pink dahlia

Great job !! Way to go !! Mikee, you'll be there soon !

Niiiiiiiii ce !!!!!! Great inspiration!

Sigh......... labwalker, you are such a dork ! Laughing my rear off, as usual !

My face was 1st, 2nd was my waistline. I carried alot of my weight around the middle, so as soon as id lose a few pounds, my pants were loose , again ! ( OH DARN !) As far as the chest area, the only good thing I can say about gaining weight was that I finally filled out in that area, and so far I have kept it all as I have lost weight. For the 1st time, in the history of never, I have a very nice figure ! Thank you lap band !!!

Wowser ! You. Are. Awesome ! Congrats on all your hard work !

A few years ago I picked up a 2nd hand book by " Jerod, the Subway Sandwich guy." He does the boring Subway commericals because he lost an enormous amount of weight eating nothing but Subway. That would be one piece of advive I would'nt take, the other was in his book he discussed crazy diet ideas he had heard of. Like the one that said " carry around a head of cabbage, and eat some when you're hungry ! " ummmm, yeah........... let me get back to you on that ! !!

All the chicken broths I tried were way too salty for me, but I loved Campbells chicken noodle soup or vegetable soups, blended. Also I took a little tuna, blended it with mayo and a little pickle juice. Sounds gross but I love tuna and it gave me a little protein. Hmmmm , what else ? Swiss miss hot cocoa, thinned out greek yogurt, sf popsiscles, etc. I dont remember having any problems laying flat, went back to work a week later, its been smooth sailing ever since ! Hope all goes well for you too ! Good luck !

Im sorry for your loss, sending hugs to you ! As far as hair loss goes , I didnt have any, thank God ! I have very thin, straight baby fine hair, colored and just below my shoulders. I would be bald had I lost any ! I HIGHLY reccomend Joico shampoo and conditioners, sold at salons. A liitle pricey, but a little goes a long ways. After 4 weeks of daily use , my dry hair turned very silky. Since im not trying to yank a brush or comb through my hair several times a day, I rarely shed more than a little bit daily. Give it a try ! Good luck !

I eat steak about 2-4 x a month with no problems , im about 2. 5 years banded. If you ever want to send some my way, feel free !

Nothing ventured, nothing gained ! Go for it !

You. Are. Awesome !!!!!!!!!

I dont know if this will help, but a year or so before I had WLS my husband was diagnosed a diabetic, so we immeditly started cutting back on carbs and anything white. We switched to whole wheat or whole grain breads , pasta, rice etc. We didnt mind the taste, and he immeditly noticed he felt so much better. By the time my surgery happened, I found I really didnt miss any carbs at all . I might have a little brown rice or whole wheat pasta 2-3 times a week. Try cutting back your quanties of carbs and try whole grain to see if this helps ? ( Ive dealt with depression too, I totally get the whole carb/seratonin thing, dont have it anymore !) Good luck !

My hilarious sense of humor ! My goal is to crack someone up at least once a day ! If theres no one around , I'll crack myself up. For some reason I just can see the funny side of everything. When I was taking care of my mom a couple of years ago, just before she passed away, I was worried that I was' nt taking as good of care of her as my siblings. ( I was doing fine ) She said " yes, but you're funny, and everyone has their gifts ! " Thanks Mom !

I think about food ALOT. However, in my defense, I love anything food related, not just eatin it. I love grocery shopping, The Food Network,( Pioneer Woman, Unwrapped, Down Home with the Neelys, Paula Deen etc ) collecting historical cookbooks, and because of a remodeled kitchen last year, im finally taking an interest in cooking. ( Diabetic hubby is very happy ! ) So, maybe , hopefully, this is why you're so interested in food ? Alot of interests dont make you gain weight, (knitting, reading , hiking etc) but my interest does if im not careful. Maybe make healthy cooking your new "hobby?" Then at least you have a reason to have it on your mind ! Good luck!

