Izuri

Depends on your doctor/your health. My doctor never mentioned any issue with laproscopic and my BMI was over 50. Starting weight: 325 Starting BMI: 53.3 Laproscopic went great.

Great job!!! I bet the difference is night and day.

Yay!! It will be here so soon! =) You will do great getting off those 15lbs. Looking forward to welcoming you to the loser's bench soon.

Mine still happens too. I'm 5 weeks out. It doesn't really bother me too much and if someone does hear it I just laugh and play it off like oh geez there it goes again!

I am sorry you're feeling so awful. I would be pissed if my sister did that to me. I don't have a sister, but I imagine I'd give myself a little break from her negative energy for a bit while I am getting myself back on my feet mentally. I know what you mean about people treating you differently. I swear I have the superpower of invisibility most of the time. People look through me usually unless on the random occasion that they're saying something rude. I look forward to this eventually changing, but at the same time I wonder if I will feel any resentment. I hope by that point I will have mentally worked through that a little better. But you are worth the time for people to talk to and get to know! You have to try and remember, that it's their loss, not yours. Have you talked to your husband about how you're feeling? Is he supportive of the surgery? It's a totally personal decision, but I would pull the friend aside and have a heart to heart about how she treats you and how it makes you feel. If she doesn't change then she's not really a true friend. What's the point in having a friend that just pushes you even more down in the dumps? That's just my opinion though - and maybe part of why I don't have all that many close friends =p I'd rather be alone than in bad company. Maybe make a calendar of when the surgery is and start crossing off days. 10 months will come sooner than you know it - I know, I know, everyone says that, but think of the past year....It flew by for me. And every day you get closer to the surgery is a victory for you. You are one day closer to making the change you need in your life. In the mean time, make some changes that make you feel good. Make a point to get your nails done once a month or style your hair a new way. Try and start doing a pre-op diet and working out. Losing some pre-op will probably help your confidence and at the same time will decrease your surgical risks. Maybe get involved in the community if you have free time. Take up a hobby. Try new recipes - become the master of post-op recipes so you're totally prepared once you hit post-op. Anyway, I'm really sorry that you're feeling awful. We all know how heavy obesity ends up weighing on our hearts and our minds. It's a dreadful thing, but even if those people at the store don't see you, we see you. You are worth our time, and we know that you are worth the time to feel better about yourself. It may not be the same person posting to your thread each time, but collectively, we're here for you =) I hope that you feel better and that you take the time to see yourself how we see you - as a great person stuck in a body that just doesn't want to cooperate.

It's possible that on the forums there are less complications for men because there are just a smaller number of male posters. We have a decent number, but I am pretty sure we have a far larger female population (at least from what I've seen). I know when I was looking up side effects I googled free medical journals and looked through what I could find as far as complications/side effects and found quite a few articles on it, so you might have some luck there too. I'm not sure about actual complication rates. My doctor told me leak is about 1% I know he told me some of the other rates, but I can't remember off the top of my head.

I think you're completely right, but I also think that your family is probably scared/caring about you in a way that comes out annoying. I know when I was younger and on diets whenever I would eat something bad my mom would ask me if I should be eating it. She would also comment on portion size, types of food, sitting around too much, etc. It drove me nuts, and we would fight about it sometimes. Now that I'm older, I know that although she didn't go about it a way that would get through to me well, that she really did care and was concerned. Since I've gotten the sleeve she has been incredibly supportive and rather than critique my food (Which she couldn't really do anyway since I'm eating really healthy) she will try and prepare foods that I can eat that have a lot of taste. I much prefer this to the old style =) But I digress from the point, and that's that your family is being harsh, and probably not realizing how harsh it really is. I would try and brush it off - it was your 21st birthday and it sounds like you didn't go overboard or anything. If it keeps bothering you maybe sit them down and really tell them how you feel. That you wanna be successful and you're not planning on downing a kegger by yourself, but you also were allowed and able to enjoy a glass or two of alcohol while still being a responsible sleever.

