BlueCrush

Oops! Accidental double post.

I didn't want to post in the before & after sticky, as I'm not quite yet "after." Still have about 15-20lbs to goal. today's a milestone for me, in that it is 6 months exactly since my surgery. So here's how things are going. It's hard to believe that just about a year ago I was 400+lbs. My daughter was born in Feb. 2017, and seeing all the pictures of she and I (a very big "I" ) right after birth made me do a lot of soul-searching about the kind of life I wanted to live and raise her with. I didn't want to be the obese dad that she was embarrassed to be seen in public with as she got older. I didn't want to be the dad that couldn't do certain things with her because I was too overweight. I decided to take action. On May 30th, 2017, I had my first appointment in the required six-month pre-op process, and tipped the scales at 406 lb. I was mortified. While I floated around 350 to 370 for the past decade, this was the first time in my life I had ever been over 400 pounds. Over the next 6 months pre-op diet my insurance required, I would dedicate myself completely to the surgeon's diet and exercise program. I lost 88 lbs during that 6 month pre-op program. Insurance requiring it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me, as it allowed me to implement lifestyle changes well in advance of the physical and mental changes the surgery would bring. I had the gastric sleeve on December 11th, 2017. It went surprisingly easy. Not really any pain at all, I didn't have any acid reflux, and as I progressed through the food stages, I could really tolerate anything I tried up to the restriction point. I've continued to track all my food via myfitpal, but I do not restrict or limit carbs. I make it a point to focus on protein first, and then I usually have a small side each of carbs and veggies. At the 6-month Mark, I usually eat about 1400 to 1600 calories per day. I usually end up with about 100 grams of protein, and about 150 to 200 grams of carbs per day. So the results as of today, 6 months out, are: - 166.8lbs lost total (88 preop and 78.8 postop). - 406 beginning / 318 surgery / 239.2 current - From size 48 pants to 36 - From size 4XLT shirts to Large - From size 58L suit jacket to 44L - From high cholesterol, blood pressure, and elevated liver enzymes to all normal ranges - From sleep apnea to no sleep apnea! I still have about 15lbs to get to my goal of 225 (I'm 6'3"). Over the past couple of months, I've been really focusing on heavy weight lifting as to not look like a deflated balloon. That has definitely slowed the weight loss, but I expected that to happen as I got near goal. Slow and steady wins the race this point. Here are some before and current pictures:

Tricep exercises specifically.

Cream of wheat

Before surgery, I worked on not drinking while I eat (stop 30 minutes before/wait at least 30 minutes after) as well as eating 5-6 smaller means per day instead of ~2 big meals a day that I used to. Both made a big difference!

For me: Weight lifting Video games Motorcycle riding Online poker Also, something I've always wanted to try is flinging lessons, but all the pilot lessons I've seen require you to be under 250 lb. I just got below that weight limit like 3 weeks ago, so it is on my list of things to do soon!

I'm in Cincinnati, but had my surgery with Dr. Dahman at Mercy Fairfield hospital.

The mandatory 6 month preop diet seemed like it lasted forever, but I'll tell you it was what made me a success with the surgery. I lost 88lbs during that preop diet by changing my eating habits BEFORE the surgery. That made all the difference ss I wasn't trying to make life - changing nutritional adjustments at the same time as life-changing physical adjustments. My advice is to go "all-in" during the 6 month pre-op diet phase. It will lead to a much higher success rate and more rapid loss. For me personally, this meant 88lbs pre-op and now almost 75lbs post-op at about 5.5 months post-op. I'm only ~17lbs away from goal weight and not even 6 months out, whereas most people take 12-18 months to get to goal weight. I also have never hit a stall. My surgeon and nutritionist attribute both of those to me going all-in during the 6 month pre-op phase.

Do you track your food intake on something like MyFitPal?

Awesome work, Alchemist! I started at 405 in June last year and am down to 251 this morning. Surgery was 12/11/17 but I had lost 88lbs pre-surg with changing habits before I got the sleeve. It's crazy how quickly this has gone!

