so much weight between you your self and the rest of the world. There is nothing to worry about. It can be a beautiful and organic process, but it is a process of transformation so there are bound to be shifts in your perception.

@@mia150 it's that magical time when your capacity is way reduced and your hunger is diminished - and losing weight is easier. Often people post"it's not possible to gain back weight" or they write they can eat anything because quantity is so restricted. It isn't necessarily 6 months, but my surgeon advised that after about 18 months it gets harder. I had a hunger uptick about 7-8 months post op, but it increases alot more a couple of years out. Use this honeymoon period to develop healthy habits.
@lessoftay. Are you on a ppi? Excess acid often feels like hunger. I lost my appetite about the phase you are at, so either start or switch ppi and see if that helps. Omeprazale or nexium seem to be the best.

Thanks for setting this up for us! I just requested the group! Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

I am scheduled for June 29th with Dr Umbach in Las Vegas. So. Excited.
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I am scheduled for June 29th with Dr Umbach in Las Vegas. So. Excited.
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How long are you staying in TJ postop? I had surgery on a Friday and returned home on Monday. I totally could have driven. In fact, after my return flight I DID drive myself home .....5 hours on icy roads. I had no pain postop and wasn't taking any pain meds so I could have driven just 2 hours that Saturday or Sunday. But without a medical pass, and depending on your timing, your wait at the border alone could be several hours, so take that into consideration with your expected drive time.
Depending on what surgeon you are using and how their service works, you may drive to the San Diego airport, leave your car there and then use their shuttle service into and out if TJ like any other patient that's flying in. That would save you the border hassles, especially if they provide a medical pass.
There were two girls from LA that were at OCC same time as me and they had driven there and kept their car at the TJ Marriott where we stayed as part of the surgery package. But they had been to TJ several times before and were very familiar with the city as well as the "tricks" of easy, speedy border crossing.

I had my sleeve done one month ago today, and stepped on the scale to a very specific scale victory. I have lost > 30 lbs since I started all this back near the end of October.
In all my professional dieting career (which extends back to the 1960's), I have never, ever, lost as much as 30 lbs. This dawned on me when I sat down and did a list for my PCP and surgeon of my weight loss history. Like many of us, I'd tried just about everything. And I knew, roughly, how much I'd lost on each attempt and how long it had stayed off. When I looked at the list, I saw that I had never lost more than 27 lbs. at a time. Earlier in my life, that's because I had less to lose, but as time passed, 27 lbs. was a drop in the bucket, so to speak.
Back at the end of October, I started out just tracking in Sparkpeople. My goal was accountability, not weight loss. I knew that for me, accountability was a weak link. I also started weighing daily, again for accountability reasons. When I've been more successful at keeping on track, weighing daily has been part of my practice. I ended up losing seven lbs. just from doing those two things.
There are many, many more miles in this journey for me, but I've turned a personal corner. I can't say how it feels yet, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.
Posted in the hope this helps someone else!

This morning I did another closet cleansing -- moving out more clothes that no longer fit and no longer look good on me.
At the back of the closet I found the literal fat suit -- a navy, boxy Pendleton wool suit, the outfit I'm saving forever to remember, really remember, how fat I used to be.
I put it on. It was huge. The jacket wrapped around me twice. The pants are so enormous I had to hold them up with my hands. Feeling that garment against my 135-pound body brought back the terrible heaviness, physical pain and grief that were with me constantly and the awesome toughness I summoned to survive every day when I weighed 100 pounds more than I do now.
For those of you who haven't lost all your weight yet or who haven't thrown away all your fat clothes, please save one outfit to remind you of how far you have come and of the respect you owe to the person you once were for having the fortitude to survive the burdens of morbid obesity.
One day, you will appreciate more than you can imagine right now that fat person's courage.