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@@NovaL Glad to help. And not being distracted while eating is HUGE. Post op, you have to learn the signs of being full, it's not always obvious. Stick to measured portions, get a food scale and weigh and log EVERYTHING that goes in your mouth. I recommend a Fitbit, as you can track your exercise and see your activity level and watch it improve. This is very rewarding. In addition, Fitbit comes with a full featured food log. Track your Protein and Water, along with a lot of other metrics. But never eat while distracted, no television, no driving and eating. Meals are a time to sit, savor each bite, and quite literally learn how to eat again. You'll be surprised how your eating habits change when you are sitting alone, or at a table with company and slowly eating a meal. It is very different than the disconnected eating we are all so used too. The only time I eat while a television is on, is when I have a yogurt at night. It is a measured portion (Oikos Triple Zero!!) and I allow myself to eat that while watching the very limited television that I watch. Best of luck, get the book! I have it right next to me and have read it twice along with several others. Alex is a good writer, he combines just enough technical aspects along with making a complex surgery easy to understand to really make the book a great read.

You ask many questions that are answered in a number of posts. I would suggest searching. Additionally, depending on what procedure you are having the answers to your questions vary. Assuming you are having a sleeve or GB, I can answer many. Your first question comes up all the time. The answer is it's different for everyone. Search out some good examples in these forums. Second - Alcohol. Sleeve a GB are completely different. First, know this, alcohol is essentially a sugar, hollow empty calories and many of them. Sleeve people can probably drink in a similar fashion as they did before surgery, not beer, no carbonation allowed, but alcohol is still processed by the duodenum, jejunum and ilium as normal. Not even close to GB, I drank 2 shots of Seagram's 7. And was buzzed. We were taught that a guy with my build would take about 4 oz of alcohol to be fall down drunk. Here is the kicker, it lasts for about 1/2 an hour. You are still drunk and would fail a breathalyzer test. But the effects of alcohol go away quickly. Third - Loose skin, depending on age, how overweight you are, genetics, and speed in which you lose weight all factor into how your skin responds. That being said any cream with Cocoa butter is a good choice. Fourth - Exercise. Start walking while in Hospital. I got 12K steps the day after surgery and 13K the day after that in hospital. Make sure you are getting enough Water and you can walk pretty much all you want. The first week is a bit odd, as there is post op pain to deal with. As for resistance training, it depends on your surgery and what your surgeon says. I was taken off restriction at 8 weeks out. But told to go slow. I have yet to begin, as I am concentrating on walking. Fifth - What to bring to hospital. IPhone and a tablet/laptop, clothes to wear home (loose fitting, wear sweat pants) I brought headphones and had like 50 movies on my tablet, but I spent all my time walking. I was doped to the gills and just enjoyed walking. I made and took a couple calls, but I was so wasted no one called a second time. Sixth - Pre-op diet, follow the surgeons advice. They will most likely weigh you to make sure you have dropped enough weight, that is how they ensure you are following the diet. This is VERY important as it shrinks the liver so the surgeon can get it out of the way to work. Seveth - Post op phase one diet. Follow guidelines established by your NUT. It is a very limited diet. The big takeaway is to eat without distraction. No TV, PC, Radio, cell phone. Nothing. Pay close attention to what you are eating and savor every bite. This eating habit will hold true for the remainder of your life. Never eat while distracted. Chatting with someone is nice, and can help you to eat slower, which is good. And remember Protein FIRST! Start every meal, post op, until death, by eating the protein on your plate first. Advice - Two thing matter post op, really two. Protein and Water. Calories are important but secondary to Protein and Water. Sip sip sip. If they sell it in the UK, get Fairlife milk to make your Protein shakes. unjury makes a great chocolate shake. But they are pricey. I use Opurity Vitamins, as the No China trademark had me sold. I switched to Isopure low/no carb protein recently as it is less expensive, has the same 1.00 PDCASS score and a ton of vitamins in it. Remember this; only use protein supplements that have whey Isolate as the protein source, they will have a PDCASS score of 1.00. Take a probiotic, starting like now. Do NOT cheap out on this. The following link is to the one I use that you can get from Amazon, here. It's an amazing probiotic that my NUT went gaga over. Your surgeon will tell you when to start supplements. For me it was 4 weeks out. For more in depth answers to all your questions buy Alex Brecher's books here is the sleeve and here is the GB, both from amazon of here through the BariatricPal Store (I do not know if he'll ship to the UK) They are BIG books and answer all the questions you have asked and a shite load more you did not ask because you do not know to ask. Buy the book that relates to your surgery, NOW. And read it. Become an educated consumer. In doing so you will remove many surprises that you would have never expected. You'll also learn WHY your NUT is telling you what he/she/it is telling you. What is going on inside you. And what to expect. Best of luck and Happy Holidays!

