Dub

I hear you. I know it sucks right now. No other way to put it. But......you aren't dead....which means you've got control over something....even if it's something small. Impose your will over the things you can control and dig your way back. One step at the time. Dealing with this will make that pre-op diet seem like a non-event that you'll take in stride......make easy work of it. Get healthy and get to.....and past your surgery and you'll feel like you are in the drivers seat in so many ways. That's the quickest way to ultimately get healthy and your employment fears will subside. I know it's easy for me to say all this......you're the one whose weak and feeling poorly.....and the one that has to rally.

Cool. Thanks !!! Great ideas. Reminds me that I need a new crockpot.....a smaller one for the smaller batches of stuff I'll be making now. I really need to work on my chili game. I think I'll try to make some Carol Shelby's white chicken chili next weekend and see how it works out.....using ground chicken and ground turkey. Ohhhh chili, yes....I forgot that! That is a staple for me! :-) Chili weather is here, too. I'm going with the white chicken chili for now as it is less acidic than the good old red version. My surgeon encouraged me yesterday to experiment with various Proteins and see what I could tolerate. I'm not wanting to have reflux flare-ups if I can help it.

Great ideas. Reminds me that I need a new crockpot.....a smaller one for the smaller batches of stuff I'll be making now. I really need to work on my chili game. I think I'll try to make some Carol Shelby's white chicken chili next weekend and see how it works out.....using ground chicken and ground turkey.

I am very, very sorry that you are having to endure yet another blow like this. I can imagine it just beats you down further. Feeling like crap....over and over has a way of chipping away at our spirits. I get it. You already know what you have to do......embrace the treatment and do everything within your power to heal up....follow all their instructions to the letter and make some progress. You will come out of this and get your feet planted squarely on the ground and then be ready for the next step. Use this as extra motivation to get healthy......recover from this.....follow the plan......reach your surgery date.......follow the plan......recover......and then PROFIT from feeling better and better every day. You will progress much quicker by being upbeat and KNOW that you are going to heal up from this. Follow the medical advice your caregivers are providing and hold yourself accountable to getting better. Don't be a victim but take charge of you condition. Will yourself to get better. Get there one small step at a time even though it's going to take tremendous effort to get there. Be in total control of the things you can be in control off......don't waste valuable energy on fretting over the stuff that is out of your control.

My surgeon would do a test prior to surgery and cancel it if you weren't clean. It's hard as heck to quit......I know. Been there and done it. Cold Turkey. You'll feel a whole heap better getting that gorilla off your back. Clear breathing is a wonderful thing.

I'll see that I have notifications by the red number beside the flag, however, when I click on the flag it continues searching but never lists them. This is a recent development.....the past day or so.

Universal Nutrition's whey Protein is great.....low carb and tastes great. Chike Nutrition is great, too. unjury is good.....except their strawberry.....I tossed an entire can in the garbage. YMMV

There are many, many types of low carb-low calorie Protein shakes and powder. I'd try a few different brands and flavors. There's even unflavored by unjury. There are protein "waters", too, by Isopure.

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

Oh yeah.....today was that day. My surgeon advanced me to the next step with foods. Whew....I can eat, but it's funny how little I want to eat during these meals. A couple well chewed bits and bam...done for that meal. And so it goes.

7-10 was all I was able to muster this past weekend. Tomorrow starts another round. I'm going for full length runs this time. Surgeon's visit went well this morning and I was released to try new soft Proteins for 5 small meals per day. I think this will help my energy so long as I get my Water in, too. I apprettiate your confidence. I'm really wanting to get things right this time in regards to my weight and overall health. I'm trying to be patient and not take on too much, but I'm ready to get rolling along. Yep. Those are indeed the ones. I went by the Sleep Number store today and this came up. I may reserve a room and stay on one first to see.

Guilty as charged, my Dear. Drinking lots and lots of H20......sorry, I missed the posts beyond the OP. I'll say this.....I now see where getting all the water in daily is going to be a bit more of a challenge.....just a small bit. Up until today I was on the liquid diet....protein shakes and water with some occasional broth. Water was easy to drink around this type of "food" intake. Today, though, was my 4th week check-in with the surgeon. He transitioned me over to his next step.....the soft foods stage. I loved his quote, "What is hard to get down may not be bad for you and what is easy to get down may not be good for you". He challenged me to eat 5 meals per day. Flakey fish, bagged tuna & salmon, soft cheeses, even chicken nuggets (the idea being they've been ground and reshaped and if chewed up well, should be easy to get down) and etc, etc. He stressed not drinking just before, during, or 30 minutes after eating. Okay....taking the 5 slowly eaten meals and drinking restoration times surrounding them......really leaves no time to sit down and just drink water in between. I'll have to carry a water bottle with me and be working on it all the rest of the available time. He also suggested not drinking late in the evening as that can contribute to reflux issues. So today......I was schooled on some useful tactics and finally allowed to eat real food.

I had my 4 week check up with my surgeon today. He's perfectly okay with me having 1-2 cups a day. God bless him. It sure is nice. I use Splenda and a very small amount of Fairlife milk.

It's all good. I simply posted it here, thinking there would be more guys my weight who had been through this deal.

