Starting a New Shake Diet & Seeking Tips for Reducing Swollen Legs,ankles and Feet!

Hi Gerrit. I'm a former big guy, having topped out at 475, with Type 2 diabetes, horrible edema, all the rest. I was able to lose 100 pounds a couple of times, and always gained it back. I also considered surgery a couple of times, and rejected it.

I finally realized I was losing too much precious time, and wasn't losing any weight on my own, at least not permanently. I had RNY 2 years ago, and lost 290 pounds. I've been stable at 185 for the last year. I've had no complications or problems, am no longer diabetic, or on any medications at all. I can't even recognize my own feet, with all the edema gone.

Good luck with your diet, but with all your issues you should have a doctor supervise you. It's a pretty radical change.

Gerrit, I am so glad you are making steps to improve your health! That is awesome. I was 377 (5'2") when I went in for my initial visit in January with the dietician at the surgical weight loss center. I was immediately put on a 2200 calorie diet. I thought that sounded really high but it turned out to work extremely well. As a man, you are going to need more calories than a woman of the same weight. I believe there are websites online that you plug your height and weight into and they will tell you what calories you need to succeed. Also, try to log every single thing you eat into MyFitnessPal. That made a huge difference in keeping my journey honest. The support on there also helped when I became discouraged.

Good luck with everything! I am glad you are here among friends!

So proud of you to start getting yourself better.  I do hope you are under a doctors care.  I believe that having a mindset to get yourself in a better place physical is a huge start.  I would make sure you are taking vitamins and drinking water if you are only doing shakes and one small meal.  Please get under a dr care though.  Also this has helped me more than anything....if you fail... dont beat yourself up, dust yourself off and get right back on track, dont wait several days or a week...catch yourself.   we are all human and we make mistakes and our will power will leave but we can get it back.  I wish you luck.

Welcome, Gerrit! I wish you the best on your journey. Please check in with your doctor before beginning this, they will be able to offer suggestions to maximize your success. - Lori

Number one item of importance is to see a doctor. Get lab work often to track vitamin levels. If you can.....get a bariatric dietition to speak with you. 

I am not a doctor. 

My surgeons office pre op plan has helped me drop substantial weight before surgery. 550-410 ish in 5 months

Do not let weight dictate your walking. Cowboy up start small and add distance and time daily. I worked 18 hours a day on my feet  6-7 days a week. I walked through horrible pain just to work. 

I also had a pulmonary embolism and couldn't walk 2 car lengths without almost collapsing. After the embolism I fought tooth and nail to remain independent. I walked around my building and eventually to the store and now up to 15 or so miles in a big day. I average around 30k steps 6 days a week at work currently. 

If you are not as mobile as you can be, you run the risk of clots, embolisms and not being successful. 

Holy crap,  that's great loss pre surgery. I think part of the reason I did as well as I have was because I also had a good running start into surgery. It makes getting to goal easier.

Keep up the great work!

This site is NOT just for people that have had or are getting surgery; Obesity HELP is for us that need help with obesity, their are several different forums for you to select to post from.  I became a member before surgery to get inspiration & healthy tips.  I have had surgery & am thankfully feeling better than I have in years.  I do hope you are under a Docs care.  You can definitely lose weight with shakes and 1 meal a day-I did it way back in the day with slim-fast but it will get old really quickly & once you're tired of it all the weight & then some will probably come back.  You can eat real food but just make better choices; you can have what you're planning to eat for dinner 3x a day.

So many of the things you typed sound like me...I had awful/painful edema in both legs ankles and feet prior to my surgery.  The most pain was in my left leg.  It worried me so much I was afraid of clots.  Since surgery & becoming more active it's better now.  I'm not promoting surgery to you just hoping you are under a Doctors care.  I'm finding that I can now actually eat more even though I've had surgery than what I did when much larger; to explain; I eat several smaller meals & healthy snacks now where as before I was waiting til mid/late afternoon like you then eating un-healthy stuff & too much at one sitting.

I wish you the best & just wanted to say hi and put my two cents in about this not just being a site for us that have had surgery.  We all share one common thing; we were or are obese and should be in the mindset to be helpful if we can, as everyone that has replied to you have been so far.  Blessings & good luck.  Proud of you for taking steps in the right direction; also try to not wait about becoming more active.  It's hard & painful especially with edema but your health will improve with activity.

I again was referring to this particular forum we are all on which is called the weight loss surgery forum. Many of us on here may not be able to offer much guidance to him is my point as we went a different route. There is a forum for people going other routes. I really wish him the best of luck and just wanted to let him know his best chance would be to explore surgery with a doctor.

This site is NOT just for people that have had or are getting surgery; Obesity HELP is for us that need help with obesity, their are several different forums for you to select to post from. 

Uh, did I miss a post?  No one said this "SITE" was just for people that have had or are getting surgery.  Anyone can post anywhere on this site.  It was just pointed out that there is a board that deals specifically with people losing weight without surgery.

Gerrit is certainly welcome to post anywhere he wishes to.

Welcome Gerrit,

I have a similar story to yours. I am 6'1" and topped the scales last summer at 555 lbs. In 2010 my mother passed away unexpectedly and since I was 12, over 3 decades I have not seen or heard from my father. However it was discovered that 1 year ago he has passed away also. Both parents were large. My father as it turns out spent his last years in a nursing home, losing a leg and essentially died from obesity. My mother had a stroke or something that depleted her oxygen. All of their factors were complicated by obesity. It was at this point that I decided I had to do something more drastic than just diet.

I have lost over 100 pounds three times in the past and have gained it back and more each time once the process became boring or something in life happened.  My most recent loss was due to a program similar to what you are doing. I did it for 12 weeks and lost 108 lbs. It was medically supervised as it is a dangerous way to lose weight and can be problematic if not monitored. After the 12 weeks we went into maintenance phase and that didn't work. So of course I gained it all back.

I decided to have the RNY surgery and yes the process is a pain and seems like a large waste of time but being a little over 2 months out and down 87 pounds it is well worth it. I lost down to 500 pounds for the day of surgery with hard work and very restricted food for about a month. Then on March 21, 2014 I had the procedure. So far it is one of the best choices I have ever made.

I can fit in chairs with arms easily now. I even sat on a love seat yesterday with another bigger guy at church camp with plenty of room. To top off all of that I went zip lining yesterday for the first time ever because the harness was able to fit. Still not sure why I did that because I am deadly afraid of things like that and roller coasters but I think the main reason was that I was able to and not excluded due to my size.

I wish you the best of luck in whatever choice you make

Big Poppa