BigTink2LilTink

I think my Ah Ha NSV moment came back about a year and a half ago when I could buy cheap $8 pack of underwear from Walmart. I knew then that I was now officially out of the Big & Tall stores only when it came to shopping for clothes. Now I am in suites, something that I think I wore maybe three times in almost 20 years, I've worn at least five times this year alone and we're aren't even in month number five yet out of the year. I have two custom tailored suites now, I hope by the end of the year I'll have at least five more to give me a suite for every day of the week. My next few NSV, which I am sure I can do now: Is to buy a complete from head to toe outfit from American Eagle or Abercrombie and Fitch. Outdoor Bike Trail Riding for 10 to 15 miles Do a photo-shoot. (Both clothing and nude photo-shoots. I have a bunch of photographer friends that will gladly do glamor shots of me) Actually attempt to do a 5K run. (Maybe in the fall)

Yeah @RoachBug I know I am indeed going to have to come to a decision with my loose skin at some point. My chest and thigh area for sure has some skin sagging that will be an issue down the road for me.

When I was having issues my only solution and the one my doc/surgeon recommend for me was to take fiber supplements. I was on Metamucil daily for almost a year. I would say that things definitely went back to normal for me on the bowel movements once I was able to eat full range of protein (red meat/pork...etc). I had to wait almost 9 months post surgery before I could eat all forms of protein again. But yeah the first 2 to 6 months post surgery were rough.

Wow guy you look outstanding. Looks like you have very little to no loose skin to deal with at all.

I tend to follow this method. It may come as a shocker to some, but I do eat bread and drink soda. Well let me state it more accurately and clearly. I eat small amounts of breads (carbs) weekly, and I may drink a soda once in a blue moon (still very rare for me to consume carbonated beverages). Thing is, I like you, don't eat an entire loaf of bread in 72 hour time span or consume a large pizza in one sitting for lunch. Or try and finish down said pizza with a 2 liter of diet Pepsi. Its all in extremely low moderation now, which is what I needed. I needed the portion controls and the sense of feeling very full and satisfied after a few ounces of food in my tummy and not a few pounds. So I portion control like a mother, and I still try and follow the rule of protein first, veggies/starches second, and carbs last if there is room to spare for them. The trade off for this consumption of carbs from bread I do indule in, is that I have to burn off what I consume for the day in exercise. Mostly via cardio, but does include some resistance training to boot. So if I had about 80g of carbs then I know that I will need to burn off caloric equivalent of that in exercise for that day. How I do it may not work for everyone else, but it has been working for me. I think the only thing I could suggest for anyone is that to make sure you have a good understand of the foods you are consuming into your body, as well as having a healthy relationship with food. If someone is getting over food addiction and carbs/sugars were their trigger foods then its probably best for them to avoid those things. Also talk to your doctor/nut about these things before you start consuming them if you have any questions. Just my $0.02 worth of input here.

What I have found now that I'm a few years out is that I can tolerate carbonation more better than I could early on from the surgery. I still try and avoid soda as much as I can. However Crush has their flavor packs that you can add to water so whenever I am craving an orange soda, I just do a pack of that. There is no carbonation in it, and they are 5 calories a pack, way way less than a can of normal Crush orange soda that is like 350 calories a can. It helps with the cravings sometimes, but I still make it a habit to not over do it with those. Maybe a pack or two a day at best. Mostly consuming coffee, tea, and water (mostly plan, however flavored enhanced).

Agreed with this statement. Dumping cause you to feel sick and pain, not just diarrhea. Dumping can happen to sleeve patience too. I know early on I went through dumping and I wasn't pooping, I was puking, violently puking to the point of dehydration. Had a trip to the hospital with IV fluids and prescription multivitamins for about 60 days to get myself right again. I would agree that adding fiber supplements will possibly help out. I went on Metamucil after my trip to the hospital and that helped balanced me out and keep my stool from being all runny and diarrhea like.

Sorry if I came off preachy like. Not trying to be a hard ass about it. Its just that I been down that road, and the bloating, oh dear god the bloating wasn't worth it. So if I can spare someone by not going though the same bone head mistakes I went though early on, then I will try.

Everything she listed. The biggest one though is that the carbonation will cause so much bloating and pain that the feeling of that alone isn't worth it. Add on to the fact the carbs, calories, and fructose in it, do you really wanna drink 300-500 calories in a 12oz can of soda when at most you'll be luck to get 1K-1500 calories in a day period? Use that time to focus on healthier habits. Trust me when I tell you the habits you form early on, will indeed pay off. And if the price of having a healthier quality of life is to give up cola, then give up the damn cola.

I haven't gotten skin surgery yet and I probably won't for at least another year or so. I wanted to be a good 3 to 4 years removed from surgery before I go under the knife again. Bad reactions to being under has me hesitant on going under general anesthesia again, but I want to get to my absolute lowest weight possible and maintain it for at least a year or two before I have the skin removed. I don't know how insurance is gonna go moving forward espeically here in the states. But I know that now currently, the only way my insurance will 100% cover my skin removal surgery is that I have to prove that its causing additional health conditions. Otherwise they will treat it as cosmetic and not fully cover it. Since I was diabetic and have suffered from skin rashes due to yeast infections, I may have a case for getting it removed when the time comes. But I'm just not there yet to have that battle with insurance over it.

You can do this. Stay focus and use this as the motivation that you need to keep going.

Try some compression undergarments and see if that will help. It kinda keeps all the skin in and keep the "jewels" up front where they need to be.

