August 23, 2017 8:49 am
Still 6’3” and tipping the scales at 277.8
As I type this, five years ago, to the day and to the hour, I was strapped to a gurney in a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico. The clinic was located in a strip mall next door to a lingerie shop and an Office Depot. I was wondering if I was going to wake up from the surgery and I also wondered if I would survive if I didn’t have the surgery. At the last minute, I decided to get up and leave. Good thing Dr. Almanza and his staff had me strapped down. So, I closed my eyes, said a prayer, and the next thing I remember is someone slapping my face and telling me “Get up big boy…you walk to the recovery room.” So, literally minutes after the procedure, I walked to the recovery room.
Little did I know that I was actually witnessing my own birth.
Before I get started, I want to say that visiting the newbie part of the board should be required reading for those of us who have been sleeved a long time and have been successful in not only losing weight, but, keeping it off. I forget from time to time that five years ago, I had the same fears, feelings and frustrations that all of you are experiencing and writing about. I want to take a moment to address some of those fears and frustrations.
So, first and foremost, I am going to type out tinman's mantra. This set of rules sustained me and lots of other folks during their trip.
So, here goes.
YOU ARE NOT ON A DIET. Since you are not on a diet, you cannot be failing at a diet. Being sleeved certainly does not mean you have to diet.
This is not a race, it's a marathon. As such, you must always remember that slow and steady wins the race. You will be sleeved for as long as you breathe air. You must develop a plan that allows you to live like a sleeved person in a non sleeved world.
Carbs and Fat are not the enemy. They are your friends
You must eat no less than 80 grams of protein a day...once you are able to.
You must drink no less than 64 ounces of WATER a day. Not tea, soda, Kool aide, cocktails, wine, beer, Gatorade, tea....margaritas. WATER, AGUA, H2O. You can all of the other stuff that you want, but only after you have gotten in your WATER. This is mandatory and not elective.
And last but not least. You must never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever overeat......ever.
So, having said all that, let's drill down on some of the huge, glaring, inaccuracies I see on this board. Before I start, I need to say that the opinions, and advice, expressed by me on this board are my own and don't necessarily represent the views of the owners of this board, some very successful and rock star vets (Ann2, truffles), and most two to three month "vets". My plan and views are born of a concerted, five year effort. In other words, a big ass dose of been there, done that, and lived to tell about it. I have lost 265 lbs and have kept it all off, +/- five pounds here or there for almost five years. Whether or not you agree with my opinions really doesn't matter at all to me. I know my way has worked for me and for dozens of others on this site and literally hundreds and hundreds who emailed me to tell me that the advice that they read in my book changed their lives. The only way you'll find out if my way works for you is to try it. Does it work for everyone? Nope. Does it work for the vast majority that try it? Yes. As with all things post op, the decision will be yours to make.
So, let's go ahead and drop the first bomb shell. In my opinion, I think the biggest idiots in the VSG universe are NITs....err.....NUTs. These fools have no idea what it takes to live sleeved in a non sleeved world. The only way their advice could even begin to be relevant is if they, themselves, have been sleeved. I will bet a box of donuts that each of you who are worshiping at the altar of a NIT are trying to shoe horn yourself into a plan that the NIT is also trying to make each of his/her other clients adhere to. We are all individual and no two of us are the same. It only makes sense that our nutritional plan should be as unique as we are. You must find what works for you and game the hell out of it. Make a plan, work the plan, own your results, and change as necessary.
Don't get wrapped around the axle trying to adhere to a strict eating plan. Remember the first line in the mantra. Any regimented food plan is really nothing more than a diet. We all sucked at diets. If we were good at dieting, we would not have needed to get sleeved. Since we sucked at diets pre op, what makes you think you can stick to a regimented plan that is full of twigs, grass, and dirt FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE? In tinman's world, you eat what you want, when you want, and made just the way you like it. Period. That's right. Period. I also never ever over eat…ever.
I lost all of my weight following that exact plan. I devised it after suffering through the slimiest, sickest, stupidest stall of all time. The scale didn't move for three months. Once I figured out how to game the four pillars of post op life (Nutritiion, Hydration, Supplements and Exercise), I lost more weight in the final four months (140 lbs) than I did in the first 10 (125). Then I discovered that the plan I used to lose my weight was also perfect for maintenance...for me.
