ThreeFifty

I know I posted earlier in this thread, I think I was 217 then, Im 207 now, heres some updated comparison pictures. Ive actually been trying to stop loosing weight at 220. I think I got things leveled out now.

Hi there, just wanted to check in to see how you guys are doing? Hows things going?

Hi there, Im just curious to see how everyone is doing who had thier sleeve during this time? everything has worked out well for me so far, reached my goal last month and trying to stop loosing (lost 8 lbs since goal) would like to hear how its been for some of you

Heres mine, the before I was actually about 345. the after Im 217 (my goal was 220 I met that a week ago)

yea the you dont look like yourself, I get a lot but I can completely see that. I look at pictures of me from a year ago and now and I dont recognize myself. there have been people Ive met before, lost touch, then met them again and they dont know I met them before...and I kept it that way lol, never brought up meeting them previously.

Yea mine was about 19k for the surgury alone, 2k for the full bloodwork, which they have ran 2 times during this whole process, a few K for the EGD, and about 360 per visit for about maybe 6 or 7 visits throughout the year for different reasons. cash option isn't cheaper by any means lol even if you just count the surgery alone, its well over double what I paid in premiums/deductible

yea if you include all the other visits, seeing the nutritionist, Phsycologist, the random doctor visits, having an EGD etc it would be cheaper to just go to Mexico, where you aren't going to have all those extra's But If you only counted the insurance premium, and deductible for the actual surgery. it would be about the same as plane tickets and surgery in Mexico. and no offense to people that has gone to Mexico but if I have the option to go to a local doctor in the US, in my city that I can always make an appointment and see, that I can research legitimately (not asking forum users opinions). then for me this option was more suitable than the option to go to Mexico. Don't get me wrong, if this option didn't work, Mexico was next on the list. but because of what I listed above, the Mexico option was further down the list...cheaper or not

As I'm getting closer to my goal, Ive been starting to think about what things I may start eating in the maintenance stage that I haven't so far. Ive probably been a little more strict as far as my eating than a lot of people as I haven't touched Alcohol, Caffeine, rice, bread, Pasta, potatoes, anything fried, no deserts, no sugary drinks. I never slipped, never took a cheat day, no breaks or anything. I don't know what would happen if my sleeve gets full because I measure everything and never gotten to that point lol. I actually haven't even eaten any fruit. So to my question. Ive been thinking about adding sweet potatoes to my routine. what do you guys think about it. do you eat them? I wasn't because I figured they would still be high in sugar.

I kept both plans, was just me on both. got rid of the Obamacare plan when the year was over. but yep I kept both insurance and just gave he Obamacare ins info whenever I had bariatric visits or procedures. continued using my work ins for any other visits.

Im not sure if its suppose to work this way, but I was same boat. My work ins didnt cover wls. I went and got another primary ins (obama care - no income based discount) and used that instead. the premium was high, the deductible was high but it covered my surgery and all other visits.

I agree with @BLERDgirl. My guidelines were no alcohol or caffeine for 6 months. (alcohol may be a year, I forget) but I'm waiting as long as I can before I eat/drink the bad things, I actually dont plan to go back to most of them

It looks somewhat similar to what I eat on a daily basis but I haven't hit 900 calories in a day yet. I'm still around 700-850 calories a day. I'm 3 months out

Mine is the same as my username here. feel free to add me and I'll add you back (I have been using it for a few months but I never looked into adding friends etc lol)

Ive always been pretty honest with myself. I always knew I was a big guy. when I look in the mirror, or take a picture of myself. to me I always look like what I think in my head. its probably a mental thing. In the past this certain thing has happened quite a few times. I'm at a convenience store standing in line waiting to pay for my goods and out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of the security monitor and I see this huge guy standing there and I think to myself "I'm big but I don't think I'm that big yet" then I look again and that guy is actually me. then I'm in a bad mood the rest of the day lol The other day I was going to a different location for work. in this building there's a hall where the elevators are that all the walls and elevator doors are mirrors. I was walking to the elevator and I noticed this guy out of the corner of my eye and thought I should be that size soon. when I stopped and pushed the elevator button I realized that was me in the mirror. the reverse of what Ive experienced before! good mood the rest of the day :-)

I'm at 3 months, my surgery was July 16. Ive lost 60 lbs so far but I've been scared also that the weight loss will stop. I'm actually thinking about going back on full liquids for a few days

I drove a day after I got home from the hospital and every day after (2 day 1 night hospital stay) I never took any painkillers

