Lissa

Please don't delete your post, O. I think it's great that there is a man on here brave enough to say how he's feeling. There are tons of us ladies who post our success stories, but not nearly enough from you guys saying how much better you feel. I especially like that your post addresses stuff we gals would never think to talk about, like the info about guys either bowing up or bowing out now with the submissive body language. Few have the ability to articulate that like you did, even though we all know the pecking order exists.

I think that changing our thinking is the hardest part of the journey. I loved Ourborous' post about "Holy Crap, I'm Getting Hot" because it shows that he's making that mental 180 to seeing himself as he really is now. That's a tough thing for most of us to do and it requires some major introspection. I joke that I'm always waiting for security to come and make me return to the plus size section of the store when I'm shopping, but it's part of the mental part of this journey for me. I'm working really hard to exorcise that 352 pound woman who lives in my head...and it's taking some real work to do it.

I agree with everything stated above.

I use Gold Bond or Monkey butt powder before the gym daily. My doc did suggest baby powder, but I already had both of the others, so that's what I used.

I still love the ricotta bake at a year out, but ricotta and greek yogurt are both high protein ingredients to use in shakes.

I'm lactose intolerant after surgery. I have avoided milk, ice cream, and cottage cheese since those three bother me. I can still eat cheese and yogurt with no problem. I think it's getting better. I had some cottage cheese the other night with a slice of tomato and it sat well in my sleeve. Rex is finally starting to accept some dairy! Yay!

I'm jealous of your pin!! Congrats on your weight loss so far! You're rocking that sleeve!! Great job!!!

Call your dermatologist. They will prescribe an antibiotic cream, baby powder or cornstarch, and take care of any wounds that need to be lanced. Make sure you're wearing cotton undies and pants as much as possible so that the air can reach your skin.

Go, O, Go!!! I've been telling you for months that you're hot, hot, hot! Congrats on accepting it mentally! You've done a terrific job and, while the sleeve helped you get started, YOU have done the work to make it all come together. Pat yourself on the back...if you can reach it over your muscles!!

Dana, Protein Pills and protein shots are usually made from collagen and other sources that are not readily available to our sleeved bodies. Why gag down a pill or shot that isn't going to help you out nutritionally? Try mixing protein powder into other foods, as others have suggested, or check out the blog The World According to Eggface. She has a ton of recipes that are very tasty for protein shakes, protein desserts, soups, etc where you can mix powder into the food yet not gag from the taste. If you're on purees or soft foods, her Ricotta Bake is to die for and very simple to make!

You have a right to rant when people don't follow through on their promises. But, you have three kids who are old enough to go to camp, so you have some built in help, possibly. Put the kids to work. There's nothing wrong with even little kids picking up toys and clothes from the floor. By 7-8, they should be able to wash a few dishes with supervision, and one of them could sort the laundry and possibly move loads around for you. If you make it a game, or get them competing to "help mommy", it should be fun for them too. I'm not advocating slave labor, but they can certainly do a few things to help out.

BTW, someone PM'd me about the lids. I NEVER put them in my mouth. LOL

I can truly say that I think the pre-op diet is the absolute hardest part of this journey physically. There's a huge mental component afterwards, IMO, that can trip us up if we aren't careful, but that liquid diet is killer. However, the liquid diet does a couple of great things for us. It helps us detox from soda, sugar and caffeine and jump-starts the weight loss. It also, incidentally, shrinks our liver and makes it easier for the surgeon to do his/her job. You'll get through these next few days and it will be a distant, blurry memory soon.

I buy Water bottles with those tiny little lids. I have to throw the lids away when I open a bottle of water because I will sometimes randomly want to swallow the stupid lid! I know it's my head messing with me, so I just eliminate the problem. I'd switch types of water bottle, but I don't like the pop-up lids or the flip lids anyway. The weirdest food craving I've had is for pickled bologna. I loved it as a kid, then got away from it as an adult. My cousin had some in her fridge when I went to the family reunion and I probably ate 4 pieces over the three days I was there.

Nena, My psyche ended up being a revision patient with major complications afterwards. The last support group meeting that I attended with her (late July), she spent the entire meeting telling a pre-op and two new sleevers her horror story. I did report her to the surgeon when I saw him and recommended that he find someone ANYONE else to lead those meetings. I owe the pre-op a phone call, which I just remembered. Carb addiction is a bad thing, but I doubt carbs lead to crack! LMAO Carbs are NOT a gateway drug to anything except obesity, IMO. Truthfully, I think the sleeve is better than bypass because the sleeve does not have the dumping complication that many experience from the bypass. The sleeve also doesn't require re-routing the internal plumbing, which means recovery is much easier. Do what you and your doctor think is best for you! Good luck.

