PdxMan

Wow, congrats on your loss, but I gotta ask ... is this in accordance with your surgeon's instructions? Just because you CAN eat a steak 5 weeks doesn't mean you SHOULD. From what I have been told, you are risking complications by not being on a pureed diet at this stage. You have to remember that the stomach is the mechanical part of digestion and you just had 85% of it removed. Also, there is a staple line there which has not completely healed over yet. The scar tissue is not formed and you are asking this fraction of a stomach to take on steak, one of the more difficult items to mechanically break down. So, for long term success, you may consult what your surgeon's post op diet is and begin forming new eating habits.

Yes, we definitely need pics. Congrats on all of your hard work.

Yes, the dance of trying to live the balanced life. This is one of the reasons I think it is so important to be as compliant as possible early on. We must develop new habits and new reactions to the curves life throws at us. We need to keep repeating these behaviors until they become the natural way we react. I don't have to think about grabbing a Protein shake when I go to work out, it just happens naturally. My freezer is ALWAYS stocked with good, healthy, home-made Soups which again, I naturally grab on my way out to work. When stuck in a situation where I need to order food at a restaurant, choosing the option which has the best nutritional impact is easy now and I do not mourn not getting the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy with a roll and ... If it is still a struggle, then continue to fake it until you make it. Old habits die hard and my demons will always be there waiting for any sign of weakness. But, with the help of the sleeve, and some time under my belt developing these new habits, it is easier to make better decisions naturally. Stress is one of my big red flags and I am smack in the middle of a very stressful time myself. I know that it will get better and no amount of (fill in the blank) will make it be any better. As a matter of fact, it will make it worse as now I would get to add the guilt of being bad onto my plate.

Just to stand on the shoulders of BlessedFun2, you can just set a goal for 5 minutes. When the notion to have one of those carb-a-wonderful delights, take a deep breath, look at the clock and say to yourself, "I can make it 5 minutes without that bite." If the craving strikes sooner, then do it every minute. Whatever it takes. Sometimes we have to live moment to moment.

BTW, you haven't failed, you are just being human. This is not an easy path by any means. We have our demons and they will continually plague us our entire lives. At least that has still been true for me at almost two and half years post op. If we give up, the demons win. So, no, you did not fail, you just confirmed you are human. Pull yourself up and get back into the game. You can do this.

Get back to basics. I don't want to sound harsh, but putting the blame on the sleeve for "letting me eat an entire bagel" is ridiculous. I think you know this. Your sleeve has nothing to do with eating an entire bagel. That occurred long before you even took the first bite. You know bread is your weakness, so ... I'm not going to spell it out. You have been sleeved for 9 months now. So, as I said. Get back to basics. Eat lean meat first, then veggies. I would suggest staying away from all starches for awhile. Don't drink before during or right after eating. What are you doing for exercise? I truly want everyone who gets WLS to be successful, but we have to get out of our own way sometimes. We are our own worst enemy. If you know your triggers, GET RID OF THEM!

Here is a good article about stalls. Quite normal and is actually a good thing. Know that this will not be your last stall, either. http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html#.UqZUa_RDulY

From my experience reading here, I don't think a single person doesn't go through what you are going through at some point. But, to be honest with you, you are still early in your sleeved life. There will come a time when you are able to eat anything albeit in smaller quantities. I have found that I enjoy the fact that I don't have to eat the large quantities I see other people eat. I smile at the fact that I can feel fully sated with the portion that I do enjoy. It took some time and some personal exploration as to why I mourned the fact I could not abuse food the way I used to, but, for me, I did come to a new relationship with food and value this newfound relationship. You may actually find you yearn for these days when you didn't enjoy food Now is the time to develop new eating habits as you will learn how to eat around you sleeve and then you truly are on your own.

I know that for medical issues in general, a cruise ship is a good place to be as you can get full medical response from pretty much anywhere on a ship within 3 minutes. But ... what I would wonder about is whether they have the means to diagnose gastrointestinal issues such that if something were to arise (leak), would they be able to begin appropriate treatment? Now, I understand leaks are rare, but it wouldn't hurt to ask about the ship's ability to assist you if there was an issue and of course, I would tell the medical team your history and that you were on board. Otherwise, I would say go for it.

And so begins the process (at least for me it was) of determining why we do the things we do. You know what you are supposed to do. I'm sure you understand the consequences of non-compliance with the instructions, yet that gremlin screams into our ear and we listen and occasionally act on their demands. Why? Everybody has their own reasons, and this is but one of the things we get to benefit from on this journey. So, take the time to understand what your triggers are and what you can do to keep them from being started in the first place. For me, stress is a big contributor. I have since been practicing meditation more and right sizing expectations. Expectations on me and my expectations on others. I have many other things which begin my path to the dark side, but that is just one of mine.

