johnlatte

I track calories, protein, carbs and sodium. All of those are contributing factors to the way your body is going to react to the effects of the surgery. I use a 2 to 1 protein to carb rule and try to get 100 gms of protein a day. Sodium I try to keep under 1500 a day, and usually come in somewhere around that. I am notorious for not eating enough calories, so I track to make sure that I am consuming enough.

Great post! I would really like to hear more about what your expectations were around "dieting". Help me understand this, because I see this as a trend on this board, but I pretty follow a healthy eating plan and don't really consider it a "diet" in the biblical terms. Now if you compare it to what I was eating pre-sleeved, yep I guess you could consider it a diet, but as I go through MFP I see it more as eating more balanced and healthy. If I want to eat something that might be considered "bad" I take that into consideration for the rest of the day. Some weekends, I don't even care what I eat (this happens to be one). I have my kids with me and we go out and eat and get froyo etc, I just don't gorge. I log all that and make the proper adjustments for the week. I really want to hear and understand your perspective. BTW if you don't want to share here, please DM me or friend me on MFP. I really want to learn more about this.

The first thing you should do...is relax. The second thing is to throw out your scales and stop weighing everyday (or every other) and expecting to see a 5 lb loss every time. You bodies are going through some radical changes and is doing everything it can to hold on to as much energy (fat) as it possibly can. Keep on track with what you are doing, remember that the fluid intake is a non-negotiable item. Watch the carb intake, make sure you are tracking your sodium intake as well. A lot of foods that are okay during the early stages of post op are full of sodium (soups and stocks for example, sports drinks etc.) Take a deep breath and focus on getting to the next phase of your post op. The weight will come off, but everyone is built differently, so your loss may be slow or it may be faster depending on your body type, physical activity and how compliant your are with your diet. It will happen but not overnight, so patience is the key.

Hey, I think you should focus on you. You can't change the behaviors of other, but you can change. That's going to be the most important thing during the recovery process of WLS. People will only change if they really have it in them. I know that it is frustrating, but that is the reality of it. You can lead by example and maybe the family unit will see that you are committed to getting to a more healthy lifestyle and join you. If not, well unfortunately that's something you can't control. Hang in there and stick you your goals, you'll be happier in the long run.

I like a lot of what you say here. I don't know that therapy should be required, but I think a lot of us really could use some help reconciling our relationships with food and eating. If you read post after post about the mourning of not being able to eat certain foods or how their lives are going to dramatically change socially, you have to wonder. I did have two really good, in-depth sessions with a therapist, pre-op and she gave me some good insight. I've also had a couple of other session of therapy in the past that have helped this time as well. Being able to fully understand the relationship between our eating habits and our obesity and how to recognize specific patterns of behavior and deal with those patterns are the key to ensuring a successful outcome from the surgery. I think ultimately the best way to fully understand the situation is to work with someone that specializes in habitual eating and eating disorders. I know that many will disagree and feel that they can handle the situation solo, but I know from my own experiences with dependency it brings a lot of clarity, a lot sooner, when you are working with someone.

high five fiddleman, well done and well deserved!

the first couple of days were brutal. If I sat for a while then got up, my foot really hurt badly. Getting out of bed in the am was tough too. I stayed off the treadmill for about a week, and haven't run on the pavement since. I'm just gutting it out now, stretching it out, icing it down when I can. Also I don't walk barefoot or wear flipflops. If it doesn't get better I may go get shot of cortisone so that I can keep running. I have a 5k schedule in June, so I can't let up.

6# way to go man!!

I tend not to completely agree with your line of thinking. There has to be a pretty complete commitment to developing healthy eating habits for this surgery to be successful long term. You will see many people that are a year or more out telling you that they eat what ever they want, just smaller portions. But before that happens you have to really reconcile your relationship with food and eating. I don't see the surgery as a "diet" at all. There hasn't been hardly any foods that I can not eat, however I know how I got to point that I needed the surgery. I also know that it is very easy to eat around the sleeve and gain back the weight that I have worked so hard to lose. What I, and many others, have to adjust to is why we eat, and why we make the choices we do. That's difficult and the surgery alone will not solve that issue but it does go along way in helping use filter through that. I think if most of us were a few pounds, say 10-20 overweight, then your thinking is probably correct. However for those of us that were obese, morbidly obese and had other health related issues that were connected to our weight, it has to go much deeper. I have had not not only learn how to eat healthy, I have had to learn to deal with emotions and stress and all the triggers that sent me looking for snacks and food that got me to 260 pounds. What the surgery does, is like a slap on the back of the head. It wakes you up, to face what got you to be obese and gives you an opportunity to deal with those issues, before you get fully healed up and are able to slide back into those old habits. Just my point of view.....

I'll look into ChiRunning. Thanks Shoes have been fitted. Beasts are my every day trainer, with an additional orthotic for flatter arches. The Sacuony's are my official running shoe, again fitted (analyzed via video on a treadmill at the running store.) Oddly enough, I popped the heel in the Sacouny's even though the orthotics are the same inside the shoe. I'm hoping it more of an internal bruise as it was the first time in quite a few years that I had run outside on the pavement (asphalt trail). Also as a rule I had never ran on pavement when I was above 200 lbs to keep from wrecking my knees. I was about 210 when this happened.

