LittleBill

Thank you. It was pretty darn good, although I might ease up on the Sweet Baby Ray's just a tinch next time. Up until my surgery, I had been used to quaffing huge draughts of liquid while eating hot food. I can't do that anymore, so the burn stays with me longer. It isn't even that hot, but it is persistent.

If you are following your plan, then nothing has gone wrong. Weight loss is not linear, and it is easy enough to stall or even show a gain of a pound or two, depending on whether or not you retaining Water, or even if you haven't pooped for a day or two. This is a long term commitment, not a race, and we all have to look at it that way. I get discouraged if I get on the scale too often. Last week I lost a whole pound over a period of eight days. Then from Sunday to Wednesday, I lost four pounds. And I don't have to deal with the same issues that women have. I just have to live with them.

I am not that far post op yet, but I started out a lot heavier than you are. I am planning to get down to where you are now and then a little more. Deviating from your diet for one day will not hurt you. When you deviate for one day, six days in a row, it will. The shrink at my program tells everyone to stick to an 80/20 diet - 80% good stuff and 20% treats and not so good stuff. I am having no trouble keeping it at 90/10 right now, and plan to keep it that way at least. I lost 67 lbs pre-op. The last 15 were on the two week pre-op diet, and the snotty resident who observed and helped out in the OR said, "Well, your liver could have been smaller". Right. I could have been smaller too, and then I wouldn't have needed this! Everything went fine for me, and recovery has been very easy, if somewhat tedious. Hopefully you will have the same experience.

I was 481 when I started in June of this year. On B-Day (bariatric operation day), Oct 11, I was 414. Today as I sit here typing, I am 372. All has gone very well for me.

Old is all in perspective. You would probably consider me a kid at 58, while I am a geezer to others. I am almost two months post op and doing very well. I am down over 100 lbs since I started the program in June.

That stinks! I hope they get to the bottom of it (so to speak) and you are back on track soon.

I ignore the message. You can still close out the day, they just won't give you the estimate of what you'll lose in the next six weeks. I really do wish there was a bariatric surgery override somewhere, but then those with eating disorders could misuse it so I understand why it isn't available. Thank you. I didn't think it was closing the day out, because it kept popping the warning up. I don't really care if it predicts anything or not. As for your second statement, I understand why THEY don't make it available (lawyers and all that) but I am a personal responsibility kind of a guy. Even though I am fat, I never blamed my fork, and all that. Just because people misuse a tool or product doesn't mean it should not be available to those who would not.

Yes. I never eat more than 700-800 calories either. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I opened it back up and adjusted some of my numbers. It still thinks I need a minimum of 2500 calories a day. I am taking in somewhere between 800-1200, depending on my menu for that day. It doesn't like that at all.

