CowgirlJane

I think some of them.are authorised.. but I can't tell. I 2nd your rant!

That is an incredibly good price for USA based plastics. I was getting quotes for twice that... or more, spread over 3 surgeries...

My arm scars are only visible after a hot shower - they still turn a bit red. I was dating and always intentionally went sleeveless on the first "meet and greet" thinking it was a good way to begin the reveal. anyway.. never worked because nobody noticed! I try to tell myself the thighs will be the same but I guess i have it in my mind that I will never wear dresses without nylons or shorts if I get a long thigh lift. It really is a mindset issue. Flipside, I don't "need" it. I have a great life just the way i am. Like you however, it is sort of tantalizing to realize how awesome my arms, tummy, breasts are and realize i could have firm thighs with no rubbing if only I did the long lift.... anyway, what would make a bigger difference is to get those dang face injections I keep mentioning! Although, right now, I am feeling wonderful with how I look. (would like to bottle that feeling up and use it like perfume on bad days..haha!)

@@AZDee I didn't get the long thigh either. I have trim legs except for the skin. It is funny that I am very okay with my other scars but the thigh lift scars worry me. Curious as to your thoughts on that since like me you are "pretty dang good" right now.

Nice! I would LOVE it if you fashionistas would tell me about those target releases. I got in on one of thosr designer releases at Target right after goal and still love those dresses and pair of shoes! I just never hear about them.

Denise I know what you mean but truth is our "exs" don't owe us disclosure. Just like you shouldn't have to feel obligated to share about your "love life" neither should he.

Alex said they will add the button to find chat. Right now you have to use the link he posted. I saw someone I haven't seen in awhile. Made me feel better that other people think i look good considering I am feeling squishy. I am like a pound over goal this morning and not happy with that. I am wanted to eat... feels like stress eating but I don't even know why...grrr

I used to make a similar salad using canned chicken from costco. I had forgotten but it was one of my staples for awhile. It was a slightly different flavor base but good and made for great lunches. No need to make a sandwich....

When I click the link I am in the chat...but where is the button to find it on the browser or app?

@@UK Cathy I never used chat on this site, but Alex announced it is back. Here is a link to it http://www.bariatricpal.com/chat/ sadly, the notification setting change did not work for this thread. I had to change it two places and it worked for other threads, but not this one... sorry!

sounds good and meets my carb/protein/calorie guidelines! I bet it would be yummy served on a lettuce leaf or perhaps even a slice of avacado (which of course ups the calories and healthy fat)

I am not sure who the target is for your concern. I am someone who has made goal and have publicly shared that I would like to get back BELOW my goal into a much more comfortable bounce range. That doesn't mean I have an eating disorder, it means that i have a very high drive and motivation to not get obese again and one of those strategies for me is to really "watch" even a few pounds up. When I started this journey I was over 300# and sick and tired of being sick and tired. I felt physically awful. My joints hurt, i was losing my ability to do my beloved horse hobby, I couldn't really hike... heck, walking around town was even exhausting. My "numbers" were pretty good but I did have sleep apnea and borderline high blood pressure. The "trouble was in the mail" on things like my A1C... still normal, but climbing. I was not living my authentic life. My goal was simply to get under 200 and maintain it. At 5'5" that was of course still quite overweight but a hell of a lot better than over 300#. I recently found a photo of myself during the era i didn't weigh and i am quite sure I was closer to 350 at that point, but I started the sleeve journey at 308. So, besides feeling better, I wanted to be free of the emotional frustration of being so large and not being able to tackle it effectively. Monkey on my back. I also wanted to look "normal". I didn't dare dream of looking good, I just wanted to look normal. When I got under 200# and was hanging out in the 180s-190s range I put some soul searching into what I really wanted. This was less about social embarrassment and becoming disabled by crippling weight, and more about how i "looked" and the clothes I could wear etc. I got lots of compliments, but to be honest, I looked matronly and that isn't what I wanted. I have been obese most of my life, and it was finally my chance to be slimmer/trim/at least close to normal. I set my sights on 158 - which remains my goal. I had plastics at 150. They tell you should stay within about 10% of your weight to not spoil the results so I felt that was realistic. I would never wish to be under 135 or over 165. I am 5'5" and a big girl at that - big boned and a muscular build so the upper end of the normal BMI range is comfortable for me. I am currently hanging out in the upper 150s and while I am very happy, I want to be fitter and closer to the 145-150 bounce zone.... strictly for vanity reasons. I should also say I am having problems with a hip and I think even gaining 10# makes it worse so incremental weight changes can make a difference on joint stress too. I also wanted to add that I find the clothing size conversation to be ridiculous. When I was about 140-145 last year I wore size 2 bottoms and generally medium tops. when I weighed 145 at age 21/22 I wore size 9/10 pants and I was on the plumper end of normal for women in the 1980s. That is ludicrous and is really vanity sizing. i have a girlfriend who mostly wears "0" and "00" now depending on the vanity sizing of the brand and no one accuses her of having an eating disorder. She is just a slim person with a slim build even though she is taller than me. While I agree we shouldn't drive each other insane with trying to get to an elusive size... it is also true that being lean is healthy.

