TRClark23

Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum and didn't really know where to begin, so I figured why not start a thread about my journey? So, I've always been kind of obese (there were a few years that I lost a lot of weight sticking to a low carb diet) I hovered around 300lbs give or take for many years. In 2012 during a divorce, I ballooned all the way up to 365lbs and I swore I'd never get to that point again. I started doing low carb and got all the way down to 235lbs before getting re-married and gaining back about 50lbs. During COVID in 2020, I just completely fell apart and ended up getting to my all-time highest weight of 385lbs. I drive trucks for a living and in August of 2022, I had to go for a sleep apnea test and I failed miserably. Failing the sleep apnea test put my career in jeopardy. I decided immediately afterwards to contact my local hospital about bariatric surgery and immediately started a 6 month program in October, 2022. Since I had already had the sleep apnea test and failed, I'd already knocked that part out at least. I literally just got back from my final doctors appointment and they told me that it's up to my insurance provider to approve or deny me for surgery. I'm really excited but also really nervous. The only time I've ever stayed in a hospital overnight was to take my sleep apnea tests. I started this journey at 385lbs, today I weighed in at 365lbs. I had my ups and downs, but I'm really looking forward to this journey and really looking forward to getting to know everyone and to share my journey.

Quick update, I had my first doctors appointment in roughly three months today, I weighed in at 286lbs, though it should have been less because it's cold in Texas right now and I was in jeans, shoes, and a hoodie, lol.. but anyway, everything is going really well! I dropped another 10lbs this month and the doctor said that I'm averaging about 10lbs a month, which is normal. He says that before long, the stomach will start to stretch more and that I'll be hungry again soon, which I don't really believe but hey, he's the doctor, right? I still can't really eat more than 3 bites or so without getting sick and have been mostly eating soup lately because of the weather and that I can take a little more in with the liquid. I've been drinking a lot of coffee and sweet tea, which I know isn't good, but I figure since I'm not eating that much, it's okay to get some calories in through drinks. I have 1lb to go until I hit the 100lbs lost stage and I only have 61lbs to go to hit my goal, so I really think I'm going to reach my goal before next summer, which would absolutely amazing. It's frustrating at times to see my family indulging on fast food and remembering a time when I could down a double whopper and a large fry with ease. These days, I can't take two bites of a burger before I'm ready to throw up, but to anyone reading my journey, it's absolutely worth it!

Any of my June people still around? I was just checking in to see how everyone was doing? I had my first doctors appointment in three months today and the doctor said I was losing about 10lbs a month which is normal. It's still hard sometimes to adjust to taking three bites before I have to start spitting into something (to avoid throwing up) but other than that, everything's been really great. Before surgery, I kept hearing tons of horror stories about infections, not being able to tolerate anything, etc, but haven't really experienced any of it.

I have a bit of a new update... I started a new job in September so I've been pretty busy. Since my last update, I've lost about 10lbs. I haven't really been eating the way that I should and have missed a vitamin here and there, but I'm still progressing. My new job takes me out of town and I don't really get to cook like I normally would. I'm planning to get back on track this upcoming week. I'm hopeful to reach my weight goal by my birthday in January. I've found that of all the foods I've eaten since surgery, the only food that I haven't been able to tolerate is beef, of any kind. I also don't tend to tolerate bread very well. I've really been craving coffee (since I gave up all carbonated/caffeinated drinks before surgery) but it doesn't really agree with me either, lol.

I've found that I still can't really tolerate beef. Everything else that I've tried, I've had pretty good success with in moderation. The only thing that I've found I can take more than 3 bites of without feeling miserably full are Pringles, and I know I shouldn't be eating them, but it is what it is.

I'm officially right on the edge of being back into the 200's for the first time in about a decade, I'm also now closer to my goal than I am my heaviest weight, so that's pretty exciting. I've been slowly learning to take smaller bites, way more chewing, and taking more time with meals. I know that we're not supposed to be eating fast food, but I had a regular McDonalds cheeseburger a couple days ago. It was the first burger I've had in four months, and even though it was from McDonalds, it tasted great and I was able to finish the whole thing over the course of about 30 minutes. I'd say that's progress. At one point, my surgeon had told me that it was okay to start incorporating lunch meats and I tried boars head roast beef and it made me so sick that I swore I'd never even try beef again, but I did and it seemed to work out. Most days, I see myself mostly eating string cheese and various nuts. This has definitely been an interesting journey so far.

