Rootman

Reading between the lines - and not VERY tween" at all - it appears that sh doesn't want to have you lose MUCH so they reject you on the basis that you don't need surgery and she doesn't want you to GAIN either so that they reject you on the basis of you not cooperating and making an effort to lose weight. Seems that if you were to stay the same weight for 6 months and yet eat dietetic portions you would be more apt to be approved. So judiciously leaving off some food in list may be what she is driving at.

So I weigh in this morning thinking I have another pound or so to go to get below the magic BMI level of 30 when the scale surprises me with a weight of 220.8. I plug it into my ticker and the BMI is . . . 29.9! I check 4 times just to be sure and it reads the same each time. WooHoo! I am no longer obese and officially just "over weight". Maybe I ought to Celebrate and go out to diner tonight - DOH! - NO! That's hat got me into this mess in the first place. I think I'll go to the gym instead.

Contrary to popular myths the amount of Water drink does not have to be a set amount. YES it is good to drink plenty of clean cool water but it is NOT necessary to drink "6 glasses", "8 glasses" or X ounces a day. Drink enough that you are urinating a few times a day and you urine is clear or just slightly tinted yellow, it it smells strongly and is bright yellow, orange or heaven forbid BROWN then you are NOT drinking enough and you need to increase your intake. ANY liquid not containing too much salt or otherwise acts like a diuretic (like caffeine) counts in your intake but plain water is the best and is basically FREE and is the basic element you need. If you just can't choke down plain water then try flavoring it with a sugar free drink mix like Crystal Light or SF Cool Aid, flavor to suit your taste.

Yes, virtually any fluid does, as long as it doesn't contain too much salt or caffeine - which might make it a diuretic - it counts.

The ticker below says it all.

Hey now! I resemble that remark! Being a guy I've had plenty of stuff done to me, INCLUDING Lasik surgery - the SECOND BEST think I've done for myself, the first is the sleeve. The sleeve, repeated esophageal procedures, bunion surgery, etc. I've had a bunch of skin cancer frozen and cut off with nary a wince, gave blood till last year regularly and ENJOYED it (had to step back for 5 years because of cancer). I even froze then cut off a dangling skin tag on the back of my thigh all by myself at HOME no less with the wifey watching and she nearly passed out. I've cleaned up some pretty disgusting stuff after children and pets and never batted an eye. I have to give myself a shot every 10 days and I found that sticking myself with the needle reeaal slow hurts LESS to me than jabbing it in does. And I went to my VSG surgery by MYSELF all the way to Mexico. So there are SOME guys out there that CAN take it.

Congrats! If you're anything like me you never thought you would see the day, did you!?! Congrats again - keep it up!

I'm a ways north of you in NW Arkansas, Rogers to be exact.

Too many issues with the band, erosion of the esophagus, ongoing maintenance with filling and un-filling saline to adjust the size, possible slippage and the fact that I have an aversion to having a plastic thingy floating around in my gut,

I believe the issue is the long insoluble fibrous strings that may ball up in the stomach. So it MAY be desirable to avoid eating long raw stalks of it. Cut up small bits and cooked it should be fine.

It was a few weeks till I really had any desire for it I felt so crappy for a few weeks I didn't do much of anything but go to work and come home again.

It's true for the guys sometimes too. I now weigh 222 and people say I look like I weigh 180. My size LARGE shirts hang on me loosely, my size 36 pants are baggy. I have it in the hips thighs and I generally carry a little fat EVERYWHERE, feet, hands, face. I also seem to carry a lot of inter abdominal and inter thoracic fat, which is really bad stuff to have as it can press on your organs and cause serious issues.

The symptoms you list are pretty severe to be explained by ketosis, I would wonder if the issues you are having is due to anesthesia, healing from the surgery and the sudden drop in caloric intake. The gas they use during surgery causes a few issues too due to the irritation of nerves. Contrary to popular belief the gas completely dissipates in a few hours and any gassy feeling in the stomach is typically the stomach itself feeling particularly sensitive to typical amounts of "gas" in the stomach. I would recommend going back to the doctor to be sure.

Well when I dropped to about 240 and hit the 65% excess weight loss I was in heaven, I really look nice, feel good and consider myself "normal" sized now. While technically still obese I carry my weight well and did not look any where near the weight I am. I breathed a sigh of relief and told myself that I was "there" and anything else I gained by further loss was just a bonus ... till I started down into the 220's, I then realized that my BMI was going to drop below 30 for the first time in decades and I was officially going from "obese" to the "overweight" category - AND I WANT IT - BAD - REAL BAD! Man, my weight loss recently has trickled off compared to what it did at first, only 2 or 3 pounds a week, pretty good and considered "great success" by other diet plans like Weight Watchers but it can't come off soon enough for me. I'm sitting here at 227 and am itching to lose another 7 pounds to get to 220 and be below a BMI of 30. I feel more apprehension now then I did before hitting the "magic" marks of 350, 300, then 250 then the 240 and 65% weight loss. Don't know why I'm writing this, guess I just need to spill my guts. Wish me luck!

