Chimera

I suppose they have to go by statistics - remember you can do anything you want to do - this surgery will change you - big time. I am 48, 5'3" and I plan on losing every ounce of my EW. This is a post from another WL board (OH) - one of my favorite folks Elina_7. She offers some wise advise:

Congratulations! Good to hear that are on the mend after surgery. You might not have noticed that this board is May 2012 surgery folks, so it is a tad more quite as folks are 1 yr + out than May 2013 - which is your actual surgery month Best of luck.

I hope you are feeling well - I am a bit nervous about Mexico as well but it sounds as though many folks have had great success with those docs - I have a bit to go until I stabilize so I have plenty of time to consider all the options. I always wonder how much the extra skin weighs - it has got to be at least 10 lbs on each of my thighs.

There's scads of folks here and on other bariatric boards who have reached and surpassed goal. I am at 80% right now - and while my Doc says that I am a super success statistically - I am going for my own goal which is 100% EWL - perhaps even more once that milestone is achieved, I will reassess at that time. Not everyone will lose all of their weight within the 'magic' year - or even the magic 24 months post surgery. Remember that the surgery is a tool - just keep doing what you are supposed to and you will get there.

I would call that smart! Plan what you eat and eat what you plan - seems like a roadmap to success if you ask me

I track - use MFP and I also use these little paper journals from my doctors office. As Feedyoureye says above - tracking is important - at support group meetings it comes up often. Tracking one's intake is the single biggest factor in successful weight loss and maintenance according to statistics.

Being the chef and gardener she is I am sure she could tear it up making delicious tasty soups

Made a tasty soup today - gonna call it West Coast Penicillin used fat free organic beef broth, couple packs of chicken breasts, sweet onions, scallions, carrots, celery, cabbage, zucchini, fresh parsley, garlic, basil. oregano and let it simmer for hours. Used forks to shred the chicken in the pot. it is very yummy - I tried it with very little of the broth, mostly the soft chicken and veggies and I am very full after about 1/3 cup. I wish I would have made this for right after surgery - could use an immersion blender to just liquefy the meat and veggies. I will freeze the soup - woohoo for a new taste that is healthy, full of protein, and easy.

I was a weepy mess when I read it as well - I am so glad you enjoyed it. It is hard work to learn to love one's body, at least I know it is for me.

Atkins induction - I did Atkins 72' - trying for as low carb as possible 0-20g a day. Clear liquids the day before surgery. I guess my liver was sleek and tiny lol.

Did you use your incentive spirometer continually?