Thank you for the kind words, generally, I feel pretty good. It's kind of a pain to be hungry and want to eat like I used to, then take 3 bites and be so full that I have to have a spit cup or I'll puke, lol.. As far as pain or anything like that, I don't have any and I feel like normal.

I apologize for not posting as often as I did at the start. I've slowly started to incorporate more things into my diet over the last couple weeks. I had a fish taco from Torchy's Tacos tonight, for example. I was only able to eat two bites, but it was a nice change up. I attempted to eat a turkey sandwich from Subway last week and wasn't really feeling the bread. I was only able to eat about half of a six inch and it took me a couple days to get that done, lol. After getting sick off of roast beef about a month ago, I haven't even attempted red meat again and really don't have a desire to. I've found that I still "want" to try to eat a large amount, but my body doesn't allow it. I've pretty much just started taking two bites of things and being finished as when I take more than two bites, I have to start spitting in a cup or I have a desire to throw up. I'm officially down to 313lbs, so I should only be in the 300's for a couple weeks more or so. I'm down 72lbs since the start of my journey and down 48lbs since my surgery on June 23rd (8 weeks ago tomorrow.) So I guess you could say I'm averaging a 6lbs/week loss since my surgery, but I've found some weeks I'll lose 10lbs and some weeks I'll stall. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm only intaking like 400-800 calories a day and stalling, but I know that it's just a part of the bodies process. My surgeon has said since day one that this surgery and weight loss will last about a year and to make the most of it now. I swear, feeling how I feel when I eat, I don't imagine that I'll ever be able to eat like I used to again. I guess we'll see. Thanks to everyone that's stuck with me through this journey and ready my posts and have given me encouragement. If you're reading this and you're still on the fence about whether to have the surgery or not, I can say without doubt that it's the best thing I've ever done. It really sucks to not be able to eat certain things anymore, but being healthy and losing weight is a lot better than any junk food. Sometimes when my family are eating huge burgers, cakes, pies, etc... I feel regret for a brief second, but honestly, the only regret I have is that I didn't do this 10 years ago.

Thank you, I got my approval on May 31st and had my surgery on June 23rd.

Today was kind of a bittersweet day. I had my final regular doctors appointment with my surgeon. Every thing has been going really well and he basically told me that I’m free to start eating a normal diet again, but to use common sense. I won’t have another appointment for three months. Between my last appointment and today, I lost 14lbs and he seemed pretty happy with my progress. He told me to expect to lose about 10lbs a month or so for about the next year. I think my next big adventure will be to go low carb and try to drop a little faster while I have this great tool at my disposal.

Congrats on getting your surgery! I know what you mean about the liquids! The best for me was the sabra hummus and the mashed potatoes. It’s kind of a pain trying to keep up with the vitamins, trying to eat 2-3 times a day (they told me to eat 5 small meals a deal, how am I going to get my fluids in if I eat 5 times a day and can’t drink for 30 minutes before and after, that’s 5 hours a day I can’t drink! 😂) I’m glad that my information is helpful to someone!

I haven't posted an update in awhile, but there hasn't really been much to report. I tried sliced deli roast beef last week and it was too soon, my stomach really hurt for about 45 minutes, then stopped. I guess I'm just not ready to digest beef at the moment. I had pretty good success with turkey though. This week, I tried a chicken quesadilla and managed to take 2-3 bites and was okay. I had a bit of a stall "weight loss" wise from the 13th through the 20th, but got on the scale this morning and was at 325lbs, so I managed to lose 5 more pounds since the 12th, bringing my weight loss since surgery to 27lbs, 60lbs since I started this journey. I'm probably going to avoid the other forums and topics as this page as they seem to be pretty cliquish. I'm going to continue posting in this journal because I enjoy it and think it's fun to keep a history about what I'm going through. My next doctors appointment is in four days, so I'll probably post another update then.

I’m officially 4 weeks post-op tomorrow, starting my 5th week diet plan and it says I can incorporate turkey or roast beef deli meat… I tried a piece of roast beef sliced paper thin and it’s definitely not agreeing with me right now.. 😬 I’ve been mixing peas with mashed potatoes lately though and it’s been really great. The booklet says that I can start having baked fish and ground beef/turkey, but I think I’m going to leave it alone for another week or three..

