BryBro63

I finally thought of a regret I have about the surgery...I wish I had gotten it done SOONER!!! If I did, I'd probably be at my goal weight now!!! This has been the coolest life-changer I could have ever done, and I'm not really sure why they say that men have such strong reservations about having the surgery. It sure has saved my life, and made things much, much better!!! Life is good....energy is good...health is good...sex is BETTER...even style of clothing is better, since I'm not as limited since I no longer have to go for the bigger sizes!!! This is good!!!!

Is it too late to get in on the challenge?? I am usually very good at keeping track of all my weight, miles, etc. through MyFitnessPal...so if allowed, I can play catch-up!!

Wishing you the best!! See you on the Loser's side!!

I agree that there are some who do indeed ask questions that would appear to be strange, but at the same time I would not want to discourage any persons who truly are asking questions for the right reasons or who truly have been misguided or misinformed by those persons in medicine who aren't as caring or as professional as most are. I personally feel that any good question deserves a good answer.

Done!

It's absolutely normal, Mr. Esslinger...I had the same issues at one point with anything in the dairy family. To help, you can indeed take the lactaid pills or something similar to it. I myself took the generic version at first to see if I could handle it...they worked so well that I stuck with them, and now I don't need them as mush now that I'm 6 months post-op. Now my issue is I get gas from taking Fiber chews, which I need to combat minor constipation...a small price to pay for the relief that I'm getting! Congrats on your surgery, and I wish you the best of losing!!!

I've received a few comments on losing too much from family and friends, but there's currently only 2 opinions I really care about...the comments from my wife, and my primary doctor...my wife and I agreed upon my goal weight even before I started the journey, and that hasn't changed at all. My doctor thinks the 'standard scale' is way outdated, so she feels that if I were to use the standard, I would truly be underweight, so she also agreed upon my goal weight. For my height, I should weigh under 164lbs...but my planned goal is 180...I started getting comments once I hit the low 200's, but I knew I wasn't done. Don't let the comments of others steer you away from what truly matters...what matters most is how YOU feel!!!

That's wonderful...or should I say 'Onederful'...CONGRATS!!!!

Ria1202, looks like you're doing really wonderful!! And sounds like you're great role model, with some truly great advice!!! On behalf of everyone new and not so new to the WLS thing, thanks!!! As far as Onederland...it's truly a great feeling and a great milestone which deserves celebration!! In my case, I had not seen that weight on my scale for a very long time... and coming from someone who at one point had to buy a better scale because the one I had didn't go high enough to measure my weight, it's definitely an important goal in the WLS process...something worth embracing!!! Wishing you the very best...much deserved!!!

I think the main reason you need to stick with the phases is for the proper healing of the sleeve than anything else. Certain foods can get caught in the stitches or irritate the surgery area, or could pull the seam where the stomach was cut. For instance, trying to eat apples with the skin, the skin can get caught. Since the digestive system was not changed due to the surgery, it may not affect your weight loss, but the portions and the types of food that you eat now very well could affect your progress. Let everything heal first, before trying to eat regularly again.

Certain meats taste very 'metallic', if that makes any sense...especially turkey sausage. But also strangely enough, turkey BACON tastes great to me now!! Also coleslaw was something I couldn't stand pre-surgery, but post-surgery it tastes very good to me!! Not sure what's up with that!!

I think one of the best pieces of advice I got and I can give is to try your best to stay organized. If you're anything like me, you'll have alot of questions on alot of different issues. Also you'll be going to quite a few appointments, as I'm sure you've already started since you're going through the process. I received alot of documentation, as well as did alot of research...it may be good to get a folder or a binder to keep everything in one place. Another bit of advice would be to get the MyFitnessPal app, and join the community....you'll meet alot of great folks, and it's a good way to keep your food and exercise organized!! Congrats, and wish you the best in your journey!!

It will take awhile, but I'll bet your habit will catch on with the rest!!! In the meantime, keep up with your own good habits...surely they will benefit you in the end!!

