laguerr13

Awesomely said Livingfree

My vice will be a kayak! I've always wanted to kayak, if you look that hot in your 60s then I also have some handsomeness to look forward to.......????

@ Debbie Jean : I think it's cause we get tired of the gorilla on our backs! Seriously your right, hopefully for many of us the adage of age and wisdom holds merit, I researched for 2 years and made my decision by looking at how I wanted to live the rest of my life, @ 51 yrs old fear sets in when you realize your mortality at the dr.'s office and your blood pressure is up, your knees are shot and your back doesn't wanna work with you, after my surgery on Wednesday my fun years will start!

Counting down at T- 3 days and I'm stressed about things surrounding surgery, but ironically not the surgery itself, I want to make sure my FMLA pay is approved, I need the mechanic to work on my car, I need slippers, and I want my wife to stop stressing so much, I was even ok when I got a call on Thursday telling me that my surgeon had an emergency and would be out of the office 3 weeks, and asked if I wanted to keep my date and have his partner do it, of course I said yes, I've gotten to know the people and Dr.'s in the office, I guess I'm confident that my surgery will be ok, hut I want everything else to fall into place ! Lol # worry bout the mud not the rain#

I hope I can help you here, I work in psych, and have done so for over 16yrs, but when listened to your words I couldn't help but here a tinge if despondency, I think the reference to "empathy" is unknowingly masking the real issue, you sound very sad, and rightly so, when it seems we have nothing to look forward to, and are thrown into the role of caregiver, it is very easy to lose ourselves, take a deep breath, put down the wine glass , and make the phone call you are trying to avoid, getting help now is very important, this only gets worse, please ! You can message me if you want after to let me know what happened, and I apologize if I am off, but I am very confident that there is a problem that you will not solve on your own, " We can't be there for others if we are not there for ourselves"

Licia : I turned 51 in February, after a 10 year bad marriage, I remarried a wonderful woman and began my life over , I have 2 step boys, 5 yo twin boys, and my 7yo princess, but in the last few years I've lost some close friends, and suffered more pain in my knees, and back than ever, my mobility issues and fear of falling, all played a part in making this decision, it took me 2 years of research, and educating myself, now I am 4 days away from surgery, I started this part of my journey in January @ 388lbs, so with that I started to "practice diet" and with that my pre surgery diet I weighed in last Monday @ 349lbs ! I'm the process I accidentally learned one of my most important lessons, the rest of my life will not be I diet, it is me admitting that I learned and practiced bad habits I learned early on, and now I am already comfortable with it, in fact I have pretty much made some of the most awesome meals I have ever had on this surgery pre diet, and I am looking forward to even better meals "AS" (after surgery) lol, remember, and I am quoting one of my new mentors on here "eat to live, not live to eat", I want to be independent at 55, 60, 70 years old , that is my goal!

4 нere and geттιng мore eхcιтed

ωєℓℓ ѕαι∂ ¢αиуσивαву, νєяу ωєℓℓ ѕαι∂

Welcome, I love this forum, and have connected with several people who have encouraged and mothered me along the way, after hitting 388lbs in January, I just woke up and said no more, so between that and peppering for this I got down to 368lbs, then with my pre surgery diet and 4 days left to go I am at 349lbs, my wire has been my biggest supporter and advocate through this process, she is a hottie(big motivator for me) blonde blue eyed South African girl who was a size 6 when we met, very active and health conscience, but as my date gets closer I see that she is questioning my decision and becoming very concerned for my safety and well being, but as for me I am happy and confident as can be about all this, already experiencing some great moments from the weight I have already lost, less back and knee pain, and caught myself bending to tie my laces the other day, the diet for some reason this time has been very different for me, I'm loving the foods I can have, and not feeling the hunger, I cheated once with some cookies and milk, and I paid for it cause of the sugar, and I loved it, I am looking forward to life and a second rebirth, I live in San Antonio TX. And there are so many things I wanna do, we plan to live by the beach in the next few years, so I have many ways to get motivated, don't get discouraged when you hit the rough spots, everyone on here seems to hit them, and remember "don't ever let the scale dictate your life"

