JamieLogical

@@goplay94123 That's beautiful! Should be great motivation to run!

You guys are going to make me cry! I am so happy to have inspired and motivated you! Running is not for everyone, but it's for a lot more of us than we probably think. I never ever would have thought I could be a "runner", but programs like C25k really make it possible for any of us who don't have chronic injuries. Sunday I ran a half marathon. Not officially, just for my full marathon training. I was scheduled to do 12 miles for my long run and between my warm up and cool down, it ended up being a full 13.1 miles. Crazy!

Most of us ae told to aim for 80-100 grams of protein, so that might be part of your problem. You may not be getting enough. You also didn't say how many calories you are getting. If you are exercising, and only eating protein shakes, you probably aren't getting enough calories. I pushed hard to get up over 800 calories by the time I started exercising and then about 1100 calories before I started doing any more than just walking.

Depending on the surgeon you choose in Mexico versus where you would be having surgery in the US (some cities have much higher costs than others) you can expect to pay about 1/3 to 1/2 of what you would pay in the States. I had an extended tummy tuck with muscle repair, breast lift with implants, fat grafting to my butt, and all-over lipo in Mexico in 2011 for about $11,000 (including the recovery house stay). Where I live in the US, I would have paid probably a little over $30,000 and would have been sent home a day or two after surgery to fend for myself!

My signature has the stats for how much I lost each month post-op. My numbers are even lower than VSGAnn's and yet I still reached my goal and have been maintaining for 10 months! I don't know why everyone is in such a hurry to drop the weight. How fast you lose soooooo doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Once you are at goal and maintaining, the rate of loss is completely irrelevant.

Get a new PCP. You should be able to change to another within your network. My PCP has been amazing through multiple surgeries in Mexico. She has done all of my follow-up check-ups and blood work from my VSG and my plastics. She's the best!

That's exactly right. No insurance company is going to pay for self-pay complications for surgeries done in the US and not surgeries done in Mexico. They are either just going to pay for complications or not.

Are you tracking your food? Are you exercising at all? Are you drinking your calories or eating any slider foods?

OCC? Absolutely. They have a fantastic facility, a world renowned surgeon, and a great team that will keep in touch with you for months and months post-op. I have heard a lot of great things on this site about the surgeons BariatrciPal is affiliated with as well. They seem to do their due diligence when vetting surgeons to partner with and seem to offer a lot of support. Definitely make sure that any surgeon your friend chooses offers follow up support and has a nutritionist on staff.

Amen to that! I don't know how I would have gotten through all this without this site and the people on it!

@@Oak Park Lorena Glad you are back to running! Down time from running is the worst! You'll get your conditioning back sooner than you think. @@chrisredjeep I am so thrilled to hear I helped inspire you to run and you are enjoying it so much. I think that for those of us with no natural aptitude for running, it is all the more fulfilling when we can call ourselves "runners".

I've been to TJ for surgery twice by myself. I'm glad I went alone. I would have felt obligated to keep a companion entertained and I was in no shape to be worrying about that. It was nice to only have to think about taking care of myself.

I simply contacted my insurance company and asked. They said any infection or hospitalization post-op would be covered. My PCP has ordered all my post-op blood work and my jnsurance had paid for it all, no pronlem,

So as a runner, this is something I *really* struggled with. I did not want to lose anymore weight, but as I was training for a half marathon (now training for a full marathon), the scale kept creeping down. The first thing I did is replace some of my meals/snacks with more calorie dense foods. cheese and nuts are great sources of extra calories, while still getting your Protein in. I also had to add in one or two extra "snacks" per day. I had been eating 5 times a day. I now eat 7 times a day most days. I also, finally caved in and started having a carb-only snack. Before my runs I will have a Clif Bar or a piece of whole grain toast with Peanut Butter. I also got a FitBit Blaze so I could more accurately track my calorie burn through the entire day (had just been using a heart rate monitor while running). And by logging my food for a while (don't have to anymore) I was able to make sure my calories in vs. calories out were pretty balanced. So far so good. I got to my lowest weight of 10 pounds below goal, but I have been sticking there for a while now.

What's your surgeon's name? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Ariel Ortiz of Obesity Control Center

@ Yes. No matter how this works out, I definitely have a story to tell. I am so sorrg about your incident!

Well, he definitely scored a lot of points for being so awesome about the whole thing. I mean, if that's not "trial by fire", I'm not sure what is! Definitely looking forward to spending the weekend with him. He's meeting my sister tomorrow and I'm going to his best friend's birthday party on Saturday, so I guess things are getting pretty serious!

I gained 7 pounds of muscle while losing a total of 113 pounds. I guess I was speaking more from my personal experiences. As a former amateur competitive power lifter I was used to eating 300g of protein a day or more on a 7000+ calorie diet. I couldn't possibly and never will be able to eat that much in a day now with 75% of my stomach missing. Well you are certainly a special case. Most of us go into a situation where we needed surgery by eating loads of carbs and not enough protein and nutritious foods.

And your following stalls will last longer Sent from my SM-G930P using the BariatricPal App Hahahaha! Thanks for that!

Heh! That's exactly how I feel. I eat a lot, but I'm able to maintain 10 pounds below goal just by keeping up with my running!

Glad to hear things are moving again. I don't know why some programs don't put as much emphasis on protein when it so clearly works. Most of the people who are successful with the sleeve long term seem to at least be in the 80-100 grams per day range.

The "Dreaded Week 3 Stall" can usually happen anywhere between weeks 2 and 4 post-op. It can last as little as a few days or as much as a few weeks. Haven't heard many stories of it lasting longer than 3 weeks, so that's probably worst case. The good news is, there's no deadline for your weight loss. 10 years from now, when you are maintaining your healthy weight, you aren't going to look back and say to yourself "man, if that stall had only lasted two weeks instead of three, my life would be so much better!" It's so hard to wrap your head around when you are used to a lifetime of "diets" where the main goal is to just be "done" losing weight. You will never be done with your sleeve. So there is absolutely no rush!

Heh. What you lose in fat you gain in Water though. It takes months for the swelling to go down and to have visible results.

I gained 7 pounds of muscle while losing a total of 113 pounds.

Protein, water, and exercise. Out of curiosity, why are you in such a hurry?