Johnny B

35 minutes ago, tayna40 said:

That's my surgery date as well! Happy VSG!

Good luck. Hope all goes well.

2 hours ago, melimel35089 said:

Good luck Johnny B how are you feeling?

Hungry, lol.

2 hours ago, Frustr8 said:

Good luck and I hope you heal well!

Thank you

Tomorrow is my sutgrty date.

Now 5 days out from surgery (Jan. 2nd). I’ve been on the Pre-op liquid diet for the past 9 days (it sucks).

But I’m now 266lbs., down a total of 42 lbs since I started the end of May.

Yesterday I saw my primary Dr. for final medical clearance. He was pleased with my progress, and told me that he thinks I’m below the minimum BMI for the surgery, in spite of the charts saying I’m 43.1. He explained that the BMI calculations are flawed, that they use the same formula for both men and women, and it doesn’t take into account muscle mass.

He feels that my goal should be about 210 due to bone structure, muscle density, and how I was at 215 lbs 9 years ago. But he is still encouraging me to go through with the surgery rather than just trying to diet the rest off, because I will plateau on my own, and the surgery will speed up the weight loss and help me to keep it off long-term, rather than yo-yo-ing as I have been doing thought the years. I agree. Time to get healthy for the rest of my life.

Did I say the two-week liquid diet sucks? It does. I just want to chew again, and Jello just isn’t do it for me. Oh well, just 4 more weeks before I can chew again.

How is everyone else doing?

My wife keeps asking me if I'm going to leave when I'm thin again.

I told her that my weight has no bearing on my love for her.

1 minute ago, LustyDraconianMaid said:

Hello there! My gastric sleeve surgery is set for January 15th at 7 a.m. I am both looking forward to it with excitement and also completely terrified, LOL.

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Congrats on your date. You're on your way to new you.

On 12/14/2018 at 9:23 PM, ouzounians said:

I'm new here, so this is my first topic to ask. But I'm scheduled for this coming Monday, 12/17, and all of a sudden I'm filled with doubt and second guessing my decision. Is this normal? Any advice from those on the other side about how to deal with these feelings?

Good luck today.

On 12/14/2018 at 9:38 PM, Ed_NW said:

Same day as me, we got this!

good luck today.

1 hour ago, SteveT74 said:

I guess I have been very lucky because everyone that I have told has been very supportive, family, friends, employer etc. My dad had some concerns at first, but it wasn't the "why can't you just stick to a diet!" type of BS. It was just concerns about the risks of surgery--which is understandable. I think the reaction you get from people is related in part to how you explain the surgery and your reason for getting the surgery.

In my case, I told people that "I had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and I have a family history of heart disease. I having 'metabolic' surgery at the recommendation of my cardiologist because he thinks it will significantly improve my diabetes and reduce my risk of heart disease etc. The fact that I will lose a substantial amount of weight is great, but the real goal here is to become much healthier, live longer and have more time with my kids." First, I am calling it metabolic surgery, not weight loss surgery. Weight loss surgery makes it sound like this is just another form of cosmetic surgery, like lipo---and it's definitely NOT cosmetic surgery (not that I have a problem with cosmetic surgery). No one is going to be judgmental when you say you're having surgery to treat diabetes or some other co-morbidity (just like they wouldn't question someone having surgery to remove a tumor--who the hell would leave a tumor in place if they could have it safely removed??). Even if you don't have any co-morbidities, that only means you probably have a BMI over 40 which also puts you at risk for heart disease and orthopedic issues. In that case, I would still tell people that you are having the surgery at the recommendation of your cardiologist and/or orthopedist (since weight and joint issues go hand in hand) etc. Not many people are going to question you for following your doctor's advice.

Again, the less you make this about appearance the less likely people are going to judge you negatively. More importantly, I am not suggesting anyone lie--only that they share information in a way that makes it easier for people that don't have understand this surgery to appreciate why you would choose those over just going on another pointless round of weight watchers or jenny craig.

"In my case, I told people that "I had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and I have a family history of heart disease. I having 'metabolic' surgery at the recommendation of my cardiologist because he thinks it will significantly improve my diabetes and reduce my risk of heart disease etc."

