Rainbow_Warrior

I can assure you that most people don't have eight horrid days on an eight-day liver-shrinking liquid high-protein diet. (Nor does someone on a 14 day diet, as I was, have 14 horrid days.) There is a period of, typically, 18 to 55 hours of numb headache pain as one's body adjusts. Before and after those hours of pain is quite all right for the overwhelming majority of pre-WLS patients. I would counsel you to think that, despite the distasteful few hours, the long term outlook for a new slimmer future is worth almost any pain.

I not only think it. I know it. My wife's only worked there a few months and it was the very first time I'd met any of them. My cover is not blown.

I had my first restaurant night out since surgery (51 days ago) last night (Saturday 2nd Dec) when my wife's retail staff had its xmas gathering at a Thai restaurant. It galled me a little paying $AUD40 when I knew I was "eating small". Out of an 11-course Thai banquet, I was very picky. One small curried vegetable samosa, one medium battered prawn tail, one small crab money-bag, one small vegetable spring roll. I than waited about 15 minutes and sipped a large glass of Water. Round Two: I picked out one medium prawn from a stir fry and a chunk of salmon (about 50 grams). Then, over the next hour and a half while sipping more water, most of the other 25 people offered me more of the mounting 'left-overs' on the trays and plates ... each of which I declined. When pressed, I just said (truthfully) ... "I had a long day in the pool trying to reshape my body. I'm predominantly eating small Protein hits and few carbs for a while." That seemed to pass! [n.b. I swam three hours breaststroke Saturday morning plus half an hour of chest-deep 'wading'.] - - - As my first major outing after surgery, I was very pleased that I passed scrutiny. As I said a few weeks ago, we do not have Thanksgiving here in Australia so waited longer than most of the early October sleepers for the test of my resilience at dinner.

I had my first restaurant night out since surgery (51 days ago) last night (Saturday 2nd Dec) when my wife's retail staff had its xmas gathering at a Thai restaurant. It galled me a little paying $AUD40 when I knew I was "eating small". Out of an 11-course Thai banquet, I was very picky. One small curried vegetable samosa, one medium battered prawn tail, one small crab money-bag, one small vegetable spring roll. I than waited about 15 minutes and sipped a large glass of water. Round Two: I picked out one medium prawn from a stir fry and a chunk of salmon (about 50 grams). Then, over the next hour and a half while sipping more water, most of the other 25 people offered me more of the mounting 'left-overs' on the trays and plates ... each of which I declined. When pressed, I just said (truthfully) ... "I had a long day in the pool trying to reshape my body. I'm predominantly eating small protein hits and few carbs for a while." That seemed to pass! [n.b. I swam three hours breaststroke Saturday morning plus half an hour of chest-deep 'wading'.] - - - As my first major outing after surgery, I was very pleased that I passed scrutiny. As I said a few weeks ago, we do not have Thanksgiving here in Australia so waited longer than most of the early October sleepers for the test of my resilience at dinner.

Australian bush remedy! :-)

currently 149.4 kg on my scales. Google calculator says this is equal to 329.4 pounds. (Wed 29th NOV)

Previous post in error ... TYPOs RULE ... Should actually say: currently 149.4 kg on my scales. Google calculator says this is equal to 329.4 pounds. thank you.

2:30pm (1430hrs) Wednesday 29th NOV on the east coast of Australia. I am currently 149.4 kg on my scales. Google calculator says this is equal to 429.4 pounds. Thanks for running this and doing the weekly data updates.

I think that they were quoting the basic cost to the NHS in the program ... NOT the private, bells-and-whistles price/cost. The operation here in a public hospital is notionally $AUD12400 to the federal health budget. As a private patient, my gap fee was $AUD7800 on top of what the insurer paid the hospital, the two surgeons, the anaesthetist and the theatre nurses. - - - As for what they quoted on BBC Channel 4, I guess that the program being 4-5 years old would mean the cost was lower back then too. Time and wages and salaries change a lot over time. (Three years ago, my morning newspaper was $AUD1.50 and now it's $AUD3.00 ... and due to rise again at xmas time).

I'm glad I live in a country where the minimum wage is decided by a judge or tribunal not by some boss. In Australia, tipping is almost unknown, because people are generally paid a living wage. The current minimum since Aug 3rd, 2017 is $18.29 per hour (or $694.90 per week for adults working the 38 hour maximum). https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/templates-and-guides/fact-sheets/minimum-workplace-entitlements/minimum-wages#current-national-minimum-wage Barbers, Taxi-drivers, waiters, service-people are all relatively well-paid. 95% of people do a good to excellent job for their wage or salary and tips and graft are not required. Tips must be tough on people who cannot afford to pay others tips or service charges.

Potentially good subterfuge. Good suggestion.

Have you been to preferences/settings to see some tweaks that might assist you? I turned off a few automated processes in my wife's computer and added ADBLOCK-PLUS to her browser. Now that no ads or pop-ups are loading, she's saving a third to a half of the bandwidth that was slowing down her browser. You never know until you tweak it.