This is to update an earlier post of mine. Today marks the second time I have had to resort to MOM. Actually I took 4 tablespoons yesterday, my stomach rumbled but no poop. I am plugged up due to painkillers, so it's a particularly difficult Sahara condition to overcome. I took 4 more tablespoons today around noon. All hell broke loose just about 4 hours later. I had a mini BM. Then another. Then sitting here I realized I had to GO. I got into the bathroom and on the throne, and began to strain, the colon boulders that were acting essentially as a plug, came flying out under great pressure. Then the eruption began. I would venture that I lost several pounds in the 1/2 hour that followed. This marks the second time I have used MOM to induce a bowel movement. Both times, resulted in me being totally cleaned out in short order once the actual pooping begins. MOM to the rescue. Current score My ass 0, MOM 2. Me = winner.

@@otillie03103 I trusted several. While most are benign, not all are. Words to live by. Happy Holidays!!

For those following this, I edited the original post to include the following. This pertains to dealing with Volcano ass, it also applies to those people who live in warm areas of the country and world where they can exercise outdoors and work up a good sweat. **Edit, I forgot when writing this to add something I take regularly, however I make SURE to take it when in Volcano mode for more than 24 hours. When your ass is erupting, and your are loosing mass amounts of Water, you are also loosing critical minerals that are required to support life. While I spoke about increasing water, and you should, during these times I make sure to add (in my case my water canteens are 30oz) 2 NUUN tablets. They are essentially sugar free Gatorade. You can read about them here and buy them as well from that site (Amazon), they are effervescent but that only lasts for like 20 minutes, so drop a tablet or two into a bottle of water, and let it sit unopened in the fridge for 1/2 an hour and the carbonation is gone. They have a fairly mild flavor, but I've tried every flavor and while some I like better than others, there is none that I do not like at all.

@ Good advice, i'll add it to the original post. Happy Holidays!

@@cherri2082 Any surgery is a risk. Although I bet farting from your stomach is kinda funny. I wish you a safe and successful surgery and a Very happy holiday season! @@cherri2082 Good, then I am hitting the mark. Laugh and Learn, the two concepts need not be separate but employed together to maximize participation. I wish you a Very happy holiday season! @@sharkgirl I was literally sitting here in my chair laughing out loud after I though that one up. It's at the bottom of the initial post now. I am glad someone else found it as funny as I did. I with you a Very happy Holiday Season. And that goes for everyone here on these forums, and to those who can no longer be here, our fallen hero's, our Vets who made the ultimate sacrifice, Have a Very happy holiday season! And to those who can no longer be with us, know that you are thought of often!

I just made myself laugh, I have a new slogan for the group, I am going to attach it to the original post. LMFAO POWER TO THE POOPER!!!

