O.T.R. sleever

I still love seeing this thread. Watching your life improve by leaps & bounds is so inspiring.

It's gonna take willpower. There is a process called "The 5 Day Pouch Test" that has prove to be a great tool for people that have derailed their train. You gotta dig down inside and decide, " I've had enough!!" like any other addiction, this is not gonna happen till you make up your mind & make it happen.

TJ is like anywhere else in the world. If you don't make yourself a target, you won't be one. Don't go into "ghetto" areas flashing expensive jewelry, don't flash a bunch of cash in public. You'll be fine. Common sense goes a long way.

Yup I'm betting it's a stall, just keep doing the right stuff(like you are doing now) this could last a few weeks, but likely won't be that long. Your body is adjusting, you are adding back muscle that was lost in the liquid phase. You are still losing fat, the proof is in your measurements. You are doing Great! Keep up the good work.

Let's see, in the mushy phase I was eating refried Beans with green chili, spicy hot v8 is a daily thing(almost) BTW, my wife is Hispanic, and I pretty much eat whatever she does. Plus I couldn't live without Kim-Chee, and I just had a bowl of Thai green curry. Oh yeah, I love Sriracha in my egg drop soup. So I guess I'd say spicy food is no problem.

Your diet looks pretty good to me. You may just be in a stall. How long has your weight been stagnant?

Yes, I would get it documented. As far as a using a chiropractor to do this, only if your insurance co. covers chiropractor visits. If hey don't then, they likely won't consider their opinion.

A typical day for me; 0600 30g premier protien shake or frozen frozen fruit smoothie w/Syntrax nectar 0900 10g 1whole egg+ 1 egg white 1100 23g 1liter Water w/1 ocean spray flavor(cran-cherry) & 1Syntrax nectar packet(cherry) 1300 15g 3oz tilapia filet 1600 30g premier protien bar(this is a calorie killer but I sacrifice a few calories for the extra protien) 1900 21g 3oz pork loin 2000 23g 1liter water w/1 ocean spray flavor(cran-peach) & 1Syntrax nectar packet(fuzzy navel) There is also another liter of water throughout the day but I didn't list it since there is no protien added to it. This is close to 1000 calories but has over 140g protien, and is based on 3oz portions on the more solid foods If you trimmed the portions in half and dumped the protien bar you'd end up at about 700cal and 90g protien For Snacks you can try string cheese, cottage cheese, turkey Jerky, turkey pepperoni, yogurt

Tracey, protien is important, but it is still completely normal to be under goal at 2 weeks. Your primary focus now should be hydration. Also, be careful with protien shots. Almost all that I've seen so far use collagen as the primary source of protien. Your body simply cannot properly digest collagen Proteins. Also never assume by the name on the bottle what is inside. There is a huge trend of putting a tiny little amount of whey(the good stuff) in a shot of collagen(useless to us) and calling it something with Whey in the title. This is precisely what has happened with the "New Whey Protien" shot that advertises 42g of Protein.

No worries.. Well maybe a few, but hey, if you didn't get nervous about this you'd just be weird. You'll be fine. We all made it out ok. Except for a little brain damage(but really I had that before the surgery).

Your skin will not stop shrinking till 2years after your surgery. With this knowledge I think I'd wait on the tattoo save up & make sure I could have it done by one of the best artists in the country. The last thing you want to do is have something permanent on your body hat you will regret.

Mexico is a lower cost option than American surgeons. Chances are if you have half the money saved for an American surgeon then you likely have all you'd need to have it done in Mexico. Spend some time researching it & you'll also find that most of your Mexican surgeons are more expierience than their American counterparts. And most people that have surgury in Mexico report less pain and discomfort afterwards. As much as I would love to advise you on financing options, I know my advice would not be what you are looking for. I view credit & debt as a cancer, it has destroyed individuals, families, businesses, & even countries. It might take a bit longer to get this done paying cash, but the last thing you need is he stress of debt looming over you while you are trying to heal.

Bump

Yup, it's so normal that it happens to most people. Usually around the 3-4 week mark. It's called a "stall" and they've been known to last anywhere from 1week to 4months+. The good news is that the earlier stalls typically dont last more than 3weeks. Not saying they can't. But they usually don't. You can expect this to happen periodically through your journey.

Yes, are you using a computer or mobile device?

I don't know much about the foam. But the other 2 are fairly easily explained, the dry mouth is usually an indication that you are not getting enough Water. And the nasty taste in your mouth is likely the result of Ketosis which is basicicly just the burning of fat cells. It kinda throws the body chemistry off a bit and does mean we might need a bit more deodorant & toothpaste. And yes, it happens to most of us. Hope that helps. Edit: the bad taste will get better as your weightloss slows.

I find it sad that you acknowledge that the answers are here and there is definately more positive reinforcement than negative. And yet you still chose to depart rather than being another person on the positive side of this. I wish you luck in wherever you choose to go from here. But keep this in mind. There is an old saying " If you are not part of the soloution, then you are part of the problem.". I think you could definately be part of the soloution if you wanted to be. Farewell

I think I might see something here From what you said here, you simply aren't eating enough. I am willing to bet that you were/are putting yourself into "starvation" mode. I can't see how what you've listed could even come close to 500calories. Your body simply needs more. It thinks its starving and is trying to conserve every bit of energy(fat) that it can. And believe me, the body can be very efficient at conserving energy Really, at 3months out, you should be well over 700cal/day possibly even bumping 1000 occasionally Not to mention that there is no way that you are meeting the protien requirements. I bet you are feeling lethargic also. Am I right? Do you have a NUT? If so I would definitely schedule an appointment. If not, my recommendation would be to increase what you are consuming. You should be eating something about every 3hours or so. I know that might be difficult with work schedules and such, but do your best. Maybe add a protien shake or 2 to what you are doing now. You become very good at limiting your intake.And I commend you for the strength it takes to do this. My fear is that you've become too good. I hope this helps.

My opinion differs here, I find it hard to believe that so many people will support bad decisions. It is absolutely imperative when somebody is headed down a path that is detrimental we as a community stand up and let them know just how bad of a decision they are making. I for one would much rather have someone mad at me because I hurt their thin skinned feelings than support a potentially destructive action. I don't think I could live with myself if I someone hurt themselves because I was too afraid to actually tell them what they were doing was stupid, for fear I might offend them or hurt their feelings? Don't get me wrong, I absolutely believe that support & encouragement play a key roll in our purpose here. But if a heroin addict came to me and said "I just went through rehab, now I'm just experimenting a bit with cocaine". I bet then nobody in their right mind would question me when I responded with "what the hell are you thinking? I think you really missed something." so my question is, what is the major difference?

3 questions 1- how far out are you from surgery? 2- can you give an example of you're daily diet (non liquid)? 3- how long we're you off liquids?

Sweet, Now that reason to celebrate. Congrats.

This is really a hard one, with 30-40lbs to lose, I can't quite bring myself to say "Go for it" but onthe other hand diabetes & heart issues definitely do seem to be improved or cured by the sleeve. Two questions 1~ are you type 1 or type 2 ? 2~ what do you think would happen if you removed the band? Could you maintain without it?

One big thing to notice here is that pretty much everything you are craving is high carb foods with minimal nutritional value. Here's the bad news, carb creat cravings for more carbs. So if you indulge thes cravings then that will only create more cravings And the good news is, if you resist the cravings will dissipate and become weaker. You've gotta be strong now and break the cycle