Sometimes the scale doesn't budge and the burps are frustrating enough to make me question the decision for surgery. When that happens, I remind myself of the various benefits of losing weight and that this tool is the best way for me. For some reason, the following information always helps keep me on track.

A 50-pound loss means that your heart won't have to work nearly as hard to transport blood to all your tissues. If you're 25 pounds overweight, you have 5,000 miles of extra blood vessels in your body, mostly small capillaries, to feed the excess tissue, according to Western Washington University. So losing 50 pounds will divest your body of 10,000 miles of extra blood vessels. Because your heart has to pump forcefully enough to get blood to all those blood vessels, losing 50 pounds will reduce blood pressure, as your heart doesn't have to pump as hard. Not pumping so hard also takes the strain off the left ventricle of your heart, which often enlarges when you're overweight.

I am very tired of Opti, my daily chant is "eye on the prize". I was not very happy stepping on the scale today. I was hoping for a more significant loss. I have four more days of Opti and the RYN surgery on Friday.

Have a great week!

HW-298

LW-283.7

TW- 281.4

well.... this was not a good week on the scale....

its the first time my weekly average is higher than the previous week too. I do know I'm retaining more fluids than usual, I can feel it in my wedding band.

My carbs are higher than usual, I tried telling myself not to worry about it, since it's all from seasonal produce and berries. But it's not. I started relying on protein bars when things are really busy at work. And the carbs really add up quick with those things.

so I think I'll cut them back for now, and see if it makes a difference.

stats:

hw: 378

LW: 190.6

TW: 190.8

goals: anything under 188, which is my lowest weight and 178 ( 200 pounds lost)

take care everyone!

I know it's not for everyone, but I always had good quick weight loss success with protein shakes. My RnY doc only required a 2-week pre-op diet, and suggested I use the shakes. So I had 4 shakes a day, made with water, plus I drank lots of extra water. Each shake was 150 calories and 27 grams of protein, so I was taking in 600 calories a day and getting over 100 grams of protein. Though the first few days were a *****allenging, soon a tail wind kicked in and it became relatively easy. In the past I had done the HMR (Health Management Resources) program, which involved 5 or more 100-calorie shakes a day, vitamins, water, and some exercise. I always tried to stick to 5-6 shakes a day, and every time I went on that diet (starting at 275 pounds, then years later at 330 pounds). I would always lose right around 50 pounds in 12 weeks. At a higher BMI you might very well lose more than that in the same time. Though that program is expensive if you have to pay out-of-pocket, it could help you get down to a BMI of under 60 relatively quickly. If a program like that is not doable, you absolutely can do it on your own, using some of the high-quality protein shakes people here like to use. I know it is daunting, but you have a very attainable and very worthwhile goal which wouldn't take very long to reach. Just keep your goal in mind, as it can help motivate you. I promise that the shake diet really gets much easier after the first few days.

I wish I had some magical technique to offer you to help you to quit smoking. There are medications now that some people use which may help. I smoked 35 years ago and quit pretty much cold turkey. It was challenging mostly because cigarettes have a weird interaction with your nervous system, and quitting made me experience more nervousness in life in general for several months, before it all calmed down. There were activities I had to stop doing for a while while my body adjusted, because I had smoked while doing them, and it was too difficult to do those things without smoking. Eventually it all evened out and I could enjoy those activities again as a non-smoker. Vitamin supplements like calcium and magnesium, vitamin C and the B vitamins helped. I would also hold a stick of cinnamon, kind of pretending it was a cigarette. It had a nice flavor and though I'm sure I looked silly, it seemed to help.

The other possibility is to keep searching for a different doctor. My doc is one of the few who does take on patients with extremely high BMIs. He's a very fine physician, but he's here in California.

The smoking is another matter: I suspect it would be hard to find a doc who will agree to do this surgery on a smoker. This is because the rate of surgical complications is significantly higher for smokers, and healing in general is comparatively compromised.

But people do overcome these obstacles - why not you, too? Are there people in your life who would support your efforts to regain your health, mobility, and freedom? I really do understand that the necessary changes may seem overwhelming, but I do feel that you could quite quickly get to where that doc requires you to be, if you could grit it out for a little while.

Wishing you very good luck.

The problem is that obesity is worse when shorter. So it's actually really bad to be 330 pounds at 5'4", more so for a man than a woman, because the bones and joints are designed to take a much lighter load than someone 6'. Someone 6' would have fewer issues than your father, but because he is shorter, more pressure is on all his organs and joints.