Gaffer

No broth for Coburn patients. Stick to what the pre-op package says and what they tell you at the clinic. For me when I was on my pre-op diet dill pickles were a life saver. They are a little salty, crunchy and make you feel like you are eating real food. I used Bick's as they are low in carbs & calories. I ate a 2L jar in about 10 days. Stick in there. Andrew

My energy level is great. Before I lost the weight I was a pretty busy guy, and now that I am that much lighter it is even better. I am able to work out 50 minutes of intense cardio 4-5 days a week and still have the energy to do all sorts of stuff in the evening when I get home from work. At 360lbs I was having to sleep 10 hours per night to feel rested, now I can usually run off 7-8. It is amazing, I feel 10 years younger. My wife even said to me the other day that in the past I would be exhausted at 8:00 at night, but I was still running around the house doing stuff right unitl bed time. That will be the one. As soon as Brad heard that I was doing it he was like "Well I better get in on that action too" :heh: How are things going since I saw you & Leslie? Andrew

I would love to have a home gym, but I have the space slotted in the basement for my theatre. If I were to have a home gym I would love to have a gym quality eliptical. We have one that we bought from costco a while back and it was not cheap, but not nearly as nice as the ones that I use at the gym. In hindsight I wish I spent the extra $1000-1500 to get the one like the gym has. I am more of a gym goer though so it is all good. Andrew

Bud, I think you will be happy with the band for sure. Us guys do have the advantage in the weight loss dept. I dont think that it is a stretch to be down 50-75lbs by Christmas. For me at least exercise is the key, and the better I feel the more I do. Andrew

Quite the contrary, I love the ladies, but us guys need a place to talk about you all. Andrew

Spite can be one of the best motivators. As for the TT, I am lookin into it already with my Dr. My back is killing me as I carry 90% of my weight in my gut. Andrew

Sounds like you are doing better. You are in the roughest part of the process, but it will get better. I found that beans worked really well for me at your stage. I would put them in the blender/bullet and puree them a little with some FF Sourcream or some salsa or both. That is great that you are hitting the gym. It is not only about getting one's body back but also one's self confidence. Andrew

I will be posing for Playgirl in no time :heh: Andrew

I try not to make the Steve Austin Noise at the gym. I am hoping that with a dedicated mens section (which we now have, big thumbs up to Alexandra) that more guys will post regulary. My weight loss seems to go in fits & spurts so I can never really tell if I will meet it, but I am pretty well on my way to it. I would like to get below 258 which will make me officially obese on the BMI. "Horray, I'm Obese":confused: Thanks for the article on the AP band. I have had one since February. My surgeon here in Canada has been using them exclusively since Nov. 2006. They come in APL (large) and APS (small). I have the APL and it hold 14CC total. Currently I am at 5.3cc, after a defill from 6cc and them 5.5cc. I dont have much to compare with because this is my first band but here is my take on it. I personally think, and my surgeon confirmed this thought when I talked to him, that the AP band is pretty forgiving interms of sticking. I also like the fact that I have more "space" in my band to fine tune the fills and acheive that optimum level of fill. I am very happy with my band, no matter what brand type, or size it is. It is the first thing that really works for me. I do think that the AP bands are a good thing, but really no matter what band your Dr. puts in there it is a move for the better. Andrew

Thank you very much, I think this will be a postive addition to the LBT and that it may encourage more guys to become active posters in other areas. Andrew

I was not trying to be snippy, I had mentioned in my origional post that I was aware of the mens thread. Andrew

Hey Guys, I have tried to bring up the idea in the past but I think that it got lost in the shuffle. I think that there are enough men here to warrant our own section not just our own thread. Here is the link to my request to do so. Post up in there if you think it is a good idea. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/mens-section-pretty-please-37859/ It would be nice to have a section where us guy's could post about our unique journeys with our bands as well as other guy stuff. I am not talking about making it exclusive to guys, and the ladies are welcome to post too. Andrew

I am well aware of the men's thread, but what I am hoping for is a section where men can post topics and start threads with issues realted to men kinda like the new life at goal or near goal section that was created. Andrew

