Matt Z

Well... I'm a sensitive emotional male (you can ask my wife LOL) so, I do understand LOL

I can relate. Back in 2011, when I was 370 lbs. I wanted to make changes, but I didn't want to commit to anything permanent. Well, I got exactly that. I lost 70 lbs, but then started gaining some back and I just couldn't break 300 for more than a day. No matter what I did. I struggled for like 7 years. Finally I had the band removed and revised to the bypass. I can't tell you how many times I've regretted not getting the damn bypass in the first place. Those 7ish years could have been SO MUCH BETTER! But... I was too afraid to commit, and in the end, that's what sabotaged my weight loss, lack of commitment and follow through. So, if you want something that's going to work, and last, and your biggest issue is that it's going to be a "forever" change... you have to ask yourself, how long do you want to be overweight? Do you want to get only some of the way to your goal and then have that non-permanent solution fail you? And yes, I know that there is a rebound risk with all WLS. But, the changes that I personally have been forced to make, in order to make this revision to bypass work, are forever changes, because they need to be in order for them to work.

Might be worth bringing it back... there are still some "winners" floating around.

The total weight loss is a combination from the band and the bypass, the site doesn't have any features for us that dealt with revision sadly. I'm still down 67 lbs in just under 4 months though... which is still cool. But revisions are typically slower to the initial drop than everyone else. I'm happy with my overall progress, even if I did have a 7 year stall with the band.

Pretty sure there isn't a single Bypass patient that wishes they had the Sleeve. But I know plenty of sleeves and banded folks that wish they went with the bypass. I was banded in 2011. Kicking myself of spending 7 years dealing with that crap. SO glad I got the bypass now!

Congrats! Good Luck! And here's to a smooth recovery!

Totally normal. Maintenance is harder than reduction because you need to work to find the balance between what keeps your full and what won't make you fat again. But yes, this is totally normal and expected. Just focus on tracking your foods and keeping your hunger in check. You got this!

Honestly, for shirts... whatever is cheap. Because you'll need smaller sizes rather quickly. There are a quite a few on Amazon that are all really good and rather inexpensive. Brand name really doesn't matter right now, it's not like you are going to have the shirt for years... The Superman Compression shirt in my avatar, cost me $19.

It is.

Eglin Air Force Base in Florida (640 square miles) is about half the size of the entire state of Rhode Island (1212 square miles) LOL

I'm not mad or anything... I just posted the information as it is... because it's interesting. Living here you learn to ignore the "jokes" or misconceptions... because it just happens all the time. You'd think at this point people would know that Rhode Island is a state and not part of New York... but yet, you have no idea how often I'm speaking to folks, older folks that should know better ask me, "So how's the weather in New York?" or "How far are you from Times Square?" When I answer that one with, 3-4 hours depending on traffic, they get confused... "isn't Rhode Island near Long Island"... no dumba$$ it's it's own state LOL Rhode Island has an impressive history, that hardly anyone knows about... that's my only reason for posting what I did.

@KCgirl061 nope not everyone feels or sees themselves the same way as everyone else. No one but you can know what your mind will or will not do. Personally, I've been heavy most of my life. When I was thin around 18 years of age, I thought I looked too thin. But now looking back, I looked great. Now, having lost 126+ lbs from my max weight, I sometimes see myself in the mirror and don't know it's me. I've seen someone at the gym walking near me in the mirror from my peripheral vision and I've side stepped to avoid running into them... only to realize that, it was me I was seeing in the mirror. Body Dysmorphia is a personal issue. No 2 people are the same. It has a lot to do with what we expect to see, what we've gotten used to see and how we view ourselves outwardly through preconceptions about ourselves. Some folks have been overweight their entire lives and have never seen themselves as thin. Others were at one point and then gained... but they've been big so long, that that state has become their minds "norm". Bottom line though, it's not really anyone's place to "get" someone else's viewpoint on their own body. Nor can we ever properly understand anything other than our own point of view, because no matter how hard we try, we'll always be trapped inside our own minds, relying on our brain's interpretation of all that exists. Everything that you know, is a translation made by your brain... Nothing more, nothing less.

This might be why, when you consume foods like this and then go to bed your body can't burn them off... try switching your cheat meal to the middle of the day to see if that helps any.

Your profile doesn't say what surgery you had, but, try to adjust the temps of your liquids to see if that helps, most times it's just staple line irritation due to the surgery. Lots of folks find they have a better time tolerating warmer fluids, others colder. Just have to experiment to find out what temp suits you best. But being this close to your surgery, I wouldn't worry too much about it right now, just adjust to find what works better for you and focus on your healing! Congrats and good luck!

@Wishful.shrinking seems like your surgeon is a bit of a sexist a$$. Is he really the best in the area? If so, maybe it's best just to ignore him or placate him until after your surgery. Telling anyone that they shouldn't do something, based on outmoded social "norms" has no place in medicine... sadly these small brained dinosaurs still exist in the wild. By all means bulk up. Larger muscle burns more fat than smaller muscle... *NO ONE* has the right to tell you what to look like. That's 100% your call. I would be offended if I were in your shoes. But you need to pick and chose the battles, do you fight him on your personal goals... and have to settle for a potentially less skilled doctor? Or do you just brush it off as the ramblings of moron that just happens to be the best body mechanic in your area? That's also your call. Either way, good luck and happy body building!

