LittleBill

I busted my butt to get our base cabinets finished before surgery so the countertop guy's could come in. I still have to build the upper cabinets and drawers. Mrs. LittleBill is a saint. Even in its unfinished state, the new kitchen is way better than the old. To the OP, obsession is relative. I am a terrible record keeper, but I measure all my food, and I keep close track of Protein, carbs, and liquids. As long as I meet my goals, I don't worry about every single calorie. I think as long as you pay attention to the really important stuff, you will do well.

You are looking great! I know it has been hard, but you are doing a fantastic job. Keep it up!

It is more of a volume issue than weight. For example, if you weigh out your food and get 4 oz, you may have 4 oz by weight but not by volume. If you measure by volume, you may have 4 oz by volume, but it may weigh more. Here is what I did. I would put my food into the blender with enough liquid to purée it. Then, I would measure it out by volume, because that is what your stomach holds. Your stomach does not care so much about weight. Start out slow and learn what volume you can tolerate, and don't worry about the weight.

I was there a little over a week ago. She said, "You're doing almost as well as @@vannababyy22 " You are looking good! Keep up the good work. I have to miss the meeting Thursday. Tell everyone I said hello.

I haven't worn my ring or a watch since 1998. Now I've got both on - the watch is my fitness tracker. But, they come off in the shop. There are too many things that could go wrong there.

Muffin top = love handles. Embrace it. . Congratulations on taking the high road and gaining the high ground.

I had shrimp and wine last night. But I am further out than the criterion expressed. .

Yeah, it gets better. It is actually not much worse than having the flu. Within a couple of weeks, you'll be back to normal food. JUST DON'T PUSH IT!!! People who push it run the risk of damaging their new stomach, or at the least setting the,selves back. Patience is a virtue.

It sucks. But give it time. I lost a bunch of weight BEFORE surgery, so much so that I debated with the surgeon about going through with it. I did, and then shortly afterward, my weight loss came to a screeching halt. I was like, WTF!?! But it started up again of its own accord. Keep doing all the right things, and you will start to lose weight.

You are right. Mrs. LittleBill was one of them, but on the other side of the equation. I do see your point though. It was pretty painful, but stuff like that fades with time. ETA: she didn't care in that she was not worried about me. That sentence above could cast aspersions on her character. Thank you! This is a great idea! I had no idea that anyone made something like this. I will be checking it out. Tonight.

Almost 20 years ago, I took my wedding ring off. It was early 1998, and I was working in my shop. I caught my ring on a machine and lost a big chunk out of my finger. I took it off, and bandaged it up. At home that night, I told Mrs LittleBill, "I will gladly give my life for you, but I won't lose my finger". She was fine with that. For the past 19 years I haven't worn it. Now that I am losing weight, women are hitting on me. I know, I know, hard to believe, right? But even before, it was an issue. My voice is deep - Darth Vader deep. Women approach me even with Mrs. LittleBill right there. So I am putting it back on. It feels weird. My finger is not normal. In high school, it was broken in two places in a wrestling match. Just to get over my knuckle, my ring is the size of a small napkin ring. I suppose my fingers were a little fatter to boot, but now they are skinny, and my ring slips right on - almost. I am sure I will get used to it. I did once before. And we have been married a long time.

It is this way with most things in life. One of the things I have done in life is act as counselor for people seeking help. I have the training, but never went into the "biz". We cannot change anyone but ourselves, and even that is hard. When people come to realize this truth, life becomes easier. It is not always better, but it is easier.

As I mentioned, this was a huge concern for reasons in my previous post. My surgeon was confident that I would be able to regain the ability to rehydrate quickly, and so far he has been right. But preparing for it by sipping is a good way to go until you find out for sure how your own system will respond.

@@WLSResources/ClothingExch I'm gonna jump in and respond to you here, partly because I noted above that this was a huge fear of mine. I discussed it at length with my surgeon. I was never on disability. I never had a sedentary job tapping on a keyboard in a climate controlled environment. I have a very physically demanding job that often entails moving thousands of pounds of material in extreme (read HOT) environments. So yeah, not being able to rehydrate fast enough is a real concern for people who actually lose moisture faster than the norm. I've seen plenty of people pass out or get sick doing this kind of work, and none of THEM had a stomach restriction. And yes, the decision to go or not go with surgery hinged on that discussion with my surgeon.

