Stevehud

Age is the biggest factor and your overall weight as well. dont let anyone fool you exercise does NOT remove loose skin. It can build muscle under it, but it will NOT make it go away, but if your in your twenties hey you might do really well. Otherwise learn to live with it, or get plastics afterward. At least youll be alive and healthy when you deal with it.

Just please please be careful most premade shakes , and i say MOST not all, are loaded with sugar and carbs. low in carbs high in sugar or vice versa. stay away hard! Personally i used the Isopure only in two flavors, the alpine punch and the orange, but my goto has been the Syntrax i go through a lot of it i have mug cakes twice a day now ( if you want the recipe look under my posts or ask ) and i love several flavors, the nectars in lemonade and fuizzy navel, and the choclate matrix and the Cookies and cream matrix and Cappuccino nectar sweets are my favs. i literally have them twice a day every day. and ive done well so far. But like everyone says your tastes may vary and after that first liwuid diet phase things taste a lot different later as well. i like the Vitamin shoppe because you can return even the big tubs of product if you dont like it, ( just do so right away and save your recipt)

i do notice that being regular means im in a losing stage. if i aint poopin i aint losin. and cadio does seem to do a lot for the poopin. i dont use the squatty, yet but i do use a small footstool. lol and yes it does work to a point. i also take stool softener daily and fiber daily as well. i also know that im about to break a stall due to the excessively long and yes i admit it, fun farts. My wife calls em epic. and laughs uncontrollably sometimes. lol just one of those side effects.

well from what i see, i am not in the norm, my daily caloric intake is between 600 to 800 and occasionally ( rarely) does it ever hit 1000. my Protein is about 80 grams and my carbs i keep below 30. i zero out my sugars as much as possible usually taking in less than 8 grams per day and refined sugars are a no no. but i haven't hit maintenance yet i have 6 pounds to go first. i use protein powders liberally. i have a protein mug cake ( i have posted the recipe, easy and love it) for Breakfast and lunch and a very sensible protein based dinner. it has worked well for me so far. The Protein powder gives me high protein 30+grams , for 3 carbs and 2 grams of sugar, per cake. so that takes care of the bulk of my protein etc. i work out 6 days a week doing 45 minutes of cardio. i don't lift as im no looking to do any bulking or toning until i have lost what i came to lose. Im lucky in that i have a nut, who trains triathletes and ultra-marathoners, and so he is great at getting that lean body type i so want to have. ( id rather look like bruce lee, than say, Arnold S,) probably because ive never been thin and at 5'9" im a small guy overall. when i hit goal. i will start working more calories in from vegetables etc. still wont go over the 30 to 60 carb range though. no way im going back.

the weighing isnt bad its what you do with the info, or how it affects you. as many others have said, I use it to help keep me focused. Sometimes if i get a little out of my goal focus the scale lets me know. After i hit goal ( six pounds to go) I will try to not do it every day. but if i do. so what? lol being aware of your weight is a good way to help stay in control of your weight.

many times i have told the waitress, that i am a gastric sleeve patient and they have mentioned it to the staff a few times they have had the chef make me something they think i would like , chefs are great like that. i once had a beautiful little piece of herbed baked fish, that wasn't on the menu, but they only had a small amount so it was great ( halibut, yum) and the other was a little chicken roulade ( rolled up) with vegetable stuffing. places always accommodate and i tip for the privilege as well. also easiest is going to indian food, or mexican, both usually have ptions of well seasoned and spiced foods that are available in high Protein meats or veggies etc. pub food is the hardest unles you want to eat like a side of veggies while everyone else is eating fried everything lol. although my falback is boneless buffalo tenders, just skip the ranch etc.

i was supposed to be wearing cpap, but never could tolerate it due to extreme claustrophobia etc. but since my neck went from a 24 to a 16, i dont have any issues anymore. what a difference a year makes. and i had the UPPP surgery a few years back to help with sleep apnea, not something i would ever reccomend.

to be blunt- Thats Fucking AWESOME!!!!

for me the veg/vegan thing is a non issue. WOnt go there, dont like it at all. first reason? SUGAR, vegetables are loaded with sugar, sugar is the enemy, vegetables are loaded with carbs and sugar, yes it not processed sugar but that is irrelevant. if i eat more veg, Instant stall. Now that being said some vegetables are wonderful, like broccoli, but its hard to eat such fibrous vegetables and fit in my normal caloric intake. Vegan/vegetarianism relies on a lot of sauces which are typically created with oils etc. also not great for you. Everyone has a flavor of the month in weight loss, and i avoid fads an populrity contests. For me personally i advocate turkey chicken fish and much less beef. Also staying away from starchy vegetables like rice and potatoes, which are two huge staples of the vegan/veg diets. Oh and fyi i know a couple of very obese vegan/vegetarians.

