CowgirlJane

Hi ladies, I am maintaining about 141-142 range so very happy with that. I am eating quite a bit more recently and I think Georgia was right. I don't have an issue with my sleeve, I just got in the habit of eating really sparingly and so my appetite dropped. It is the other side of the over-eating vicious circle. I have been busy getting to know a new guy... so far going really well. He is quite a character... strong personality.. which is absolutely what I need in a match but he can be over the top. He is a huge seahawk fan and lets just say that if you watch ESPN, or otherwise are tuned into fan madness - you have seen this guy. oh boy. We are in the fun days right now... where he is trying to win me over. We are a little smitten with each other and having a good time. I love that he is affectionate - verbally, lots of hugs and sweet touches, arm around the shoulders that kind of thing, makes me feel great. He thinks I am attractive, not just physically - but likes my personality and surprisingly... my somewhat vast knowledge of historical documentaries...haha. Apparently not many women are conversant in "civil war" and the exploits of Patton. I am not really sure how I gained all that knowledge (love to read?) and never occurred to me that a guy would find that so interesting to have someone to discuss military history with. Oh my, I guess i am a character too. He was supposed to spend Memorial day all weekend with his 13 year old daughter but there was a change in plans. I rode horses all day Saturday (was gone 6am till about 10pm!) and then rode Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon I was feeling a little lonely, and we talked but he was busy with a house project and invited me out for Monday. He surprised me Monday by showing up with his boat and we spent about 9 hours out on the lake, touring Seattle and all the houseboats etc. - grilled both lunch and dinner, watched the sunset over the water... It was a lovely lovely day. He brought up Sunday and how much he wanted to see me and was torn between finishing his house project versus dropping everything to see him. I let it slip about feeling lonely and his reply was "why didn't you SAY something and come over?" i told him because we have only known each other a few weeks I didn't feel comfortable asking for company right then. His response was so encouraging, I mean like he is looking for a companion too and doesn't think I am a needy nut just because I sometimes want to hang out with someone and have a bit of company. Main reason I want a "real boyfriend" is to have someone to kinda talk to and lean on from time to time. This situation remains promising - cautious optimism on my part, but he is QUITE a character, I need to decide if i am up for that much intensity.... but I know that the quiet introspective type loves me at first and then eventually hate me because as I mentioned, I am apparently a bit of a character myself..haha. This guy doesn't wilt away from anything which I much prefer over the passive aggressive type (where i have more history btw).

As your weight loss slows, i think it is important to have small manageable mini goals as well. Mine shifted to clothing once i got down to a certain size. I decided once I got down to about 240 or so that i would always dress nice as it made me feel better about myself. I started treating myself to regular trips to Ross Dress for Less and other discount places. I would ditch too big clothes and buy a few things in my ever changing size. I can't begin to describe how incredibly motivational and rewarding that was for me. It helped me alot with body image issues too. I watched myself sorta blossom... moving away from all black and baggy all the time.... started to wear more fitted things... slightly shorter dresses etc... then, developing my own sense of style. I got into doing my nails and other "girlie" things. Everybody is different and I would have never guess that "looking good" was important to me, but it really became a point of pride and joy in my accomplishments. The day I realized I look "normal" - same size as other women around me... the day I realized I look pretty cute... the day i realized that some people consider me even "hawt" - wow, very motivational. In many ways more motivational than all the health benefits - the actual reason I had WLS in the beginning.

They came to me recommended by nutritionalist as well as a Med Doc that does non surgical weight loss (ie low carb eating). so, I don't know what to think except I have been using them regularly for 2.5 years and have good evidence my Protein intake is good.

When everyone sees your amazing results, most will just forget all this... it will become ancient history before you know it.

As someone who has had both weight loss surgery...and lost over 160 # AND had reconstructive plastic surgery "for cosmetic" reasons.... Well,let's just say I would have no problems letting a toxic judgemental friend like this go. I love my new body and am grateful I had this help in turning my health, my looks and my whole life around. I have lots of friends who are thrilled for me. It has been my experience that self confident, attractive women are the most supportive, detractors seem to have their own "issues" and liked me better obese as they feel better about themselves if I stayed fatter then them.

I have been Costco executive for years and buy my fuel, dog food, and many food staples there. I get a rebate much larger than Costco membership. I have a Costco 15 minutes away so practical for me.

