zone_03

Hi guys! I read a guy saying this is his new favorite website. I have to agree I have been reading and reading and reading. And it gives me so much hope and encouragement. I am in month 3 of my medically supervised weight loss program and the group that goes with it. I hope to have surgery late November or early December. I have been through the weight loss program twice before. I lost a lot of preoperative weight but then the insurance denied me. So of course I gained it all back plus a bit more. So I know this time the insurance will definitely cover the surgery, you just have to do the 3 months of supervised weight loss. I started at 579lbs and now on the diet I am down to 525 in two and half months. I want to get to under 500lbs before surgery. The funny thing is I have no fear about the surgery I am just ready. I guess going through the process twice before and not getting it done has taken all the fear out of me. What I scared about is becoming normal. I know that sounds crazy but I have been overweight my entire life. It is such a part of who I am. I got used to being the person that always stuck out in a crowd. I was always the "big guy". It scares me but it's also something I want really bad. My best friend had the surgery many years ago and we had the discussion of just blending into a crowd. Not sticking out. I can not wait until people don't give me a second glance but I then have to figure out who I really am as a person. I know this journey is more than just surgery and weight loss it has a very big mental component to it. But it will be nice to have an outlet to express my thoughts around other people going through the same thing I am. I look forward to hearing from you guys. Plus my group at the hospital is all women I am the only guy. Thanks guys.

Congratulations @DaAlchemist.. Sounds like you are doing great. You have made me really look forward to my surgery. Keep going strong!

Well guys I made it thru 2 days post op went from 416 to 391 on my 2 week liquid diet right now learn to eat has been the hardest part

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Hi Guys, I have just joined this site. Looking for others who are about to start the journey to keep in touch with either here or on skype.
I am 6ft tall and starting weight at 400lbs.

I just found this group. I am excited to find it. I am pre-op right now. I am going through the 3 month medical weight loss process. I started in June. I have lost 54 pounds on the pre-op diet. They don't have a specific weight for me to lose but it's generally 10% of your starting body weight. I am about 4 pounds shy of that. But I want to be below the 500 pound mark. I have tried the gastric bypass process before. But each time the insurance always denied me. They said I didn't have enough co-morbidities. So because I didn't have high blood pressure or diabetes I did not qualify. Each time I lost on the pre-op and when they said no I gained all of the weight back plus more. I have finally have insurance now that will DEFINITELY cover it. So I am excited. For many years I was a very active obese person. The weight did not slow me down. But age stopped that. My body finally said enough is enough. And now I am not active and I am really tired of not participating in life. The surgery does not scare me at all. But being overweight and gay really sucks. I have found it hard to date. A lot of the guys that will go out with me are the extreme chasers. They want me to stay this way and keep feeding me. So it makes life a bit lonely. I have good friends and family so that helps. I am looking forward to getting life back. I am looking make friends to talk to about the surgery. The weight loss group I am in, at the hospital that I will have the surgery, is all women. I am the only guy in the group. So I look forward to hearing from guys in the group here.

@Berry78Thank you so much for the information.. Yeah my right leg is much much bigger than my left. But I also get it wrapped twice a week.. I am looking forward not having to do that..

I have severe varicose veins in one leg. That leg is always larger than the other one. It was never diagnosed as lymphadema, but it IS retained fluid.
Anyway, I am 6 months postop and have lost 92lbs. Both legs have decreased in size. My normal leg decreased by 2 inches in circumference, while my bad leg has decreased by 3 inches. There is still an inch and a half difference between them.
I don't ever expect them to be equal, but at least the leg does shrink as the fat decreases. I expect yours will do the same.

Thanks and I will.

