Ten months out...Hit goal weight today!
Just thought I'd put this out here on the board. I had my surgery late last June, which was preceded by a three-week weight loss diet to get my liver ready for the event. I pretty much followed the doc's instructions for post-op, and began a regimen about three weeks after surgery that I still follow.
A protein shake in the morning, made with soy milk, with a couple of tablespoons of BeneFiber and half a banana blended in. That's been followed by 8 or nine prunes, and then my morning vitamins and supplements.
A protein bar for lunch. Copious amounts of water during the day, generally in the form of hot tea.
When I need a snack, I reach for a tangerine. I haven't had a potato chip, french fry, or cookie in a year. I doubt if I ever will, now that I've proved to my own satisfaction that I can easily live with them.
Dinners have been "regular food" for as long as I've been able to manage. I favor seafood (salmon, shrimp) but get beef, lamb, and chicken pretty regularly, too. I might have a modest serving of veggies, and two or three times a week I'll have a small serving of pasta or half a baked potato. A green salad maybe fives time a week. Regular dressing... nothing exotic. Olive oil and balsamic vinegar are great.
Pre-op, my major downfall was my need to snack in the evenings. I probably took in a third to half of my daily calories after dinner. Now, when I crave a snack, I'll have a 200-calorie serving of microwave popcorn or a fat-free Greek yogurt cup flavored with some sugar-free instant pudding and re-hydrated dried cherries.
I've been able to tolerate whole pills since I first tried at about three weeks post-op. I take a Centrum multi and two Citracal tablets in the morning after my shake, and again in the evening after my dinner. A sublingual B12 tab goes in on Monday and Thursday.
I only weigh myself one a week, always on the same day at the same time and the same degree of undress. There were a few periods over the past ten months that I went a week or two (or three) without seeming to lose anything, but over the long haul the graph of weight over time shows a nice logarithmic decline.
All I can say to those who might read this and who may be wondering whether the journey is worth the trouble is... YES. I have no doubt whatever that if faced with being morbidly obese again I'd do this all over again in a heartbeat.
I'm wearing a 34 waist these days. I have completely lost my sleep apnea, high blood pressure, bad blood lipids, tendency towards diabetes, and perpetually sore knees. My back hasn't barked at me in months. I try to exercise (walking) as often as possible, and can easily put four miles behind me these days without stopping, breaking a sweat, or even breathing hard.
I'm 65 years old. I no longer take any daily meds, except for the vitamins and supplements, and a capsule for my prostate.
One of my goals at the outset of this adventure was to strap on a backpack and take an extended trek through my beloved Sierra Nevada mountains for the first time since my kids were in Boy Scouts. The only thing that's going to delay that trip now is waiting for the deep snows in the mountains to abate, and finding someone else who can keep up with me.
Good luck to all you folks out there who may just be starting this journey. The only advice I have to give you is to be ready to make a permanent change in your relationship with your best friend: food. That's not easy to do, but it is imperative if your surgery is going to be the tool that helps you find yourself again.
A protein shake in the morning, made with soy milk, with a couple of tablespoons of BeneFiber and half a banana blended in. That's been followed by 8 or nine prunes, and then my morning vitamins and supplements.
A protein bar for lunch. Copious amounts of water during the day, generally in the form of hot tea.
When I need a snack, I reach for a tangerine. I haven't had a potato chip, french fry, or cookie in a year. I doubt if I ever will, now that I've proved to my own satisfaction that I can easily live with them.
Dinners have been "regular food" for as long as I've been able to manage. I favor seafood (salmon, shrimp) but get beef, lamb, and chicken pretty regularly, too. I might have a modest serving of veggies, and two or three times a week I'll have a small serving of pasta or half a baked potato. A green salad maybe fives time a week. Regular dressing... nothing exotic. Olive oil and balsamic vinegar are great.
Pre-op, my major downfall was my need to snack in the evenings. I probably took in a third to half of my daily calories after dinner. Now, when I crave a snack, I'll have a 200-calorie serving of microwave popcorn or a fat-free Greek yogurt cup flavored with some sugar-free instant pudding and re-hydrated dried cherries.
I've been able to tolerate whole pills since I first tried at about three weeks post-op. I take a Centrum multi and two Citracal tablets in the morning after my shake, and again in the evening after my dinner. A sublingual B12 tab goes in on Monday and Thursday.
I only weigh myself one a week, always on the same day at the same time and the same degree of undress. There were a few periods over the past ten months that I went a week or two (or three) without seeming to lose anything, but over the long haul the graph of weight over time shows a nice logarithmic decline.
All I can say to those who might read this and who may be wondering whether the journey is worth the trouble is... YES. I have no doubt whatever that if faced with being morbidly obese again I'd do this all over again in a heartbeat.
I'm wearing a 34 waist these days. I have completely lost my sleep apnea, high blood pressure, bad blood lipids, tendency towards diabetes, and perpetually sore knees. My back hasn't barked at me in months. I try to exercise (walking) as often as possible, and can easily put four miles behind me these days without stopping, breaking a sweat, or even breathing hard.
I'm 65 years old. I no longer take any daily meds, except for the vitamins and supplements, and a capsule for my prostate.
One of my goals at the outset of this adventure was to strap on a backpack and take an extended trek through my beloved Sierra Nevada mountains for the first time since my kids were in Boy Scouts. The only thing that's going to delay that trip now is waiting for the deep snows in the mountains to abate, and finding someone else who can keep up with me.
Good luck to all you folks out there who may just be starting this journey. The only advice I have to give you is to be ready to make a permanent change in your relationship with your best friend: food. That's not easy to do, but it is imperative if your surgery is going to be the tool that helps you find yourself again.
Good for you! What an inspiring post. There are times when I am sad that I waited until I was forties to do this but obviously its never too late! I was just thinking when driving to work this morning that food really HAS been my best friend all along; and I am losing that. I am very aware of it when I am troubled or stressed or angry or all of the above. I do hope it works itself out - baby steps.
Congratulations to you.
Congratulations to you.
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