"I'm glad you're not sick. I thought you had cancer or something because you were losing so fast."

What is considered a stall? Absolutely zero weight loss? Or just slowed weight loss. I've been anticipating stalls of no weight loss, but I'm currently riding a streak of 32 consecutive weeks of losing weight at my Friday morning weigh in. That's a combination of 12 weeks pre-op and now 20 weeks post-op. I've been tracking for 45 weeks now with a weekly weigh-in, and I've lost weight 43 of those 45 weeks. My last non-issue week was on 9/15/17 where I recorded a gain of +0.6 that week. Now, I have had a few weeks on this journey where I only lost 0.3 or 0.5 lbs at the weekly weigh in, but hey, a loss is a loss. I'm at the point now where I lost usually 2-3lbs per week. Surgery date was 12/11/17.

Tomorrow will be my 4 month mark post surgery. I'm down about 60lbs since surgery and almost 150lbs total including the 6 month pre-op diet. I'm about 30lbs away from my goal weight. Down from 4xlt shirts to an Large Tall, and from size 48 pants to size 36. Off the cpap machine. Feeling great. Weight loss had slowed a bit in recent weeks as I've gone hard with heavy weight lifting. I'm losing about 2-2.5lbs per week now compared to the 4-6 I was losing each week. I have no issues with tolerating any food. Just the amount I can eat. I find about 6oz is how much I can fit at one meal. I'm eating about 1200 calories per day on non-weight training days, and about 1400 per day on weight training days. Not limiting carbs per say, but I do eat protein first. I usually end up around 90-100g of protein and 100-120g of carbs. Best decision I've made. Would do it again 100 out of 100 times.

Awesome job, monkey! Love the tattoo as well.

I've now lost weight at my weekly weigh in 28 straight weeks dating back to well pre-surgery. I don't think I've hit a "stall" per say, but some weeks I lose less than a pound, others I lose 5-6lbs. Over the whole period since I started the 6 month pre op diet and through current, my average weekly loss is 3.34lbs. As for calories, I'm 14 weeks post op and am getting 1200-1400 per day. I was actually at around 1000,but my nutritionist had me up it at my 12 week follow up appt. As for workouts, I treadmill at least 30 minutes 5x per week and lift weights 3x per week.

Duuuuude! That's amazing. That might me the best success I've seen on here!

Today is my 3 month surgiversary. I'm down 53lbs since surgery and 141lbs total since I started the 6 month pre-op program last May. 40lbs to go to hit my goal.

I'll be 11 weeks post op tomorrow. I'm eating about 1000-1300 calories per day, on average. Not limiting carbs. I usually end up with about 80-100g of protein and 100-150g of carbs per day. Still losing 2-3lbs per week. I am 6'3" tall if that makes a difference.

Only thing I miss is not being cold all the time. Lol

Cincinnati, OH

Awesome job!

Awesome work. You look great!

Ballpark math, if your hospital is contracted for the surgery at around $20,000 (this is pretty standard... Again, this is hospital contracted rate with insurance company, NOT charges), then you can guesstimate they'll ask for your 20% coinsurance which would be ~ $4,000. Most hospitals ask/pressure for this payment up front, but don't require it if you don't have it available. You could ask them to bill you after insurance processes the claim. Also, if you DO pay up front, ask them for a discount for paying pre-surgery. A lot of hosoitals will give you a 20-30% discount for paying up front, but only if you ask.

I have a 1 year old, and we basically eat the same amount per meal right now! My wife, daughter, and I have been able to go to a restaurant and all 3 of us share one meal.

You may not want to hear this, but if you have a true referral - driven H M O plan, it's likely that your doc gets financial incentives by keeping your medical costs down (i.e. keeping the insurance company's medical spend down). It's called risk - share contacting. This may be the reason they're against bariatric surgery, as in the short term it increases your costs as a patient and thus decreases their quarterly reimbursement from the insurance company. (edit: why is H M O... As in health maintenance organization... a filtered word that comes across asterisks?)