Mattymatt

In an ideal world, a person's weight should not matter in a relationship as we should really love someone for the entirety of the person. However, in the United States at least, physical attraction plays too large a role. I am now at the weight I was at when I graduated high school back in 1997 so clearly weight has been a lifelong struggle of mine yet I refused to see beauty in overweight women.
I spent so much of my life in the shallow end of life's swimming pool that it wasn't until I began addressing my weight from a serious and sober perspective, i.e. this weight loss surgery journey, that I found myself looking honestly past physical imperfections. Something in me clicked and I realized physical beauty can be found in anyone! Where I am working, there is a beautiful dispatcher. She's overweight but has a beautiful face and striking eyes. Man, the old me would have totally missed this and I would've missed a very nice person. She's too young for me as she's only 22, but by all accounts, she's very beautiful. I kind of wish I was a younger man (with my present accumulated wisdom) because she would be in trouble

And in no time, you will be back to your active self! Just remember to be patient and gentle on yourself! :-)

In an ideal world, a person's weight should not matter in a relationship as we should really love someone for the entirety of the person. However, in the United States at least, physical attraction plays too large a role. I am now at the weight I was at when I graduated high school back in 1997 so clearly weight has been a lifelong struggle of mine yet I refused to see beauty in overweight women.
I spent so much of my life in the shallow end of life's swimming pool that it wasn't until I began addressing my weight from a serious and sober perspective, i.e. this weight loss surgery journey, that I found myself looking honestly past physical imperfections. Something in me clicked and I realized physical beauty can be found in anyone! Where I am working, there is a beautiful dispatcher. She's overweight but has a beautiful face and striking eyes. Man, the old me would have totally missed this and I would've missed a very nice person. She's too young for me as she's only 22, but by all accounts, she's very beautiful. I kind of wish I was a younger man (with my present accumulated wisdom) because she would be in trouble

In an ideal world, a person's weight should not matter in a relationship as we should really love someone for the entirety of the person. However, in the United States at least, physical attraction plays too large a role. I am now at the weight I was at when I graduated high school back in 1997 so clearly weight has been a lifelong struggle of mine yet I refused to see beauty in overweight women.
I spent so much of my life in the shallow end of life's swimming pool that it wasn't until I began addressing my weight from a serious and sober perspective, i.e. this weight loss surgery journey, that I found myself looking honestly past physical imperfections. Something in me clicked and I realized physical beauty can be found in anyone! Where I am working, there is a beautiful dispatcher. She's overweight but has a beautiful face and striking eyes. Man, the old me would have totally missed this and I would've missed a very nice person. She's too young for me as she's only 22, but by all accounts, she's very beautiful. I kind of wish I was a younger man (with my present accumulated wisdom) because she would be in trouble

In an ideal world, a person's weight should not matter in a relationship as we should really love someone for the entirety of the person. However, in the United States at least, physical attraction plays too large a role. I am now at the weight I was at when I graduated high school back in 1997 so clearly weight has been a lifelong struggle of mine yet I refused to see beauty in overweight women.
I spent so much of my life in the shallow end of life's swimming pool that it wasn't until I began addressing my weight from a serious and sober perspective, i.e. this weight loss surgery journey, that I found myself looking honestly past physical imperfections. Something in me clicked and I realized physical beauty can be found in anyone! Where I am working, there is a beautiful dispatcher. She's overweight but has a beautiful face and striking eyes. Man, the old me would have totally missed this and I would've missed a very nice person. She's too young for me as she's only 22, but by all accounts, she's very beautiful. I kind of wish I was a younger man (with my present accumulated wisdom) because she would be in trouble

Sweet! You'll be on the loser's bench in no time!

Easy way out!? Pffft. Ain't nothing easy about this. It is a major, forced, and permanent lifestyle change. Let the naysayers say what they want. Bottom line is you and your health are more important than their opinions. Roll with it and let them get purple with jealousy while the new you shines through.

This is my uneducated opinion but I really think a goodly number of us got to where we were because we had an unhealthy relationship to food, i.e. an addiction. Speaking for myself, I definitely had an an unhealthy relationship to food. Being super strict about eating is as bad as overeating as it's swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction. We have lived our lives between two extremes: extreme dieting and extreme overeating. @Creekimp13 is quite correct about learning to live a life in balance.

