Smilecharmer

Do you have an Alfred Angelo store close to you...the plus size collection is amazing. I had to go to 5 davids bridals to find my dress. They all have different stuff in stock and I waited to last minute too.

Congratulations!! I know this may not help much because you want something off the rack, but have you seen the dresses on igigi . com? I absolutely love the entire line and the sizes are more in line with normal clothing.

Hi, I feel your pain. I'm on day 62 and I have only lost 54lbs. I am trying not to feel sorry for myself. I have been on a stall for the past 3 weeks. I hope you can find piece in knowing that the weight will come off if you are exercising and eating properly. I went to see my Doctor and I was not satisfied with the weight I had lost, but I continue on. I hope you can find peace knowing that this is the best support team right here. Hang in there put your big girl panties on and together we will support one another. I wish you the best of luck on this journey.

Dear MrsTeacher,
I loved reading your story! And I can SO relate to just where you are! I have struggled with my weight my entire life. I was the only one in my family who was overweight. My Dad would sometimes get a little heavy, but as a (former) Marine, he always had the dicipline to "make it right". He would "bear down" and adjust his eating habits, and before you knew it, he was slim and trim again! I never had this kind of will power or whatever you want to call it. (At one time, I was engaged to a Naval officer, and he wanted me to join up also. I was a nurse and could go in as an officer. But I couldn't meet weight requirement, and eventually we broke up. I think my being unable to join the Navy was a big factor in our breakup!)
I would go to Weight Watchers (my favorite weight loss solution) and lose 40-50 pounds, and get bored, or lose my motivation, or whatever, and quit. Soon I would have gained 50 or 60 pounds back. Before I knew it, I weighed in at 258!
I started investigating weight loss surgeries several years ago, when my cousin had WLS. He is a surgeon and after his surgery, decided to specialize in Weight Loss Surgery.
(Unfortunately our insurance would not cover $0.01 of the cost of WLS, so I ending up going to Mexico also and having the surgery there and paying for it myself. Steve [my cousin] offered to do the surgery for free, but I would still have to cover the anesthsia and hospital charges myself, which he said would run close to $20,000!!! So I knew Mexico was for me.)
He lost all his excess weight and has been very successful about keeping it off. I finally made a decision to do it myself. (This web site has been a huge encouragement to me, helped me make my decision, choose a surgeon, etc.)
I am now almost 9 months post op. I have lost around 100 pounds (depending on the day, some days it is 98 lbs, others it is 101 lbs). I know I look and feel SO much better.
Yesterday my husband and I decided to take my Mom out for Sunday dinner. She is 91 and still very healthy. She plays the organ every Sunday for church, leads Bible study at the local nursing home each week, holds a sing along for the nursing home residents weekly, etc. Very active. I worked all night Saturday night, so couldn't get to her church until it was over. I went in as they were dismissing to let her know we were there. I stopped to say "hello" to several of the members who I remembered from when I was a teenager and attended church there. I actually had one of them ask me for some ID! He didn't believe I was who I said I was! He told me he "knew Kathleen" and she was much heavier than the person standing in front of him! Wow! What a great feeling! I was so thrilled!
I have to say, my WLS was THE BEST decision I have ever made for my health and well being! I am off of my BP medicine, my blood sugar medicine, my cholesterol meds, my anti-inflammatories and my allergy meds (I don't know what is up with that one! Why being fat made my allergies so bad? Who knows?)
So keep telling yourself you are choosing to be healthier and happier. It was THe BEST decision for me! And keep posting so we all know how you are doing! Best wishes for a successful surgery!!!
Kathy D (alias Helen the Cat)

How far out are you? Has anything changed to bring this on? I have gone through stages where I've been more hungry than usual. I have to be very careful about sugar. I try never to eat or drink anything with more than 4 grams of sugar in it. That can mess me up. Most of the time, things go well but recently I found myself getting hungrier than usual. It was starting to worry me actually! It seemed like all of a sudden I was hungry again! I did some research on these boards and several people suggested taking an antacid like prilosec or tums. They said that your body can sometimes overproduce acid and it mimics hunger. I had never heard this before and bingo! I tried taking 2 tums the next time I felt this way and it worked. I really would suggest it.

This is the best, and well written, day to day, step by step example of what the sleevers day should be like!
Well Done, Great Job

You may have stalled, its normal while your body figures things out. I'm at that point. I pulled my yoga pants out of the dryer and put them on and they were TIGHT. Then I noticed that my hubby dried them on high heat - they shrunk a little haha.

25 lbs is terrific. Celebrate your accomplishment - it is huge! lift a weight that is 25 lbs and you will feel just how much lighter you are. It's your life, don't worry what co-workers might say or what they might think. What does it matter? Worry gets you no where!
My surgery was 1/17/12 so I think we are at the same stage post-op. I went back to work just under two weeks post-op. I was tired, but it was good to be intellectually stimulated rather than being at home and thinking about....food.
I'm still surprised you are eating solid food. I'm on liquids until 2/14 and then go to the 2 week pureed phase.
Exercise is key. Walk at least every day and if the weather isn't permitting, get up, put some music on and dance or walk in place in your livingroom, lift your knees up high and move your arms around. It will help with your psyche if anything - gotta get the blood flowing.
Think positive proactive thought as they breed positive proactive actions!
Give Thanks!

