Rainbow_Warrior

Sublingual (flavoured) vitamins. My B12 is sublingual cherry. My Iron is sublingual grape. My Centrum Multivitamin Men's 50+ is blueberry but not sublingual. SUBLINGUAL = under the tongue. i.e. stick it in your mouth and it melts under your tongue is 10-25 seconds. Some brands of sublingual vitamins use the TRADEMARK "Rapimelt". Rapid melting!

I read his "WHEAT BELLY" series of books and online contributions a couple of years ago.

Granted. But there are two that are under 0.5g sugar. They are generally best had half a tub at a time anyway. I did try them all but I prefer the 17g protein unflavoured one as my first choice. They are so popular now that they clear off shelves pretty quickly some days.

Yes. I was smiling on the inside as I decided to try on my 52" (135cm) waist blue jeans yesterday evening. (I am down from 72" (or 182cm). I accompanied it with a XXXL sports-team club t-shirt ... DOWN from XXXXXXL and XXXXXXXL sizes. When I arrived at the venue, I copped a lot of positive comments from acquaintances and a couple of former work colleagues. The one who had last seen me in August 2014 was aglow with praise. All very encouraging!

It was a quantum leap to accept a quirky flavour at first but I liked it (unsweetened almond milk) with egg whites and protein powder and was able to have it in other drinks and food over time. I am eventually going to be vegetarian then vegan as I make changes in steady steps.

I have not lied to the one person who did ask directly (just six days ago) but I did ask her not to publicise it as there are a couple of known acquaintances who are so negative about WLS that I don't want to hear their brand of grief or 5h1t over my choice. She said that she understood. She added that she thought I had chosen wisely (to have WLS) given my history. She is a morbidly obese woman who has had to give up full-time work (i.e. take early retirement) as of ten days ago because of obesity complications and severe arthritis and joint pain. With regard to pretty much everyone else, they see my 3+ hour days of exercise and my steady weight loss and are pleased to think I am burning it off. (Which is somewhat the case anyway!)

Can I seriously counsel you against accessing your Australian super to pay for your operation? Seriously, if you take $AUD17000 to $AUD18000 out to cover your op, you will be seriously out of pocket in your retired life. 1. You will drop your balance by the amount you remove. 2. You will pay exit/access fees. 3. Your nest egg will grow for years from a lower base. You will lose, typically three to four and a half times what you access. - - - If you can get a bank loan (or credit union loan) over say four or five years, you will VERY LIKELY be affected less. You can pay back the loan with your lesser grocery bill! (My weekly spend on food and drink is typically $AUD40 to $AUD55 less since surgery three months ago.) Talk to your union or financial advisor. Often the clinics will have someone urging you access your super as they do NOT CARE about your future retired income and security.

Does your country have (Danone) YoPro, a high protein yoghurt? 15g to 17g of protein in a 160g tub of (VERY) low-fat yoghurt. What about high protein beer-drinkers' cheese? 22% protein.

I just give mine away to the local (church-based) charity shops. That way, any men of immense girth (whether bariatric patients or not) can use them.

Water in ... water out (eventually). It's really hard to stockpile plain water.

Hear, hear to that!

Pleased to hear that you're buoyant so soon afterwards. Good luck to you!

BMI is merely a great tool for those who sit in the middle two standard deviations of the standard Bell Curve. i.e. it is okay for 65% to 70% of the population around average. Outliers (like me) and athletes (like weightlifters, ballet dancers) are another matter.

Follow it AND keep a food/liquid diary. You can do that in a book, or Word, or Notepad ... strictly on your own. Or you can use a place like http://www.myfitnesspal.com where you can track with support.

Yeah ... hearing you. Eight weeks or so ago, I was this: 13/Nov/2017 153.3kg 337.97lb 24.14stone 49.49BMI My 153.3 kg was 48.3% body fat or 74.1kg of internal fat. With 3.25hrs to 4.75 hours per day of breaststroke and deep-water 'wading' PLUS a 1200-1300 calorie daily intake, I have achieved: 12/Jan/2018 140.4kg 309.53lb 22.11stone 45.33BMI Today my body fat percentage was 43.7% or 61.4kg. So, of the 12.9kg (28.44 pounds) lost, 12.7kg of it was fat ... according to my exercise physiologist's machines and gauges. I'm pleased that my high protein calorie control plus a huge quota of exercise is clearing up my 25 year problem with internal body fat.

