JamieLogical

Ah! I see what you are saying now. Yes, I agree about the gym. I haven't had a gym membership in years and years. I work out at home or I run outside. I have a little home gym set up in my finished basement with a treadmill, stationary bike, tv/dvd player, exercise mat, and adjustable free weights. The gym is great for some people because it forces them into a routine where they have to GO somewhere to work out and can avoid the distractions and temptations at home. I would think it would be especially useful for people with kids, since it offers them a chance to "get away". But for others, the gym can be very intimidating and/or expensive and inconvenient. Everyone has to figure out how to fit exercise into their own lives.

Toast and potatoes are going to make your liver larger and you won't see a loss from that. If you were going to try carb cycling there are far better choices. Your diet isn't low carb enough to begin with that you would need to carb cycle. People that need to carb cycle (and that is still even debatable) are doing 20 and under in carbs, which high Protein. Your carbs to protein are almost equal. @@johnny207 You don't have to go to the gym to lose weight, study after study has proven it. Exercise is great for health, but it isn't necessary for weight loss and the stress and anxiety the gym creates for some people is counter productive for weight loss. People who don't exercise while losing weight are more likely to lose a higher percentage of muscle while losing weight. Your body is pretty indiscriminate about burning muscle or fat for energy when you are creating a calorie deficit. Our high protein diets will help some, but building and strengthening muscle along the way helps a lot too. I think when most people are trying to lose weight, their intent is to lose FAT, but without proper nutrition and activity, you can be losing a lot of muscle as well, which isn't the goal.

@@northernislandlife I have had surgery in Mexico twice. The first time was for plastics after having lost 90 pounds "on my own" and the second time was for VSG after I'd gained most of the weight back. Throughout both experiences, I received an amazing level of care. I never feared for my health or safety the entire time. There are world class surgeons and facilities in Mexico and it's important to do your research to make sure you choose the best options for yourself. I didn't experience any major complications, but I did require a blood right after my plastic surgery was completed. That surgery was performed in a surgical center, so they did not have blood stores on site, but they were able to quickly have blood delivered by the Red Cross. I was never in any danger. Significant blood loss isn't an issue with WLS though, so you shouldn't run into anything like that anyway. As for flying home post-op, I too live on the East Coast (NY). For the return trip, I recommend no more than one layover and make sure that you have plenty of time between flights to get to you next gate. I also recommend an aisle seat so you can get up and walk a little bit frequently. I would get up and walk every time the drink cart was clear of the aisle. You won't be eating anything yet on your trip home, but you can ask the flight attendant for a cup of Water and a cup of apple juice and you can mix them (don't try straight juice so soon post-op). For the flight out to San Diego, you will likely be on your pre-op diet, probably the clear liquid portion for the last 24 hours. I brought Syntrax nectar Protein powder and a collapsible funnel. I bought a bottle of water inside the airport and use the funnel to mix in the Protein Powder. The logistics of getting across the border are pretty easy. A shuttle will pick you up at the airport in San Diego and take you across. Just be sure to have a passport or passport card. Some people are able to cross the border with a birth certificate and driver's license, but both Mexico and the US require passports or passport cards by law. So you are risking getting held up if you don't have one. I'd be happy to answer any more questions you might have!

@@mngreeneyes Researching Yaktrax a little. Do you use the Yaktrax Pro or the Yaktrax Run? If you use Run, have you had any problems with the spikes bending or breaking off? Reading some of the reviews on Amazon and it sounds like the durability is an issue.

My boyfriend is like an anti-runner. In fact, he got me a 26.2 car magnet for completing my marathon this weekend, so I ordered him a 0.0 car magnet as a joke. I got it in the mail yesterday, and he just got a new car yesterday, so I'm going to give it to him tonight! I was trying to find pictures of the medals for the 2016 Four Seasons Challenge, but my Google-fo failed me. Here's a pic of all the medals from 2015. The large ones on the outside are the individual race medals that any participant in any single race gets. The pie-shaped medals in the middle are the special ones that only Four Seasons participants get that all fit together to make one big medal:

Well at least they cover abdominoplasty at all, so that's good news! And I agree, a BMI of 35 doesn't seem that far out of reach. If you are determined, I think you can get there and stay there for a year. Just think of all of the money you are saving by not having to pay out-of-pocket any time you feel your motivation waning.

People on those shows are only starving for a couple of weeks and they DO lose weight in those few weeks. If they stayed in that environment for months on end, their metabolism would slow to a crawl and the would go into "starvation mode" as well. You have been starving your body for 4 months now (maybe more if you had a pre-op diet). That's why it's critical to get your calories up. The longer you continue to starve your body, the harder it will be to jump-start your metabolism again.