@CashmereAndBones The first thing I noticed is your goal... From your starting weight, that goal isn't very realistic with the Sleeve. Check this site, it has calculators to show you what you can realistically expect for weight loss for each surgery type. For your starting weight of 325, for a Female that's 6 foot tall, it's reported that 80% of patients will reach 249 in 18 months, 50% reach 226 and only 20% reach 203. https://www.obesitycoverage.com/weight-loss-surgeries/gastric-sleeve/gastric-sleeves-how-much-weight-will-i-lose The Bypass has perspective losses listed for your weight/height as 80% reach 231 in 18 months, 50% reach 210, 20% reach 189. https://www.obesitycoverage.com/weight-loss-surgeries/gastric-bypass/how-much-can-i-expect-to-lose These are averages and generalizations, can you lose 200 lbs with the Sleeve, maybe, but it's going to be a lot of very hard work and some serious dedication and commitment. Can you lose the weight on your own? You totally can! Search for "Obese to Beast" on YouTube. This kid is great, he dropped from 370 down to like 180 with nothing but diet and exercise. It is possible, but you are going to have to really fight the hunger sensation to do so. I initially got the band back in 2011, having hit 370 lbs at 5 foot 9, things were just on the cusp of getting out of control. People get the surgery because, there is a point where just reducing your intake and exercising isn't quite enough to make the changes needed to stop the snowball effect. I didn't want the bypass back then because I didn't want any permanent changes to be made. In hindsight that's the stupidest thing I've ever thought. I didn't want to make a change that would cause permanent changes. Well, that's exactly what happened. I dropped 70ish with the band, and then it started to come back. Because, I didn't make permanent changes. This past March I finally had my band removed and converted over to the bypass. I'm kicking myself for not doing the bypass in 2011. I've lost 7 years that would have been so much better if I only wasn't afraid of those changes. Whatever you do decide to do, don't lose sight of the fact that these changes *NEED* to be permanent, otherwise you'll find yourself right back at the start wondering what you did wrong. If you don't make life long habit changes... then nothing will actually change.

History matters (it's actually got a really rich history, how old it is, the fact that we were the first to celebrate the 4th of July and have the oldest, continually running 4th of July parade in the country, we were the first to break away from England.... etc etc etc. And we've got plenty of Islands... and it's Rhode, not Road due to explorers finding it similar to the Rhodes, in Greece, which is an island.) http://sos.ri.gov/divisions/Civics-And-Education/RI-History

Yeah, sounds like you had issues getting it through your pouch , then experienced a form of dumping due to whatever was actually in the chicken.

Checked in for surgery at about 0600 Wednesday the 21st, Spent 2 nights there and was released around 1200 on Friday the 23rd.

We actually spend more on food per month than we did previously, because of the requirement for better, healthier foods. We eat out WAY less, but our grocery store visits have gotten more expensive overall.

My requirements (those given to all WLS for my surgeon/hospital/etc) were no more than 5 grams of sugar or 5 grams of fat if they were any added sugars in the ingredients list. If you've got no sugar listed, it didn't matter what the total was, it was *ONLY* if there was some form of sugar in the ingredients. It's different for everyone. Even folks on the same diet are going to have different reactions to added sugar amounts. If it works for you, just make sure you go easy on it, you don't want to slowly creep back up, it's easy to go... well, 13 grams was no issue, so 15 shouldn't be... then 15 becomes higher, etc... Not saying it will, just that it could. As soon as you negative a "rule", it doesn't hold the same weight and becomes so much easier to justify. I'd say, until you are cleared for the "full raw foods", or whatever the last stage you have to be cleared for before you start to venture outside of the prescribed diet restrictions. Just so you've got the full time healing and following their recommendations under your belt and are out of the early stages of healing, just in case there is a problem, if it's on their diet, then it's not your fault if something goes wrong, if that makes sense. Think of it like being under a manufacturers warranty LOL.

Just remember that Doctors have a very strict "don't date patients" policy. Congrats on getting closure to the losers bench!

I had started with them before surgery because of some stage 3 esophagitis, I'm still taking a half day's dose. I've been cleared to stop, but my surgeon agrees that continuing them isn't going to cause any issues, I just don't have the money to get another upper endoscopy to confirm the restoration of my esophagus, so I'm still taking them as a precaution. As far as stopping, I've missed days here and there without any negative effects. But the bypass doesn't have the GERD/Reflux issues like the sleeve does with the separation of the large portion of the stomach from the pouch.

Yeah, you really want to be on an inhibitor while you are healing ESP with the sleeve since the sleeve is notorious for having elevated complications with GERD and reflux. It's common with all WLS though, since they are damaging your stomach, you want as little irriation during healing as possible. That's where the acid reduction comes into play.

I had the Bypass and was told no alcohol for 6 months, I don't think there was a duration for coffee, I'm drinking 1 cup daily at this point now and I started not long after my 3 month mark. Just aim for some low acid coffee and make sure to add some milk to allow the caffeine to bind to it, since high acid content and caffeine binding to calcium is some of the reasons we don't want to be consuming coffee too soon.