Your whole response was spot on. (Not for everyone. Certainly not for the OP.) A lot of users will be nodding in unison, through, I'm sure.

Precisely. My weight target (74.6kg ... or 164.5 pounds ... equal to 24 BMI) is surely unattainable without excess skin removal ... given where I started. To get there is two stages ... getting as close as I can ... then picking a timeline for the surgery when I am maintaining well. In getting to today, I set 74.6kg as goal ... FROM 174.6kg (about 385 pounds) ... a 100 kg margin to beat. Here I am 12th Jan 2018, three months exactly since surgery on 12th Oct 2017 ... and I was 140.3kg at the clinic ... 34.3 kg lost and over a third of the way to my stated goal. At this point, I'm very happy with my progress.

Kudos to you. And you are very entitled to run with that. On the other hand, there are people with manifold obesity issues who are coming from other perspectives. They may choose to get their BMI to a tad under 30 and be happy with that as a short-term or long-term "result". Some may treat it as final as say 29 or 30 BMI is "shiploads" better than BMI 45 or BMI 55. (She/He might be thrilled that hypertension meds are gone OR sleep apnoea is ended OR they have beaten the affliction of Diabetes II.) It depends on each individual's factors/issues. (I just posted a response to another person. It's probably just "above" this one in the thread. Can I ask you to read it to judge where I an coming from, please? Feel free to respond to it or this one!)

I still have a goal of 74.6 kg (BMI about 24) but I know that dropping four sevenths of my previous body mass to try to attain it will VERY PROBABLY leave me with 8kg-12kg of loose skin in an excess abdomen area. But I take heart that: (a) I am comfortably exercising 3.25 hours or more 29 days per month. (b) I am three calendar months post surgery and I have lost 1.4kg (3.1 pounds) average per week since that red letter day. (c) I am losing over 2kg of internal fat each two weeks according to my exercise physiologist. - - - Starting at a BMI in the 56+ zone, I can be very happy if, in a year or two, I am under 30 BMI. I will be in a much healthier, fitter place with a greater claim on life longevity. So, I very much understand your sentiments and can agree.

Yes, thanks ... the year long back up costs $AUD1500 up front of which about $AUD800 is refunded by my health insurer. The surgeon and dietitian have no other fees. The visits every 2-4 weeks with the exercise physiologist are $AUD40 per visit out-of-pocket. But the three of them have an interlinked plan and reporting system that is very supportive. I recall this advice I gave out to someone in the last few days: When the scales are not moving, look to your NSVs. NSV = non-scale victory. e.g. 1. Your belt buckle moves a notch or two. e.g. 2. Your old 36" pants suddenly fit when they didn't last week. e.g. 3. You can stick 2 or 3 fingers inside the buttoned-up neck of your shirt & tie. e.g. 4. Your shoes are not so tight as they were a month ago. e.g. 5. You can hold your breath for 45 seconds underwater (when before surgery/before exercise it was 18 seconds). Watch for these or other examples of success. Remember, NOT all good things are recorded by bathroom scales! Take heart!

Sleeved 12th October ... 91 days or 13 weeks ago today ... three calendar months tomorrow on Friday 12th January. I am losing an average 1.4kg per week (3.1 pounds) since surgery. That's 200 grams per day (7.05 ounces). I am trying to exist on 900-1275 calories per day. My exercise regime is 3.25 to 4.75 hours per day in the swimming pool ... ambling breaststroke plus chest-deep wading. I also do resistance band exercises every second day and a weight session once per week. The follow-up and support from the weight loss clinic includes a year of monthly surgeon visits, 15-18 visits to the dietitian and 18 visits to the exercise physiologist. I'm feeling on track.

A well-worn piece of advice. Water can often fill a hunger void for a while or defer your bad choices.

Mmmm ... I wrote a comprehensive response to this a while ago. I even saw my response online. Where has it gone?

Keep sipping water. Try decaf coffee or tea. Use sugar-free jellies (jellos). Keep fairly well-saturated. Your mind needs to support the feeling of: "THIS IS SHORT TERM PAIN. I AM HEADING FOR A LIFELONG BETTER FUTURE."

I just said it ... POUCH RESET. I found the photo of the diet. It's now attached.