gowalking

Beautiful post @AvaFern.

Oh I'm so glad I didn't watch the biggest loser. I would have been fuming based on what you all are saying about the put down once again of folks who've had WLS. There needs to be a concerted effort to show that those with WLS are able to keep the weight off better than those who have not had WLS. Then maybe it won't be seen as the easy way out but the more permanent solution. I bet if there was a surgery to help alcoholics stay away from the booze, there would be lots of those surgeries and it would be called a medical miracle. Why oh why are we put down for being fat, and then put down for being successful in losing/maintaining a healthy weight. You can't win for losing I guess. F**K 'em all.

Thanks for the advice friends. I saw my PCP today and she agreed that another ounce of Protein at dinner is a good idea. She also has told me that I shouldn't lose any more weight at this point. Some of this is psychological as well. More to talk to the therapist about..lol. Lisa...your hair looks great. I had mine colored yesterday...same brown as always. I'm not nearly as adventurous as you. Justwatchme...I'm so sorry this is such a difficult time for you. I hope mom understands and comes around knowing you are doing what needs to be done to forge your new life. Arlene...I've never heard of Biotin making you gain weight. All I know is that my hair has grown back since I've been on it and I'm so glad that horrible period seems to be over. Not good when your scalp is showing... Have a great weekend everyone. I'm going to my son tomorrow to see ultrasound pics of the baby. April can't come fast enough for me. I just cannot wait to hold my grandson in my arms.

Another option out there to try to quit is Wellbutrin. I was a pack a day smoker for 30 years and also loved to smoke. I never even tried to quit. My PCP told me I was starting to show signs of respiratory distress back in 2006 and said I had to stop. I told her I couldn't stop and she put me on large doses of Wellbutrin. In small doses, it's an anti-depressant but in larger doses, it helps stop the nicotine cravings. I stopped smoking in less than a month. It was a friggin miracle drug for me. And my last cigarette was in August of 2006. Of course, I gained an awful lot of weight because I substituted one addiction for another but I'm now smoke free and a normal weight. Good luck...no guilt trips here...as a former smoker, I know how hard a habit it is to break.

Same here. My starting BMI was over 50 and I too had to do three months supervised for the insurance company.

Guess what?? I saw a promo this morning for Entertainiment Tonight and they have a contestant from The Biggest Loser who talks about all the folks who wound up gaining it back. Now THAT is an interview I want to see. Believe me, I don't want to see these people fail, but it helps to reinforce my decision to have WLS if I can be one of the real success stories. And by that I mean now only losing, but keeping the weight off.

Hi friends. I have a question and would love some feedback from ya'll. I've been eating the same way since I was on solid foods some two years ago. Around 1,200 total calories and much like a Weight Watchers program. 3 oz. Protein, 1/2 cup of veggies, and 1/4 cup of carbs at dinner. Breakfast is often oatmeal or cream of wheat or a half a bagel thin with Peanut Butter. Somtimes I'll have two eggs or even Cereal. lunch is usually a half a sandwich. I also have fruit and 100 calorie ice cream or pudding for a treat after dinner. Because I have no Fluid in my band, I can eat anything so I'm very careful to watch my portions. I've been somewhere between 115-118 lbs. for a couple of months now and figured my weight was stable and I could finally buy some quality clothing without having to worry about getting too small and giving yet more things away. So...I noticed this week that a pair of slacks I just bought less than a month ago are a little loose. I get on the scale this morning and I weigh 111.6 lbs. I really don't want to keep losing weight at this point. I know that I've probably got at least ten lbs. of loose skin so when I see the scale say that number, it means I'm flirting with my weight being less than 100 lbs. Should I increase my protein? Should I go to 4 oz. of protein at dinner? I don't want to increase the wrong types of foods. I'm a carbaholic and it's tempting to go to 1/2 cup of carbs instead of 1/4 cup but I think that may be dangerous for me. I don't even want to increase to a whole sandwich at lunch...I know it's too many calories. What do you guys think? I know I can ask the NUT at my surgeon's office, but I wanted to see what you guys had to say first. Any feedback is much appreciated. Liz

She sure is!!

Hang on @endzone. You're almost there. Like I said in my post, it took about 50 lb. to go down 1 or 2 sizes. Now, 10 lbs. or less can put me in a smaller size.

