Stimpy911

Weight: Jan 2009: 430 pounds Surgery Date - July 29, 2009: 387 pounds November 10, 2010: 235 pounds. Since surgery I have lost 152 pounds. Things have been going really well for me since my surgery. I went from a size 56 waist to a size 36 / 38. My sleep apnea is now gone and I am a much more active (not always) and happier person. I am 6-2 and I want to lost another 25 pounds still but I have been stuck between 233 and 239 for months. I have finally started going back to the gym within the last few weeks to gain some muscle and tighten up my skin. Thankfully I do not have much of a skin issue except for my legs but all in all not too shabby. Oh, I am 34 years old too and from Michigan. Good things that have happened: Lost a ton of weight Feel happier No more sleep apnea Started dating and opening myself up more Stay away from fast food Bad things that are happening: Started drinking diet mountain dew again Hardly drink any Water Need to drink more Protein Eating healthier but I need to do a better job Drink too much coffee Eat too many sugar Cookies from the store Need to do better with my fresher vegetables and fruits I need to get more protein in and less carbs So needless to say my honeymoon period is over or at least close to being over. I still do not have hunger but at times I do find my mind telling me I am hungry. I can eat bigger portions now but I don't know how big is too big. I guess I need to contact my surgeon and Nutritionist to find out. I am very happy with my success but I do not want to become someone who is going to gain his weight back. I am very happy with my sleeve but now comes the time I need to maintain my sleeve and there are time I feel like I am going to fail. For those of you out of surgery as far as I am I would love to hear how you are doing. Thanks, Steve

Hi everyone, I am about a week or so over my 7 month surgery date on July 27th, 2009. Everything is going really good for me. I started out last January at 430 pounds. The day of my surgery I was 387 pounds and today I weigh 257 pounds. I have two sets of measurements from the surgeons office. May 20th, 2009: Weight: 414 pounds Wrist: 8.5 inches Waist: 56 inches Hips: 62 inches BMI: 53.22 Jan 20th, 2010: Weight: 268 pounds Wrist: 7 inches Waist: 44 inches Hips: 49 inches BMI: 34.41 I have been exercising and going for snow shoe walks however it has been infrequent. I have been trying to get better with that and be more consistant but when I do go to the gym it is so much easier than before. What am I eating now? I can pretty much eat anything I want. I don't eat Pasta or rice yet cause I am not supposed to. I don't eat too much breads yet cause they really fill me up so I try to avoid them. I have been eating quite a bit of healthy choice frozen meals at work. Other things I am eating are chicken, steak, salads, chili, and even some mexican take out food ( get the small size and it is pretty healthy). I have been doing a really good job staying away from the bad foods. Occasionaly I will have a piece of pizza. I do drink coffee now. I have had a few diet mountain dews which I probably should stay away from. I have also been addicted to these big Cookies at the local gas station. I had three of them at work today so I need to do a better job of not snacking on them. I believe that it is ok to eat like a normal person which includes having a piece of cake or some potato chips from time to time as long as it is in moderation and not done everyday. I do need to quit the cookies though. The hardest thing for me is probably still getting enough fluids in. I don't have a problem drinking fluids at all but for some reason don't as much as I should. I still buy the Protein powder but I don't use it every day like I should. I do eat Protein Bars from Walmart but not everyday. I still take my flinstone multi-Vitamin twice daily, a Vitamin D pill, prevacid, b12 sublingual every day when I don't forget lol. I don't take my Calcium every day but should. I do drink a lot of skim milk though which does help a little. Another issue I have had has been not eating enough during the day. I need to work on getting in enough small meals in because sometimes I feel that I am not getting all of my required calories. At least my blood work is still coming back good. Well, just wanted to give some updates. I will post some pics soon. If you want to comment on my good and bad please feel free too. :001_smile: Steve

I everyone, I am scheduled for VSG surgery on July 27th. I have been dealing with the staff of my surgeon but I hope to talk to him soon in more detail about the procedure. I found he uses a size 46 bougie. My guess for this size would be to complete the second step RNY or DS if needed. My goal is only to have the sleeve done even though insurance will not pay unless it is considered a 2 part surgery with a rny or ds being the second stage. Thankfully there is nothing that states I will need to have the second surgery so my plan is to do well enough with the sleeve. Anyway, I do not see many posts with doctors using a size 46 bougie. What are some questions I should ask my surgeon when I see him? I want to stress to him that I think the sleeve is the best surgery to have and that I do not want the RNY or DS after unless I am not losing the weight. Thanks

