PhatGurl80

hmm... I didn't know that either! Granted, i'm not nearly taking in as much protein as I should be anyway. Sometimes, it's just too much of a task to eat anything. Wow. Never thought those words would be coming out of my mouth...lol.

Tomorrow I will be 10 weeks post-op and I can't believe time has flown by so fast. I have to admit, I finally know what others mean when they said "this is not the easy way out" I struggle daily with what my brain wants to do as opposed to why my stomach WILL do. But, it gets easier as the weeks go on. I was a little scared the past few weeks because since the end of the Halloween challenge I was stuck at the same weight. As of Monday (yesterday) the scale finally moved down 4.2 lbs. I was ecstatic Just when my panick of never losing any more weight set in *poof* the scale is moving again. I want to say it has a lot do with my new fitness bootcamp class. I've been going for a week now at 5am in the morning for an hour of torture. lol. But, I think this is what got the scale moving. I'm glad I joined because I can now really see how weak my abdominal muscles really are since the surgery. Before I was able to do a good amount of crunches, now I can barely get my shoulders off the floor. I know in time it will be better. Well, on to what I really wanted to talk about I have a crap load of clothes in my closet that I've been holding on to for years. Some of the clothes are items that I once wore when I was a smaller size and vowed to get back into one day. Others are brand new with tag items that were too small when I bought, but swore i'd lose enough weight to fit it. Well, just out of curiosity I pulled some things out of my closet to try them on. Let's see, a summer dress that I wore two years ago (once), and was uncomfortably snug, was actually too big for me! My fiance said I'd have to take it in. Can you believe it? Me? Take in a dress?? So, I went on and tried on a sleek black pencil skirt that I used to wear for business. The last time I tried it on, I couldn't get the side zipper to even touch. Now, the zipper went up with no problem. I tried on a dress that I wore about 2 weeks before my surgery. Looking back at the pictures, I swear i looked about 8 months preggo. But when I put the dress on, IT was too big! So, i'm going to be taking in a lot of clothes it looks like! It was like going shopping, but not having to spend a bunch of money lol. I can now fit several button up shirts and other dress pants that were just in my closet collecting dust. Next round I'm going to try on my New York and Company size 14 jeans that I held on to for the last 6 or 7 years. It would make me so happy to be able to pull those up over my knees! I guess I'm still in awe about the fact that I'm really losing weight. I'm so glad I did the surgery. :biggrin2:

Congrats girl! I had to laugh when you described having to "scoot" onto the bed after your surgery. I had a tough time with that too!

SN: Phatgurl80 SW: 231 GW: 215 Today 11/21: 225.8!! Yeah baby! I think this stall has finally broken! Could it be the body bootcamp???? Good morning everyone!

Surgery was Sept 14 and 40 lbs lost so far!

I'm pretty much eating normal foods now. Just teenie tiny amounts. We are having T'giving with friends and they don't know about the surgery so I'm bracing for all the comments for not eating a lot.

LOL Thanks guys! I am slowing but surely wrapping my brain around the fact that my surgery is actually working

"I'm tired of you walking around here looking like a bum! I'm buying you some new clothes that fit!"

The other day I was talking to my fiance about something. He was sitting in his office chair and I was standing next to him, showing him something. He decided to put his arms around my waist as we talked. But as he tried to rest his arm, it just slid down. And he looked up at me and said "I can't rest my arm on your booty anymore! It just keeps sliding down!" LMAO! I cracked up. But now i'm worried! Am I going to have a butt when this is all said and done??!! lol!

Well just hang in there girl! It sounds like to had to jump right in to the norms of life. Things will get better with time. Congrats on your surgery!

I am 8 weeks out and have been experiencing steady weight loss....unit last week! I read all about the 3 week stalls and since i was beyond 3 weeks thought I was in the clear. But i've been at 231 since October 31. I did take a bit of a break as far as working out daily (walking/bike), and I know i've been eating more carbs than previously. Maybe that has something to do with it. I just can't help but to worry, "Is this all i"m going to lose??" I would hate to have gone through this whole ordeal and then only lose a minimal amount of weight.

SN: PhatGurl80 SW: 231 GW: 216 At week 1 of my challenge my number didn't move at all. I'm almost 8 weeks post op and have been losing steadily since my surgery. I'm trying not to panic and if this is a stall then so be it. The scale WILL move again! Good luck everyone!

Awesome post! So glad everthing turned out well! I was dying when you wrote that your dad was called in to view your stomach! My fiance actually took a picture of mine...and it was gross! lol.

