LittleBill

Congratulations! But with such a quick turnaround, you will have to work extra hard at the whole "changing your habits" part. Good luck with it!

Thank you, although the "handsome" part might be up for some debate. Seriously, that is very kind of you to say so.

@@sk101 Wow, that's a pretty busy schedule! My teaching is sporadic. I do demos like this when called upon, and have students in my shop on a regular, if not frequent basis. I used to travel, but I got tired of that, and we no longer really needed it to make ends meet. Now I confine my demos to less than a day of travel, and teaching is for those who still want to come to me.

Tonight was my first public appearance post-op in a professional capacity. Now, I have been out in public since a few days after surgery. I mean appearance in that I was working and "performing" in front of a small crowd. This was a small private group of mixed professionals and hobbyists who are artistically inclined. I did a two hour presentation on the wood lathe for them, making a piece that was requested by one of the group's members. These demonstrations are a combination of instruction and entertainment. And I've got to be pretty much 100% spot on the whole time. Mistakes are remembered and recounted for years. So it was something of a NSV for me. First, I worked in front of a crowd for two solid hours on my feet, talking, working, answering questions, and trading barbs with a number of colleagues. Second, I did not have any major screw ups. That is always a good thing, and especially so my first time out of the gate from surgery and significant weight loss. Third was the weight loss itself. I've been in the crowd a couple of times, and wearing loose clothing. Tonight was jeans and a T shirt. There is no room for loose clothes around a lathe. And when you are on display for two hours, people have time to study you and take notice of things. Part of my notoriety is for my humor in these events, but part of it has been my size, which I joked about as well. You might say it has been a combination of mirth and girth. But anyway, I received a number of comments along the lines of, "Wow, you've really lost some weight, haven't you? No, not just a few pounds. You've lost a lot of pounds!" My stock answer was, "It's all from clean livin'." People seemed to accept that, although I got a few sidelong glances. In any case, it could not have been a better night. Okay, they could have paid me. That would have been nice, but this group doesn't pay anyone. It is for the exchange of ideas among peers, so I wasn't really expecting that. Now I am home. It is very late, and I am full of adrenaline. Or, it might be that they gave me caffeine coffee at the drive through by mistake. In any case, I am wide awake. But I am snuggled down in a warm bed, listening to the rain on the metal roof outside my window, and the soft sounds of the freight train, as it makes its way across the countryside about six miles from here, sounding his horn in the night at dozens of country crossings. At least that stupid owl isn't out tonight. He hoots it up on a regular basis and keeps me from my beauty sleep.

The problem is, the medical community can't even educate ITSELF, much less the general public. People are remarkably stupid on a number of issues because they lack the desire and even the ability to actually research anything. Compounding the problem is the refusal to change their minds about long held beliefs. It spans the entirety of human behavior. We just see it more in areas where we are interested.

My grandma had a saying. "Wish in one hand and poop in the other, and see which one fills up first." People have a remarkable resistance to educating themselves, while at the same time displaying another remarkable ability to sound off about stuff about which they know nothing. It affects people at all levels of society, regardless of station, education, or income. It would be nice if they would change, but they won't. I have a couple of prepared replies for when I meet someone like this. I have yet to do so since I embarked on my WLS journey, but I have encountered them in the past. Anyone is free to use these or modify them as you see fit. "Yes, I was fat and am working hard to lose my weight. You on the other hand seem determined to remain stupid for the rest of your life." "You can think that if you want. It is not my responsibility to cure ignorance wherever I find it." (This one is borrowed from a movie) "If I am to be insulted, I must first value your opinion." These are just a few examples of what I have ready to fire in defense of boorish behavior. I create others on the spot as the need arises. It is fun and satisfying, and every now and then a barb goes home and causes the other person to think. But I don't really count on that.

Thank you everyone! I am going to have to put ice on my head to get through the door (to reduce the swelling, you know). This is a huge part of my background. I started a woodworking business 24 years ago because I hated working in the corporate world. I bought a lathe because I thought I would need one to make table legs and such. A whole new world I never imagined opened up before me. I discovered a gift for teaching and communicating, and soon people were literally lined up waiting for instruction. I was egged on by numerous students to make a video, and one day one of them offered to finance an instructional DVD. We ended up making two woodturning DVDs, selling just under 10,000 copies all over the world. There was even one guy in Antarctica who bought one, so I can say I have reached every single continent on the planet. One of the biggest things people talk about in relation to those DVDs is not a turning technique, but my (former) belly. I referred to it in the first video as my "turning muscle". Over the years, hundreds of people have proudly displayed their own, or cited a lack of a turning muscle as their reason for their ability. And now it is fast shrinking. I'm going to need a new schtick.

I just tell people outside my circle that I have changed my diet, and it is restrictive. As a result, my stomach size has changed. This is not all the truth, but it is enough of it to satisfy most people. I don't know if it would get past your Mom, but it might help. Good luck with it!

Oh, I do! And I am going to have to use that one! Thank you for posting it.

