DisneyAddict

Suspended animation is a good way to describe it. There's so much to look forward to afterwards. Danielle I think your feelings are pretty normal. What you're doing is a big big deal and it's normal to feel excited about it. Kind of the way someone talks non stop for months before a big trip somewhere. That's all people think about, want to talk about, etc. I found myself cruising shopping sites for NORMAL SIZED clothes like on a daily basis lol. Thinking about what I'd want to buy and wear and how my "look" would be. My "look" for the last 10 years had consisted of stretchy pj pants & ginormous tshirts.. not quite a look huh? LOL I found doing that and thinking of things in the future I wanted to buy, wear or do.. helped me not to "torture" my friends & family with non-stop talk of the surgery. It gave me a bit of a self-fix I guess you could say.

Excellent point And to the OP... you're doing great. It doesn't matter what anyone else does or thinks. Let them eat like starving dogs and eventually deal with the ramifications later. Just do what you gotta do and know inside you're doing the best thing for you. By the way, I don't think people noticed my weight loss until I hit about 50 pounds down.

When it gets near that time of the month, I start craving rare to medium rare steak. I mean like... with the ferocity of a wild animal or something. I enjoyed steak (cooked the same way) before my surgery but now? Oh man... LOL I'm absolutely ravenous for steak but it's funny because it's all I can talk about & think about for days.. and then I finally get my hands on it and I eat a few bites and I'm satisfied. Ohhhh the magic of VSG Sometimes I crave the salty/vinegar-y things too. I've found some almonds that are sea salt & vinegar and REALLY helps satisfy that craving without undoing our progress. The way I look at it is, I'm eating something that I would normally eat.. the carrier of a little extra Protein w/o being carb heavy.. so why not satisfy myself further with the flavor I'm craving. I did that as well with spicy hot peanuts. Sometimes I crave spicy hot things where before my surgery I avoided spicy hot things like the plague.

I've got this too and I'm down 125 lbs. Mine *has* gotten better but it hasn't gone away completely. I've got one or 2 right now on the mend & on their way out. For yall looking for a topical that can help, I've found my rosacea medicine prosacea dabbed onto these spots has really helped me (if they're really painful I'll put a bandaid over it to help keep anything from touching it or rubbing it). From my understanding, prosacea is sulpher based and there's something about the sulpher that helps clear up redness/acne. If you've been to Disney World, you'll notice the Water (like from the showers) smells kind of sulpher-y. My skin always looks fabulous when we're there so put 2 & 2 together and experimented and found the prosacea has worked well for me.

Some people need leg braces to help them walk or a pace maker to keep their heart going and nobody would get high & mighty on them about the things they need to survive or get around or live a normal life so why get high & mighty on us who need to have this surgery to keep us alive, healthy and eating right? That's my response to people when they're questioning my sanity when I've told them about my surgery and they assume it was purely elective or like I was taking the easy way out.

When my husband started teasing me that I just needed to tie my bras in the back like a bikini or my boobs were hanging to my knees in a sports bra is when I bought new bras LOL. I held out as long as possible. Same goes for underwear. I had a few pairs where the seat wasn't even touching anymore. What I did was, rather than go splurge, I found some 3-packs of sports bras at Walmart that were pretty inexpensive. I also bought some of the multi packs of underwear. I've got like 1 nice non-sports bra but I only bought it because I had to go to a wedding and it's already too big. The sports bras have lasted me for about 2 months now? At least? When I bought them they were a little tight (I believe I bought in a 40 and I was measuring a 42.. now I'm measuring a 38) and it's just eased up over time. It's finally time for me to hit Walmart again for another round of bras & underwear. Oh! If you're still able to take plus sizes, Torrid has some cute underwear relatively inexpensive as well. As much as it sucks, I'm REALLY trying hard to hold out and not buy any regular/pretty bras/underwear. They're just so expensive for not being able to wear them long. I can't help but peruse Fred's and hope there will be lots of gift cards for Christmas in my future LOL.

REALLY? Hrmmm and they helped fill the wrinkles out since they go underboob? That's what I'm worried about..splurging on these and still having wrinkly meemaw boobies. Do you use your own bra size or a cupsize up? Lol I'd hate to spill over the top & end up with quadraboob.

Has anyone given the "chicken cutlets" a try? I was thinking about ordering some. My boobs in bra are a pitiful sight to the point I DON'T want to wear anything low cut. I was hoping maybe that'd help "lift" whatever's left and fill out the wrinkles. And ya.. padded bras haven't done much to help me either. LOL They just end up wrinkled in the padding.