Yeah. The weight loss clinic's exercise physiologist finally asked last Wednesday week if I was ready to go back to the pool? (He knows about my knee and ankle pain which limit my walking comfort. He was aware that I was only getting in 2900-4500 steps per day. I have NO trouble at the pool. The flotation aspect means that joint pain is near to zero once I'm in the water. Attached table shows the impact of getting back to the pool last Saturday week. The eight consecutive days of improvement is good. (Just annoyed that the pool opens at 8am on a Sunday and 5am on other days; it's 7:15am Sunday now.) Slow (trickle-speed) breaststroke is comfortable and I drag it out long enough for a training effect. Add some chest-deep wading up and down the lanes and I build my lower leg muscles a bit. I meet with him again on 6th DEC and I think he'll be impressed with my progress. As for sweat, it's a non-event at the pool. I actually suppose the energy goes somewhere but the water's too cold 20C (67F) to feel/notice any sweat. I can see and feel a muscular change after eight days of this already. A couple of belt buckle holes, looser slacks ... NSVs. The scales only see 1.5kg (3.4 pounds) change but there's more.

Ask your weigh loss clinic's dietitian or nutritionist, @Biddynz ... they are the people who have your earlier pathology reports. Or check with the GP who referred you for WLS. Centrum, Centrum Women 50+, Centrum Men 50+ and Kids' Centrum are all somewhat different formulations.

I have been reading in the WLS clinic's recipe book for two months of these high-protein PASTRY-LESS quiches, so yesterday/Saturday when I got home from the pool after nearly three hours breaststroke and 30 minutes of chest-deep wading, I decided to give it a go. I made up the egg and egg-white base and added some vegetables (spinach, tomato, capsicum) and tiny cubes of meat (ham & chicken) and poured it into a 4 x 3 muffin pan lightly sprayed with EVOO. I ate ten of them (in pairs) between 11am and 9pm ... 41 calories each. They are each 8g protein, 3g fat and 1g carbohydrates. Different to straight out meat, patties, egg meals or cold cuts that I have been on for a couple of weeks. Very different to eating QUICHES with pastry. (I am actually NOT YET missing bread, crumbed foods or pastries at all.) It's 6:45am Sunday and I have two left for breakfast today. Sadly the pool does not open until 8am on Sunday so my breakfast will not be until 11:30/11:45 am. I like that the pool opens 5am Monday to Friday and I can sit down to breakfast at 8:50/9:10am (or the 6am opening on Saturdays which means breakfast at around 10 o'clock.)

Colonoscopies are a breeze. There's no problem whatsoever with the operation itself. My first colonoscopy in 2009 was a real learning experience. Having to take the Picoprep with warm water the afternoon before was a new experience. About two hours later, the bowel explosion occurs and the toilet bowl is a mess of runny brown as you literally fart all sorts of gas and liquid from your digestive system. Then, 30 to 45 minutes later, you're back in the toilet doing a lower volume version of what you did before. Sorry to those readers who regard this as "TMI" ... too much information ... but it's what happens. I had a second colonoscopy in 2011 then another in 2013 then another this year, 2017. In Australia, colonoscopies are a quick earner for surgeons who keep checking on you because you're in the at risk age-groups: 55-65 for men and 50-62 for women. To save all these exploratory, relatively expensive procedures which find very little, our national government started a MAIL-OUT program of bowel cancer test-kits about three years ago. One now rubs one's stool with a giant Q-tip then puts it in the sterile container and mails it back. The government test lab then advises you if the sample shows you at risk and gets a colonoscopy process organised. The mail-out program stops over 90% of the wasteful, expensive drains on people's health insurance and the national health budget.

Well, if that's your experience, @Danny Paul, more power to you and those like you. My experience, while not all negative, is heavy with negatives. I do agree that society and media find it much easier to accept and forgive fat/obese males. The nasty comments, body shaming, fat shaming and outright verbal abuse is definitely more targeted at women and teenage girls.

My work place has become very dog-eat-dog over the last decade. Sharing with people who are of the ilk the new staff are does not do much good. As for my family, there's the very accepted and very accepting 40%-45%, the tolerable/tolerated 15% and the 40%-45% who are absolute pains-in-the-arse. Some things that are mentioned to others become the subject of unhealthy persecution and/or ridicule. And, yes, I am a supportive person when it comes to others but it's not always easy to get that support or respect back.

New South Wales Teachers' Union Health Fund (Australia).

Hear, hear. If it's not relevant or mandatory, you have no obligation to divulge. Pleading the fifth in a roundabout way.

Go to www.fitnessblender.com and set up your requirements and your fitness level and they will recommend videos to assist you. e.g.

Jan 17th, 2017 ... ?? Or did you mean 2018?

Had 1/2 a pack of this with some potato paste and water over low heat. Quite good. Passes as a meaty protein snack to my brain and abridged stomach.

It's Wednesday 22nd NOV 3:15pm in Australia and my body mass today is: 150.9 kilograms [332.7 pounds]. Thanks for adding my details to the challenge spreadsheet.

Yeah ... I have a favourite Brooks Walker that I used to get as a 10EEEE. After Easter, there were no 10EEEEs imported to Australia, so I said to my wife that I'd use the gift voucher on a 10EE size. They were quite snug in April & May. They stayed at the back of the shoe-rack. Guess what? Five weeks post-op and 21kg (46 pounds) lighter and they are great comfortable fit. Yay!