PdxMan

First off, everything you are feeling is totally normal. You should be questioning everything about this, including yourself. This is major surgery and you are about to make a fundamental change with your relationship with food. You do have to wrap your brain around it all, but if you are ready to make a change with doing the same old, same old, then the sleeve, I think, is the best way to go. At least it was for me. I really hate sugarfree products. I am allergic to aspartame, and I really just don't like splenda. I can probably handle it for the 4 weeks of blended after the surgery, but I don't really want to use it afterwards. I avoid sugar free as much as I can. I, too, don't like the substitutes, but sometimes they are difficult to avoid. You don't have to do sugarfree. Reduced sugar, yes. Could I do this by myself without surgery? I've lost almost 30 lbs since July. Could I lose the 150 lbs by myself? If you're anything like me, no. I have dieted and lost dozens of times only eventually regaining it back and more. I needed a permanent tool to help me get off this rollercoaster. Again, the sleeve was the answer for me. What if I get Water nausea? I love water. And I don't love crystal light (cause of the splenda). We can't live in a world of "What ifs". You'll make yourself crazy for sure. What if you get hit by a bus as you leave surgery? What if you don't get the surgery and you have an aneurysm? The answer is you do the best you can do. You'll get by. I've never touched a Crystal Light. What if I have a lot of pain afterwards? I am so sensitive to pain. Let me tell you, you will have pain afterwards. You have a 95% chance of that, for sure. But, they give you lorital which is a liquid pain management solution. It works and you get by. Not really a big deal for most. I've been having a lot of issues taking my Vitamins. Every time I try, I throw up. My gag reflex seems to be so darn active! What if I can't get the vitamins I need? Then you get liquid vitamins, gummy vitamins, shots ... there are solutions out there. Trust me. You are not the only pirate on this ship.

I always suggest folks in your boat to start tracking everything in MyFitnessPal. Everything. Exercise, Water and food. Overestimate your food portions and underestimate your exercise. If you honestly track everything, you can see exactly what is going on. If you are able to maintain a calorie deficit, you will lose weight. You will stall, too, of course, but in the long run, you will lose. Oh, and I forgot to ask. Are you following the rules explicitly? No drinking with eating? Eat Protein first, then sides? When exercising, are you reaching your target heart rate?

Follow OTR's advice and start moving. Exercise. Walk, run, swim ... whatever it is, find something you can do and do it. Regularly. Walking to the mailbox is great, but that is not what I am talking about here. Grab a backpack and walk to the grocery store. Walk to church. Walk somewhere. Have a goal in mind and do it. Walking in a circle drives me nuts, so it helps to have a destination and goal. As you progress, ramp up your exercise. Go farther. Move faster. Get hand weights, ankle weights, whatever. Progress. You will be amazed at how much quicker your loss will occur.

Yeah ... right.

And the "rules don't apply" is in reference too ... uh ... food, so ... perpetuating a stereotype like this is, IMO, man bashing. Just because men in your life or all the TV shows portray men in a certain light doesn't really mean even 51% of the men behave that way. Or even 25% for that matter. It may be 100% true ... all I'm saying is it just gets old always seeing men portrayed or referenced as the bumbling idiot when it comes to children, wives, jobs, cleaning, health ,,, blah, blah, blah. I would just think a Men's forum at a support site would be a safe haven. BTW, if those reading this find the majority of men around them are the bumbling idiot types I mention above, perhaps it is time to analyze the company y'all keep.

Wow, when I read this, I said to myself, "He is playing with fire, here." One month out and eating regular foods, he is risking a leak. It is no wonder he has pain when eating. His arrogance will be the death of him. Seriously. Not something to be triffled with. If he is going to venture out on his own path, then all I can say is God Bless him and good luck. I know of an easier path, compliance, but just don't be upset when he starts crying about how his weight loss has stalled and he doesn't know why. I know why ... Yeah, women have NO control or food issues, do they? Please don't bash men in The Man Room forum.

Are you drinking an abnormally large amount of water? Should be, if you're not. Most of those ask you to. What did you take and how much? 10:30 ... what time zone?

In about a week, I will be 15 months out. I can eat any food. I take what I would refer to as a normal person bite (not the mounding forkful I did pre-op) and chew well putting down my fork. Swallow. Assess how it felt. Repeat until I *feel* full or hiccup. This is usually about 3 or 4 bites of chicken, steak or some other lean Protein, with a side dish chaser of 1 or 2 bites. If I am eating a salad, I can have a Cereal bowl size, no problem. Same with Soups. They go down a lot easier. I've lost over 100 pounds and have been at goal since about March with surgery July, 2011.

For 95% of us, hair loss is inevitable. I, too, tried the Biotin, but for WLS patients, I don't think it makes a difference. We have undergone such a drastic change in our nutritional routine, this is just going to happen ... to some degree. Before a bunch of people jump in and say, "Well, I never lost hair", then I say congratulations, you dodged the hair loss bullet. You are in the minority. My solution was to shave my head. Not bald, but on the lowest setting, #1. That way, when it grew back, it was there to stay and I didn't have to stare at the thinning sprouts on my head. I know many women do the same thing, and then they wear a fabulous wig. It might be fun for you to check out. Your hair will grow back, mine did, and it will be just as thick and fabulous as before. This is just a minor bump along the road.

