gowalking

I think having an email address is brilliant. I'll run it past Lisa...my 'partner in crime'..lol. Thanks again for letting me steal your signature idea.

Hi piercedqt78. I'm the co-lead for the NYC/LI chapter. I hope you don't mind if I take your idea and incorporate that information into my signature. Thanks. gowalking.

Take a look at my picture hon. It's a pretty and lightweight dress and the shrug is also lightweight even with long sleeves. It's a perfect type of dress to wear to your son's graduation. You don't need a skirt and top unless that's what you want to wear.

Whatever works for ya, baby. Good luck!

I can't imagine the pain of losing a child. Bless you my dear and here's hoping all goes well with your weight loss journey.

The second time around for me, we drove cross country to Arizona and were married on the south rim of the Grand Canyon at sunset. Only his best friend and family were there as witnesses. The wedding was lovely...the marriage, not so much. That story I will leave for another time..LOL. Good luck my dear and congratulations.

It will get better Cindi...I promise. The doctors at NYU are wonderful. I had Dr. Ren (Fielding's wife) do my procedure and I've had no issues and the weight has come off steadily. We're having our spring support group on June 14th. I hope you can attend. The details are in the Local Chapters thread for the NYC/LI chapter. Good luck and welcome to the banded life!

Oh Melinda...I'm so sorry that you've had complications. I'm 16 months post banded and have had much success. Posts like yours worry me that things can just as easily go wrong for me as well. I see that you mention that you had no warning or other complcations. Did you get regular follow up with the surgeon's office? I don't know what I'll do if my band goes south. It saved me and I can't imagine not having it. Please keep us posted on how you are doing and if you revise to another WLS.

Obviously, this is not a dress you wear to a wedding, but I also wanted to show you that we are all dealing with the same issue...wearing sleeveless dresses but needing to cover the upper arms. Here's my pic. This dress was from Kohl's. I really like their Vera Wang line. Pretty and reasonably priced.

I'm between emotions scared excited. I'm in New York by the way where are you from ??We're having our Spring support group in Manhattan on June 14th. If you are near NYC, please try to make it. Details are on the local chapters thread under NYC/LI. I'm between emotions scared excited. I'm in New York by the way where are you from ??

OK folks. I hope you take this in the spirit in which it's intended. I'm still laughing over what my friend said to me yesterday. Like I wrote above, this was a friend I haven't seen in a year so I expected him to make comments about the change in me but what I didn't expect was when he looked hard at me for the upteenth time and said, 'Lizzy, I swear...if I was straight, I'd do you in a hot minute'. I bet no one has gotten that comment yet. LOL!

You'll do great. I used the same bariatric group at NYU. Dr. Fielding's wife, Dr. Ren, did my surgery and I've done extremely well. Let us know how you are doing, and I hope to see you at our NYC meeting in June.

Just beautiful. Congratulations!

Oh my dear girl...you are not a failure and you're not losing the battle. It sounds like you are too tight. Glad you are calling the doctor tomorrow.

Beautiful post. And yes...it makes perfect sense. I too just want folks to let it go and for me to stay this size so that it becomes normal and no one thinks about the fat me. I'm actually making it my business to see people who I haven't seen since the hip surgery just to get the shock and comments over with. Then hopefully, we can all move on.

No no...you have it wrong. There's nothing wrong with loving food or loving to eat. The problem is we don't know when to stop. Once you have control over that, you won't mind that you still love food or love to eat. Believe me...I still love food...always will. And I love to eat. I love good food and it's still my favorite way to socialize. But I'm satisfied with just a fraction of what I ate before and being able to walk away from the table knowing I was always in control of the food and not the other way around, is an amazing feeling. Here's hoping you reach this awareness and find great success. Good luck to you!

Oh, I so get this thread. I've lost so much weight that people don't recognize me. Some of it is also because I'm off that damn cane thank goodness, and I no longer wear glasses, my hair is much shorter, and I'm wearing makeup again. But really....they don't know who I am. My own son says he is thrown every time I get off the train and he doesn't recognize the person who gets off. People at work have walked right past me without knowing it's me. A co-worker even asked my name after I got on the elevator with her after I said hello to her. Once I reminded her of who I was, the look on her face was incredulous. It's both wonderful and very off-putting because it makes me wonder who I am. I know I've changed...but how much? I hope I'm the same person I was, just a little better. I do know that I'm more outgoing with strangers. Just chatting and such but still, it's not something I did before. Even a good friend of mine told me yesterday that she can't help but stare at me because I've changed so much. Again...it's nice to hear yet what I also hear is I've changed so much because I was so very heavy and now I'm not. There's one girl at work who likes to hear the numbers. I know she doesn't realize I don't like it but she's very good to me so I let it go. But it's true...I don't like to tell people it's 120+ pounds. It's embarrassing. Just shows that reaching goal weight does not mean you've come to the end of your journey.

Great job Lee. I too have a drivers licence and passport that make people look twice when they see my picture.

I love going to restaurants. I live in Manhattan and we have some of the best restaurants in the world. No way was I not going to a restaurant even after being banded. However....no matter what the food is, or how delish it is, nothing...and I mean nothing tastes as good as being normal sized feels. That's my restaurant triumph.

Try to explain to her what you've just said on this thread. If she still doesn't get it, you may need a little distance from this gal while you are focusing on your weight loss journey. We know how hard you're working. You can always come here if you need support.

Nice start. Good luck and welcome to the other side.

What kind of advice are you looking for Sunshine? We can't tell you what to do..only you can decide whether or not you want surgery. If you have specific questions, please feel free to ask. There are plenty of folks on this forum happy to respond.

Good one readyset. I can't wait till you slip into that airplane seat either. I had a funny nsv last night. I wasn't paying attention and reached for my SF pudding on the coffee table and of course, knocked it over onto the carpet. Boy was I annoyed. I started to clean the carpet while bending over, which is a killer on the back. Suddenly I realized hey, I could get down on the floor and get up again. so I did. Imagine someone smiling while cleaning a stain on the carpet. Well that was me last night. LOL!

I didn't want such an invasive surgery so I went with the band. I had to lose at least 100 lbs. and my PCP tried to convince me to go with gastric bypass or sleeve because she said all her patients with the band only lost around 40 lbs. and I needed to lose alot more that that. How did I do? Well...I now weigh less than she does.

Yes ma'am. We hope to have meetings in the outer boroughs and on the Island as well.