What are you eating and how much are you eating at almost 5 months out? Sometimes I wonder if I eat too much. Some days I can eat more than others. I am sure I am doing ok but I worry that I could stretch my sleeve out. My doctor used a size 46 bougie I believe so my stomach is a little bigger than some. However, I have managed to lose 100 pounds since surgery. What does it take to stretch the pouch? I have overeaten a few times but I normally stop when full.

I am almost 5 Months out now and have lost 100 pounds and a little over 10 inches on my waist.

Hi everyone, I am now just over a month out from surgery. I am on Stage 3 which is the soft/pureed food stage. I just wanted to list some of the things I have been eating for comment. If anyone can add food I could try please let me know. Tuna fish Chili Flaked fish - salmon and tiliapia meatballs and meatloaf - I feel it is soft enough to chew well refried Beans and cheese pureed had potato salad the other day Soups of course eggs SF pudding Cottage cheese Been on this phase now for about 2 weeks. Just wanted to compare with everyone else. Surgery date I weighed 387 pounds. That was July 27th. Today I weigh 350 pounds.

So I started this Journey in Feb weighing in at 430 pounds. For the last two weeks I have been on a high Protein, low carb low fat 1200 calorie diet. I know weight 395 pounds. I have done pretty darn good over the last two weeks but of course still nervous because what if I did not do enough. Basically I had a Protein shake for Breakfast and lunch and a protein choice meat for dinner with a salad or vegetable. Also I could have had a 100 calorie snack at night but I chose not to do that or if I did had another protein shake or something like that. Now with my work schedule I have kinda rearranged the order at times but I think I have remained within the 1200 calorie limit. I have 3 days left. I ended up having for breakfast this morning a round steak on the grill. Only reason I did that was because I only had a tuna sandwich wrapped in a lettuce leaf from Jimmy Johns and two salads later on. Sandwich was only about 255 calories. I used fat free french dressing with my salad. Well I want to make sure over the last 3 days, well more like 2 because I cant eat on Sunday cause my surgery is Monday that I stay really strict. Anyway, just thought I would share. Wish me luck!

Hi everyone, my name is Steve. I am 32 years old and live in Michigan. I am having VSG surgery on July 27th, 2009. I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the forums and thank everyone for posting here. I have been overweight all of my adult life. Finally this year I had a talk with my primary doctor and told him I wanted WLS surgery. At that time I talked about the RNY with him because I had no idea about the sleeve surgery until my Education Day with the surgeon and his staff. Once I learned about the sleeve I knew it was the right surgery for me. At least I hope. I am fortunate that I have no health problems with the exception of sleep apnea. But the apnea scares me because I have a hard time using the CPAP machine. My back and feet get sore from time to time but that is pretty common when you are overweight. So my primary doctor approved my surgery after I educated myself on the procedure. In February I had my education day and I had my labs and psych test in May. I started the process weighing 430 pounds. I am 6-3 tall. I now weigh 407 pounds. I hope I can get below 400 pounds before surgery. I have BCBS of Michigan and they will cover my surgery if it is considered a 2 part surgery with a RNY or DS being the second stage. However the good news for me is that there is nothing stating I have to go through with the RNY so my plan is to stick with the sleeve and follow the plan as best I can. Anyway that is my story so far. Just sitting at work writing this waiting for my shift to end. I am a 911 dispatcher so I am writing this between calls so I hope it all makes sense lol. Good luck to all of you and I will keep everyone posted with my WLS journey. Steve

The weather has really sucked this summer! It was nice the past few days but back in the 60's this weekend.

I live in Marquette, in the Upper Peninsula. My Doctor is Wayne English.

My doctor has me on the following pre-op diet that I started yesterday. Protein shake for Breakfast small snack before lunch Protein Shake for Lunch Small snack before dinner - piece of fruit or cottage cheese For dinner a piece of chicken or other protein source along with a salad with low fat dressing. In place of a salad I can have a green vegetable. This will last for two weeks.