Join the club of ....all of us. Stalls are normal. also think about the fact that while you may not be "losing" you can be chaning your body. Sometimes even when your not losing you body is redistributing muscle etc from working out, and youre getting fit, your just gaining muscle at the same rate you are losing fat. Ive noticed losing inches on the body, even when overall weight stayed the same. You will hit curves valleys and hills all along the way, dont give up just keep going. i was stuck at 10 pounds to go for 2.5 weeks. then in one week i lost 3 pounds, then bounced back up a pound, then it has taken me another 2 weeks to get back to that seven pounds to go. its not fun, but then again this isnt about fun. its about us and our health. You Can Do This!, dont stop!

personally i love the old el paso mini soft tac shells. at this stage for me, i can have two with my filling, ( ground turkey, diced jalapenos, onion and some cheese on top. ) and really enjoy them. But earlier on in my jouney I basically used lettuce leaf wraps or just as a taco salad. still yummy.

Why do you have a picc line in? Nevermind, not important i guess. I eat ground turley tacos often with jalapenos, onion , some cheese etc, usually wrap em up in a lettuce leaf but that may not be feasible for you. DO NOT let other sinfluence your eating. this is YOUR journey, not thiers.

make sure your Iron is up to where it should be, and also your fluids, dehydration will cause that, plain and simple. Very common.

This is a hard topic. Harder than some people think. I always swore i would never judge obese people. But i cannot help it. myself and my wife have discussed this a lot. She is a little overweight, but she tries and that's all i ever want she is 5'5" and 177 in the eyes of doctors she is overweight to me, im just fine. But very obese people now scare me in that I, see them and think, "please please, get help. its out there, you can do this, dont wait till its too late." but i never say a word of course, at least not to them openly. Ive had a few people i know of , become interested in the surgery because of my blog or my appearance etc. and i think that's all we can do. We can lead a horse to Water and all that, maybe more apt, is we can show people what its like, but we cant make them healthy. A relationship with one person struggling to be healthy is so much harder when they are with someone who is obese and not trying. I feel for you.

Steve's Quick and EZ- I Cant believe it's not pizza 1 Flatout Hungry Girl Flatbread ( Italian flavor style if you can find it) Tribe Tomato and Basil Hummus 1/4 cup of Skim Milk Low fat Shredded Mozzarella Or sliced etc. 2 oz of turkey Pepperoni or Any Vegetable or topping you like 2 leaves of Fresh Basil 1/4 teaspoon oregano Preparation Chiffonade fresh basil leaves ( slice into thin strips) Place a Flatout Flatbread on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 5 minutes or until the edges are a little brown. Remove from oven but leave oven heated. On flatbread spread an even layer of hummus across the flatbread. leaving a small margin at the edge. Sprinkle Basil and oregano on top of hummus layer. Spread Mozzarella evenly over top of the hummus. Top with turkey pepperoni, or any toppings you like, vegetables etc. ( i recommend cooking any vegetables or uncooked toppings first as this will be in the oven a short time only.) Place on a cookie sheet or baking pan, and place in oven until cheese is melted. PS - If you wish to add garlic i recommend putting it on top of the hummus but under the cheese to avoid burning it. ENJOY!- Its a pizza, make it your way!

SO, On Monday, September 14th I will be going to Atlanta from Boston on business with a few colleagues. The funny thing is the last time I was in an airport was 16 years ago, me and my wife went to las vegas. It was hell walking around especially in the heat, and I always tried to dress well, but lets face it, when your a big/fat/overweight guy, looking hip or classy, is not easy on a budget. At that time, I wasn't as big as I was before my surgery but I was well over 300 pounds. The stares from people when I got on the plane were of them saying, oh please don't let this fat man sit next to me. Thankfully myself and my wife had two seats in an end row to ourselves. I always used to volunteer for the entry way seats because no one else would sit next to me except my wife. ( those are the seats that don't recline etc.) This last time I sat down and, uh oh, the seat belt wouldn't fit! At the time, I did not know about seat belt extenders and probably wouldn't have asked for one, even If I had known. So I just tucked the seatbelt under my arm and my belly, and made it look like it was attached. This Monday will be my first flight since then as I never wanted to fly since, expecting I would have to buy the dreaded extra seat. This will be a first for me in a couple of ways. Obviously being able to fit in an airline seat , with a seatbelt will be, a weird but great feeling. Inside I'll have a bit of a wistful moment when I click that belt on. Sometimes it's these things, I never thought about when I started my journey, that really make me happy.