http://www.stuff.co....r-says-shes-fat Dear Mum, I was seven when I discovered that you were fat, ugly and horrible. Up until that point I had believed that you were beautiful - in every sense of the word. I remember flicking through old photo albums and staring at pictures of you standing on the deck of a boat. Your white strapless bathing suit looked so glamorous, just like a movie star. Whenever I had the chance I'd pull out that wondrous white bathing suit hidden in your bottom drawer and imagine a time when I'd be big enough to wear it; when I'd be like you. But all of that changed when, one night, we were dressed up for a party and you said to me, ''Look at you, so thin, beautiful and lovely. And look at me, fat, ugly and horrible.'' At first I didn't understand what you meant. ''You're not fat,'' I said earnestly and innocently, and you replied, ''Yes I am, darling. I've always been fat; even as a child.'' In the days that followed I had some painful revelations that have shaped my whole life. I learned that: 1. You must be fat because mothers don't lie. 2. Fat is ugly and horrible. 3. When I grow up I'll look like you and therefore I will be fat, ugly and horrible too. Years later, I looked back on this conversation and the hundreds that followed and cursed you for feeling so unattractive, insecure and unworthy. Because, as my first and most influential role model, you taught me to believe the same thing about myself. With every grimace at your reflection in the mirror, every new wonder diet that was going to change your life, and every guilty spoon of ''Oh-I-really-shouldn't'', I learned that women must be thin to be valid and worthy. Girls must go without because their greatest contribution to the world is their physical beauty. Just like you, I have spent my whole life feeling fat. When did fat become a feeling anyway? And because I believed I was fat, I knew I was no good. But now that I am older, and a mother myself, I know that blaming you for my body hatred is unhelpful and unfair. I now understand that you too are a product of a long and rich lineage of women who were taught to loathe themselves. Look at the example Nanna set for you. Despite being what could only be described as famine-victim chic, she dieted every day of her life until the day she died at 79 years of age. She used to put on make-up to walk to the letterbox for fear that somebody might see her unpainted face. I remember her ''compassionate'' response when you announced that Dad had left you for another woman. Her first comment was, ''I don't understand why he'd leave you. You look after yourself, you wear lipstick. You're overweight - but not that much.'' Before Dad left, he provided no balm for your body-image torment either. ''Jesus, Jan,'' I overheard him say to you. ''It's not that hard. Energy in versus energy out. If you want to lose weight you just have to eat less.'' That night at dinner I watched you implement Dad's ''Energy In, Energy Out: Jesus, Jan, Just Eat Less'' weight-loss cure. You served up chow mein for dinner. (Remember how in 1980s Australian suburbia, a combination of mince, cabbage, and soy sauce was considered the height of exotic gourmet?) Everyone else's food was on a dinner plate except yours. You served your chow mein on a tiny bread-and-butter plate. As you sat in front of that pathetic scoop of mince, silent tears streamed down your face. I said nothing. Not even when your shoulders started heaving from your distress. We all ate our dinner in silence. Nobody comforted you. Nobody told you to stop being ridiculous and get a proper plate. Nobody told you that you were already loved and already good enough. Your achievements and your worth - as a teacher of children with special needs and a devoted mother of three of your own - paled into insignificance when compared with the centimetres you couldn't lose from your waist. It broke my heart to witness your despair and I'm sorry that I didn't rush to your defence. I'd already learned that it was your fault that you were fat. I'd even heard Dad describe losing weight as a ''simple'' process - yet one that you still couldn't come to grips with. The lesson: you didn't deserve any food and you certainly didn't deserve any sympathy. But I was wrong, Mum. Now I understand what it's like to grow up in a society that tells women that their beauty matters most, and at the same time defines a standard of beauty that is perpetually out of our reach. I also know the pain of internalising these messages. We have become our own jailors and we inflict our own punishments for failing to measure up. No one is crueler to us than we are to ourselves. But this madness has to stop, Mum. It stops with you, it stops with me and it stops now. We deserve better - better than to have our days brought to ruin by bad body thoughts, wishing we were otherwise. And it's not just about you and me any more. It's also about Violet. Your granddaughter is only 3 and I do not want body hatred to take root inside her and strangle her happiness, her confidence and her potential. I don't want Violet to believe that her beauty is her most important asset; that it will define her worth in the world. When Violet looks to us to learn how to be a woman, we need to be the best role models we can. We need to show her with our words and our actions that women are good enough just the way they are. And for her to believe us, we need to believe it ourselves. The older we get, the more loved ones we lose to accidents and illness. Their passing is always tragic and far too soon. I sometimes think about what these friends - and the people who love them - wouldn't give for more time in a body that was healthy. A body that would allow them to live just a little longer. The size of that body's thighs or the lines on its face wouldn't matter. It would be alive and therefore it would be perfect. Your body is perfect too. It allows you to disarm a room with your smile and infect everyone with your laugh. It gives you arms to wrap around Violet and squeeze her until she giggles. Every moment we spend worrying about our physical ''flaws'' is a moment wasted, a precious slice of life that we will never get back. Let us honour and respect our bodies for what they do instead of despising them for how they appear. Focus on living healthy and active lives, let our weight fall where it may, and consign our body hatred in the past where it belongs. When I looked at that photo of you in the white bathing suit all those years ago, my innocent young eyes saw the truth. I saw unconditional love, beauty and wisdom. I saw my Mum. Love, Kasey xx This is an excerpt from Dear Mum, a collection of letters from Australian sporting stars, musicians, models, cooks and authors revealing what they would like to say to their mothers before it's too late, or would have said if only they'd had the chance. All royalties go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Published by Random House and available now.

If the bands are too long for any of your particular exercises just wind each end around your hands - my trainer hipped me to that one

I know you eat Paleo Fidd, I cant remember if eggs are okay - they are for Primal, but I know Paleo eliminates dairy.

My quick and easy go to's for feeling full fast are turkey meatballs and hard boiled eggs. I have no idea why but consuming a single hardboiled egg is like eating a full-on Thanksgiving dinner for me in terms of feeling full - its like eating a cannon ball lol. I love nuts and cheeses, but they get a bit slidery for me and I think they can hinder my losses - so I need to watch it with those two favorites. These are awesome if you have not tried them - the fabulous Fat Guacamole Devil! http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fat-guacamole-devils/#axzz2VjmPA477

I have seen a lot of vsg vets around on the web post about ways to increase caloric intake and many folks go for quality and caloric density as it is a challenge with quantity, which is fairly obvious considering our restrictive procedure. High quality cheeses, nuts, and bacon seem to be popular choices - as well as avocados, nut butters, etc. If you like your protein drinks, adding more liquid calories could be easier than denser forms of food if you simply stuffed to the gills all the time. There are a lot of protein drinks out there with much higher calories than the one I drink (Premier) - this could help.

