sirbrewz

Nicki, you're way ahead of me, I just had surgery one week ago. However, I lost 90 pounds since March preparing for my surgery. When I would stop losing, I would evaluate everything that was contributing to weight loss and try to make sure I wasn't failing to do something essential. For me, these were the factors that could keep the weight coming off: 1). Water. If you are not drinking enough water, your body will compensate to hang on to the water it does have. 2). Protein. You say you are hitting your target and that is great. Keep it up. 3). Exercise. Daily exercise every day gets more important as you lose weight. It can help your metabolism stay higher and burns a couple hundred calories per day for you. Since 1 pound = 3500 calories, you can estimate the impact of daily exercise over time. 4). I find that if I am not recording calorie counts of all food eaten each day, I get off track. I highly recommend you keep a food diary or get on something like myfitnesspal if you are not already doing it. I think many, many people on here will tell you they too have experienced month long stalls. So don't despair, just fine tune your actions that contribute to weight loss and plan your meals, water and exercise and this stall will break. Stalls are vexing, I hate to experience them because it feels like your hard work is not paying off. However, that is a myth. Our stalls are simply the prelude to an extended period of weight loss and staying true to all your dr's instructions will pay off. This weight loss journey can be really emotional, but please remember this is really about math. Good luck, things will look better soon!

Sarabeth, I was also sleeved on July 25 and have had no b/m. Your post cracked me up because I too am having pain from coughing! My wife was sleeved about a year ago and she says she went several days without going. So I think we are ok! Since we were both sleeved on the same day, message me anytime if you have a question and we will compare notes.

Cupcake, I just had my surgery on thurs. Got home yesterday. It went well, every day gets better and better. I encourage you to get online and seek out a bariatric program and talk to them about how the surgery might help you. They have a lot more knowledge about this than most primary care physicians and will be able to guide you on whether this procedure will help you address the diabetes issues you are dealing with. I do not have diabetes, but my own research led me to believe that overall the vertical sleeve is the best bariatric choice. Also, even if you talk to a program of excellence that isn't close to home, these dr's are good about giving you referrals to programs close to you. Best wishes, and we are glad you are here.

I am on my next to the last day of preoperative. My surgery is thurs. I have been doing one premiere protein shake for breakfast, one shake for lunch, one serving lean protein and non-starchy vegetables for dinner. I have been drinking a lot of water and walking each day. The water and the walking seem to help me with hunger. I really, really don't want to have to lose the same weight twice.

I was once the unsure husband. I thought my wife's surgery was extreme and I worried that there wasn't enough history for the procedure to be safe. She was patient with me, but told me she WAS having this surgery. She lost 107 lbs since having the surgery a little over a year ago. She says it was the best decision ever. Now for the poetic justice part: Now I am having sleeve surgery on July 25! Her success and numerous doctors begging me to take action brought me to evaluate my options and I am just about to take the same journey as my wife did. So I guess there is hope for even the unsure or unsupportive husband!

Your post made me laugh! I have often told my wife how I long to be described as something that doesn't have the word, "morbid" in the description! I have lost 80 lbs since March preparing for my surgery which is on July 25. With a little luck, I will achieve "really, really fat" status before long! Congratulations on your success!

Your post says "2 week clear liquid diet". Be sure and check with your dietician on the word "clear". Most preop diets are liquid, but not clear liquid until the day before surgery. So I would hate for you to limit yourself to clear liquids for two weeks when you could be having the non-clear shakes.

Maybe you got a little good luck in finding out that your Dr is not somebody that you need to be working with. His or her conduct in refusing to do the paperwork is unacceptable. The normal course of action is that you get in contact with a Bariatric program at a hospital and you go see them for those three months and they handle the paperwork. This is an important decision so you'll want to find a Dr and bariatric program that feels right to you and doesn't include any nonsense like your Dr exhibited. I would suggest you post your location and ask forum members to share their referrals with you. If you happen to be in TX, I am working with UT Southwest in Dallas and I think they are terrific. They have been caring, supportive and efficient. Good luck and post if you have questions or need support.

Sorry to hear about the aversion to shakes. It is kind of rough having to drink them all the time. I have started making little thin ice cubes from isopure using ice cube trays. It is pretty good to crunch one every little while vs drinking the stuff. Keep on drinking the protein! Soon you will be on normal food and this will be a thing of the past.

I can identify with what you are going through. I have lost 75 lbs on my 4.5 months of pre surgery dieting. My surgery date is July 25, and I have wondered if this is necessary. I have concluded that it is necessary for me. Although I have been successful on my own during this short period, there will be a time when I reach my goal. I believe the sleeve will be a great tool to help me stay at the right weight. I hope you come to a decision that feels right for you and wish you healthy results!

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who speak without thinking. They say insensitive things because they haven't walked in your shoes and don't know the reality of your experience. Be strong! A person who does this surgery has to be pretty single minded in their desire to get it done. You may have to ignore the naysayers and let them take some time to grow up while you get healthier.

One of the best before and after pics ever! Great job!

You are doing great! I also am in Law Enforcement. Civilian in charge of planning and budget. I started at 455 back on Feb 1, 2013. My dr asked me to lose all I could while we do the three month evaluation and insurance stuff. I am 385 today and my surgery is July 25 in Dallas. I know how much pressure you can put on yourself to be fit in law enforcement. Your success so far should make you so proud, and I'm with you buddy! Give us more updates soon and maybe I will be brave enough to post pics after a few months from now!