Yes, but I guess I've always had strange dreams. They just now are more likely to center around food topics =p I had a dream the other night about going to the grocery store and rationalizing how I could have this crazy awesome ice cream sandwich w/grasshopper pie (mint+oreo) and caramel. I was like "Sure! This could fit into my plan!" Woke up craving ice cream =p

Inspiration for sure!! Wow! What a difference =) Congratulations!!

After reading the damn u ambien thread I googled 'crazy ambien stories' and it is ridiculous how many people have had these types of problems with ambien. After reading through some of the scary things people have done I will never, ever take this medication. I'm glad your husband was there to stop you.

If you need a last meal - just go ahead and have it. My timing was kinda crazy, so I couldn't really get in a last meal and the first couple week post-op I felt like I'd cheated myself outta one. I don't feel like it anymore, but it just would have made the first couple weeks easier. Just make sure it doesn't turn into multiple last meals - which it doesn't sound like it will since you're doing awesome.

I'm so sorry to hear about your husband, I know that you posted the other day that you guys were having troubles and it really seems like he's solidified himself as a jerk. But you are eventually gonna move on and when you do you're gonna be healthier and happier. At least you are learning his true colors now while your'e young, rather than even more years down the road. From what I've read it does sound like stress can be related to weight gain, just hormone wise: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=53304 Your body is probably also in freaking out starvation mode. Not eating makes your body wanna retain everything. Even though you don't wanna you really need to make sure you're keeping up on your intake. I have had such a crazy hormone ride since this surgery. I had my period twice the first month and spotting at least a day both of weeks I didn't have my period. So what you're having is normal, and should stop eventually. I'm sure it's not helping much with the mood either. Do you have close family members/friends that can help support you in his absence? ((((HUGS)))))

Cute picture - you look great! You can really tell the difference, and I bet you're feeling it in your clothes. Keep up the awesome work.

You have been doing awesome! You can see a lot of difference. It's neat that your wife has been working out and eating well along side you, definitely makes her your best support - plus she is probably feeling great having lost weight too!

I FINALLY broke my stall. Over the past week or so I have gotten down to 291.6 (new scale weighed me lower, and now even the weight it had me at has gone down!). Puts me at -33.4!

I think it is so neat that your boss challenged you guys to quit. What an awesome boss. You should be proud of yourself for quitting - it's hard! Without having any idea what your diet is at it's hard to offer any thoughts, but I did post on another thread earlier tonight about what I've read on stalls and maybe some of the ideas would help? http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/50739-just-make-me-feel-better/ It helps me to log my food on MyFitnessPal and look at other diaries to get an idea of where I am in comparison to people who are out from surgery around the same time as me. I am not as far out as you, but I have read posts from people further out and some said that they stalled and then looked closely at their diet and realized they had let some things creep back in. Is it possible that's part of it? It's easy to let the little things slide when we're having a tough time - I have done that too many times when trying to lose weight. Is it possible that you might be supplementing not smoking with food? I did that when I quit and gained quite a bit. But whatever you do - don't give up! Even if it means going back to basics, you can do this. Have you talked to your NUT and/or your surgeon? Maybe they can offer some more specific advice after seeing how you're doing.

Ooooo - please let me know if you try this! =) I don't have the ingredients on hand because I don't enjoy chocolate Protein drinks that much, but I would definitely pick some up if I could have a relatively healthy protein filled treat.

