dani2728

There's a rumor going around that doing 500 face scrunches a day will get rid of turkey neck. And if there's not a rumor, we need to start it.

Hehe. I remember when I had my son, I had to attend a informational class about amniocentesis
I walked in and saw a bunch of OLD pregnant women.... And then realized OMG I'm here too. I'm one of them!!! 0_o
My Nana used to always tell me "Laura I am the same girl I was before but now when I look in the mirror an old woman looks back at me"

Not a rant...

Here I am with Peter Noone, lead singer for Herman's Hermits. He is one year older than me, 65, he's a rock singer,(notorious for hard living), and he looks younger. Granted, he didn't balloon up to 330+ pounds and then lose it in a year, get treated for prostate cancer, and he has a ton of make-up on, but..dang!
The biggest difference is the turkey neck..gobble, gobble.
I am glad my wife loves me whether my neck flaps in the wind or not. I have no desire to blimp it out again with fat globules. Surgery is out of the question at this time. I just have to lay low at Thanksgiving.

Well, you don't look older than Keith Richards or Mick Jagger!!
The Surgeon General should put a picture of Richards on cigarette packages as a deterrent!

Here's the information my doctor gave me for pre op diet:
Pre Op diet
In the obese, the liver is a huge, fatty organ. It is “in the way” of the surgical area during surgery, and must be held back with surgical instruments. An enlarged liver is very fragile and bleeds quite easily when touched or manipulated during surgery. This bleeding can be difficult to control, and the extra care required with an enlarged liver increases surgical risk, as well as surgical time. Longer surgical time and extended time under general anesthesia can make both immediate and longer-term recovery much more difficult for you.
For those with a BMI of 40 or over, a special high Protein low-carb pre op diet has been extremely effective in shrinking the liver, so that the risks of bleeding and extended surgery times are greatly decreased. Those with lower BMIs may also choose, if they wish, to follow the liver-shrinking diet to further decrease their surgical risks.
Following this SPECIFIC DIET PLAN is extremely important. The goal is not to lose weight, necessarily, but to enter a temporary period of dietary ketosis, which is not harmful to you at all. However, many do lose a good amount of weight, which will jump-start your weight loss as you begin to regain and improve your health. It is this dietary ketosis that results in liver-shrinking and the normalizing of your metabolism so that you can do well with weight loss surgery.
LIVER-SHRINKING DIET PLAN
There are NO CALORIE LIMITATIONS on the LIVER-SHRINKING diet. You may eat/drink as much as you wish of the allowed things to feel satisfied, although we suggest reasonable limits to assist your weight loss. This does not have to be a liquid diet.
Start a low carb (30 grams or less daily), high Protein (minimum 60-70 grams daily), keep a close eye on the fat intake (don't over do it) and at least the minimum required daily amount (64 ounces) of plain Water intake diet prior to surgery.

If you chose to drink a Protein shake. Please read the labels. You should get at least 15 grams of Protein & less than 6 grams of total Carbohydrates per serving. Protein shakes are NOT required, but are very convenient.

You may have low fat yogurt, lean meats, grilled chicken, green vegetables. We recommend checking the carb content on your food. You can find a very useful carb counter on Atkins.com
http://www.atkins.com/Program/FourPhases/CarbCounter.aspx

So my surgeon requires a 2 week all liquid diet prior to surgery to shrink the liver. Given that it is for my safety as much as his convenience, I am following it to a "T." I think that I have been more stressed about the 2 weeks than anything else. Well, here I am day 4 and have lost 6 lbs so far (and actually feel pretty good). I thought I'd share some things that have helped me...
I didn't eat like a pig (my normal style) and then go cold turkey.
I tried 1 shake a day, 2 a day, 3 a day leading up to the full fast. I felt weaning myself off food and especially sugar helped me.
I bought a 1 liter water bottle and set mini goals for intake through out the day
I bought a range of shake flavors (pretested them all)- sweet, savory (chicken flavored) and plain Protein. I find that I get sick quickly of having the same thing for every "meal" so I switch it up
My surgeon allows you to mix with Water, milk or yogurt...so I switch that up to so I feel like I have some variety of texture
This may not be for all as it is expensive...but I bought myself a VitaMixer. This thing is AMAZING! I make coffee ice cubes then mix a chocolate powder with milk or water for a yummy frozen treat as well. I am actually saving a lot of money on food...so I splurged. I figure it will be good too for after surgery during the mushy stage

Yes, NASH damages the livers ability to break down fat because it is engulfed in fat. I started taking milk thistle and Probiotics, who knows...good news is that. NASH improves as you lose weight. It might take longer but you are healing your liver in the process. NASH is such an unrecognized side effect of obesity. When I got my diagnosis I flipped, and needed to learn a,l that I could.

Take a girlfriend out for Decaf coffee! They roll with all the variety of things in our heads! Or write it out (then burn it, hide it or frame it!) Make a list. Basically get it out. We've "cut out" our bury it/stuff it coping tool. Bless you!

Aww Amy, I'm sorry you're feeling this way! I know for me it used to drive me crazy watching my husband eat. I've gotten over it and now it doesn't bother me so much. My husband is a marathon runner with a nice fast metabolism. He was my eating partner before surgery, so it's taking some time to figure out other things to do. Sad, I know. Now I see how much food played a part in our lives.
So last weekend he took me out on his motorcycle! He has asked and asked me to ride with him but I was always too afraid and worried about looking like a huge whale on the back of it. I promised him after I lost 50 lbs I would go. I've lost 60lbs and we went out on Sunday for a ride, i was like screw what anyone thinks! Omg I had soooo much fun! He had Monday off too and we went out again. It's so much fun! We're actually going on a little road trip to a town an hour away tomorrow and I'm so excited! It's something he enjoys doing and now I can do it with him!
I'm not saying to go out a ride a motorcycle but try to find something to do that you both enjoy doing that doesn't revolve around food. Put your focus into something else.
All that you are feeling is normal! And I know from experience when you need to poop it's easy to get down. Sounds dumb but seriously I feel so much better all the way around after I can go! I feel lighter and happier! Lol!
So put on your big girl panties but know that we are all in this together and you are not alone in your feelings! It's a big change and adjusting to it is not as easy as we think in our heads before surgery. Just take one day at a time. Life throws us challenges every day, it's life. Try to focus on the positive. You are losing weight, you're getting healthy and know things like hormones should balance themselves out in a few more weeks! Feel better!

I'm 50 and ...
- never lived a day without God's love surrounding me (even when I didn't recognize it)
- never gave up hope that my life has purpose and meaning (even on the roughest days - and there were many)
- never stopped praying for my husband (whom I've yet to meet - well, unless I know him and don't know it yet!)
- never lived without an amazing animal in my life (right now it's Howard the cat and Riley the corgi)
- never enjoyed my body, flexibility, energy, health more than I am now
(ok, ok - I've never been waxed either)
Amy