Dub

Damn.......there ya go making total sense again. I should feel bad for my swift dismissal of what I saw as rubbish being spewed in her posts. I truly should. I don't. I'd just arrived home after a long week of night shifts with a fresh hot cup of Starbuck's Cafe Verona in hand and I rode the wave of goodness that it provided. Pretty sure I was rude and insensitive with a large dose of IDGAF. It happened. I then had a much needed nap. A superhot showa followed. A powa showa. And........cracked open a bottle of Maker's Mark....not bad for screw top stuff.....gathered some ice cubes and a nice mellow state is being conjured up. Gonna make some coconut shrimp and other stuff in a bit. Just trying to decide whether to do it indoors or out on the deck.....weather will make the decision for me. Rain......dry.....rain......dry......hmmmm. Decisions. Until then I sip and ponder womenz who drink their dranks with large straws. Much respect for their endeavors to.......quench their thirsts. Deep thoughts from a shallow dude. I should feel bad....all sorts of bad. Yet I don't. I'm mightily focused on feeling good and cooking up some tasty grub for a carnivorous teen while I crank some good tunes.

This is good stuff. I'm so dang grateful for women who choose the large straws. I love it when they put on a show.

Cool. Your advice will really mean the most to folks then. Now....not so much.

No, no, no dear Babbs. Us Trumpers would never allow such kookiness. We'd have our wall built to keep such madness out of our village. By the way....did you not see the pic she posted ? Doesn't look like a Trump person to me. I could be wrong, though. I often am.

Know idea, huh? Well that does, indeed explain quite a bit. No....that's not why you've been getting beat up for the stuff you've said. You've simply been getting beat up for saying it. As far as finding your people.....I'm sure they are out there.....somewhere..........

That's deep. You are right, of course. The truth will come out in the end. Thank goodness we have you here to guide us until then...... Oh, but she is an expert, dear. She's the Chosen One.......sent to collect us, the misguided. She's come for us....in her stretch mini-van....come to collect our wayward selves and bus us to the nearest Golden Corral for a throw down of epic proportions.

Again this is a sleeve forum, so..........

You go girl. That's how you do it. Thank you. I think following our doctors is certainly the way to go. Otherwise, one could find themselves following the ramblings of some ill informed idiot on the internet. Oh....and the only thing that's given me heartburn since my sleeve surgery has been ignorance like I've read in this post.

Looking great !!!!

I need something quick and easy that I can use to make a homemade V-8 style drink with some added unflavored Protien powder. I'm clueless as to what I should get.

Yup. Eating fast is not good. I hate that feeling, too. Work lunches have always been rushed affairs for me, too. I've learned to slow my roll.

Good luck ! It was one of the very best decisions I've ever made in my life. I'm very glad I went with the sleeve and very pleased with the ongoing progress and look forward to living at goal weight for the rest of my life, Lord willing. My only regret is not acting on this sooner.

Awesome !!!!!!! Gotta love seeing a "2" on there. You are doing great, man.

When you find the chairs at your parents house have grown since you last sat in them.....and their dogs have room to join you.... When you return home to your own home and your own dogs have room to join you in your char that's grown some, too.... Furniture everywhere seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Strange phenomenon. Strange but cool. I like strange.

I think that you can do all of this again. You may find that you can do it even better once you detach a bit from the impact that food has on you. I have always been an avid griller. As a hunter, I learned to prep wild game and bring it to the table for the family to enjoy. It was tremendously satisfying, too. In time, I learned that any of those techniques can easily be translated over to other types of food. I really began to enjoy not just grilling but the indoor cooking as well. My indoor game isn't as strong as say, my little sister.....who is a freaking wizard.....but it gets the job done. Feeding a teenager who is perpetually hungry and loves real food....not the microwaved, frozen food stuff his mom "cooks" is a not only fun, but needed. I went through the build up to surgery....diet was much different than before. I cooked very, very little and then not at all during the liquid phase both pre & post. I avoided the kitchen. Stayed on liquids for 4 weeks post and still avoided the kitchen. Went through another month with the soft Proteins and continued to avoid the kitchen. I remember distinctly that I had a 7 day off period that arrived on my 9th week. My teenager sat down with me and was very candid in his desires over whether or not I'd ever be cooking again. He said he was really worn out with the frozen foods deal. At first I simply laughed but then he drove home the point....he was sick and tired and he wasn't joking. It snapped me out of it and I went shopping later that morning and loaded up on ribs, pork shoulder, beef brisket and lots of charcoal along with stuff to make homemade bbq sauces and good side dishes. I grilled everyday of that that 7-day off and it was therapeutic for me. I was back in the game and happy about it. Happier than ever, in fact. I could make all the normal stuff I did before....the carb loaded stuff......and simply chose to not eat it. I could cook all sorts of stuff but had the newfound ability to select only what was appropriate for new way of eating. Amazing. I now enjoy cooking & grilling more than ever. It is fun, yet it has no power over me....which makes it even more fun. I think you'll see similar things occur once you have a new view on food and the types that you must have and not have.