LOL My husband took them with my camera the night before my surgery and he just didn't let me look. After that I'd forgotten about it since I didn't pull out my camera for AWHILE. It just didn't occur to me. I guess in the back of my head I knew they were on the camera but I didn't want to look.

They actually did. Namely, now I put onions in EVERYTHING! Also I actually like dark chocolate where before I hated it. It was the worst thing ever. I also think that being a life long tomato hater (at least the actual chunks of vegetable) I'm coming around. I've had a sip of my husband's coke or things like that and it just tastes funny to me. I'm sure there's more but I can't think of any other big ones off the top of my head right now. I thought I got through the surgery just fine without my tastes changing but it happened several months into the journey when I realized it.

My husband took before pics of me the night before my surgery and didn't let me look at them until I was about 6 months out and already down a LOT because he knew how depressed I'd get over them. It was quite a shock when I finally did see them. Don't stress the before pictures too much because before you know it, you won't even look like the person in that picture. I went to my brother in law's wedding a couple weeks ago and this week my new SIL sent a link out with the wedding pics for ordering. WOW! I'm actually ordering a few (with me in them!). My absolute best friend since 8th grade told me "Honey you don't even look like you.. you look happier and WAY younger". It really is amazing how quickly our transformations go with this surgery. I never in a million years thought 8 months out I'd be on the last stretch of my journey and CLOSE. And A New Day? LOL Girl, you better not get too attached to that favorite bikini because before you know it, it'll be falling off you. You may be holding it up around the vital bits come spring time to get your picture if you haven't tossed it entirely

Right on the money as usual. The first few months are a REAL witch. I didn't start to feel normal until I was into soft solids I think? And it wasn't until I was back to regular that I felt totally normal. I remember the pain, bloating & gas well. I walked often even if it was only a couple of rounds around my living room. My husband would also hit my back with the plug in massager we have (set to low). I swear that helped me. I had a couple melt downs in the beginning and didn't watch TV for a good 2-3 months. All the food commercials really angered me. It DOES get better and when you hit the first 25 lbs.. then 50... and so on... it makes it ALL SO WORTH IT! When you can take the stairs without feeling like a winded rhino? It's worth it! When your husband points out you've crossed your legs? It's worth it. When people you haven't seen in a few months do a double take, it's worth it. Get this! My sister in law is the one who took me the day of surgery. I saw her once a few months after.. I think I was at 50 lbs down at that point. Well, I saw her a month ago (we went by their house) and she walked right by me then stopped and turned around like... ok I know it's you but who ARE you LOL. It's great! I love seeing people I haven't seen in forever. This too shall pass guys and you'll be loving your sleeves, your decision and yourselves in NO TIME!

Personally, I loathe spending money on clothes I know I'm going to shrink out of them in about a month. I've only bought one pair of jeans and one pair of yoga pants at a time and a top or 2. I've also bought the 3-packs of sports bras & underwear at Walmart. I work from home so I don't have to worry so much about clothes but I hate looking sloppy and worrying about my pants falling down around my ankles when I go into town. A friend of mine donated some jeans not long ago and those are all too big too but they were handy when I could fit in them. I'm a shopper. I LOVE to shop and I'm constantly looking at Old Navy & all these other places drooling over clothes I can wear now. I wouldn't spend much money on clothes right now. Try to hit super sales at like Old Navy, hit ebay, etc. I bought a pair of yoga style sweat pants at Old Navy for $8! I can now fit in an XL (down 118 lbs and finally in onderland!) top and I'm about 4.5-5 inches from my goal size. I think I'm at the point where I can finally buy some sweaters & cardigans & stuff along those lines that I'll be able to keep for when I hit goal. I'm not planning on buying any bottoms except for my required 1 pair of jeans & 1 pair of yoga pants as needed until I hit goal. Don't spend the money if you don't have to. Save as much $ as you can and get only what you need to survive. You'll find when you're dropping sizes quickly that it's going to be a giant irritation that you JUST bought such&such item of clothing only to have them fitting you like a hefty bag in a month.