The holidays should be a joyous time for all. Just because we are no longer able to abuse food the way we use to shouldn't exclude us from participating. I am going into my third holiday season as a sleever and here is what I have done: Participate like you have 100% of your stomach. As crazy as this may sound, it is true. At our office party, which has a ton of food and sweets, I grab a plate of food and I walk around with it nibbling here and there. By no means do I finish the plate, but I appear to be participating. Oh, and I grab the high Protein stuff. (and maybe one cookie) Bring what you brought previously. I am known for my english toffee. I make dozens of batches each year, hand out bags to my co-workers and set a huge plate of it for the office party. That hasn't changed. I just don't indulge in eating the toffee the way I used to. I know the dark path that leads me, so, I just don't do it. Everybody gets their toffee fix and I get my ego boost for all the toffee adulation. Carry a drink around. I don't indulge in alcoholic beverages though I think everybody else except for one person at my office does. I usually hang pretty close to them, but I do grab sparkling apple cider. Now, it is bubbly which my tummy doesn't handle very well, so I will have that glass pretty much the whole time. But, you find what works for you. Apple juice would be great option. Engage. If you act like you are a fish out of Water then you ARE a fish out of water. You don't have to over indulge in drink and food to have a good time no matter what you may have thought in the past. You can laugh and chat and have a good time without going overboard. After all, everybody else is going to be drunk so they will laugh at all your stories ... right? If you find yourself struggling, then you need to know there are other issues with your relationship with food. If you feel you need food to Celebrate and are mourning not being able to abuse food the way you used to, then I have good news for you. You are starting to confront some of the demons in your closet as to why you were morbidly obese to begin with. This is an opportunity for you to begin doing the work to have healthier coping mechanisms. So, go out there and enjoy your holidays, gosh darn it!

Congratulations on your decision. I know what you mean by the feeling of relief. For me, I think it was the surrendering which helped me. I had to finally admit that I could not do this on my own and I needed help. That with the help of this tool they call VSG, I would be finally able to be the person I always knew I could be, but just struggled to reach. Yes, it is a drastic step, but it is one that has helped me to develop such a better relationship with food. Food no longer controls me and it feels so good to be able to say that. I honestly never thought I could live a life where food did not dominate my every thought, but today, that reality has come true. Complications do exists, as you point out, and it is good to know what they are. But I also think it is even more beneficial to know how to mitigate some of those complications. IMO, the first of those is to begin working between the ears. Then, be compliant with your pre-op diet. Being compliant will also begin to help you understand your issues as your brain begins to tell you it doesn't WANT to be compliant. Why is that? I also started exercising vigorously a month or so pre-op to get my endurance up. I believe it helped me have a trouble free recovery. Then, of course, those first 6 weeks post are critical and difficult as everything has changed. Emotionally, it is a rollercoaster, but it is a GREAT ride! Congrats, keep reading, search the site for any topic you are interested in and post any questions you have.

Congratulations on your revision AND making it to Onederland! I was fortunate enough not to require a drain, but I hear people feel a world of difference once it is out. Don't get worried if your weight loss slows as the first week can be a week of losing all the fluids they pumped in you during your procedure. Soon, you will get to the phase where you are burning fat, but remember it will also burn muscle, so be sure to get as close as you can to your Protein requirements. Good luck and again, CONGRATS!

Depends on your goals. Paying for a session with a personal trainer would be highly beneficial. Weight training is great, but if you don't have proper form or do not lift asymmetrically, you can do yourself more harm than good. A trainer can help you there.

In my experience, the bottom line behind cardio is to get your heart pumping up in your target heart range for your age. I always shoot for the 80-90 range. There is a lot of talk about the duration of maintaining this level. As you know, HIIT, is frequent short bursts whilst other forms tend to maintain these levels for longer. Myself, I go for a blend. I am recently back into running, but when I was running often, I would go out for half an hour to 45 minutes maintaining this level 4 times a week. Twice a week, I did HIIT for an hour. This worked for me. There are many heart rate calculators out there, so Google them, but here is a chart.

Well, the initial Honeymoon, as I see it, is the period of time where you don't really have a choice as to whether you comply with the guidelines. This is the time when I adopted new eating habits: taking smaller bites, chewing thoroughly, putting the utensil down after each bite, evaluating how I felt and not drinking around mealtimes. At first, it was difficult, but I did not want to push things too hard, so I adopted. So then, did the Honeymoon end? That, I believe, is by choice. Whether a person takes these new habits into their sleeved life once they regain the ability to eat any and all foods (for me it was at 6 months) will impact their long term success. This is where the rubber meets the pavement. Ill be honest with you, I am almost two and half years out and I am still in my honeymoon because I don't have to abuse foods the way I used to. If I gain a few pounds, I rigorously follow the guidelines and voila! I lose the weight. It is up to me to understand why I abused food previously and what is driving me to try to abuse food now. I still have the demons on my shoulder, but the sleeve helps me to ignore them. The Honeymoon ends when you decide not to use your new tool as designed. It truly is up to you. But the good news is, you can get it back any time you are willing to do the work.

