Czuck1983

Best of luck with everything, I hope your husband is doing OK and his surgery today goes perfectly. How long does your surgeon estimate your hospital stay for? I was in for 2 days, but could have left after one (I chose to stay just to get some more rest before heading home. I think with 2 weeks til surgery, it might give your husband enough time to recover and you the time to take care of him in the meanwhile as you prepare for everything. I assume you have somebody who can help him out while you are in the hospital? There are definitely a ton of pros and cons, as you've obviously been waiting a long time for this, and the delay may cause an even more significant delay because of the stupid insurance guidelines. Seems like a really tough call, and I honestly don't think anybody else's advice will do much for you, as ultimately it comes down to an extremely personal decision for you and your family. I agree that it will definitely be best to wait until after your husbands surgery is complete and see how he's doing. Again, I wish you both all the best and look forward to reading about not only your decision and resulting journey, but his recovery as well.

I'm glad everything worked out for you. Best of luck, it'll be here before you know it. Sent from my VS988 using BariatricPal mobile app

Technically, I'm currently a NYer, but I used to live just outside Manchester NH and am hoping to move back up that way within the next 2 years.

I use a scoop of it with 2 cups of water and a serving of orange crystal light... it works pretty well at masking the oddness of the powder's taste.

I use the LoseIt app, it's great for tracking weight loss, as well as logging a food journal. I have the premium membership which also allows me to track measurements and a few other extras.

CZuck1983 on Insta.

The PA in my surgeons office explained stalls in a way I had never heard before and it really helps. Our bodies rely on the fat and the sugars that we intake through our diet, and our muscles absorb a lot of the crap because it's a quick and easy fuel. When we diet, our bodies aren't getting all of the junk and we are able to drop pounds at a pretty steady weight. But as our bodies get used to the new amounts of fuel, it slows down the weight loss a little in order for it to properly adjust how much the body absorbs vs how much we expel when we use the bathroom. Usually this shouldn't last for too long, maybe a few weeks. And while it can be very aggravating, one suggestion we were given in my support group is to buy a spool of yarn, and once a week, measure your waist line, cut the yarn and tape it to the wall. Over the next few weeks, while the scale might not be moving, the yarn should be still getting shorter every week.

I don't think it's that unusual from what I've heard and been experiencing. I'm at week 3 now and at the same issue. Last week I was approved to start soft foods, 2oz per meal. Last week I was allowed 1 meal a day, this week it's 2 meals. I noticed yesterday when I stepped on the scale that I actually went up 1 lb since I started eating.

I haven't been able to use the app on my LG G6 since about Thursday 4/12.

68lbs down and relaxing at home on my night off.

I had a customer ask about how the surgery is done and some of the post-op instructions. She's a psychologist and was curious about the process. When I explained how little I'm allowed to eat at a time, and this was still during the liquid only post-op phase, she says "who was your surgeon, Hitler?" Disclaimer... she is a very religious Jewish woman, with a very harsh and sarcastic sense of humor.

I hear you on that one. At 325, the only machine I was able to do without severe pain was a treadmill. I have several herniated disks in my back and a small knee issue that's never been officially diagnosed. Weight loss is essentially my last effort to avoid back surgery. I used to do and about to restart DDP Yoga. It was developed by a retired pro wrestler, Diamond Dallas Page and I loved it. Was easy to do and I dropped about 15lbs with that alone in 2014. Problem was I got lazy and let myself slowly stop working and I gained everything back plus some. Sent from my VS988 using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm not too sure about my plans for exercise. I own some yoga dvds that I used to do, so I'll likely start that again. Aside from that, I have some back issues, so I can likely get an rx for physical therapy and that will prob be cheaper then joining a gym for now, since my hospital stay helped break my deductible and my out of pocket maximum for insurance. I definitely notice more energy and an increase in my quality of sleep. I don't remember the last time I slept through the night without meds, but the last 2 nights I slept great and woke up feeling rested. Work has been good, first few days were rough, but that's because of the ketosis issues I mentioned above. But since I overcame that, I've been feeling great. Almost as if I could run a marathon... Which I may consider trying next summer if all is good with my physical issues. Do you have any plans post-op? Anything you'd like to do long term that you couldn't do before? Sent from my VS988 using BariatricPal mobile app

That's great... it'll be here before you know it.

When is your surgery? It's a tough one, I wouldn't say my tastes changed (at least not that I've noticed yet), but somethings became hard to stomach for a while. If it's a little too thick of a shake, it can occasionally sit in your stomach weird and make you feel fuller faster. I really struggled getting all of my fluids in for the day. But it's important to remember that everyone's journey is a little different. So you might have no problems at all, I wish you all of the luck in the world.

One more small shake recommendation that isn't thick at all, try mixing unflavored powder with water and a tsp of orange crystal light... really smooth drink with a good sweetness to it.

I also found almond milk to be one of the easiest things to stomach aside from water. My current favorite shake is unsweetened almond milk with vanilla Unjury powder. It's like drinking melted vanilla ice cream. When you're able to handle a slightly thicker mix, chocolate splendor by unjury is also amazing. If that still ends up being too thick for you, try half almond milk and half water. I'm personally not a fan of chocolate protein in water, but gotta do what we gotta do.

Honesty I think part of it is that I struggled hard with my post-op protein shakes... some days I didn't drink anything, and some days I could maybe force myself to get one 4oz shake down for lunch. So I think the lack of intake probably caused a little extra loss. I've also been mixing a serving of benefiber into my drinks twice a day, which likely contributed to helping keeping my system nice and clean (to put it nicely).

Took off 9 days, Surgery was on Monday May 26th, returned Wed April 4. Thankfully I spend 90% of my day at a desk, so it was an easy return.

I went through the same thing, it's not really that abnormal... just make sure you're drinking very slowly and follow your doctors orders for proper post-surgical care. Things will get better in time, you're still healing, and your stomach will take a little time to get back to the normal feelings. Feel better.

Check out Unjury as well... Chocolate Splendor and Vanilla are amazing, tastes like drinking melted ice cream.