BobbyD

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I posted on another thread about the difference in the way I was perceived while driving for Uber. I was saddened by it . I really don't think I realized the difference in perception till I felt it firsthand. Now it is becoming more apparent at school as well, by both teachers and students. It's a sad commentary on society, but a fact we must accept. We are the lucky ones, because science has given us a solution that wasn't available that many years ago. I will NEVER downgrade someone because of their weight. We all know that we were unsuccessful without this tool. The BEST we can do is lead by example.

Last year I drove a lot for UBER in order to help pay for my surgery, since insurance wouldn't help. I haven't driven since the end of last year. So, today I had driven to the mall to do some "power walking" and flippantly turned on the app just to see if it still worked. Lo and behold I got a ride. YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE the difference in the way I was perceived (and maybe the way I handled myself). The rider was much more friendly and conversational than what I was accustomed to. So, that was fun, and I decided to stay on for a bit. The second ride was the same way. People were much friendlier. Now was it just a coincidence, or maybe my attitude? Maybe, but I don't think so. The world is not nearly as open minded as we would like to think. I am happy about the new personalities due to my weight loss but sad about our culture.

Not drinking was a prerequisite of my agreement with the surgeon for as long as he is seeing me. Now the deal is, he will see me every 6 months for a couple of years and annually after that, so doing the deal requires me not to drink unless, of course I let him go.

I had a fried chicken gizzard yesterday. I am still having "eaters remorse".

Today at lunch I walked by a person that had an order of a dozen deep fried chicken gizzards. She offered me one and for some reason, unexplainable to me, I couldn't resist. I took it, and ate it like a pro. This is my first cheat since I was sleeved in November. I had already planned out my days caloric intake, and a fried chicken gizzard definitely was NOT on the books. I've been almost perfect in following the plan till now. It's not a taco, but probably worse. Deep fried in transfatty oil and heavily coated in grease and batter. At this point, all I can do is realize the gizzard did not add back the 68 lbs I've lost nor will it IF I realize all I had was a hiccup. For now, I am back on plan.

My Doctor must've missed most of my stomach as I can easily hold that much food only 4 months out. Different strokes for different folks,,, or should I say different cuts for different nuts.

Mine is a mental thing. When I was overweight and had a "slip" I felt so defeated. I would ultimately think, what the hell, and eat again. I was already 100 lbs overweight and things looked so hopeless from my perspective, that I'd just fall back into the pit. Now, with a 70% of goal weight loss, I don't feel so overwhelmed. I can get back on track much easier. WLS is the best coping tool I've ever had for weight loss.

Once I KNEW I was going to have the surgery, I had one final fling with food. All you can eat pizza for lunch and a cafeteria buffet for dinner. The very next day, which was a month before surgery, I did EXACTLY what I was supposed to do. I was down to 1400 calories a day with the correct foods, began a Vitamin regimen, and started walking. By the time of my surgery I had lost 17 lbs and already had a mindset for doing the right thing. Once I made the decision, I was "all in". Now I've dieted and failed many times but not with so much at stake. I had sleep apnea, bad joints, the beginnings of diabetes, high blood pressure, and was miserable in my own skin. The other factor was,,,,, I was self pay, so 10,000 dollars was coming out of my savings, and at 62 I was trying to stash away money for retirement. I was motivated by all of these factors. The desk sounds like a step in the right direction. I would suggest you decide today that as of right now, you're on a new course. Best of luck to you.

I have addiction problems as well. I haven't had a drink in 8 years and hopefully that trend will continue. That being said, I've tried to channel my obsessive behavior to exercise. It is working so far. Also as far as addiction goes, my theory has always been, if one is good then two is better. Therefore at a point I started spiking my Protein too much and started having problems metabolizing the excess. My kidneys were overworking because of it and I had to cut back. You will learn that your body will tell you what is too much IF you pay attention. I was a 64 oz a day Diet Dr. Pepper guy, and when I started my pre surgery diet they were discontinued. That was in October, and to this point I do not miss them. So, don't spend too much time worrying about carbonated drinks because if you can make it through the first few weeks, the obsession will subside. I have had hair loss and had long hair (for a guy) so my solution was to cut my hair short. It's easier to keep and nobody has noticed except for me and my hairstylist wife . I was very open about my plan to have surgery and in retrospect, I believe that was a mistake. So many people told me horror stories about post surgery problems. I didn't get a lot of support. Thank God I went with my gut feeling on this one. To this day, I am constantly asked "Do you feel ok? Are you weak? or these remarks,,, "You look tooooo thin! (Yea, I'm 5'10" and 210 lbs,,,, I'm a rail baby!!) or,,, the always asked question, "Are you worried about gaining your weight back?, I had a friend who went through all that and gained it All Back!!.... I just have to patiently listen to them, be understanding and just say thanks for your concern but I am in good hands and my decisions are final. It would have been easier had I not been so open. Of course these are just my thoughts, and your path is your path. I hope it goes well.