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So I just got the call this is all really happening got my insurance approval ( Only took 3 days) and this afternoon is my Pre-Surgical visit so looks like come Oct. 16 will be my surgery date

Hi guys! I read a guy saying this is his new favorite website. I have to agree I have been reading and reading and reading. And it gives me so much hope and encouragement. I am in month 3 of my medically supervised weight loss program and the group that goes with it. I hope to have surgery late November or early December. I have been through the weight loss program twice before. I lost a lot of preoperative weight but then the insurance denied me. So of course I gained it all back plus a bit more. So I know this time the insurance will definitely cover the surgery, you just have to do the 3 months of supervised weight loss. I started at 579lbs and now on the diet I am down to 525 in two and half months. I want to get to under 500lbs before surgery. The funny thing is I have no fear about the surgery I am just ready. I guess going through the process twice before and not getting it done has taken all the fear out of me. What I scared about is becoming normal. I know that sounds crazy but I have been overweight my entire life. It is such a part of who I am. I got used to being the person that always stuck out in a crowd. I was always the "big guy". It scares me but it's also something I want really bad. My best friend had the surgery many years ago and we had the discussion of just blending into a crowd. Not sticking out. I can not wait until people don't give me a second glance but I then have to figure out who I really am as a person. I know this journey is more than just surgery and weight loss it has a very big mental component to it. But it will be nice to have an outlet to express my thoughts around other people going through the same thing I am. I look forward to hearing from you guys. Plus my group at the hospital is all women I am the only guy. Thanks guys.

One thing that I am glad about is that I had read a fair amount about what to expect in terms of mental changes. Even then I still wasn't completely prepared for it. I've lost over 300 lbs now and weigh about 215 lbs. I'm going to a concert tonight and still worry about whether I will fit in the seat, because that is something that I always worried about. I'm still surprised when I try on regular clothes and they fit. For a good while, I was wearing clothes that were 2 sizes too big because it seemed unfathomable that I could ever get below a XXL. The biggest adjustment was in how others treated me as I become closer to normal in weight. For a long time, it really pissed me off as people become nicer to me. Clerks were more helpful in stores, strangers were friendlier in social situations, people at work treated me differently. It took a while for me to get my head around that.
For you guys getting ready for surgery, I wish you all the best. I wish that I could adequately describe to you how much it has improved my life. I've gone from routinely missing out on a lot of things to now doing almost anything that I want. Heck, I jog now! Willingly! At 5 am in the morning! I could have never seen that coming 3 years ago. Looking back, the surgery and recovery seem like a blink of the eye.

Oh wow you guy are really knocking this out post op and here I was worried I had fought my surgeon on doing the sleeve over they bypass. I start the liquid Diet next Monday while my surgeon only requires a week I figure I do 2 to just train for what's coming afterward. Honestly it all feels like a whirlwind between prepping for taking off work, having the talk with my kids, thinking about what i'm going to tell everyone afterward. Right now only a told a hand full of people in my life Im not really ready to let everyone know that I'm going thru with this often time I get the whole your 6'6 you dont look that big or Classic you must play football line. How hard is it to put muscles back after such a rapid weight lost ?

Hi guys! I read a guy saying this is his new favorite website. I have to agree I have been reading and reading and reading. And it gives me so much hope and encouragement. I am in month 3 of my medically supervised weight loss program and the group that goes with it. I hope to have surgery late November or early December. I have been through the weight loss program twice before. I lost a lot of preoperative weight but then the insurance denied me. So of course I gained it all back plus a bit more. So I know this time the insurance will definitely cover the surgery, you just have to do the 3 months of supervised weight loss. I started at 579lbs and now on the diet I am down to 525 in two and half months. I want to get to under 500lbs before surgery. The funny thing is I have no fear about the surgery I am just ready. I guess going through the process twice before and not getting it done has taken all the fear out of me. What I scared about is becoming normal. I know that sounds crazy but I have been overweight my entire life. It is such a part of who I am. I got used to being the person that always stuck out in a crowd. I was always the "big guy". It scares me but it's also something I want really bad. My best friend had the surgery many years ago and we had the discussion of just blending into a crowd. Not sticking out. I can not wait until people don't give me a second glance but I then have to figure out who I really am as a person. I know this journey is more than just surgery and weight loss it has a very big mental component to it. But it will be nice to have an outlet to express my thoughts around other people going through the same thing I am. I look forward to hearing from you guys. Plus my group at the hospital is all women I am the only guy. Thanks guys.

