SteveT74

You can totally eat past the capacity of your sleeve if you don't pay attention to your diet.
Since you are super fresh out of surgery perhaps try to stick super close to the dietary plan provided to you.
If you decide mashed potatoes simply must stay in your life prepare for the possible outcome of slowed weightloss and perhaps add unflavored Protein Powder to them so they are at least nutritionally valuable.
But i would say as soon as you can go back to the plan of Protein first/forward (whatever sources you choose: animal or plant) In the long run you may be happier.
Good luck and congrats on a safe surgery

I have my wife to do that for me. [emoji3]

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Hey guys,
I haven't checked in for while. I hope everyone's doing well. I know I am doing great. I am sticking with the modified Keto and exercise routine. The scale hasn't moved much in the past six week--only down about 5 or 6 pound. However, during that time I lost: 1.5% of my body fat (down to 16.5%); 1.5 inches off my waist; inch off my chest (down to 42 from a 50) and a quarter inch off my neck (down to 16.5" from 18.5" in the fall). My pants size is now a 32, down from a 44 this past summer. I have gone from wearing XXL shirts to M slim fit shirts (sometimes large slim depending on the brand). At this point, I am not really sure how much more weight I am going to be losing. I am ok where I am. Aside from the number on the scale, all of my aesthetic goals have been met (or are very close to being met).
More importantly, I just had my 3 month follow up last week. My blood work looks great. My triglycerides are down to a 54 (they were over 450 last summer). My good cholesterol is up three fold to 96. My A1C's have dropped from a 6.3 (with 1000mg of MetFormin and 1.8mg of Victoza) in November to a 5.1 with no medications. As of now, all my nutrional numbers look good and are well within normal ranges, including Vitamin D, B12, B6, Calcium, Iron etc. Of course, nutritional deficits can take a while to show up in blood work, so we'll see how they look again in three months.
So, far the only downside is that my once very thick hair is thinning a bit. Not loving that, but no one can really tell yet except me (hope it stays that way). I am taking my Biotin, but not sure how much it really helps (can't hurt though). I would still trade lush hair for a slim body any day.
Anyway, here's a picture from this past weekend (3/23/19):

Hi there,
First off, you can't compare your progress to others. The fact is, if you weren't training hard, you'd probably be losing more weight on the scale--but you wouldn't see it on your body the same way. The scale is BS-just an easy metric to track. You should be more focused on losing inches--which is really the whole point anyway. As long as that's happening (as you said), you're doing the right things. The weight loss on the scale will eventually catch up. Second, you may want to get a body fat monitor, like the handheld one that Omicron makes. I have only lost 3.5 pounds in the past month, but I lost 1.5 inches off my waist and 1.8% of my body fat. I don't consider that a stall by any means.
If you want to experiment with increasing your calories or changing up your diet by cutting down on carbs or increasing the amount of healthy fat you're eating (something along those lines), you might give your body a little kickstart by confusing it. Bottom line is you lost 137 pounds since last June. That's f---ing amazing. That last few pounds are always going to be the hardest.

FYI, I just turned 45. I know that being a 45 year old guy trying to get back into shape has some unique challenges. We can't train the same way we did in our twenties, nor should you even try. What worked then, will not work now--not for the long term anyway. I am kicking my ass like you are. I am up around 4am to get to the gym by 4:30-4:34. I take a spin class five days a week (twice on Wednesdays). I then weight train intensively 5-6 days a week, mixing and matching supersets and drop sets. Focusing on compound lifts most days and then having one day of just isolation and "Big Lift Day" once a week when I do squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, bench press, kettle bell swings, lat pull and mix in pushups and rowing machine as part of a circuit. I keep the weight challenging but not max by any means. i have to focus on trying to perfect my form--I can't get way with sloppy form like I could 20 years ago. I always use a heart rate monitor so I make sure that I keep my bpm up into the high 130's low 140's on average. I'll spike in the 150's the end of a super set and then rest until my rate drops in the 120's and then start a new set (usually that means waiting 1minute to a 1:30 seconds). Forget what the scale says, I think just adding this one "Big Lift Day" into my routine really kicked my body into gear and got my muscle mass growing and definitely kicked up my testosterone a notch (which is great for getting rid of belly fat). If I didn't have extra skin around my mid-section from years of being obese, I would have a six pack now.
August 2018:

