CowgirlJane

Denise that is wonderful! And I am seeing Steven again tonight. If we could maintain at once a week I will be quite happy for now. I have been over eating...stress over my EX.

Alan sounds wonderful but the 2000 miles between us might be an obstacle! Well the consensus seems to lean towards Steven's advice.. most won't care, it's not who I am anymore and it really doesn't matter. I WOULD tell someone once we are serious because I think a man might feel betrayed to hear it from someone else. Crap I am missing a section of a bone due to a horrible bone infection as a kid.... never been a showstopper for anyone....just part of who I am. You know what is crazy though, people who have known me forever are already forgetting that I was ever huge. I am the family athlete -hiking, riding, adventurous sister/aunt. My own sons hardly believe it is me when they see old pix. The person they see now is the real me. I think that says good things about humans....we really CAN change and our loved ones really do accept the new "me" and truly believe that I have this obesity crap whipped. Makes me feel good that they accepted and loved me as an obeses woman and now just as much as a normal one. (Ps my son's are so cute, they begrudgingly confess I am hot now...lol)

I had plastics at 150. I can gain or lose 15# without messing with results. 135 would put me at about 22 BMI I think and would be amazing as long as my face still looks good and I keep an ass. Lots of squats etc and I am getting more shape back there. Also found amazing compression garment that gives me a cuter butt...just worry that is where the weight will come from.

That sounds great! I had to fire my personal trainer because he was trying to kill me. Seriously - I am good with sore muscles but when your joints and back ache for a week you know it is just too much. I am doing these group fitness classes that involve weights and lots of core work - hard workouts without killing me. One thing that I have found... and maybe it is just me... but I have visible muscling in the shoulders and arms, but I feel like I STILL have too much fat to see much definition in most parts of my body. I think it is just my reality.... I am curious if anybody who has lost alot of weight (I am down over 180# from my life time highest - down 160# since sleeve) can ever really get a toned looking body. I suspect the ship has just sailed.....LOL... but, I am happy enough with how I look, just never gonna look like someone who was never fat.

Chimera - we have some things in common. Started at over 300 , are both 49, live in the same area.... and I forgot the other things that struck me last night haha... Wanda, I don't count calories so I too believe my main success with 5:2 is the long fasting windows....the at least 18 hours without food. So for those of you with BMI in the lower range...say 20-22... did you notice any ill effect on you looks? I have been toying with making a push to lose another 10-15# once my ex moves out..and takes his bacon and bread with him. My biggest worry is that my ass will get even skinnier and that my face will look less youthful. Right now I have a bad chin wattlle (hidden by angles of photo) but otherwise face is ok. My current BMI is 25 which is FINE, so I am just curious what you all noticed as you dropped a little lower.

I am going to a big deal cocktail party/awards banquet in a few weeks. I am a little at a loss as to what women currently wear to this type of event. I have lots of dresses, but i don't really have a little black dress. Any tips of where to shop and find something appropriate? I sometimes feel that the dresses I have seen are just a little too casual.... but I dunno!

I assume you are talking about scar tissue on the stomach itself. I had a band for 10 years and I had ALOT of scar tissue. I had the band removed 2.5 months before my sleeve surgery. When they removed the band, they scraped alot of that scar tissue away. The danger - as I understand it - with the scar tissue is that it might alter the shape/size they can realistically create for your new tummy and also that there is an uptick on leak and other complications risk for revisions. My advice - go to a trusted surgeon who has a good track record with REVISIONS. I suspect that the reason some revisionistas don't lose as well as "virgin" sleevers is because the surgeons are working with a scarred up tummy and must modify the approach. Not sure there is evidence to back my theory.... Skin scars - they recycled my old lapband ones for the most part so I didn't wind up too much worse off. I wasnt in the running for vicotoria secret model anyway... so it is fine.

I decided to update my profile pic...teehee... now i am expecting to see corset photos from some of the rest of you! I would like to say something about our squishy looking bodies. My friend Steven one time said to me "You know that is just what women look like, right?" He went on to talk about how really skinny people (and he is one of them) model clothes but in the real world that isn't what women's bodies look like. He looks amazing all dressed up since he has this ideal tall athletic build, but naked he is kinda skinny looking.... not so perfect either. I have mentioned before he has told me I look like Betty Boop or an old style pin up girl - in his words a sexier look. His point being that it seems like it is really only WOMEN who seem to think we need to be skinny to be attractive, worthy or whatever regardless of our underlying body type or genetics. It does ... disinhearten me to see the squishy - but photos can be both cruel and overly harsh and they can be misleading and overly perfect (most media images we see). The truth is we are all filled with beauty and it manifests in different ways. I choose to focus on the images I like but that undies photo definately made me reconsider my swimsuit plans for Mexico....haha I look better in my gym clothes.

I was a band to sleeve revision and they had me wait either 6 or 8 weeks - don't recall.