Well, in my city they have this thing called the "Four Seasons Challenge" each year. It includes three half marathons and then the half/full marathon I just did. You can choose whether you want to do the half or the full for that last race. If you complete all four races, you get a special t-shirt and a special finisher metal for each race where all four of them fit together like puzzle pieces to make one big metal at the end. I am thinking about tackling that! The first race is January 7 and is called the Winter Warrior. I am apprehensive about running in the dead of winter in Western NY. Whenever I have tried to run outside in the cold before, I have noticed I have a lot of trouble with my breathing. My lungs don't like cold air. Plus, winter running would require some serious trial and error with clothing and avoiding chafing. So I would certainly have my work cut out if I decided to run in that race! The second race is the same half marathon I did back in April, so I feel confident about that one. The third race is in mid-July, and similar to running in January, I would be concerned about the special challenges the heat might pose. The final race, like I said would be the half/full I just completed. I think I would opt to do the full again, even though my mom threatened to disown me if I ever ran another full marathon. I think that would be a cool way to cap off the year of half marathons, though, right? I'm going to have to give it some thought. I know my boyfriend was looking forward to me taking it easy on the running over the winter and having more time on the weekends with not having to do long runs. My previous plan had been to just run 3-4 miles three times a week or so from next week until January, when I had planned to start training for the half marathon in April again. But if I'm going to do this half marathon in January now, I would have to start training for that in the beginning of October....

I am shocked you were only told 50 oz. of Water. The recommended amount of water for anyone, weight loss or not, is 64 oz. As a WLS patient and someone who is, hopefully, exercising regularly, you should be getting even more than that. I usually get well over 100 oz. a day. As for calories, that shouldn't be your primary concern right now. While it is important to be getting ENOUGH calories to avoid slowing your metabolism, you probably aren't at risk for getting too many calories. You should be focusing on Protein. Aim for at least 80 per day, though my NUT told me to try to get up to 100 as quickly as possible post-op. I think you should definitely add in some Snacks to increase your calories and protein. I was instructed to eat 5-6 times per day. My "typical" day during my weight loss phase looked something like this: Breakfast: protein bar/shake Morning Snack: string cheese Lunch: leftover meat from a previous dinner Afternoon Snack: Greek yogurt Dinner: meat (whatever the protein was from what my husband cooked for dinner) Evening Snack: protein bar/shake That got me up to right around 100 grams of protein and about 1200 calories.

Hormones are stored in fat. As we lose weight and break down fat, those hormones are released back into the blood stream and can cause mood swings.

Hey everyone. Sorry for not posting sooner. I didn't come to work yesterday, so I wasn't at my PC since Friday. I survived. I ended up having to walk a lot of the last 8 miles, but I still managed to finish before the course closed. So I met both of my goals of finishing and surviving. I have the expected amount of soreness and stiffness, but no acute muscle/tendon pain or injury, so that's good news. The bad news is I got the worst sunburn of my entire life and it is excruciating. The weather had called for "mostly cloudy" skies with a high likelihood of rain. Well, we ended up with bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky for the entire time. Weirdly enough, I can't wait to get to run a little on Thursday.

Well, I am supposed to run a marathon 2.5 days from now and I am completely freaking out. I feel like an inmate on death row awaiting my execution. Today I had to start my carbo-loading, which is a challenge for sure. I'm supposed to aim for 600 grams of carbs a day for the next three days, with 85-95% of my calories coming from carbs! Talk about the antitheses of what my sleeved diet has been like! I was in an almost full on panic attack about knowing I can't hit my goal of 100 grams of Protein a day for the next few days if I want to have room for all those carbs. It's almost 4:00 in the afternoon and I'm only at 207.5 grams of carbs for the day. Only 1/3 of the way to my goal. Crazy! And this morning I had a muffin and there was so much sugar in it, I actually got dizzy and felt a little sick. To think, for years of my life I would have loved the opportunity to binge on sugar and carbs all day every day for three days straight!

Well, I managed to finish the marathon on Sunday and I am still alive, so I achieved both of my primary goals. I ended up having to walk way more of it than I had planned. I probably did more walking than running for the last 8 miles or so. But I finished it before the course closed so that's what matters! I am stiff and sore, but no acute pain or injuries anywhere. My main source of pain is my incredibly horrible sunburn. By far the worse sun burn I've ever had. The forecast had called for "mostly cloudy" skies and rain all morning. Well, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun beat down on me mercilessly for 6 hours. I wasn't prepared for that at all. Happy to have lived and happy that it's over. I really want to do better next year!

I used Dr Almanza with no issuesSent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using the BariatricPal App Go buy a lottery ticket! Haha! My thoughts exactly!