I've tried most brands of Greek yogurt and I have to admit the very first time I tried a Chobani - the texture totally freaked me out. After surgery we got a lot of Fage 2% - and now my store carries the Dannon Light & Fit which is yummy, and a bit less calories than the others. You can also mix in sugar free Jello and pudding mixes into the yogurt for a change - some are quite tasty. All in all I do think it can be an acquired taste - I know it has worked out that way for me, I hated it at first and now they are my go-to snack/dessert when I want something sweet.

Indeed life is so much richer when your health is better!

I've just had my one year post op check up appointment this morning and I feel very positive after receiving wonderful feedback from my provider. Although my losses have slowed dramatically these last two months, Adam told me that I am 100% successful and ahead of the curve in terms of my success with the surgery. My husband and I have really been focusing on getting more activity and my daily calories are in the range of 800-1200 a day - with protein first as always. I met with a trainer last week who has set up a program of simple strength training and cardio to help me get to my goal, which is a healthy BMI <25 - at 5'3" that is 140. Hubby, who also had a VSG two weeks prior to my own, is essentially at goal and is focused on building muscle. I am statistically right where Adam projected me to be (175) though the number has been back and forth between 175- 178 these past weeks. Just about all of my co-morbidities are resolved - though osteo-arthritis does not have a resolution but rather is managed, my pain and mobility is astronomically better than it used to be. Adam said that even if I do not lose another pound I am absolutely healthy - and that I have completely turned my health around from what it was 3 years ago. It feels great to know that I have made such great strides - finally, I am getting this monster under control. I showed him the alternate height/weight chart that factors in age and he said that absolutely as we get older it is fine if those numbers are a bit higher - it is still considered healthy. I have a tendency to rip myself to shreds and to look upon myself as a failure, a history of depression, anxiety, and disordered thinking can tend to do that and I had started to do the same thing with my weight loss progress, beating myself up mentally because I had not yet achieved my ultimate goal - feeling like a failure and forgetting to celebrate the magnificent successes I have achieved. Feeling down because of all of the excess skin, the terrible toll so many years of carrying so many excess lbs. does to one's body - feeling guilt that I had done this to myself, defeated. Feeling that I would never have ultimate success - it was a bit of a reboot to know that I am already a success in the eyes of this medical practitioner who was with me every step of the way with my surgery, the hematocrit levels that dropped to 19, the internal bleeding that followed, the multiple blood transfusions, the incisions that opened up at home when they finally let me return home from the hospital after a week - and sent me back to the ER. I was miserable for about 8 weeks after my surgery - it certainly took me a bit to recover. I feel wonderful now, and am close to goal. I need to cherish the journey and recognize the incredible positive changes that my family and I have made over the past few years. It certainly takes a bit of practice to treat oneself well - just like this ongoing physical metamorphosis, it is a process, and there is no finish line. I will get to that goal eventually

Kristie how are you doing after your skin removal surgery? You look fantastic! I will need to have some repair work done as well with all of my excess skin, but I need to get to my goal and stabilize a bit. Did you go to Mexico for surgery or have it done in the states?

One of the most difficult aspects of this whole deal is dealing with our heads. I often wish I could have brain surgery along with the VSg - to remove the portion of my brain that is addicted to food Take a deep breath and keep on going - eat for nutrition, less for enjoyment, and learn to find enjoyment through other things - it is key to succeeding at this, and no it is not easy.

I think I will always have the freak outs with the scale - I have lots of practice over the years I need to remember that there is no finish line, and to just continue to work on all of the new, healthy habits my family has adopted - and nip those bad ones in the bud as they arise (hello devil hotdog buns from Memorial day cookout). We will get there eventually - look at how far we have all come!

I am in the same boat Lisa - I am 35 lbs. away and I have been really focusing on exercise since February. Mainly cardio stuff - I have decided to meet with a trainer to get a conditioning program set up. I am still eating the way I have since last September, its just slow as molasses right now. I keep thinking of the stats my surgeon mentions - 50% of the excess weight of in the first 6 months, the next 25% at the one year mark - and the last 25% to goal during the second year. I am close at 70%, we had surgery the same day

Started at 318 but am a shrimp at 5'3 - my BMI was in the high risk range for surgery. Still losing with about 35 lbs to go to my healthy BMI goal.