Most surgeons have an eating plan.... Clear Liquids then full liquids then mushy food...gently working up to solid. Veggies are part of that progression. At 2.5 years out I mostly eat Protein, veggies and berries to maintain....so very important just don't rush it. Quanties should be tiny at first too.

If you search for "regret" you will find a bunch of threads. Mostly it is people going through the agony of not being able to eat their emotions into submission. For some it is a huge and difficult adjustment. My life has been transformed by the sleeve...no regrets...too busy living life!!!

Sleeve is prone to causing reflux so anyone high risk for it may as well go gastric bypass I think.

It gets better week by week, but the first 6-8 weeks were pretty hard. i would say I was 12 weeks before I felt fully human. Then it did get alot better! Take a look at my profile pictures (and many other before and afters!!) to get some inspiration on what the future may hold for you. 2.5 years post surgery, I don't even care about those early weeks. The complete transformation of my health, physical abilities and looks has been oh so worth it!!!

I got fitted for a special vest - not a brace but rather a posture enhancer to try to resolve some of my back pain which is aggravated by my desk job... anyhoo...I was on the fence between the women's small and medium. Shocks me as they don't come in XSmall.... the very idea that I would fit the smallest size they carry is sorta wild.

Oh and I am still floating in the 140-141 range. I expect to break into the 130s in the next few weeks as I am losing about .5 a week lately. So, I was thinking yesterday "boy I am eating so much again, why am I still losing?" I added up what I had eaten and it was only about 600 calories. I ate a couple of protein bars as they are high carb and lots of calories and I had em in the house so I got over 1000 calories by the end of the day. Anyway, my weight loss is explainable - I am eating less. What is still not explainable is the why. I feel really restricted. I have very low appetite. When I eat, I get full fast. It's awesome, but I wish i knew why and I would feel less weirded out by it. I need to do some updated photos because I am getting the freak out feedback from people around me... that I am too thin. I don't think I am but having photos and feedback from my online friends might be good. Steven says "just right" but he is a skinny guy himself who has mostly dated skinny women - so for him to mention to me 3 different times to not lose more weight (advice, not a mandate) is saying something and i listened.

Yeah on so many of us getting on track. Down 5#? Way to go Wanda!!! woo hoo, that is worthy of celebration! I have no idea how people meet these days if they don't do the online thing. I have tried the whole, hang out in a coffee shop 1-2X a week, sorta letting friends know I am single and just being nicely dressed whenever i go out. I did meet someone at one of these meetup social events that is interested in me, but we have yet to be able to connect - and let's be honest, he still hasn't asked me on a date, he just emails me. At least in my part of the country, men in my age range do not ask you out. I have met a few prospects while out on the trails and my counselor finally told me I need to start asking THEM for their email or phone number since guys that seem interested in me never "close the deal". It was actually Steven who suggested asking for email addys as that is less intrusive - made sense to me. So, on the new guy - we have our 4th date on Saturday nigh so it is very much early days. We had a glorious long date out on his boat, i loved it, not just the beautiful day boating but his company. I loved how he showed me how to do things on the boat in a fun and easy going way. He was affectionate and warm without me feeling mauled like a piece of meat on the menu. He is a food pusher as a host though so we will need to discuss that. He has also offered to help me with something that felt very "boyfriendy" as an offer which was cool but, I am not getting my hopes up too high either... I admit, I am still sad over my decision to part company with Steven - no tears or anything - just kinda a certain longing for what I am giving up if that makes any sense. My back is freaking killing me. I can't believe the cascade of physical issues that has hit me the last few months.... sheesh

Haha... okay, I have a couple of stories of "worst dates ever". One was funny and the other a little scary to be honest. The funny one was a guy with extreme OCD and a fatal allergy to shellfish - which of course is what i ordered at the restaurant. That whole evening was a comedy. Then, I met him at a speed dating event...haha. He didn't remember me, but i surely remembered him! Once I reminded him he said, and I quote "I don't remember you looking this good, must be the dim lighting in here". Bless him. haha. Actually, what had changed was i had lost a bit more weight and had major plastics but I love his lack of filter - seriously, you would tell someone they look great, but it must be due to the lack of lighting? The scary story involved a guy more or less attacking me after a very nice dinner together. I was appalled and shocked... seriously, how do you make it to your mid 50s and not realize how incredibly rude that is. I created a private group to discuss things, including perhaps giving each other tips on dating site profiles etc which I don't want to post publicly. I have some tips on how I keep my profile relatively private on POF and still find dates! Anyway, try this link and click on "join group". I will need to approve your membership and then you can join this discussion if you wish. http://www.bariatricpal.com/groups/404-single-and-dating-post-wls/

