Pookeyism

No. I have a friend that cuts off very long hair for wigs and even a thick ponytail does't add to a pound. You've broken your stall with effort! The hair thing will pass, as long as you keep your calories not ridiculously low and eat a variety of healthy foods. I recommend fresh squeezed juices or vitamix smoothies if you cannot yet hold solid food.

If you eat what you used to, you will possibly maintain some weight loss, but you may very well not head off the co morbidities you either have or would have possibly ended up suffering from. Generally, from what I have observed "just less" of the same foods usually does not work. I think, among other things, it has to do with the fact that most poor choices are also slider foods, and you will eat more than you realize. I have some concern for you, it sounds to an extent that perhaps you did not listen to what was told to you ahead of time, and treated this like another radical weight loss option, when in fact you have made a change that is NOT a cure. THIS WILL NOT cure you. It is a tool - an amazing god-sent tool in my opinion, but just a tool. You have to work at it every day, work at it until the new habits are old habits, and work at it still. Make another appointment with a WLS specific nut, stick around here, too. Even when you can eat crap, don't. Good luck.

Your story sound great to me. I know the years were hard as you struggled, and they will continue to require effort, but you are doing good. Epic, even

If it is a first time passport for him you can request an expedited passport: scroll down to "Expedited Service at an Authorized Passport Acceptance Facility"that and the following options on the page are your best bets. http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/services/expedited.html http://iafdb.travel.state.gov/

I don't think you should have to lie - you do not have to disclose medical information with a few exceptions varying from state to state. You are going to know when you are getting the surgery, so provide them with as much notice as possible and leave it at that. now - do you mean you are trying to get paid for time off when otherwise you are not? No advise I can give there.

How many carbs are you getting daily? Are they from supplements?

If you have a widespread rash, you should see a doctor, I would say an allergist. Take some pics, so you can 'see' the progress of the rash, that can provide insight also. Check your supplements for ANY ingredients that are even vaguely similar to any allergies you may have. Consider getting a topical steroid like cortisone. Again consult your doctor first.

I actually put it off to January of '12 when I was told I needed surgery by the first week of December. However, I had a stomach tumor that didn't wait on my permission to reduce my tummy. Hmmm...I don't know, I have a very small office. They can't make you provide information on what is happening while you are on medical leave. Do you think it would provide understanding for needing tome for doctor visits, etc. or would it create issues?

Did you mean to ord this sentence this way? This might be what the doctor is talking about - the weight loss surgery will change EVERYTHING, more or less. The surgery is often found to be a culprit of affecting your metabolism, although there is increasing evidence this doe not have to be the case. It WILL affect your mind, in so many ways it is difficult to even give a good list, things I can think of off the top: You will no longer be able to have food be your support system. Food can no longer dictate a social life. You will have to resolve or at least come to peace with your old body image. You will have to be mindful of possible transfer addictions, now that you cannot eat all you used to, or what you used to. You have to be prepared for when the "honeymoon" period is over, and the smaller you is not so novel. You will create reactions that are not always positive, or perhaps are very positive but far from how you used to be treated. You have to forgive yourself for where you were before you lost the weight. Talk to your doc, ask for insight to what was said, and ask for assistance in resolving the situation. Good luck. PS - I can provide suggestions for reading that go in depth to about the WLS journey.

That sounds familiar - my first doctor had an incompetent assistant that was even willing to lie to not account for her mistakes. I dropped the doc, with an explanation why and after a lackluster reply from the doc (only after the poor reply) I posted it to every legitimate feedback site I could find, and got a new doctor. Now - I did not work this through an insurance company in the traditional way, so it may be more difficult for you to do this. Don't panic, I don't think the Universe is trying to tell you anything - but it may be prudent to take a moment and get some solid feedback about patients care under this doc - discard the worst feedback and the best - look for feedback on how they were assisted when something went wrong, not that things went great and nothing went wrong. Good luck.

yes, it is possible, especially if you are restricting your carbohydrates. reference (not best article but I do not get most of my information on line): United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Nutrition for Everyone: Protein." Oct. 4, 2012. <http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/protein.html>

So like this - and I bet you looked really pretty!

