Andrew0929

As of late everyone is telling me to stop losing weight and rather than trying to justify my continued efforts to lose I just tell them I've stopped . While I'm close to my original goal I may revise that as my love handles and inner thighs are still sporting more fat than I'd like.

Not sure if the guidelines for the Lapband are different from the Sleeve, but my surgeon hasn't restricted my coffee at all. Both he and my nut said that in the past they restricted coffee but no longer believe it's a problem after surgery. So I've been consuming coffee from about 3 weeks out and it's not been a problem in any way ...

HW: 314 SW: 278 CW: 185 TPL: 129 TPG: 139 Down 1 pound this week. I'm starting to wonder if my goal of 175 should be a little lower. Everyone is telling me to stop losing weight, but my love handles are still bulkier than I'd like.

Amazing transformation!!! I am starting to think about doing something about my turkey neck and bingo wings. Although other hanging skin is begging for some attention too. Congratulations and thanks for sharing ...

While perhaps boring, my breakfast is quick and healthy. I have an 80 calorie yogurt with 3 teaspoons of grape nuts. Fills me up and I really love it.

Regarding your original question Mike, that area of fat does reduce drastically for many of us, but of course each person is different. I'm down 130 pounds and that area has gone way down and "it" has grown surprisingly large, of course due to all the missing fat. I think that lots of exercising and hydrating can assist in minimizing the hanging skin but of course sometimes it's unavoidable.

No problems with straws for me also. My surgeon said to give if a try and if it didn't bother me, to use them. No problems in 6.5 months and I use them daily.

Many of us had the same apprehensions at your stage of the process including me. However, I'm down 130 pounds in 6.5 months, which is shocking at times, but I couldn't be more pleased with this procedure. I love the restriction and hope it continues long-term. My guard is up about regaining but I intend to keep making healthy food choices and exercising. Go for it and don't look back ...

I am within 10 pounds of my goal and recently went to my nut to determine how to stop my weight loss in a healthy manor. (I'm well aware of the wrong ways) She had me increase my calories right away to 1500/day (from 1200) and increase carbs to about 160/day. She wanted to slow down my weight loss to 1 pound / week and that has happened . Upon reaching goal she wants me to increase daily calories to 1900 and carbs to 200. Wants me to get the additional calories from increased fruit, grains, and almonds.

I have been changing my own CPAP settings for 25 years and it has worked well for me. My current self titrating machine automatically adjusts on demand so I monitor my stats regularly and adjust the upper and lower boundaries as needed. Both my doctor and a friend who is a respiratory therapist have unofficially approved my approach. I've not had a machine yet that I couldn't hack into ...

I am 6.5 months out and close to goal. While my wife has been extremely supportive from the beginning I've noticed that her food choices seem to be getting worse recently. She's only about 25 pounds overweight but is ordering deep fried stuff and ribs when we go out and then gets full sugar ice cream afterward. I'm still in the honeymoon phase and am very concerned about maintaining my losses longer term. I know that I'll need to rely on healthy food choices longer term and was hoping she'd be on board with it too. She has type 2 diabetes and has not controlled it well. I'm afraid to bring it up because both she and my daughter (also overweight but supportive ) are quick to point out that I had 85% of my stomach removed. Any suggestions ?

i guess i am not sure what that means, "at that point yet ." again, i dont think this is necessarily about weight, but instead, changing power dynamics in your relationship. a counselor can help with that. the sooner you address it, the sooner your relationship can improve. It really is about food choices and the fact that I am feeling disgusted when seeing her or anyone eating deep fried foods and things like ribs. I accept this as my own problem as I know that in general each person has the right to make their own choices about what they put in their mouth . This is very new for me as I was among the worst regarding food choices beforehand. So I'm trying hard to suck it up and just worry about myself, but that's not been easy and is getting harder.