Hi Meg! Congrats on being two weeks post-op. If it helps any, I was the same way. I can promise you that it does get easier. You're in a kind of mourning phase; mourning the loss of being able to eat as a form of medicine. Ultimately, you will find your relationship to food changes for the better.
I now really like eating to live versus living to eat. I like how food no longer makes me feel better - it forces me to deal with the realities of life on life's terms. This is ultimately healthier for the psyche. It used to be that eating would make me feel elated or relaxed. Now it's just eating. I've had to find other things to do to fill my time because so much of my days used to be spent around food.
Since I have had so much free time (and being out of work due to a long, hard recovery), I picked up a new hobby. I've always wanted to do Amateur Radio so I took the time, studied, and passed all three tests at once. There are three levels of Amateur (Ham) Radio: Technician, General, and Extra. I did a marathon study and became an Extra. I started blogging again because I love to write. Now, I will be able to go back to work full time next week. It's amazing how much of my life was wasted due to food and sometimes it saddens me because time is something you cannot recapture. But, you can always start anew, here and now.

This is my uneducated opinion but I really think a goodly number of us got to where we were because we had an unhealthy relationship to food, i.e. an addiction. Speaking for myself, I definitely had an an unhealthy relationship to food. Being super strict about eating is as bad as overeating as it's swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction. We have lived our lives between two extremes: extreme dieting and extreme overeating. @Creekimp13 is quite correct about learning to live a life in balance.

Sweet! You'll be on the loser's bench in no time!

I guess in some ways I am extremely fortunate because the surgery changed my digestive and metabolic system in very drastic and noticeable ways. I physically am unable to tolerate the foods that I used to be able to eat huge amounts of. Most of my pre-surgery foods make me incredibly sick. Fried chicken and pizza aren't soft enough and no matter how much I chew or take small bites, I cannot eat them. I end up throwing them up. I even have difficulty with steak. I have to cut it into very tiny pieces and chew the flavor out of it. I don't really like steak anymore - I prefer chicken and turkey. I used to love Tortilla chips (especially the Sweet Chili variety) but they physically hurt my stomach now. I cannot even do wraps. Wraps are so fiberous that my stomach just cannot process them.

I guess in some ways I am extremely fortunate because the surgery changed my digestive and metabolic system in very drastic and noticeable ways. I physically am unable to tolerate the foods that I used to be able to eat huge amounts of. Most of my pre-surgery foods make me incredibly sick. Fried chicken and pizza aren't soft enough and no matter how much I chew or take small bites, I cannot eat them. I end up throwing them up. I even have difficulty with steak. I have to cut it into very tiny pieces and chew the flavor out of it. I don't really like steak anymore - I prefer chicken and turkey. I used to love Tortilla chips (especially the Sweet Chili variety) but they physically hurt my stomach now. I cannot even do wraps. Wraps are so fiberous that my stomach just cannot process them.

I had no problems with drinking either. The problems I had all came when I started eating again. My first 3.5 weeks post-op were smooth as silk. Then the next 4 were abject misery. But even with that, I am so glad I did this!

I guess in some ways I am extremely fortunate because the surgery changed my digestive and metabolic system in very drastic and noticeable ways. I physically am unable to tolerate the foods that I used to be able to eat huge amounts of. Most of my pre-surgery foods make me incredibly sick. Fried chicken and pizza aren't soft enough and no matter how much I chew or take small bites, I cannot eat them. I end up throwing them up. I even have difficulty with steak. I have to cut it into very tiny pieces and chew the flavor out of it. I don't really like steak anymore - I prefer chicken and turkey. I used to love Tortilla chips (especially the Sweet Chili variety) but they physically hurt my stomach now. I cannot even do wraps. Wraps are so fiberous that my stomach just cannot process them.

And after you 2 nice people finish your surgeries chugging 🚝 behind in third place ,will be me, Frustr8, on September 5th. And you are correct, we all will do just fine! 😛&😛&😛!