I would say do him and yourself a favor and cut all ties, don't hang out, don't chat, don't ask for help, don't give him any reason to think that there is any hope. I don't think it has anything to do with people being stable or not. its more situational than that. In general, Id say no. there are some situations where it can work. a childhood friend, a coworker, a neighbor, there are situational examples, most of the time the bringing together is because of an outside source....Not a guy/girl you met at a party. other than that, the only way it works is if there is no romantic interest on either parts. even still, if there is no interest by either person, and it doesn't fall under those "certain situation" ...chances are you will not have a friendship beyond the occasional "hi" when you happen to see each other. I always say things are one way or another based on how one person feels. If you aren't interested, you may think he's creepy but if you are interested you may think he's sweet. Usually in situations like this and why my answer to your original question is usually no....both people get things or want things out of the "Friendship" What I usually see in these situations is that the person that doesn't have the Romanic interest wants to have a "boyfriend/girlfriend" relationship without romance. dating, hanging out, talking but no romance. that's ok if both are on the same page but usually the other person wants romance one person may not be interested in a Romantic relationship, but that person likes the conversation or help or the person to lean on when they are lonely or need a companion to go see movies, or dinner etc. the other person may have a romantic interest and want to be with the person in a relationship form. it works briefly because both are thinking the person will swing to their side. but both are in the wrong (and being a little selfish). the person that just want companionship is and trying to get that... when that person knows the other person wants romance is no more right than the person that wants romance knowing the other person doesn't. both are wrong. both know what the other person wants and both are ignoring and trying to get whey they want. you have to stop everything. he probably should've already stopped everything on his own but maybe he keeps thinking there is a shot or thinks he will win you over. it takes some experience to know. sometimes you can win people over it does happen.

Kingdavid704

I use to drink diet coke and coffee every day all day. I actually quit both before I even started looking into WLS. some things you just have to say "its not a part of my life anymore"...there's really no substitute. I drink hot herbal teas with no sugar in place of coffee. not really a substitute, took some getting use too but I still get to drink something hot in the morning...and there's no caffeine naturally... they are not decaf (which there is still some caffeine) Other than that, it Water, Vitamin water zero, Gatorade g2, or water with flavorpackets (crystal light, propel etc) I want to loose the weight and I want to live a healthier lifestyle so that's just what I have to do and I'm fine with that (and actually have no problem drinking those things)

I take a gummy multivitamin and liquid d3. sometimes a gummy Calcium. I usually take them in the morning before I eat. haven't had any problems so far. I actually think I'm going to switch to a regular Vitamin after I'm through with this jar of gummies.

Every since I first started researching WLS I started reading tons and tons of boards and websites and groups on the subject. Watching Youtube video's and reading articles etc. Ive probably touched on every topic of information there is on the subject at one time or another in the last year or so. I have been a bit obsessed. There are some things I see that bothers me. and that is how there are people that will try to do thier own thing and not follow the rules. Id say almost every day when I go to read my ussual websites and forums and groups, there is always a post from someone doing something that they shouldnt be doing. "I ate crackers 4 days after surgery" "Im eating boiled eggs 3 days after surgery" "I got to have my alchohol so Im not giving that up" "I pureed a cupcake...I'm in the pureed stage" I don't do water" (which really annoys me...water has no taste, this is usually stubbornness) I don't understand it. why would you spend all that money, spend all that time, the recovery, the pain, the uncomfortable moments, nausea, inconvenience to not follow the rules and try to make it work for you the best it can. Sometimes people just don't know better I get it. not everyone does the research and not everyone has good options as far as their nutritionist to help. But some do. they know better and but they want to do what they want to do anyway. I actually saw a post from someone on another forum... "I didn't spend all this money to have to watch what I eat...if I wanted to do that I would've just lost weight the regular way" I read stuff like that and wish there was a way to revoke that persons surgery and give it to someone else. The bad thing about this thinking, as soon as a person say something silly, there are others that fall right in line. one persons bad behavior feeds that behavior to others. "Oh its alright to eat crackers 4 days after surgery? I'm gonna go buy some crackers now" A lot of people say "talk to your NUT" which is good, but I don't believe there are a million different rules. I believe there is 1 set of rules, there is a right answer. if your NUT is telling you that fried chicken is OK 4 weeks out, YOUR NUT IS WRONG. That was a long intro but here is what I wanted to share. This is a article I saw earlier today that I thought was interesting. http://www.bariatriceating.com/2015/03/top-10-bariatric-post-op-mistakes/​ Sometimes after we have had our surgery, we still get absent minded and need reminders. this is a good kick in the but Especially number 10.

It took about a week for my ins to approve the surgery. My doc called to scheduled it as soon as they got the approval. the surgery date was about a month and a half later.

Sorry looks like the link didn't work. Lets try this http://www.bariatriceating.com/2015/03/top-10-bariatric-post-op-mistakes/

I couldnt get 800 calories at 3 weeks I was just getting about 600 at that time. it took me till about 6 weeks to consistently get 800 calories and I'm at 9 weeks now and still just barely get 800 calories daily. sometimes a little more. yea there's nothing wrong with the 800 per day at 3 weeks (I would actually say its a little high). but yea, 400 calories for a shake is too much. 1 shake is almost a half day's calories. if you do a second, your pretty much done for the day. To me, it seems like that thing where people say "I just had bite of cake". a bite turns into 2 bites, turns into a slice, turns into a bigger slice and before you know it, you're eating just like you were before.

First a food scale - I measure everything http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F3J9EGO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00 These little Disposable Containers - I use these to portion out things to take to work for lunch etc http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009VSFZBG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00 This mini Food Processor - Used it a lot in the pureed stage, still use it now for various things http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I0DV6W?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00 Propel Water Packets - Take these everywhere http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GEYS94?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 Baby Spoons - Makes my yogurt fell like a giant meal lol http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BQEPH8Y?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00