Careful with getting thing pre-surgery. As some of us who've gone through the surgery can tell you, your taste buds will indeed change early on and in some cases permanently. Things you may like right now and can tolerate you may find disgusting post surgery, or worse can't take them cause they may make you sick. So keep that bit of information in mind before you go dropping a ton of money on things to only find out later that you can't tolerate them. Protein Powders/Shakes: I have tried Isopure powders and protein Water. The water is god awful pre and post surgery. Pure protein coconut water I was able to tolerate post surgery. Protein powders that I have used and still do is Isopure (unflavored/Chocolate/Strawberry), Quest (Salted Caramel, Cookies & Cream), and Dynamite ISO (Chocolate, Strawberry). Each had their own unique taste to them and served a purpose. I know early on they tasted way way too sweet for me to care for them. So I found myself doing the unflavored Isopure brand the most. Was usually just mixing it into my orange juice in the am to give me some additional protein throughout the day. Also the unflavored did allow me to add it to stuff and it didn't change the taste or texture of foods too much for me to still be able to consume/enjoy them, while getting in the necessary grams of protein in per day that I needed. Protein powders are better in cold/cool drinks, and if you are mixing them into something like a chilled puree. Adding it to hot liquids can cause it to clot and make it almost curd, which can change the taste and make it gross honestly. But hey if you enjoy curd protein then by all means have at it. Vitamins: For Vitamins I've done the One a day and the Vitafusion brands of Multivitamins, (chewable types of course) and am comfortable with either or those brands. I've never tried Celebrate, so I can't speak on them even though my doctor recommends and sells them in his office. Besides multivitamins, I also take in addition, Iron supplement (chewable GNC Bariatric brands), Calcium supplement (GNC Bariatric brands), Thiamine supplement (B1), D3, and B12 supplement, folic acid, and Omega 3 (helps with the skin big time). I hope that my $0.02 were helpful to you. Good luck with your upcoming surgery.

NSAIDS offer too much risk in getting an ulcer post-op so its best to avoid them if you can. Tylenol is the go to for pain meds or the knock off brand for Tylenol. Also if you can steam like in a sauna or soak in a whirlpool post weightlifting I have found that to help with soreness after lifting heaving on weight lifting days. Try not to over do it, and remember Rome wasn't built in a day. So take your time slow and steady and you will get there.

I went about six weeks post op without water submersion. Once doctor gave me the all clear to swim again I knew that baths would be okay too. Problem is that I am tall as hell so I don't fit in normal size bath tubs. So I have to take showers only.

First year I had that. Hell the first 4 months were bad with dreams of eating things I knew I couldn't eat any more. It gets better with time though. Just hang in there.

Wow! Like seriously, WOW! You don't even look remotely like your old self at all. Also I am a hips man and I have to say your after picture drew me here first. Congrats on your journey so far.

Honestly the hair loss or thinning is something that mostly happen to women from the WLS and not men. Most of us men tend to experience hair growth, especially body hair growth due to hormone changes in our body and the release of stored up testosterone from the fat cells as we are burning off the fat. I went from being someone with very little body hair and not really great at having full on facial hair to now having chest hair and a more fuller looking beard. Also no loss of head hair at all and it too grows a bit thicker then it did before I had the surgery and lost the weight.

Yup good and well over 600lbs I was. Hell I think in the other pick with the grey A shirt I was in the 380lbs range. Granted I was only about 8/9 months post op and had at that time dropped over 200lbs.

Here is my latest list of "You know you lost weight when" answers. This is for my heterosexual people in here. When you go from not really having the opposite sex pay you any attention at all, to now having multiple people approach you about dating. (Yeah I know it seems a bit shallow, but damn it I didn't really have a shallow phase at all until now so let me live in it for a bit). When you can actually start wearing suits and they look on you exactly like how they look on the models in the suit brochures, that's when you know you've lost some weight. When you can lay down and see your rib cage, pelvic bone, hip bones, and genitals and not have to suck in your gut cause its flat enough to see straight down now. To be able to shop in stores that don't have the phrase "Big & Tall" in the store name. *Also I maybe the only one that does this, its also a bit dangerous and silly but.....* To be able to drive with one's leg on the dash because his legs and thighs are skinny enough to allow for such flexible acts of nature.

To me 241lbs never looked so good. Especially coming from good and well over 600lbs too.

11.....I am 11lbs away from my own personal goal weight. post workout tonight pictures. The Now the pictures of the blue suite are from this past weekend,which was my birthday weekend as I was treated to a night out on the town at a Burlesque show. The red suite here is from my oldest brother's wedding from about a month and a half ago. In other words people. I am now starting to actually appreciate how I look. It has taken a long time for me to mentally get to this point where I don't see the "Fat Man" anymore. Even after the surgery and easily dropped the first 200lbs I still saw the "Fat Man". Now I am not seeing him at all. A good clean suit does do wonders for the confidence that is for damn sure.

So this morning I stepped on the scale and saw a number I hadn't seen in decades.....241. I was at 241lbs this morning. I am close oh so so close to getting into my goal weight range of the 230lbs.

Congrats Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

When I was probably your age I felt the same. I had lost like 80 lbs and was self conscious. I used to like to wear pretty bustier type lingerie, held the boobs up and covered my belly....at some point no one care about it all. Have fun, so happy to hear you are enjoying life. How I miss those days What this person said. If they are feeling you then they're going to enjoy being with you no matter what. I still sometimes have hang ups about my body too, but when it comes to sex I honestly focus on sexing the hell out of my partner(s) more than I do about my saggy chest skin. Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App