LindaS

When you start the program, pay attention to your body! I tried it a few years ago (before surgery), and my ankle became very inflamed (previous break). I kept at it until it was so painful I was barely walking anywhere. I ended up finding out that I have severe degenerative arthritis in my ankle, and I am not able to run. This was before my surgery, and I had been taking pain pills for arthritis almost daily prior to my surgery. I haven't had to take it at all since surgery. I might be able to run now that I have less weight, but I really need to be careful to not aggravate my arthritis. I am walking regularly and doing exercises like Zumba. I don't want to push it too far with running.

My doctor didn't clear me for any exercising other than walking until after 6 weeks. Now at home, I use a stability ball, hand weights and a resistance band. I use a variety of exercises including some videos including Zumba and 10 minute workouts.

It also depends on how quickly you can get appointments that you need. Some take longer than others -- if I had to see a cardiologist, I wouldn't have had surgery so soon. My psych eval and sleep study were able to be scheduled very quickly. I had surgery just over 5 weeks after my seminar.

My mood has changed. I didn't think I was unhappy before, but I was tired and constantly thinking about my size. I would sit in a chair and think about the sides digging into me, etc. I wouldn't say anything to anyone, but my negative mood about that came through in my interactions. Now, I'm not thinking about how I fit (or don't fit). I don't have that negative talk going on in my head, so I am more positive outside of my head and in. It's a change that people have noticed. I didn't have an unhappy life and nothing has really changed in my life, but I no longer have this negative self talk interfering with me enjoying my life.

I have no idea how you guys keep from telling people! I couldn't keep my mouth shut. Before my surgery, and even for a couple months after all I wanted to talk about was my weight and my surgery. I realized myself that I was talking way too much about it, and I made changes. I rarely mention it now, but I think about it so much. I'm not sure I could keep it a secret even if I tried. LOL.

NSV is a non-scale victory. The things that make you realize you've lost weight that have nothing to do with the numbers on a scale.

Oh how very awesome! You look fantastic, and I agree with others -- it looks too big.

This is something my husband commented on as the biggest change in me that he has seen. I'm happier. I have so many surprise pictures of me when I was heavier, and I was frowning in most of them. Now, the camera is more likely to catch me smiling. I never thought I was unhappy before, but I know my unhappiness with my body impacted my thoughts.

You look wonderful, and I don't think you look heavy at all in that second picture. If you are seeing it as you say you are, you might want to look again.

The lighting in the newer picture is awesome. It really brings a glow to your eyes. And I agree with another poster, your lips give you away. LOL

I click on the "like" button, and a green status bar shows up briefly. Before it updates, the status bar disappears, and the button hasn't been pressed.

I'm using Firefox 9.0.1.

I was able to use it earlier today, but it quit working for me. I have tried to "like" over 20 posts and it hasn't worked.

Have fun and enjoy the attention!

This is a picture of my dad and me when I was about 16 years old. My dad weighed over 400 pounds. This is the only picture I have where you can see his stomach because he was very good at making sure his shirt was long enough to cover it up. He died in 2006. I was 35, and I was so MAD at him because he died from complications of his weight. For the last 10 years of his life, the quality of his life was horrible. For the last 5 years, he spent most of it in and out of hospitals. His highest weight was almost 500 pounds. When I married in 1989, he was at the lowest he had weighed in many years at about 350 pounds. I loved/love my dad. I never saw him as fat. But when he left me (died), I was so angry at him. At the time of his death, I wasn't that overweight. I weighed about 180. I gained weight after he died. And when I finally realized what the weight was preventing me to do, I tried losing it. This is why I finally decided to have WLS. When I was about 10, my dad was going to have WLS. It was scheduled. He made it into the surgery room and something the anesthesiologist told him scared him. The guy said my dad had a 50/50 chance of not making it through the surgery. There was some concerns about his weight pressing down on his lungs. I wonder now that if he had gone through it, what would my memories of him have been like? I remember him sitting or laying down on things. He would tell me to get this or do that for him. He had a bell he would ring to get my attention. I was his legs. He didn't go to my concerts or games or talk to my teachers. If he had weighed less, he would have been more a part of my life. He would have been a full participant in my life instead of someone watching from the car or hearing about it later. My kids would know him. As an adult, I remember thinking how great wheelchairs were because it allowed my dad to go with us places he couldn't walk to. I loved my dad. I love my kids. I chose this surgery to give my kids something that they don't even know they would have missed. In grad school, I wrote a memoir titled "Fat Man's Daughter," where I dealt with many of my issues about my dad and myself. Here's a link to the first chapter: http://lindasherwood.com/wp/category/fat-mans-daughter/chapter-one/ This Suethsayings blog talks about the "conspiracy of silence" surrounding weight loss surgery. I want people to know about the impact not doing something has on lives. If my dad had WLS, I think he might still be here.

