nanaspez

So size DOES matter!
(Sorry could't resist )

So size DOES matter!
(Sorry could't resist )

Thank you all so much for your prayers and hugs
My mum is okay now, she had 3 blood clots between her stomach and kidney but she's doing good now. Maybe even drinking more than me!!
Thank you xxx

Since I have cottage cheese for lunch on work days, I pack sliced cheese for my afternoon snack. I usually have two slices. It's more than 100 calories. But I need about 2100 - 2200 to maintain, believe it or else.
I also eat unsalted roasted nuts, both peanuts and almonds. I eat whatever the serving suggestion is, in the case of my brands, 28 grams of almonds and 30 grams of peanuts. Yummy, and they have some Fiber.

My hubby has been very supportive too. And I mow weigh less than him for the 1st time in about 15 years. It feels great.

With such a supportive husband and your positive determination, you'll make goal in no time! Good luck with your journey and a big high five," way to go", to that wonderful husband!

OMG I wish I looked as good as you! I am jealous Congratulaitons on a job well done!

I had surgery 1 week ago and I have to give my hubby some points! He's been making sure not to eat things in front of me if he even thinks I'd want it! he even tries my last couple bites of whatever watery Soup I make for the day (or couple days) he's being a trooper for sure! My goal is to be 'smaller' than him. Even when we first met I was 180 he was 175...we're both 5'10. For the last 7 years I've been around 240-254 and he's stayed 185-200. My goal...my first BIG goal is to hit 199.9 by Sept 3rd. My daughters first day of school! I'm sitting at 223 today.

BMI is now in the overweight range. Can't wait for it to be normal.

Well if you're me, here's why...
Because if you eat quickly and eat more than you should, you will feel like someone kicked you in the kidneys. And then like that same person is trying to pull your stomach out through your chest with a rusty hook. And then like you're cramping so hard your body might just permanently stay folded in half. And then, once the worst part passes, you'll just feel vaguely like a toddler is punching your middle.
And that's why you should eat sloooowly and listen for the signals that you're full.

I was freaking out in a hospital in TJ!!! Twenty two LBs down (no pre op diet and spent almost a week where the scale wouldn't budge an ounce)!!!! This is better than HCG (still can't believe I shot myself up with that shiz).
Woo hooooo! Even took a shopping trip... Just in my closet but it was uplifting!!!
I have not told anyone besides my Dad so giving myself a little shout out here is fun! Thanks to all of you fun and inspirational cyber team members...

I am almost 5 weeks post op and in a total of 6 weeks (one week of liquid dieting) I am 40 pounds down! Hard work pays off!

My tummy makes the loudest sounds so that other people look at me, especially when I drink or eat.. It's a little embarrassing but I think... even if it stayed that way.... if that is the worst side effect of the surgery... I gladly take it and live with my new little voice inside for the rest of my life, no problem. I guess I could start singing to cover the sounds my tummy makes or I could carry a little toy frog with me and pretend he can talk

I am almost 8mos post-op (oct 30.2012) and I have had a occasional soda with no problems. My doctor is on the side of "Stomach will not stretch". The only thing I still can not drink is coffee. The only time I have coffee is when it is in a Protein frappuccino!

Fine say "pop" but the "soda" will always come first even when they are said together!

Now that I am 8 months out and have lost a significant amount of weight I have a new problem. Flippity floppity girl parts. My boobs actually make a flapping sound if I run or jump with out a bra on. I can literally fold them in half! And the hooha has been known to make the flapping sound a few times as well.
Everything is so sagging. It'd be sad if it wasn't so funny.
anybody else?

Yes! It happened to me. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long. My hair and nails are crap now! LOL. Small price to pay in my opinion.

To keep on working on myself. I want my inside to match my outside...whereas before surgery and goal I really felt that the outside was what needed changing. In fact, my problems started inside and the weight was just a sign of the problems in my life. I spent years being fat because I was hiding myself and didn't want/feel I deserved to have real relationships with other people. Slap on an extra 100 pounds and a mean look and people leave you alone, you know?
I have been told how pretty I am my whole life and I suppose that due to a myriad of totally screwed up experiences I tried to distract from that with ugly behavior. I want to be more grateful. I want to be happier just as I am...without feeling like I need something else to happen before I'll allow happiness into my life. I have come so far in my life and I have done an amazing job taking care of my family and being a mom to my kids...things that, quite frankly, have taken a lot of work and effort for me, because I grew up in such a terribly messed up home. If you learn how to parent and how to have relationships from your family as a child, who teaches you how to do things properly if they're completely backwards and harmful? Loving people or letting people close to me does not come naturally. Being nice, being friendly, being open, being unselfish...those things take effort though they are becoming more natural as I continue to work on them.
So for me, the most important thing is to make sure that who I am inside and how I'm feeling match the woman on the outside, who is pretty and smiling and looks like she has it together. I want kindness and forgiveness to be my first responses, not irritation or frustration. It's hard. I'm a work in progress and I want to keep working. I also want to remember that I always get to try again tomorrow. And every day I work on me, the REAL me, not just my body, it gets easier and I feel less like I'm acting or performing.
That's got to be progress.
~Cheri

The most important for me, I am hopefully live a longer life and be able to see my grandchildren when they come along and be able to help take care of them.

Sleeved 10/24 and down 75 pounds. Stupid scale is stuck at 200 and won't budge. Ok, maybe it is because I really want to see the one handle that I just feel that way.

Still at over 2 1/2 years out I have people who don't recognize me. I am an average looking woman in all honesty but I stare at myself as if I were a supermodel. Yes, looking at my lovely collar bones makes me happy. Looking at my waist makes me feel like a woman.
So, two weeks ago I ran into someone I worked with over 10 years ago at a conference. I was all over her since we somehow lost touch. She told me about a week later, "I didn't recognize you for about a half a hour, you exude such confidence and beauty."
I love my sleeve!

This is more me too! I look at old pictures of myself and can hardly believe that it is me. But I am also having a hard time accepting this new body. I have a lot of loose skin, especially on my stomach, and it really bothers me and makes me feel as though I am still fat. And I have a really hard time accepting people who comment about how small I am ( I had someone who did not know me before comment about how tiny I am and that I must work out all the time to keep my figure!). I have literally live my entire life being big, so my brain just can not seem to accept the image in the mirror as most days I feel so big. I kept a pair of my biggest pants, so on days that I am feeling down, I will grab them and put them on to real see how far I have come. It helps!

After almost a year at goal, I am still surprised to see my reflection at a distance. Up close, I'm used to the new me, but put 12-15 feet or more between me and the reflection and I'm still like: who's that? My clothes also still look too small when I look at them.
Lynda

Oh yeah, that happens all the time when I do a side glance at my reflection....I sometimes have to stop and look...that's really me...