Dub

Outstanding !!!!!!!!!!!

You have a dirty mind, young lassie. I respect that about ya. I'm smitten already You must post up some sexy leg photos like @@Elode recently did. Sure does liven things up around here and is a source of inspiration for those of us who are in the weight loss grind phase....

To stall.....or not to stall........ I really have little concern about it. I know that so long as I control the single thing that I have control over in life, what goes in my mouth, then it's pointless to get covered with the day-to-day scale readings.

My surgeon told me to give a few months and we'd revisit carbonated diet drinks. He's well aware of my prior Diet Mountain Dew habit. He said that he saw no problem with them if I could tolerate them. He said the fizz is a bit much for many folks during their first year or so. Some of the folks that I've been in contact with in our bariatric program have picked them up again with no problems. Some haven't because they said they simply lost interest in them. As big of a fiend as I was on them before.......right now I could take 'em or leave 'em. I'll give it those suggested few months and see if I even have the desire for them. It's funny.....when I was pre-op I did wonder how long it'd be before I had certain food & drinks. Now....just 2+ weeks post-op....I can truly say that I no longer think about such stuff. Food is simply not a priority any longer. Sure, I have to have my Protein every day......and I thoroughly enjoyed cooking for my family this week.....but I no longer think about it. There is no doubt in my mind that I'll actually enjoy food much more now...in my new life. The reason is that I'm not addicted to it and it occupying my thoughts. When I do sit down to a high protein-low carb meal I will savor the flavors while not being hellbent on stuffing myself. Guiltless dining. Yes, Please !!!!!

Awesome !!!!!!!!!! Supercool story. I wish I cold find my first concert t-shirts from the high school days. My first show was Iron Maiden. I'd get some funny looks rocking an Iron Maiden t-shirt in my late 40's. Hell, I don't care...by my next birthday, almost a year away, I'm going to feel like I'm in my late 20's again. That's really neat that you have those to anchor down the memory of the great shows you must have seen. Fun NSV. Rock on !!!!!

He'll make it. He can take it as a show of support for you. There are enough outstanding microwave meals in the freezer section of the grocery store that even the heartiest eater can find outstanding variety. A lot of them are really healthy, too. Option aplenty. Dudes tend to be fairly adept at getting our hunger taken care of. It's just a few weeks and then you may be ready to enjoy the cooking, who knows ? Today, I made them some burritos using grilled chicken tenders, leftover chili from yesterday, cheese, frijoles and a bag of microwave steamer Tex-Mex vegetables all wrapped up in the low-carb tortilla wraps. Never tasted tested anything....just trusted and believed in past methods. Had my kitchen bluetooth speaker rocking some great new tunes I bought for the gym while I got everything together. Right to the table at the exact moment my son walked in the door from school. Kid is always famished at this time. He's tall and ultra lean, but goes into carnivore mode when old dad is at the helm of the grill or stove. I always try to cook stuff he likes. It makes me feel good to see him go into T-Rex mode on his Protein. He's a great kid, great student and eats like an army of one. He has a preference for meats, fowl, fish and mostly healthy carbs....with occasional breads. I used to keep more junk food around....brownies and chocolate....he seldom partakes. It's been a funny discovery this past month how long these sugary treats now last since they are off my menu. There's a couple boxes of Little Debbie Snacks.....that have lasted a month now. Funny. Getting adjusted to my new menu has them no longer having any appeal for me....but something I want around for others if they want them. He said he was glad to have me back slinging the hash. I told him it'll be inconsistent.....but I'm getting my sea legs back and things are going to be getting back to normal. He looked out back and saw smoke coming from the neglected grill the other day and asked what was up? I told him that I was simply doing a high temp burn off to clean it up and get it ready for use. The grin on his face said it all. Damn, it feels good to be getting my life back. Lean Proteins and vegetables from the grill is going to be great. Healthy Soups and stews will be on the way soon, too. Powerful, powerful statement. Once again, you have clearly defined the patterns that I am striving to embrace in my new life. I am really happy knowing that I'm doing things the right way this time around. It's only been a bit over two weeks.....but I feel like a new person. I can see how my day-to-day life will go and I'm grateful. No complaints about the clothes getting baggy. Onward and downward.

Do you now have a starboard list ? Just kidding, man. Which is your dominant hand ? Maybe that has something to do with it....more development on the dominant side ?????

I gained 7-8 pounds when I became post-op. It took about 5 days before is started to come back down. I've been very strict on adhering to my surgeons instructions. He laughed and said it's simply inflammation and Fluid from the IV and to not pay attention for a couple weeks. After that 5th day its been coming off at a rate of 1.5 lbs per day. You are likely just swollen a bit. The fact that you are 5 pounds down this soon is amazing. Any day now you are going to be off to the races.

I agree. These are the folks that put a plan in place and have maintained that successfully. I'd rather get the nuts and bolts from therm.

Outstanding advice. @@kristenkek you said you wanted your surgery right away ? Why not do something that will have direct results over it being a safer surgery !!!!!! Get busy right now. Don't wait around.

Hells yes !!!! Much respect for being proactive.

'Twas no metaphor.........I truly wanted to smack 'em with folding chairs. For the record....one of them was a big ole 6-sammich eating dude.

That is super. You are doing great!!!!!! Stalls ????? I'm new at this.....but I would only suggest to ensure that the reasons for the stalls aren't self induced. Stay the course and keep doing the things that are healthy and your amazing weight loss will continue.