This week:

I have so many non-scale victories--which is fortunate since I only lost 3.5 pounds in the past month. I am, however, only 17 pounds from my goal weight (maybe I should just change my goal??). So, my non scale victories are as follows:
1. I went from wearing size 44 pants on December 1 to now wearing 32 pants!
2. One of the other kid's mom at my daughter's nursery that I used to talk to all the time saw me this past weekend and introduced herself as if she had never talked to me before. She didn't recognize me!!
4. I had to buy slim fit shirts and suits because standard fit is too loose around my waist.
5. My wife says I am not snoring anymore!!
6. I am no longer taking medication for T2DM, high blood pressure or high triglycerides,
7. My surgeon asked me if I would be willing to be in advertisement where I show my before and after and talk about how bariatric surgery changed my life (haven't decided if I want to do that though).
8. Most importantly, I feel great. I have loads of energy and I am not embarrassed of my appearance or being the fat guy in the room. I am actually looking forward to wearing a bathing suit this summer!! I feel like i didn't just lose weight, but like I turned the clock back 15 years.
Even if I don't lose another pound, I am thrilled with the results. My only regret is not having had the surgery sooner.

Honestly, get a different nut. This is lousy advice since it relies on eating processed crap bars loaded with chemicals 4 times a day as meal substitutes. While you may lose some weight in the short term, her recommendation will cause you to have insulin spikes which screw up your metabolism and cause you to gain weight in the long term. You need to get on a lifestyle plan you can live with long term and you are already getting the exercise up. I like the Keto lifestyle personally, but it's not for everyone. Nevertheless, every major diet/lifestyle plan and common sense suggests you should be cutting out all processed foods, sugar foods and anything that even remote sounds like it was developed in laboratory in favor of a clean, whole foods type diet. Protein Drinks and Protein bars are ok if you can only eat 500 calories a day and had to hit your protein goals. It's not ok 2.5 years post op when you can get most of your nutritional needs from the food you eat. Anyway, I think you know what you need to do and you're now doing it!!

It sounds to me like you know exactly what to do and exactly where you're going wrong, but you haven't gotten up the will power yet to put words to action. FluffyChix gave a very good pep talk though!!! I think when you're ready to get back on the healthy eating train, you just have to do it--then and there. It can't an "I'll start tomorrow or next monday" sort of thing. Get the crap food that is sabotaging you out of the house so it won't tempt you. As for the kids, why do they need to have a sugary desert with every dinner? That can't good for them either. Why not substitute strawberries, blueberries etc. instead. None of us needs to be eating processed foods and sugar. Ultimately, it comes down to the choices you are making. It sounds like you have been doing really well, but just have been backsliding a little--and are afraid that a little could become a lot. If you feel that way, now is the time to put the brakes on this behavior and start treating your body the way you did in the months after your surgery.

Honestly, get a different nut. This is lousy advice since it relies on eating processed crap bars loaded with chemicals 4 times a day as meal substitutes. While you may lose some weight in the short term, her recommendation will cause you to have insulin spikes which screw up your metabolism and cause you to gain weight in the long term. You need to get on a lifestyle plan you can live with long term and you are already getting the exercise up. I like the Keto lifestyle personally, but it's not for everyone. Nevertheless, every major diet/lifestyle plan and common sense suggests you should be cutting out all processed foods, sugar foods and anything that even remote sounds like it was developed in laboratory in favor of a clean, whole foods type diet. Protein Drinks and Protein bars are ok if you can only eat 500 calories a day and had to hit your protein goals. It's not ok 2.5 years post op when you can get most of your nutritional needs from the food you eat. Anyway, I think you know what you need to do and you're now doing it!!

