NJDad

Coach, I can't do the sub shop subs....the rolls simply don't agree with me. I miss having a nice sandwich once in a while.

The hospital ER doctor told me to stop my BP meds a few weeks after surgery. I wound up in the ER with flashing lights in my vision.....I thought it was a signs of a detached retina. Turns out my BP was so low, I the flashing I saw was signs of passing out. My BP was below 80/60. Since I stopped the BP meds, my BP is in the 110/70 range. That was the first sign, besides weight, that things were going well after this surgery for me. And it saved me a $25 per month co-pay for the meds.

I have found that I can eat a slice or two of pizza, if they are small. Small bites! However, the crust makes me feel miserable, so all I concentrate on is small bites of the pizza and toppings. I also have found that it has to be a thin crust slice.......I used to love sicillian pizza (Thick crust for those of you not from the northeast), but those days are long gone. Lastly, I find that if I ask for extra sauce it makes it easier to handle. I find that pizza is one of the few foods I can eat at the ballpark. Most everything else at a stadium is served on a roll and those are horrible to me now.

With my weight loss, I realized that I need to buy new winter coats. The coats I have now are way too big in the tummy area. But I also noticed that it seems that my arms have shrunk in length because all the sleeves are too long on the older coats. I don't really think my arms have shrunk in length, I just think that the coats fitting more loosely means that sleeves are running down my arms further. It is one of the unexpected results of weight loss. I always bought tall clothes (I am 6'4" tall) and was starting to think companies were cheating out when it came to the lengths of the sleeves. I guess gaining that much weight just made the shirts and jackets I wore fit incorrectly. Has anyone else noticed this? Ron

Before surgery in April, I wore pants with a 44 waist, and they were tight. Seven months later, I am down to a 38 waist, and these pants are getting loose. Before the surgery I wore 3XL shirts and jackets. That equated to a 56-58" chest. today I am down to a size XL. That equates to about a 48" chest. So, if you lost 5.5" in one month, that is a hell of a good job. The one thing I find most humorous of all this is that in weeks that I may not see a big difference those are the weeks when I realize it is time to buy new shirts or pants. I am not sure why that is, but it lets me know I am still on the right path.

Not here with me. Think about it, if fat gathered there, no guy would ever want to lose weight, and we would all be hooked up to chocolate milkshake IV's. Plus, I discovered another bonus the other day. With the stomach shrinking, there is no hill between my eyes and my better half's when.....well, you know.

Six months ago this evening, I had my lap band surgery. A year ago this week, I started seeing a nutritionist. I have attached a pair of pics, one from the summer of 2012, another from last week. I am down about 94 pounds since I started seeing the nutritionist. Here's a pair of pics with a before and after view. I still have a ways to go, but I am happy with the progress so far. Before: Now:

My wife's method was relatively simple (for her). I came home from a business trip about a year after our daughter was born. Lynn tells me I have a urologist appointment. The doctor then chlorinated the gene pool a week later. I had a teacher in high school that referred to the pull out method as "Catholic Roulette". She was written up and we never heard that phrase again.....but those of us that heard it never forgot it.

What was his reaction? "Hey, that thing bit me?"

Now here's a guy willing to sacrifice himself for science........When my wife suggested we take measurements, she talked about measuring my waist and chest. Is there any way I can get your wife to have a conversation with mine?

Your post reminded me of the first barbecue my wife and I had after we got married. A friend asked for mustard for their hot dog. Lynn and I looked at each other and giggled. We had none. Neither of us use mustard, so it never dawned on us to have it in the house. I'll keep your post in mind for the future.

I find even in weeks where I don't see a big loss of weight, I still see progress. I measure that progress in belt notches. Before the surgery, I would wear out that one notch in my belt long before the rest of the belt wore out..... Now, I seem to be pulling the belt smaller and smaller every week. I am on my third belt since April. Each one smaller than the previous one.

My wife would have to agree that things do change down there for the better. Now ladies, I have seen your discussions on bras and boobs over in the powder room, so I'll ask a few questions for the guys..... Do you find that you worry more about how you "dress" since you lost the weight. And ladies, I am not asking about what shirt we wear. Since I lost the weight, I am much more aware of where I put that thing inside my clothes. If you are curious what I am talking about, look up the terms "dressing right" or "dressing left" And for the guys that are just investigating this surgery.....do us all a favor and measure BEFORE you have the surgery, then come back in a year and tell us the difference. We need empirical data beyond, "My wife needs two hands now" :-)

I just realized it was five months today that i had surgery. Two days before my surgery on 4/24/13 I weighed in at 340. I considered that pretty good, since I had weighed in at 359 right around the baseball playoffs last October. I weighed myself this morning and saw I was down to 270. I haven't been this low for decades. Like many here, when I look in the mirror, I don't see the difference. So while sitting here at tonight's Yankee game, I went through some old pictures on my iPad and found this picture from last fall. I then took another pic here tonight. Ok, now I see the difference everyone else seems to be seeing.... Ron

