Rainbow_Warrior

A very doubtful so-called 'improvement'. It does a good job for average people but it crucifies certain statistical 'outliers'. All but one of the Australian men's and women's weightlifters at the Rio Olympics were outside the 18-25 BMI healthy range ... some by a long way. All but two of the synchronised swimmers from Australia were below a healthy 18. Go figure. My own BMI is still in the mid 40s but I can swim 3000m faster than all my friends and have no breathlessness two minutes after my daily swim. But, because of my 5h1tty knees, I cannot climb a dozen stairs in under 90 seconds. There's measures and yardsticks but they are just indicators suited mainly to people on the middle of bell-curves.

Not that we should be having many of the things we used to fry before WLS any way. Even air-fried foods are less helpful to us than steamed/boiled/raw versions. Many fried foods are starchy or breaded choices too ... things we should be avoiding. The quote above about 150g/5oz of hot chips (french fries) dropping from 450 to 240 when air-fried is not great in my book. A decent sized 180 gram/6oz oven baked potato (if you must have high starch potatoes) is only 170 calories.

I also plan on the plastic surgery to clear up loose skin and hard-to-shift visceral fat ... but only after 8-15 months of stable weight at (or close to) GOAL. My surgeon said there is a tendency to rush to plastic surgery support too soon before one has had a few stable months at (or near) goal. He said that these people had a higher chance of longer term dissatisfaction and adjustment in his and his colleagues' experience.

I've got around 10-12 close friends, all retired like me (who have all known me since 1985/1990) and who have seen me live through slight overweight all the way to morbid obesity. Two of them know I have had the surgery. About seven or eight of them tell me to my face AND on near daily Facebook posts that I am losing too much weight and that my two to five hours daily exercise 27 days per month will kill me. They implore me to stop. I'm not sure what it is they worry about: (1) that I am now no more obese than two or three of them? (2) that I exist on about a third the food in public that I used to? (3) that I exist on water or only one alcoholic drink per evening when I am out with them? (4) that my priorities have shifted since six months ago? (5) that their wives tell them how much better I am looking? (6) that a few of them are dealing with health issues other than obesity and I am winding my obesity and medications back? I dunno!

Precisely. Surgeon, mechanic, plumber, carpet-layer, etc. ... I want the competent one with a fair fee structure. I do NOT have to have a new friend NOR a person who dresses well in a suit/uniform. The only thing different to your answer is that I will also consider female experts.

Allows you to cook fried foods with great taste but with under 10% of the oil/fat content of other fryers. e.g. (1) hot french fries in deep fryer , 150 grams/5 ounces = 450 calories e.g. (1) hot french fries in air-fryer , 150 grams/5 ounces = 240 calories

My very tall (formerly morbidly obese) son-in-law, WLS in mid July 2015, dropped from 208kg to 99kg ... a.k.a. 459 pounds to 218 pounds. When I saw him in December, 2017, he told me he was now hovering between 106kg & 113kg ... a.k.a. 234 & 249 pounds. His explanation was that without some of his former "padding" he was uncomfortable in bed and on chairs and in the cab of his excavation machine.

That seems like a good starting plan. You can review this in months to come or in 2019.

Turn off GOOGLE and BING as your search engines no matter which browser or mail program you use. I switched to DUCKDUCKGO about six months ago and my laptop speeded up. Fewer complicated algorithms. Fewer ads. No GOOGLE targeting. No BING targeting. Just go to www.duckduckgo.com and tick the box that says you want it to be your primary search engine. No metadata collected for the USA govt or Australian govt, unlike GOOGLE which hands your metadata over freely.

A great plan. Has serious success for most people.

I lost 0.4kg (14 ounces) at my weekly Monday noon weigh-in on Xmas Day (18th-25th Dec) My big surprise was that by swimming 2 to 3 hours per day on 1000-1400 calories from 26th Dec to 1st Jan, I weighed in 1.7kg (3 pounds 12 ounces) less on New Years Day. I am already down a further 2kg today Saturday. (about 4 pounds 6 ounces) This is my best concentration in years and follows a birthday dinner for my brother-in-law last night.

Worthy wisdom!

Not in my case. My wife also has weight issues. Hers are undergoing support with a course of gastric balloons. She's come from 122kg to about 87kg (265 pounds to 190 pounds). I have had a gastric sleeve 12 weeks ago. She is very positive about my choice and me hers. SHe's my number #1 fan.

1) Tribest Blender ... mixes protein shakes, smoothies ... pulverises foods ... liquidises ... shreds meats, veggies, etc. 2) Small BENTO box for going out with food to others' places ... best to plan ahead. 3) Flat kitchen SCALES ... accurate to 1 gram up to 5kg (5000 grams). 4) Bowl kitchen SCALES ... accurate to 0.2 grams up to 3kg (3000 grams)

Good for you. You're empowering your mind and body to resume the control you need. Best wishes.

Smart choice. Go for it.

Not here. Just the two of us. My wife is on her second gastric balloon and following her nutritional goals from her surgeon/dietitian. Me ... sleeved 12 weeks ago ... on my own supervised exercise and diet program from the clinic's exercise physiologist and dietitian respectively. I'm high protein, post sleeve. My wife is doing a lower GI general diet. We pretty much cook separately.

12 weeks to the day today since I was sleeved and 9.5 weeks since I had my chance to go to pureed food. It's a nice feeling to change "up" a level.

My surgeon was happy to go ahead when my BMI was over 50. His limit was that, unless exceptional circumstances apply, he won't do WLS on MOST people over 65 years of age. I was 61 years 4 months when I was sleeved.

It's quite often the case, eh? Hard truth from our family doctors or GPs that finally makes us sit up and take notice ... most often after half-hearted motivation to change and oodles or procrastination. Good luck from here on!

It takes me nearly an hour to drink a 150mL (5 fl.oz) white wine ... sip 3mL ... swallow ... sip 3mL ... swallow ... sip 3mL ... swallow ... pause 1-2 minutes ... <REPEAT>

I applaud your commonsense cooking ... just do it. My wife (after ten years married) still asks, "How can you make such nice meals if you don't use a recipe?" I just say to her that they are things I've tried before and made minor adjustments to based on ingredients available. "But how?" she asks, "Mum and I always use recipes or buy a meal base and add meat." - - - "Face it," I say, "you married a kitchen genius who seldom has a poor outcome." At this, she #facepalms!

Wednesday 3rd January, 6:15pm here in AUSTRALIA, @The New Kel and I registered 142.1kg after breakfast and my morning swim. For the CHALLENGE chart, the search engine table says that's 313.3 pounds. Thanks again for overseeing this challenge. It's a thankless task to manage so many people.

I think I've said the same thing to about 50 other people with impending surgery. Don't pull out, I tell them all, as I had a few moments of doubt and negative reflection too ... but the assistance with getting past the years of problems I have had with motivation has been well worth it. I hope and pray that I will be (eventually) the successful loser!