LittleBill

They told me anything I could get to puree. Mrs. LittleBill makes a killer 16 bean and ham Soup that went into the blender. Turkey chili should work for that.

Yeah, what they said. Check with your doctor. He is the one who will be opening you up again to fix infections or incisional hernias, so get his approval first. I was able to get into the Water about six weeks after surgery as well.

I would like to call attention to this sentence right here and emphasize it. Regardless of how these people are paid, they are working for us. We are the patient, the customer. Make sure they are working to your satisfaction.

When I started out, the doc said I had to quit smoking (my pipe and cigars), quit drinking (bourbon), and quit eating (food). I asked, "What's left!?!" So now I spend more time chasing Mrs. LittleBill around. Hey, at least it's exercise.

@@Alex Brecher, I was a moderator on another board for a long time. Killing spammers was one of our chief occupations. I know how much work goes into it. Thank you.

I am glad to be of service.

I cannot sit with my arms folded across my chest right after eating. They put enough pressure on my minituarized stomach to make it uncomfortable. I worried about a leak (having done many plumbing jobs over the years) but leaks are usually associated with vomiting, fever, extreme pain, etc. If none of that is happening, it may be just a vivid imagination.

Well, the proof is in the pudding, as they say. If your protein levels are good, then it is working for you. I still don't believe their claims though. It is a physical impossibility to compress molecules as they claim to do. At least, it is with the technology available to us now. If they had found a way to do it, they'd be doing something more lucrative than peddling Protein Powder.

I see the spammer has replied. We are empty nesters, so we had no children to worry about. Mrs LittleBill has been extremely supportive, and made a lot of the same changes to her diet that I did when I started the 3 month program before surgery. She is very sensitive to gluten, and has been for many years, so we were already used to reading labels, cooking a little differently, etc. During the times of my most restrictive diet - immediately pre and post op - she pretty much fended for herself. She said she would not make me cook for her while I was on liquids or stuff like that. I have come to the point where I am back on solid food again. We are cooking for both of us again, and both of us cook. We have been able to keep some of our favorite meals, while others have gone by the wayside. We have always been interested in trying new things to eat, so we're having some fun with that. Bariatric friendly and gluten free have significant overlap in some ways. It is easier without the kids at home, but we raised our three with the philosophy that we would put good food on the table. If they were not willing to eat it, there was always another meal coming eventually. It worked out pretty well for the most part.

Well, maybe not all of them. And it was more like I bent the rules instead of trashing them and behaving like an unrestrained hedonist. Mrs. LittleBill and I were invited to the 60th birthday party of one of our neighbors. Today was the big event. This neighbor lives in the swanky development that was built on the rest of the farmland from which our little slice of heaven was parceled off. Any of the parties back there are guaranteed to be overflowing with all sorts of food and booze. This one promised to be no different. I knew I had a challenge in front of me, so I planned out my actions ahead of time, keeping in mind the 80/20 rule advocated by the people in my program. We started off with some good stuff. We can see their house from our back porch. It is about 250 yards away. Going straight there is out of the question though, as it involves negotiating some steep hills, and a fencerow with brambles, sticky burr bushes, an old wire fence designed to catch the unaware, and various wild animals that often don't take kindly to being disturbed. So we opted to walk the road, making the trip about 500 yards or so. It is not all that long, but any walking is good walking. I joked with Mrs. LittleBill that we could drink as much as we wanted since we weren't driving. The walk back might be longer, but the cops would not get us. Of course, we do not drink like that. It is too far for one of us to drag the other, and besides, it is not good for our livers. But going in, I knew I needed a plan ahead of time to be successful. As soon as we entered, we were offered drinks. We both opted for the punch bowl, which was some sort of sangria concoction. This had the advantage of being weak, and in this case it was not too sugary, so that was good. I filled my glass about halfway up and proceeded to nurse it very slowly. So Bad Thing No. 1 was drinking alcohol, but I had already tried it with the blessing of my CRNP, and I knew what I could do. I merely write "bad" because it is one of the favorite things for people to wag their fingers about. I reconnoitered the food tables to see what was there that would be relatively safe to eat. They had a big ole pot of meatballs in a very light juice that looked promising. There was also some sort of wraps that looked like mostly carbs, so they were off the list immediately. The ham and cheese sandwiches with the big fluffy rolls were out. Next to those, though, were some very tasty looking crab cakes. The breading looked to be very thin, so they went on the maybe list. In the other room there was a huge bowl of peeled shrimp and a bowl of cocktail sauce next to it. That went on the definite list. After taking some very small sips of my drink, I combined a couple of things into Bad Thing No. 2. I violated the do not eat within 30 minutes rule to sample some of the delicacies mentioned above. I probably went with 10 minutes. The shrimp went down very well with just the smallest taste of cocktail sauce. The meatballs were mostly meat, and the juice was indeed light, with just a hint of sweetness. I let most of that drip off. The crab was excellent, and as I surmised, the breading was very light indeed. I am sure there was some filler, but it was also minimal. Bad Thing No. 3 was a very small - and I mean minuscule - piece of birthday cake. This was the kind of party where there were about 60 people present, and one sheet cake. I simply asked for a teeny tiny piece that was not a corner. Sweet things have been something of a challenge for me since surgery. It is not that I crave them. In fact, I have not craved them at all, and I was a 2-3 pack junkie of Tastykakes every day before I started my program. Since I started this journey back in June, cake has been on the "Do not eat" list. The challenge for me since surgery is the sugar tends to upset my stomach. So I nibbled at my tiny piece very slowly, while talking with a group of neighbors. It is easy to eat slowly when you are telling stories. We spent about four hours there, and I was able to eat stuff that wasn't quite ideal, but not off the reservation. I sipped a bit of booze, and had a tiny bit of sugar. I am sitting here at home now, with no ill effects, and pounding down some Water to get myself back to my regular Spartan practice. It was an enjoyable time, and most satisfying was being able to camouflage myself in a way that no one suspected I had an odd eating pattern or requirement. One neighbor did notice I lost weight, and it was another guy. But he is happily married, so I don't have to worry about him hitting on me or anything. I was actually surprised he noticed. We wave at each other when he drives by, but we only come face to face about once a year. We had not seen each other up close and personal since October of '15. At the end, we made our way home in the near apocalypse snow flurries without incident. We'll see if we actually get the 1-3" they are forecasting.

