LittleBill

I see the spammer has replied. We are empty nesters, so we had no children to worry about. Mrs LittleBill has been extremely supportive, and made a lot of the same changes to her diet that I did when I started the 3 month program before surgery. She is very sensitive to gluten, and has been for many years, so we were already used to reading labels, cooking a little differently, etc. During the times of my most restrictive diet - immediately pre and post op - she pretty much fended for herself. She said she would not make me cook for her while I was on liquids or stuff like that. I have come to the point where I am back on solid food again. We are cooking for both of us again, and both of us cook. We have been able to keep some of our favorite meals, while others have gone by the wayside. We have always been interested in trying new things to eat, so we're having some fun with that. Bariatric friendly and gluten free have significant overlap in some ways. It is easier without the kids at home, but we raised our three with the philosophy that we would put good food on the table. If they were not willing to eat it, there was always another meal coming eventually. It worked out pretty well for the most part.

I already sent you a request. You probably can't see it because you're still using your phone. I have trouble with any kind of navigation on my phone, but I am not sure if it is huge fingers, me being old, or just the app. I prefer to blame the app.

Just an observation here. When you asked, "Is that OK?" You are leaving the door open for all sorts of responses. You should not be surprised if you receive ones that are not to your liking. Believe it or not, they are often the best ones. Eating that type of food so soon after surgery can risk your health as well as sabotage the entire purpose for doing this. Would you be happier if people simply endorsed your behavior?

The phone app for this place leaves somewhat to be desired. ????

I know it was a typo, but when I saw "exorcist bike" the image popped up in my mind of Linda Blair chasing you around as you pedaled the bike. No typo. I hate that damn thing and I think that it is possessed! It keeps increasing resistance on its own. Not quite. It does sit in front of my living room window and I wear my shorts, a t shirt that can now double as a tent and my slippers (don't judge me) I don't get on the pedals while getting my butt off of the seat because I would moon my neighbors when my shorts would slide off. I do like to do the free weights naked because Mrs. Fat Man enjoys the show! Ha! I wear my slippers on my bike too. But I keep the curtains pulled. Mine is in our tiny foyer right by the front door. Nobody ever comes to the front door, but I am sure if I was biking au naturel, someone would show up.

I started out at 481 lbs (218.6 kg). I am a little taller than you, so my BMI was 63. I am down 112 lbs right now, with most of that being pre op. If you really want to do it, you can. I was a fat kid growing up too. I waited until late in life, and it is working for me.

And now for the serious post. I joined a gym for the first time in my life. I've been walking, and I have a stationary bike, but the gym has a pool. I like to Water walk, and I am doing some weight training to keep from losing any muscle mass as well as tone up some flab. When spring comes, I will be doing a lot more bike riding as well as yard work. I have LOTS of yard work. I could offer exercise to anyone who wants some. You can come work for me. I don't pay anything, but you'll get in shape!

High functioning fat man is out of control! He's probably nekkid on his exorcist bike!

I bought a can of the stuff. It is okay. I've put it in coffee, pudding, hot Cereal, applesauce, stuff like that. It foams up a little, and if your liquid is too hot it will clump, but it doesn't really have a taste to it. I will also say this. They claim 30 grams of Protein in a 15 gram serving. That is utter BS. We have a saying around here. You can't put two pounds of poop in a one pound bag. If you buy it, I'd recommend you count it as 15 grams per serving.

Going for a walk gets my mind off food. I took up another hobby that keeps my hands and mind busy as well. If you sit around and dwell on it, it will eat you up. Find something constructive to do that requires your mind to exercise itself. That should help.

I don't know about it being the last one. I am a fat, Christian, gun toting, white, male, conservative. As far as some people are concerned, I am responsible for everything bad.

@@RussT What part of Joisey are you in? I am just across the border, about 30 miles into the free zone of PA. We're pretty close in size and surgery date too. I had mine Oct 11.

You had to write that last sentence, didn't you? Now I've got to go poke out my mind's eye. Thank you very much.

I don't know that I would be able to quantify it easily. As Babbs says,healthy food ain't cheap. Of course, we are eating less of it, so that helps. Mrs LittleBill and I used to go to Breakfast at the diner every Sunday before church. Our bill was pretty much the same every week. I figured that if we skipped that for a year, we would break even on what I had to pay out of pocket for my surgery. We're spending less on toilet paper, but then I joined the gym - for the winter months, anyway. I'm donating clothes I can't wear anymore that have lots of wear left in them. New clothes cost a bunch for me because I still have a very large frame. So are we saving any money? I sort of doubt it. But I am healthier, so we might save money on less health problems down the road. The important thing is, life is better, whether we have more money or not.

It sucks when you know you're right, and they are convinced they are too. You can take your scale, but I have two thoughts to offer. One, it may lose its calibration from being jostled during the trip, and that could just further entrench their opinion that they are right. Two, no matter what you do, a lot of people refuse to be convinced that they were in the wrong. I'd just let it go, and I write that as someone who has a boatload of righteous indignation when I know I'm right and the other guy isn't. The important thing is that YOU know you're losing weight. Unless they're going to make you take some sort of pills, or charge you extra, they really can't do anything to you, right?

I can do a cowboy dialect if I want to. Some of my local friends complain about reading the things I write and then hearing my voice in their heads as they read. It is especially bad if it is a pun that I have written. One friend really complains about her husband doing his "Bill voice".

My surgeon put it this way. "We will do whatever surgery you want. Just so you know, we are taking out more lap bands than we are putting in now, most of them being revised to sleeves." Lap band is less "permanent", but from my point of view, would not be as effective in reducing ghrelin, or the volume of my stomach. The sleeve keeps everything in the proper order, so I went with that. I don't need people opening me up any more than is absolutely necessary.

PM inbound.

@@LipstickLady That's what Beans are for. And if Mrs. LittleBill complains about the after effects of beans, I just say, "It's pheromones, baby, pheromones!" That usually doesn't work, but it doesn't stop me from trying.

To be honest, I hate taking Vitamins. It has been a new experience for me since I started this program. But, vegetables are almost as bad, and in some cases worse. I'll look at some raw broccoli and thing of how much I like it versus how much I would prefer some Protein instead. Cooked broccoli is right up there with Brussel sprouts and asparagus. They are in the same classification as cake and Cookies now. I was pretty much a meat eater before this, so continuing on in that vein (so to speak) was not hard for me.

I'm pretty sure there is nothing in broccoli that I can't get in a pill of some sort. I like it raw, but cooked? Blecch!

Thank you, on a couple of levels. My two oldest daughters continually tease me on Facebook about my TL;DR (too long, didn't read) posts. As far as I know, they really don't read them, although they are often familiar with the content. I have some fairly serious ones I put up as well as my usual stories. I just posted a monster of a story - almost 2000 words - on the story of Mary and Joseph there.

@H.150ToGo I haven't watched any real TV for years. I do love a good movie, and I will watch stuff on Netflix. You are right though, about avoiding it. @@happynfree1996 You won't have to worry too much about being hungry post op. It is very different than pre op. I am two months post, and I do get hungry now, but only when I am supposed to be eating anyway. It works out very well for me. Not everyone is the same, but it is reasonable to expect this.

I don't like Jack Daniels. Haha, they say coke is bad for us post- op right? And if a hooker were to work her wiles on me, I would end up losing weight by losing a very important part of my anatomy. If it didn't shrivel up and drop off, Mrs LittleBill would probably remove it. Now, if someone broke out the Wild Turkey... Turkey is high in Protein, dontcha know.