BSU

LOL, geez thanks! No, seriously thanks. Yeah, pretty big change. Went from like size 58 pants to now 38. 5XL shirts to now XL , and knocking on L.

One year out.

This. 1,100 actually seems a little low to me if you are working out regularly. It is counterintuitive, but sometimes you need to eat more to lose. Try mixing it up a bit. Average 1,250 for a week combined with working out and see what happens.

Week 3 stall. Totally normal. Stay on the plan. The numbers will start plummeting soon.

I kept it quiet at first. After a while it becomes obvious that something is going on and you get tons of questions on how you are doing it. I usually just said "eating better, eating less" to the casual enquiries. If I felt like sharing, I might say more. I have only rarely been asked directly about surgery. In those cases I say, something along the lines of "well yeah, I thought that was obvious".

lunch meat Quesadilla. Two soft corn tortillas, Sliced ham or turkey, some pico, and half slice of cheese. You can make the same thing as a taco without the cheese. Grilled chicken sandwich from a fast food place with no mayo or cheese and half bun. Guacamole, lettuce and pico on a crispy taco shell. Steak or grilled chicken with steamed broccoli. Egg whites with salsa or pico.

There is a great deal of unnecessary hand-wringing over soda. Clearly, it is not good shortly after surgery. The carbonation can cause havoc with your smaller healing stomach. Also, caffeine has a slight diuretic effect which works against you in getting in your liquids and staying hydrated. Also, non-diet sodas are empty sugary carbs. Not exactly in line with our new healthy eating plans. However, long term, I see no harm in diet sodas. The carbonation simply isn't that strong. It is not going to stretch your stomach. You may burp, that's it. I've heard theories that the artificial sweeteners can be counterproductive, but I am unaware of any actual proof on the matter. My experience has been that diet soda is fine. I drink it all the time and have been consistently losing.

I'm with you. Things are going well. I'm getting down close to my "best ever" weight. I get dramatic reactions from people who have not seen me in months. That's always an affirmation. I think I am on my third belt and I only have two holes left. Second or third pair of jeans and I am going to need a new pair soon. I dug some old "too small" clothes out of the garage that I had forgotten about and they were way too big. Almost all of it went to goodwill. I'm about 20 lbs from my "best ever" clothes. They are all from "normal" stores. I remember thinking how cool it was to walk into Eddie Bauer or just about anywhere else and be able to buy something. The height/weight charts say my ideal weight should be in the 180's. That was absurdly laughable before. Now it seems just optimistic. Oh, and I called about getting a life insurance policy and it looks like I may now qualify even with the weight loss being so recent. Next year, I should be able to get a really good rate. Another thing, my kids' friends no longer see me as the "fat dad". They'd never say anything, but I know it was embarrassing. I no longer have to buy an extra seat on airplanes and seat belt extenders are completely unnecessary. I haven't been to an amusement park yet, but I know I could fit into any ride easily now. Yeah, it rocks.

It is major surgery. It will take some time to recover and heal. Some people have had serious complications, but that is not the norm. Also, keep in mind that the surgery is only part of the process. It will get you started, but if you do not change your eating habits long term you will not succeed.

Depends on how much you have to lose. Also greatly depends on how well you adapt to the new lifestyle. I'm shooting for 180 down by the one year mark. Ultimately, I hope to make it even lower. May take another 6 months on top of that. We'll see.

JDJ4R on myfitnesspal. I'll send you an invite.

I also try to go low carb. My NUT said 100 grams or below. Avoiding pastas, potatoes and sugars altogether and very careful with breads and tortillas.

NUTs can be a little drastic. No caffeine ever again! No soda ever again! No bread ever again! You will drink Water and eat broccoli with dry white meat chicken for the rest of your life! Actually, not so much. Yes, you need to make a lifestyle change and no you can't eat and drink like you used to. However, you do not have to go on the nutritionist nazi diet. Caffeine can cause you to lose water, so in the early months when you are struggling to get your liquids in, it is a bad idea. Carbonated beverages and bread can be bad while you are healing, but you may tolerate them just fine later.

Hard chairs hurt more now. Less cushioning. I also feel cold more easily.

Tacos work for me. They are a treat. Two crunchy taco supremes with no shredded cheese are only 340 calories. As a rule, corn tortillas, even crunchy corn, are better than flour.

Doesn't hurt as long as you pick it back up. I'm off this week for medical purposes. Going back to the gym on Friday.

It gets better. The intense cravings subside. Hang in there.

Yep, normal stall around week 3. Soldier on. You'll be fine.

Okay, I am a little over 6 months out. So far so good. I'm eating better, working out and making steady progress. I'm now healed up and I can physically handle any type of food. Also, my capacity has stabilized at about 8 oz or so. I am targeting 1,500 to 1,600 calories a day with 100g or less of carbs. My sense is that the surgery did most of its work in the first couple months and it is now on me. I still get full much faster than I used to pre-surgery, but I think that if I eat the wrong things I could gain weight at this point. So, my question is, how do you maintain the momentum? In the past I have always slipped into bad habits an put weight back on. The underlying food addiction is still there. It is lessened. I don't crave so hard. Also the restriction should keep helping. However, I am worried that I could slip back. What are the keys? How do you maintain the new lifestyle? I have a vague idea that once I hit a good healthy weight I will dial in a calorie target and then adhere pretty much forever. Maybe I won't log everything every day like I do now, but then again maybe I will have to. I don't know. I could use some insight.

Why four weeks? That seems too long. Some take longer to heal than others, but you may find that one week off is plenty. The hernia idea sounds good.

I use almonds for a snack between Breakfast and lunch. The trick is to eat just a few. No more handfulls like in the old days. Sounds like you've got a good system.

Exactly. It has to be a long term lifestyle change, right? The sleeve was a great tool, but its effectiveness diminishes. It eventually comes back to us, the same us that previously got fat over and over again. I am also thinking I will be logging and counting forever. Yes, but guys have an advantage there.

Somewhere around 3 months or so. No problems.

I would echo the eat more or eat less comment. Don't go crazy, but sometimes you actually need to eat more. Take a realistic look at your calories and reset your target (up or down as needed). Try it for a week,

Physically no problem, but the calories are high. I have had pizza maybe three times in 6+ months since surgery and each time it wasn't very satisfying. You can have 600-900 calories in pizza and it is just a tease. #Not worth it. Hate to say it, but if you have to go to a pizza place, get a salad.