The very best thing about my adherence to the liquid diet for the past 4 weeks (2 pre & 2+post) has been that I no longer think about food all the time. I took a break from cooking meals, planning menus and such for my family. I loaded up the fridges and freezers for them prior to my surgery.....and then loaded up the cabinet on Protein powder for myself. I honestly don't think about food, meals, cooking, etc until I log into here and see everyone discussing wanting to eat this and that. It simply is not a priority. The relationship has changed. That being said....I cooked for my family yesterday. Nothing special: pot of homemade chili, beer brats and sweet potato fries. I never even taste tested the chili but was told that it was great. It felt good to cook something for them.....but felt great to be detached from the focus on my eating/not eating/etc. Food is not my issue any more. It was easy for me. I never cooked or anything on my work days. My wife took care of those days. It was something fun for me to do on my days off.....fire up the grill, crock pot or other and mix a drink, have a beer and conjure up a feast. Nice to know that that I can do so.....get the enjoyment of making my family happy......and not drag myself into age old battle. People that continue to stay food focused are tormenting themselves. We gotta break loose and establish our own terms. Food is really not all that important. We no longer live to eat. It's a powerful feeling to reach that point.

Just keep it simple. You had a very serious health threat. You took action to correct said threat. It is going to work and lead to wonderful side benefits. YOU ARE GOING TO BE HEALTHY. End of story. Turn off the noise in your head. Drop the drama. Piss on those who would judge you. Be slim, trim and happy. Life is simple. Life is Good. Rock your new health.

I'm down with it. Ah, sh!t....I'm already doing a liquid diet. Argghhhh. Sounds like a killer plan, though. I think back.....and can remember the other "liquid diet" I've been on for celebratory weeks. I sure feel better in the mornings now...on my current version.......

I wish you the very best. I think you are doing the wise and healthy thing in taking this step to help you sort this out and get the perspective that you need. You've been through a great battle and by most accounts you've done great....come so far. Prayers that your actions will lead to being able to see your incredible progress and enjoy life. You've earned it and should be able to be completely enjoying things at this point....not tormenting yourself. There is a lot of value to being able to look at yourself, pat yourself on the back and know you earned it.

Dude.......you have done GREAT !!!! Very inspiring.

There were some really cool folks in the various group classes I took leading up to the surgery, however, there were two in particular that I wanted permission to choke-slam them after tossing them into the turnbuckles...WWE style.....and then a few smacks with folding chairs. In both cases they wanted to quiz fellow members on why they made certain decisions, why this, why that. It was maddening. We are all sitting there internalizing the material presented, getting our bearings....and these two idiots are all in your space....quizzing you......judging you. I think the upshot of it all was these two were lost as hell....but instead of using the classroom time to sort it out like the rest of us.....they went on attack mode. The presenters were pros, however, and quickly regained control of the class and neutralized the fools. It became evident to me that there is one in every class and the presenters see it ALL the time and have strategies to negate the bullcrap. This calmed me down.....but for a minute I wanted to climb up on the top ring rope and go all Nacho Libre on them. Your reasons for having surgery are between you, your surgeon and God. Everyone else is a matter of how much you want to let them in. Smack a fool that tries to pry.

Happy Birthday !!!!! Celebrate it with conviction.

Drama, in general, is a bad idea. food funerals are simply uneeded drama. The sleeve will allow the future tolerance of anything you ate before.....just skip it while in the weight loss phase. Add it back under controlled situations once the day comes to do so during maintenance phase.

Walking around the house every two hours. Near constant sipping of Water. Watching a LOT of television.....getting caught up on the shows and movies I wanted to see.

At this point I can say that food just isn't enough of a priority to be considering it in party planning There are other things that matter more.

Leg lifts. Alternating leg lifts.

I ultimately told UHC to go f@*& themselves and wound up self funding. They can kiss my large arse and the sting of the cost is subsiding with every pound I lose. My experience, though, came from me following up on a number of health issues over the last year. Each surgeon/doctor I met with coached me to have bariatric surgery. I took their referrals and went straight into THE bariatric program. Seemed a logical progression. The problem is that THE program, while affiliated with the area's most prestigious hospital (out of 6 hospitals) wasn't yet certified as a "center of excellence" (bariatric certificate). They had a great staff, very supportive....and each were former bariatric patients, too.......excellent surgeon...etc, etc. They told me that it'd be no problem to continue and they'd had UHC patients go through all the time. 1/2 way through the deal UHC....who'd been supportive....all the sudden balks over the lacking "center of excellence" bullcrap. I involved the HR department of my employer......and found out that we were actually dropping UHC and moving over to BCBS. The games continued. Our policy with UHC would have only covered me at 50% anyway.....and UHC was delaying. It was looking as if the surgery would be delayed to 2016....by then I'd be under new insurance and no telling how long I'd wait then. Good news was for me, that when I did contact the center of excellence program they were fast in getting me started. They also had been at this for a while longer and had special self-funding insurance safeguards....you self fund and part of your money purchases a policy that covers ANY complication that comes from your bariatric surgery for out to 8 months. This was very appealing to me and I jumped all over it. I'd already met most of my pre-op requirements for the surgeon and my patient advocate at the new center was extremely fast, aggressive and organized. She and I stayed in contact and had everything wrapped up swiftly. The end result was that I had my surgery on October 13, 2015.......when it was looking like at best it would be late December or beyond. By self funding I was able to anchor down the timeframe and it actually cost me less than it would've to use my insurance. Wild ride. The upshot of my story is this.....when working with UHC, or any of them for that matter.......stay in step with them upfront and avoid any bs later on. Involve your HR department at work if/when you are able to. It's amazing how much they can help. Best wishes.