MARY CADE, You have a zillion people here who support you, we all have had a similar journey and got to the other side just fine. You will too. If this is any help , I was exactly your weight 2.5 years ago on the day of surgery. I am now a healthy 160 lbs and look and feel VERY healthy. My stomach problems, sleep apnea and constant tiredness are GONE ! This morning I went running 2 miles ( SLOOOOOOWLY), am wearing cute size 10 clothes, and have energy to burn. My husband thinks im hot, and I dont mind the looks from the cute guys either ! ( Im married, not dead ! ) You can do this !

Im probably the last person who should give you cooking advice as im just an okay cook. I really did nt take an interest in cooking much until last year when we finally got our small ugly kitchen remodelled. Now its the same size, but pretty with more countertop space and storage. Anyhoo, I found that for beginner cooks , childrens cookbook were a HUGE help. They're geared towards beginners , and have simple instructions and recipes. We lean towards healthy cooking ( diabetic hubby), so maybe see if you can find a kids diabetic cookbook ? Secondhand stores will save you $ on cookbooks too. Also, i get alot of recipes off of Pinterest, lots of pics and step by step instructions. Good luck !

If I could tell myself one thing it would be " the figure you have at 160 lbs will be better ( a bust AND slimmer but curvy waist/hips) than the figure you had at 21 ( NOT much bust at all, but slim waist and hips. ) I love my curves !

I find it interesting that she stated " Never, ever feel guilty for taking care of yourself. You're totally worth taking care of. " Yes, yes YOU are ! Good for you for taking steps to get healthy. She has only taken steps to get attention towards herself. " Fat acceptance " my A $$ !!! Many , many years ago ( before blogs and facebook , thank goodness )I had a "friend" who was maybe only 20-25 lbs overweight, I was slim and healthy 125 lbs at the time. Instead of doing something about her weight,or accepting it,she chose to constantly try to belittle me and say negative things about my body, life, clothes, you name it. She was very insecure about herself and terrified that someone (a man) might find me more interesting /attractive than her ! Sad. If she had liked her self, she would of found out she was quite attractive on her own. Sounds like her and someone you know are related ! I hope you have great success with your wls !

Sorry if this sounds mean ( Uh oh ! It's the Tough Love Train again ! ), but just because SHE had WLS does' nt mean she has the right to use you as a verbal punching bag. SORRY, but thats just not right. If she' having problems she needs to see a therapist who deals with this kind of thing. I would get her to one ASAP. Good luck to you !

Well, you' re just amazing on top of awesome, now are'nt you ? Great inspirational story !! Thanks for paying it forward !

Great job ! It just gets better and better ! Good luck !

Now , why did'nt I think of that ? Great idea ! Congrats !

I have a cup of hot tea to wake up my stomach, then later Belvita breakfast biscuits and a little turkey jerky. If im working that day, I seem to be a littler hungrier so ill have some swiss miss and few wheat thins w/ pb late in the AM

Like you, I crave sweets. I could care less about soda pop, alcohol, fried foods etc. I only occasionlly have a few bites of fast food. But sweets ? Oh yeah, they've got my number, especially if its crunchy sweet. Anything chocolate/pb/nuts = kryptonite ! I find that if im full of healthy protein, I crave sweets way less. Right now im having Belvita Breakfast biscuts and a little turkey jerky, this is my usual breakfast, helps keep me from most sweets. Hope your 2 week liquid goes smoothly for you, you CAN and WILL succeed with your WLS ! Being banded was the BEST thing I did for myself, I just came back from a 2 mile run a few minutes ago . Two and a half years ago I could only walk the same course, now im ( sloooowly) running it ! How cool is that ? Good luck ! You got this !!!!

Honey, if I were you id get myself to my Dr. !! Anytime you're not eating and exercising and you still lose 5 lbs AND you're losing hair, thats a sign of something that your Dr . needs to know about. Everyones body is different, but losing hair is not normal if you are eating right. Hope all goes well !