The Greater Fool

I sneeze. Twice. Two is the number of the sneezes. Three sneezes do not happen. One sneeze is right out, lest there be a second sneeze in quick succession. Of the sneezes there shall be two. Good Luck, Tek It seems to have to do with the Vagus nerve being messed with (cut, nicked, manhandled, or whatever).

Everyone loses at their own rate. YOU will lose at your rate. You don't need to worry until your surgeon worries. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations! It's a wonderful feeling. Good luck, Tek

Distraction. Play your favorite game. Participate in your favorite hobby, activity, whatever. Keep your mind/body busy. If you find yourself obsessing about food, get up and do something. Keep yourself distracted and you won't have time to... Squirrel! Good luck, Tek

It sounds as if you've learned some life lessons from which we hope you will benefit. Congratulations. Tek

You don't what to put the cart before the horse. Do your homework on the various WLSs out there. If you believe WLS if for you then you will find a surgeon. When you speak with your surgeon you should bring up all your concerns, your history, and your future. Undoubtedly your surgeon will take your situation into account when arriving at a recommendation. If WLS is one of the recommendations then your post-op life will be part of the discussion and planning you and your surgeon undertake. Worrying about the first 6 weeks of post-op life would be the least of my concerns. Good luck. Tek

Your issue is that you are reading about other people's programs all of which are somewhat different and often conflicting. There is nothing that someone here is not eating, drinking, injecting, snorting, or smoking from the day of surgery onward. In the context of THEIR programs it may be correct but in the context of YOUR program, not. Your surgeon's team has given a lot of paper work on your program. Study it. If you have questions, ask your surgeon's team. Follow it. If you have issues or concerns your surgeon's team is where your answers lie. Some information here will fit into your program. Unless you know your program you can't know what tips here fit into it. The basics like "what to eat," "how much," and "how often" are critical to your plan and come from your medical team. Knowledge is power. Good luck. Tek

My goal was 3oz of protein x 3 meals per day, so +- 60g of protein per day. Protein drinks were never part of my plan. But, what your surgeon says is the correct answer for you. Good luck, Tek

First, give yourself a chance to heal. It can take up to 6 weeks or even more. It will happen. Then you will have clear difference between full and normal discomfort. At this point, you will learn. There is more to a program than learning when "full" is. Our programs are generally portion size controlled. So, once you can detect "full" you eat until you finish your controlled portion or until your pouch decides you are full, whichever comes first. All these years later it's how it still works for me. Be patient with yourself. Good luck, Tek

You seem overwhelmed and depressed. Sometimes we can't do it all on our own and we need some help. Perhaps it's time to seek out some professional help. Someone to help you process all you've been through and that can give you tools and techniques to cope and possibly even thrive. Good luck, Tek

Virtually everything was provided. Dental hygiene, personal hygiene, socks with grips on the bottom, everything. I brought a book. I purposely didn't bring any electronics as it would have compelled me to work. Good luck, Tek

I'm only a father of 4. And a grandfather of 9. And a great-grandfather of 1. I paid nothing that I recall out of pocket, and likewise have no regrets. Everyone here, more or less, is connected, more or less. Welcome and good luck, Tek

Have you not discussed your post-op plan with someone from your surgeon's team? They are the first and last word on what you should be eating. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations and continued success. Good Luck, Tek

"Lost weight you say? Not funny. I gained the same 20 pounds everyone else is complaining about! It's so frustrating!" Good luck, Tek

You are saving yourself a lot of angst by not getting on the scale. You don't need it to follow your plan. The first week or so (it varies) is often the price of admission. You will get through it. Congratulations and good luck. Tek

You don't need to 'clean your system.' Just return to plan, and stay with it. Think of it this way, if you are walking a mile and trip and fall after 1/4 mile, you don't need to go back to the starting line. You just get back up and resume walking. Good luck, Tek

Good advice. The tool and the plan are always there. Good luck, Tek

I can't say I had any particular feeling of loss related to food or drink. I was a binge eater and drinker. If one was good ten was better. My requirement for surgery was to stop me from binging. If I could break the cycle, I could do this. Surgery isn't a magic weight loss button. All the rules still apply. Calories in vs calories out. Surgery just helps in some ways, especially early on. For a time it stops you over indulging at meals. But this effect tends to go away for most people with time, and then you are counting on the good habits you've developed to keep you going. You indicate that you have a big family and spend a lot of time hanging out, shooting the .. and grazing and enjoying wine. The scary part in regard to grazing is not that you will lose it, it's that you won't. Grazing is by far the way many/most post-ops fail and regain their weight and more. Surgery can stop you from eating a lot of food at one meal. But, it doesn't stop you from grazing for hours at a time. Evaluate your needs from surgery. This is not a short term diet it is a life long lifestyle change. Do what you can sustain. Good luck, Tek

All parts of your brain are spot on. The idea of feeling better in your own skin and being healthier is appealing. It *IS* possible to do it without surgery. Up to a massive 3% of morbidly obese people actually accomplish lasting weight loss without surgery. I wasn't one of the 3%. For years I got bigger and bigger with the belief I could do it through diet and exercise. I finally admitted I couldn't. Fearing the unknown is a waste of time and energy. Commit to dealing with whatever comes, period. So many people speak of regretting surgery because of pain in the first few weeks post-op. Consider problems as the cost of getting from here to there. Every fear you have has an answer. Do research on your fears. Knowledge is power. Every problem you encounter in the first weeks or months post-op are simply the price of admission. Problems will teach you to listen to your surgery teaching you to live again. Good luck, Tek

As boring as my advice is it has the virtue of being simple and working. Continue on plan. If you are following it well, it will take you to goal. If you are not following it well, then do it well. Either way, you will reach goal then flow easily into maintenance. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations and continued success. Tek

Remind me, why is taking the easy way wrong? Think about any other aspect of your life where taking the hard way is considered a virtue. Every non-surgical weight loss program out there claims to be the easy way to lose weight. I've yet to read a Weight Loss Surgery program that claims it's the easy way to lose weight. I found my Weight Loss Surgery program to be the easy way to lose and keep weight lost. I found it to be the only way. Good luck, Tek

When I had surgery I was so large that only my surgeon had a scale on which I could weigh. As a result I could only weigh myself at monthly follow-up appointments. This turned out to be a blessing in several ways: Like most everyone else I'm sure I had stalls but I never saw them; I was forced to trust my plan; I was never tempted to "change it up" because of a number on a scale; Once I got to a weight that allowed me to weigh on a home scale I weighed myself several times that first day. Hey, it was the first time I could do such a thing in 20 years. The novelty wore off in a week or two and I stopped weighing at home. I had learned I could trust my plan. At my monthly follow-up appointments I also realized my surgeon didn't focus on weight. In fact, the only time we talked about my weight was when I brought it up. He was interested in how I was doing on the plan, how I was doing mentally, if there were any concerns. I took his cue and have since focused on the same things over the years. I only weigh in at my annual physicals with my PCP. Bottom line: I didn't know about my stalls, never got depressed behind them, so never had to break either stall or stall depression. I just kept plugging away at my plan. Get off the scale, it is not your friend. Good luck, Tek

It means you are five days post-op and ate half a cookie without any physical discomfort or dumping symptoms. If you feel bad about it perhaps you should not do it again, but that's about it. It doesn't say anything about the future, if you dump, or on what. I dump on sugar and fats, often pretty easily. I can eat a cookie or a small piece of candy without dumping. Though, I don't find cookies or candy particularly appealing anymore because on too many occasions one has lead to two or three which then lead to dumping. Good luck, Tek