Hi guys! I read a guy saying this is his new favorite website. I have to agree I have been reading and reading and reading. And it gives me so much hope and encouragement. I am in month 3 of my medically supervised weight loss program and the group that goes with it. I hope to have surgery late November or early December. I have been through the weight loss program twice before. I lost a lot of preoperative weight but then the insurance denied me. So of course I gained it all back plus a bit more. So I know this time the insurance will definitely cover the surgery, you just have to do the 3 months of supervised weight loss. I started at 579lbs and now on the diet I am down to 525 in two and half months. I want to get to under 500lbs before surgery. The funny thing is I have no fear about the surgery I am just ready. I guess going through the process twice before and not getting it done has taken all the fear out of me. What I scared about is becoming normal. I know that sounds crazy but I have been overweight my entire life. It is such a part of who I am. I got used to being the person that always stuck out in a crowd. I was always the "big guy". It scares me but it's also something I want really bad. My best friend had the surgery many years ago and we had the discussion of just blending into a crowd. Not sticking out. I can not wait until people don't give me a second glance but I then have to figure out who I really am as a person. I know this journey is more than just surgery and weight loss it has a very big mental component to it. But it will be nice to have an outlet to express my thoughts around other people going through the same thing I am. I look forward to hearing from you guys. Plus my group at the hospital is all women I am the only guy. Thanks guys.

I said my best friend had the surgery years ago when it was not laparoscopic. She was cut open. But I saw her when she lost all of her weight. She had a rough time with the mental part. Like me she has been big all her life and then all of sudden she was normal. She lost herself for a while and it was hard to see it happen. But on the bright side she has a ton of advice for me. And my weight loss program requires visits to see a therapist before the surgery and I want to keep them up afterwards also. So I am hoping the mental part will not be as hard as I am thinking. But even if it is the tradeoff is worth it in my eyes.

That's one of the things I worry about considering that I've been a big guy for so long getting use to a new body would be hardest part I was telling my wife that the mental aspect is going to be the hardest for me

I personally found losing weight to be the easy part... I think it will take years to overcome the mental aspect. I'm 17 months post-op and still feel weird getting into elevators.. basically anything in a social setting... constantly thinking... everyone is looking looking at me... the elephant in the room.. I lost 183 lbs and I think it just takes time to visualize and be comfortable in your new body. Believe me it will all be worth it. You don't even realize the depth of your depression until it's gone. Happiness is in your future my friend.

Hi guys! I read a guy saying this is his new favorite website. I have to agree I have been reading and reading and reading. And it gives me so much hope and encouragement. I am in month 3 of my medically supervised weight loss program and the group that goes with it. I hope to have surgery late November or early December. I have been through the weight loss program twice before. I lost a lot of preoperative weight but then the insurance denied me. So of course I gained it all back plus a bit more. So I know this time the insurance will definitely cover the surgery, you just have to do the 3 months of supervised weight loss. I started at 579lbs and now on the diet I am down to 525 in two and half months. I want to get to under 500lbs before surgery. The funny thing is I have no fear about the surgery I am just ready. I guess going through the process twice before and not getting it done has taken all the fear out of me. What I scared about is becoming normal. I know that sounds crazy but I have been overweight my entire life. It is such a part of who I am. I got used to being the person that always stuck out in a crowd. I was always the "big guy". It scares me but it's also something I want really bad. My best friend had the surgery many years ago and we had the discussion of just blending into a crowd. Not sticking out. I can not wait until people don't give me a second glance but I then have to figure out who I really am as a person. I know this journey is more than just surgery and weight loss it has a very big mental component to it. But it will be nice to have an outlet to express my thoughts around other people going through the same thing I am. I look forward to hearing from you guys. Plus my group at the hospital is all women I am the only guy. Thanks guys.

