Dub

This sounds exactly like how I plan to approach things.

@camerolegend I get exactly what you mean. I'm feeling younger already. It's on the beginning stages....but there is a marked improvement. Very sweet ride !!!!!

Miss my stomach ??? SSSSSSHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT................that thing was wore slap out for a while now. Hell, my jaws are now happy. They were tired of chomping, chewing and working way to dang hard. i don't miss my stomach, I don't miss constant back pain......I don't miss knee pain at every step.........I don't miss a thing. It's nice to look down and see.......my junk. I swear it may even be growing, too. I don't miss the food & drink that I abused to achieve such a heavy weight. I not going to miss shopping at the oversized dude store. I'm not going to be missing......for much longer anyway.....the motorcycle jacket that wore in college 25 years ago. That jacket kept me from getting too scraped up in a couple wrecks. It'll feel great wearing it again with the same style Levis I work in college, too. I miss nothing and look forward to EVERYTHING.

At 47 years old.....all I can say is that I'm very happy to see you each take your health so serious now. If you work hard and adhere to your plans....strictly......you can achieve mighty impressive results. It can truly change your life......while at my age it is to save my life. It's not a "one and done" type situation, though. Those of us who've struggled through this for decades understand that. It's imperative that you grasp this......it's going to take a lifetime of watching your calorie type and amounts. The surgery doesn't just fix it all. You will always be in the driver's seat and in control. Stay on track and you'll profit tremendously. I'm not trying to preach.....please understand this. I'm simply wishing you each the very best. Gain control and stay in control and live without the burdens of obesity. Slim, trim and young.......you'll be living the dream every day of your lives. Great stuff !!!!!!!!

We all understand. We know that it's not that much fun at the point you are at. You don't have much say so in things, though. You must drink your shakes and your Water........or else we are going to come by your house and sit on you. You don't have a choice in the matter. Small swallows.....over and over again......even though you aren't hungry.....you've got to have the required nutrition. There are many, many Protein shakes on the market. I only had 4 choices in my plan but I had to go beyond that to find some damn variety (but had similar macros to the approved drinks). Try some different flavors and brands. I'd feel like an elephant sitting on you right now. You'd better get to sipping..................

As I understand things..........our superpowers will be doled out to us in small doses. For now.....I'm grateful for these little enhancements all along. Being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound is coming.................

That's great news. You are gonna do great !!!!

I used it a few years back when I did the Optimist diet. There were pre-mixed and powdered shakes. Medically supervised. Weekly groups meetings and all that. I lost well to start with....but didn't stay on track with the program after burning out on the liquid only portion of it. Flavors of the stuff were good and it was fairly filling. I could see using it without a problem for a pre-op run up to surgery.

I like some of the Walden's dressings. Their bbq sauce, though, not so much. It's hard for a company to make a hickory-type sauce and have so few calories, though.

Nope. I see 'em and think....."Still look like Sasquatch". I'll come, though. All in due time.

All the lab work I've ever had required a state of fasting. You did well to have an 8:00am session.

Nope. It simply makes me think my prayers have been answered.

I think it truly is a matter of low hanging fruit being the easiest to grasp. Today is my 21st day since surgery. I've lost a pile of weight in that three weeks....and a fair amount in the months leading up to it. It's come off quickly.....in terms of pounds......because there were so damn many pounds there to lose. I was walking around....limping around, actually, with a massive amount of excess weight. Many on here may not have so much to lose when they are starting off. If we all compared BMI or some other proportional scale of loss, I think you'd see much smaller values. My rate of loss will certainly slow way down once I get further into this deal. I'll be very critical that I be careful measuring my calorie intake, exercise and eat the right types of calories. The weight loss will become more of a grind...something that takes a lot of effort........but within grasp. I'd submit that unless you had an identical twin.....at the same weight......you really can only evaluate yourself. Keep healing and stay on your plan and your 9 pound start is going to continue to where you want. Hang in there and don't let outside factors change the way you feel about the progress you have made. You know you are doing things right.