Now, I'll move on to another point. It's pure lunacy to think that you, or anyone else out there, can be happy being on a regimented food plan that does not include our favorite foods for the rest of your life. Save your breath. You can't. So, in tinman's world, it just makes good sense to accept that you will be eating the foods you like. You just need to learn how to eat them. I don't deny myself anything, ever. I just plain old refuse to overeat. I invested the time into learning what full feels like for me and I respect the hell out of it. If you don't overeat, you just plain old can't eat enough of the "bad" foods in order to gain weight. It's impossible. I believe you should eat what you want, when you want, and made just the way you like it. The secret is to eat foods that both scratch your itches and also fulfill the 80/64.
I think I'll end on this point. It's easily the most controversial point in my lifestyle rant, but, I also think it's the most important. Your body burns carbs and fat for fuel. Starve it of either and you will stall, stall often, and stay stalled for months on end. Don't believe me? Just read the "Help, I'm stalled" posts and make notes of what those idiot NITs have them eating. Eating carbs and fat is the very genesis of the tinman plan. Protein is not the fuel your body burns. It is, however, the one thing that ramps up your metabolism and regenerates your muscles after working out.
If you don't starve your body of the fuel it needs, then it won't stall. A stall is your body's way of conserving it's precious stores of fuel. (fat) If your body thinks you are starving it, it will shut down your metabolism as a defense mechanism to save fuel. Your body can ramp down all non essential functions that burn fuel. You can live on an ultra slow metabolism. Don't believe me? How the hell do you think you got fat in the first place? That, in essence, is what a stall is. So, if you are experiencing a craving, feed it. A craving is your body's way of ordering room service. That piece of pizza you're craving has carbs, fat, protein, and sugar. Your body knows it has a greater chance of getting what it needs if if asks for it in the form of something that gives you pleasure. Don’t eat the whole effing pizza though. Eat a half a slice. If you are still hungry, eat the other half and walk away. Then watch the scale spin backwards.
By the way………My body craves tequila so I feed it a margarita or three every day.
But hey, that's just me.
If any of you are interested in learning more about my plan, go to my profile and hit the link that takes you to my previous posts. There, you will find over 40 pages of my musings, rants, and drivel on the subject. If you still have questions, feel free to email me and I'll be more than happy to help any of you, individually, any time. wmd1@gmx.com
And finally, my pet peeve of this board. Those of you who are one or two months post op, please keep your advice to yourself. You really don't have enough experience post op to be giving advice. When you post advice, you are only reprinting something you have read, but not experienced. Opinions? That's another matter. Express them all you want. But don't give anyone advice that you haven't tried and succeeded or failed with. That's just wreckless. My favorite analogy involves a flight I was on several years ago. Long story short, we had a very, very rough landing. O2 masks dropped, luggage came out of the over head bin….the whole nine yards. Now, I was pissed. My opinion was that the pilot came in too hot and damn near overshot the runway. Here’s my point. I did not go into the cockpit and give him advice about how to land the plane better. Why? Because I do not know how to land a plane. Just like the 1 and 2 month vets on here don’t know how to lose weight whilst sleeved.
My favorite thing to say is that the only advice someone less than 60 days should give is to tell what size straw to use to sip your water and protein drink. That’s really the only thing you have any experience with. In order to give advice, there must be a common frame of reference. You must have experienced the issue the person asking for advice is experiencing. If you haven’t experienced it, how the hell can you even begin to give advice on what to do? You can’t. All you can do is regurgitate what you’ve read and heard. Here’s the dealio. You haven’t done this long enough to know if what you’ve read or heard is true or if it works. Especially if you are repeating what your NUT says……
What you don't know is how your advice is affecting the lurkers on this board. For every poster on here, there are probably 25 members who read, but don't post. When ill informed advice is given, not only are you affecting the person asking for the advice, you are also affecting the person who isn't making themselves known. In some cases , you might just scare them into not having the procedure at all. I have actually witnessed and experienced that first hand. Luckily, that person lives here in Houston and reached out personally. I met them, counseled them, and they ended up having the procedure and have been at goal for almost three years now. But, they actually had decided to skip the procedure because the 60 day "vets" were scaring the hell out of them.
So, in conclusion, I will tell the newbies that you must form a plan for success. Your plan will be unique for you. Since you will be sleeved for the rest of your life, you better come up with a plan on how to live like a sleeved person in a non sleeved world.
I still fall on my knees every day and thank the Lord for leading me to this procedure. I am happy, healthy, and a freaking force to be reckoned with.
All because of Dr. Almanza and the VSG.
Well…..I had a little something to do with it too.
So will you.
Peace
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