I am traveling regularly. I was banded back in April. I'm on the road about once every two weeks. I was in Cincinnati last week, and St. Louis this week. I get around a bunch. Next week is Vermont. I have learned the menus at most chains.......I eat lots of chicken breast. If a restaurant offers any type of chicken, they can serve you plain chicken. All you need to do is ask nicely. I am getting to the point where I rise with the sun and have a distinct urge to start cockadoodledoing in the morning. Ya think that is too much chicken? I also bring along my individual packets of unjury Protein powder and my shaker. When I arrive in town, I pickup stuff to mix it with. I find different kids of low dal juices in different towns.....adds to the variety. My breakfast most every morning is a simple scrambled egg or egg whites....depends on where I am and what I can get. Bagels used to be a nice quick, on the run type breakfast. Not anymore. I eat well, and if I cannot eat a particular moment, I always keep a packet of Unjury in my laptop and carry on bags.......you can always find some type of juice to mix it with. After work I hit the gym at the hotel....I find some time on the treadmill or other stuff both gives me exercise and takes away the need or urge to want to eat too much. I use the stairs in hotels more....elevators are only for when I am carrying my luggage. Before my flight, I get myself a bottle of diet lemonade or iced tea. The only low cal stuff the airlines have are diet soda or coffee. You can always get a cup of ice......as for food in the plane, I find if I eat before the flight in the airport, I can survive even a six hour flight from Newark to LAX without being hungry. I am down about 65-70 pounds since my surgery....so I think I am doing something right. It isn't a perfect method, but it is working.

I used Dr. Strom out of Mountainside Hospital in Glen Ridge, NJ. He and his team are great and have done really well by me. It's also a Center of Excellence. Mountainside is part of the Hackensack Hospital system.

I know I'm a guy....but here is one piece of advice...... No matter when you do start, make sure you wait at least an hour or so after eating. Trust me. My wife and I had to stop one evening, I just couldn't continue (When was the last time a guy had to say, "Stop, we are having sex too soon!")

Get yourself a dog......they love to be walked. Seriously, walk. Rest a little. Walk some more, rest a bit more. Walk again. I found that the walking really helped. And as a side benefit....the dog was really happy to get all those walks.

I have always had a personal motto, "Keeping track of your truths is easier than keeping track of your lies." I know I am the type of person that likes to talk to people. Any person is a potential conversation-mate. If I had to keep track of who I told what, I'd spill the Beans in a few days anyway. That being said, I have had it easy. I think guys have it easier. Men are simple, you tell them, they ask their questions, and on to the next subject. The guys in my office are making comments on how my clothes are getting to big. Busting my chops that I am saving money on food, but it will cost me in new clothes. If that is the worse teasing I get, I'll survive. But here's the funny thing. I will tell anyone I can talk to,face to face. Or even one on one over the phone. But I haven't posted anything on Facebook about this. My thought is that I can explain my situation to someone, and answer their questions as we discuss it. I hopefully won't have too many people sniping behind my back, " Did you see Ron had that LapBand thingie? What was he thinking?" Well, I can answer them exactly what I was thinking....... Ron

I had my surgery on 4/24/13. The first time I really felt a change in my body not related to a scale was about a month after the surgery and my wife and I had a wedding to go to the first weekend in June....what to wear, what to wear? I tried on an old suit that I had in the back of my closet that I had not worn in years.....and it fit. Like you, I was a male in 3XL shirts. And some of those shirts were snug. It is only 3.5 months since my surgery, I am down nearly 60 pounds since the week before my surgery. My waist is 4 inches smaller, I am down to 2XL shirts, and some of those are feeling a bit baggy now. My size 12 feet are now down to a size 11.5 or 11. So, it doesn't take long to start to see some payback on your investment of time and effort. I sat on the sidelines for nearly a decade about WLS. I thought about it a bit three years ago, but not seriously. I went to a WLS seminar back in October of last year, and followed up with an office visit a few days later. I saw a nutritionist for nearly 8 months before I had the surgery....it was worth the delay because I felt I was ready after all those meetings. But really, the first time I felt things were turning around was the day I weighed myself in the hospital, a few hours after surgery. I had been on a liquid diet the week before surgery. As I was doing my laps around the ward, I spied a scale. I stepped on it and it was one of the sweetest sights I had ever seen coming from a scale. This was Wednesday night. I had weighed myself at the doctor's office on Monday and I weighed in at 340. That day I was down to 330. That is when I knew I could do this....that is when I really first felt the turnaround. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask..... Ron

I know it is not exactly a before and after pic......but this picture symbolizes all the surprises I have been coming across while losing the weight. That watch used to be nice and snug on my wrist.

I felt the same way when I went from a 3xx number to a 2xx number. It is a bit overwhelming. Congrats on the great progress. As for being a 42 year old man, rather than a 14 year old girl..........don't worry about that at all. You are making good progress, and you have every right to feel proud of your accomplishments. Every few weeks as I see a lower tens digit in my weight 289, 279, etc........I take a picture of the scale and send it to a good friend of mine. We revel in my glory for a few seconds, then on with the day. I'm 46, not 16. And I don't care how old I am.....I share it.

Seeing him on the news here in Jersey often, I see that he is losing weight. His weight loss does seem to be slow, but it is there. I had done some searching online about this topic to compare his results to mine, and can find no firm numbers on his progress.