Your feelings are normal. I think most of us had to sort of push our way into the surgery and let all the distractions and complications with getting started float away. It is great that you look forward to this because you are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel and you want that. Keep going forward and let us know if you need help.

I can really identify with your distress over the pre op weight loss. I tried many approaches for years without success. However once I committed myself to doing this surgery I have been able to lose weight. I was 455 march 1 and last week I was 395.5. You will find an approach that works for you! My approach was 1500 cal or less a day, 90 g of protein a day. I've started walking daily now that I have had some positive success. I think the reason this worked for me is I tried to select foods that I really liked that were not too high in cal and had some protein. Also I fill out myfitnesspal menu the day in advance in order to minimize spur of the moment food decisions. I know you've probably heard of these things already, but if you keep trying you will make some good luck for yourself. Thanks for sharing your experience, and we are all with you! Sirbrewz.

New mom, thanks for your posts. I am being sleeved on July 25 at UTSW in Dallas. I live down in Waco. Hearing your daily updates has been illuminating since I will be doing this in about a month! Thanks and it looks like you're doing great. Sirbrewz.

Your 17 lb weight loss is to be commended. I am sure your dr told you about shrinking the liver through the preop diet, so you have already exceeded expectations with your 17 lb weight loss. Good job!

Thanks for sharing! I have been fortunate to have a wife who has been sleeved, so I have great support. However, a few years ago I was that person who would not have been supportive. I grew up a little bit and matured as a person! Now I am about to be sleeved myself and am seeking support! How is that for a bit of unexpected irony? I work for a large police department and expected little support from work. Police are great people, but they can be inflexible and unenlightened on some issues. I have been really pleasantly surprised at the positive reaction from my coworkers. I hope you'll let us all step in and lift you up if you're not getting the support you need. It sounds a little harsh to say, but you might just have to ignore family and friends who are unsupportive in order to take care of yourself. Sadly, they sometimes feel threatened when you take charge of your own life and make a major change. Listen to your doctors and ask us for help anytime!

My sleeve story? It hasn't quite been written yet. I started working with staff from UT Southwestern in Dallas back in March of 2013. I am male, 45 years old and weighed in at 455 lbs, which was my all time high. I was starting to get lots of little signals that my physical condition could not continue much longer. Shortness of breaths from walking across the street, stairs were just impossible, high blood pressure. There were more bad health signs, but you all know what they are. My wife had sleeve surgery about 13 months ago and she has lost over 105 lbs since then. She is down to about 170 lbs or so and is within 15 lbs of her ultimate goal weight. Having observed the process she went through, I felt confident that embracing this sleeve surgery was a big opportunity. Plus having her support and coaching from experience is invaluable. She admits to having some tough moments immediately after surgery, but now says this was the best decision she ever made. UTSW had me go through a 3 month weight management process for insurance purposes. I just finished this process and had my meeting with the surgeon. Now we are waiting on insurance approval and I hope to have the surgery scheduled within a few weeks. I have read a lot of concern being voiced by many of you about the pre operative diets. I share your pain and understand your desire to figure out the best way to prep for your surgery. Despite a lifetime of failure dieting, I have somehow been blessed to have some success losing weight during this 3 month period. From March 1 to June 5 I have lost 53 lbs! For those of you who may be struggling with this, I would like to briefly share my approach. Everyone has to chart their own path, but maybe sharing my experience will help someone. A person of my weight (455 lbs) and my height (5' 7") burns about 3300 calories daily even with a sedentary lifestyle. I set a goal of 1500 calories, with hopes that the extra 1500 to 1800 calories burned per day would be the right approach. I also set a goal of at least 90 to 100 grams of Protein per day. I have used myfitnesspal throughout, and have found the most useful feature of the app is your ability to schedule future days food information. I plan each days approach to eating the day before using the app. This has allowed me to just "work the plan" and not have any surprises or emotional eating surprises each day. My diet has not been textbook, but I will provide a typical day so you see what worked for me: Breakfast: 4 very thin slices of HEB microwave bacon (80 cal), 1 Yoplait light yogurt (90 cal) Morning snack at 10 am: Power crunch bar (210 cal), 12 cherry tomatoes (25 cal) Lunch: 0.5 cup cottage cheese (110 cal), power crunch bar (210 cal), leftover corn on the cob (118 cal, but not a great food choice) Afternoon snack at 2:30: 12 to 14 white grapes (50 cal), 0.5 cup of sugar free lemon pudding (70 cal) Dinner: Small baked salmon fillet (110 cal), 2 slices toasted low calorie multi-grain bread (45 cal each slice), 12 cherry tomatoes (25 cal), one peeled cucumber (45 cal) Other Snacks through the day: 2 clear Protein drinks (80 cal each). This doesn't add up to 1500 cal, but sometimes your dinner or lunch will vary by a couple hundred cals depending on the situation. A couple of weeks ago I started walking daily. My goal is there is not so much weight loss as building some stamina to help me during recovery after surgery. Well, nothing earth shattering in my post! But I have spent so many hours reading what all of you folks are experiencing, I felt obligated to share my own story instead of lurking. I will post updates as I move along on this journey and am always willing to correspond with anyone who wants to exchange info about the sleeve.