Wait wait wait! You can't stop there!

Today makes three months since my surgery On Oct 11. Thank you! When I am fairly local, it is almost always a crowd of the usual suspects, with a few people who have never heard of me before thrown in for good measure. The further out I go, the fewer people know me, although there is always someone. And some clubs keep inflicting me on themselves, sort of like codependents.

I ran back about two weeks on my calorie tracker, and I'm running between 20-35, with gusts up to 40 a couple of times. I don't put every single thing in, so it is probably just a bit higher, but not a lot.

I'm still waiting. Seriously, it is hard to tell, because I keep pushing harder and harder. Mrs. LittleBill says I have lots more energy, but what does she know? I do know that for the first couple of weeks, I could barely drag myself off to bed. Things are better now, but I am still bushed at the end of the day.

Everyone is different, so we all lose at different rates, and there is nothing linear about it. It goes in spurts. Do you have a nutritionist with whom you can speak? It isn't just about what you eat, but how much. You might actually not be eating enough, but that sort of depends on you and the plan you have from your program. Are you tracking calories at all? I got my sleeve just 10 days before you. I've already been through one stall, and started losing again. I boosted my calories to around 1200-1400 per day, and that seems to be helping.

@@kharenzhee That's what I do. If they aren't there, they are a lot harder to eat. The biggest issue then becomes getting past the display in the grocery store. Good luck with it!

I eat little crunchy things called peanuts. They are a little high in fat, but are great in the Protein department, as well as the low carb department, and especially in the crunchy department. If crackers are that big of an issue, I would say don't even have them in the house. Substitute something (like peanuts) for crunch and protein, and the cravings should eventually fade. Otherwise, you are setting yourself up for failure.

You know I'm just having some fun with you, right?

I lost all my hair long before surgery - as in, I started balding by the time I was 19. Do like me and wear a hat. Besides, chicks dig that Jean Luc Picard look. As for extra skin, it is a reality. How much is hard to say. It is better than staying fat.

Most people seem to be uninformed about a lot of things, but always ready to offer an opinion. Probably the best thing you can do for your relationship with your mother is to be patient with her, and provide information that shows how safe this is. Heck, you can quote me if you want. I had two friends, one of them Mrs. LittleBill's maid of honor, who died from this surgery. But that was many years ago. I might have gone through with this sooner if they hadn't, but I finally got around to it, and I am still here, posting away as I waste away. Things have really improved over the years. You're in more danger going shopping in Chicago.

@@mrsNilla Ohhh, so it's a contest now, eh? Well it was so cold here one time the flame in our furnace froze solid. I had to take it out and leave it in the sun for almost the entire day before it finally thawed out and started burning again. It was so cold the bottom broke on the thermometer, and the mercury rolled down the hill on the ice, so we couldn't measure it.

@@izzy13 Wow, I thought I had it bad, having to drive all of 90 minutes to get to Philly. Of course, there is that one time where it took five hours one way to collect Mrs. LittleBill - Friday afternoon, torrential rains, and all the rats trying to leave the city at once.

@@Middus Stop it! You're making entirely too much sense here!

Relax. It is hard, but it is probably the most important thing you can do. Unless, of course, you are a Christian. Then you can relax and pray. It worked for me. Good luck!

Tonight is going to be snort of bourbon night. It may be a big snort. This morning started off with the impending visit of a friend of mine. He needed to go to the sawmill I frequent to get some lumber he was not able to source local to his own home. He lives about two hours from me. About 15 minutes before his anticipated arrival, my father called me to inform me that their well pump had gone Tango Utah, and they had no water. Both my parents are in their eighties. They live a little more than an hour north of me. Without going into all the sordid details, I managed to get my friend his lumber, and shuffled back to NJ, from whence he came, all the while coordinating between a plumber friend of mine and my father, who has an innate distrust of anyone he doesn't know. I am usually the one on deck for doing his plumbing work, but I told him we were hiring out if I had to pay for it myself. Oh yeah, the sawmill is located in "dark country". There is no cell service there. Not even texts get out of the cellular black hole there. So in addition to being monkey in the middle, I had to get it done while traveling in and out of phone service. One of my major accomplishments, perhaps even an NSV it is so big, was teaching an 82 year old man how to use his phone to take a picture and TEXT it to me so I could inform the plumber of what was actually going on. And I talked him through it over the phone. I did get the privilege of standing in an unheated basement in the mountains (read high temp of 15 degrees today) to help with the work. One other detail for the day is my friend had sleeve surgery almost six years ago. It did not work for him because of his intractability when it comes to his eating habits. But, he has experienced a rebirth of determination watching my success so far, so I have been counseling him as to how to mend his rotten ways (Jethro Tull reference there for those who might recognize it). So yeah. It's time for a snort. I'll be back on my strict diet again tomorrow. I am invoking the 80/20 rule laid down by the folks at my program. They never did say what those 20% bad calories could be, and I have been cleared for booze. The drinking light is lit. If I am not careful, I'll be lit too.