I already sent you a request. You probably can't see it because you're still using your phone. I have trouble with any kind of navigation on my phone, but I am not sure if it is huge fingers, me being old, or just the app. I prefer to blame the app.

Just an observation here. When you asked, "Is that OK?" You are leaving the door open for all sorts of responses. You should not be surprised if you receive ones that are not to your liking. Believe it or not, they are often the best ones. Eating that type of food so soon after surgery can risk your health as well as sabotage the entire purpose for doing this. Would you be happier if people simply endorsed your behavior?

The phone app for this place leaves somewhat to be desired. ????

I know it was a typo, but when I saw "exorcist bike" the image popped up in my mind of Linda Blair chasing you around as you pedaled the bike. No typo. I hate that damn thing and I think that it is possessed! It keeps increasing resistance on its own. Not quite. It does sit in front of my living room window and I wear my shorts, a t shirt that can now double as a tent and my slippers (don't judge me) I don't get on the pedals while getting my butt off of the seat because I would moon my neighbors when my shorts would slide off. I do like to do the free weights naked because Mrs. Fat Man enjoys the show! Ha! I wear my slippers on my bike too. But I keep the curtains pulled. Mine is in our tiny foyer right by the front door. Nobody ever comes to the front door, but I am sure if I was biking au naturel, someone would show up.

I started out at 481 lbs (218.6 kg). I am a little taller than you, so my BMI was 63. I am down 112 lbs right now, with most of that being pre op. If you really want to do it, you can. I was a fat kid growing up too. I waited until late in life, and it is working for me.

And now for the serious post. I joined a gym for the first time in my life. I've been walking, and I have a stationary bike, but the gym has a pool. I like to Water walk, and I am doing some weight training to keep from losing any muscle mass as well as tone up some flab. When spring comes, I will be doing a lot more bike riding as well as yard work. I have LOTS of yard work. I could offer exercise to anyone who wants some. You can come work for me. I don't pay anything, but you'll get in shape!

High functioning fat man is out of control! He's probably nekkid on his exorcist bike!

I bought a can of the stuff. It is okay. I've put it in coffee, pudding, hot Cereal, applesauce, stuff like that. It foams up a little, and if your liquid is too hot it will clump, but it doesn't really have a taste to it. I will also say this. They claim 30 grams of Protein in a 15 gram serving. That is utter BS. We have a saying around here. You can't put two pounds of poop in a one pound bag. If you buy it, I'd recommend you count it as 15 grams per serving.

Going for a walk gets my mind off food. I took up another hobby that keeps my hands and mind busy as well. If you sit around and dwell on it, it will eat you up. Find something constructive to do that requires your mind to exercise itself. That should help.

I don't know about it being the last one. I am a fat, Christian, gun toting, white, male, conservative. As far as some people are concerned, I am responsible for everything bad.

@@RussT What part of Joisey are you in? I am just across the border, about 30 miles into the free zone of PA. We're pretty close in size and surgery date too. I had mine Oct 11.

You had to write that last sentence, didn't you? Now I've got to go poke out my mind's eye. Thank you very much.

I don't know that I would be able to quantify it easily. As Babbs says,healthy food ain't cheap. Of course, we are eating less of it, so that helps. Mrs LittleBill and I used to go to Breakfast at the diner every Sunday before church. Our bill was pretty much the same every week. I figured that if we skipped that for a year, we would break even on what I had to pay out of pocket for my surgery. We're spending less on toilet paper, but then I joined the gym - for the winter months, anyway. I'm donating clothes I can't wear anymore that have lots of wear left in them. New clothes cost a bunch for me because I still have a very large frame. So are we saving any money? I sort of doubt it. But I am healthier, so we might save money on less health problems down the road. The important thing is, life is better, whether we have more money or not.

It sucks when you know you're right, and they are convinced they are too. You can take your scale, but I have two thoughts to offer. One, it may lose its calibration from being jostled during the trip, and that could just further entrench their opinion that they are right. Two, no matter what you do, a lot of people refuse to be convinced that they were in the wrong. I'd just let it go, and I write that as someone who has a boatload of righteous indignation when I know I'm right and the other guy isn't. The important thing is that YOU know you're losing weight. Unless they're going to make you take some sort of pills, or charge you extra, they really can't do anything to you, right?