The Greater Fool

Get ground meat. Shape into balls. Cook. Actually, Pandemonium's recipe looks darn good, I'd go with that. It looks a little more complicated than my recipe but it looks worth the effort. Tek

Welcome to the forums. Tek

I can see that. I can't see audio books working well for gym type exercise where tempo is an important feature for which music helps. If I'm exercising, it's running. Different beast. At least for me. But, as usual, like to throw out options. Remember, I'm weird. Tek

I don't have much to offer but encouragement and support. I wish I could sport your mustache and beard. All I have is a scraggly nordic thing. Tek

When I was binge running it was audio books. While I enjoy music it doesn't occupy my mind like it does for many/most people. Audio books take me away. Same for anything that takes time, audio books are my go to for keeping me going. Stephen King Dark Tower series was memorable, the reader was great. I stuck with mostly sci-fi or fantasy. Tek

Welcome to the forums. I have no recommendations on plastic surgeons. Tek

Welcome to the forums. All I did in my puree phase (first 6 weeks post-op) was take what I wanted to eat and throw it in the blender then eat. I had curry chicken from our favorite Thai place. Fettuccini Alfredo (Chicken that had the barest amount of sauce and broccoli instead of the Fettuccini). I have no doubt I had BBQ, steak, whatever. These are the couple that stand out now 17 years later. I went for flavor, big flavor. If it made sense to puree the whole thing together, it became a big blob. If it didn't make sense, a couple smaller blobs. My Doc made a point of saying we didn't have to have "breakfast" food at breakfast. We are adults, more or less, and we can eat what we want when we want, within plan of course.

Apparently there are differences in how humans relate to humor. And, it's sexist of YOU to assume I was talking DOWN to women. Wow.

I imagine what they're thinking when a person as far overweight as me would eat 3oz of protein, if I ate at all, leaving the plate barely touched. They were horrified. It's about the time I started terribly over-tipping. I wanted them to really believe that we enjoyed ourselves, even if I only ate a couple bites of that perfectly cooked prime rib. Another reason eating out was a tense time that I generally gave up on.

Stick to plan like I didn't. I'm glad I didn't have to explain the pound I gained. Tek

I don't eat out with friends or work colleagues. Work colleagues I didn't eat out with before. For 40 years, it was my job to come into a company, tell them what they were doing wrong, tell them how to do it right, create the processes to do it right, then move on. I was not there to eat meals. Now, I may have developed these rules because I was so large, but the rules still stand now that I'm not. I've stopped consulting, but I still don't do the company functions. When I was first exploring eating out a few months post-op, I would get anxious which made eating not work out so well. As time moved on, it was still a problem for me. So, while I have gotten better at it, I am still so worried that it's hard to enjoy the experience. So, I avoid it if I can. Family doesn't care, they understand. Outside of family doesn't really matter. At this point, every one is used to me the way I am now. I think this is all rationalization for not wanting to share wife time with anyone else. She feels the same about husband time. Tek

If I were going to do it, this is the way I would do it. Doc knows you and your surgery. If anyone can make it work, it's the Doc. Way to go! Tek

Darn. I was eloquent in Veterans. Something different... think of something different Tek. Well, OK, I got one: Hiding. Hiding from our Doc, support group, friends, relatives, the scale. That's a sure sign you know you're doing it wrong. We stop measuring our touchstones because we know it will be yet another accusation of our failure. We are so much tougher on ourselves than anyone is in real life. I've hidden. Tek

Welcome to the forums. I don't really know if it's actually possible to 'reset' a pouch. I'm sure people will swear that it helped them and I doubt we'll hear from those that it didn't because their no longer about. But, BariatricPal has a program, so it must work, right? Good luck, mostly just wanted to welcome you and remind everyone of the old axiom "Buyer beware" Tek

It may be the nutritionist was pushing you to... I don't know how far post-op you are? Were you post-op during the call? It may not be that you don't absorb protein at all. Perhaps they are pushing you to eating your protein. If you can't count liquid protein then you're sorta forced to eat the protein that you count. My Docs program was our food plan pureed for 6 weeks, then our food plan as food. Another doc had protein drink once a day and pureed food plan for the first 6 week, then food plan and no drink after that. They all seem anxious to get you eating food. When next you talk to your nutritionist you can ask about it. Good luck. Tek