I think I share pitfalls posted by everyone so far. Junk food, volume of junk food, timing of junk food and then float it all on gallons of beer and you pretty much have the recipe for disaster that I was following. Crazy lifestyle. I work long rotating shifts in a fast paced and stressful job. I let this single aspect of my life just about wreck my health. I didn't prepare meals like I should have. I almost never carried meals & Snacks in to work with me. Fast food on the way to & from work.......junk food from vending machines and the crapateria while there. Lots of diet sodas during the shift. Now.....I don't even take in cash with me. I bring in 100% of what I'll eat and it's much healthier and much more economical. I am blessed in that my job will allow me to walk for hours on end if I choose to. I'll be able to burn a ton of calories on the job. I also drank a lot of calories in beer. I'd work like crazy and then get a day off. That day would find me firing up the grill around mid day and popping a top. If one beer is good.....then an endless supply until bedtime is even better. Great music, relaxing and conjuring up a great meal. Son would get home from school and chow down and my wife would eat with him. I'd usually skip it and keep enjoying my brews. Late evenings......just before bedtime.....I'd want to eat leftovers and crash. So much bad with all this. Now...I'll be able to enjoy my days off so much different. Get up....have some coffee and then go hit the gym. Enjoy my tunes then while getting my elliptical and treadmill sessions in. I can still fire up the grill and cook up some tasty Protein......and break out the foodsaver on the leftovers for work lunches. I don't have and answer for the beer. I've avoided alcohol since last April while losing weight. I'll see what the future holds. I've seen some skinny margaritas that were low calorie.....basically a zero calorie mix + tequila or vodka. I'm not in any hurry to toss this back into the mix just yet, though.

Well........I went by the sleep Number store today. Great situation.....got there shortly after opening and had the run of the store and the salesperson. She was really helpful and answered all my questions......no hype. No BS. Straightforward. I was quite satisfied with the firmness that could be achieved. More than adequate. Backing off from 100 to 85 felt really good. The adjustable bases really made for an awesome set-up. The 'weightless' setting felt really good as did elevating the feet some. I need to decide if the adjustability is worth the additional $3,000 over the price of whichever set I zeroed in on. There is a 25 year warranty that is pro-rated after 2 years. I'm not really sure I understand what all the Sleep IQ does for you, but I didn't really get into discussion about it. I've got a few quotes to think about.......but the main thing is deciding how much it's worth to me to elevate the head & foot. If I go that route, it must be independently adjustable L&R, thus the $3,000 cost. That's a large expense. Thanks for all your ideas and information. The Radisson is the chain that has the Sleep Number beds. I may have to do a weekend at a Radisson and see how I like it............

You have to sift through things, but there are some great stories on here. There are a bunch of "when can I eat pizza" stuff.......but get past them and you'll see the positive stuff. It's a great site with some inspiring folks. Best wishes for you !!!

So far....just shy of 4 weeks past surgery.....my taste preferences haven't changed. Same Protein drinks that tasted good pre-op are the same ones I like now. Same flavorings I put in broth are still just like they were prior. The pre-op diet sucked.....BUT, there were a lot of benefits beyond the reason the surgeon emphasized (liver shrinking for safer surgery). I'd been losing weight all along throughout the months leading up to surgery as I simply wanted to get the weight OFF. I'm mentally done with being physically heavy and the issues that it created in my life. I didn't give a crap how the weight came off.....or when it came off. It seemed silly to wait until surgery to get it off. Losing weight was the goal....not waiting around to start losing weight. Anyway...the low calorie diet my NUT had me on was okay because it did offer me a calorie budget to spend how I wanted. I found that Proteins and fats would keep hunger at bay and focused my spending there each day. Weight loss went slow but steady. Hitting the pre-op diet of low carb Protein shakes really amplified the loss experienced. I think it's a great gut check to see if you are ready. You are about to have significant surgery....that can't be reversed......in order to lose weight. It will NOT work if your mind isn't fully engaged and embracing the process.....providing the discipline and committed to the effort. If you can't reach this point then maybe for time is needed......more counseling.....more focus to reach the point of 110% commitment. I've heard of some people going through the motions in the months leading up to surgery and then something happens as they are recovering.....a dedication for lack of a better term. They get behind the idea and they work through it successfully. Maybe that's what will happen with you. Nothing is easy about this process that I've seen. Folks calling it the easy way out are ignorant as hell.

That is interesting. For me, the weight loss also seems to accelerate or slow based on WHAT I eat, too. Meaning I can eat the same number of calories but lose at different rates based on what they are. Lean meats and fibrous stuff and minimizing carbs works best for me.

Don't ever let personal challenges or issues impact your way of eating. You eat to live. Get your nutrition in. Problems will come and go. Be your own advocate and stick to your eating plan regardless of what's going on. Doing otherwise is going to mean your weight progress is always held hostage to unplanned drama.

I feel nervous as heck! I'm at 730 first of the day. You will do great!!! Wish u luck and remembering that we Are all together in this is a great way to help calm the nerves! You guys are going to do great. Looking forward to seeing you on the other side of it........there is plenty of room on the Loser's Bench. Come on and take your spot !!!!!

Can these items be replaced with the warranty ????

The two surgeons I dealt with on my way to surgery made it clear that they would not do any type of "re-sleeve".

Sounds great. Glad you have that past you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OUTSTANDING start !!!!!!!