My daughter is 21 and a college student so my ability to control her diet has diminished greatly. In the summer the 3 of us go away almost every weekend and that's when lo

It's not at that point yet but it could reach that point eventually. On the few occasions when I've pointed out her bad eating habits I've been accused of being a "reformed over-eater". Again she's only 25 pounds overweight, but her diabetes is worsening and obviously due to her food choices.

For now, my will power is very strong and I'm hoping it remains that way. I don't blame my wife for my poor choices in the past. In fact I've probably been a bad influence on her in the past. Still, watching her eat the fried stuff and ribs and the ice cream afterward disgusted me but tried to keep it to myself. When I was very large she wasn't shy about pointing out all of my bad habits ... Still confused ...

HW: 314 SW: 278 CW: 186 TPL: 128 TGP: 139 Down 1 pound this week ...

A friend of mine had gastric bypass in 2003. He started at 450, lost 200 pounds, and has since gained back 100 pounds. He has attributed this to discovering a love for craft beers but I know he's chowing down again. Also he mentioned that he's never really exercised and has changed from having an active job (logger ) to a desk job. I'm committed to continuing my exercising for life and hope to continue all of my lifestyle changes for life. He's chosen to not use his tool properly...

HW: 314 SW: 278 CW: 187 TPL: 127 TGP: 139 Down 2 pounds this week.

Agreed, and the nut said that adding more carbs will result in retaining more fluids so my quick gain was likely one of these issues. Still I like the idea of adding carbs and calories after reaching my goal which is only about 15 pounds away.

So I followed my nut's instructions and increased carbs and calories. Went from 1200 to 1500 calories and now in one day gained 2.5 pounds. I'm going to back off on her recommendations and not start increasing anything until I reach my goal weight. Maybe I'll increase from 1200 to 1300 but nothing more than that ... When I reach my goal, I'll slowly increase my calories, like one of you guys recommended, but not jumping to 1800 right away. I can't afford to undo all of my hard work.

Had my appointment with the nut today. She recommended increasing my daily calories from 1200 to 1500 immediately and increasing daily carbs to about 160. She said that given the amount exercise I'm doing I need way more carbs than I'm getting and should expect an increase in levels of energy after doing so. I have been kinda tired ... Then, when I reach my goal she wants me to increase daily calories to 1800 and increase daily carbs to 200. Do these numbers seem reasonable to you guys?

I, too, am tired of all the attention. I'm even tired of all the compliments and don't mean to be ungrateful but enough is enough. I'm always polite in thanking people for the kind words but just want to blend in now ...

I have about 12 pounds left before reaching my goal and have the same concern. Surprisingly the weight has been falling off quickly as of late. I am going to my nut today to get some guidance on ceasing my weight loss soon. I'd like a way to do this in a healthy manner rather than re-introducing the junk foods that got me into this mess.

I'm so thankful to have been sleeved and to have lost so much weight so quickly. It's been a lot of work but well worth the effort and risk associated with the surgery. My health problems (all the standard ones) are all fixed and I feel great. As I approach my goal weight, my wife, daughter and several people at work keep telling me I should stop losing now, but I'd still like to reduce my love handles. I established my goal weight based on weight lost 22 years ago and the level that I thought was good back then. However, I look different this time (at age 54) and a few tell me I look frail. Given my workout schedule, which includes strength training 3 times/week, I'm not at all frail but my new turkey neck does make me look older. Also, I'm told I walk differently (like an old man) and used to walk with more pep (when fat). Not sure the reason for this, but I've noticed myself hunching forward and try to adjust accordingly. So many changes without explanations. Monday I'm going back to my nut to figure out how to stop losing weight in a healthy manner. Somehow they left that out of my surgeon's instructions. I never imagined I would be in the situation where I'm trying to stop losing weight. Hopefully when I'm out of the honeymoon stage, I won't go back to fighting weight gains again .... I'm also very thankful for all of the support provided on this site and the great advice and information I've received here along the way ... Andrew

HW: 314 SW: 278 CW: 189 Down 3 pounds this week.