I figured it out. With all the money I am now saving on toilet paper, I had enough for a membership at the local gym. I signed up yesterday for a month by month deal. That way I can see how it goes, and when summer comes, and I have yard work to do, I won't have to pay to sweat and work hard. Today was my second day there. Most of the people I have encountered so far have been geezers or thin, indolent housewives looking for something to fill their days in between collecting the kids and soap operas. There are a few muscle heads pumping themselves up, but not too many of that. I ignore the women and they ignore me. Even if I was on the prowl, they would probably ignore me. The muscle heads are too busy looking at their muscles in the mirror when they aren't doing reps, but the geezers are fairly talkative. And since I am a Junior Geezer, they accept me into their fold. So I was in the one pool today alternating between some serious Water walking and swimming, when this one guy shows up. "Hello, how ya doin'?" wasn't quite good enough for him. He kept talking. And talking. There was an older woman at the other end of the pool, and he kept aggravating her too, although it was clear she wasn't interested in talking to anyone. On one of his orbits, he stopped to ask me how many trips I had made up and down the pool. I threw out a number hoping to shut him up, but then he started in on how far it was if you did thus and so, blah blah blah. Then I made my mistake. "Well, I'm starting out easy on doctor's orders, since I just had surgery." "Oh yeah? What did you have surgery for?" My first thought was WTF!?!?! I did not say that, but remained polite. I looked at him for a few seconds, and finally said, "Nothing important". I was standing there (floating, actually) thinking, "I've known of your existence for all of 10 minutes, and you want to start in with personal questions? But he got the idea, and did not press the issue. This is my second encounter with this, but the first from a total stranger. The adventure part was a lot more adventurous. This gym has lockers of a type I have never seen before. They have locks that are designed to be reset over and over again. You dial your combination that you want, close the door, and then spin the tumblers to lock it. When you come back, you just dial them back to your original setting, and open the door again. I get paranoid about these things, and not without reason. Sure enough, when I returned to my locker, I spun the knobs, and...nothing. I squinted at the numbers real hard to make sure they were right, and then tried again. Nothing. Okay, don't panic, LittleBill! So what if all you have to your name is a soggy towel that isn't quite big enough, and a suit that has been through the communal suit dryer! So what if you may have to run out in the lobby that way! OKAY, PANIC! I only panicked for a few seconds though. I thought, I can't be the first one to have this happen. I turned around to the guy behind me in the next row. "Excuse me sir, but have you been a member here for long?" "Oh yeah." I explained my plight. He sort of smiled, and told me there was a phone in the lounge that would reach the front desk, and if not, he would be glad to inform them of my difficulties when he left. I quickly found the phone, and dialed the front desk number, which was conveniently printed there, just like a hotel room. As soon as I said where I was, the lady replied, "I'll send someone right in." "Oh. So you already know why I'm calling then, huh?" "Oh yeah." I think "oh yeah" must be part of the culture there. The membership administrator, who I had just met yesterday, appeared within a few seconds, which was good. It is hard to not be self conscious standing at the entrance to the locker room (on the INSIDE of course!) with a towel that doesn't quite fit. He sort of laughed and said, "Lock yourself out already?" I was thinking, "You'd be laughing out the other side of your mouth if I just ripped the door off, you know." But I held my peace. He was doing me a favor. I quickly recovered my clothes and my dignity. And locker 108 is on the Do Not Use list from now on.

@@The New Kel eggs in just about any form, chicken, lots of turkey still (we smoked one and roasted one for Thanksgiving). I have been eating pork roast, some ground beef, Beans of various sorts. Refried beans with a little bit of cheese and some hot chiles is real good. I will take a can of tuna, mix in some light mayo, onion and garlic powder, and that makes a nice snack and is high in Protein. If soft food is doing well for you, try brining some chicken breasts. There are a lot of methods on the web for that, but essentially you soak them in salt Water for anywhere from a couple hours to overnight. I drain them, and put them in a pyrex baking dish that has been sprayed with olive oil. I will sprinkle on some salt, pepper, onion and garlic powders, and perhaps some other seasonings. I cover the dish tightly with foil and bake them at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes. They are pretty much fork tender, and very tasty. I am cutting way down on Protein shakes. I've been able to get back to eating Quest Protein Bars, which I really like, and which are a whole lot easier to carry around with me when I am doing errands, working in my shop, etc. I am thinking of doing a post on that, with some pics of the bars I have. It might help some of the folks who are sick of shakes. I have not yet attempted nuts, or fresh fruit. I am supposed to wait a couple more weeks for those things, and I am content to wait. Tomorrow I am making my "Ring of Fire" chili. It has been very popular over the years at a number of venues, although some of my friends tell me it isn't real chili. It has 3 kinds of beans, beef, onions, tomato sauce, a little bit of corn for color, and a bunch of spices. It burns on the way in, and it burns on the way out. People love it. I've had some pretty spicy stuff since my surgery successfully, but I probably won't make it as hot as I have in the past until I test it. It will be a little hot anyway.

Ummmm, who exactly is 'they' and how muck crack were they smoking when they said this was easy? In our house, we say, "They, with a capital T".

Hahaha! I am 3/4 southern by heritage, so I have a cultural bent to be polite as much as I can. But no personal stuff with total strangers. I love sitting in the hot tub too. I was afraid Mrs. LittleBill was going to have to work late as I had no plans of getting out to go get her yesterday. The good news is, all the guys at this hot tub slither down until they are up to their necks.

