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I took several boxes of Gas-X strips and never used them. lol The three things that I were the most valuable to me in my hospital stay: 1) my iPhone 2) a remote battery that's good for three recharges of my iPhone. Saved me from reaching for a wall plug. 3) berry flavored chapstick that my wife bought me in the hospital's pharmacy the first afternoon. I never use the stuff but for some reason it was clutch that first night and next day.

Called my doc's office this morning. I almost passed out last night. My blood pressure bottomed out lower than anytime I've ever seen.....crazy low....scary low. Pulse was pounding. Cold sweat. Dizzy. Scared the crap outa me. Doc will cut my bp meds in half.....again. New script should be called in by now for me to pick it up on the way to the gym.

Absolutely awesome !!!!!! You are doing great and looking amazing.

It's the suck part of the deal.....the pre-op diet. Your's is very liberal compared to most. Space out your eats and stay ultra hydrated in between meals. Stay occupied on many tasks and don't sit and think about food. You are getting some good practice at flexing your new discipline-muscle. We've all been there and made it through it. It gets super easy later on after surgery. Super easy.

@@Sharon1964 that is awesome. I'll bet you were laughing yer butt off over not being recognized. Cool stuff. @@treblecutie23 looking great. Know that if you are rocking those at work......the guys on the job are getting nothing done. Had an interesting day yesterday. Good gym session in the late morning.....good grub at my favorite local spot......and then home to see my son off for the first day on his new job. He's finishing his junior year of high school this week and has done really well. Started driving this year....supercool girlfriend and now he's gonna be working for the summer. Cool little wing joint (best teriyaki wings I've ever had......need to duplicate their sauce one day). He was peeved when I took his hat. lol. The weight related NSV aspect of this was that I'm wearing a new 2XL shirt in the pics. Took it out of the package and put it on. No pre-stretching of torso section as I used to do in the old days........pretty dang cool when I consider the fact that I was wearing 6XL shirts 7 months ago. Pretty dang cool.

LMAO. Good stuff.

Absolutely insanely amazing. You have blown us all away with your achievements. Amazing. You look great !!!

Duke's or Blue Plate are my mayo of choices. I'm not a huge mayo user, though. I tend to op instead for either French's plain yellow or a nice course spicy brown mustard, though. Love either with my Breakfast sausages.

All sorts of weird feels hit me during the 6 weeks I spent in the liquid diet pre & post-op. I can say without reservation that all of the negative thoughts went away soon after I was able to resume eating high quality foods again. The cravings came back in a way. Instead of lusting after junk food.....my thoughts would be on steak, tuna, chicken, salmon and other fish. That's the stuff I crave. Also bacon & eggs are foods I look forward to. You are in the toughest phase right now.

I'm not disagreeing with anything you are saying here.....but it's just not the same for everyone. I do not feel four times the effect of alcohol now with my sleeve. Nope. I simply don't. You see a benefit in wls group meetings.......I absolutely do not. I had my sleeve surgery in October 2015. I've lost a big chunk of the unwanted weight and I've been enjoying weekend drinks per most of this timeframe. Most of the days where I know I'll be having drinks later are days where I can be found in the gym making room for the drinks. I'll do extra work on the treadmill in preparation. The drinks I choose have low calorie mixers.....same strategy as food choices in many aspects. If a person hasn't lost weight post op then I'd submit they have other bad bad choices than just alcohol. I'll bet they aren't very active and they are grazing in addition to making poor food choices. It's all about balancing wants, needs and committing to good behaviors. The strategies and methods may be similar but everyone's situation is unique to them. At the end of the day we have to be accountable to ourselves and not some group that sits around and preaches from a book of "you must do these". That would be hell for me. It is very reminiscent of the group sessions held by one of the nutritionists at my bariatric center. She's a former wls patient, too. She preaches and preaches.......yet clearly struggles with her current weight. I often wonder if some of those group members meet for pizza later on after their meetings. They post frequently on the center's patient forum.....yet never discuss good progress or show anything that resembles active living. I went to one of their support meetings early on after my surgery. OMG the whining and complaining that took place in there. The support I saw was support for feeling miserable and continuing with the things that made us all fat to start with. There was very little discussion about kicking into gear and going after the desired life. Being the new guy in the room....I was quiet and took it all in. First and last time I'll ever go to one of those group meetings. Last time I'll deal with that nutritionist, either. Sorry....can't sit through that noise. I'd rather take the advice and fit it into my life as I construct a plan that works for me.