You sound like you are ahead of the game. Getting all your liquids and that much Protein one week out is impressive. I would guess you are in the upper 10% of those being able to do so. As far as #2 goes, it was about 8/9 days out. I had to use Milk of Magnesia to get things moving and pretty much took some everyday for about a week to keep *regular*. After that, and the fact that all you are taking in is liquids, things quickly reverse themselves.

Don't forget ... your Iron gut just had 85% of itself removed. It will protest a bit for awhile. Once it heals, you and your gut will get its mojo back. Until then, rightsize your expectations.

Is outpatient an option for you? That is what I did. I don't like hospitals, either. There's a bunch of sick people in there and nurses who wake you up at all hours of the night. Walking around with your hiney sticking out ... getting all cold ... Terrible, I tell ya, terrible.

Yeah, I get the shakes if I eat too much sugar. But it doesn't keep me from doing it. It is all about moderation. I know ... we all have heard that one before ...

This EXACT same thing happened to me. I made a huge hand gesture and off it went. I stopped wearing my ring after that for fear of losing it.

Yup, me too. I waited until I got to goal as I had a titanium ring and those can't be re-sized and didn't want to have to buy a new ring and then have it re-sized once I got to goal. I bought a new wedding band, which made me sad because it is not the ring from our wedding, but on the other hand, it is nice to not have sausage fingers, sooo ... Congrats. It is a nice, unexpected NSV

Funny, I was the exact same way. I dropped 40 pounds and was still wearing all the same clothes. I didn't let it frustrate me, though, as I knew deep down this couldn't continue, and it didn't. Right after, my sizes started dropping like crazy. I was changing pant sizes every month for awhile. It will happen ... you know it has to.

Band exercises are great. You can pick the level and do what you are capable of. Order them off Amazon and have them delivered. You can Google exercises to do with resistance bands, but here is one resource: http://www.band-exercises.net/index.html Hope this gets you on your way. Good luck!

I think we might be talking about two different things. Appetite suppression is one thing, where you don't want to eat at all versus decision making about what you do eat. Of course, the first step is to not have the evil foods in the house in the first place. The second part, for me, is to be sure I am following the rules. Eat the lean Protein first. This quickly gives me a full feeling that lasts for a long time. Last night for dinner, I had a turkey burger. No bun. I ate 3/4 of it and had the full feeling for hours. I did not drink before, during or after my meal. I wanted to keep that food in my stomach and keep that full feeling. When I do things like this, I have the appetite suppression you may be looking for. When I have a salad with meat on it, I get the same full feeling, but I definitely can eat more of it and the full feeling does not last as long. So, when a couple hours goes by and it is not a *mealtime*, I may have some crackers or a cookie or something else I probably should not have. Bottom line is, I make far better decisions when I follow the rules explicitly. How compliant to the rules do you think you are?

I am not sure a diet pill is going to help you make better choices. With or without the pill, you, ultimately make the decisions. Get to the root of that and you may find getting the last pounds off and keeping them off will be easier. Do you plan on taking diet pills the rest of your life because THEY make better decisions for you? Really? I'm guessing the sleeve has helped curb your appetite as it has mine. Basically, when mealtime comes around, and throughout the day, for that matter, I have to decide what I am going to eat. I know that I have about 4-6 oz of capacity. I know that my body has nutritional requirements (vitamins, Proteins, calcium) and I know I need to meet those first before I can have a cookie. When I have a cookie in my hand and want to eat it, I review where I am at through the day. Have I met my needs to this point? Would the space in my stomach be better served by a banana instead of this Twix?

Have you tried it at room temp? I know you are 4 months out, but when I was early, room temp was the only way I could drink them. Still drink them today ... had one for breakfast. It may just be one of those things you are going to need to acquire a taste for. If you can't, you are going to need to find another way to get your Protein in. Otherwise, you may have considerable muscle loss in this whole process.

When I eat too much, this happens to me. I just have to lie down and, like you, half an hour later I am fine. I told my wife this is probably what the whole tiredness after Thanksgiving meals really is about, not the triptophan (sp?) link. I'm guessing that eating too much triggers the body to go down for a bit until it can process the load a bit.

Congratulations on making the decision to get a tool that WILL help you gain some control over your eating. It has been an awesome experience for me and it is so nice not to be a slave to food as I once was. As you said, it is a tool. You still have work to do, but when the pounds start coming off, the motivation gets things moving along. Good luck and look forward to seeing you on the loser's bench!

Let me Wiki that for you: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_gel

For me, I made large batches of Soup. Smoked ham, lentils and veggies (no celery), chicken veggie and turkey chili were my staples. I put them in jam jars and in the freezer. I puréed mine and the family had the regular, but I ate soup far more often then they. My meals were ready to go, so I only really needed to *cook* 1 meal ... For them. Full liquid just means not Clear Liquids. You can eat just about anything (healthy) in the puréed stage. Throw it in a blender with a little chicken broth and blend. Got turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy? Throw it in your Magic Bullet with broth and there you go.