Alright, I made my June goal by the excess skin of my teeth so I will go with this one too. My goal is to be below 260 at the end of the month which will put me at 100lbs lost, and if I get to 258 I will officially be obese:confused:, down from a BMI of 49 which is almost Super Obese:embarassed:. DW & I are going to Vegas in August because we both need new wardrobes so I am going to try & drop as much weight as I can so I dont shrink out of those clothes so fast. Andrew

From the sounds of it you are starting the pre-op diet early. Are you using Optifast for the early part, or are you using something else? If you are taking the optifast, stick to that program. It will get better as time goes on. I was on optifast for 3 weeks as well, and it will take some time for your body to get accustomed to the new lack of calories. On the optifast, you will feel better after you go into ketosis, but you may feel like crap for a while. You may feel less energy, light headed, you may get cranky or get headaches. This is all normal as you body goes through the withdrawl from sugars & simple carbs. Drink plenty of Water and hang in there. It is so worth it in the end. Andrew

Wine and beer work form me to loosen things up (not just the band ). Sometimes it is more that others. The one thing that I do miss is drinking my wine with a meal though. I have to be careful when I drink though because it also loosens up the chew enough and dont eat too much response. Andrew

Welcome aboard Vince. We need some more guys around here to keep the ladies from getting out of hand. Andrew

My secret is the band. I have pretty good restriction right now so I am not eating really big portions. .75 to 1.5 cups of food max at each meal. An average day for me consist of a protien shake for Breakfast and either a special fibre muffin we make at our house, or a yogurt or nothing else depending on what we have around. lunch is after my workout and usually some left overs or a large Wendy's chili if I dont have any leftovers. dinner is what ever my wife is having and it really varies, sometimes Pasta or a chicken dish, hamburger. I dont eat fish or seafood. I dont really count calories, I just check from time to time to make sure that I am not eating too much. I spend 50 minutes at 85% maximum heart rate at least 4 days a week which I think is the big part of the secret. I know from my past weight loss attemps that working out is the key for me. I dont know if that will be much help, but from what I am calculating I am eating about 1500-1700 cal per day, and I burn about 900 at each work out. I am a pretty large framed muscular guy under this layer of fat, so I think that helps with burning off those calories. My BMR is around 2500 cal/day. If you have any questions let me know. Andrew

I am pretty sure that I could eat apples, but the peels would get me. I have been having troubles with fruit peels lately. I have had sticking episodes with some cherry skins and a skin from a stewed tomato that was in some chili. A stupid skin from a beef sausage just about killed me the other day. I got so inflamed I had to resort back to full liquids for 48 hours to feel better. Andrew

Restaurants are still something I am working on. I normally order something that will travel well and be nice as left overs. I am still having times when I feel stupid for only eating a little bit of food, but if I am ever pressed on it I just say I had a big lunch or the food was great but I am not feeling well. We went to an Italian wedding lately that was 7 course, luckily there was some wine to loosen up my band, and the whole meal took 3 hours so I was able to eat a pretty good amount. I have still not gotten to the point where I am sharing a meal with my wife, but I am sure that we can. I still think that I should buy 2 full meals at a restaurant. It will be good though when my son is eating more people food as we will be able to share then.

+1 for an accoutant. They are not really that expensive, and they often save you money by finding additional deductions as well as the hassle of dealing with CRA. Andrew

Just to echo what other have said here, all of it is true. I found the personal touch provided by Dr. Coburn to be great. Honestly the best Dr. I have ever been treated by. You wont regret having the lap-band, especially with SWLC. Andrew

eggs are tricky. I eat them, but I actually find that I am find that I am better with poached or sunnyside up. For some reason scrambled dont really sit well with me. Even though they feel mushy you still gotta chew the heck outta them. Dont beat yourself up. This wont be the first time you find a food that does not work for you. Chalk it up to experience and move on. Andrew

Thank, I feel great. As of today I am oficially down 90lbs since I began my Optifast Jan. 24, 2007/ I feel great, and I am feeling better all the time. I had some minor greif with my fills this past month but that is all sorted out and I am back on the losing side. Congrats on your surgery date, it is so worth it. Andrew

That was interesting, a good resource to send those who dont know about it to. I also like the celebrity part. I knew that Joseph R. Gannascoli (Vito Spatfore from the Sopranos) had lost a ton of weight but I thought it was just from his stint on Celebrity Fit Club. I also was unaware that Brian Dennehy had it too. I am sure there are plenty more celebs that have it but arent letting on. Andrew