Dub

@@OutsideMatchInside response struck home. I wish I'd managed my post-op "crazy time" much better. I was very quick to draw conclusions and demand a change......when I should have served myself an extra dose of "shut the hell up" each day and remained steady, calm and centered. The hormone rush and desire to break away from sources of perceived lacking fulfillment would have been best tempered with more careful planning out an overall 3-6-12 month plan and adhering to this. The plan would include basics: goals, food consumption measurement, exercise planning, budget for new clothes and new activities.....etc....etc. I don't regret any of my actions, but I do think that I would have been better served by thinking long and hard before I acted. It was like I relived my teenage years all over again.....but in fast forward. In summary, wisdom has come well after the fact and consideration of the impact your actions will have on others should be thought long and hard over. Moving forward now out of my teenager years.....and into my second go'round at 20'something again.

Those little canned sugar bombs ???? They do taste great but have a high amount of sugar. Be warned.

Don't accept the stall. Don't accept it one bit. You gave a solid gameplan in your opening post. If you do those things....you will break through.

Think of it at a gut check in the sense of it being a hurdle to get past. If you can't muster the willpower to get through the brief pre op diet.....are you truly ready for the surgery itself? It's not that bad.

I took three weeks off with an abdominal hernia repair at time of VSG

Stick with it and drink plenty Water. It gets easier.

8 months ago was 60" waist and 6x shirts. Now wearing 42" waist and 2x shirts.

People find a way to afford the costs of having plastic surgery each and every day. I'm not worried about loose skin.

8th month post op and I'm very glad I acted on the decision to have the sleeve surgery done. Getting rid of a big chunk of the unwanted weight has left me feeling so much better. I've certainly not faced all the challenges in a great way, but I've been able to stumble my way through it up to this point. I've lost over 190 lbs of the 230-ish lbs I want to lose. I think I'll be there by the one year mark. You have to overlook a lot if the negative posts you see. Most of them are simply folks griping about a specific hurdle they are trying to get over. They are probably pleased overall.

You are investing in your health all along. Someone that takes action to improve their health and takes care of themself is certainly going to be helpful to finding happiness.

Did you have an expectation of experiencing dumping with the VSG surgery ?

I chew sugar free gum all the time. I simply don't see a risk.

Congrats to all the smokers who have taken action to quit. I've lost track of how long I've not smoked.....12 years....15 years? Not sure. I do remember how I felt progressively better each week that I was smoke free and that it became easier as time passed.

Perhaps you'd better read up on everything from much more reliable sources of information.

Cranberry sauce, Jello and pudding. Used to like 'em all.........now, though....won't touch them with a ten foot pole. Disgusted by them.

Guys in NCAA Football and the NFL would go apshyt over gaining 10 lbs of muscle in a year.........

This link has nothing to do with anything in this thread other than "snowflake" reminding me of a cool movie.......

no rushing, @@Dub too easy to hurt yourself that way! True dat !!! I tend to break down on form....the very thing BigViffer is trying to demonstrate for his bride.....when I rush. That sounds like an ideal gym. I'm wishing that was the case with mine.

See, that is the one thing that will bother me the most. I definitely don't want to be seen as the poser that hangs in the gym for vanity's sake. However, I believe most of the people in my gym would see it for what it is intended. But that thought would be in the back of my head for sure. I doubt very seriously anyone is gonna think you are a poser. You've got the muscle credentials to prove them wrong. I was merely thinking of the impatient denizens who are working through the sets and ready to jump on the gear. My local gym has grown to a membership level that, in my opinion, far exceeds it's capacity. It takes forever to get a session in sometimes. I guess I tend to have a low tolerance for things that impede my old man routine as I'm going through my session. It's funny.....took me years to get my butt back into the gym....and now I rush when I'm there.

Well said @@jintycb Well said. I agree, completely. I think that timing and acceptance has a lot to do with some of the basic and oft repeated questions. I think these are factors as much as laziness is. I remember the workshops and classes I attended during my pre-op checklist. There were some really lively and heated discussions among the groups over base level stuff when it was presented. It was obvious that some simply were not ready to accept the changes and effort that was being asked of us. Later on.....after some time has passed......things get real and the questions resurface and get asked here. Over and over again.......... It's all good, though. When it ceases to be....I'll just scale back my coming here.

I hope to one day be able to answer this with, "My abs". Today is not that day. Today is, however, a day that I'm doing some indirect work for my ab development. Burning the fat....and doing some gym work. One day.

Total agreement.

You may get some funny looks from folks in the gym..... Just do it at non-peak times when folks aren't waiting for the gym equipment and all is well. Bodybuilding.com also has some great form pics & videos and detail of each specific exercise.

My VSG was self pay and I had the BLISS insurance. Didn't need it.......but glad it was there. It was a large factor over having the surgery at another facility that didn't offer it.

lol......that's why I only button a couple of them......