Me and another peer on this forum mare a pact to always keep it positive or not reference anyone else out of respect, so I'm gonna use myself as an example, I have kids with a very beautiful woman(I lucked out) blonde hair blue eyes, was a side 6 when we met, jus got her bachelors, and is already working on masters, and is going for PhD, soon we will experience lire at a level we never thought we would be at, my surgery fell into place after 2 years of research, invested time, and my wife making me take insurance at work 2 1/2years ago, I am 4 days from surgery, I started to become very aware of my mortality when I turned 50, and topped out at 388lbs, so in January I started to diet on my own and with the pre surgery diet I am at 349lbs, measured my weight loss so far not in terms of pounds but instead on accomplishments, less knee pain, back pain, and catching myself bending to tie my shoes, so as the weight comes off and I do the whole new clothes, vacation, etc. I will not let that be my motivation, for me u will use past moments I wish not relive, and the pain I endured, sometimes we lose focus on maintaining perspective of what is important, (been there done that syndrome), but I have learned that if you don't forget where you came from or events of the past it keeps you focused on what's important, no disrespect but if health and quality of life were not higher on the list than wardrobe, it wouldn't be a bad idea to seek counseling, I have worked in psych for over 16 years and I know from experience, so I hope this helps, people like you who post where they are at post surgery are an inspiration to people like me who have no idea what to expect, how's that for motivation, you help others that follow in your path!

One of the coolest things I heard was that a lady's couple of friends were unsympathetic to her surgery, telling her she took the easy way, so she laid out a challenge, she dared them to spend a couple of hours with her while she went on errands, provided they wear a 30lb vest the whole time, after an hours or so one of her friends said she couldn't do it anymore, the other stuck it out but complained of foot pain and back hurting, she told them how bout 175lbs 24/7, cause that was what she lost so far, ignorance can be turned into empathy by trying on another person's shoes!!!!!!!

I chose initially not to even tell my wife, I was afraid of having to be told I couldn't have it, as soon as I met all the criteria I spoke to her, she has been my greatest advocate, ironically age is very opposite in every way from me, she is vey healthy and active, in fact I roll several days off before surgery, and I am at home watching my kiddos because she is in Houston walking the stage for her Bachelors, working on her Masters at this time, and in less than 15 months her PhD, she haggled my surgery price and took care of my insurance, then little by little I began telling my closest friends, my family has passed, so I have no one else to tell, everyone is very proud of me, but as for me my reasons for doing it are very personal, like most others I want to be here for my wire and kids, but when I was younger we had to struggle, now that we are beginning to do better I wanna focus on the things I loved, and those I've always wanted to do, camping, hiking, and on bucket list is kayaking, when I am post surgery I want everyone I can tell to know, I want others to know they have this opportunity, and I want to advocate

That's what i tried to say! Seriously it's about quality of life and not a time frame issue, even in pre op I am measuring improvements (quality of life) and not pounds, my knee pain is subsiding slightly, I caught myself bending over to tie my laces, etc. I have worked in a psych setting for 16+ years and I used to give a class in the evening, where I taught people to pick a few small accomplish able goals everyday, then little by little move up in the goal challenges, accomplishing smaller goals for several months changes your way of thinking without even knowing it, eventually you are setting major fails for yourself without the added stress, people like you who have already undergone the surgery and are doing everything your supposed to are hope and inspiration for people like me, people who hate yet to have those experiences, and by the way please try and research your workout schedule, people who work out and get rest periods in between tend to heal, and progress faster than those who work out 5 or 6 times a week, it also gives time for your body to recover......

T- 6days t surgery and counting, still feeling positive and strong, it was a big boost not to cheat when I went to my Dr.s office Tuesday for my last pre op visit and I weighed in at 349, I started this journey at 388 and started to "practice diet" in March, Dr said I will be at between 328-333 on my surgery date, yesterday I took a few hours to get my "buyers remorse" out of the way, seriously! I sat down and questioned the surgery, pain, and diet, then I got up and proceeded with my day, hopefully I've covered everything!

That's kinda pushing it, I'd rather be not as small as I'd like to be at the time of the cruise, than to suffer through it because I wanted to Lose those extra pounds fast, think about! Cruises are supposed to be fun, but not if your laying in your room all the time! And good luck on your cruise .....