Oh goodie! I like this topic. OK, here goes: I still walk like I have thunder thighs. My legs no longer rub together but I still walk like they do. Have to work on that. I still think I am too big to sit on a crowded subway train. I'm not and starting to realize it, but the brain still has trouble with that. I try on clothes that are too big. Thank goodness for a saleswoman at Lord and Taylor last week who brought me sizes 6P and 8P when I couldn't bring myself to look at anything smaller than a 10P I've started tucking in my blouses. That's something I haven't done since I was a young woman. I think people are crazy when they tell me I shouldn't lose anymore weight, or when my own doctor asks if I'm eating enough. I'm eating healthy...and not starving myself but it's still so odd to hear that when for so long it was comments regarding how much I ate, not how little. I bought some new 'fashion jewelry' because some of the things I had prior were just too big and chunky for the small me. It's not only that I've lost weight, but I'm short and small boned. I'm pretty tiny at this point and heavy jewelry overwhelms my size. I'm sure I'll think of other things but these are the top ones for now.

Oh good! I was going to text you today to find out how bad it was. I'm sure you know the storm was a big bust here in the city though I'm actually fine with it. Did not want my weekend impacted as I am seeing ultrasound pics of the baby on Saturday. Anyway, glad to know that you are all OK and you didn't lose power.

Glad you are getting help and support. I too am seeing a professional to help me with the psychological issues surrounding my relationship with food. As JustWatchMe said, 'one day at a time'.

I went through a ton of clothes. At the beginning, I was able to shop in my own closet as I still had smaller sizes in the back. Also...it took a good 50 lbs. before I really started to go down in sizes. But then I dropped sizes quickly and realized this was going to cost alot of money. I also bought way too much...I actually gave away clothes I had only worn once or twice...or not at all. I can't imagine what I've spent on clothes in the past two years. I agree with others that you need to go to sales/clearance racks and spend some time looking for deals. I bought alot of stuff in Target and Walmart. I found very inexpensive slacks from JC Penney and bought them over and over in smaller sizes. At $25 a pair, it was a good value and I could wear them at work or around the house. It's only now that I'm finally buying more upscale or quality clothing because I'm fairly stable weight wise. I just bought separates at Lord and Taylor. Tahari and Anne Klein for instance. I must say, there is a real difference between cheap clothes and better clothes. I don't mind spending the money when I'm happy with how I look in them.

You may very well be gaining some weight. It's not about how much less you are eating than before, it's about introducing food back into your diet after being on nothing but liquids. Don't worry about gaining/losing weight..not this early on. Just follow your doctor's plan for you and I promise, you will lose weight. Good luck.

..except she blames the PCOS for her weight gain. When she says later on that she makes some poor choices, we don't know if she means volume, or the type of food she's consuming, or something else. I knew I had to shut the program off last night and change the channel when I started talking back to the TV.

Unfortunately Courtney, this is not the correct way to lose the weight. I'm not sure from your post, which surgery you've had but regardless, you should be speaking with your doctor to resolve your issues. It shouldn't be a struggle to keep food down. If I was dealing with that every day, I'd be working closely with my medical team to resolve it. I hope you can get the help you need. No one should suffer just because they've had WLS.

Hi @CC155. I'm not sure if you are scared of the surgery or of the unknown. If your fear is the surgery, the statistics show that you are overwhelmingly likely to survive with no issues at all. If your fear is of the unknown, all I can tell you is that two years ago when I had lapband surgery, I couldn't imagine what my life would be like without my best/worst friend, which was food. Best/worst because I loved to eat but it was killing me. So what has happened in those two years? Well, I've lost 150 lbs. and have gotten my life back. I don't miss eating to excess....not any more. Especially not when I am thinner than I've been since I was a teenager. Not when I wore 26/28 slacks and 4X tops and now I wear 6 petite slacks, small petite tops, and 8 petite dresses. Not when I used to struggle to walk because my knees and hips were killing me and now I walk with almost no pain and every step I take is like a miracle to me. Not when I get attention from both sexes. Not when people notice me now instead of looking through me. Not when I fit in the world again instead of being too fat for it. Hang in there...I understand you are nervous but I'm excited for you. You are starting the most wonderful journey of your life and I can't wait to read about all your future successes.