I've heard a lot of good things about Trader Joe's, but there are none close by me!

yay! I'm sleeved day 10. Feeling good Congrats to you both...wishing you the best success!!!

As hard as the temptation gets, stay away from the scale!!! Once a week, tops!!! There's nothing more frustrating than weighing in on a daily basis and seeing the fluctuations...and this happens pre- as well as post-surgery. As long as you do your part, the weight WILL come off...trust me!!! I'm not almost 6 months post-op, and I STILL have to fight the temptation of hopping on the scale frequently...and whenever I go back to the bad habit, the frustration gets me down!! Follow the doc's and the nutritionist's instructions, and you'll truly do great!!! Wish you the best success!!!

My question would be once you've lost the weight and the balloon(s) are removed, is there anything that would prevent you from regaining the lost weight back? That would personally be my biggest fear...which is what got me in my situation in the first place. If you are a person who has the discipline to keep the weight off once it's lost, then this truly sounds like a great solution!!

Congrats!!! Wish you the best!!! I can honestly say this is the best decision I ever made, and I hope the same can be said for you as well!!

I did a full comparison, and then talked to and showed my surgeon. The one that has everything needed and compared closest is the Centrum chewables. This has all the vitamins and the iron needed for bariatric patients, and it costs much less!!

You're very much welcome!!! Please let me know how you make out with your new Vitamins, and what you decide on with the Nascobal...I've been using it as well as the new vitamins for about 6 weeks now, and it's been working out great!!

wablue31, The number for ProCare RX is (800) 662-0586. How it worked for me is my surgeon sent them the info for the prescription, they sent my insurance info, and the promise is the most they can charge for filling the prescription is $25. They will FedEx to your home a month's supply of the Nascobal, chewable Vitamins, chewable calcium, and chewable Iron. This one stop shop covers all I need each month, I have at least one less Vitamin to take, the nasal spray is completely harmless, and I can stop it at any time. Wish you the best with everything!!

I'm thinking that your goal weight may be a little too high, so that may be why you're still losing...it's still a very healthy thing, though. This is my biggest concern as well, that I'll hit my goal weight and then keep losing. After talking to the nutritionist and doing even more research, research shows that once you hit your healthy goal weight, your body will tell you that you need more calories and things will level off. You'll be more hungry, and your weight loss will slow down and finally stop. Congratulations on your success...you look really good!!

That bad, huh??? I ordered stuff from Bariatric Advantage...never had their chewable Vitamins, but the calcium chews are very good...the square ones That come in the 4 different flavors are good. Not sure if your doc has you on B12 vitamins, but there's this new thing called Nascobal that my surgeon introduced me to. It's a nasal spray that you use once a week, and it's covered by insurance. Through mail order from ProCare Rx, they send you the Nascobal, calcium chews, vitamins, and Iron chews all for $25. They all taste pretty good. If you're interested, I can send you more info.

I would suggest that you keep checking this site as often as you can...this helped me a great deal! Mostly because you will find many people at many stages of the journey, and all will have good advice as they share their journey with everyone else. For starters, one bit of advice I can give is please don't continually compare your progress to everyone else's...I know it's easier said than done, but please try to avoid this. We are all all individuals who progress differently, and weight loss is not at all a competition, but a healthy journey that 'YOU' will do great in!!!

It really IS hard at t he beginning...the reason why you're told to do this now is so you won't be in such a shock post-op, when these changes will be a way of life...trust me, once you reach post-op, you'll appreciate the trouble you're going through now. Once you are post-op and have no choice but to adopt these new habits, you'll simply be practicing what you've learned. If you're like most of us, you WILL slip into your old habits every now and then, and then you'll see why you can't because you'll feel the results. Then after awhile when you start losing and seeing the 'fruits of your labor' so-to-speak, you'll see that everything you're doing and going through will all be worth it in the end!!!