Thank you in advance for your feedback. It is a actually several questions, so feel free to respond to any of the questions that apply to you, or you feel particularly interested in responding to. How many of the very large undecided/pre/post WLSers would or have gone to a yoga class specifically aimed at very heavy people? The pace and range of the exercises and equipment, modifications, and feedback and motivation were geared only to what you were in that moment, only what you could achieve right then? No huge long-term goals to build up, get over or anything - just show up, be in your breath and body and do some yoga with like minded people? Have you had access to this? would you have gone if you did - if you did and it was inadequate, how? Would you suggest this to people you know that have no intention of following a WLS path but need "something"? WLS patients - Would you have participated in, continued with, or currently participate in a yoga class offered through your doctor? Actually meet specifically with other WLS patients for yoga intended for you? Would you have took or did you take a class like that? Something that offered mediation or relaxation or identifying and coping skills for your post-surgery journey in addition to yoga? I would really like to discourage any rude or harshly judgmental comments if you disagree with this concept, and not for the sake of the feedback - there maybe people participating in programs like this already, and while I have indeed asked for feedback I do not want to create ANYTHING discouraging to those who are already thinking about or enjoying something like this. Thanks for understanding!

Most of the stupid advise came from one fad or another, or radical eating modifications. Your gentleman friend may have indeed been odd - I cannot vouch for that one way or another. However, I can see how someone might get that playing chess could possibly help you lose weight. Not curb your appetite or control cravings, but give you a practice of holding your impulses, and evaluating your move, and anticipating consequences. A bit of cognitive "UMPH!" in the weight loss battle - like a good scout, maybe. Actually, it is in large part what most try to instill upon someone trying to make lifestyle changes for long term weight maintenance. Hmmmm!!!! LOL!

Hello all - just a thought - and a lot of experience with groups meeting up in Houston - maybe we could alternate a meet up, every other week or even every week, and change venues so that everyone get a chance to travel? Overall we have a huge area, but the more you break it down you are going to see less attendees. If we have a large group and rotate, the logistics of the meetings could be handled by a person(s) closer to that area. Just a thought - and if anyone would like to meetup in NW Houston let me know.

“Your Mom is going to die a week after your surgery.” But really that boils down to the advice “be prepared for anything – and have support” – for so many people this is a financial drain and they push, push, push for that earliest date. Give your resources flexibility, as well as consider your closest friends and families schedules. These two things will make any emergency you have post-surgery much easier to handle.

I would not be angry with her – but definitely be done. Your friend needs help, I think, but it is not anything you are going to be able to provide. I noticed a lot or repetition of “betrayal”, “right to be happy”, and implying she assumes you only have a cosmetic need to be thin. What she writes about culling her friends based on people having opinions that differs from hers, and readily using exceptionally harsh labels – then seeing how minute a guideline she has for deciding someone is hateful – is either a seriously internalized issue OR (and?) an actually quite common social media “tool” – you actually see writing like this a lot on more blogs and news that is very biased. Whatever is going on with her, and whatever she has gone through – one serious point – she is willing to be open and hateful, rude and still passive-aggressive to an extent, since she has not actually outed you. I’m sorry you are going through this but just remove her from being able to follow or contact you . One more thing. I recommend you pay attention to who and why your friends feel the need to point out that she is doing this. You know it, they know it – so let it go. Drop her, drop the subject, drop the hunt to see how she expresses her displeasure.

Did he explain why? I'm not sure I get where he is coming from. No VGS ever, or just you need to wait?

Thank you for taking the time to post this. Very inspirational!

2 1/2 years for me. You are doing great! Congratulations!

I just saw this - is there any exceptions to the deadline? If not will you please add me to whatever list you have for upcoming events?

I want to say, this post still rings true. I dislocated my shoulder in December, and it was more serious than initially thought - but not diagnosed well at first so I was basically immobile in my neck/shoulder/right arm for FOUR months. I was sad and I ate. I never really got off what anyone could call healthy eating, except I drank lots of smoothies and juice and was not mindful to the calorie content. So I gained. About 20 pounds. I thought I would loose it as soon as I was "aware" but not really...so now I can say, even with a bit of weight gain the "-" in the yo-yo saved me. I will loose it and maintain again and hopefully never creep back up the scales again. The surgery, even if you do not get all of what you envisioned, is very worth it. Do not take advantage. Work hard. Good luck!

