Creekimp13

It looks as though they've already pinned a request to the top of the board asking women to allow men only to use that board. (which is nice, because this allows some personal discretion on gender identity) I'm fairly sure that will be viewed by the community as enough. (could be wrong...but any more seems like overkill among adults interacting freely on a message board given the discrimination liability) The whole thing is sort of a moot point. Those boards simply aren't used very much. The vast majority of people are more focused on community inclusive weight loss topics.

I think expressing that is fine. I think using it as a platform to degrade people who have noncisnomative gender experiences...is bigoted. And....noncisnormative gender experienced people will always be part of the equation when you're talking about gender bans. You might want such a change....and if you bought a TON...and I mean a METRIC TON of stuff from the bariatric store....you might get your wish. But ultimately, from a business standpoint, I think Alex would be unwise to create perceptions of discrimination. But since it's his site, he can certainly make any rules he wishes. My gut feeling, though....is that most folks are satisfied with the honor system for using those boards and your request is not worth the hassle of potentially excluding a good customer and contributor.

So...you are a gay dude who wants to keep the women out of the guy's room? Can you help me to understand what topics must be segregated by physical gender on a weight loss support board, and why? I'm genuinely curious about this. By not supporting banning the opposite sex from different message boards....by your logic....it could be argued that I'm just helping to bring your mind into alignment with reality....rather than humoring the delusion that we live in a gender segregatable society.

If you don't have an intimate understanding of gender identity difference....maybe it's one of those topics you should avoid having big public opinions about. (cause, you know....you come off like an asshat... just like the thin people who think they know everything about being fat) Again....Free speech does not mean speech free of consequences.

Do you know what you sound like? You sound EXACTLY like the ignorant people who have never struggled with their weight a day in their like...who express THIS loud opinion: "Fat people are just lazy and need to stop eating. They don't need surgery, it's the easy way out. They are in denial about the truth. What they really need to do....is put down the sandwich and candy bar and stop making our insurance rates go up with unnecessary butcher surgery that just makes doctors wealthy. They're just going to eat themselves fat again anyway." Why be an expert on something you clearly know nothing about? Particularly when your comments are degrading to others, negative, and based on your very limited perspective.

Dude, you are trying to disprove the validity of people with gender dysphoria...which is a real condition that is fully recognized by the American Psychiatric Association....by saying "it's just like they think they're animals" Dehumanizing people is a strategy that has been historically employed by proponents of slavery and genocide. And you seriously wonder why some folks experience your remarks as bigoted? Free speech does not mean speech free of consequences. People do form opinions of those who say thoughtless things.

Woot!

1. Relationship to premiere research hospital. 2. 20+ years of doing bariatric surgery. Sits on board of bariatric surgeons. Helped develop the qualifications necessary to board certify other surgeons. 3. Does surgery at a center of excellence that is also a first rate trauma center. 4. I could be part of a research project. 5. Recommended diet includes lots of healthy carbs and calories are not insanely restrictive. 6. Five year success rate of patients is excellent compared to others. 7. Dedicated 24/7 emergency line for bariatric patients. 8. Tons of education and resources. Good support staff. Process of approval was made very simple and straight forward.

Salmon at a couple months out was tough. At six months out.....I put it on the grill every week. Yum!

My clinic advised us to crush our pills up and sprinkle them on a spoonful of sugar free Cool Whip. Went down very easy.

Of course, i'm still "overweight" according to my insurance guy....but I'm not "obese" anymore...and definitely not "morbidly obese" like I was at this time last year. So yeah..."Overweight" sounds pretty darned fantastic to me:) Today I broke my doctor's goal for my weight.... which is 172-178 pounds:) My body fat is right around 30% according to the underwater scale and metabolic analysis....which is generally considered Healthy/Acceptable for women. My personal goal is 170, and I'm looking forward to popping my calories up a bit to maintain after I hit that goal. More good carbs! More fruits and whole grains! Have been crazy busy, but life is good:) Still loving my forever diet and not feeling deprived of anything. Getting exercise in is not hard with 11 year old neicey running us around to the zoo, forest, alligator farm, natural history museum, aviation/space museum etc....and needing a swimming buddy. Have been cooking healthy for guests, and they seem to be enjoying it:) Had a couple nights of junk for the kids on the grill, or pizza. I just throw some salmon on there and have some avacado and cukes and other veggies and call it good. Grilled salmon with balsamic glaze is my new go-to favorite.

Why do this to other men? They did nothing to deserve being locked in a room with this guy's nonsense.

73 pounds down, lady! Look at you melt away:) Keep up the hard work, you're doing terrific! So proud of you!

Wow, look at you! Gorgeous! Well done:)

Thanks Kathy

Thanks, Sydney!

As long as they're buying Bariatric Products at this site....I have a feeling these folks will be treated with respect and consideration. Which is as it should be. And is a good business practice.

Now see...I think your refusal to acknowledge and respect these people....is as offensive as you find women who post in the men's room. World is an interesting place, isn't it? If you'd like to be educated about them, look up the term genderqueer or non-binary gender identity. But again...I don't care what Alex does about these rooms. Ultimately, I think he'd care a lot more about them if they produced LOTS of sales of bariatric products. LOL:) By the way, have you tried the Flapjacked Mighty Muffins? They're amazing:)

If you "locked them down" people could just change their gender if they wanted to look. Or look at them as unregistered members. Or decide not to list their gender at all. I dunno...no one's in eighth grade. "Girls Keep Out" and "Boys Keep Out" signs belong on tree forts and angsty middle schooler bedroom doors, in my opinion. just seems weird and offputting for adults to do this in 2018. To me, anyway. But, clearly some other folks like them. So what do we do? Ultimately, it's Alex's board. So he, alone, gets to make the call. Either way the chips fall on this particular issue....I'm not sure I care. Gender based boards seem absurd to me, but whatever. I do have to wonder what the people who use these kinds of boards will do...when they draw an opposite sex doctor at the emergency room...since..ya know...saying something anatomical within earshot of the opposite gender might cause the world to end. LOL. I also wonder how these folks get married? Maybe it's a generational thing or a cultural construct that doesn't touch my world....but yeah....this whole boy/girl thing seems bizarre to me. Would really suck for a transsexual to be denied access to the gender room they most identify with. And what about people who don't experience gender? or all the other variations of folks who don't experience cisnormative gender identity? Big can of civil liberties worms to put your foot in if you're an internet entrepreneur.