That is exactly why I'm not saying anything. I don't feel I should have to explain my reasons or justify it to someone else.

"I am calling it metabolic surgery, not weight loss surgery. Weight loss surgery makes it sound like this is just another form of cosmetic surgery, like lipo" And I'm not going to make up a name to satisfy others. It's weight-loss surgery. But that's your prerogative.

Everyone has to decide whats best for them. I just don't feel the need to go into dialogue when someone starts questioning me why, so I don't say anything.

Please don't take this as I'm bashing you, or how you choose to approach it. That's up to each individual and what they feel comfortable with.

I wish you a lot of success on your journey. See you on the thin side.

59 minutes ago, Olive22 said:

My surgery is scheduled for January 9th! Very excited, but still a little nervous!

Congrats on your date. It's natural for us to fear the unknown, but it's going to be alright. Just read the board. Plenty of successes. Look at it as a chance to get healthy.

Best of luck. Let us know how you feel after the weight starts dropping off.

Congrats on your weight loss and positive attitude.

11 minutes ago, insta_adventurer said:

I told a few people. My husband, mom, siblings, close friends, and a few close colleagues (so they knew I wasn’t out due to a serious illness or anything). I didn’t tell extended family until after, because... I wasn’t sure if I’d actually go through with it.

I’ve really only had like one semi-negative comment where someone compared my weight loss to someone who did it the “hard way” 🙄🙄🙄by walking and exercising a bunch. I said, “Right, because getting your body sliced apart and being on a restricted diet for months is totally the easy way...”

I just don’t think people think before they speak.

There is always an a*****e or two in the bunch. That’s why I thinks it’s better for me to keep it to myself. Congrats on your 95lb weight loss. It’s inspiring.

I've had that reaction too from a few people. Why can't you just lose weight normally? I get mad cause obviously it's not that easy and not like I've tried! Tons of factors come into play. I think people just might not know what to say about the whole surgery thing. Surgery to some is probably very traumatic. All that matters is that we are choosing to better ourselves. Whether its through surgery, non surgery or what ever other method they need to see that! When's your surgery? Mine is Dec 26th...my moms bday! I sure hope everything goes well!Sent from my SM-G950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm a newbie but my Sleeve is January 2nd! Excited and nervous as we probably all are!

6 hours ago, LovelyLessy808 said:

I’m having RNY on January 2nd!

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Same day as me. Congrats!

13 hours ago, anonbaribabe said:

Me too! I'm officially under the 30 day mark! My friends and family keep saying that it seems like time has passed by quickly since I decided to have surgery, but I feel like this last month is going to drag! I still have a lot of things I need to do before surgery (take 2968934892 before pics, buy post-op food, etc.), so hopefully that will give me something to do in the meantime.

Congrats!

Congrats....my date is January 2nd.

January 2nd.

I'm scheduled for January 2nd.

I sure hope my surgeon isn't hung over.

Hi Jazz. Losing the weight is easier than keeping it off. You will always have to "diet", but having a smaller stomach should be a tool to help you keep it off by helping you feel less hungry.

At one of the meetings I was feeling the same way as you are now. One guy pulled me aside and said, "look, I know that you're Italian (as was he). You don't have to give up everything, just get into the habit of eating less of it. If you deprive yourself of everything you love, you'll never stick with it. Just be smart about it."

I'm finding that to be true for me with my pre-op diet. The other day my family and I had a traditional Christmas Eve dinner because this Christmas Eve I'll be on the 2 week liquid pre-surgery diet. I had a little antipasto, a few baked clams, shrimp and scallops. The key was A FEW. I made sure not to stuff or bloat myself. And after surgery that is important because you don't want to stretch your new stomach.

Through the process just envision how much better you'll feel physically and emotionally with the new you.

You can do this.

39 minutes ago, LadySin said:

Hey Johnny! My date is January 15. I've been eating clean and exercising. I weight my self monthly but I've gone down quite a bit. I was to reach 245 by surgery date. I'm at most 257 right now.

I freaking love lifting but I don't know what they hell I'm doing. I don't have the tits to hire a trainer right now. Someday. Right now it's youtube, some dumbells I bought on Craigslist, resistance bands, an roller, and desk elliptical. I enjoy the ache of tired muscles. Now if only I loved the ache runners feel I'd love cardio. How can I get past that stitch in my side? I'd love to run regualry someday.