You have a point LipstickLady. I'm likely projecting in regards to happiness/size. Like I said in my OP, she reminds me of myself. I was the happy laughing fat lady. I used to say that I was fine with being fat...it was the mobility and co-morbidities that made me take the steps towards weight loss. Well...I was full of crap. I hated myself and how out of control I was. I still cringe when I look at old pictures. The only reason I post before and after shots is to let people know that even if one is morbidly obese, WLS can work. As far as my own issues, heck, it's why I'm in therapy. I need to explore the root causes of my obesity so I can avoid gaining it back. So..let me clarify and say that what I've written is just my opinion and in no way do I want to assume or presume how anyone feels....though I do agree with Surfer Girl in that I think she really does crave the attention.

TLC is doing alot of stories on larger folk today and tonight. I watched the story about the guy who lost 400 lbs. 'the natural way' by dieting and exercising. He was training with the biggest loser guy..Chris something or other. Anyway, definitely a put down of those who have bariatric surgery so once I realized this was an old program, I Googled the guy, and what do you know?? He gained back 300 of the 400 lbs. he lost. Now I take no pleasure in his weight gain but it shows once again that losing it is the easy part. It's the maintenance that's hard. The 600 lb. people next week has the woman who in the promo says that she could easily be back at 600 lbs. again but that she chooses not to. That's the reality of our lives. Even with bariatric surgery, we can gain it back. I know...I see folks on this forum all the time struggling with regaining. I just wish, as many of you also do, that the general public stops seeing WLS as the easy way out...or even as cheating. Oh..and one more thing as long as I'm posting stuff about these types of shows. What's with the woman on My Big Fat Life? Is she supposed to make us think she's fat and happy? If so, she's not. She reminds me of myself...very self-depricating in order to shield herself from just how unhappy she truly is. Or she's just delusional. She's a very large woman and no one that big can be happy at that size. Not in this society anyway. Smaller is beautiful and anyone who says otherwise is rationalizing. Did you see the guy she met who was a chubby chaser? He didn't care about her...only about her body. That's probably what extraordinary beautiful women experience as well, but it's just an assumption on my part. Anyway, just some random thoughts while I sit here and watch our mayor again tell us that the city will shut down tonight while the blizzard is upon us.

The weather report this morning was possibly 10 inches of snow in the city. I was out and about much of the day and around 5ish, I wandered into the grocery store for a couple of things and it looked like they were giving away the food. Lines were out the door and I knew it had to be related to the weather so I picked up my tuna and salad fixings and went home to see what was going on. Blizzard warning and 24-36 inches of snow expected from Central Jersey on East. My admin called our group to tell us the Senior Director has said that we should work from home tomorrow and Tuesday. I'm figuring I'll be working from home on Wednesday as well if this is as bad as they are touting. I know the weather folk can be dramatic but I have a feeling this is going to be a real pain in the neck. For those in the path of this storm, stay warm and stay safe.

We don't have to explain it here on this site but I tried to make my friends understand last night just what has happened to me these past two years and they understand as best they can but you all understand in a way that folks who don't have food issues just cannot. How does one explain that as I've gotten smaller, I've become more of a presence. Look at this picture. I'm tiny as compared to my friends. I'm a tiny woman now and yet, I am more visible than I was when I was so much larger.

The biggest factor that I see on this site in terms of hoosing one surgery over the other is how invasive or not each one is. For those who want no permanent changes to their 'insides', they usually go with the band because it can be removed. For those who prefer not being bothered with the hassle of fills and finding 'the green zone', they usually go with something more permanent. Do your research and likely you will find which surgery makes you most comfortable going with. Good luck.

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I can't help you but I can try to support you. I understand as I am also one of those who's band has worked so well for me...and living here in NYC, I know firsthand about the horrors of Sandy when it hit. Please keep us posted on how you are doing and if you find a doctor who will advocate for you.

Even with the hip replacements, I still have chronic back and leg pain. I've been on tons of painkillers but now with the new hips and 150 lb. weight loss, I'm on a cocktail of Cymbalta and Duexis...which is a combination med of an NSAID and Prilosec. Too bad you can't take the chlorine. I take Water exercise classes and they have literally saved me. Those classes have done more for me than two years of physical therapy.

Congratulations. You look great and your story is very inspiring.