FYI, I just turned 45. I know that being a 45 year old guy trying to get back into shape has some unique challenges. We can't train the same way we did in our twenties, nor should you even try. What worked then, will not work now--not for the long term anyway. I am kicking my ass like you are. I am up around 4am to get to the gym by 4:30-4:34. I take a spin class five days a week (twice on Wednesdays). I then weight train intensively 5-6 days a week, mixing and matching supersets and drop sets. Focusing on compound lifts most days and then having one day of just isolation and "Big Lift Day" once a week when I do squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, bench press, kettle bell swings, lat pull and mix in pushups and rowing machine as part of a circuit. I keep the weight challenging but not max by any means. i have to focus on trying to perfect my form--I can't get way with sloppy form like I could 20 years ago. I always use a heart rate monitor so I make sure that I keep my bpm up into the high 130's low 140's on average. I'll spike in the 150's the end of a super set and then rest until my rate drops in the 120's and then start a new set (usually that means waiting 1minute to a 1:30 seconds). Forget what the scale says, I think just adding this one "Big Lift Day" into my routine really kicked my body into gear and got my muscle mass growing and definitely kicked up my testosterone a notch (which is great for getting rid of belly fat). If I didn't have extra skin around my mid-section from years of being obese, I would have a six pack now.
August 2018:

This week:

Hi there,
First off, you can't compare your progress to others. The fact is, if you weren't training hard, you'd probably be losing more weight on the scale--but you wouldn't see it on your body the same way. The scale is BS-just an easy metric to track. You should be more focused on losing inches--which is really the whole point anyway. As long as that's happening (as you said), you're doing the right things. The weight loss on the scale will eventually catch up. Second, you may want to get a body fat monitor, like the handheld one that Omicron makes. I have only lost 3.5 pounds in the past month, but I lost 1.5 inches off my waist and 1.8% of my body fat. I don't consider that a stall by any means.
If you want to experiment with increasing your calories or changing up your diet by cutting down on carbs or increasing the amount of healthy fat you're eating (something along those lines), you might give your body a little kickstart by confusing it. Bottom line is you lost 137 pounds since last June. That's f---ing amazing. That last few pounds are always going to be the hardest.

FYI, I just turned 45. I know that being a 45 year old guy trying to get back into shape has some unique challenges. We can't train the same way we did in our twenties, nor should you even try. What worked then, will not work now--not for the long term anyway. I am kicking my ass like you are. I am up around 4am to get to the gym by 4:30-4:34. I take a spin class five days a week (twice on Wednesdays). I then weight train intensively 5-6 days a week, mixing and matching supersets and drop sets. Focusing on compound lifts most days and then having one day of just isolation and "Big Lift Day" once a week when I do squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, bench press, kettle bell swings, lat pull and mix in pushups and rowing machine as part of a circuit. I keep the weight challenging but not max by any means. i have to focus on trying to perfect my form--I can't get way with sloppy form like I could 20 years ago. I always use a heart rate monitor so I make sure that I keep my bpm up into the high 130's low 140's on average. I'll spike in the 150's the end of a super set and then rest until my rate drops in the 120's and then start a new set (usually that means waiting 1minute to a 1:30 seconds). Forget what the scale says, I think just adding this one "Big Lift Day" into my routine really kicked my body into gear and got my muscle mass growing and definitely kicked up my testosterone a notch (which is great for getting rid of belly fat). If I didn't have extra skin around my mid-section from years of being obese, I would have a six pack now.
August 2018:

This week:

Hi there,
First off, you can't compare your progress to others. The fact is, if you weren't training hard, you'd probably be losing more weight on the scale--but you wouldn't see it on your body the same way. The scale is BS-just an easy metric to track. You should be more focused on losing inches--which is really the whole point anyway. As long as that's happening (as you said), you're doing the right things. The weight loss on the scale will eventually catch up. Second, you may want to get a body fat monitor, like the handheld one that Omicron makes. I have only lost 3.5 pounds in the past month, but I lost 1.5 inches off my waist and 1.8% of my body fat. I don't consider that a stall by any means.
If you want to experiment with increasing your calories or changing up your diet by cutting down on carbs or increasing the amount of healthy fat you're eating (something along those lines), you might give your body a little kickstart by confusing it. Bottom line is you lost 137 pounds since last June. That's f---ing amazing. That last few pounds are always going to be the hardest.

Seriously, could you be more of a d**k? Save your judgment for yourself.

