PorkChopExpress

Great! Yeah, that stuff is very versatile, even if it's a touch pricey. I guess you get what you pay for!

It's a big change for your husband to absorb, as well. The thing is, weight loss surgery has been the end of a lot of relationships, so the fact that your husband is still with you is testament to how much he loves and cares for you. Aesthetics fade over the years, you know? Our looks fade, our skin wrinkles and starts to sag, but love is a decision you make to care more for someone else than yourself...and I'm sure your husband is thrilled that you took control over your health, even if he may miss a curve here or there. He will get used to the new normal, over time. You've been together a really long time, he was used to a different body. Try not to worry too much, the guy obviously loves his wife My wife is shooting for next summer for surgery, and is already talking about what she wants to do to tighten up the skin and take care of "the girls" when she reaches her goals. As a guy, of course I'm going to be on board with any of that...we like boobs! It's a man thing. But after three kids, the boobs aren't what they once were anyway, you know? Age and gravity catch up, regardless of weight loss. But I think it'd be a boost to her self-esteem to get back a bit of her younger look, and I have no problems with that at all, obviously. Don't take his comments as a slight, or as criticism. And consider the self-esteem factor of how you would feel, getting something done. That's the more important factor - how it would make you feel. I am going to work hard to get the kind of physique I always wished I could have, and I'm sure skin will be an issue for me...so when I reach that point, I will make the decision of whether or not to take care of it. But while my wife may be happy if I do, ultimately it'll be for me. Just like her plans with regard to lifts and such will be for her.

It basically just makes it look kind of milky and white, and you do get a LITTLE taste of the protein in the drink, but it's not bad. Totally fine to me and a welcome change from chocolate shakes, which I was sick to death of.

I think mentally I still have tendrils of the "more is better" mindset that I'm trying to squash, from my old mindset. So sometimes I might say having bigger portions, but I know that feeling won't last. I think I might tend to say not having to track what I'm eating, or not having to care what's in what I'm eating...just eat whatever I want. I think there's a freedom in that, which I may miss a little at times. Particularly in social situations where I do really have to pay attention to it. I imagine I'll kind of miss certain foods, which won't make any sense anymore. Stuff with a lot of bread, because I've always loved bread, Pasta and whatnot. But I can do without and I don't really crave it. The list of things I won't miss about being obese would stretch on for pages, and the list of things I'll miss is exceptionally short.

Right on...it's pretty amazing how fast it comes off with this surgery, feels good

No, it's really pretty smooth. You don't want to shake it, because it froths up like crazy...but when you stir it in, it dissolves really nicely. It's a very fine powder, almost like the consistency of powdered sugar.

Good luck! You'll do fine, just try to get up and walking as soon as you're able, to work that gas out. That's the worst part of the whole thing. Sleep when you need it, get drugs when you need them, walk, and do your best with the drinking when they start you on it. It's hard at first, but don't stress...it'll all come, in time. The walking is the biggie though, do your best.

Almost there! Won't be long and you will be waking up in the recovery room, and the surgery will be over. That's when the adventure truly begins...you will have crossed the threshold into your new future and joined us on this great transformation journey. You'll feel crappy for a few days, but it will start turning around by the end of the week. I just started on week four and I'm feeling totally normal, except that I actually feel better physically now and I can hardly eat anything

Well, as long as you follow their indications and do what you're supposed to, I'm sure it'll be no problem. It took me a year from when I started the classes, till I was able to schedule my surgery. In that time, I went through every emotion and thought you probably can have, and then I ran into the after-surgery flood of thoughts and feelings. But it was all the preparation I did that helped me through it. I feel prepared now, and I feel like I can succeed...and that's empowering.

It's part of your education process as the patient. She's basically letting you know that this only succeeds if you have your mind committed, and you're able to discipline yourself to follow a program, and modify your behavior. It's important to understand the level of change this surgery demands, because it's profound. So she's trying to prepare you for that...and of course, if you can't follow basic instructions, how are you going to succeed post-op? None of these surgeons' offices want to have failures on their stats. They want success stories. You are already limiting yourself by letting your "old mind" take control, even in your post. "We all know how that (dieting) will go..." or "I didn't get this way because I'm good at dieting!" That has to change, and yes...it takes time to get there. If you are thinking that *snip snip* and you're done, magic weight loss...you couldn't be more wrong. It takes a lot of discipline. The surgery helps by removing the insane hunger pangs and growling and mind-warp that causes for the first six months or so, it puts a limit on how much you can eat in one sitting...but you have to manage your intake to make sure you are meeting Protein goals, you have to track that and your Water intake, and long-term you need to have the skills and tools necessary to track your calorie intake, track how much you're burning, figure out how to maintain your weight, all of that. This surgery is only one component of a much larger process...and you need to be ready for it. If you're not, there's no point in getting an operation that will ultimately fail because you didn't get the mind part right. The mind part is 80% of it, because that's what will take you through the rest of your life. You gotta be ready and committed to change.

I have been liking the Genepro flavorless, it works well mixing it with stuff like chili or in my crystal light, it gives it just a slight taste and white color, but not bad at all. Much better than shakes, I can't stomach any more of those. I've tried the Isopure bottles and the flavors are pretty gross, to me...almost a medicinal taste.

My entire life, since elementary school. In adulthood, it stopped being so blatant as name-calling and started getting more subtle and passive-aggressive...but it's always been there. There is a lot of intolerance and anger toward obese people, for some reason. We have a problem, but nobody would treat someone with any other physical challenge the way people treat obese folks.

Make sure you are on top of all the recommended supplements. Multivitamin, probably Iron, Calcium, etx Sent from my SM-N920V using the BariatricPal App

It'll be over before you know it, and then the re-learning process begins...it's your chance to reboot!