Up your activity and get in all your Protein every day. Stay hydrated and move, move, move. Don't embrace stalls nor fret over them. Just do what you are supposed to do and don't worry about a thing. The weight will come off. I've had to actually tighten my belt by two more holes during a three week period where the scale didn't move a bit....actually it went up a pound. I can't explain it, but things were taking place in my body that were positive....just not showing up on the scale. If you can.....start some weight training in the gym. Be smart about it and get some proper instruction. No injuries. Weight training will up your metabolism and you'll benefit tremendously from that. Get your protein in every day, stay hydrated and move, move, move !!!!!!

Splenda and stevia are what I use in coffee & tea. I don't mess with honey anymore.

I'm 7 months out and I've avoided crackers like the plague. I had most of my freaking stomach removed to help me lose weight. Why in hell would I be eating crackers ???????? My post-op experience has been great and I've certainly had some weak moments and backslid here and there.....but planning to have worthless junk food is something I've avoided. The planning part. I've slipped and had them, sure....but dropped them quickly. I don't know that I'll even fool with crackers once I reach my goal weight, ether. There is simply no nutritional value in any that I've found. That being said....I do enjoy Quest Protein chips and salsa on occasion. 20 grams of protein and extremely low carbs. Sorry if I sound preachy about this.....but crackers piss me off. Crunchy little bastards have been the source of many a stall.

Well played on setting up a future fitness event that will be something to focus on. That is really cool......and uber smart. The training and work you'll do in preparation will have you feeling great.......provided you don't get injured. That is my biggest frustration with things....injuries. I freaking hate them. I tweaked an achilles that had me off the treadmill and elliptical for a month. I found some super supportive tall lace up desert boots that helped on workdays....but looked crazy. Sounds like you've gone after some really high level coaching. Great strategy. No injuries....and please don't die in the race. e Thanks for the advice. I have already contacted the one and only running store and unfortunately their programs meet at 6:30 in the morning, and being a single mom of a 10 year old does not allow that to be possible for me. So, I will stick with my personal trainer and my niece who is a marathon runner. I have every bit of faith in them both, and thankful I have them. I also have an appointment with someone at the running store on Monday for fitted shoes. She explained to me that I could get a decent pair for $160, but they can range up to $200 so I am totally prepared. Congratulations on your decision. All though I'm excited to run, I have no desire to put in 26 miles. The half is just a way to prove to myself I can do it. Good luck in your training and on race day. My closet looked like a shoe graveyard of new running shoes that I bought at Academy Sports and the like. New Balance, Nike, etc. Each of them had fit issues or some aspect that I didn't care for after a couple of sessions. I finally went to a local running store and was fitted properly. Fitted not just for size, but for stride, foot strike pattern, etc. First time in my life I've done this. The results have been unbelievable. The shoes I bought were a bit pricey......but they've stood up through my punishment of them and are insanely comfortable. They help eliminate knee and back pains and take a pounding. The two pair I bought are from Hoka One One and Brooks. http://www.hokaoneone.com http://www.brooksrunning.com I alternate them in gym sessions and they've both become daily shoes for me. Nothing more comfortable. I'm sure your running store will get you taken care of. Great experience for me. I wished I done this years ago. Would have saved heaps of money by avoiding the graveyard of new cruddy shoes.

The goal is to LOSE WEIGHT. Not to wait for the surgery to lose weight. I applaud the choice to get'r'dun asap.

Words to live by !!!! Whiskey is better. Okay....it's a toss up whether rum, whisky, vodka or cactus juice is better as far as I'm concerned. I certainly like the options other than beer. Beer is a played out commodity in my book. Done. Boring.

So true on the follow up order following. I will be one compliant little sucka. T&B. I will follow all instructions. If it's okay with you I'll ask that you approve my tin underpinning pics before I show them as "progress" pics. Right now that region of my body looks like the aftermath of a tornado strewn trailer park. Abs built by Budweiser and now look like the day after a child's lawn party birthday bash with deflated inflatable bouncy things laying around.