I believe I may be spiking my meals with too much Protein. I've been putting 1/2 scoop of GENEPRO Protein powder in my black Beans for good measure. Yesterday my kidneys were hurting a little bit. As I read about possible causes, one was "excess protein". It seems as if your are not active enough and have too much protein, it is difficult for your kidneys to process the oversupply. I guess I'll be cutting my spiking out. I'm the typical personality type that believes if one is good then 3 or 4 must be a whole lot better.

I'm partial to the "mini-smokies".

I spent 6 months psyching myself up for surgery. I wanted it in October, but was postponed till November. Then I was told the surgeon was booked too tightly and he'd have to cancel to either December or January. I had jumped through all the hoops and taken the plethora of tests. I was self funded so I told the office manager that I was going to cancel. I had a friend that had his procedure in Mexico with excellent results, so I was getting prepared to book. Well, with that I was scheduled for Mid November. That worked for me. While there are sometimes extenuating circumstances, you DO have choices. Good luck in getting this part of the journey finished. It is much easier to look in retrospect that 1 month is not a big deal, but when you're going through it, that much time seems like an eternity.

Take it from someone 62 years old. If it had been available when I was your age and I know what I know now, I would have done it in a HEARTBEAT. My life is so much more active now, even after only 3 1/2 months. The most beautiful thing about this surgery, from my perspective, is the fact that I am no longer CRAZY hungry all of the time. It's much easier to take this path because the craving has been removed. Something is removed when they do the sleeve that takes away the feeling of hunger. For me it was a gift. It is much easier to stay committed to a healthy eating plan when I am not obsessing about eating. It's a great tool. If I were you, I'd take advantage of this opportunity.

As I lose weight these situations confront me more and more. Today at a meeting, a person who I only see every few months asked me "How did you get sooo thin? I immediately shot back "Surgery"! It stopped her in her tracks, and she stumbled a bit, then said, "oh,, I knew a person who did that and had all sorts of complications, so I hope yours goes better". I said thanks and kept right on with the meeting. It is as if I had done something wrong. Unless someone knows somebody with a successful experience with wls, they are quite skeptical. I just thank God above I was not that narrow minded when looking into solutions for my obesity.

My doctor did not let me count Water that was used in mixing Protein as a part of the 64 oz. It had to be regular, non/seasoned water. It was tough to get in all the protein and water but he was adamant about it. It took me over a week to be able to attain my goal. The strength of his arguement has persuaded me to continue the 64-80 oz water MINIMUM / 80-100g protein MINIMUM to this point. While I thought he was being too tough, the structure seems to have worked well for me.

As I was rushing to get to work today, it was time to put on my shoes. I didn't see my 24" shoe spoon around to help me put them on. I reached down and slipped my two fingers into the heel and easily slid my foot into the shoe. I could have been doing this for weeks and just didn't realize it! I was sooooo accustomed to using the shoe spoon, I didn't realize my surgery had eliminated another issue. I am more and more grateful EVERY DAY for this second chance at a wonderful life.

Mine started month 3, so I just cut it a lot shorter.

I went back after a week, but was pretty useless for that first week, office stuff only. The second week (third week after surgery) I was able to do most stuff. By the third week, it was all good, (other than lifting).

My doctor started me on a strict diet one month before surgery. He expected me to adhere to it faithfully because a fatty liver could be a problem during surgery. Therefore my nerves were tempered by my fear of him not doing the procedure. The dieting before surgery was much harder than the post surgery nutrition plan. Just go with it and trust the system.

From Rags to Riches-Tony Bennett.

Every morning I come out of the gate with an 11 oz 160 calorie, 30g Premier Protein shake. That gets my day off with 1/3 of the job done. EVERY afternoon at 4 I have a snack of Dannon Greek Lite and Fit giving me 80 cal and 12g of protein. I usually have tuna or chicken for lunch, getting 20 g of protein, and like was said above, I'll spike whatever food I'm having for supper with a 1/2 scoop of Gen Pro unflavored protein powder giving me an extra 15 g to whatever I'm eating. Using this method, I easily get at least 100g of Protein daily.

I vividly remember the last day before starting my rigorous 1 month pre-surgery liver shrinking weight loss program. For lunch I went to Cici's pizza chowing down on the "all you can eat buffet, and for supper I showed up at Furr's Cafeteria and had their all you can eat buffet. I had a chicken fried steak, pan fries, coconut pie, jalapeno cornbread, mashed potatoes, and a diet coke . I went out with a bang. Now, 6 months later, most of that type of food doesn't even interest me. I don't miss it, but I'm glad I got it out of my system. I haven't had a carbonated drink since then either

Are you getting in your 64 oz. of Water? How about your 80-100 grams of Protein? Are you hitting 800-1000 calories per day? How many carbs are you getting? Are you walking 3 miles or so a day? How about exercise?

I would've gone with the attitude of, "If you stretch it, you buy it". Being overweight doesn't give you a license to destroy property.