@@sharkgirl Best of luck, you show that poop who's the boss! Take control! Even if you have to resort to MOM. It happens. @@gpmed For me there are two scenarios that play out, Sahara and Volcano caused by natural forces and brought on by unnatural forces. For example the Sahara I am currently going through is due to medication, when today's dose of MOM kicks, in, it should be over quickly, that has been my experience. Same thing with Volcano if some med causes an acute ass malfunction, either I get used to it, or change the med. No amount of dietary changes will overcome painkiller induced Sahara. On the flip side there are both conditions caused naturally, and this is where I tend to agree with you. If I get volcano as a result of illness or eating something that my ass is not fond of, it can take days to resolve itself. The same with Sahara. My standard line of defense is to examine my diet in detail and determine what I did to cause this, and to drop back a dietary stage, where I knew everything I was eating was ass approved. Once the culprit is identified and removed, normality follows soon thereafter. I guess and lastly there are those times when for no reason at all, my ass locks up, and I mean tighter than a clams ass, and we all know that to be waterproof. These are the most perplexing times as I cannot explain why what is happening is happening, and no solution is readily available. Immodium, or MOM, depending on which was my ass failure is happening.

@@Sajijoma I nearly cried laughing when I saw the log picture. In fact it's what got this whole topic going. I thought it would be a good way to interject some humor into a serious topic. And I still laugh whenever I see it. As for @@gpmed we are very different. While squirting can cause some problems, like not being able to confidently leave the house. It's predictable. Once everything is gone, I know nothing is going to happen for a day or two. I hate HATE sitting in the bathroom trying to pass a pebble. Sahara ass, to me, is the worst thing ever. But to each his own. We all I guess have different desires and preferences for our asses. I prefer minimal effort and time pooping, so if I am a bit on the loose side, that is fine with me. I guess the delineation line for me is, if I can a) read and entire book without a significant poop, thats bad. if I get off the bowl and am all sweaty with bloodshot eyes after passing what amounted to some ass rocks, thats bad. If I go, in sit down and explode and in 30 seconds I am done, I can live with that.

@@sharkgirl The bottle says it will produce a bowl movement within a 1/2 hour to 9 hours, take before bed. Now WHY in the hell would I want to take something that is going to make me run my ass off, well no it needs to come along, run to the bathroom while I am trying to sleep? Drama? Perhaps there is a masochist who works there and the thought of people going Volcano and erupting in bed is amusing to them? I have taken MOM three times. The first time produced a lot of rumbling, no poop. The second time was like Mt St Helens, I just exploded, the third time, not a whole lot. That third time btw, was 4 hours ago. I have a shoulder injury and my Doctor gave me Ultram, which plugs me up tight. Miralax was not helping, so I broke out the MOM. If I don't have a big dump today, I am sure tomorrow I will.

@@Leanmachine That is the entire idea behind this topic. It's a hard topic to discuss openly, especially with strangers. I try to keep it funny yet informative to keep people reading and learning. We are here to support each other, and this post is my attempt to give back to the community as a whole, after they have been so supportive of me. So as long as you are still laughing, I am right on target. Happy Holidays!

@@gpmed I have one friend who is I think 12 years out, I have posted about his problems a number of times. He still has ass issues, however, he eats whatever he wants, you would never know he had had a GB done watching him eat. His portions are smaller than they were pre surgery, however he eats nothing but garbage, so I don't know that I can attribute his ass problems to the surgery or diet.

@@gpmed I can relate to MOM affecting your gut. Mine rumbled a lot the first day, but it was not painful or uncomfortable just noisy. It DEFINITELY got things moving inside, however it took a second dose on the second day to product a poop. And I would agree I overshot (or overshat LMAO) the target, however, it was an intense 20 minutes, to perhaps a 1/2 an hour, but I was cleared out. I find that preferable to plugged up. If I had to go in one direction over the other, give me Hershey squirts over colon boulders any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I'll add this to the original post. Thanks for the input.

