1970MaleJaxFL

Generally, you will have a lot more options when you are at a healthy weight. Ask yourself if you would be more attracted to a fit person or somebody morbidly obese. It is human nature or maybe just nature that we seek out the most fit folks to reproduce with. For me, I'm a tall dude at 6' 3" so I carry my extra weight better than most. I've noticed in the past that my social world doesn't open up unless I'm below a certain weight. In 2003, I weighed 380 lbs. with my ideal weight being around 220. I went on low carbs for two years and got down to 298. As soon as my weight got below about 300 lbs., I ceased to be invisible to women in bars. It was like a light switch had been turned on. I wasn't a "10" but any stretch but at least some percentage of the opposite sex now deemed me viable. Pretty much everybody treated me better. I hadn't realized how people had been treating me until I dropped the weight. Of course, it didn't stay gone and now I'm back up to 360 or so and my social scene is a solo effort yet again. You may have to shed far more weight to FEEL deserving of affection from very attractive people than you will to actually get the affection of very attractive people. When I got down to 'only' 80 lbs. overweight, the best looking girl I've ever seen was into me. It became crystal clear only later and at the time it wasn't even a possibility in my mind because of my self image issues (and I was 13 years older and thought she was out of my league). So, do your best to adjust your mental game to your new body image as quickly as possible. I sure wish I had.

Thanks. I start Optifast shakes on the 13th and it'll run all the way until right before surgery (then it is nothing after midnight?). I think my mind is already wrapped around a new way of eating. I just went to my favorite casual dining spot as a bit of a send off. I usually get their big salad with double chicken and a large fry with ranch dressing (their ranch is insanely good). Today I got a 1/2 salad with no extra meat and small order of fries and could only eat half of each. No massively stuffed feeling and no guilt.

My surgery date is set for April 28th. Anybody want to race me to the 100 lbs. down mark?

I might need to see photos to fully understand the issues involved.

Did everybody dive into the pre-op liquid diet cold turkey or did you have a pre-diet before the pre-op diet? All of the talk and thoughts on the lapband process must have soaked in because I started chewing the bajesus out of my food the other day. It kind of kicked off a pre-diet before I start my liquid diet on the 13th. All of my meals since have been about 25-50% of what I normally eat in each meal and have made me feel stuffed. Tonight I had 1 piece of pizza and some salad and was actually full whereas I used to eat around 4 in a sitting. What adjustments did you guys make prior to starting your liquid diet?

How about an update on US - based folks. I see several self pay options in the $9K - $10k range now. Anything in the US under $9K?

I'm curious about this too. I have massive amounts of game but it doesn't work when uh, you're massive also. I can add a little to this topic. My weight is about 75-100 lbs. higher than most people thinking because of my build (6' 3"). I know that when I went from 380 lbs. to 298 lbs. on Adkins, I went from being invisible in bars to being able to bed some pretty attractive women (6's-7's out of 10). But I also know that over a certain weight (in my case 320), I became invisible again. So sitting here at 367 about to get banded soon, I'm looking forward to getting some 9's and 10's (and a good smart, nice wife) at 235 lbs. On a side note, I hang out with the most incredible looking woman I've ever seen. She is about 10 years younger and looks like a cross between Angelina Jolie and Katie Holmes. She turns heads wherever she goes (male and female). I can see other merely hot women give her the 'damn, I'd hit that' look. I'm hopeful that I can actually make something happen there after 4 years in the friendzone (nobody scores in the friendzone).

I'm in the area. Nice to see so many locals on here. I'm hoping to be banded soon but my employer has it as a 'specific exception' so UHC won't cover it. Maybe self pay, if I can scrape up the dough.