Dragon64

A few words on cravings; I was never a "sweets" kind of guy, I never craved donuts and candy bars and chocolate etc. I was a "crunch guy" I like my chips and salsa, chili conqueso, Doritos etc. To this day I am finding that I needed to replace that crunch, and carrots are now my go to replacement.
Saying I was not a sweets guy, is not entirely true. What, if any, processed food is not made with some form of sweetener? High Fructose corn syrup; sugar; Maltitol, Sucrolose, Sorbitol, Xylitol... I may not have been a sweets guy, but I was addicted to a lot of the processed foods that contained these sweeteners, and excess salt. Because that's how 'they' get you. Even now, we are trying to replace sugar with "sugar free" alternatives, and any doctor will tell you that man made sweeteners are just as evil as processed sugars.
All this just to say, that I had to rid myself of all processed sweeteners, including the man-made variety that comes in the blue, pink and yellow packets. I had to cleanse my cupboards and pantry of any and all goods that even hinted at some form of sweetener. And do you know what? It is like a cloud has lifted off of me. Sure, I had the jitters wondering how I was going to live without certain foods, but now these cravings are a distant memory. Coming off of all of the sweeteners have cleared my mind, I kid you not. You do not realize the veil that sugar addiction places over you and your thoughts. I can honestly tell you that 90% of my cravings have gone away.
Guys at work ask what I do for "snacks" I tell them raw almonds and strawberries & apples are great natural Snacks. I do not need or want puddings, Jellos, Cookies or cakes. Like when I quit smoking, and the smell of smoke repulses me, the smell of sweets literally makes my teeth hurt.
I knew that if I am to form a life long change to make this journey work, then I had to kill the cravings... getting rid of processed sugars was the ticket. And I can tell you, it is working! I urge you to try it, if you feel that you need a sugar free substitute to take the place of your usual go to snack, then you are still addicted to sugar still has its hooks in you.
If you gather no other good from reading my journey, I can tell you for certain that this "life hack" works. Tell sugar to take a hike, and to take all of his fake buddies too! The fog will lift in a couple weeks, the cravings will go away, and you will see clearly where you need to go...
"Life is Good!"

You may not consider yourself religious, but I do. You pray and you believe.
Thank you for sharing! I'll check out those books when I get home!

1964 was a good year... for vintage Dragons! Grammy, thank you for the nice compliment all the same!

Firstly thanks for sharing your story! I’m a fan of Dr Fung, he has great YouTube videos that just make so much sense, check them out if you haven’t. Best of luck to you!

I am not a religious man; I have not been to church in over 20-years, and I enjoy my freedom shopping at wally-world, or going to the early movies while everyone else is at church... But I do pray. Most recently I prayed for intervention. I prayed that a power higher than myself give me strength, because in the past I have had little when I needed it most. And "boy-howdy" do I ever need some help now! In my prayer I made sure to ask for exactly what I needed and nothing more; and right now I needed Him to ease my burden, so that I might get healthy...
The power in prayer; My office mate gave me a book, titled Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeust. This is a weight loss journey the author tells of from a religious point of view. Now, it is geared more towards women, but I have found I can relate to most everything she writes about, albeit from a religious stand point... and I am not a religious man. But the book is about her carvings, and how she had to deal with those demons, it is a very good read, I am half way through the book [reading it at work]
Other than this forum, I am also an avid member on a hobby forum called The Rocketry Forum (I am an avid model rocket flier). On this forum I started a thread on weight loss, and the trouble I had in the past. From this discussion noise, a member came through and contacted me privately. He asked me to read a book, a book that helped him a lot. He said that if I promised to read it, he would send it to me free of charge. I did promise, and a few days later Amazon delivered me a copy of The Obesity Code written by Dr Jason Fung. Once I realized that not only did a complete stranger offer up his help, he actually "gifted" me a copy straight from Amazon. No doubt I felt obligated to read the book. The book basically debuncts decades of research that has told us that "less calories in and more calories out (exercising)" means weight loss. Dr Fung basically says that obesity is directly related to our bodies insulin, or insulin resistance. Insulin has been know to cause weight gain for years, anyone having to give themselves insulin can attest to that. I am half way through this book as well, but I have one major take away so far... Now I have known for some time, that artificial sweeteners are bad. They are a bad replacement for sugar, that in my opinion, is pure evil dressed in white. Artificial sweeteners have been one of my many hold outs, the last enjoyable sweetness that I can run across my pallet. I have been averaging 6 to 10 packets of sweetener (2 per cup) in my coffee daily. In the Obesity Code, Dr Fung stated that these "fake" sweeteners, while providing no calories, still cause the body to produce extra insulin... interestingly enough, I have been recently diagnosed with elevated insulin levels, and I am now taking Metformin to help lower them (insulin). This past Saturday my weight crept back up from 293.8 to 297.4, about the time that I read the revelation about the affects of artificial sweeteners. Then and there, I stopped cold turkey, no more of the little pink packets for me... It seems that the immediate effect was weight started to shed off of me; I went from 297.4, and this morning I am 291.2
I have been so moved by the generosity of a total stranger; my office mate, my wife, everyone reading and commenting on my posts, and my family, that I have been humbled. Just when you thought you were alone you come to realize just how blessed we all are...
I did another kitchen clearing; all cans that contained any kind of sweetener, fake or other wise, went into a bag, and I brought them to work. One of my final holdouts, fake sweets, has given up "the ghost" so to speak.
I am not a religious man, yet prayer works in mysterious ways... You never know where He is going to send you help, and "That's all I got say about that"

Here is what my wife told me; 20% of people you tell do not care, and the other 80% are glad it is not them... I have elected to tell family members, and a few close workers, but as I move forward, I only keep the family updated on my progress.

