CowgirlJane

As others have pointed out this is a medical concern. If you have bad memory loss or confusion it is likely nutrition related. Get blood panels as you may be low on something. I take a sublingual b complex drops a few times a week plus vit D as they both help with these things. Depression that persists is also a medical issue. To some extent losing your very bad friend (over eating) might take some time but if it gets really bad...get help. Medication, counseling -both?

In my experience, dresses are easier to fit during transition over pants. Dresses are just more forgiving, and you can wear with thermal tights or jeggings or whatever to keep warm. If a dress fits your shoulder/bust the rest can drape very pretty. The reason I didn't wear dresses when I was obese is because pretty shoes just killed my feet. These days, boots, flats and many other shoe options are quite acceptable! Choose styles with a flattering neckline, colors that make your face beatiful. When I first hit goal, I had so much extra skin that I was still learning to "manage" that dresses were my "go to" clothing. Now, I love my skinny jeans and tops but those are much trickier to fit just right. oh, Ross Dress for Less is my source for cheapo dresses too - it is a big day if I spend more than 15 bucks on a really cute dress there! You just need to try on a zillion of them and they do carry plus sizes. Don't get hung up on size - sometimes I need a large on top even though i am a healthy weight... oh well, the price you pay for boobs!

I am going to challenge you on this - in a caring way! You are very close to your goal range - every freaking middle aged woman in the developed world wants to weigh 10-20 pounds less than they do. I don't think you NEED a revision. I think you are expressing the same dang annoying thing I am experiencing. I can eat more. I like to eat - especially delicious food . I have to either up the activity or up my personal committment to eating "right" to get back to skinny chick zone. Ain't nothing like an amazing man in your life to tell you that you are the hottest ticket in town..haha... and i keep thinking, you should have seen me a year ago! ha! but i will take the compliment

It is a little scary, but wow it is healing really well. I mean, I don't think you have any worse scars in spite of that nasty looking wound! I am so happy for you!

I cant really spell naseau or it's various forms. I hate words like that - all these vowels in a random order.

I lost about 70# with the lapband but regained it all PLUS after I had problems and had to have Fluid removed. When I revised to the sleeve - 10 years later, i was bound and determined to get the support I needed this time. Your post is a good lesson for all of us. This is NOT about just getting surgery and living happily ever after, it is WORK forever. I also don't think this is just about emotional eating. Obesity CHANGES our bodies forever, we can never go back to eating "like a normal person"

I hear all of you... but truth is he knows his situation quite clearly. I opened the door and he closed it... so enuf said. This is the only time I have talked to someone about my weight loss in that kind of context and I am not likely to do it again. It is intrusive. If someone asks me (that has happened a few times) and really wants to know, that is a different story.

Okay, my anxiety went way up and I realized something about it. It was like a cry for help because what happened was two people in my life contacted me when I was feeling wound up. One of them, came to realize (this is my ex) that he needs to take care of some crap he left with me. Just one example, our very old family dog needs some vetting etc and i can't squeeze it in before I go - and so he will do it. I must have vented at my ex for a solid 20 minutes and out of it came the recognition that he dumped alot of crap on me (mostly in the form of literally old stuff he left behind for me to deal with) and he needs to step up and take care of it. I felt my anxiety levels DROP almost immediately. Second person - we pissed each other off which was fine. I didn't get all emotional about it - more like, lets talk in a month. click. Another drop in anxiety level. I know anxiety has many roots, both physical, bad habits, history of thought processes etc. I am no longer medicating for it (yea!) and I am thinking that sometimes I NEED something from others and I don't completely recognize it - rather I experience it as angst. Interesting, huh? So, I had a wonderful, relaxing dinner with Scott. We cooked together, and made these wonderful shrimp and steak kabobs with veggies. yum. I always bring my little dog over and she has really taken to him and his big hunting dog is very sweet with her. It works well. I think he was about ready to tell me that he loves me last night which would not have been good. I realize those words mean different things to different people, but i am NOT in love with anybody i have known a month. Smitten, attracted to, crazy about... all those wonderful feelings but to me, that isn't love. He brought up my being gone for 2 weeks and all that so I promised how I will keep in touch and all but I feel like a little breather is probably a good thing. Of course, I am still seeing him Friday before I head out to Costa Rica. I really do like him alot, and he is a good, considerate man. I have feelings for him, but when he revealed to me last night that he does feel sort of jealous at times, I got a little red flag in my mind. I was careful to tell him details about my girls night out on Saturday (friends 50th birthday) so he wouldn't "wonder". I didn't do anything jealous worthy and I felt that being transparent is a good thing to do. Even so, I won't like it if he is a jealous type person. time will tell.

@@Tisa I feel you need to be fairly fit to take on HIIT fully. I exercised 30-45 minutes a day once I switched to high intensity. I might spend a bit more time stretching but actual working out - 30-45 minute.