I hate to break it to some of you experts here, but the dating world has ALWAYS been brutal, even for us cavemen who had to do it back when the earth was still cooling. The methods may have changed, but human nature has remained pretty much the same for the past 5000 years.

I am just about three months out. This was probably my biggest fear right after the one about dying on the operating table. I am to the point now where I can knock back a 16 oz glass of Water in less than 10 minutes. I used to be able to chug a quart of water in minutes, but I am happy with where I am at. Regardless of how fast you can drink post op, you need to be prepared to think ahead about it. Becoming even slightly dehydrated and not being able to fix that quickly ranges from just uncomfortable to life threatening.

My program actually does that, but to say it is perfunctory would be generous. There is big money in making fat people skinny, and as long as that is a motive, there are going to be all sorts of unprepared people put through the process. The surgeons and ancillary staff get paid whether we lose weight or not.

@@gowalking I am about an hour away, near the Lehigh Valley. I grew up in the Poconos. They won't have as much snow as they would in someplace like Mt. Pocono or Blakeslee. We always thought of Stroudsburg and Eastburg as being in the bottom of the bowl. It was always hotter, and they always had less snow back in the day. Our middle daughter lives out at the other end of the state, as close to OH as East Stroudsburg is to NJ. We spend a lot of time on the road, let me tell you.

I think this is absolutely true and it's not specific for weight loss. It applies to every diet or diet philosophy (e. g. organic vs. non-organic). I had my fair share of discussions with my hubby on this and it continues. This is an excellent point. Several years ago, Mrs. LittleBill was diagnosed as extremely gluten sensitive. She was having a number of health issues, and removing gluten from her diet cleared them up. Now all it takes is a few milligrams to make her sick. Once she started with her diet, we did not completely remove gluten from my diet, but we did make quite a few adjustments in our common food to make sure she did not have any problems, physical or emotional. A big part of it is me reading lots and lots of labels at the grocery store to make sure I don't buy something that will poison her. When they told me at the bariatric program that I would have to start reading labels, I said, "Yeah, I've been doing that for years. Next." Now that I am on my own restrictive diet, she has made changes of her own to accommodate me. She is a borderline candidate for WLS, but I have already told her it is completely up to her, and she is comfortable with that. Right now she is doing well with her weight loss the old fashioned way.

Congratulations! It is a huge step, but one I am glad I took. I think you will be too. Good luck with it!

I don't think this can be emphasized enough. Too many people are preoccupied with physical appearance. Some of the most beautiful people (physically speaking) have some of the worst personalities. They are full of nastiness and contempt for others. On the other hand, those who are more "homely" are often more generous in spirit and much more pleasant to be around. Every person should be evaluated by their character. I posted a while ago about being in Walmart and seeing boatloads of fat people everywhere. Aside from my usual irritation at being forced into a crowd setting, I mainly felt sympathy for many of them. Treating people badly because of their physical appearance is a sure sign of a shallow personality. I did my best not to be that way before, and I will continue on that way.

Just keep doing what you are supposed to be doing. One day you will look at yourself and say, "Wow, when did that happen!?!"

Yeah, anesthesia can do it. I couldn't pee at all for hours, and they had to catheterize me twice. Once the stuff wears off, you will probably be fine. At least you are getting a trickle. That's a good sign.

Dub, this dish is great! We had one similar to it for a while, but it was too hard to get inside the bottle to clean it. I can fit my giant paw inside this one. Mrs. LittleBill bought it at PetCo or PetSmart - one of those chain places. It is not a pretty sight, that's for sure. I think if anyone saw me open a bag of cameras, they would rise up, band together, and stuff me into a locker before I even got a chance to explain myself.

@@Djmohr Well like I wrote, I dodged a bullet here. But there have been times when actual bullets have been involved, like when I get to the range and find out I forgot the magazines for a particular firearm, or I have ones that are close but no cigar...