Creekwood

I always do! Just drink tons of water (which I'm sure you do.) I agree on the gulping.

Would your boyfriend rather roller over to Darth Vader or a dead girlfriend? Get the mask, wear it, trust me you will feel a lot better. Your heart will thank you!!

I eat spicy foods frequently with 0 problems!

I eat around 1,600 a day, but I'm male and exercise 6 days a week.

Banded May 6th. Have had3 fills (plus a 5cc primer in at surgery), totaling 8.7 cc in a 14 cc band. I have lost 35 pounds since surgery and 71 since I called to setup my initial consultation. Everything is going great for me, working out like crazy! Just finally got under 300 pounds for the first time in years so that was a huge victory!! Hope everyone is doing great!!

Some people eat their burned calories and some don't. Not sure if there's a right or wrong way to do it, I don't eat mine back. You can talk with your doc and figure out what's best for you.

Face and stomach. Face is the most obvious for me.

I have lived off of tips for about 7 years of my life so I'm probably a little biased Lol. BUT, I will too a minimum of $5 or minimum of 20% regardless of bill. But, I do tip more if we are splitting a meal. For great service I will tip even more, again though I have worked on tips a long time so I'm a little biased. I've never known a server to complain about getting 20% though!

Awesome job man!!! Congrats on your success! BUT, GO REDS!!

Thanks everyone!! I was 333 on my surgery day (may 6th). 369 in February when I called and setup my consultation. This picture (395) was before I lost 80 pounds on my own only to gain most of it back before deciding to have WLS!

That's really cool! The CHS is about ten minutes from my house. That's where my son will go to High School eventually (he's 5 haha). Very small world!!

Recently I went to Chicago with my family for 5 days. I have been exercising 6 days a week (walking/jogging and strength training). While on vacation I was excited to use the hotel gym. On my first day though I woke up early and was the first person to the gym! It felt good to be THAT guy in the gym working out at 7 a.m.!! Started my journey at 369 (March 1st). Surgery on May 6th (333). Today's weight 303.

Thanks everyone!!

Good luck!! You'll do great!'

I told one of my friends (late 20's) that I wanted to get banded. When he found out I had to give up beer (not a big drinker anyways), he said "I could never do that, I'd rather be fat! (He's skinny. athletic build). But, I said I'll gladly give up beer if it means my son not having to bury me while I'm in my 40's-50's. now that I'm banded I get nothing but support from all of my friends.

So a lady stopped me this morning around mile 4. She lives right around the corner from me. "I see you walking every morning when I'm getting my coffee. You look great, you're losing weight, your posture has improved, your gait is faster. You are doing great, it motivates me to get off my butt and get moving" man that made that last mile easy! It reminds me to show up and work hard because you never know who's counting on you for motivation! I remember that I used to be embarrassed to exercise outside. I thought people would think "oh look another fat guy trying to lose weight, bet he gives up in a couple days." I don't know why I thought that just did. But I've been busting my butt walking/jogging between 1-5 miles 6 days a week for about a month now. I even completed my first 5k! Keep working hard everyone, you are someone's source of motivation, whether you believe it or not!!

My Nut said that I can have a protein shake or light meal the morning of a fill but nothing but water for 2 hours before a fill. Good luck!!

I'm on purée foods because I had a fill yesterday, protein shakes for me too!

Edit profile Scroll to bottom and edit net calorie goals

This morning I walked/jogged my first 5K!! It was even more awesome than I expected it to be. I've never really been a runner. Never in a million years did I think that I would voluntarily run/walk a 5k. But, today I for my butt out there and did it!! The feeling of running through the finish line and seeing my wife and son cheering me on was AWESOME!! I have already signed up for another one!!

Awesome post as always Missy!! Wow, it sounds like you literally were living in hell... I'm glad that you pulled through. God is good!! It's so true that everyone will have stress/bad situations in life. We all let ourselves down from time to time and make bad food choices. But, it's what you do afterwards that matters! The other day I had a health scare with a VERY close person to me. That night I went out to dinner and ate 1,400 calories! Which included an Oreo sundae.. Did it make me feel better? Nope. Did it taste good? YES but it would be easy to continue to eat crappy, but the next morning I went on my 3 mile jog/walk like planned, made better good choices and got right back on track! If you can do it going through what you went through, everyone else can too! P.S. I did chuckle thinking of you counting calories in ICU. That's dedication right there!!

If have to throw that ugly thing overboard

Congrats!! That's awesome!! But, I just ate dinner man, can you get that nasty looking bird off of here

I've never been a victim of bullying at work, probably just because I'm a guy. Also, I'm not exactly timid so if one of them tried to they would be in for a rude awakening. I agree a lot with what people here have said. BUT, I wouldn't wait until after you lose weight to stand up for yourself!! Your feelings are valid. You will lose weight with surgery and hard work but your self worth will not change. Your just as worthy of respect now as you will be after surgery! Put them a**holes in their place (at least that's what I would do ) good luck with everything, you have support here!