Danny Paul

Welcome and just trust in yourself and the program and you will succeed.

I had another person in my room. A young guy who had an elevated blood glucose level. He was being monitored to get his levels down. We were not a bother to each other during my one night stay. In fact, we had some pleasant conversations.

I buy the Costco brand protein bars. Inexpensive and very good taste.

Laura, thanks for letting us join your journey. I'm hoping you continue it and your weight loss success for a long time.

This is true of EVERY weight loss procedure and product on the market. No Truer words were said in regards to losing and then maintaining the weight loss. OP, can you update us on your experience?

Last week I was attending a group session when one of the group members said that he went to a steak house to celebrate his birthday and he ate a steak. He had gastric sleeve surgery in early November. He said the steak was so tender that he could eat it without a problem. The other group members looked at each other puzzled. How could this guy eat a steak less than two month post op from a gastric sleeve? I was sleeved close to a year and a half ago and I still can't tolerate steak. Pre op I would scarf down a 32oz porterhouse with no problem and then order dessert. He then said that we shouldn't be ashamed to ask for a doggie bag as he went to a restaurant a few weeks ago and couldn't finish his order of roast beef and took the uneaten portion home. One group member asked him WHY is he eating this stuff and HOW can he eat it. He said that it was his birthday with the steak and he doesn't want to be deprived. He said if he deprives himself he's only going to want it more. It goes to show you, WLS takes care of the stomach not the mind.

Depression and anxiety are two things that can not only derail our weight loss success but they also undermine our general health. Despite getting WLS and succeeding for a long time you are facing a health crisis due to your depression and anxiety. I have always been a person that family and friends come to for advice and comfort. When I experienced something in my life that caused me anxiety I had no one to turn to. That was until I met a 90 plus WW2 veteran when I was volunteering at a veterans event. What an amazing person he is. I am able to talk to him about my problems and he seems to always have the best advice or a perspective that I didn't see. By being able to talk honestly with someone and "lay bare my soul" I was able to begin the healing process. I suspect that you too need a person to talk to. Is there someone that you know who can offer you unfiltered advice? It's important not to bottle up your feelings and to let them out. Depression and anxiety are silent unlike a heart attack, they creep up on you without you knowing and then you're in their grasp. Fight back, find someone who will listen and offer advice and most of all a sympathetic ear. The one person that I thought would help was my therapist, unfortunately I see her for 45 minutes every two weeks and I needed more counseling than she could offer. Attack the depression and anxiety and you will overcome the weight gain. I wish you and your family the best.

Recently I gained six pounds. I was sleeved 16 months ago. I have a threshold weight that I use as my weight barometer. Once I get to that weight I know I'm in the danger zone. For me the weight is 160lbs. I went to 162lbs. My first goal was to find out what to attribute the weight gain to. So, I poured over my food diaries and found that I was making fruit smoothies. It seems that the fruit smoothies caused the weight gain. I stopped the fruit smoothies and started on a plan to loose the weight. Since I don't go to the gym I needed to incorporate some form of physical activity into my day. I live in a high-rise building and decided to walk the 12 flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator. I also increased my water intake and cut out my after dinner snack. I'm glad to say that I lost seven pounds and I'm down to 155lbs. 20 years ago I lost close to 70lbs but I never set a threshold weight. So when I would gain six pounds it wasn't urgent for me to lose it. Subsequently those six pounds turned to 15 pounds then to 30 pounds until I regained the 70 pounds and then some. For me, I need to set a threshold weight so that I know I'm in danger.

When I'm at a loss for medical advice I always go back to my primary care physician. He always finds time to answer my questions and to offer me the guidance that I need. I have a family friend who is a RN and I also get great advice from her as she will ask physicians she knows for advice and passes it on to me. Do you have a primary care physician or another medical provider that can help you with advice and guidance?

Prior to WLS I went out to restaurants 2 x 3 times a week. Post surgery, I don't feel comfortable in restaurants. I rarely go out to eat anymore and when I do I order something my dinner companion can take home as I don't eat much. Food was a social event for me but now it's just nutrition. I don't miss it at all since I'm saving a ton of money and I'm not eating the bad stuff that contributed to my being morbidly obese. I guess I'm lucky that way.

Mahalo for the kind words

The first year of my surgery I drank Muscle Milk shakes, Premier Protein shakes and blended chocolate Isopure protein powder with skim milk. After the one year mark ( I'm 16 months out) I stopped those and started adding "unflavored" Isopure protein to 32 ounces of water with powdered fiber and flavoring such as Crystal Light or Mio. This way I get my water, fiber and 25 grams of protein in one convenient drink. Despite being "unflavored" the protein powder has a taste of its own which I had to get used to.

I make my own. I put a scoop of "unflavored" Isopure protein powder (25 grams protein) into a 32 ounce bottle with fiber powder and Crystal Light. Mind you the protein powder does have it's own taste that I had to get used to. Instead of Crystal Light you can use other non sugar flavorings such as Mio Orange Tangerine.

The day I left the hospital after my sleeve my doctor took all of my diabetes meds (4) away. So far so good. Wish you luck on getting your diabetes under control.

