Butterthebean

May 10....48 lbs since surgery. 64 overall.

That's great. The best protein shake is one you can drink day after day. If it makes you gag the nutritional value doesn't matter.

I used to eat flour tortillas all the time. Now I make lettuce wraps instead. Much better and very tasty.

I had read number 2 on this board many times, but somehow I still wasn't quite prepared for it. Your number 3 is my number 1. Day in and day out, my success depends on knowing in advance what I'm going to eat next, otherwise there is a jack in the box on every corner just calling my name.

I haven't lost enough weight to notice any extra attention, but in the past I lost a great deal of weight (only to gain it back) and I got all sorts of attention. Of course, my confidence was probably also higher so that may have contributed to the whole thing. I suddenly felt no reservations about talking to anyone. I'm a happily married man and my wife noticed the attention as well. Didn't bother me, I wasn't looking for anything. Besides a lot of relationships involve physical attraction. That's the way we are programmed. Now if someone suddenly wanted to be my friend who had spurned me before, I would probably just say no thanks.

I told just enough people at work that everyone found out about it, which was my intention. I've heard nothing negative. Many people have commented positively on my weight loss, and I have one coworker who had bypass years ago and he has been a great sounding board for me, since he was right where I am now. I think most people who know me know I really don't care if they don't agree with my decision. I dont mind defending my decision to have surgery What's the worst they are gonna say? That I'm fat and I couldn't lose the weight on my own? That was true BEFORE the surgery so nothing has really changed. I feel like the people who haven't said a word are either respecting my privacy or they have nothing positive to say and they are keeping their negativity to themselves. Either way I'm cool with it. My life has only gotten better since surgery.

I loved using mine before surgery on hikes, but since then I have refrained from using it because of the "no straws" rule.

Nutritionist.

Unless you heal slowly or have complications, you should be ok for some moderate hiking. It was hiking 4 miles a day 4 weeks out. Using my hiking poles really helped. I had a small day pack. I wouldn't have wanted to carry a full pack.

Way to go Patrick.

Could also be heartburn. Alot of people say that heartburn can feel like hunger after the surgery. I personally have a hard time wrapping my mind around that. But one day I was hungry when I knew I shouldn't be, so I ate a tums and the hunger went away. Now I'm not suggesting anyone start substituting tums for food, just suggesting you may not really need food.

What are your 3 meals if you're only 6 days post op? Have you tried drinking milk? 2 swallows fills me up like the Thanksgiving turkey.

It's nice to have support of friends and loved ones, but it's better to live and be healthy.

Once you get to your goal you can up your calories until you are just maintaining. You can also add in weight lifting and do less cardio, once you get to that point.

The good news is you won't have to watch YOUR surgery. My doc tried to show me some pics of my stomach that he took out. No thanks!

Where do I sign up for the sex addiction?

You may very well be cleared by then to do all forms of exercise, but will you have the endurance to do what your planning? After surgery your stamina will be very low, and with the drastic change in diet its difficult to build it back up. It takes time. About the time you get cleared by your doc you'll be leaving for your trip. You won't have any chance to train for those kind of miles. So I guess the big question is how good of shape are you in now? PS...if you do go, I want to go to.

LOL....I will. Meanwhile if you still want to ride, let me know and I will be happy to PM you some suggestions of bikes you could ride right now, or I'll post it right here...I don't care. Depending on what type of riding you want to do and how much money you wanna spend there are all kinds of alternatives out there. I was still riding right up till surgery at 400 pounds. Now, the last time I did any serious riding, I was about 305 riding the MS150. I hope to ride it again next year and be below 300 by then.

I live in the country too. I have found that hiking shoes are the best on gravel roads. You don't need big heavy hiking boots, but something that is kinda medium duty. They tend to have stiffer, thicker soles for walking on rocks If your roads are anything like these around here, regular walking or running shoes aren't gonna cut it. If you're light on your feet, you might be able to get by with trail running shoes.

Hey Dave....you sound so much like me. I've always been overweight and my blood pressure has always been 120/80. Last year at my physical my resting heart rate was 56. The doc didn't believe it. I've always been very active, but I always ate too much and I just couldn't loose any weight. When I was 35 I decided to drop the weight. I cut my calories to about 2000 a day, and did at least an hour of cardio a day. I went from 390 to 270 in about a year, but it was not sustainable. I was starving all the time. I was constantly dehydrated. I was eating all the wrong things, basically living on lean cuisines. No veggies, very little Protein, but a lot of low glycemic carbs. Within 5 years I gained it all back plus 11 pounds. So I had the sleeve in May. Since May 1st I've lost 55 pounds and I'm barely hungry. I think being active and relatively fit (fat but fit) really helped my recovery. I haven't had one problem. I haven't been sick. No food that I've tried so far has bothered me, but I get full so fast, and it's great. Now I'm eating about 1100 calories a day, about 135 grams of protein a day and only about 30 to 40 grams of carbs. Hell, 4 fig newtons is 40 carbs!!! I used to eat 20 at a time. So now my weight is going down nicely, and at 6 weeks out my energy level has returned completely. Yesterday I bicycled 20 miles and today I went for a 4 mile hike in the woods with my dogs. I'm doing something every day, the weight is coming off, and it is sustainable because I'm not very hungry. I will no doubt hit stalls on the scale, but in the long run I will hit my goal if I keep living like this. And I could not have done it without the sleeve. So I encourage you to believe that you can reach your goal, and if you choose to get the sleeve, I firmly believe it can help you....but you still have to make it happen. Good luck

You can do interval training on any of the machines you mentioned....elliptical, treadmill or stairclimber. Also stationary bike (or real bike), even walking and jogging. Intervals work on most anything. But don't do it everyday. It's called "HIGH INTENSITY interval training" for a reason. Until you get fitter, start with once or twice a week and build up. Good luck. Intervals are hard but they make the time fly by compared to just keeping one speed.