Nope, it didn't work. I am going to fool around more with my settings. See I NEVER got email notifications from this group as I don't want them. I noticed a setting somewhere else that I thought might override it. I am going to experiment more later today. Meantime, hope everyone is doing okay. I am overall doing great, but having some life challenges - especially being hungry!

What I think many find is that the "emotional" part of all this is pretty powerful.

I hate commercials - I much prefer netflix, or watching DVR'd shows so I can fast forward through them. Great job for finding a way to just get away from the siren's call!

I would suspect lactose intolerance plus all the sugar in life cereal.

Well if you know low carb is the problems then eat more healthy carbs. The surgery doesn't mean you must give up carbs.

This is not directed to the OP, but in general - the sleeve is not supposed to make you sick/vomit/dump! That isn't the goal! The goal is to live happily with much less food and not need this super tight restriction. It is to learn to eat fairly normally actually - for a thin chick which frankly most Americans are NOT. But, that takes time. We ALL make mistakes, so no judgement there. I had the lapband for 10 years and vomited way more than I care to admit. We didn't get along and i would go from starving to vomiting in an unpredictable instant. Thankfully, that has not been my sleeve story. I have had the one "episode" that I believe was dumping and have vomited a few times from the sleeve. every single vomiting event post sleeve was from inhaling food. Just like the OP, I don't know WHY I did it, but I did. This is a journey and while I am concerned of course about any damage done - aint a single one of us that deserves a lecture for "owning up" to mistakes. The goal is to learn from those mistakes, do the emotional growth whilst the physical shrinking is happening... and keep on keeping on!

@@UK Cathy Chat is back AND I think I may have figured out how to get notifications to work again... but I need someone to post! ha!

i might have figured out the notification mystery... but I need one of you to POST! so I can test it! @@sarsar @@Oregondaisy @ukcathy @@coops ok, those are user names I hope I remember correctly

I lost 150 pounds to get to goal. The first 100-120 or so came off following a fairly normal protocol. you know, sleever rules. Getting the last 30-40# off to get to goal was like doing hand to hand combat with each pound...haha. So, after I got to goal, I stabilized for awhile and then lost more. I LIKED being trimmer than where I sit now - right at goal. In addition, I was working out so I looked fit. I feel a bit lumpy looking right now. What i find interesting is that I seem to get more attention from the opposite gender a little plumper than when I was thinner...but I don't care about that. I like fitting into slightly smaller clothes and just being less squishy. Now, I am back at goal and due to some physical challenges haven't been working out and I have decided I want to look like I did a year ago. So.... I have decided to go back to the techniques I used to get to goal in the first place. this time, I would like to lose about 12-15 pounds. So, here is what I am doing... -Set a realistic and yet productive weekly goal for losing -Write my weight on my bathroom mirror once a week compared to my goal... (dry erase markers are perfect on mirrors!) -Reduce, and I mean seriously reduce carbs (I am already whining about missing wine!) -Go back to doing more of my own physical farm work -Ride my bike 30 minutes a day OR do my Julian Micheals DVD (due to physical problems holding off on my beloved kickboxing) -Focus. Stay focused on my goals. This keeps me from wandering off track.

I think a key element is to get your health in good order. Don't smoke, start loading up on Protein... eat extra healthy. Healing from plastics is really alot. Take your surgeon's recommendations seriously - wear the compression garments, keep activity limited to what is recommended etc. I too thought I would need special clothing but truth is the compression garments ruled and protected them and i just wore robes, yoga pants and shirts etc over them. My incisions were not "sore" like I expected. I didn't have lipo - so maybe that is different.

Were you sleeved in August 2013 or 2014? My main tip is to go back to basics. Weigh, measure and log food. Water load between meals. Eat Protein FIRST. Every meal, every time. Look for ways to increase activity. I have observed that when I "eat right" I have less emotional attachment to food. I sincerely believe that overeating is a combination of a physical AND emotional triggers. Sometimes - I can't quickly solve the emotional stress, but i CAN solve the way i eat which just makes everything better. When I start eating and/or drinking junky carby food my cravings go way up.

@@Oregondaisy chat is back http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/338799-bariatricpal-chat-is-back/

Try weighing measuring and logging your food for a month. That gives the NUT something to work with. I experienced a slow down of weigh loss about 7-8 months out and the culprit was protein bars. I would have sworn I was eating just right too but when I eliminated them...the losses began again!