Root concealer. Awesome name. It's what I find myself doing a good bit.....trying to conceal the old root.

LMAO !!!

On a great day, I'll stay under 25 grams. On a wild and crazy day....it'll still be under 100 grams. Normal.....under 50 grams.

LOL. I couldn't see enjoying much of any of that stuff......but a can see a recipe book or two being a nice addition to the arsenal. I'd never be able to eat the volume of food these plant folks live off.......but I could see making a vegetable juice drink to perhaps improve my nutrition. Hell, in my case.....I could substitute it for one or two of the cups of coffee I eat everyday. I can see how folks jump into the ring and dive headfirst into the "movement". We are, on average, a society of unhealthy folks....and joiners. We love to be in groups that we identify with. The only group I'm trying to exclude myself from is the folks in the graveyard. I'd like to stall that occurrence for a long time. A homemade V-8 type drink seems reasonable for me.....as well as adding in green crunchy, leafy vegetables to my normal Proteins. Just for shyts and grins I'd like to get my blood work done soon and then give one of the modified versions of the Engine2 28-day challenges a try and then more blood work after. It'll be fun. I've got the time and not scared to experiment. We'll see.

Nope. Never had that one. My problem is the cold. Can't stand it now. Pierces me to the core. I'm much happier in the current weather.

My NC relatives praise Duke Medical to the high heavens. Over the years they've had anything from back surgeries, knee replacements, intestine resectioning, to cancer related surgeries. The care they received was done by some of the top surgeons in their field. Duke is a special place. Nothing agains UNC, but I know where I'd most likely go if given the choice.

My favorite pureed food was........two scoops of Protein powder over ice and Water.......shake, stir and enjoy. Sorry....I didn't do pureed food stage. I was scared of it. I needed the extra time on shakes to get me further away from food, in general. I need those extra weeks to simply stay the course and redefine my thoughts and responses to foods. I had to approach it this way for my own well being. Glad I did.

Well said, ISG. Well said. I see some of the stuff first year folks say they are eating and my first thought is "how can they have room for that?".....then it dawns on me that they have room for these other non essential foods because they simply aren't eating the primary focus, Proteins. For me....it's never really been that I eat any more Protein than before......it's just that I eat far less of everything else. The beauty of me utilizing the "eat proteins first" method is that I'm always done after that. There is no room for other foods. Yup....mine doesn't focus much on numbers, but when I've pressed him....these are what he quotes as minimum averages.

Very simplistic......yet very true. The further down the road I get the easier this tactic is to employ. At first....the early days....all it took was a television commercial to get those "oh, I'd love some of that....." in my head. It'd pass in a while. Now, I can be around those foods....hell, even prepare them for others......and not really think about them. An advertisement on television or someone walking into the room with a steaming hot pizza.....registers on my brain that it's there......and I can toggle the thought off. The stuff that interests me is what it on my menu. That's what gets my interest. The further down the right paths we go.......the easier it is to stay on those paths.

You've certainly thought about the impact and effect this will have on your work place and coworkers. It can be a maddening endeavor.....trying to make it all come together with the least disturbance. Never, for a moment, lose sight of why you are having this wls.....for yourself.....for your health. It's an easy detail that can get lost in all the other considerations. Maybe you can even move things up quicker than December. Speak with your insurance company's patient advocate very carefully and see the specific details. Many plans allow you to use any prior doctor's appointment where you were counseled on weight loss during that visit. My PCP and other doctors each agreed to fill out the simple form (provided by insurance company). Each of these forms, for me, satisfied a month of the 6 months. The only stipulation was that these sessions take place over the last 2 years. Each of my doctors agreed in an instant to complete the simple forms and help me speed up the process. My very first bariatric appointment was on July 1, 2015. We didn't think I'd be able to apply until Jan 2016. I satisfied insurance demands quickly and was eligible well prior to the end of year. My insurance $$$$ benefit wasn't so great in terms of bariatric coverage and ultimately I chose to self fund due to it being cheaper for me than using insurance (sounds crazy, I know). The surgery was in mid October 2015 and could have still been by then or November if I'd used insurance. Find out all the details you can from your insurance company's bariatric folks.....it'll take some digging around....but you can benefit greatly from some "inside insight" from them. Good luck