Congrats on the new baby!!! That's a wonderful thing, even if the timing isn't as ideal as your doctors might have preferred (hey, **** happens, right???). In the end, there is nothing more important that children and being good mommies and daddies--which also means we need to be taking good care of ourselves. I am sure you've heard this all before, but you really need to work closely with your surgical team, Ob-Gyn and your nutritionist during this pregnancy. It's going to be a big challenge for your to get in the calories you need for your growing baby and to keep your weight down so after you have your little one, you don't have an extra 30-40 pounds to lose. You can do it--but it's going to require a lot of extra work on your part. You can still exercise your @ss off during the pregnancy and sticky to a healthy diet created by your medical team (really stick to it!!). It will all work out well in the end! It's going to great if you put in the effort!!

Congrats on the new baby!!! That's a wonderful thing, even if the timing isn't as ideal as your doctors might have preferred (hey, **** happens, right???). In the end, there is nothing more important that children and being good mommies and daddies--which also means we need to be taking good care of ourselves. I am sure you've heard this all before, but you really need to work closely with your surgical team, Ob-Gyn and your nutritionist during this pregnancy. It's going to be a big challenge for your to get in the calories you need for your growing baby and to keep your weight down so after you have your little one, you don't have an extra 30-40 pounds to lose. You can do it--but it's going to require a lot of extra work on your part. You can still exercise your @ss off during the pregnancy and sticky to a healthy diet created by your medical team (really stick to it!!). It will all work out well in the end! It's going to great if you put in the effort!!

Congrats on the new baby!!! That's a wonderful thing, even if the timing isn't as ideal as your doctors might have preferred (hey, **** happens, right???). In the end, there is nothing more important that children and being good mommies and daddies--which also means we need to be taking good care of ourselves. I am sure you've heard this all before, but you really need to work closely with your surgical team, Ob-Gyn and your nutritionist during this pregnancy. It's going to be a big challenge for your to get in the calories you need for your growing baby and to keep your weight down so after you have your little one, you don't have an extra 30-40 pounds to lose. You can do it--but it's going to require a lot of extra work on your part. You can still exercise your @ss off during the pregnancy and sticky to a healthy diet created by your medical team (really stick to it!!). It will all work out well in the end! It's going to great if you put in the effort!!

Thanks for the support guys. I guess these types of dreams are fairly common occurrences. They never told us about these during those pre-op meetings and classes. I guess I am really happy where I am and where things are going that losing this would be just awful. Even when I lost weight in the past, in the back of my mind I knew it would eventually come back (since that's how it's always been for me as an adult). This has to be the time that it stays off!!! As bad as it was looking morbidly obese, the feeling of having no control over myself and feeling like crap all the the time. I had issues sleeping because breathing ward hard when I laid down. I would often sleep sitting up like a bear. Living with diabetes sucked in so many ways. I had issues with ED because of it (and the meds I took for it). I had gastroparesis due to neuropathy in my stomach. Heart disease. I was 44 and I felt like I was 70. Last year when I met with my cardiologist after my 44th birthday, he was really worried for me (not in that BS way that some doctors have when they feel obligated to read us the riot act). He was sweet as sugar but he told me that based on my blood work, stress test etc. and family history, if I don't make a major change right now I will probably have my first major heart attack in the next five years. I CAN'T ever live like that again!!!! I owe it to my wife and kids to be super healthy Dad--not fat dad that will be dead before they are in high school.

Sounds like good advice to me, but I just don't know how to put this on auto-pilot. I am conscious of everything I eat, drink and the physical activity I need to do to get and stay in shape. I still only 3.5 months out from surgery, this healthy lifestyle and change in my body is very new. I guess I worry about slipping back into bad habits and I don't really trust myself unless I am being strict in following my rules (which are not entirely the same as my doctor's rules).

