Dub

When I finally hit my fighting weight and things show signs of leveling off and maintaining......I will thoroughly enjoy going somewhere like Joseph A. Banks and buying a few suits.

Well said !!!! There is a smoothie King in my gym and I've avoided it like the plague.....mainly due to ignorance over all the varieties they offer. A quick glance at the menu and I felt like it was a caloric minefield that I simply haven't been prepared to wade through. St. Patrick's day found me waiting around an airport with a few hours to kill. I hadn't eaten that day....and walked around and looked at the options available to me......bar & grill foods, chicken spots and burger joints. Nothing really appealed to me.....then there was a Smoothie King. I've been coached up by a good friend about some of their leaner, low carb options and I decided to give one of them a try. I believe it was called The Gladiator....could be wrong. It's a good thing I was coached prior as the girl running the Smoothie King professed to be clueless as to the nutritional info on anything on the menu. It was pretty decent, but my mistake was ordering a large version......sipped on that thing for two hours and tossed the rest in the trash. That was my first smoothy since sleeve surgery. I"m sure it won't be my last, but it's just something that's not really on my desired eats right now. Protein shakes suffice. Once I reach my goal fighting weight.....then it may be a convenient way to get in desired macros.....protein and some veggies....small amount of fruit.....I can see where they'd be helpful to me then.

Yes.......faced with some that felt that wls is a way of giving up and going the easy way out and that I'd not tried enough on my own.....etc, etc. I had my reasons for embracing the surgery as a tool for getting rid of.....and keeping off......the excess fat that had taken over my body and my life. Once the weight started falling off and I became way more active and happy.......they each began to be supporters. It was interesting to see them change their views. Don't let anyone.....no matter how close to you......no person sway you off your chosen course to get healthy.

Well played.

Well said. Routine fitness is best approach for me, too. Just do it without thought.

So much truth right there !!!!!

Often depends on if it's a workday or a day off. Work day will find me hitting a shake or Quest bar. Sometimes some deli meat with a slice of cheese. Days off generally finds me making country breakfast for my tribe. I'll usually do an omelette for my own eats.

You lost 200 lbs before on your own ? I would expect you to match or exceed any prior weight loss efforts with wls. Furthermore, I feel that it will provide you with the tools needed to keep it off. Excess skin amounts will be hard to predict. How bad was it when you dropped the 200? Don't worry about it. Lose the weight.....get down to where you want to be....then address the skin then. Have it removed and move on with your life. Done. Finished. Onto next fun? Finding the woman you can connect with on many levels.......hells yes. That, sir, is relevant to my goals, too. It's what makes the world go 'round. It was when I was your age.....and I suspect it will be when I'm an old guy causing the halls of the nursing home. My sleeve has been a most wonderful tool for me. I've experienced nothing but improvement in every aspect of my life since having it. There is no way for me to rank them in order of importance....as every single benefit that comes on the radar has it's own wonderful gifts, too. Some are simple capability enhancing benefits.....some are more emotional in nature. ALL ARE WELCOME CHANGES !!!! You asked about the penis aspects. I'm going to be direct here. I'm a simple guy who takes great pleasures in life's base level endeavors. Sex and making love with the woman you share your life with.....a very big priority for me. Ranks somewhere up there with having a steady pulse and breathing easy. I remember having ACL & MCL surgery....waking up in hospital bed with cast from hip to toes......and groping and being groped by one of my nurses that night.....and having sex in my hospital bed the next day. That's how I've rolled all these years. A hopeless knuckle dragger who never misses an opportunity to smack the wife on her ass or back her up into a wall and lay a big smooch on her. For the first time in my life, this capability was compromised last year. It damn near shut me down, son. I'd been getting treatment for some pulmonary issues....and then screwed up my back at an attempt to be He-Man and lift things that I had no bidness lifting. Never had back pain like this before. Shut me down. Couldn't even think about sex. Weeks....months pieced together......a drought like I've never experienced before or since. It was freaking miserable. Not the pain....sure that sucked outright.....but, the lack of ability to act on my desires....to satisfy her's....to be a damn man and act on it. It was this lack of ability that cut through the haze and helped me see clearly.....the voice in my head screaming"Get yer shyt together, boss. Get it together right freaking now". Spine surgeon made strong bariatric recommendation....I left his office with a referral and I jumped squarely behind the idea and the rest is history. Good history. The best chapters are still being written. At the moment.....the only thing that ever holds me up in the least in the bedroom is how my back may be doing that day. Even then it's simply that some moves are not wise....but other angles and positions are just fine. It's often tweaked from working too many hours on the job and still hitting the gym....not sleeping enough....doing stuff I should leave for others to do....etc. Even on the worse "bad-back" days I'm capable of great fun. In fact....THE greatest sexual moments of my life occurred recently on a "bad back" day. I kid you not. The day was filled with hours of the best feels this old dog has ever known......and the day ended with me almost unable to walk......yet fumbling his way into a situation where I was being propositioned by a good looking woman while I was minding my own bidness and nursing a well deserved celebratory drink in a busy bar. It began as an innocent conversation...a few laughs over the next hour and then....HELLO.....an invite was made. If I'd not been sitting there......all chilled out like a dog in the sun.....reflecting on the day's wonderment.....I may have taken on this gal from Manhattan's offer. She was mighty persistent... The old landing gear is better now than when I was in college. Deploys better and can handle any runway with ease. Zero complaints from me or my co-pilot.... I wish you the best. The sleeve was the easiest of any of my surgeries to recover from. It was a nonevent. Pain was nonexistent. I'd have been back in the bedroom cardio action sooner if I'd not also had a umbilical hernia repair done with my VSG. As it was....I remember giving it over a week to heal before I test drove things. The hernia was an issue....but she was careful to work around it. Was back on my job after 3 weeks off. I'd do it all over again in a skinny minute.