I would not tell anyone at this point. You dont need there approval or opinions. Decide at a future date what to say if anything at all. it will be months before they will know something is different with you and you can decide at that time what to say and to whom.
Remember you can never untell someone

I told my coworkers and are slowly telling other friends/family members. I told my coworkers first because I spend more time with them and they would have seen me not eating and just doing liquids and would ask questions.
After my surgery now and telling people, I realize that most people don’t even care lol. Some give their input and it’s really nothing because I already had the surgery and there is no changing my mindset.
I think the only fear of telling people is now you have others constantly looking at you to see if you lost weight. Which is truly the same thing if you told them you were on a diet

I am a manager also, and my staff likely would have been supportive, but I didn't feel like my personal health and my decisions on how I manage my health was any of their business. So, aside from a couple of close work associates and my boss, I haven't told my co-workers.
I also haven't told anyone in my family. Only my husband knows.
It's not that I'm hiding it, it's only that this was a very personal decision for me and I didn't need their opinions. I suppose as time goes by, if anyone asks, I'll answer truthfully. But at this time, it's my personal journey.

Well said! I've struggled with whether to tell co-workers, and you hit the nail on the head!

I’ve only told close family. For me I couldn’t think of a good enough reason to tell colleagues. Will they help me in achieving my goals? Not likely. Do I value their opinions on health issues? Nope. Do they need to know? Absolutely not. Will it make it hard to work with them if they say something offensive? Absolutely. I like to keep things simple, so I kept work out of it.

Here is what my wife told me; 20% of people you tell do not care, and the other 80% are glad it is not them... I have elected to tell family members, and a few close workers, but as I move forward, I only keep the family updated on my progress.

Thanks all, I am really looking forward the time when I can say "finally"

A couple days ago I was searching for silverware to use as a bariatric patient. There is some cool stuff coming out of England, but it was kind of pricey to get across the 'big pond', but Amazon had these Bariatric/toddler training untensils. I just got them in today, what do you think:




$14 and some change shipped, you get two sets and two carry pouches. They seem well made... and smaller than you think. These are supposed to help with slowing down your eating, and of course eating smaller portions. I will test them out from here on out... probably give them a rest when I start the liquid diet...

@Dragon64
Oh noooo
The initial avitar was a face pic of you
when the heck did chinese dragon pop up?
maybe i'm smoking your weed!! LOL
someone please enlighten me!!
i'm so confused@Dragon64

@Dragon64

Being perceived by others as weird only means that you are Truly Unique. My high school years were not memorable; did not date, was ridiculed as a "fatty" etc etc. I decided long ago that people just 'sucked' in general. I have since changed my attitude, to basically that I do not care much for what people think anymore, I am who I am... That worked until I realized that "I am who I am" is not what I thought I would become... It was when I started hating myself that the problems really began, and which led me to the state I am in now. If I do not love myself, then who will (?) My wife aside, as she will love me to the end of time, it seemed that no one else much cared for me, and that hurts,,, all the time. So here I am, turning things around. I had to love myself first to make this journey, otherwise I would not care whether I succeeded or not.
Thank you for sharing, it really helps to know that many of us got here on similar journeys, and that we are not traveling alone anymore.

Indeed, currently I am experiencing weight loss from either the Metformin I was prescribed for my elevated insulin levels, or from following the diet work-up set forth by my bariatric dietician... maybe a combination of both. As of this morning, I am sitting at 304lbs, down 21lbs since I started this journey. I am told that if I lose enough weight, I may not need to be on the pre-op liquid diet very long. It will be decided the closer I get to the end of "the 6 month march."
Per insurance, I need 5-more visits with my doctor before Sept 4 (end of 180 day evaluation). My next scheduled visit is on Star Wars Day "May The 4th"
Thank you so much for thinking of me and asking for an update, I appreciate you very much.

Minor Update to my Weight Loss Journey:
I met with my Hematologist today; this is the doctor who first recommended that I seek weight loss surgery. He gave me high praise for my continued success, because according to his records (& scale), I have lost 22lbs since our January appointment. I have actually lost 17lbs since January, but his assessment sounds much better
I explained to him what has changed, and what I still have left to achieve, and that was pretty much it. He wants to see me again in August, to hopefully pull me off of the blood thinner, Xeralto.

Thanks! Too bad the Avatars images are rounded... the `64 is barely visible.

Love the avatar!

@Orchids&Dragons @Dragon64
ahhhhh, you two look cute together.
it must be great to have WLS during the
same time period - able to help each other.
@Orchids&Dragons congrats on 56.6 down
@Dragon64 30.6 pre-op!!
You guys are in "it" to win it
keep up the good work
kathy

Sorry, grammy, but Dragon64 and I have never met. My '64 Dragon lives in Texas! 1964 was the year of the dragon in the Chinese calendar.

1964 was a good year... for vintage Dragons! Grammy, thank you for the nice compliment all the same!

Very proud you are keeping on with your March toward health! This is going to be a wonderful. 6 month journey, Jonnie!😛

In passing, I mentioned to a co-worker that I was looking at getting weight loss surgery in the next 4-months. Her reply was that "surgery is too invasive..." She recommended I "take pills" instead. Her thought was that medicine had advanced so much that obesity could be cured with a prescription. She did not know a specific brand or drug, but she remembered reading it somewhere...
Our talk was not a heart-to-heart, as this is the first time I had talked to her in a long time, as she works in a different department now, so I just smiled and waved. I do not mind telling people about my journey; sometimes you meet an agreeable personality, and sometimes you do not... everyone want to mean well, but in the end, it is my journey to carry.