Naw, I'm on week four now and I can do a 1/2 cup at mealtime too, or close to it. Your calories if you're eating the right stuff are still incredibly, ludicrously low...don't sweat it.

I dealt with that feeling of "I'm taking the easy way out" early on, or some shame about why I couldn't just do it by willpower when I perceived others could. But the fact is, when you look at the statistics...obese people almost never lose the weight and keep it off. It's exceptionally rare, because the body has adapted in so many ways that fight against a return to "normal." It makes it almost impossible and a colossal test of will. Once I started getting educated on the effects of obesity and the effects of WLS, I started to realize that even if I had the surgery, it would still be me modifying my behaviors that would create the lasting weight loss. People fail at it all the time. But the surgery would help eliminate some of the roadblocks that had made it so difficult, both biochemically and otherwise. Obesity is both a mental and physical dysfunction and you attack it on both fronts. Trying to do it on only one front won't work. Surgery helps you handle both fronts. I am so happy to have it behind me. And just FYI, I haven't thrown up once...and if you follow the rules laid out by your nutritionist and surgeon, it's unlikely you will, either...not unless you have some surgical complication. Just take it easy, follow the rules and you're going to be fine

I have found while reading these boards over the past few weeks that there is a pretty wide range of people in terms of their mental preparedness, going into and coming out of surgery. Some people seem to have more difficulty letting go of their old lifestyle, and in my opinion they are likely the people who had less preparation time, paid out of pocket so weren't required to do the classes and such, and didn't have as much time to get their minds right before they went under the knife. Then there are people who really put in that work mentally, got their minds straightened out, and some of them can tend to be critical when they see someone doing something that is COMPLETELY nonsensical to them, but is the result of someone still struggling with giving up their old thought patterns and behaviors. In this case, it's a reasonable question to find out what someone might be able to order at a restaurant that would work with their program. What ISN'T reasonable, and in my opinion worthy of a certain amount of razzing, is when someone comes on and proudly displays a photo of the fried chicken wing they're about to eat, two months post-op. That's someone who DOES NOT GET IT. Yet, anyway. Let's remember that most of us have spent the better part of our lives having other people judge us about our eating. We're all here self-correcting and at various stages of the process. So when someone's screwing up, by all means they need to be called on it...but tact goes a long way Not trying to be a policeman, just a suggestion!

Chili has proven to be, for me. I really have to measure that out and be careful, because it goes down so quickly (not a lot of need for chewing) and the fullness sneaks up on me fast. I like it for mixing with the protein powder, but I just have to be even more aware of my speed when I eat it.

Just wait until you start putting some solids in your stomach, you're definitely going to feel it and that's why you want to go slow and chew thoroughly. The liquid diet stuff goes through pretty fast, it doesn't spend a lot of time in the stomach. The harder to digest stuff does, and you'll definitely start experiencing the full feeling when you start on that stuff.

It feels kind of hard to justify a salad, as small as our stomachs are now! Feels like a waste, without protein I know that the roughage is important too, but this surgery is really making me weigh my priorities when I eat! lol

Doing good so far, although to be honest it's SO hard for me to go slow. I have had such a bad habit all my life of wolfing my food down, taking tiny bites and thoroughly chewing them is a bit of a struggle. However, I have definitely learned that if I DON'T do that, I get too full too fast. My new stomach needs time to register what's in it and there isn't much room. It's good that I'm starting to get into things that I really need to chew a while, shredded meat and stuff, because it actually slows me down and that helps. Chili and things that go down easy are more of a challenge. Work has been fine. I go with a cup for my Crystal Light / Protein mixture, and I have one meal there. I got these little Ziplock 1/2 cup containers and they work perfectly for my meal portion. I weigh out 1.5oz of my meat, and a little over 1TBSP for my veggie (usually potato right now) and that container ends up being the perfect amount of food. It's still so small though, I feel self-conscious when people come into the kitchen with their full-size tupperware containers full of food, and I'm sitting there nursing that little bitty thing I log everything in MyFitnessPal to see where I'm at, and I guess I was thinking of my 1oz numbers when I posted...going up to 1.5 has only happened over the past few days, when I realized I was comfortable doing it and not feeling too full. I am generally getting in the neighborhood of 25-30g of protein from my meals now, I think. So it's not terrible, but I really want to work up to the point where I'm getting 50% of my protein from actual food. The Protein powder is just so darned expensive...but I know it's gonna be a while before I'm to that point. Probably at least 6 months. Can't rush this process, it's coming along and so far, no vomiting...so that's a big win, to me

Time is going to fly by, now...before you know it, it'll be over and you'll be on your way. Congratulations!

My wife worries that it'll cause her to be less attracted to me physically, she has only ever known me as a big guy and although she knows it's important to my health and she supported me all the way, she's just worried about how she'll feel about it. She doesn't want a "skinny guy." I told her not to worry, even if I get lean I don't plan to be a "skinny guy." My goal is to put on some pretty serious muscle mass after I get closer to goal. I want to be able to do all the stuff I've pretty much never been able to do. I want my kids to think I'm a superhero and for them to be proud when they point me out to their friends...and I want to set a good example for them. I've read that WLS can sometimes damage relationships though, because the party NOT doing the surgery often has reasons of their own that have nothing to do with their friend/partner/family member who is undergoing surgery, for them staying the way they are. Either they prefer you heavy, maybe they're insecure and worry about other people hitting on you, or you deciding you're too good for them...or they liked having an enabler to their own behavior, etc... There can be a lot of reasons. To me, this is something I have to do and if someone likes or loves me less as a result of it, then that was a problem on their end, not on mine.

I definitely have more energy, even after just three weeks. Feeling pretty good, definitely an improvement.