@@Leanmachine MOM is a pleasure to take. My Surgeon prescribed liquid Colace, which is branded as Diocto Liquid, and it is, without a doubt or hesitation the absolute worst tasting thing I have ever imbibed. It actually has a pleasant taste in the mouth, but when you swallow it, it hits your esophagus and burns, the gets into the stoma, and is equally unpleasant, I gagged the three or four times I took it. It's as close to vomiting as I have come post op. The only way I found to begin to mitigate it's nastiness, is to have a cup of coffee in hand, and gargle with it, to get it off your esophagus, and then flush it out of the stomach. They make Colace in a gel cap as well. I tried two of those, but the gel cap was so thick, I almost could not crush it in my mouth, and they contain the same flavor as the liquid. I am willing to bet that they make the gel cap so thick so that it does not dissolve in your stomach but at some point in your intestines. With my shorter digestive tract due to BP I don't think they would dissolve at all. Ergo why I did not mention it in the post, I guess sleeve people might be able to take it, but BP folks are out of luck.

@@cherri2082 I just read my post and to me it reads a bit nasty. That was not my intention, and my biggest gripe about text based conversations; the lack of emotional inflection. My post was not meant to be snarky at all, even if it reads that way, sorry if you took it as such.

Everyone has made a great post with a lot of alternatives. All share the same one key. Do SOMETHING, walk, ride a bike, swim, yoga, BJJ, flap your wings like a chicken, dance, Px40, the list is endless. The two themes I agree with are, first get a fitness tracker, as stated I like the Fitbit, because for me, it is one stop shopping. I use the Surge, so I get GPS data on my walks, broken down by miles, and a ton of other data I can and do use to improve. Then there is the diet side. I track everything that goes in my mouth. As I am known around here as the guy who writes about his ass a lot, I keep track of what goes in and what I expect should come out. So with the Fitbit website I can track my food just like MyFitnessPal.com, however as it's in house and one application, it does a better job of letting me know where I stand diet wise. This is a personal choice, some may not like the Fitbit dietary tracking, look around and see what is out there and what meets your needs. The only two I would steer you away from are the Basis Peak and the Apple Watch. While Basis makes a great fitness watch, the website has no diet section, and really does not give you the kind of data that you get from Fitbit. Avoid the Apple Watch, as it is not meant to be a fitness watch, it's meant to be a supplement to your IPhone. It does not do sleep tracking (there are probably apps) however, it cannot hold a charge for 24 hours, so most people let it charge overnight. The second theme that I think was really well put, and a special shout out to @@WLSResources/ClothingExch doe putting it so succinctly, whatever you do, make it measurable, and realistic. Make it something you enjoy. If you like to walk, then walk. I throw my headphones on and listen to Heavy Metal the whole time, it is energizing. But that's me. You like to cycle, then do that. Whatever it is, make sure you enjoy it and can measure it, that way you can track yourself improving, the reward factor cannot be overstated. When I started off, a 4 mile walk took me 2 hours. I now do 7.57 miles in the same time. And I am just about to add another mile. I can clearly watch my progress, and it's rewarding. Before my surgery I lost a lot of weight, much more than the 8% required by the Surgical group. When people ask me how I did it, I tell them all the same, thing: I moved more and ate less. You already have the eating less part down, now for the Move More part. Lastly, I live by a concept called the Aggregation of Minimal gains. You can read about it here http://jamesclear.com/marginal-gains Life changing stuff, 1% at a time. Best of luck and let us all know what you decide and how you are doing, we are all your biggest fans!

@@KristenVSG2014 Very well said. I actually put myself into a stall when I increased my walking pace, distance and cadence. I had to increase my calories, and that got me back on track. It's a tricky tightrope to walk. I've got it down now, on non walking days I average around 700 or so calories, on walking days, about 1100. This seems to work. But everyone is different.