Hi Meg! Congrats on being two weeks post-op. If it helps any, I was the same way. I can promise you that it does get easier. You're in a kind of mourning phase; mourning the loss of being able to eat as a form of medicine. Ultimately, you will find your relationship to food changes for the better.
I now really like eating to live versus living to eat. I like how food no longer makes me feel better - it forces me to deal with the realities of life on life's terms. This is ultimately healthier for the psyche. It used to be that eating would make me feel elated or relaxed. Now it's just eating. I've had to find other things to do to fill my time because so much of my days used to be spent around food.
Since I have had so much free time (and being out of work due to a long, hard recovery), I picked up a new hobby. I've always wanted to do Amateur Radio so I took the time, studied, and passed all three tests at once. There are three levels of Amateur (Ham) Radio: Technician, General, and Extra. I did a marathon study and became an Extra. I started blogging again because I love to write. Now, I will be able to go back to work full time next week. It's amazing how much of my life was wasted due to food and sometimes it saddens me because time is something you cannot recapture. But, you can always start anew, here and now.

Hi Meg! Congrats on being two weeks post-op. If it helps any, I was the same way. I can promise you that it does get easier. You're in a kind of mourning phase; mourning the loss of being able to eat as a form of medicine. Ultimately, you will find your relationship to food changes for the better.
I now really like eating to live versus living to eat. I like how food no longer makes me feel better - it forces me to deal with the realities of life on life's terms. This is ultimately healthier for the psyche. It used to be that eating would make me feel elated or relaxed. Now it's just eating. I've had to find other things to do to fill my time because so much of my days used to be spent around food.
Since I have had so much free time (and being out of work due to a long, hard recovery), I picked up a new hobby. I've always wanted to do Amateur Radio so I took the time, studied, and passed all three tests at once. There are three levels of Amateur (Ham) Radio: Technician, General, and Extra. I did a marathon study and became an Extra. I started blogging again because I love to write. Now, I will be able to go back to work full time next week. It's amazing how much of my life was wasted due to food and sometimes it saddens me because time is something you cannot recapture. But, you can always start anew, here and now.

I got the results of a repeat sleep study today and I no longer have sleep apnea. The sleep doctor said that my average apneas per hour was 2.3 which is well below the threshold for obstructive sleep apnea. This is the third benefit that I've realized post-op. The first two were off of blood sugar control and blood pressure medicines. Tonight, I am going to try to sleep without the CPAP machine. The sleep doctor actually told me that continuing to use the machine may actually cause problems at this point. I shall see how I feel tomorrow morning!

I got the results of a repeat sleep study today and I no longer have sleep apnea. The sleep doctor said that my average apneas per hour was 2.3 which is well below the threshold for obstructive sleep apnea. This is the third benefit that I've realized post-op. The first two were off of blood sugar control and blood pressure medicines. Tonight, I am going to try to sleep without the CPAP machine. The sleep doctor actually told me that continuing to use the machine may actually cause problems at this point. I shall see how I feel tomorrow morning!

Gastric bypass is irreversible. But it works like gangbusters. I am down 72 pounds and losing.

Gastric bypass is irreversible. But it works like gangbusters. I am down 72 pounds and losing.

In an ideal world, a person's weight should not matter in a relationship as we should really love someone for the entirety of the person. However, in the United States at least, physical attraction plays too large a role. I am now at the weight I was at when I graduated high school back in 1997 so clearly weight has been a lifelong struggle of mine yet I refused to see beauty in overweight women.
I spent so much of my life in the shallow end of life's swimming pool that it wasn't until I began addressing my weight from a serious and sober perspective, i.e. this weight loss surgery journey, that I found myself looking honestly past physical imperfections. Something in me clicked and I realized physical beauty can be found in anyone! Where I am working, there is a beautiful dispatcher. She's overweight but has a beautiful face and striking eyes. Man, the old me would have totally missed this and I would've missed a very nice person. She's too young for me as she's only 22, but by all accounts, she's very beautiful. I kind of wish I was a younger man (with my present accumulated wisdom) because she would be in trouble

I decided not to do before photos this time. I did them on the previous two weight loss attempts. I want nothing to remind me of where I was. My past belongs in the past and I don't ever want to look at pictures of myself at 366 pounds again. I like living in the present and love watching my clothes get steadily too big for me. This is more rewarding than a photo ever will be. I am going to keep one pair of jeans from my heaviest so that when I feel down about life I can out them on and realize that I am a success.

A placebo surgery, hmm let me guess, you got those 5-7 slits because your bowels needed ventilation? Yep, that must have been what happened!👈😥👉