Has it really been two years? In some ways it seems to have flown by, but in other ways it seems so much longer than that! On this day two years ago, I weighed 236 pounds. Down from my starting weight of 260. I met with the nutritionist at OCC and she told me my goal weight should be 165 based on my answers to about a million questions, my starting weight, how much I'd been able to lose in the past, etc. Not only did I reach that goal right around the one year mark, but I have now been maintaining at or below it for a full year! When I decided to have WLS, I thought of it as "weight maintenance surgery" rather than "weight loss surgery", because I really didn't need help losing weight. I'd lost weight many many times in the past. Having lost the largest amount (90 pounds) back in 2010/2011. My struggle was always keeping it off. So when I found myself back at 260 pounds (within 10 pounds of my highest weight ever) in the summer of 2014, I knew I had to do something different this time. While I had no doubt I could lose the weight again, I also figured I would eventually regain it, like every other time. I decided to have VSG and I am so so happy to have been right in that decision! I've maintained my weight loss for a full year! I have never been able to do anything like that in the past. Whenever I was "done" with a diet before, I started regaining weight immediately, because I went back to the exact same habits that had gotten me there in the first place. But not this time! I'm never going to be "done" with my sleeve. It works with me and I work with it every single day of my life. And how different that life is now! I am running a full marathon on September 18. I have been training for it since May, after having run a half marathon in April, which I had been training for since January. This summer I think I've spent more time being active outside than I have in the past 10 summers combined! I go out. I meet new people. I participate in activities I never would have thought to in the past. I don't binge to cope with my emotions. I enjoy food, but in healthy quantities. All my social activities don't center around food anymore, but when they do, I'm not consumed with guilt and self consciousness. I wear fun clothes. I actually enjoy clothes shopping now, instead of dreading it. I don't feel ashamed walking into a "normal" clothing store anymore. I can ride all the rides at amusement parks and fairs. I can spend a whole day on my feet. I feel strong and confident and comfortable in my own skin! To any of you who are just getting started or are struggling and questioning whether it's all worth it, I can assure you that it absolutely is! It's hard work. It's sacrifice. It's change. But if you put in the effort, you will be rewarded.

@@Sam S. Sounds like you have a great attitude. Attitude is a big piece of the puzzle, so I think you will do great!

I hope all goes well and you get the results you deserve.

@@mngreeneyes Definitely see the effects on my mood. I have been grumpier and more depressed without my running. I feel like a slug. And now all these carbs I think might actually be affecting my brain chemistry. I seriously had a second this morning where I was questioning my sanity. Not in a a joking "you are crazy for running a marathon way" but in a "wait a second, is my brain sort of broken?" kind of way. I really do want to try to push hard to get as many carbs as I can though. Having glycogen stores at 100% capacity is pretty critical with a full marathon. I want to be as close to that as I can possibly be in order to hit "the wall" as late as possible in the race. Just want to be able to give myself my best chance of finishing. And let me be clear, FINISHING is my only goal.

Did you have a barium swallow test? Liquids should definitely pass right through your sleeve once you are fully healed.

The mortality rate for WLS is extremely low. I can imagine that it is very very scary when someone close to you dies. But you have to assess you OWN risk, independent of the anecdotal evidence you may see. And remember, you need to factor in the risk to your life if you DON'T have the surgery.

I haven't eaten much pasta since I was sleeved, but the couple of times I have, it really seemed to fill me up super fast. I will try anything at this point through. I didn't even break 400 carbs yesterday!

I don't know if this is an option for you, but the way I paid for my surgery was to borrow against my retirement account. I am allowed to borrow up to 45% of the value of my retirement account with no penalties/fees/taxes and the rate is very low, most of which just goes back to me as "return on investment".

I don't really see why it would matter. Liquids pass through your stomach in a matter of seconds. As a slightly thicker liquid, a Protein shake might stay in there a tiny bit longer, but probably not much. I honestly don't think the guidelines about drinking before or after eating are all that critical. My NUT said I could drink right up until the time I started eating once I was fully healed. The risk before then is "filling up" on fluids and not having enough room for food when it's time to eat. But, once the swelling from the surgery was gone, liquids would pass straight through, so it was impossible to "fill up" on them. As for drinking after eating, I was told to wait 20 minutes, but I typically wait more like 40, because when I am full of food, I simply have nowhere for the fluids to go, so it makes me super, uncomfortably full to try to drink too soon after eating. The REAL critical and lasting habit you want to form is not drinking WHILE eating. Drinking WHILE eating waters down your food, making it runnier, and making it pass through your stomach more quickly, allowing you to eat more and defeating the purpose of the restriction.

I was talking to someone who had the RNY and she is ready for plastics. She said to get everything done - all around the world TT, arms and boobs costs about $35,000. She thought it was going to be more. Uuuummmm...Any good plastic surgeons in Mexico? LOL! There are LOTS of good plastic surgeons in Mexico! I was able to get my breast lift with augmentation, all over lipo, and extended tummy tuck done by an excellent surgeon and stayed two full weeks in the recovery house there with 24/7 nursing care for something like $11,000.

I still feel like it has to be something metabolically wrong and not anything to do with the sleeve itself for you to be gaining weight while eating so few calories.