Augusta here. Sleeved in October 2015. 2/3 to goal

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Dub, I do hope you are being safe! That can be a bad addiction if you're not careful! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I just said I was obsessed with it.......didn't say I was letting it ride...yet

My obsessins are a short list: coffee Sex Getting more healthy Sex Good nutrition Sex

They were over a ten year period. Three different failures. Gonna eventually do some core work and make my abs tight and strong.......after I get the current one repaired yet again......later this year. My abs suck.

You are gonna keep on kicking ass !!!!

I've really had great results with Quest Protein bars. Apple Pie is my favorite. 20 grams of protein and 17grams of Fiber (macros for some of their bars) works well for me as breakfast during my morning commute to work. I'm also a fan of the Quest Protein chips. I'll enjoy them with salsa or guacamole as a meal, too.

Beach season.....pool season.....shirtless season is coming soon. In fact, this time next week I'll be in Cozumel and have no plans of wearing much more than a bathing suit and flip flops during the days. If anyone inquires about the scars.....I'll roll with, "Was in a bar fight and lived". I don't have to disclose that it was an all-you-can-eat-buffet-bar and I lived. Seriously....I have recently noticed that the scars from last October's VSG & hernia repair have faded and the whole region has shrunk. A tan has helped, too. I've had two open umbilical hernia repairs and the scars were each 4" long and came together in an "L" below my navel. You can't even see them due to "beer gut shrinkage". The future plastic surgery will lop them off anyway. I know that scars are less of a concern for a guy........but scars on women is something that I have never taken exception to. They are just reminders of your life experiences and something that you went through and are stronger for it. They don't define you by any means. I think the feels about surgery concealment are more of a concern to patients in the very early days. After the results start showing up we all care less and less about the "secret" and just want to Celebrate for the results.