I just discovered this thread. If you don't mind sharing your expertise, I have a couple of questions. I've been doing low weights, high reps, combined with 1 workout of 3 heavy weights to exhaustion of the muscle. So, if I do legs Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, then I do LWHR on T and Th, then heavy weights, low reps on Saturday. I'm seeing a lot of muscle tone and some improvement in strength doing it this way. I'm working my way up to pull ups with both arms and legs. I'm still pretty heavy, 241, so I'm not having lots of success with the pull ups. Is there a better way to get to my pull up goals? Should I just continue to try doing them once a week like I'm doing, or do I add them to one or all of my weekly workouts? Second, I just found out today that I have to lose 70 more pounds for the plastic surgeon to do my tummy tuck. Are there specific weight exercises/cardio combinations I should be doing so that I lose the fat in my torso rather than losing muscle mass in my arms? I'm almost a year out and I do cardio 7 days a week, if that information helps.

I am a firm believer in therapy for our food issues, but the psychologist who did my pre-op evaluation was and is a NUTJOB. She told me that I WOULD be an alcoholic after surgery, but still gave me a pass for the surgery. F her and the horse she rode in on. I'm not a drunk, not even close. I have other addictions and I'm trying really hard to make one of them exercise. (VST qualifies as an addiction, right?) Your psyche person should have kept her unqualified medical opinion to herself. You and your surgeon are the only people who can decide or dictate what procedure you should have. I'd def tell the surgeon's staff that the psyche person is offering up her unsolicited opinions on medical procedures. That may sway who they use for future patients. You need to do what is best for you.

As I've said before, and will probably say again, VST is my support group.

How many days of liquid diet did you have to do? two weeks How much weight did you lose during it? 13 pounds How many days (if any) did you have to stay at the hospital? I was in the hospital for a day and a half Did you have any complications? No complications at all. How long after surgery did you try to eat normal food? (non-puréed, etc) My doctor allows soft solids at about 5 weeks out. How soon after surgery did you feel mostly or fully back to normal? I woke up with tremendous energy. I haven't lost that yet, so I'm still not back to "normal" (lethargic and tired) at almost a year out! Please share any extra comments about things you weren't expecting or tips: I wasn't expecting to have so much energy. I wasn't expecting the mental journey I've taken...and am still taking. I wasn't expecting the speed of my weight loss, or that I'd feel like such a different person so quickly.

(((Kiki))) Don't give up quite yet. Your body is going to shock the heck out of you in a few days. Everyone experiences stalls, especially when they first start exercising. Add to that that this is a weight where your body was comfortable before and you've got the makings of a grand old stall! Ease up on the workouts a little bit and add a little food to your daily routine for a few days. I'm betting your stall will break and in a BIG way. I lost my first pants size during a stall. One day they fit fine and the next day I walked out of them, literally. Lastly, all that loss has freed up a ton of hormones into your system. You are going to experience wild mood swings and the strangest thoughts. I seriously considered swallowing the lid to a Water bottle one morning...just to see if I could. BTW, I don't advise it...it was just a stray thought that went through my head! LOL Once my hormones calmed down, then the thought process did as well. 18 pounds in a month is fantastic. Add in the two pounds this month and you've lost 20 pounds in less than 2 months! Tell me when you could do that before the sleeve! I hope you feel better soon. Sometimes working out actually produces endorphins that will help you get through being so frustrated. I'm addicted to exercise these days. Good luck!!

Better to have excess skin and be at a healthy weight than to be fat and have no "excess" skin.

Thanks, Coops! I am definitely not interested in getting too thin. He says he can get me back in a bikini if I do all this work, but at what price... and who wants to see a 50 year old in a bikini anyway?!? I'm definitely going to be putting the money away, but I may decide to take a killer vacation instead of having any of those surgeries.

Virgo here My recovery was a 10. I woke up! I've been super high energy since surgery and had no complications. My emotional state is probably an 8. I have ups and downs, but I don't think that's truly related to surgery, but to other issues in my life. I'm in the process of getting divorced. food tolerance is a 9. I'm lactose and spicy food intolerant, but those are small blips on my radar these days. Until this morning, I'd have said my sleeve success is a 10. I had a plastics consult today and I'm very frustrated with his instructions. I have a call in to my WLS about it.

Well, here's the plastics consult results: The doc feels that I would get amazing results from an abdominoplasty and that I should also consider a boob lift with upper arms, then a thigh lift after the first two surgeries are completed. However, he wants me to get to 170 or lower before he thinks about doing the abdominoplasty. All of these surgeries will be out of pocket because my insurance will NOT cover any of them since I went out of network for the WLS. UGH The money is doable, will just take a little extra work for a while. What concerns me is the weight loss he wants before surgery. I don't see 170 as a realistic goal at this point. IMO, 170 will make me look like I died last week and my WLS surgeon agreed when we discussed this at my last visit to him. I'm willing to keep working towards 170, but I don't think even I can make that goal. Anyone have any tips or advice here?

I drink decaf coffee several times a week. TMI, but it helps me avoid constipation issues. I have been almost completely decaf since surgery. I have had maybe 3 cups of caffeinated drinks, including tea. I had a really tough time giving up my diet coke before surgery, so I am avoiding caffeine because I know that was the culprit.