I faced the same thing. I had a 3 pronged solution: -Decide I really really wanted to get to my goal -Met with my NUT and realized I was sabatoging myself with Protein bars of all things... buckled down on eating low carb and all that -Changed my workouts from long duration TO HIIT - high intensity interval training which is shorter duration but very tough workouts Then, I switched back to losing 10+ pounds a month and got to my goal in 14 months total

The needs of someone who is super morbidly obese and losing weight post WLS is outside the league of the people at Curves. Speak to your nutritionalist. I would not assume you need to eat more, but I really don't know. I changed things up when my weight loss stalled. I increased exercise intensity, and reduced duration. I eliminated Protein bars and other sources of carbs. My weight loss returned to the 10+ pounds per month.

I would call your surgeon's office. I think you should expect pain to decrease not increase over time. I don't think I had pain meds after the first few days... It's probably nothing, but better safe than sorry!

Realistic expectations are key - but it is a real bummer the complications a few of you have had. I am about 18 months post plastics and love my "Body by Sauceda" as his fan club likes to call it. I will share my disappointment/unrealistic expectations but it is a bit graphic. Ok, some skin is really badly broken down. You can tell by looking at it.. it is just creppy, full of stretch marks, not nice. I was afraid my arms were unsaveable since I had arm stretch marks from when I was a kid! I have very thin, delicate skin and I never imagined my arms could look as good as they turned out. When I had the lower body lift the surgeon addressed the "mons" area but they have to be careful to not go crazy and give you the credit card slot look (gross!). Also, the mons area is prone to stretching out post surgery due to the poor quality of the skin. So, what happened to me is that area got really really stretched out when I was obese but I didn't realize it until I had the lift. My pubic hair zone got bigger due to the stretching so I decided to do some hair removal. How awful that skin looks became really apparent when there was no hair to hide it. Okay, as part of that becoming just a little obsessed with how that looks, I started having a meltdown and thinking I needed a revision and perhaps the thigh lift too. Hell, maybe a butt implant or something too. Then I had a "whoa whoa whoa" moment with myself. My results from weight loss and plastics far exceeded my wildest of dreams and here I am nitpicking. I know both from photographic evidence and feedback from others that my body looks way better than the average American 50 year old and after a lifetime of obesity who can really expect more? So, I have started using a bronzer/tanner on the newly revealed mons area and it looks better, the stretch marks and weird looking skin is "softened". It is so strange to me that I thought i would be freaked about the scarring, and i am not - and in reality I became negative about something that really isn't that bad. I don't want more plastics, I don't need more plastics. I will never be perfect but I have met my objective which is to feel and look "normal" - the hot factor was a bonus.

Maybe i can stir something up to distract people! ha I didn't read all this thread but it was a rant. I think sometimes people get just a little too nit picky - I am not talking about the OP but rather the very very very very very detailed responses! anyway, I decided a long time ago that the root cause of why people refuse to use the "search function" is not due to lack of technical knowledge. It is for one simple reason... NO ONE ELSE ON THE PLANET HAS EVER FELT WHAT I AM FEELING RIGHT NOW. You know, in the middle of an emotional experience, the way a person feels is much more important than the facts. It is cathartic for people to type out their own woes (I can't even bear to click on another post about their stall at 3 weeks and how they are the only one who has ever failed with a sleeve... you know, declaring defeat while still on mushies!... but we all seem to need.to.type.it.) So, I am simply thankful that people title their posts correctly so I can just skip over the subjects I cannot bear to read anymore.

I did however strike up a conversation with a man, probably mid to late 50s who is clearly disabled by obesity. He walks painfully with a cane, I would say he is headed toward a scooter soon. Anyway, after we chatted for awhile I brought up that I used to weigh twice what I do now, I didn't get into the surgery or anything. He replied "at this point, I have decided that I just enjoy my food and drink too much and am not willing to change". It hit me in a very positive way. I mean, this man is clearly intelligent, understands there are options and has made his choice. Of course what i know NOW but didn't know then is how much better life is when you aren't packing around the weight of an extra human - dang that is exhausting and demoralizing! Even so, I must acknowledge that the sacrifices are significant too. Anyway, I share this tidbit as I know many of us want to become WLS evangelists but not everyone wants to be "saved". I pretty much feel that way about the religion peddlers that knock on my door too... so I get it.

I weigh in the mid 150s but take a bigger pant size than I did before. Even my fitted tops are a bit too fitted right now. It is because i have lost tone/fitness. My legs remain very defined, but my core and arms are not. It is because I haven't been doing my horse chores (they are at a friends house) and because my workouts have been intermittant for a variety of reasons. What worries me is anytime i start up again with planks, pushups, shoveling horse manure etc my tennis elbow talks to me. I have been resting it for months... so discouraging!

I can't help myself... so you can annoy people with them? hahahahahahhahahaha!