@@Ignatius
Apologies for the delay in replying...
Apologies for the possible length of this post...
Once I get on a roll, who knows where I could end up...
Anyway, here goes...
Firstly, a little about me...
I was sleeved on Feb 25, 2015.
I was 45 yrs old.
At my heaviest, I weighed 255kg..
That's 562 pounds.. (We use kg in Australia but as the majority here use pounds, I usually do the math to make it easier)
I was one of the lucky ones...
Despite my weight, I had NO co-morbidities...
No diabetes, no cholesterol, not even high blood pressure...
In the lead up to my surgery, my surgeon pulled no punches..
He made me fully aware that there were no guarantees he'd go thru with the surgery until he'd opened me up..
He was concerned about the fat around my lived and his ability (or inability) to get into where he needed to...
To give me the best chance, he put me on a 'liquids only' diet for 4 weeks prior to the operation...
I can tell you now, that was the hardest 4 weeks of my life...
What made it worse was knowing that it could all be for nothing...
Anyway, I stuck with it for the four weeks (had a couple of hiccups along the way, but nothing I hid from the surgeon) and surgery day came...
Long story short(ish), the surgery was a success...
I did three nights in hospital...
Again, I must be one of the lucky ones...
I had no complications...
No pain...
Nothing...
The nurses kept insisting that I use the 'pain pump', so I did...
But I didn't really think I needed to..
The worst part of the whole thing was, for the first eight hours or so, I was unable to even get out of the recovery chair...
This wasn't so bad for me because I slept for most of it...
But the poor nurse who had to hold the jug for me every time I had to pee - I reckon it might have been a different story for her...
Poor woman...
Anyway, three nights in hospital...
I was hooked up to a machine for my sleep apnea and that SUCKED BALLS!!!
The day after the op, I was up and about, walking the ward and peeing by myself whenever I wanted to (woooohoooo!!)
The doc was really pleased as he thought I'd struggle because of my weight, but I didn't... (Again, lucky?)
By day three, I was itching to get out, and out I got!!
Self administered injection for (blood clotting) for ten days and the all was good...
The progression of diet from liquids to solids was difficult, but nothing compared to the 4 weeks prior...
Once I got home, I struggled a bit with energy/tiredness..
Lugging 560 pounds around on no food and just after surgery was always gonna be tricky but I got there...
Once I started losing weight, I kinda looked at it as a percentage of what I wanted to lose rather than the actual poundage..
While the big numbers are great (really, who LOSES 230 pounds??) it's more realistic to look at it and be aware that I'm 70% of my way to target..
It's a much better way when you compare yourself to others (and you will, despite how bad an idea it is) and give you an idea of where you're really at...
I really like your question re 'losing motivation when you get to a stage where you can lead a fairly normal life".
It's not something I've ever thought about...
But I guess the answer is "YES", it's certainly a possibility...
I'm at the stage now where I'm finding myself able to exist quite comfortable, especially compared to where I was at...
And I guess that is very possibly a contributing factor to my recent 'funk'...
In short, this honestly the best thing I've ever done...
Like many people, my biggest (only) regret is that I didn't do it years ago...
Mate, I'm not sure what else you want to know or even if this has been any help to you...
I've not read it back so it may not even make any sense..
If there's ANYTHING you think I might be able to help with, please don't hesitate to contact me, either here or via private message..
Take care...
Jason

@@Ignatius
I started at 562 pounds
Have lost 230+ in 13 months
I'm at work at the moment but when I get home I'll come back here and answer all the questions you've asked and any others you may think of...

I just found this group. I am excited to find it. I am pre-op right now. I am going through the 3 month medical weight loss process. I started in June. I have lost 54 pounds on the pre-op diet. They don't have a specific weight for me to lose but it's generally 10% of your starting body weight. I am about 4 pounds shy of that. But I want to be below the 500 pound mark. I have tried the gastric bypass process before. But each time the insurance always denied me. They said I didn't have enough co-morbidities. So because I didn't have high blood pressure or diabetes I did not qualify. Each time I lost on the pre-op and when they said no I gained all of the weight back plus more. I have finally have insurance now that will DEFINITELY cover it. So I am excited. For many years I was a very active obese person. The weight did not slow me down. But age stopped that. My body finally said enough is enough. And now I am not active and I am really tired of not participating in life. The surgery does not scare me at all. But being overweight and gay really sucks. I have found it hard to date. A lot of the guys that will go out with me are the extreme chasers. They want me to stay this way and keep feeding me. So it makes life a bit lonely. I have good friends and family so that helps. I am looking forward to getting life back. I am looking make friends to talk to about the surgery. The weight loss group I am in, at the hospital that I will have the surgery, is all women. I am the only guy in the group. So I look forward to hearing from guys in the group here.