Don't make the scale dictate how you live, there are too many variables, the recommendation of seeing your dietician was a great one, instead focus on if you feel, move, better, and the time you have added to your life, I have the opposite problem right now, my wife is upset, she was a size 6 when a married her and about 120lbs, after my daughter and twins, she is 156 down from 170, and it's taking her forever(her words guys), I was at 398 last December, so I went on a self diet, then last week started my pre op diet, so I'm March I was at 388, 2 weeks ago at 362.2, then yesterday at 349 and my Dr said if I keep going like this I should be at between 328-333 by surgery on the 10th, all the while thinking of how my knees aren't hurting as much and I tied my laces by stooping over, not what the scale says, I do chuckle at my wife because she feel in love with me as is, and now asks if I will change when I lose the weight, of course I'll change, I want to be more active..........lol

I've had my moments of wanting to say screw it, but I managed to implant in my brain at the beginning of this that if I had been diagnosed with cancer, high blood pressure, or diabetes, I would have been even more limited in the meal choices I have, and these meals are really great, it was always a matter of how much I ate, I also have promised myself that if I treat myself to fast food it would be limited to maybe 2 or 3 times a year, and I hope I get sick from it soay learn my lesson ????

Your doin awesome

Anybody stopped yourself to measure your BMI again, with all the stuff like diet and protein and the exercise why is it not considered that some of it is turning into muscle? It does weigh more than fat, besides for many of us it took years of bad habits to get this way, so ever said that even with surgery it would be easier? It's very hard to do the right thing right? Focus on health and feeling better, don't let the "SCALE" rule your life or happiness, look at the big picture YOUR STILL HERE AND STILL TRYING! I started at 388 in March and I am 7 days from surgery, I weighed in at my surgeons office today at 349lbs, and was told I will be between 328-333 by surgery date, and what was I thinking? " enjoy the moment it's gonna get harder " don't give up, relax, think positive!

I thought it might be refreshing for you guys to hear from the opposite sex, being big all my life I never had any issues dating girls, maybe once I was outright told that I was too big, but I'm so outgoing I never experienced the things I hear people talk about, I was never into looks, always about who made me laugh and feel good, and who could hold a conversation, then I was fortunate enough to marry a very beautiful South African woman, blonde, blue eyes and size 6 when I met her, she has been my rock, my biggest supporter and gave me my princess age 7, and my twin boys age 6, but now that I have decided to undertake my journey(surgery on 6/10), I'm having certain psyche issues that have to do with acceptance, in other words would he or she still would've wanted to be my friend if I was the old me?, I would say that when the right one comes along you will know the difference, and if you tell them your story it will solidify the relationship, you see I had a first bad marriage and my wife wasn't a very nice person either, so I knew the difference right away, be strong, and don't look for it, it happens at anytime! Already down 30+ lbs and 7 days to go ...........

@ wannaBthinsoon: I should be down to between 328-334 by my surgery date on 6/10, and I am euphoric, I know there will be wetbacks and pain, but I love the rewards ! #I really am bringing sexy back yeah....# ????????????

I found out why the sluggishness, and I am excited, I weighed in at 362.2a week and a half ago, started my pre op and have 7 more days to go, just weighed in at 349 !!!!!!!!!!, Should be at 329-335, by surgery date , thank you keep posting

@@Tin440 Today was my 3rd day of following my pre op diet correctly, my vitamins and protein came in Friday nite, funny thing was, I took my vitamins and protein shake this AM right before work around 6:00AM and I took my mix for my second shake at noon, I started off very strong lots of energy and less knee pain since I've probably lost about 25lbs pre surgery, then unfortunately I dropped around 1:00p and although I'm home and resting, still feeling sluggish, I really wanna heal well after surgery so I can go back to the gym, I think it'll help.......I hope? Lol

Try to go on google and key in "bariatric chewable vitamins" also next time I will be looking for gummies, yeah I'd love to cut them into quarters, I'll give it a shot, just afraid to forget or lose them at work, that's why I love this forum lots of info, wish I could sip my protein too......

After my pre-Opel of shrimp al diablo and fresh cut green beans/ garlic, I felt really hungry, I haven't cheated and didn't wanna start so I had a great idea, we purchased a Hawaiian shaved ice machine last summer because of our family size, so I got it out and shaved some ice, then mixed in some Walmart brand type of "Mio" which was Pineapple Coconut Lime( kinda Piña colada ish) and its doing the trick, no calories 1 gram carb, love this kinda cheating!