Thank you Georgia - that was so frustrating! FYE - you said better what I was trying to say. I am thrilled for any of our little tribe's success but i feel... taken aback I guess. I thought for months of hard work - diet, exercise etc there was zero progress to report. Anyway, I am over it, but it did set me off balance a little. Brown, here is what I did with goals. I KNEW that once I got under 200# i could do many of the physical things I wanted to do. That 200# mark is like a disability line for me. So, I set that as my initial goal. I was pretty comfy in the 190s, beat the heck out of the 300s. I sorta paused there for awhile... and realized I had some fears about getting smaller...let's be honest, fears about attention. I struggled with that when I was young, but I worked through alot of the head space before making the final push to goal. I seem to have shed the need for fat as a protective layer - and I think that pause helped me figure that out. So, I would have been pretty good in the 190s and I have a feeling that something in that ballpark might be a good range for you too. Maybe you should try picking a realistic, but HEALTHY feeling weight - get to it and then re-assess? I tend to agree that 250# is probably higher than an optimal health weight - but we are all so individual! How is Curves going? Monday I did a group weight training class at the gym. It was great, muscle but NOT joint sore. Then I rode my horse. All that after a day at work - that is a good life for me, busy doing healthy and enjoyable things. Last night I went out with friends - we usually do happy hour (appetizers for dinner and a drink) on Friday night but they wanted to do bingo night at a different place. It wasn't nearly as good of food, the bingo prizes were lame-o, but the whole crowd got into it. Everytime "O-69" was called, the room erupted like we were a bunch of junior high school kids. sheesh. I think next week I want to go back to our usual Friday night haunt. So, I got the email of the day... still smiling from it. I am "piloting" some technology with our field organizations (the guys that service our customer's equipment). I had a list of volunteers who I later discovered didn't really volunteer so I only got about 1/3 of them to join. So, now I have followed up individually with some we need to join us... anyway I get a "no" from someone but we needed more east coasters and he is in New Jersey. I wrote back telling him I would remove him from the pilot, but then gave him the "elevator pitch" and he writes back to me: "Your smooth and unforgettable style has won me over let's try it again on Friday" Don't worry - i didn't email him a corset picture or anything....although many thoughts did cross my mind of how do I talk this guy into joining my little team....LOL... who knew my silver tongue (keyboard) would do the trick. HA I don't really like managing projects but i do like the people part!

Brown I am actually satisfied weighing about 150 just about 25 BMI. I am noticing my 8 jeans getting loose and single digit sizes are right for me. A bad photo can trigger that bad feeling but overall I am content. my surgeon said once BMI is under 28-29 you have pretty much the same health benefits. Maybe a 29 BMI is a possible goal?

Florida I think it is wonderful you lost your regain with or without 5:2. What time frame did this happen over? I think I am puzzled because of so many posts that I thought said you weren't getting the scale to budge and very frustrated by hard work and no results. Then the post that I really took as very negative self body image loathing that I did respond in detail to. I posted pix of my new corset then went out with friends so didn't have time to say more.

You look positively tiny! I am so happy these corsets are so nicely made! I know you probably posed with arms down because of the "underarm" (not that I can see anything at all) but really, you look fantastic, and will wow someone with that corset for sure! I need to get mine back out and try it on! I have the "underarm" going on ... but layered up with some nice jacket or blouse, who cares! No problem on the arms since plastics more of a side boob issue but I could minimize it by tightening it less at the top. After wearing it around I was able to tighten it enough to close the back panel but I still think next size up would be better next time.

And here was the photo that had me feeling so... plump... the other day. In clothes, I really don't look this squishy. sigh

Corset pix... oh boy, I have to learn to not let the neck show, that is the one place where my double / triple chin left too much skin...

Buffle, that is is my number one turn off from the many "first dates" I have gone on. Apparently I am easy to talk to because the THINGS PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME...OMG...make me wanna run the other direction. Astounding what people will say if you just keep your mouth shut and give them airtime to talk. Lordy. In reflection, I am probably being unfair, but when you first meet someone you don't wanna know about every horrible thing that ever happened, ESPECIALLY as it relates to past marriages and relationships. It always makes me think they are carrying a grudge or something, who knows if that is true, but it leaves me that impression. Don't know what they are thinking to blab so much so soon...haha. Anyway, I never talk about any of my weight and surgery history that early, but I guess I felt like someone who is actually dating me should know, but I have rethought that and think it is a conversation that should wait until we are moving into a pretty serious relationship. I did meet someone last summer that I never dated, but we became friends (we do horse and hiking stuff together). I guess I told him fairly early on and he is one of the nosiest people about my weight loss - I find it a little annoying actually. It makes you really focus on the fact that it actually isn't other people's business unless they are seriously committed to you.