Well, it sounds like he is a very understanding guy. So that makes it easier from the get go - and I think he would probably be happy you were willing to try. As far as where to go, anywhere that has Soup is pretty much fine as long as you leave the solids. Off the top of my head i'm thinking you'd be ok with some smoothie places - you could ask them to leave out syrups maybe picking a place that uses good fruits and some low fat milk. Hmm...there's not really a lot out that you can eat at puree. But! You could have him cook for you. He could make some kind of chili and you could puree it (I did that and it was sooo good), any kind of chicken/tuna salad, egg salad, maybe light heartedly challenge him to make you the best puree meal he can think of =) If you help him out in the kitchen with it you guys could end up having a great time and he will get to show off his cooking skills. Or make it into a running challenge - whoever can come up with the best puree meal by the time you move to soft foods gets to pick the first restaurant you go to or the next date place or next movie, etc. I think it could be a lot of fun. Plus, it will place more emphasis on the making of the food if you spend the time with him doing it, rather than just on the eating of it. Really though from the way you described him, I doubt he will be offended at your just a couple bites. Just be clear ahead of time (which it sounds like you have been) about the amount you can eat and hopefully that will be no issue. Have fun and congrats on finding a great guy! It's funny how life is always sending us curve balls when we least expect them =)

From your post it sounded like you are seeing that he doesn't trust you. I wonder if maybe it's that he is insecure and feels poorly about his self image more than it really has anything to do with not trusting you. I know it comes out that way, but I could see it stemming mostly from the fact that he doesn't feel as good looking and wonders if maybe he won't be up to par when you're skinny and feeling great. I'm not married, but I could imagine myself feeling this way if the situation was reversed for me. While it's obviously not true that you're going to leave him, and he should be more supportive, I can empathize with that feeling. Especially if he's at all overweight or has some specific thing he's insecure about. Do you think you'd be willing to show him this post? Maybe it will be a good way to start opening the lines of communication to figure out what the real issue is. Or when you're daydreaming, try and keep him included in what you tell him (You might be, so I'm sorry if I'm incorrect on that), like how you can't wait until you both can do xyz together and you can keep up. Or that you wanna try this new thing in bed and you think it's gonna be a ton of fun for the both of you when you lose weight. Or make a list of things that you both will be able to do together once you're healthier that you'd have a hard time doing now. I know that leaves a lot of the responsibility on you, but hopefully if you can get that communication going he will see that he has nothing to worry about except supporting his awesome wife and he will step up to the plate. If that doesn't help, maybe marriage counseling?

How frustrating! I'm sorry you had to go through this - I think I'd be a bundle of nerves. I hope they get their act together and get everything straightened out. Did she get the refaxed copy of the approval? It's strange that you have a copy of it and they think it's still not approved. I'd call your insurance company too - ask them to verify the approval and to call your doctor's office for you. I find that usually the insurance reps are willing to call the office to verify benefits/coverage/approvals so you aren't waiting on the coordinator at the office to figure it out.

This sounds awesome. Next time the craving hits me maybe I will try it! Thanks for the recipe =)

It sounds like you're kicking butt following the plan, but your body just doesn't wanna cooperate! Weight loss wise sounds like you're doing well - You're averaging about 3.8 pounds a week lost, which seems like more than if you just put it in a whole number lost (At least imo - I wanna pay attention to the biggest number to keep me going =p). That sounds like a really good pace to me. As far as stalling, I wish I could offer you concrete advice, but nothing seemed to make a difference for mine except sheer determination. My hormones went wack and I ranted a bit on my blog, which helped with the crazies. Now that I'm finally seeing a little movement, I feel much better about having survived the 3 weeks of stall. Anyway, because during this time I read hundreds of posts on stalls I will give you the advice I tried that worked for other people: - Increasing calories by a few hundred for a few days to a week and then coming back down on calories (I found this easier by adding some calorie rich foods rather than adding more volume because I couldn't eat a lot either) - Decreasing carbs - I try and keep mine below 40 because that's what my PCP said would help put me in ketosis - Increasing Water - Many blogs I read talk about how you should divide your weight in half and that's how many ounces you should get. That makes like 150 ounces for me which is not realistically happening so I aimed for an extra 16oz glass per day - Increasing exercise - it sounds like you're already doing this, but maybe doing a different type of exercise or at a different time of day - I know from other diets I've done that my body loves to get in a set routine and stop dropping weight, I gotta keep it guessing to keep losing - Decreasing processed foods - Increasing Protein - I got up to around 100g/day for a few days but nothing seemed to happen and I had a hard time getting that much in so I started just aiming for my target of 70 again - Adding interval training and strength training - I did this by adding 5 1 minute jogging intervals to my walks, not allowed to lift weights yet so did a few isometric things and some wall push-ups - Having a rich high fat/calorie sweet - I didn't end up really trying this. I wanted to, because it sounded tasty, but I was too worried about ending up binging on something, my self control has yet to be really tested and I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible! A lot of people seemed to swear by this though - Going back to basics - liquid diet for a few days and working back up (not fun!) None of these worked for me, but they worked for a lot of other people! I hope that helps any =) Feel free to rant if you're feeling stressed though, keeping stress in and being upset raises your cortisol and can help lead to weight gain/retention. Every time I vented I feel like I got it off my chest and could worry about other stuff for the day. Hang in there, it will break eventually.