Ouch.....ouch.....that has to feel bad. You may have very much been counting on, in the back of your mind, her support and guidance throughout your own wls. I suspect that she is not pleased with her regained weight and has fallen back into some prior bad habits and feels bad about it. It is good for you to see now that many people.....even best friends........have their own personal demons in regard to being overweight and seldom allow themselves to think objectively about it beyond their own experiences. They struggle to grasp anything other than their own despair and frustration. Obesity. A monster that is out there.......waiting for you to slay it. You can have a wonderful blacksmith to forge your sword and make your armour....the best combat training.......and the best squires and steed. It is you, solely you.....that steps out on the field of battle to face this monster. You are the one that has to kill it. Once you see an opening....keep after it.....you'll gain ground and you'll lop it's head off. Be a good friend. Be her best friend......but know that it may lead to having compartmentalize or filter the types of feelings you share with her. Maybe you're enthusiasm and great results will inspire her. Know that she'll be rooting for you even if she's not capable of expressing it. She'll see your success and it'll stir things up inside her. Let it be her to open the dialogue on the matter.....or not open. You are going to be busy slaying that monster. Getting more active. Formal exercise. Embracing new ways of eating. Monitoring progress. Needing to shop for new clothes. Understand that you may go it alone.....or feel that way at times. It is what it is. It's you kicking the shyt outa the excess weight you want to lose. It's you figuring out how to live lean....now and forever. She'll come around.......maybe it'll take a long time for her to....maybe not. Either way, you've got this. Bamsucka !!!! Drop the mic........strut away and bow. Truth spoken. Or at least something that seems to occur a good bit. My grandfather had a saying, "Still Water runs deep.........swift water runs shallow". Applies to many situations in life. With wls i've found that many more positive comments and feels are expressed by my thinner friends & coworkers. They are very congratulatory and not usually wanting conversations on the matter.....just a hearty, "Hell yes, man.....you are doing well....keep it up". That's about it now. They don't want to know all the ins & outs......don't want to hear about the labor pain....they just compliment the baby. lol. Now......when my overweight friends and coworkers do take time to comment or approach me about the weight loss results......it's always tentative, very vague but builds in focus and desire for more information. I always take time.....or make and agreed upon future time......to fill them in on the good, bad & ugly of my own experiences. It is something that they've most likely considered...the wls........and losing weight is certainly something they desire to do at some level. I try to tap into this desire and how it's within their grasp as I explain how things unfolded for me thus far.....with so far to go....honestly there's another 100 lbs to go.

Oatmeal is allowed on pre-op liquid phase ? That is a lot different than mine was. I was pretty much allowed 3-4 Premier (3 other approved varieties) shakes a day with a ton of Water or non-calorie drink. I gutted it out but I did kill the diet sodas & water. This phase certainly sucks.....no ifs ands or buts about it.....sucks outright. It passes quickly and then you are impressed with the weight loss you experienced during this phase and then onto the other side after surgery. Ironically, the same diet, when experienced on the other side, seems like a breeze. You can't believe you are there.....done.....so relieved to there. Gut check time is now. You are amping up your weight loss efforts and will see great results during this.....and roll into surgery already on a great rate of loss. Get yourself some water flavoring and make peace with drinking water. The Dasani grape flavored water is something I found that was really good.....give some of these flavored versions a try. It sucks. It seems to be necessary. It'll lead towards a safer surgery. You've got this.

Well said. I have found very similar results. Grateful for all the benefits that have come with this WLS

There is nothing about WLS that doesn't translate to good wood. It's an awesome side effect of the surgery. There is zero downside over traveling to new depths, opening doors even wider and visiting longer. It puts the happy in Happy Time. Not much more to say other than THANK YOU for this new superpower. I can't say I'll always use it for good and not for evil. Small scale evil.........

My next step will be umbilical repair surgery, hopefully I will not need to take off so much time. Any insight you can give me would be great. How bad was it? Did you simply have surgical repair or did they have to use mesh or exactly how did it go? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I've had umbilical hernias surgically repaired with open surgery two times prior. They used mesh the second time. Recovery was in the 4-5 week time before I returned to work. This past umbilical hernia repair was done as the same time as my VSG......and done using the same orthoscopic tools used for the VSG. Added a few minutes to the surgery and a couple more new holes. The post-op for the hernia repair & VSG was way less than the prior open hernia repairs. I was back at work in 3 weeks.

I am talking about the stomach (organ) not the exterior (waistline). To answer the other question re: 2 gallons of Water, yes I mix Chrystal Light in a half a gallon of water and carry it with me and have 4 of them a day = 2 gallons. But I've always been this way, even before I went on methyprednisone for 3.5 years which caused the weight gain to begin with. Please, I am just looking for input and not criticism. I suppose I feel I must hide this from my surgeon because I do not want to be a "bad patient." I do now see the flaws in my hiding this from my surgeon. I am good at asking for help and honestly taking seriously advise especially when there is a general consensus answer. Thank you for the nonjudgmental responses. No judgment......just was confused by your initial post. Hiding anything from your surgeon is a red flag and will get called out on here. Glad to know what you mean, now. I don't see the problem with sipping tons of water throughout each day....so long as it's not around meal times. I've been encouraged to do so. Crystal Light was always supported by my surgeon, too.

Bam !!!!! There ya go. Keep on killing it. Burn that stuff off and keep feeling great. You gonna luv the feeling.

I had VSG + umbilical hernia repair. Somewhere about 4-5 weeks out I began to feel much, much better with movement. I returned to work after 3 weeks. All of the post-op pain I felt was strictly from the hernia repair and not the VSG.