Welcome to the forums. So, you just flew home which tells us you didn't have surgery local to where you are. That makes it a little tougher. We'll help where we can. You just had surgery on your stomach. It is going to be painful to drink initially. The more you do it the better it will be for you. Yeah, didn't you just say every sip hurts? Take small(er) sips. 10 cm = 2 teaspoons. Do one, but more frequently. Small sips, frequently. Try room temperature or even warmer. Cold fluids could cause your surgery to spasm from the shock. Keep trying, and it will get better. Are you able to call your Doc and get advice at least. Did he give you pain meds? You perhaps should hook up with a local surgeon as a local resource, support group, whatever. Good luck, Tek

Welcome back. I understand your pain and frustration. You are well on the road to getting and staying on track by taking an inventory of your mistakes. Keep up the good work. We all have our methods for keeping ourselves on our path, and while we may each be different in the details, the path is the same: To do what we need to do to get/keep ourselves healthy. We are here to support you in any way we can. Yeah, another on the list of things that can become problems. Many of these things often begin with "just this time." If we can manage "just this time" and it really is just this time, no harm no foul. We just need to be careful that it doesn't become "just one more time", then "just this week", until you stop thinking about it. It's never too late to return to your successful habits. You can do it. Really. Good luck. Tek

Welcome to the forums, It most certainly is not a waste of time building/keeping muscle pre-op. You will appear weak post-op because you will be weak for a few weeks (1-2 is normal, but it could go longer). Talk to your surgeon, but most folks are released to exercise at about a month. Weights may be a little longer (measured in weeks). Then you can build muscle to your hearts content. Maybe MsMocie will sneek in and give her insight. She is an exercise guru. Good luck, Tek

Welcome to the forums. I have to agree with Zom B. This is not the time for such things. When it is time, this is probably not the best venue as we have members from around the world. The number of us in or near Akron my not be as large as one might imagine. Remember, we are strangers on the interwebs. We may not be who we seem to be. You want to invite strangers into your home. Another thought is most surgeons have their own support groups. There must be several in Akron. If you're surgeon wasn't in Akron, go talk to a local surgeon and see if you can join one of their groups. If you have a problem with your surgeon in Akron, go to a different surgeon and explain the situation, and they'll likely allow you to join their group. Whatever you do, be very careful. Good luck Tek

Welcome to the forums. It could be you're feeling better about yourself. It could be almost anything. I had a comparable effect a bit further down the line. I started running when I got down to a weight that doing so wouldn't kill me. It sorta got away from me and when I was running about 50 miles a week I got pretty randy after my runs. Like you, even more than in my 20s. I don't know how normal it is, but we got the two of us. I'm willing to call it normal. Never been normal before. Now, help me out so I know the advice to give... Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? Good Luck, Tek

It's ok, I'm used to your attacks. And I *AM* a plan this, plan that person. Just owning it. Finding a carrot is an interesting idea. It must be important since with surgeons that have a different philosophy on everything except no eating on the night before surgery. As a group (super) morbidly obese folks aren't known as a group that can control what they eat. Would you trust that we didn't break the rules? I wonder if they scope the stomach before they start to ensure there is nothing there? Or that there is no disease process. Damn you, I'll be working this out all day! Tek

Welcome to the forums. I'm one of those people MsMocie was talking about. Plan this and plan that, that's me. It's best to stay on plan. There I said it, got it out of the way. My plan pre-op was closer to a low calorie diet. I sucked at low calorie diets, and on top of that I had one of my favorite high calorie meals about 5 days before surgery. In other words, It won't end the world. It can't be the night before but otherwise... But don't do as I did, stay on plan. Enjoy your meal Tek

Welcome to the forums. That's an interesting procedure. I'm glad it's working for you. Good luck, Tek

It's possible you may never know the cause. Tek

Nonsense. Not stupid. The interface is a little wonky [technical jargon] sometimes. It's a wonder it doesn't happen more. But, I'll bet it's a mistake you don't make twice. At least twice in a row. Tek