I had my operation on 10/11 - Yom Kippur. I called it my own personal day of atonement. Things are going very well, way better than I expected. Since I began the program the first week of June this year, to today, I am down 109 lbs. I am back to eating regular food. I had no complications and no side effects worth mentioning. I figure I pegged the needle on the Good Things scale, and am very grateful for that. It is hard to say if I have more energy yet. I am pretty sure I do. My wife says I do. But, I keep pushing with more and more exercise, etc, so I am pretty well whupped by the end of the day.

I work for myself too. The big difference is, my work involves a lot of physical stuff, heavy lifting, standing all day, etc. Taking time off from that was not negotiable. But, if I were in your shoes, and had prepared everything, why not leave the laptop at home and just concentrate on getting back on your feet again? Multitasking can be a great thing, and very satisfying when done well, but there are times when all it means is you are doing everything poorly. Focus on getting better, and you may be back at the computer and taking care of business faster and better than trying to push through everything at the same time. Good luck with it.

I am a father of three daughters, and it is very hard to sit by and watch when you know something terrible could happen to your child, even if the chances are very small that it will. You probably know this as well, since you have a child of your own. I don't think there is a lot you can do to allay your father's fears, but it might help him if you talked to him about how you understand his concerns. Perhaps you have done that already. I hope you have a great outcome, and that the relationship with your father improves. Good luck with it.

Two days isn't bad. Not long after all the finger wagging from the doctor's office about the importance of the two week pre-op diet, they tried to reschedule me for two weeks earlier to fill a vacancy. I told them no way!

I thought ketos were bad for us - all those empty carbs and fake cheese.

Weight loss is not linear. I lost all of one pound in about eight days last week. By contrast, I lost four pounds from Sunday to today - or more than a pound a day. This is a lifetime commitment, not a race. I just keep telling myself that.

I took a little more than six weeks. I work for myself, and my job involves a lot of heavy lifting. My doc recommended 6-8 weeks because of that. That took me to just about December. I make stuff for people (and teach the same) for my living, and with the exception of last minute gifts (which I don't have to do if I don't want) business slows down in December. So I took off until January. Now that I am pretty well healed up, I've been having a ball, living the life of a kept man for the past few weeks. On the other hand, Mrs. LittleBill has been reminding me that there is still stuff that needs doing around here.

@@gustavio, do you have it set up with your weight? I wonder if I manipulated that or took it out, if it would work?

Okay, that makes sense. The primary operation the docs at my program are doing is the sleeve, although they still do a fair amount of RNY. And the terminology used is oriented toward RNY - like calling your stomach a pouch, regardless of what you had done. I've eaten so few carbs since I started in on solid food, you'd think I was a missionary from Atkins. It's all Protein all the way so far, with just a few carbs to keep my system from shutting down. Or whatever they call it.

Interesting. Everyone at my program, with the possible exception of the surgeon himself, regularly gave us dire warnings about stretching our sleeve, complete with wide eyes and wagging fingers. "If you eat too much, you will stretch your sleeve out and increase its capacity and this operation will be for nothing", they said. Of course, these are the same people who pointed me in the direction of GENEPRO as a good source of Protein. I will have to do some more investigation, but thank you for the information.

Thank you for all the info! I'm happy to know that I will get there at some point. I think part of it is my fear of stretching my sleeve. That is something I will just have to figure out. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I don't think you will have too much trouble figuring out when you have too much in your sleeve. Based on a lot of posts I have read here so far, the big problem will be whether you choose to react to that sensation properly, or continue to "push the envelope", so to speak.

I'm a little late, but yeah, check with your doc. They may not be the best expert on everything, but I can guarantee you that if you DON'T check first, and something goes wrong, they will lay all the blame at your feet. Beyond that, pay very close attention to what your body is telling you. I do a lot of heavy lifting for my business, and I have been going very slowly to make sure I don't rip anything loose. And of course, I clear it all with the doc ahead of time.

Question for those using My Fitness Pal. Do you just ignore the big red warning that keeps popping up to say you aren't eating enough? MFP worked great pre-op, but now that I am post-op, it will not allow me to complete a day's entries.