It is not even close to being Friday, but I wanted to join in. I drink alcohol, and I don't log it into my daily tracking. I don't drink alcohol daily, but I do have some every week. Tonight, for instance, I am having a glass of wine. My usual choice is Budweiser 55, which is 55 calories. If I'm out with friends, I tend to have one total (two bottles though). I can't drink it fast enough to have it stay cold, so I usually drink a half a bottle and then get another bottle and drink half of that. I tried Mike's Hard Lemonade. That I can drink faster. Don't try it. One bottle gave me a headache the next day, and I never had hangovers before.

Congrats! You are doing great.

What a great day to be sleeved. It's my mom's birthday! I'm glad you are already feeling better, and I can't wait to hear more about your story and future successes.

Dr. Fatma that is awesome progress, but it hasn't been a year yet. I also had surgery in August 2011, and I am only just approaching my 7 month anniversary.

Eating and drinking is very different after surgery. I could barely drink an ounce of water immediately after my surgery. I remember I went out on a boat and watched my family water ski and go tubing. I panicked for a moment thinking I'd never be able to water ski because I couldn't risk gulping that much water. It scared me to think of doing that. Needless to say, time passed, and I healed, and I can drink large amounts of water. It just took a long time to get to that point. Eating is something I still do slowly. I can't eat too fast. I need to physically stop between bites and let my food settle into my stomach before taking another bite. If I eat too fast, I become very uncomfortable. It only takes once or twice of that happening before you learn how to eat slower.

I like my nails -- they tend to be long without any effort. I like my thick hair, and one of my biggest worries about this surgery was losing that. I've lost hair, but it is still thick. I like my mouth. It's full and my smile is big. I love my family and how easily humor comes to my husband and me and our kids. I like that my father-in-law, husband and son have fun with words since I'm a writer. I love my job and feel I'm good at it. I teach English composition to college students. I like my willingness (if not my skills) to tackle a home improvement project. I like that I've had such a big hand in making our house a home. I like that my eyes change colors. I like my sneeze, which tends to not sound like a sneeze. It's memorable, and it usually makes people laugh. I love that I've been able to record my family's little moments with my writing and photos.

You look fantastic. I've always loved your profile picture, but it was great to see a before/after as well. Congrats on all of your hard work!

You look fantastic, Wishes! Great job!

I couldn't find that post, yecats. I looked through the archives and none of them had that title. I liked this recent one about her thoughts about exercise http://www.300poundsdown.com/2012/03/fitness-friday.html And this post of a journal she wrote after her husband left her in 2006 http://www.300poundsdown.com/2012/03/you-are-worth-it.html

It really depends. I think the biggest things to worry about is getting your liquid in and figuring out how to eat lunch. When I was first sleeved, it was all I could do to keep track of my Fluid intake. It felt like a full-time job because I couldn't drink very much at a time. It took me 12 hours to get my 64 ounces in, and it was drinking steady to do that. Eating easily took an hour or more. I went back to work after two weeks. I teach at a college, so I actually only go to work twice a week. The other three days I work from home grading, etc. I was wiped out those first few weeks of work. I was going to bed at 8 p.m., which is something I never do. I was falling asleep watching TV before 8 p.m. I was physically exhausted. It got better, but I was drained of energy. I am about 7 or 8 months post-op now, and I still don't eat a real lunch when working. I drink a Protein drink since even with an hour for lunch, I wouldn't be able to finish a real meal in that time.