Well Happy Monday everyone! If you're like me, you once again managed to manuver a whole weekend of being off your eating schedule and work out regiment in order to do the "fun" stuff you've waited a whole 5 days to do. I almost couldn't wait for Monday to get here. Well, in terms of how I am eating. The week days are so much easier for me. I can put my day's worth of food in my little pink lunch bag and not have to worry about what I can eat off this menu. I feel relief to get up at 6:30am, have my protein shake on the way to work, my 20 oz of water before lunch, a little bit of yogurt, some soup for lunch. But regardless, i'm here. And it's another Monday. This morning I stepped on the scale and much to my disappointment, the number hadn't changed from last week. The christmas challenge started and my goal was to get from 231 to 215 by December 25th and so far I'm not starting off very fast. I can't really complain though because I did slack off on exercise and I can tell you I haven't made the best of food choices. 40lbs lost since September 14th however, is still good to me. I know though in order to get to this next tier in my journey I have to buckle down and just do the damn thing. I think I'm all healed up, no pain from incisions, no intolerance to anything (other than raw almonds...bleh). Several months ago, I bought a voucher for 30 days of a fitness bootcamp off Groupon. Well the time for me to redeem it has dwindled down, so I need to get in there by this week in order to use my 30 day pass. But, i'm so scared! lol. The class is at 5:30 in the morning and I'm terrified that this trainer will kill me. I've been cleared for rigorous exercise but other than brisk walking and the elliptacle machine, I haven't been that intense. So,not only did I buy this bootcamp class, I also bought a round of 20 yoga classes that I also have to use by the end of December. So, I guess if anything, come Christmas, I'll be one in shape woman! Well, tha'ts what i'm hoping. As I'm sitting here typing I'm eating some lasagna a co-worker made for me. She's noticed the weightloss and she also noticed the lack of eating. I think she thinks I'm starving myself to get skinny lol. Bless her heart. The lasagna is awesome, but I obviously can't eat the portion that she served me, so it's going back to the fridge for later. Wednesday I'll be 2 months post-op. Just seems like time has flew by so fast. My fiance asked if I feel different and I thought about it for a while. While I am ecstatic that my weight has been dropping, I honestly don't FEEL any different. I get up on the scale and it's obviously waaaay less than it was two months ago, but for some reason my brain hasn't really caught up yet. I'm not sure when that's going to happen. The last thing I want is to be blind to the changes that have actually occurred. I want to enjoy them every step of the way. But it does feel good when he looks at me and says, wow, you are melting away. Although i can't see it myself yet, it's awesome that I hear it from someone else. I'm curious about how other people are feeling around this 2-3 month point. Are you cognitive of the differences? Do you still see the same fat you in the mirror? When does it click that your body is changing?

Hello everyone! I'm 31 and 7 weeks post-op. I have no kids yet. So what's my excuse for gaining all this weight!? lol Thankfully my sleeve is helping me too reverse it so I can be a healthy mommy some day.

Walking definitely helps. I had the worst gas pain for the first two days, but finally it died down after I was able to get walking.

Good question. I was wondering that too.

I choose A Lighter Me because my best friend used them a year prior to my decision to get surgery. So I guess in my case a strong referral is how I made my choice. Y deposit wsd only $1000.

I"m ready for the challenge! I was 1 lb shy of reaching my goal of 230 for the Halloween Challenge, but I am so happy how far I've come. Screen Name - Phatgurl80 Starting Weight - 230 Goal Weight - 215 lbs to Goal - 16 If I lose 16 lbs, I'll be the same weight I was when I was almost 10 years ago. That would make me so happy Then, i'll finally be able to visualize that ultimate goal I have of 175. Good luck everyone!

Final Halloween Weigh-in today! Goal: 230 Starting weight on 9/2 - 270 (also pre-op) Final weight on 10/31 - 231 (6.5 weeks post-op) Missed by only 1lb, but i'm still extatic that I reached 231!!! On to the Christmas Challenge!

I agree the forum is awesome. Congrats on your surgery and weightloss!

The main thing to remember is that YOU have to feel comfortable with whom you choose. Do as much research as you can. Ask about mortality rates, infection rates, anything you can think of. I agree there's so much stigma about leaving the U.S. for surgery, but when it comes down to it, medical tourism is the answer for many folks if they can afford it. I myself went to Mexico for my surgery and felt like i was treated with more compassion and sincerity that the times I've been treated here in the U.S. Just trust in your instincts and do what feels right.

I did a little bit. But, I've learned smile with delight and just day thank you. You'll get over it when you see yourself dropping all those pounds. Good luck on your journey!

I would say having to use a safety pin to keep my dress pants from falling. They didn't have a belt loop lol