It's going to be fun being able to enjoy foods again. The right foods. The right portions. The right times. Going to be very tasty. I'm going to have to revise things for my chicken breasts. The rubs ( I generally use store-bought or mail order rubs for most of my grilling) need to be evaluated for sugar content...... The brine may be tricky as my prior method was simple: Water, salt, sugar and whatever herbs & spices seemed good at the time. Obviously, the sugar is now gone. There may very well be an aftermarket brine that's low carb. Heck....even marinating the boneless breasts in Italian dressing overnight will work great. 165 internal is the key. A fast reading food thermometer is a great aid to grilling. I'm not averse to boneless thighs, either. They take a nice marinade and a quality rub works well on them, too. They may even be a better choice for chicken dips and such. Another thing that is going to be fun is getting busy on some Soups and stews. Low country boils will be great family meals.....I can sidestep the corn and potatoes and enjoy the rest.

Oh yeah.......you're almost there and will be done and losing weight during the holiday season when many folks are are doing everything but losing weight.

It seems like chic fil a loves us...thatll definitely be my in a pinch spot Heck yes. Their new tortilla soup has my name all over it. No kidding......I think that may very well where I go for lunch once my surgeon gives me the green light for it. Their grilled chicken bites are insanely tasty, too. Their Diet Lemonade is some of the best stuff I've ever drank in my life. They tease me with the ingredients list: Water, lemons and Splenda. So simple it drives me bonkers.....I gotta know the ratios of each, but they won't tell. Stuff is killer. That sounds great, in fact. I get egg foo young, no rice and sauce on the side. The rice is all carbs and a slider food. In fact I could have a meal of just rice and gravy, but there's almost no protein in that. Just fat and carbs. So I have the patty and just dip enough of the gravy over it to get the taste. Italian food I once ordered stuffed shells, scooped the filling out and tossed the shells. Sounds like a strategy I'll adopt, too. They'll laugh their butts off at me a the local Italian spot we like. Watching me sift through the plate and leaving all the carbs. "Getoutaheeya....the nerve on dis guy not eating our food". That being said, they do a grilled porkchop an make some mean meatballs. I can see this spot working out just fine with me.

Ah......the crack of the whip by the temptress..... I hear my beckoning.

The short answer here for me is "Yes". I freaking love to grill. I'm looking for the days ahead when I can get back in my grilling game again. My favorite thing to grill is beef brisket. I like to smoke them slow 12-20 hours depending on the size of the cut. The burnt ends are my favorite part and go quick. The sliced portions are great on sandwiches, but I'll be having mine plain. Succulent stuff. My most often grilled item is the basic boneless chicken breast. I generally brine them first and cook to 165 degrees internal.......I promise you they are full of savory flavor and anything but dry. Great for so many things: plain, in sandwiches, in chicken salad or my family's favorite......chicken dip. Lotta great vegetables get grilled, too. Chicken wings and salmon are fairly frequent menu items, too. Both can take on lots of great additional flavors with various rubs. Pork tenderloin, tri-tip, steaks..........oh yea. Son's two favorites are my smash burgers and slabs of pork ribs. My wife's favorite is pulled pork with homemade slaw. My favorite....or at least my old favorite......homemade grilled pizza. I buy the dough from a local bakery, roll it out really, really thin.....sauce with a light tomato sauce or simply stewed tomatoes and top with lots of mushrooms, homemade meatballs, pepperoni, onions and red onions. I'm going to work on a suitable crust substitution and whittle down the carbs while keeping the flavor. It'll be a work in progress.........

Congrats on getting things moving towards your goals. You are never too young to embrace your health. I'll bet if you could ask anyone on here what their biggest health-related regrets are......top of the list would be for waiting so long to take this action. Get healthy and be safe. Being young is a good thing, in my opinion.

You've made a great run at that first year. Awesome job.

How did it go ? I'm seriously ready to toss these bp meds right along with you.

That sounds great, in fact.

Sh!t is good as hell.............I won't lie. I'm so dang glad she brokered this deal for us. Nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomn....................... Hot butter....... Salty......... Crunchy.......... bad.....I'm being bad. I should be punished......but wait........this is now in our plan. I should still be punished, though.

I don't have a clue. Still fighting with the Protein shake phase of things. I picked up some brisket sandwiches from Arby's for my family this afternoon. Prior to that I went through the drive-through at Chic-Fil-A to get a gallon of their Diet Lemonade for myself. They were advertising a tortilla soup that I'm gonna jump all over when I reach that point in my diet. I usually don't give a rip about soup.......but this stuff looked killer. You said no soup........hhhhhmmmmmm............carry out.........hhhmmmmm.........I can't think that far ahead......maybe Taco Bell. They have a few different types of Beans that look good to me. Wendy's chili is always good, too. It's an interesting question. I'll be glad when I can give it some field testing.