I think ERP hit the nail on the head. I found my attitude and outlook changed. I walked around with a shit eating grin on my face more often and people respond to that. I had women open the doors for me and say, "Hi!" to me as I walked down the street. But I am also not going to fool myself, either. I was morbidly obese. I am not now. Yes, there is a physical difference, I'm not going to try to fool myself and believe everyone should have found me attractive when my BMI was over 40. Look at my pictures in my gallery ... even I can tell which person I would rather date.

Whoo Hoo! Keep working it!

Wow! Congratulations! You look great.

Hello Kathy, Welcome to BariatricPal! I'm sorry to hear you didn't get the surgery you thought you were getting, but hopefully, you may discover it is a great option for a lot of folks. So, I know that until I was able to change how I ate, every time I ate was a chore. I am a person who used to drink a whole glass of Water in one or two gulps. Even my spoonful of pudding would be too large. Then, I either wouldn't chew well enough or I would take my next bite too soon or I would eat too much. What I noticed, though, is when I changed these old habits, I did not have these issues you describe. It was difficult to wrap my brain around ... eating 3 spoonfuls and stopping. I didn't feel my usual full feeling ... not really sure what that feeling was early on, but I knew that if I pushed it, I would be uncomfortable. So, here is what worked for me: Take small bites Put my utensil down after your bite Chew twice as much as I did before Evaluate how that bite felt. If everything is fine and I don't feel the remotest sign of restriction, take another bite. Stop eating before I get full Eat every few hours At two weeks, I was eating ham, lentil and veggie Soup pureed really well. I also enjoyed French Onion soup, also pureed really well. It gets old for sure and you start craving any form of texture to your food, but you have to be strong through this phase. It will pass. You will be back on regular foods soon, so don't push yourself too fast. It will only make you feel uncomfortable. Take it easier than you think until you are ready for the next phase. For me, that was merely pureeing my Soups less and less.

Maybe it's because I have some time under my belt, but nothing has changed except, well ... the choices and quantity. We have a large cookie baking and decorating party at my house every year, I just have one cookie instead of 10. I have already made over 20 batches of English Toffee that I give away to friends, family and co-workers. Probably will be making about another 20 batches before the season is over. My holiday dinners would make any mother proud. They are huge feasts which my friends and family enjoy. I just have my portions and I am quite happy about it. So, nothing has changed for me. Except I just don't go overboard like I used to. Thanks Sleeve!!

HERE is a search of this site for him. I see a few people say they are going to use him. Perhaps contact them directly about their experience. http://www.bariatricpal.com/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=search&andor_type=&sid=f8ad83386cf1c06465b312b8c4d446a9&search_app_filters[forums][sortKey]=title&search_app_filters[forums][sortKey]=title&search_app_filters[forums][searchInKey]=&search_app_filters[forums][sortDir]=&search_term=Jose+Rodriguez&search_app=forums&search_app_filters[forums][searchInKey]=&search_app_filters[forums][sortKey]=date&search_app_filters[forums][sortDir]=

I would avoid the shake pre workout. Protein digests a lot slower and your body really is looking for it AFTER the workout. I would have a snack which is pretty much void of protein if you are needing something before hand, like a piece of fruit or something between half an hour to an hour prior to your workout. Then, 15 minutes after that, start in on your Water. Get yourself well hydrated. While working out doing CrossFit, be sure to drink more water at EVERY opportunity. You'll notice that everybody else is not drinking at every break, but everybody else isn't missing 85% of their stomach, either. Your capacity to hydrate is a lot different than everybody else's. Drink smaller amounts, too. I was explaining this awhile back ago. A "normal" person can drink 8 oz of water no problem which would occupy about 10% of their stomach. It can swoosh around in there while working out and be fine. If we try to drink 4 oz of water, which can be 50% of our stomach and then try to exercise at a high level, it would irritate us something fierce. A normal person would never drink 40 oz of water and then go do Zumba or something ... right? Neither can we.

The question of extra skin is a difficult one to answer as there are many things that play into what happens after major weight loss: How obese the they How long have they been obese Age Skin elasticity Smoker? How many pregnancies? Twins? This is not a complete list by any means. Creams are not going to shrink the skin and exercise will tone and build the underlying muscle, which can reduce excess skin, but without medical intervention, there is no way to completely avoid it. For me, I would rather have the excess skin and be in a size 32 jeans than not have excess skin in 42s ... know what I mean? It really isn't that bad, for me. I started at a 40 BMI and am now below 25.