I was blessed to not suffer from obesity as a kid or even as an adult in my 20's. In fact, I worked as a personal trainer through college and part of law school and was in great shape in my early to mid twenties. I had a few mild ups and downs with the scale (gained 15-20 extra pounds) in my late twenties, but got back into shape and kept the weight off for a few years. It wasn't until I reach my early thirties (after I got married) that the weight started to accumulate. I didn't notice it in the mirror. I would gain 10 pounds take it off, regain 12 pounds take ten off, regain 14 pounds take 5 off---you know the pattern. The swings got to the point where I would drop 30 and regain 45. Low and behold, I got up to probably got up to around 270 (don't really know my true HW). Regardless of what the numbers on the scale said, I never saw myself as "obese"--not the guy in the mirror or the guy. In my dreams, I was always I my 20's, in great shape and super healthy. Waking up was always a big disappointment.
I had my VSG in December 2018 and I have dropped about 75 pounds since my highest "measured" weight. Although I am now 45, I am almost back to the weight I was 20 years ago and the shape I was in too. Ironically, when I dream at night, I am now the fat version of me from the past 5 or so years. I actually have this reoccurring dream where I am standing next to my refrigerator stuffing my face as quickly as I can, when I hear my wife coming down the stairs. I start to panic to get the food back in the fridge to hide my binge eating from her. I am embarrassed by my behavior and disgusted with myself in these dreams. They cause me to wake up in a panic only to realize it's just a dream and I didn't gain the weight or start binge eating again. It's an awful feeling--almost as awful as waking up from a dream where I am thin only to find that the real me is morbidly obese.
Maybe when I had dreams when I was fat about being skinny, it was my subconscious trying to remind me of the guy I was and am still meant to be. Maybe these new dreams are are my subconscious warning to myself about the possibility of what could happen to me if I don't stick to the plan. I would like to think these dreams are more than just an example of how I can torture myself and induce anxiety. Has anyone else had these types of dreams and experiences???

I slipped mine in a tsp of pudding or apple sauce early on. I was allowed to go back to split or whole pills around 1 month post op
Good luck 💜

Wow! First off, make sure you remember to give yourself credit for your incredible accomplishment! Dude, 75lbs in 3.5months is absolutely stellar work! Congrats!!!
Second, I dream of myself at my secret fantasy "Barbie Dream Girl Weight" of 120lbs (my "due" weight or the ideal weight as computed by archaic insurance charts). It's so kewl. LOL. Then I wake up. At first it was a huge disappointment to be mo upon waking. And as I lost weight and was able (thru pics) to see my actual loss, the body dysmorphia started to come into more of a remission thing...it's still there, though.
But so weird you should post, cuz in the past week, I've been gooder than good can be, and I'm waking with these nightmares that I'm mo again. I put my hand down almost while asleep and think I feel big mounds of squishy jiggly puff! 😯 Then I wake and do my morning weigh-in routine and I'm either right where I was or down a little.
I've no idea what we're trying to work through in our dreams, but I believe it does have to do with fear or control as @GreenTealael said. I think it's a phase and if we continue to walk our walks, these dreams will change and we will evolve!

I now see me at my Goal Weight, even though I haven't made it there yet. I am able to do so much more activities than I could at the degree of Obesity I was at. And Tomkitten looks much as he does now, so I take this to mean it could and would be soon, like within a year or so from now. So March 2020 is when I plan to set the Silver Sneakers crowd on 🔥 fire! Yes I am within 35 pounds of the goal just under 200 Valerie Dr Needleman's Nurse Practioner set but inately I would like to try for the 175 I have dreamed of and to be a 15 Junior, because that's where I believe I belong. So I think I am still heavy awake but asleep I am healthy , smaller and happy, Oh so happy, the Fat Shell has cracked, fallen off, and I will never wear it again! I am justified by all that has gone before but I now can live the life I was MEANT to have!

That's around when i was having dreams too! Give it time find the right balance for you between the set of rules and believe in yourself 👑

The answer is both! First off, you don't count total carbs because the carbs that you eat in the form of Fiber and sugar alcohols generally pass through undigested and don't contributed to weight gain or energy productiion. You have to deduct them from your total carb intake--so the focus is on net carbs. I am personally follow an ultra-low carb diet and try to keep my total carb intake under 30 net grams (usually under 20). I also count calories and track what I eat. I budget 1500 calories a day, with 45 percent come from Protein, 45 percent from fat (healthy fats) andn 10% from carbs. It's working for me.