@@JupiterinVirgo How do you start? Just like I did almost 2 years ago. One step at a time. I began walking, and it took me a long time, to get up to a mile, then two. Now I power walk 7.57 miles every morning. And I am considering adding another mile to my walk. Granted not everyone has 2 hours a day they can dedicate to walking, but if you walk on your breaks, and during lunch, and when you get home. You can get a lot of steps in. Remember, it's not just the steps that count, it's how hard they were, and what your heart rate was when you stepped them. Baby steps. Put on foot in front of the other, and just go. The Gym is also an alternative, but you want a good low intensity workout, you can do this in a gym, or you can walk for free. Oh and get a Fitbit. Hold yourself accountable for your actions. A Fitbit makes your daily activity real and tangible. You can see what you are doing, when, and watch yourself improve. You can also track all you food (I do) and see exactly where you are exercise wise. That would be my advice to anyone. Walking is a great way to get started. Best of luck to you and Happy Holidays!

@@cherri2082 Can you not see the ticker under all my posts? I am down 111 pounds since joining the program and about 60 pounds since surgery. I feel great, I am never really hungry, it have to be active and make sure I eat every day. I walk 7.57 miles every morning, I am in training for www.toughruck.org we walk 26.2 miles a couple days before the Boston Marathon. We have 9 hours to complete the walk. You also have to wear a ruck with at least 30 pounds in it, with the name of a fallen soldier. As they have died, we are "carrying them" in spirit past all the Revolutionary battlegrounds in Mass. It's quite emotional.

@cherri2082 Yes I had a RNY GB on October 5th, 2015.

@@cherri2082 Best of Luck.!!!

@@talkingmountain I am only 9 weeks post op myself, I have no idea. I have a friend who had a RNY GB about 12 years ago, and he went through hell for a long time. However he was fighting dumping syndrome. His addiction to sugar was so severe, that he would sit at his computer, with a bag of snickers bars, he'd eat 2 or 3 rush into the bathroom, go Volcano, vomit, sit down and eat more snickers. Eventually he wound up vomiting so much, all his teeth are gone from the stomach acid. He quite honestly has 2 teeth left. His mother felt bad for him and about 6 years ago paid to have the teeth he had either fixed or pulled and partial dentures made. Now he has a very hard time wearing those as the teeth that are supposed to hold them in are gone. He went from 5 foot 4 inches and 700 pounds to his about 300 pounds at his lowest, and he's probably back to 400 or so now. Keep in mind he drinks two two liter bottles of Sunkist Orange soda a day. And he'll snack on a bag of like 2 lbs of Swedish fish each night. He went through hell, never have I seen anyone endure what he went through due to and addiction. We've been friends for 30 years. We were roommates twice, once long ago and once from 2007-2011, in 2011, his gambling got so bad, he blew the rent, twice. I bailed him out, rather us, out as the landlord served a notice to quit. Everyone said I should have moved and let him get evicted but I paid off the late rent, and he paid me back. Only to do it again six months later, then I did move out. He blamed me for the rent not being paid and the landlord bought it.

@@psvzum I aim to please.

This is hilarious! I can only add my personal input. I have no colon. Not one inch. I had an ostomy for 6 months - but got things re-wired and no longer poop out my tummy. Whew.... THAT was so gross. I go volcano about 8-10 times a day. Please drink extra water during those times!! broth with the extra tad of sodium can help combat the headaches etc from dehydration. I am not a Dr. Just been there and done that for 3 yrs. I did poop the crayon I ate in 2nd grade. LolMy date is 12/30. Best new year resolution ever!!! @@cherri2082 Thank you for your input, I'll add it to the Volcano section, and you are correct, sodium is very important. When I was young I spent a summer working in a quarry (granite quarry) and I remember seeing these red boxes all over the place, labeled "Salt Pills" and they contained packets of tums sized salt tablets. I asked the foreman why they were there, and he said, "To keep you from dying. You sweat so much (this was INCREDIBLY hard work) that you'll dehydrate, take 2 or 3 pills every day and drink as much water as you can." I remember taking his advice, and I also remember I never suffered from heat stroke or dehydration, but every day, at least it seemed, someone was being rushed by ambulance to hospital due to dehydration, or heat stroke, or something. Those salt pills really did make a difference. Happy Holidays!