Leaderboard

Required fuel (yes, I'm referring to the bariatric "c" word: carbs! 😂) for distance cycling and running: raw vegan superfood squares, loosely inspired by these two recipes.

Drove out of the city for some patio time by a lake yesterday. First pic, 1/2 dozen oysters w/ mignonette sauce (ate em all along with 2 glasses of wine, not shown): 244 calories Second pic, are what I am now going to refer to as DEATH TARTS (Portugese custard tarts w/ scoop of vanilla gelato). I ate one tart and all the gelato: 329 calories. Eating the tart is the likely culprit to my evening of nausea, cold sweats, & lethargy. I spent pretty much the remainder of the day on the couch oscillating between feeling death-y and sleeping. Lesson learned? Probably not. 🙄 It was crazy hot out yesterday and anything frozen was half melted by the time it got to our table..!

I am almost 6 months post op and took my first vacation this week (Drove up to Tahoe). I went with some friends who did not know about the surgery but knew I was actively losing weight and trying to eat healthier and it wasn't awkward at all. I didn't snack, but I did eat some meals I shouldn't have. But between watching how much and exercise, I was down just over 2 lbs for the week. In the past, anytime I vacationed I would be up so I'm super excited. I had some great NSVs while I was out. - Hiked almost every day - around 5 miles, intermediate hikes, at elevation. Still hard, but I did it. - Kayaked, and was able to get in and out easily. - They had standard size bath towels in the bathroom, and it wrapped all the way around me without a gap! - It was my birthday and I didn't have any cake, and really didn't miss it. I tried alcohol for the first time since surgery. I had a glass a wine a couple of times and did fine. However, I had about 1/3 of a margarita and felt awful. I don't think I full on dumped, but I think if I had drunk any more I would have. It's the first time I've had any amount of sugar so lesson learned. I'm going back to not drinking for a while (it will continue to be an occasional event going forward).

Hi everybody! I am confirmed for gastric sleeve with Dr. Jalil Illan at Hospital BC on July 17, 2020 and plan to report my progress here to you guys to provide moral support for anyone considering such a dramatic and life-changing decision. I am terrified about having surgery outside the US, and worried about complications during or after the surgery, but have read a lot of great things about Dr. Illan. His staff have been really wonderful through my whole pre-op process so far. I had a fever last week out of the blue, but am feeling better today, and tested negative for Covid. I was worried it was a false negative, so I am scheduled to take another test tomorrow to confirm results. I asked Dr. Illan if I should reschedule due to the fever I had, and he responded that we will stay on schedule for now. I didn't have any respiratory or throat issues with my fever, so I think that may have played a hand in the decision to not reschedule yet. I am almost 50, and have battled my weight all my life. I am looking forward to having this tool to support me in life-long weight management. Wish me luck! I plan to check back in periodically to let you guys know how the surgery and recovery went, and what my new life is like. Please feel free to reach out to me here if you have any questions and I will try to respond to you as soon as I can get back to you. Good luck to everyone here on their journey to find better health and happiness!!

Hi .... I have told people ... i am tired of being uncomfortable and my doctor recommended it for my breathing and sleep apena and high blood pressure. I didn't tell anyone for days what he suggested because I thought he was mean but honest... at first i thought it was crazy until i looked into it. When i went to the seminar for weight loss the first thing the doctor said is 90% of people that loss weight by dieting gain it back! That was it for me ... so tired of gaining and losing over the years and this surgery gives you a chance. When people ask me about it tell them about the percentage of people gaining weight back and it shuts them up. I want to live longer for my son and god willing this is my chance. II know it wont be easy but it will give me a chance to start over. Its a good thing!!! Tell them all it is a good thing .. a new start ... good luck !!!!!

I’ve come to the uneducated conclusion that post op diets past the 4th week are so disparate that they are essentially meaningless. Mine was pretty honest when pressed about this, saying I could try anything I want and if it doesn’t work I’ll know, and short of gorging myself I’m not going to hurt anything at this point. I’m four weeks tomorrow but I’ve had raw veggies, chicken breast etc without issue but that’s me. I’m lucky in that nothing has bothered me, but I’m limiting solids to about 1oz and love the restriction. Obviously healthy choices are key from here on out so I’m not breaking out a box of donuts... but a nibble of x or y isn’t going to erupt out of my stomach like an alien. It’ll either agree with me or not and I can adjust accordingly. But I’m not a doctor, follow yours please and be comfortable in knowing you have a paid professional in your corner, not some rando internet poster like me. :)

My surgery was 7/26 and I’ve lost 95 pounds. During the pandemic I was able to spend more time on the kitchen and also invested in an air fryer, best money spent!! Also I committed to at least 30m a day of exercise using YouTube, free trials from different apps and even cleaning. I missed my last two checkups but I’m planning to go sometime this month. This year has allowed to get reacquainted with myself. I find pleasure in things that the excess weight has taken from me. Happy anniversary to all!!

If you do a bit of research on the internet, you'll find that he's not practicing and hasn't been for quite a few years. Maybe running MLM weight loss schemes because it's not possible to find employment in the medical field after losing various ethical and legal lawsuits (including a class-action lawsuit) and having your medical license revoked...

I can't remember if I had the crepe-y-ness or not. I did have bat wings, though. Here are some before and after of my arms. The "after" were taken two months after surgery, so there'd be more scarring and swelling there than there is now - although it looks like it's pretty minimal in these pictures, actually.... (UPDATE: I did see one photo where I could see crepe-y arms (in the before) - but it wasn't too bad. I don't have an after one that shows that it's gone, but I definitely know I don't have that anymore. So yes - it took the crepe away!)

Hey everyone. I hope that y’all are doing good. So the other day, my little girl came to give me a hug. I was standing at the time and all of a sudden she got really excited and said “mommy, I can put my arms all the way around you now”!!!! It might be dumb to some but it made me so happy and I had to hide my tears from her! Also, tonight!!!! I took a very comfortable bath for the first time in a very looonnnng time! Before, I couldn’t even sit comfortably in the tub.