Yes that dreaded three week stall.

I buy all of my vitamins at Costco.

Great post. I can only hope to have the long term success and happiness that you are experiencing. Thank you for the insperation.

Met up with an old friend today and he told me that he was approved for his Gastric Sleeve Surgery. His surgery will be done within two weeks. As we were talking he asked me if I liked his new winter coat that his wife bought him for Christmas. I told him that it was nice and asked if he could return it. A puzzled look went over his face. He asked me why would I ask if he could return it. I told him by Winters end he will not be needing a 2XL sized coat. I told him that in all probability he will be at a large by next year and will need to buy a new coat. It didn't dawn on him that he would no longer be at this size for long. He told me that he got a lot of new clothes for Christmas and they were all sized 2XL. I told him that I was lucky as I had my surgery during the Summer and I had time to tell friends and relatives not to buy me any clothes for Christmas. He's going to see if he can return as much of the new clothing as he can. If not he will donate them to charity when they don't fit him anymore. I know for me it took planning to get a new wardrobe and to donate my larger sized clothes. I went on all the department store websites and checked the clearance sections. I started looking during the Winter and I was able to buy Summer clothes on the cheap. I just needed to try to find out what size I would eventually be. (XL to Med) One thing I did do was cap the number of items I bought. Prior to weight loss surgery I bought clothes with abandon. I gave away close to 60 pairs of pants, 40 winter shirts, 30 summer shirts, a dozen pairs of shorts, numerous jackets and coats, etc, etc. Now I own 10 pairs of pants, 8 winter shirts, 10 summer shirts, 4 pairs of shorts and two jackets and one coat. I don't look for clothes anymore because I realized that I bought clothes to cover my obesity. The more clothes I bought the better I felt about myself. Today my better health makes me feel good and I tend not to need materialistic things like coats and a lot of food to make me feel good. That in itself is worth the price of WLS.

You realized your mistake. You're not trying to rationalize it as a good choice. You move on and you take it one day at a time. You build on your successes and learrn from your mistakes. You'll do fine. Not doing what's popular just doing what's Right.

When I was obese I was judgmental of other obese people. I guess it was because I was one of them , I could be judgmental. I never approached anyone to make them feel bad and I never made comments to them as well. Since my WLS I look at obese people in a different light. I truly hope that if they want, they can have the same opportunity to be successful in weight loss that I have. I also know that I can one day become obese again and it could be I that is at the end of the cruel comments. I'm just grateful each day that I have had ANOTHER opportunity to loose a good amount of weight and to become healthy once again. I work hard so that I don't squander this opportunity like I did so many other times in the past. Today no judgements just waiting for the opportunity to help someone lead a healthier life.

1- Fruit. I'm out 16 months from surgery and started to incorporate fruits back into my diet. My mistake was doing it via smoothies. This lead to a six pound gain in a week and a half. I stopped the smoothies and lost the weight. Eat the fruit whole, smoothies incorporate a large amount of fruit that I wouldn't have eaten if I ate them whole. 2- Coffee- I started coffee at six months. Be careful as coffee is a diuretic and will cause you urinate thus losing the liquids you need to be healthier. 3- Life after WLS- It's a good life but not utopia. You'll revel at the rapid weight loss and then you'll realize that you will need to work to keep it off. It does not stay off all by itself you will need to have a plan of action in order to keep the weight off. A simple act like drinking fruit smoothies gave a weight gain so , you see it's a thing that you will need to keep an eye on. If you're healthy now just think how healthy you'll be after the weight is lost. Good luck and I wish you and everyone on these boards the best.

I pureed sardines. Someone who had previously had WLS told me about it. Wasn't bad.

There is no need to rush into WLS. Look at the facts as you've stated them 1- you're young (26) 2- you don't have co morbidities and 3- you readily admit that you are terrible with taking medications. After WLS you will NEED to take vitamins for the rest of your life. I actually think the nurse did you a service by giving you another perspective on WLS. Now that your financing has fallen through I think you have no other choice but to try reducing on your own. Now, the hard part, how to do it and how to maintain the weight loss. You didn't give us your weight, and how much you want to lose. So, it would be disingenuous for anyone to give you advice on a specific diet. Here is what I've learned in the past two years. Diets are very difficult to maintain over a long period of time. That is why it's best to make life style choices. For some that is easier said than done because some like me have propensities to overeat and to do it compulsively. We need to seek help in order to help us understand this compulsion to over eat. For me, this is a concerted "team" effort with exercise, a nutritionist, therapist and attending Over Eaters Anonymous (OA). I admit for me it's easier after WLS because of my restriction but there are others who attend OA who have not had WLS and found success. Try as many avenues as you can to get the "team" you need together in order to assist with your weight loss and maintenance. If you don't get the results that you were looking for then WLS might be the answer for you. I don't think it's the answer just yet. It's difficult to lose and maintain the a weight loss and I wish you only the best and hope for your success.

If you're using sugar free products with sorbitol this might be the reason.

I thought I could go back to work after a week. I took two, I felt so tired and had to nap during the day. I was 60 when I had my surgery and the tiredness was a result of my body healing.