It was asked of me last weekend if I could clarify one thing about WLS, if I could make one notable point that has not been mentioned what it would be. So I thought, hmmmm…. We are constantly reminded that after WLS our stomachs have gone from being a sources of distress, these large cavernous things that CAUSED us to be overweight, FORCED us into eating poorly, etc. to valuable tools we use to lose weight. We have changed our stomachs to be sure. What, however did we change them to? VGS is generally a laparoscopic procedure that removed most of the body of the stomach. Starting generally below the pylorus, the suture/staple/cauterizing procedure extended along the length of the body of the stomach and removed the greater chamber, and may or may not have removed the fundus. So now what, what does that mean? Now we have our tool. We eat less, we have to. The weight comes off. It may drop like a rock or progress slower. Different body types, health issues, meds, and still the foods we choose to consume will help determine this. So we have a tool for weight LOSS. Then we maintain. Now we just eat less and it stays off, right? If you have been on the forum for even a little while you will see it is not always that easy. There are still many questions, lots of issues and answers still to be figured out, each in our own way and time. Many questions are about how to use the tool in maintenance. BUT this post is not about maintenance; it is about the in-between, one of the less mentioned but in my opinion more profound things we do with this tool that affects our success. I define success not by an ideal size or shape but ability - ability to be a size that allows me to be active, and healthy, and off at least some medication, to name a few things. These are not the only goals I have, but they are the achievements I have that I now use to have a far superior lifestyle to the one I had before. A big shift I have undergone is that I recognized that my tummy did something I did not expect. It provided a way to eat less and it has definite, defined physical ways it has assisted me, no doubt. Mentally it has assisted and even raised more questions! Beyond that, however, there is something more, and whether or not I embrace it I think is the true test of how successful this will be for me. I am talking about the “gap”. I have tried to find any reference to it in the articles and such that I spend a bit of time reading but so far I have not found that many. The gap I refer to is that space that we never met successfully when we dieted. The ‘ –‘ in yo-yo. That point where the adulation of successful weight loss, and health and compliments began to lose momentum. It lagged with stress of home life, maybe. It was the burger and fries when, honestly, even if it had been a lackluster salad one could have ordered that instead, heck ordered TWO, whatever to be full – but did not. It is the sinking feeling one get when 50 lbs. of weight loss did not make the ailing marriage better, or the bills did not pay themselves. Maybe the issues that were under those layers were still there and still hurt. food was there, with food came feelings of comfort and simultaneous guilt, and a yo-yo began before the weight even crept back on. Here is the “gap” the ‘ –‘ in yo-yo, and here is where our new friends, our new tummies, kick in. I think it is much underrated in the WLS journey. Our sleeves fill the “gap”. In between that space that we could not overcome, that ‘– ‘ in the yo-yo. We do not eat the burger and fries, we cannot overindulge by volume. We have a means to bridge that gap, if we want it. I think our longest terms of success can be affected by how we choose to take advantage of this bridge over the gap. Better habits, educating ourselves on food choices, understanding what got us here, learning to forgive and set vanity aside. Repairing the mental damage from being in the shells we were in, this is something our sleeves offer us that we did not have before. Much more important than just eating less and as vital as exercise - we have time. Time to recover before we even stumble, time to get equanimity from our minds and bodies at the same time we do not regress to bad habits and start that journey back up the scale. We have time to make time – days and months and years to in turn create space to enjoy those days and months and years. If we did not gain a day from this, we gain quality. You know the sayings about rather have quality of years over a lot of years? We get an opportunity for both!!! From VGS and the bridge it gave over the “gap”.

Such a timely article. Thank you.

I am sure they have their reasons, but I wish they would have gave us notice, to create a screen capture or something...that was a part of me for a really long time. If you agree, please consider leaving a comment and maybe we can pass this along, to emphasize the courtesy in fore thought. I get we wouldn't have this forum without them, but they sure wouldn't have it without us!!!