I LOVE the bad cold comment. And it really does apply in my situation with one particular friend who's always been VERY competitive with me. I've been lucky enough that most of my good friends are guys. The ones I honestly would call friends. Guys don't seem to have a level of cattiness... now the girls? That's a whole other kettle of fish. I've completely lost one friend who was like a sister to both dh & i since I told her I was having surgery (the one I mentioned above). I have to admit that one cut me straight down to the bone. It took a long time to mourn the loss of that friendship because I honestly racked my brain for anything that I may have done. The others who are married to my guy friends, are a bit two faced and now that they see I'm no longer the biggest one in the group they're attempting to lose weight and BSing me. Oh I'm into a 22 now. I had surgery on my stomach - not my eyes... honey I know you need clothes, nice clothes, and I'm offering to let you raid my clothes.. just shut up and accept it. Tiffy's last sentence, I think, is something we all need to try to remember. We all had this surgery for our own lives, happiness and families. Not anyone else and we can't coddle those who have shown their true colors since we've lost ginormous amounts of weight. If they were true blue friends, they'd be celebrating with us. It stinks that this wonderful thing we've done for ourselves highlights the bad in some people and we end up losing friends. As much as it sucks, I'd rather know who a true friend is now... than those who are two faced and not GENUINELY true friends. True friends will stick by us. Those are the only kinds I have time in my life for. I've had bouts of depression the last couple of weeks because it seems like our friends have been severely cut in more than half. It feels sad & lonely but I can't live my life by my friends and what makes them comfortable. I was reading last night and there was a line in the book regarding friends that really struck a nerve. "Tell me who you run with and I'll tell you who you are". I used to run with a crowd in which everyone was HEAVY. I'm not now and our group has dissolved. There's something to that line I think. It hits on so many levels.

Same here.. I'm a sucker for granola cereal. I eat a very small serving with fat free milk once in a blue moon. The carbs are too high to justify it more often than that although the extra boost of fiber is nice. I just make sure I'm extra good & virtuous the rest of the day carb-wise.

The sleeve has given me SO much back. I'm finally getting to a happy place again. A few things (that will likely turn into a lot of things) the sleeve has given me: I can shop at Old Navy (in the non-plus size!) section.. I don't have to order everything online. I haven't stepped foot inside LB except to buy Spanx for my BIL's wedding last week. At the wedding, everyone I hadn't seen in a VERY long time was telling me how amazing I looked. I've got the "annoying level" energy I had back in my early 20s. Great sex! My best friend since 8th grade calls me "skinny b---". LOVE that lol It showed me who my true friends were since several dropped me like a hot potato when I was no longer the fattest in the room. I can paint my own toenails now. I can cross my legs. I'm no longer imprisoned in my house because of my fear of being seen I sleep way better now I can walk the zoo without feeling worn down or grumpy by middle of the day Being a loud & outgoing person, that's coming back because I don't feel the need to shrink into the wallpaper to hide. My class ring from high school and other rings I wore in high school FIT ME NOW! (I wasn't heavy when I graduated) Oh but my wedding rings are falling right off me. I can't wear them anymore. I'm living again.

Mine was falling out in clumps a few months ago. That's when it started for me.. beginning of summer I suppose. Back in April I cut my nearly butt length hair way shorter (above the shoulder) so it wouldn't look gross when it started falling out. I've been using Garnier Hard to Grow Hair shampoo & conditioner. I don't know if that's been helping the slow down in hair loss or if it's just slowing down on its own but it's not nearly as severe as it was. I've also been using Garnier's Smoothing serum that has argon oil in it. When I got my hair cut last week, she told me she hasn't seen my hair looking this healthy in YEARS. She did fuss at me for not taking my biotin religiously though. I think the hair loss thing is inevitable and we just need to figure out how to make it work until it stops. I've been playing with styling my hair (something I've NEVER done so I'm completely inept at it) and using hair flower clips and things like that take the focus off my thinned out hair.

I need some Protein bar recommendations that I can pick up at either Vitamin Shoppe or GNC. We're going out of town in a couple of weeks for my brother in law's wedding and I'm going to be away from my usual foods/eating schedule. We're staying in a hotel and those dumb free breakfasts are a carby hell. I've been looking but everything looks to be too high in carbs and too low in protein for the prime real estate in my stomach. Any brands/flavors/suggestions would be appreciated! We don't have time to order these things online either especially in this heat. Any other random suggestions would be appreciated too. And FWIW, I don't do beef Jerky.