Man, I'm just going into my 4th week and eating mashed potatoes and started with tuna and I'm reading that y'all are eating green beans, carrots, shredded cheese, and pasta?! I'm jealous... lol I ate a spoonful of sauce and cheese from the lasagna that my family is having for dinner and felt guilty.. lol

I had decided to only get on the scale once a week, I didn't want to be that person that gets on the scale every day and gets discouraged during a stall. My usual doctors appointments are on Thursdays (for some reason) so I decided that Thursday's would be the day. I have a lot of stuff going on tomorrow so I decided to get on the scale a day early. Last Thursday, I had my first post-op appointment with my doctor and had lost 46lbs since entering the program and 22lbs since surgery. I got on the scale this morning and have since lost 9lbs! I went from 339lbs last week to 330lbs this week, bringing me to a total of 55lbs lost since entering the program and 31lbs since surgery. This past week, I've focused mostly on trying to get my fluids in, mostly drinking water and the occasional Gatorade Zero. I never really cared for water so it's shocking how much of it I'm drinking now. For the most part this week, I've eaten scrambled eggs, grits, cream of wheat, hummus, refried beans, and mashed potatoes. I mistakenly ate the potatoes a bit earlier than I was supposed to, but I haven't had any issues with them, so figured they must be okay. I'm not 100% proud of it, but the mashed potatoes came from KFC.. 😬 I've still done pretty good though, regardless! I'm still trying to get as much protein from drinking the shakes as I can. I get roughly 20oz a day from the shakes which is around 2 whole bottles, so somewhere around 60g of protein. I'm taking my vitamins every day as well. As best as I can figure, my calorie intake is probably somewhere around 500-600/day (this is just a rough estimate, the protein shakes alone are about 300.) I have gotten dizzy a time or two, which I've read is normal and at times, I get ridiculously itchy on my back and stomach, but it's not too bad. I tried to fix it with Benadryl but it didn't work. I did get one hell of a good nights sleep though, so there's that! I feel a lot better than I did pre-surgery. I still have a long way to go, but I'm feeling really great and only have 30lbs to go until I'm back into the 200's!

You said that you take multivitamins 4 times a day, I only take 6 pills a day total, and they’re chewables. They're really not bad to keep up with and I’ll probably transition to something else later down the line. To be honest, once they cleared me to start taking them, I’ve felt great.

You said that you take multivitamins 4 times a day, I only take 6 a day and they’re chewables. They're really not bad to keep up with and I’ll probably transition to something else later down the line. To be honest, once they cleared me to start taking them, I’ve felt great.

It's what my nutritionist and surgeon said to take?

I’m taking the chewables from Bariatric Fusion. It’s what my nutritionist suggested. The iron and B12 taste great. (Iron is watermelon flavored and the B12 is grape.) The multivitamin (cherry) and the calcium (caramel) leave a lot to be desired, but they’re not bad.

My wife and I were out tonight and stopped by a “Gringos” restaurant, she got a taco salad, I got a side order of refried beans. They were amazing!

My wife and I were out tonight and stopped by a “Gringos” restaurant, she got a taco salad, I got a side order of refried beans. They were amazing!

😂 yeah, the hummus is the same way! I need to look into refried beans too!

I made an egg this morning with 0% milk, salt, pepper, and a tiny amount of butter. My surgeon suggested margarine but I just don’t think I can do that, lol. I bought cottage cheese and ricotta but haven’t tried them yet. I bought some Sabra Hummus and have snacked on it a time or two and it’s amazingly delicious, lol. I’m going to have to buy some avocados, I hadn’t even considered that so thanks for the suggestion!

I’m in Houston, had my surgery in Pasadena. I lived in Plano for a little while, I love North Texas, it’s a lot more hilly and clean than Houston 😂 I have a couple suggestions (based on my experiences) try the Fairlife chocolate protein shakes (they sell them at Costco and Sams Club) and try the original Sabra Hummus, both are amazing after weeks and weeks of liquid diet! I had my first egg this morning, it was okay. I only got through about half of it though.

Glad to see another Texan here that had the surgery around the same time that I did! I also lost around 12lbs after the surgery, I'm assuming that it's normal? Glad everything went smooth for you.