while i love that you tried to help others. Truly, i love that. But as a guy, we dont take advice from women well. There is still a huge stigma for men having WLS. We're told to just gut it out, that were just big boned, society makes some allowances for big guys and not big gals. We should just hit the gym and cut out the beer..Which makes no sense if you dont even like beer lol. But as you know denial is a powerful thing. It enables us to not see ourselves as fat or whatever word you want to use. We use that enabling to get by. As men we have this innate macho thing where we arent allowed to admit weakness at all. unless we finally make that big leap and make that psychological breakthrough that lets us admit we need help. Its very dificult as society and our friends relatives associates etc will poo poo it at every turn. Its not a manly thing to fix by cheating ( and yes i know it isnt but we know thats a big perception. People think WLS is cosmetic plastic surgery, akin to getting a boob implant. Men aren't allowed to seek options outside of the DIY option. This is one reason i cringe when i see someone on tv, some famous celeb, who loses weight, "on thier own" they get raised to sainthood, but WLS to save lives is considered "cheating". Its easier for your friend to get mad and defensive than it is to fix his issues. And obese people know all about EASY.

personally im a big fan of Breakfast ideas. a quick par boil , then prepare turkey sausage meat, to about 1/2 way done with 1/2 onion diced , mushrooms if you like em, and then here's the fun part, use any spice you like, take it south of the border with some cilantro cumin and chili powder, or go Asian with some lite soy sauce and some sriracha, or even some small cubed tofu, go Italian with some oregano fresh basil and a little parmesan cheese. Basically stuff the peppers 3/4 way, then bake at 365 for 1/2 hour. here's the second fun part ,. top with and then you can top with a fried egg or some scrambled egg then, pepper jack or the like, for Mexican, mozzarella for Italian, something sharp for Asian etc, Breakfast stuffed peppers, although pack it in the amount you would eat, as i know we all hate wasting but they make great leftovers. Now if you don't want to bother with the stuffing part just slice up he peppers, mix em with the sausage onion , mushrooms, spices mixture then plop that fried egg of top or scrambled on top add cheese and bingo!

Yes ARRGGHH, I said ARRGGGHH! and no im not a pirate. No offense to OKCPirate. lol. I have 9 lowly pounds to go to hit my goal. Now both my surgeon and my pcp have said that the number is just a goal your body settles where it should, blah blah blah GOAL GIMME THE GOAL! Arrgh i broke the ten-pound barrier on November 6th and cant lose a dang thing since. lowered calories, upped calories, increased my workout, decreased my workout, Ive tried everything. that scale is taunting me...it doesn't think i see it....oh, but I do. It looks at me all happy and inviting..it whispers, "come to me.. I won't pull the football away..." But it will. Its a scale conspiracy i tell you. Its sentient. it lured me here then DENIED. Beware the scale.. it is the Dark Side..

5'9" 125 is beyond thin, thats highly dangerous. i could go on, but its not neccessary.

Describe what you mean by do things? If you mean, go out to eat? then no. youll be on liquids most probably and not really capable of eating much if at all. If thats all you mean sure. youre gonna be lethargic, cranky , healing, regretting the whole thing etc. the same things we all go through. But youll be on your way to healthy as well. And thats something you can surely DO with friends.

OKay so a very good friend of my wife and myself who is a ex lap band patient, iS going to have their own surgery soon. Unfortunately, they will be in a different state ( Florida) and I'm in Massachusetts so any help i can give has to be long distance. Here is the big dilemma I am having. Now i consider my weight loss to be very successful so far. My personal weight loss diet plan after surgery was 2 weeks of liquids, then 2 weeks of purees then after the 30-day checkup i was on soft foods. My friends diet is for pre-op liquid diet ( which i understand) but three days after surgery they are on ground beef and regular vegetables etc. Now I know and maintain that each journey is different, and I know that many doctors have different preferences etc. But has anyone ever heard of or followed such a diet plan? If so, how have ou done, and what kind of difficulties have you faced? Doesn't that seem a little...drastic? or even dangerous. I know personally there is no way i would've been able to keep ground beef down at that early point. Ive looked online and found a few post op plans that i like a lot more. and wil send this person those. If anyone has what they used online, feel free to post it or post a link. Thanks, im really interested to hear what you all have to say.

Having diarrhea while on a liquid diet is not at all unusual. Also did you have sleeve or bypass etc. without knowing its harder to help. To borrow a line from the Grateful dead, "...the first days are the hardest days..." also i hope that is sigar free Jello. regular jello is just jellied sugar.