I had a three week stall at week three that I just finally have come out of. I tried changing around everything, increasing Protein, walking, Water, decreasing carbs. Nothing helped. I have no clue what eventually knocked me off the stall, but I do know one thing - it sucked! I can't imagine how you're feeling six weeks into one. My clothes don't feel a whole lot different, but I was slowly losing an inch here and there, so if you're not measuring, maybe that'd help you keep going? I know you already acknowledged the low water, but that would be one thing to add. When you work out it can be really important to replace water. Hmmmm...Have you tried switching up the type of workout you do? I know other times I've reached plateaus in diets I was able to get over the plateau by exercising at a different time of day, for example, moving it to early morning to get my metabolism up. Or changing which workout I was doing so that I wasn't stuck in the same thing every day. On that same token, are you eating the same types of foods every day? That's another thing that will throw me into a plateau. My brother is a creature of habit and has the exact same lunch every day. If I do that, I will stay put at the exact same weight. My body likes it when things are consistent and will try its very best to keep them there. Are you getting in enough fiber? That might help keep your digestive system moving. I'm not sure if it will help the scale, but it would be a healthy thing to have in your diet. I'm not sure what else, but you will get through this! If you are doing the right things your body will eventually have to give up and let the scale move. For the mean time, maybe put the scale away (I know this is so ridiculously hard to do, maybe you'll be better at it than I was!), set some fitness goals instead of scale goals, and measure. You can still be successful even when the scale isn't moving.

I don't understand why you wouldn't suggest getting some help to some of the issues people deal with on here. I don't see why getting help with anything would ever be a bad idea. Especially when many of us have had trouble in the past with issues eating. Not everyone has considered counseling or had an experience like you before. I've talked to friends about my experience with counseling and have had more than one of them surprised that I had seen a counselor. Some people get this idea that counseling is only something crazy people go to, but every time I've suggested/talked about it is because I think a number of people could use it, even if it's just to get some things off their chest, get another view point, get help with coping strategies. Is it for everyone? No. Does it work for everyone? No. Is it worth a try if you're doing something like cutting out a large portion of your stomach just as an added measure to stay on track and help you through issues? I think so, but that's just me. Any time I've said anything about counseling it's only because I think that if I was in their shoes it might help me. It's never meant as condescending or insulting or you're a crackhead get some help please. Also, not everyone is as clear or as eloquent at getting the true meaning of what they're trying to say across. Sometimes it sounds different when other people read it online than it was originally typed, if that makes sense. I doubt the people who said you needed professional help were trying to be offensive in any way, but rather that they were trying to highlight the fact that the sleeve is a tool, and that you may still have issues that need to continue to be addressed post surgery. Could they have said it better? Sure. Did they mean for it to be offensive/frustrating to you? Probably not.

I was told to measure protein and the rest would fall into place as long as I was staying within healthy protein sources. I do watch all these measure though on Myfitnesspal. I still focus mostly on protein though.