I am questioning the accuracy of the description of this procedure. I have always been informed that the DS removes part of the stomach (like the sleeve) but then involves some rerouting of the small intestine. http://www.dssurgery.com/procedures/compare-weight-loss-surgical-procedures.php I sometimes wish I had done the DS because truth is you can eat alot more and maintain weight loss! I am maintaining fine with the sleeve, sometimes just feel sorry for myself..haha

My advice is to check them out on "realself.com" which is the main plastic surgery webpage for USA. There are pictures, reviews, etc

Well, I have definately allowed more calories and carbs back into my diet... but since I don't track I can't say exactly how much. I still watch carbs very closely.... As you get to goal, just carefully add back foods and watch for weight/size/health changes.

My kids are older. When I had my surgery, they were late teens/early 20s. My oldest is a slim, but not necessarily healthy habits person. My youngest is more prone to weight gain. I did enlist them in my transformation in the sense of i had a very hard time resisting certain foods so we came up with the "Carb drawer" which i simply don't open but has some foods they enjoy and want. They don't tend to shop with me or anything like that but they observe that I eat small portions and often on an appetizer sized plate. On the rare occasion that they prepare and serve up food, they always put mine on a small plate - I don't even ask. My youngest who is now 22 told me early on that he wanted to improve his eating habits and has lost weight too. (He was never obese, but is a big guy and has always been prone to some extra weight). I think my modeling of eating behavior has influenced him in a very positive way. My kids don't really like doing "active" stuff with me like they did when they were younger. However, last several years the mothers day tradition is going for a hike, not a big ole brunch. The oldest in particular hates hiking, but he does it in recognition of doing something that makes ME feel good. I don't think my exercise/activity habits have really reasonated with either of them - as they are young enough they only like to do fun stuff for exercise! I wouldn't do this with younger kids, but with them I do sometimes bring up my weight loss, how I am still working at maintaining it etc. I do it because they both live with me again and I find that touching on my struggles improves our relationship. Example, if i am going through a time of feeling a bit more emotional around food - I might mention it so they know I am going through something. IT makes them more aware of my possible behavior and consequences - not that they need to do anything. The thing that shocked them both was bringing out my before picture after I had been at goal for awhile. It was deeply upsetting to them because they didn't remember how I looked. It wasn't just the fat, it was that you could see my physical pain and misery in that picture and I think they felt terrible that they didn't even remember it. i told them it was okay to not remember it, but it was a reminder of how much I have changed. That led to the conversation about how much I have changed in terms of interactions with them and others - all very positive I might add!

Gummies are a "no no" because they aren't all that nutritious. I have had great labs year after year, so as long as that continues, i feel what I am doing is good enough. I do take supplements seriously, but normal Vitamins make me queasy so I modify to do something that works. If I become deficient I will go back to bariatric vitamins.

I only have one per day... but i am 3 years out and eat a pretty healthy diet. In addition,I still have one Protein drink a day (premier protein) which is also enriched with Vitamins.

@@Oregondaisy are you fully recovered yet? IS your mobility better/pain decreasing? Sure hope you are finally getting some benefit from this nightmare surgery! I know that some people get good results from back surgery, but I have heard many horror stories! I was going to share that my appetite is WAY up. In truth, that isn't really it. Rather my resolve to not use food to soothe myself is way down. I have caught myself eating when I am not truly hungry and eating more than I need to "no longer be hungry". I need to figure this out before I start gaining. I think this is rooted in my anxiety uptick. A year ago, I couldn't eat I was feeling so bad. I don't really have a reason to feel bad now, life is good, I just have allowed myself to lose some focus on my fitness. There is a certain amount of midlife crisis going on. I frankly do not really know what i want to do with myself in the bigger picture. I want to "retire" so I can be free to pursue other interests, but beyond that - I've got nothing. I don't really know what I want in terms of long term relationship (do I ever want to live with a man again etc). I do have a medium term plan in terms of living arrangements because I recognize that for me, that is a very important. I want privacy, but not isolation and I am working on a plan for that that is kind of exciting!

@swizzly Dee - I had a bit of a shocker this last weekend. I am bigger in size than I was at this same weight. It is because I am not as fit. I am not sure about your scale shenanigans - have a hard time believing that just a different hard surface makes such a difference!!! What did you find out When I return home from vacation, my priority is on establishing a life cadence again that works for me on all fronts. I have time to work out as long as it is a priority! I head off to Costa Rica with a girlfriend soon. I don't know why, but i was feeling a little anxious the last few days and kinda down today. I am not afraid of travel, and have done alot of it so I am not sure the "place" this comes from. I actually think it is not so much related to the trip but rather the pressure I feel from some other things in life. i have decided to sell my house - probably early spring 2016. I am looking for relief from the maintenance etc - i just don't enjoy home ownership like I used to. It is a scary decision as I have owned a home since i was 24 years old. I think that decision tripped some internal wires about insecurity and "shoulds".