I gave it up briefly during my initial post op timeframe. Then......during a post-op follow up appointment I asked my surgeon if, when and how I could have coffee. He smiled and said, "Sure, I have two cups a day why can't you?". I had man-love for that dude at that moment (no homo). Seriously....I damn near broke his hand when we shook hands. Coffee and have been friends for a long, long time.......and will remain so. I gave it up briefly during my initial post op timeframe. Then......during a post-op follow up appointment I asked my surgeon if, when and how I could have coffee. He smiled and said, "Sure, I have two cups a day why can't you?". I had man-love for that dude at that moment (no homo). Seriously....I damn near broke his hand when we shook hands. Coffee and have been friends for a long, long time.......and will remain so.

Thank you. It is a mighty good thing that men aren't entrusted to the calling of childbirth. We are good at building stuff, tearing stuff up, killing stuff and grilling stuff. Labor pain????? Nope. It'd be a sparsely populated planet. And as to hearing my progress..............know that it sounds like a lot of grunting and groaning.....not the good kind, either....but the wimpish, whiny way that's fueled by icy hot and tiger balm and ace wraps. It doesn't take much for me to call it "progress" as I'd set the bar damn low from the start. All is well, though, and I appreciate every day above ground and living life.

You are doing great !!!!!!!!

Cherish thy bum. Be kind to it henceforth and forever. No more bum punishment......unless you are kinky that way. Seriously, very sorry you experienced this. Milk of Magnesia was what I was supposed to take as well. I was an idiot and tried to proceed with no special meds or actions. 6 days post-op.......also had a healing abdominal hernia repair........and I have been sipping Protein shakes according to schedule. Much of this protein bonded together in my system. The little peptides and nucleotides found each other in some type of cosmic dance......they joined.......and formed a brick like mass of protein. It became a living breathing monsta.......moving slowly and painfully towards what I knew would be an epic rectum wrecker. Milk of Magnesia is best when when taken all along......not just on the eve of the birth of an intestinal protein monsta.....with an ab that has 9 suture sights and internal muscle stitches holding the hernia down. That brick of protein started to make way for a painful exit sometime shortly after dawn.......then went breech. OHOHLYHELLYAGOTTABEKIDDINME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Extreme countermeasures were employed to get past that. Never again. Neva. Eva. So sorry you had to live through this as well. Moral of the story is indeed that an ounce of prevention will save pounds of rectum wrecking reality.

Naw, Darlin'. It's about attitude......not latitude. (or longitude) You can achieve this status if you so aspire. And probably look sexy as hell as you do so.

Without a doubt. This will make numba four in that area. My abs are full of suck and weakness it would seem. They simply couldn't stand up to the awesomeness of the spectacular beer gut I'd built....one stein at a time. I swear.......if I can ever get a properly healed abdomen then I will do yoga and other core work to tighten up the house that Budweiser built. Abs of steel? Probably never have those. At least I can abs of tin. Tin like the underpinning you see on mobile homes.........but only in the upscale local trailer parks. Abs of tin. My goal.

Well said, bro. The KISS principle has served me well over the years.

I believe it was when I was 14. Oh....post-op? Gotcha. Sorry. I didn't wait long enough......because I'm a stubborn dumbarse. Doc said for his wls patients he's all good with walking immediately.........two weeks on sex.......a week or two on returning to normal jobs......and a month on lifting any weights. This was said in group setting. I heard "immediately" and "sex" and I thought I was all good and ready for action as soon as the IV lines came out. Dumbarse. He also repaired a umbilical hernia during my sleeve surgery. He'd cautioned me to take it easy and let it heal. Evidently I didn't because I'm 7 months out and the hernia repair is shot. I did some stuff in the gym Sunday night that really screwed it up. Such an idiot. I'll get to spend the last three weeks of this calendar year healing from yet another repair if I can hold out that long. That's the next break in my work schedule that will allow for some post op healing. I'm an idiot sometimes......much of the time......okay I'm stupid on occasions. My best advice is listen carefully to your surgeon during a consult with you and only you. Get their instructions as they apply to your situation.