I am single and although I am not currently dating/trying to meet someone for a Long term I have over the past nearly a year done some online dating. I have always felt that before someone decides to "see" me he should know my history of obesity and plastics. I don't bring it up on the first or second date, but planned to tell anybody that I really intended to "go" with. I have a "friend" that I have been seeing quite awhile (no long term potential there) and he told me -without my even asking - that I shouldn't bother mentioning my plastics. He knows everything I had and saw the wounds at 2 and half weeks so is very aware - and now at 3 months tells me he doesn't even notice them. By the time I am 6 or 12 months out the scars will be so faded... in his mind just not relevant. He also knows about my history of obesity and again sorta thinks it is irrelevant for dating. I guess by the time you are really serious with someone you should say something, but in the nearterm, just doesn't seem that important. He tells me I don't look like someone that was ever overweight (whatever THAT means) and since i am quite committed to maintaining fitness just isn't relevant. I didn't totally agree with him since I like to get stuff out on the table, but I was reflecting that some of the men I met on online dating want to tell me way too much, way too soon and it is a huge turn off. Like, I am more interested in the who that you are now, the dreams you have for your life and the future you are working for then hearing about your bleepity-bleeping ex wife for instance. I was thinking that maybe my friend is right, that it is info that someone should eventually know, if we are really serious, but for a basically dating type relationship it just isn't that important. i am curious what you other "singles" think about this.

Tried the corset on again... waist and below the modesty panel covers, but up higher it gaps about 1/2". I could probably get it to close but then I would have extra skin oozing out the top so i definately needed the next size up. Oh well, I think I can wear it under a jacket still. I don't know if it is even possible, but I have been thinking about trying to get to the low 140s instead of the 148-152 range I am currently floating in. I doubt it will make any difference as to my size though. I have noticed that my butt shape is changing.... the hard workouts focusing on gluts IS helping a little to develop a butt. More importantly, I found awesome shapewear that gives me a bit of a rounded butt.

I remember somebody posting about buying cheap eyeglases online. I have shopged at 39dollarglasses and glassesusa - which company did you use and like? I need a new pair as i am down to one decent pair of glasses now due to a chewy pup!

The corset came prelaced and basically the lacings end in the "middle" so you get the most leverage around the waist area. This is a high quality garment by the way - it is the one that was on sale for so cheap only I got the red/black one. The red is very subdued, if I can work out the fitting, it will look very sexy under a jacket or something. I think the problem is that I need to tighten it a crapload more. What I don't like is that if it is too tight up top, my side boobs show up. I thought it would be my back, but no, it is the under the armpit area that is gross looking. I only tried it on for a few minutes so is going to take more playing. I have been toying with the waist training idea. Nothing exetreme but I have never had a small waist. My measurements were post plastics 40-30-38 but right now my waist is measuring more like 31" even though my weight is same. I would really like to have say 29" waist and I think that is very realistic with the waist training (transvestites reduce their waists 3-4 or more inches this way) without causing health problems. Yesterday I did a group class at the gym and was positioned near the mirrors. I definately look top heavy - not because of my implants as they are pretty modest but rather that i have big shoulders and ribs. Even so, I looked "tighter" than most of the women in that class and certainly the middle age looking one. Although i am far from perfect, wow, plastics made such a difference.- flat tummy, firmer butt and even wearing spandex capris my thighs didn't look too bad. Side boobs are about the only think that rears its ugly head from time to time. Oh, and another note.... my weight is actually down a tiny bit after the carb laden day.... weird

My corset arrived... it is beautiful but I think I ordered too small a size. Even laced, the modesty panel doesn't close all the way. I ordered according to my waist size but I guess I just don't squeeze as tight as some do....

You can have an acidy tummy without reflux. It is a very subtle thing if you have a mild case. You might consider taking proselec for say two weeks and see if it reduces that "constant hunger" I had this problem when I was banded. I had actual reflux at times, but other times I just had this uncomfortable hunger feeling and often self medicated with eating throughout the day. I gravitated toward soothing foods too which later was a clue for me that it was related to the excess acid. Anyway, consider trying it to see if it makes a difference.

Is it possible you have acid tummy? It feels just like hunger and is abated by eating.

Do you mean a lower body lift? I think most plastic surgeons - especially if they have any expertise in post weight loss patients - do this procedure. Check realself.com to read reviews of local docs.

It's only 10 am and I feel like I have already over eaten. I had an uber high carb day yesterday and boy is my body responding - saying FEED ME!!!! What a difference it makes if you can control those carbs... so, yesterday was interesting. Don't know if you remember, but over a month ago I had a very embarrassing incident of going out with someone I had met just a few times and having too many martinis. He swore I was fine, but, it was not a proud next morning because we made out and it was only like the 3rd time I had met him and I just didn't like that - and it was alcohol induced...not good. Anyway, we finally got together again. Spent the day in Seattle, took a walk along Alki Beach etc. We watched a movie and just hung out and talked. It was a nice time, but this guy is really high stressed out and I am feeling that energy even today. He used to live in Asia and came home 6 years ago to care for his aging parents. His dad passed away last summer and his 95 year old mom has parkinsons. There are financial matters, a house, caregivers and all sorts of stressors. He likes to talk to me because i went through similiar things with my mother, a couple of stepdads and of course my sister. That is all in my past, but I must still hold some trauma - it was HARD - because I "feel" it this morning - a bit shaken up over his stress. I need to think about this - nice guy, cool guy, loves adventure and travel - but i am not sure I need this in my world anytime soon. I have stopped dating for now, while I sort things out with getting my EX moved out and moved on, so it was kinda on a whim that I agreed to hang out with him anyway. He also eats really high carb food and I felt like just spending the day with him encouraged me to overeat. I don't blame HIM for that, but I definately try to keep company of people who are less food oriented usually.