Yikes.....at just a month out. Nope, not a chance I'd do this. Way too many calories, and too little nutrition for those calories. (I love bacon, but I'm not gonna eat pure animal fat anymore) But you're an adult and we play our own cards. And everyone has something they will cheat a little with from time to time...so I'm not judging. Still....no way in hell I'd eat Brats...not even at 6 months out. If you do this? Try just a couple of tiny slices of brat. Itsy bitsy amount...and give it an hour to see how you feel after. Also, try to stay within your calorie budget for the day. If you can balance your day and stay within calorie budget and get your required protein...you'll probably be ok. But, be extra mindful of portions, calories, and calorie totals. The problem with brats is that they're so dang fatty and part of a traditionally junk food meal. They're also salty as heck and processed. At one month out... it's so important to work hard on those new eating habits. There are better choices you could be making. Don't mean to be the food police cause i get it. Just sayin....every choice you make in these next few months really matters. If you go off plan? Count those calories extra carefully and make sure it's REALLY worth it. And do the penance....

Thank you all for the kind words. I generally try to avoid being reactive and angry on these kinds of threads, but I know I was a little extra raw here. This week....wasn't my best week. Has been a bit stressful. Sorry how much that showed. In addition to the car impound/salvage yard/doctor appointments added to my schedule, I'm also taking the kiddo to and from work.....and have my inlaws as house guests for the next two weeks. (grateful to be sharing a few days with other family and friends).....and trying to find and purchase another kid car. It's a lot. On the plus side, I'm averaging about 18,000 steps a day between cleaning and chasing a million errands...and now, entertaining family, cooking, doing activities, etc. Have my period now, but am bound to have a nice weight loss at the end. That's way too much information. But yeah....this whole mess should be helpful on the scale. I'm exhausted. I'd take tomorrow off....except that it's kiddo's birthday, and her new roommate at college is ALSO coming for a visit and plans to stay the night tomorrow. And all these visitors would have been great if not for having my prep time grossly cut by the tree accident. Hubby is chipping in, but has crazy unexpected issues at work to deal with, too. It's just been nuts. Won't say I'm sorry about how I feel.....but I will say I'm sorry about my lack of tact and extreme reaction. Was extremely honest, but perhaps not my finest moment.

www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/05/the-obesity-cure-is-out-of-reach-in-the-heaviest-states/559700/ Interesting read.

I had a bad week this week. I'm grateful for that. It could have been the worst week of my life. My daughter was caught in a microburst on her way home from work Wednesday. Mircobursts are small storms that create tornado-like conditions. Long story short, an oak tree fell on her car while she was driving, and crushed her car. The wreckage looked unsurvivable, and she walked away with scratches....Which we proved after spending most of the night at the emergency room getting a CT scan and a million xrays. At the impound lot and scrap yard, we were inundated with stupid shite. "You had a guardian angel watching you" "Thank you, God!" "It was a miracle!" NO. JUST NO. Do NOT pimp your religious bullshite using my kid or her misfortune. If there were a God, he'd be a SADISTIC CRUEL SICK FECK...for nearly killing my kid and terrifying both of us. But since such a being does not, in fact, exist, I can chock it up to unfortunate luck and global warming causing more of this violent crap weather... and dated horrible weather predictive equipment that can't keep up with these changes. (because of, you know....real living ASSHATS who don't believe in science and gutted our science budgets...who are also the same nitwits blathering on about angels and being God's favorite little buddy...who make our world UNSAFE and STUPID) So, if I seem a little unreasonably pissed off about people and their lunatic prayers and lunatic fantasy ideas....it's because SCIENCE could have PREVENTED this if we didn't pander endlessly to religious mysticism. You know what saved my kid's life here? SCIENCE. The engineers who predicted roof cave ins and reinforced the door frame. The healthcare team who took a CT of her head to make sure she didn't have an intracranial bleeds and xrays of her lungs and spine. The safety science that figured out how to make seat belts keep you in the safest positions. NOT some bloody sky fairy. Not prayer. Not divine intervention. Thank SCIENCE.

If you started at 310 and you want to get to 150 ...you have 160 pounds of excess weight. 60% of 160 is 96 70% of 160 is 112 The average sleeve patient loses between 60-70% of their excess weight. 96-112 pounds in your case. Your doctor was in the ballpark of reasonable expected average results. As many others have proven, you can do a lot better than average results if you work very hard. Your doc was being honest with you...and was even quoting you a conservative result based on average weight loss among sleeve patients. It is true that some people have to work harder for their losses. Diabetics, PCOS folks, Older folks, People with mobility issues, People with other endocrine issues....can have a more stubborn time moving those pounds.....than say, younger, fitter, healthier people. Most people will lose at least 50% of their excess weight. A few will not. A few will have an oustanding experience and lose 100% of their excess weight. On average people lose 60-70%.

Nice work! Love the blue/green top and tan skirt. You look so happy there:)