Swim laps - I do 120 lengths of a 75' pool in 90 minutes 2 or 3 times a week Horseback riding - been twice in the last 3 months, love it! Cut the grass without wheezing like I was going to die Have sex without it hurting more than feel good - neck, back knees etc. Walk any amount of distance without getting winded

Yeah good luck getting this former fat boy in front of a camera for a nude or semi nude picture, I don't even like pics after 150+ pounds lost. A LOT of heavy people are the same way. There is no way a doc would require this of you, especially in the USA with the HIPA rules and all.

This early on in recovery it is typically a result of irritation of nerves leading to the diaphragm. It should pass and YES it sucks and sometimes even hurts. Later hiccups are a sign you are full and a signal to stop eating RIGHT AWAY, the feeling gets worse if you ignore the hiccups and eat a few more bites.

Almost 8 months out and I eat pizza once in a while. Our favorite is a local pizza shops thin crust with a fir amount - but not piled high - of toppings. I can eat one piece of a small pizza and I'm full, MAYBE 2 if the pieces are small, I used to scarf down 3/4 of a large all by myself and would want more but my wife already at the other 1/4!

Whoa! Let's clear this up before anyone else gets confused. I am pretty sure that Travelbum is speaking of closure staples used to close his incision and not the staples used to close off the stomach. Some surgeons use staples instead of stitches to close up the laproscopic incision holes. Travelbum, can you verify this? Maybe I'm wrong. And if I'm right this is pretty painless, you might get a little stinging sensation but it shouldn't feel any worse that yanking a bandage with a few hairs attached.

Yes, her problem is most definitely psychological rather then physical. There are thousands who have full bypasses and can maintain their weight despite the fat that in the case of an RNY they have a MUCH smaller "stomach" (actually a pouch made up of part of the intestinal tract). Quite a few people have had to have their stomach completely removed due to cancer or the threat of cancer and can survive and thrive. I'm going on 8 months out and have slowed to 1 or 2 pounds a week weight loss which means I am eating close to what I need to maintain my weight. I can easily add a few calories and keep my weight right where it's at. Just as they had issues with eating too much food they now have issues with eating to little.

It was also recommended for me as well to get anti-bacterial soap and wash by belly with it for the few days pre-op. I really have a problem with this stuff as I think it PROMOTES the formation of antibacterial resistant bacteria. Basically you kill 99% of the bugs and the 1% that are left reproduce and inherit the ability of the resistance, and so the cycle goes. I also have to wonder what benefit this has since you typically wash the last time hours before surgery and then put on your relatively germy clothes and sit around a while getting sweaty and providing a good environment to reproduce MORE of the resistant bacteria. Just my 2 cents.

150 pounds down and they have stayed pretty much where they are, if I lose any more - and I should lose another 35 pounds or so at least - I suspect they will get bigger. I am very fortunate as they are hardly noticeable, but they ARE there and will probably NEVER go away unless I work out so much that I bulk up like Ahnold and get huge 'ceps to fill the space the fat once took.

Yep, what Eureka-C said! ANYTHING is fair game but try and eat Protein first then the other stuff if you still want something. I've heard a few genuine sounding precautionary tails about avoiding raw celery stalks and coconut due to the vast amount of fibrous tissue they contain, these "may" ball up in the stomach and since they're pretty indestructible may cause what's called a bezoar - in a cat it's called a hair BALL.

Khy, YES do follow your docs orders but I highly suspect that he derived this diet recommendation from experience with BYPASS patients. When they bypass the first part of the intestines the absorption of Protein is hindered, since we DID NOT get a BYPASS this malabsorbtion is not an issue. So somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 to 100 grams of protein is good, anything over 60 should be OK.

I think, and this is just IMHO, that this is BS. I CANNOT eat and not drink, although I don't drink anywhere near as much as I used to. I used to drink 2 or 3 glasses of Water ever with every meal. Now it's maybe ONE, and consumed during the meal. IN a restaurant I usually polish of a glass of whatever I'm drinking prior to the entree being served and another glass during, I sometimes have them get me a drink to go too and sip on it for the next hour or so. I am going on 8 months out and have lost about 150 pounds so it must be working despite my "flushing food through my stomach" . I also do not get hungry, at least like I used to. I just get a small sensation that whispers, "Hey, maybe you should eat something.", not the ravenous tummy screaming at me "FEED ME . . . NOW!".