I am sure you are losing. 25 lbs so far is awesome!!!!!!

absolutely, but i was addicted to the scale after week 6. I didn't bother weighing myself before that. Now i am staying away from the scale because it was driving me crazy. So I've decided to eat healthy and try not to focus on the scale.
My husband bought some of those devil girl scout cookies from some cute little girl scout. So, I paid him to take them to work and get rid of them. Works for me. He read the nutrition label and seen how much fat 28g was in them and was more than willing.

No no no....hang in there girl...stay away from junk and concentrate on getting to your goal! I know you can do it:)

I ate a few Cheetos about a month out and they tasted HORRIBLE!!! They were way too salty and had a very artificial taste. I've not had a craving for them since!!! Your taste buds will change....so hang in there and don't go for the Cheetos!!!!

That's sos funny. I have craved them since pre op diet. I talk about them alot!! But I haven't eat them....

I know this may sound strange, but try smelling the Cheetos. There have been several things since my surgery that I thought I wanted and smelling them has satisfied me more than the eating probably would have. Good luck and hang in there!

No you are not alone at all, I hear you loud and clear, I have said this before and now I have to remind myself again that obesity is a complex disease and currently the world at large only treats it as a minor inconvenience or vanity. The only advice that can offer is that you allow yourself to feel the way that you do and to find someone that you can talk it over with. You have done something life changing and so all aspects of your life are changing now.

No, you are NOT crazy! I feel like I just read my life story. I am considerably larger that you were on your surgery day..heck....I am dreaming of the day that I weigh 261...I have always been the FAT child, the FAT teenager, the FAT adult. Kids in school would walk past me and sing that stupid 1-800-96-Jenny song from the Jenny Craig commercials. I have tried EVERY diet out there, pills, shots, drops, low calorie, no carb, Weight Watchers...I mean EVERYTHING. I would lose some...then gain it all back and then some. When I met my son's father, he was married, but he wanted me..I thought...wow..finally I have found someone that will love me even though I am HUGE. That didn't last long, I got pregnant, he cheated on me...we split up and I haven't been with anyone since. I focus my life on work and raising my son. I know that he loves me no matter what and doesn't care what I look like. He tells me Im pretty everyday. I am unfulfilled in my life though. I want to share my life with someone..I want to feel comfortable walking into a place with my friends and not have people staring at me and judging me. I take alot of my anger out on the world and those around me which then makes me feel like a crappy person...So yes I can relate...more than you will ever know.

You are far from crazy!
I noticed right away how different the world treated me. Amazing how much better the service is when you are not heavy. :-/ It took me a long time to realize I was no longer the fat girl in the room.
My life did not calm down for two years after surgery. I was in a constant state of personal (and physical) change.
I would suggest getting some counseling if you can afford it or your insurance covers it. The problems that drove us to eat are still there when we are thin. We just don't have food for comfort anymore.
I promise you will look back at this time fondly in a few years. You are already an incredible person for even doing this. Those who have not had to prep for this surgery, go through it, fast, deal with pain, etc just don't understand how it changes you and your life.
My surgeon told me that my hormones would not even begin to return to normal for a year to a year and half. He was right.
Best of luck and you look AWESOME!

I just felt like I read parts of MY life story as well! I was skinny as a child, but at puberty the weight just seemed to go up..and up...and up. I haven't been in a relationship for a long time, and have often felt invisible. To combat this I developed the 'big girl' personality. Funny, sarcastic, witty, etc. Apparently I use it so well that my closest friends didn't even realize how much I hate this body that I'm trapped in. When I found out about the sleeve I almsot started crying from relief. I'm hopefully getting sleeved in April and I imagine my emotions will go through the same roller coaster ride as yours are. All I can say is that you're not crazy and you have a right to feel how you feel. Repressing those emotions would be bad in the long run, but maybe you can channel it into volunteering, running, a new hobby, etc. All of those things can make you feel better about yourself and help steady your emotions. If there are any support groups in your area for post-sleevers, then maybe you can try and go to those. If nothing else, you'll know that you're not alone in how you feel.
Good luck and keep us posted!

Sort of. In my case I was ok with Crystal Light for about 1 week. After that it started to bother my stomach. It felt too acidic. Now at 9 weeks I am diluting it much more and it is ok, so don't throw it away, it might taste ok in a few weeks.
(I switched to Powerade Zero, no calorie Sobe & warm tea first thing in the morning. Now Mio is my new favorite way to drink water. I still drink tea nearly every morning)

try maybe switching to the walmart brand? It seems to have less of an aftertaste.
I live on sobe lifre water and walmart cherry limeade

I am having the same problem. I even stocked up on it before surgery, because I loved it so much. I also kept reading how that was a go to drink for many after surgery. Not me. I'm hoping that in a few more weeks I will be able to enjoy it once again.

I can't drink it either! Nor can I can drink anything "suger-free". I drink tea, diluted juice, coffee, and water. But honestly tea and coffee (especially coffee) are my favs.

i have been drinking diluted low calorie gatorade. I have a little discomfort when I drink just plain water. I tried the crystal light in water and didn't like it much. Still have some left, I will try it again soon.

There's a PURE brand too that I switched to. I got so sick of crytal light fruit punch...switched to this PURE tropical punch...and only put enough in just to give water some flavor. Have you considered the flavored waters?? Adirondack brand has this white grape flavor that also has vitamins in it, without calories.

I'm thinking this is more mind hunger than body hunger. It's a big change. I never feel hungry. My stomach never growls. Often I only eat once per day. I would focus on the fluid intake and this should get you over that hump.