Ya know, I didn't care for the Ohh Yeah bars. I bought several awhile back in different flavors. I felt like I was eating cream filled paper lol. I ended up getting the Atkins bars in Cinnamon Bun and Caramel peanut something or other. 2 of the flavors with the most Protein (10g). They're not too shabby. I didn't bother trying to hit Vitamin Shoppe. I grabbed what I could find at our grocery store that was the most benign looking. I hate the whole carbs/net carbs thing but whatever right? This isn't a permanent day to day thing and I think a few days worth won't be too bad. LOL Famous last words though You better believe I'm taking my scale with me and if need be I'll walk my happy butt to Dennys (because you know, La Quinta is always next door to Dennys )

TV killed me the first couple of months. I didn't watch TV during my first few months because I got SO angry about every other commercial being food! Which is funny because the day after my surgery while I was still in the hospital, I laid there and watched a Top Chef marathon and it didn't bother me. LOL Truthfully, I do give into my head hunger HOWEVER... before I mindlessly wander into the kitchen, I check myself. I ask myself if I'm truly working up a hungry (I typically haven't lost my "hungry".. it just feels different.. like a gas tank on empty rather than the way it used to be like a ravenous Hoover) or if it's getting close to meal time. If it is, I turn my "head hunger craving" into my meal. That's not to say I eat what I'm craving. If I'm craving something sour for example, I'll add a couple small pickle slices to my sandwich (if that's what I'm having.. I love pepperidge farms soft light wheat bread. I use one slice of bread cut in half for my sandwiches). Now, if I'm honestly just "head hungry" and it's been a few hours since I've eaten, I'll use that opportunity to get some nutrients in. I'll have a small portion of nuts (love the 100 calorie packs of almonds!!) or something that'll benefit me. This many months out, I still have to be vigilant about trying to hit my Protein level. OR If I'm wanting something sweet, I'll mix some SF hawaiian punch like drink drop ins into my Water. If my tummy is full and satisfied I don't get "head hunger" and I think that's important for me to remember. Satisfied tummy = no head hunger. I can go on about my business. With the control I have over my eating now, I see my "head hunger" as my body telling me something..like "hey we need a little boost here you low carb eating witch! This is what I want!" I can be sitting here working, not giving food a second thought then all of a sudden out of nowhere something pops into my head. I "check myself before I wreck myself" basically. I try to eat things that will only benefit me that I would NORMALLY eat as a sleever (cheese sticks, Peanut Butter, etc etc etc). Rarely do I give into a REAL craving and that's really only during PMS time and never more than a bite or 2. I eat Breakfast, lunch, dinner and 1 snack a day. That snack between lunch & dinner is a long stretch of time until dh gets home. My loss has been going at a decent clip and it's worked for me.

I wasn't cleared for red meat (save for ground beef) until month 4. Personally, I would cancel the dining reservation. Even if they have other entrees to choose from, I can't see paying $30 for say chicken.

The parm/tomato soup is REALLY good. That's pretty much all I lived on when I was on full liquids. I couldn't drum up enough interest in anything else but that soup truthfully.

Thanks for the recommendations guys. I'm getting out today to see what I can find protein bar wise. I hate that we're going to be stuck in a hotel room 4 nights/5 days and my usual eating will be off. LOL I feel like a high maintenance Pomeranian or something because of how we have to eat now My MIL doesn't seem to understand that I can't survive on peanut butter on a spoon, string cheese and coffee (she's rooming with us). This is going to be my first trip away from home since having surgery so I'm really nervous about the eating situation. I've scoped out the restaurants near the hotel to make sure I'll be ok. It's just breakfast that concerns me since the free breakfasts at hotels are always pure carbs.

My doctor wouldn't even touch me unless I'd quit for 3 months. I used the patch (itchiness, redness, etc all of it!) and orange juice. I managed to quit and stay quit until maybe 2-3 months post op. Then it got to be too much for me to handle with the food/not eating much/etc AND not smoking so I started again. I'm thinking about switching to the E-cigg.

You should be fine. I had surgery on a Tuesday and was released on Wednesday. I spent 2 days up in our bedroom with a friend of ours "babysitting" me because #1, we have 3 saint bernards and my husband was concerned about them getting to excited to see me and #2, my husband was nervous about me being alone those first couple of days. I demanded my "release from jail" Friday night and went downstairs with my husband. I relaxed all weekend and being that I work from home too... I felt able to come downstairs and work come Monday. I was still very tired and did end up taking several long naps during the day for a few weeks but there was no reason for me not to do my usual work in the morning. Keep that in mind. You may feel fine enough to give your piano lessons but you may still be really tired. I think it took about a month for me not to feel SO tired anymore.