RJ- your post touched me; really detailing the many obstacles that the morbidly obese may face in life. It is sad, but now there is hope! I want to comment on the "fat positive" mindset - I think it is a great one. I also want to say that losing weight is primarily for your health that YOU GET TO CHOSE how far you take this. Once I got under 200# I had resolved most of my health issues and I was still a woman of physical substance. It was a conscious decision to push forward and get down to a "normal" weight. I think it takes some of the fear away of losing your "physical presence" when you realize it is your choice. The sleeve can help you get to your goal, but it is YOUR GOAL not some arbitrary chart.

I like hiking too! Proper boots make such a huge difference. The number one thing is that when you get to any boulder scrambles or other difficult footing, a good pair of hiking boots give you so much more security and grip than other footwear. Around here alot of the hiking groups don't let you join with jeans since cotton takes forever to dry out if it gets wet. i finally broke down and found (on sale) some zip off shorts/pants made of a good quick dry fabric - designed for hiking. Good stuff!

I completely disagree. Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure are "disease" conditions and yet management of the condition is very much in the person's control. I think very similar situation. For me understanding obesity as a disease made it much more logical and takes away much of the blame and shame.

It is an intermittant fasting approach first studied for extending lifespan but can work to help get weight off. You eat "normal" 5 days and do a very restricted day 2 days - most consider about 500 calories during the 2 fast days. The key is having long periods of time with no eating, like you finish eating at say 7 pm and don't eat until midday the next day (for example, that next day is your fast day). It works. My opinion is that it is a useful technique for "veterans" who are trying to lose a regain or perhaps making that final push to goal.... but i would not recommend it to someone who is still losing well "in the honeymoon phase" post surgery. I did 5:2 when I was bouncing up higher than my maintenance bounce range and then it went so well, i decided to lose a bit more!

I had it all done at once which required me to go to Mexico. Local docs wanted to stage it over 3 surgeries which would have taken me about 3 years due to time off work issues. I am not recommending this route for everyone, but it has been amazing for me - love my results, loved the care and love having it all BEHIND me. I seriously need to get updated before and after photos but here is a thread with some info in it. http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/285839-two-weeks-from-plastics-progress-so-far/ I attached a recent photo - I lost over 180# from my all time highest weight - 160# as a result of the sleeve. I had excess skin for sure! This pic gives you an idea of what is possible!

My surgeon said something to me that has been very empowering and stays in my mind as I live in maintenance... "You have the disease of obesity. Right now your primary symptom of excess weight is under excellent control but never forget you still have the disease of obesity." I think that viewing it this way, as a chronic condition that needs assertive management is the way to remind ourselves that maintenance is just as important as the losing ....

Bony Butt Blues...haha... nice problem to have!

More of a dog person. I have cute pix of my son's cat pushing the little dog off my lap - but on my phone and too much of a hassle to upload. Cat sometimes thinks he is a dog....

Love to hear everybody is getting back on fasting track. I am not allowed to right now....my friends would kick my"skinny ass" - their words not mine- but my version is back on track with vitamins, good hydration etc. Next is back to exercise! I met someone I like. He is fun, energetic, a little crazy in a good way, lives close by, available,lives a country lifestyle,actually wants to be with me. He has a boat and we spent an amazing afternoon on Lake Washington. We are both a little smitten I think. I am still sad about leaving Steven but I have been trying to exit his orbit for months so glad it finally happened. I love him but not in love....and done with his idiosyncrasies.... I am ready for a"real boyfriend" It is funny that once I said that out loud, that I was ready, my counselor cheered and the universe sent me Tino immediately. Even if he and I don't work out, I feel this seismic shift inside. I am ready to love again....a real love not the limited thing. Steven was what I needed in 2013 but I am ready for a whole new phase in life!

You look GREAT! Low carb, high intensity interval training and 5;2 have all worked great for me.

I have a tip for you regarding the anxiety. Once you realize that goal is just a number, that you will eat and live differently FOREVER that anxiety can decrease. I have lost another 18# since hitting goal in February 2013. For me maintenance is simply a slight variation (allow more carbs) on the losing phase. It's all about living a new lifestyle.