My Dr. and I agreed that drinking was not a good idea period. For me it is a trigger for other bad behavior. I personally made the commitment that if I had to haul my ass up on an OR table and let a bunch of strangers cut out a perfectly good organ, I could put down the bottle. It isn't going to hurt me physically or socially if I don't take another drink. I don't need a drink to have a good time and I don't need to go back to where I have come from, and alcohol was one of the reasons that I was they way I was. Good luck with your choice.

Just finished W4 D1. I've been off a while because on W3 D3 I ran outside instead of on the treadmill, and I either bruised the inside of my heel or am coming down with plantar fasciitis. It still hurts but I can't let that stop things. If anyone has any tips on how to best ease the pain on this lmk. I'm doing stretches, ice, but no pain drugs. I've added a different insole in my shoes. I'm running in Brook;s Beasts for motion control and they are pretty heavy for running but okay for treadmills, but I also run on the pavement with Sacouny Grid Stabils again for over pronating.

Walk, don't run to the nearest running store. Let them fit you for a pair. Many stores have treadmills on site that will allow you to try them out and they can watch you walk or run to make sure you are fitted correctly. Every bodies feet are different, and what works for me, may not work for you. I have flat feet and over pronate so I need a motion control shoe. I can't stress enough that getting properly fitted for a shoe is the best thing you can do to keep from getting injured and or becoming discouraged. I am fighting plantar facitius right now and have to go get refitted for another pair that will help me combat that. Hope that helps!

Hey Boo, I missed this a well, I was out with the kids a lot yesterday. Really sorry that your wheels are wobbly right now, but you know what? You have a ton of strength and I don't doubt there is nothing you can't over come. Stumbling is all part of what makes us human. You can take on a lot of butthurt over it or you can cut yourself a break and use it as a way to get stronger. Remember we had our stomachs cut out, not our brains, and a lot of what goes on with any type of weight loss is between the ears. You got this, and you know you do, you just need to get re-centered and press on. I hate the cliche that is it a "journey, not a sprint" but that's what it really is. Sometimes the wagon has to get a flat every once in a while for us to really learn where we are headed on how best to get there. Just hang tough and don't sweat the stumbles!

I feel ya Nate. At 15 I probably was pretty much in your shoes. I didn't have surgery as an option, so I did it the old fashioned way. I backed off my mom's table and dropped the junk food and got my ass in gear. I managed to drop some significant pounds between my Jr. and Sr. year in high school. It made a world of difference in my life, socially, physically and so on. I was able to keep the weight off for a certain number of years, but like a lot of us, it always came back. I thought a lot about your question and I wonder at 15 what I would have done if surgery would have been available. Knowing what I know now about eating and all the things that go on inside of us, I probably wouldn't do it. I might have given myself a year and just tried a few simple things like tracking what I ate (like with myfitnesspal), changing how I ate and getting some real exercise too. I don't mean just walking around, but something that puts out some real sweat. That's what I did, but I didn't stick with it long enough to push the old habits out of the way. Along the way I found some more habits that made trying to lose the weight a lot harder too. This surgery and all that goes with it, is pretty complex. Yep of course you'll lose the weight, but it really takes a ton of work. That's something that I am not sure a lot of people are ready for nor can they accept the fact this it is a very permanent solution. At 15 for me, permanent lasted til next weekend. You seem like a pretty sharp guy so I know that what ever you decide it is going to be the right thing for you. If you feel like this is your very best choice and are willing to except that it is not reversible and not refundable, then I think you'll do fine. Otherwise, think hard about what you might be able to accomplish without the surgery. Good luck with this dude, what ever you decide, let us know, we are here for you!

The clinical term for your navel is now below your knees......

no you didn't stretch. Early on, fluids aren't as restrictive as they will be as you heal up. As you get further along, you will start to feel fuller. Just remember to sip not gulp as the air will make you pretty uncomfortable.

Also many "sugar free" contain things such as malitol and or sorbitol which can have a "laxative" effect. If you are eating a lot of sugar free items, check the labels. It is has either of these, you might want to avoid them.

Great story Dean!!

Maybe exercise? Read up on puree recipes for when you are in that phase. Work through why you eat when you are bored, spend time reconciling your relationship with food and eating. There's a lot you can do.

Right now, liquid protein is going to be your best bet while you heal. Have you tried the Isopure's? There's also Premier, EAS. Pure Protein. I am not a fan of powders, but the RTD types aren't too bad. You might drop into a GNC or Vitamin Shoppe and see if they have some samples for you to try. Also people like the unjury unflavored and put that into things like soups or gatorade.

Didn't get paid if I was out. Had to work Mostly it was okay.

At a minimum you should be getting in the fluids. Don't worry about eating all that, but do not get dehydrated. Even if you have to make yourself drink, you simply have to. You will feel much better, but you dehydrate, you are really going to feel crappy.

Never puked, never felt nauseous, never had gas pains....I might be a different kind of mutant though. Got up as soon as I was able and started walking, walked up and down the hall dragging my IV and legging pump along. Felt mostly fine, just grogged up from the anesthesia.

I would love to find a boxing or kick boxing gym. It is awesome cardio. My gym has a kickboxing class, but you never hit anything. I'm thinking about taking up jujitsu or some other martial art to get more flexibility and up the cardio.