April 28th!

[Dlooker 1]

Getting sleeved at the end of the month, any guys out there that have gotten sleeved have any advices for a red blood American who loves red meat, sports and beer?

[MizzouFan1 88]

Well I am a red blooded woman who likes all of those things AND my husband had the sleeve done 3 weeks after I did last August. Collectively we have lost roughly 235lbs. We eat red meat now in moderation (probably one or twice a week). We eat a lot of chicken and sometimes pork. As for beer....we don't' drink anything carbonated. My husband was what I like to call a "beer snob or enthusiast" and he is worried it is a slippery slope. He has lost 135lbs in 7 months and he is afraid if he starts drinking beer again it will just stall his weight loss. Its just not worth it. It is empty calories and hard to control. I think as we get further out he may feel confident to have the "OCCASIONAL" beer but I think it won't be anytime before he hits his 1 year mark. He has tried other alcohol with low calories but all in all we don't drink much anymore. As you drop weight and see yourself drink you will find that beer isn't worth it when your scale doesn't move the next day. I would say don't plan on drinking beer for a long while. Keep your steaks lean and eat them in moderation after your surgeon clears it. You will find that your life gets filled up with new things to replace eating and drinking. Like walking, jogging, Frisbee golf, volleyball, going to the Sky Zone place for kids and jumping on trampolines and into foam pits. Eye on the prize....!

OH and I forgot to mention the other big thing: SEX. It is way better. Worlds better. It is worth it. Stick with the plan.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Sarahmizzou

[dlmadeja27 30]

Love the advice, I'm a beer and wine drinker as well so I was worried about what to do about that. Thanks!

[nolimit78 4]

Hey! I'm Sarah's husband. I've been thinking a lot about your post and finally have what I want to say.

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. I think about this saying at least once a day. I don't say it to myself as motivation at all. I think about it because I feel it. There is no downside to being skinny. It's amazing being able to walk into any store and pull something off the rack and go "Maybe I'll go a size down". My wife and I are totally different from our former selves. We like to go for walks, I actually crave working out, and my love for beer/bread have almost went away completely. I get to not suck as a father, husband and over all person. I get to play with my son and not feel like I need a full days break afterward! We're able to go to the park, walk around our neighborhood, and he's even got T-Ball this year that I'm not dreading, but I'm EXCITED about! My wife and I go for walks during work and I don't feel totally winded afterwards. Your work determines your outcome.

Unfortunately when you have the sleeve your body absorbs everything differently, this is something you should know by now. Liquor is no different. It sucks having to put in work to get a buzz. If you don't drink fast enough you won't feel anything, but if you drink to slow you're just drinking empty calories. It's something that I'm almost completely over. Every once in a while it's fun but I'm quickly reminded that it's just not worth it.

That's another thing I say to myself a bunch: It's just not worth it. Do I still crave sweets/junk? Sure do. But the further I am away from that stuff the easier it becomes. My prior self would beige eat everything in extremely large quantities. Wouldn't think twice I'd inhale my food, wait ten minutes, and then go back for more. Now I don't want to say I've been 100% perfect. I've messed up a few times and I've paid for it. Maybe I was super sick for a few hours, maybe I had pain in my stomach, maybe the scale didn't go down the next day, maybe it went up. When you mess up, you'll pay for it one way or another. So most of the time it's just not worth it.

So most of this answers for drinking but really nothing else. Let's get to food. Unfortunately for myself I can't really do breads any more. It takes up way too much space and I'd rather get my Protein in than "enjoy" the bread. It's just not worth it (see!) I don't feel as full and I want to eat shortly thereafter. I still get to eat everything I want but now it's all controlled. My wife and I made pizza the other night and instead of bread we made a cauliflower crust. IT WAS AMAZING. It was totally awesome having that back in our lives! So we still make steaks, chicken and pork too but now we don't just have fries or potatoes with them. We've gotten way more creative compared to our former selves. When you cut out the junk, start preparing your own food, you get to eat exactly what you want knowing exactly what's in it. This is something you'll want to follow. Almost to a T.

It was extremely hard to break (For me) 20 years’ worth of bad habits in just a few weeks. You can ask Sarah, I would get angry and frustrated because my former self was battling the new me. There were times where I wanted to cave because it was easier but I couldn't. I just couldn't. I couldn't go back to the way it used to be. I couldn't go back to old habits. Old habits are what got me here in the first place! You need to have your mind right prior to the surgery. I thought I did a pretty good job preparing as best I could. There is no amount of prep you can do that'll help fully. You're going to have these struggles. Embrace them, keep moving on.

I'm down 150LBS because I followed the rules (mostly) and I had someone there who helped keep me in line when I wanted to fall. I would suggest maybe having a bucket list of all your favorite foods and food places and hit them all up IN EXCESS because you won't be able to go back. You shouldn't go back. My wife and I the week before her date we hit up everything we could. At one point we went for milkshakes every day for a week. It was awesome then, but in no way could I do that now. I would hate for you to do all this work to only lose 50 lbs and you're a year out. A bunch of people on this website fall back into those bad habits and aren't nearly successful as my wife and I.

Seriously, get your mind right and you will succeed.

One more thing-- If you ate like I did, you need to find something to replace it. Mine is Disk Golf and Volleyball. Helps release stress and overall just super good for you! I'm actually in counceling right now to help with my struggles with food. I'm getting better but like I said it's hard to just give up. Don't be close minded to this.