But what I really want muscle! I'm young enough to still want to be Ms America, hell even Ms Wakanda!

Keep it up! Id love to follow your progress!

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That's great. I didn't know you needed "tits to hire a trainer" lol. Youtube has some great instructional videos. Keep up the good work. Training for that muscle ache the day after each workout is perfect.

I was never much of a runner (torn meniscus in each knee), so I can't offer much advice other than secondhand. Some say you can get past that side "stitch" pain by increasing potassium and fluids, but again, I've never been a runner, so you'd probably be better served asking the runners.

What is a desk elliptical? I have a private office with a desk and that might be a good way for me to burn additional calories.

My doctor didn't really set a pre-surgery weight loss goal for me other to say to follow the instructions of the nutritionist, and that I was doing well. My nutritionist gave me different ways of looking at what I eat, offered some recipes and advice. She says not to look at it as dieting, to have the viewpoint that the new me is a healthy me, not the other guy who didn't pay attention to proper nutrition. So I've listened to her, and no longer think of it as dieting and cheating. I look at it as my new eating habits with splurge days every now and then (if needed). If I have a splurge day, I go right back to my healthy eating the next day. I find her to be very supportive, and am happy to work with her. She told me that once i had hit the first 15 lbs, the insurance didn't require me to lose any more weight pre-surgery as long as I didn't gain.

But I'm in this to lose, so why not get a jump on developing good habits and lose what I can beforehand? So this week I'm down 34 lbs total one month out from surgery. I'm guessing I'll probably lose another 5-10 once I start liquids. I'm not looking forward to that, since I'm a "meatatarian".

For me, the secret to gaining muscle is short intense workouts (30-40 minutes, every other day), with slow deliberate reps, and little rest between sets. I've found that I can either train hard, or I can train long. Sprinters have large muscles, marathoners tend to have long lean bodies. So I guess my workouts are more of a sprinter.

Let me know how you progress.

8 hours ago, jessicaalyssa said:

Hi, Johnny! Congratulations! My surgery date is five days after yours and I can absolutely relate when it comes to your anxiety. I went to support group the other night and they brought up the subject that when you lose massive amounts of weight you also lose muscle mass and that when you’re at a lower weight you will feel weaker because you don’t have that weight behind you helping you anymore. It make me a little nervous to know that my legs (the body part that I love and work out the most) are going to inevitably get weaker.

Hi Jessica. Thank you for taking the time to respond, and congratulations on getting approved and setting the date.

From what I understand the strength loss is temporary (at least I hope so). I'm planning on continuing to workout right up to surgery, and picking up again as I get clearance from the surgery.

Muscle has memory, so the muscle loss should only be temporary as long as we're following a high Protein diet and getting sufficient nutrients. I've taken lengthy layoffs from the gym in the past due to shoulder and foot reconstructions, and was impressed with how quickly muscle mass returns. It's the new gains that are always hard to come by. But at 55, I'm no longer worried about being Mr. America. Just want to get and stay healthy.

On a positive note, I'm now down 34 lbs, and am still a month away from surgery. I'd be ecstatic to lose all the fat and eventually regain whatever muscle mass I lose during the process.

How are you doing? Do you have good support at home? I'm getting a lot from my family, which I think is making the process easier.

Hi. I'm a Newbie.

My gastric sleeve surgery is scheduled for January 2nd.

I started the process in May @ 307 lbs (5'7"), and so far have lost 30 lbs with eating modification & exercise.

Currently, my exercise consists of weight training and some walking. Having torn meniscus in both knees doesn't permit a lot of walking.

For years I used to be an avid gym freak years ago, but shoulder and foot injuries/surgeries, along with personal circumstances had put a damper on that for some time.

While I'm looking forward to the surgery and a new beginning, my biggest cause for anxiety is the resulting loose skin. I carry a lot of muscle mass right now, and I'm concerned that the fat loss, and the muscle loss of not working out, will exasperate the situation. I'm aware that loose skin comes with the territory, but does anyone have any advise on how to minimize it?

Thanks for your support,

Johnny B.