LilMissDiva Irene

Excellent CONGRATULATIONS!! You've done an amazing job!! Also, CONGRATS on your engagement! You're going to look stunning on your Wedding Day.

I had a great many reasons on why I went with WLS. Even more as I ventured into a SECOND one! And a much better one if I may say so. However my major contributor for going for surgery was the fact that I had gotten Hypertension AKA High Blood Pressure. I watched my Uncle who was in his early 40's at the time die from it. His was so bad he blew out his Kidneys and lived on dialysis for 3 years. Then once he finally got called to have the Kidney transplant, he ended up with a brain tumor from his anti-rejection medication and ended up passing away not even a year later. Again... in his early Forties. I was diagnosed with Hypertension at the very young age of 31 years old. I was killing myself. I had to stop it immediately. I did stop it. Today my blood pressure is very well controlled and I'm healthier today than I have ever been. I was even a very active and athletic teenager. I regret nothing in my life, for all my trials have made me who I am today.

For at least the first 4-6 months its been said that you should avoid "sodas". Some believe it's because the carbonation can cause stretching of the new stomach. However, I prefer not to drink them simply because they are full of chemicals and provide zero nutrients to my body. Not only that, they are so full of sodium, even the zero calorie choices that it's going to do 2 things to my body. It's going to strip me of fluids and make me retain them too. In the beginning it's hard enough to get all the fluids in that are necessary. Water or Sports Drinks are a far better choice, IMO.

I don't see where anyone mentioned alcohol. Yes, you will be able to eat and drink at the same time in the future, if you so choose.

Wowza!! You certainly did have a rough Holiday Weekend. I do hope you continue to get better!! Please keep us updated on how you're doing. This really is the first time I've heard of this happening post surgery, and I've seen maybe a million WLS posts in my lifetime.

I actually waited until about 4 months post op before I was back full steam ahead, and believe you me, I'm a totally crazy workout nut. I started walking again pretty much immediately though. I was up to about 30 minutes at around 1 month out. But that's pretty much all would do all day. My advice, you just had a very major surgery. Keep that in mind as you're progressing. If you're feeling achy after 20 minutes, then that's when you should stop for the time being. But get back up and do it again, perhaps later in the day and definitely the next day. You will be back up and ready to go in no time. The time really does flash by quickly. I'm already going on a year out next Thursday! And me taking 4 whole months to get back to 100%+ on my workouts means nothing as far as me being a failure, because that I'm definitley NOT! All the best to you. Heal first, then work on getting back to true workout form.

I do eat and drink at the same time... but be warned, this is considered "cheating" your sleeve. You will be able to eat a LOT more doing this. I probably have done this MAYBE 5 times since being sleeved, and having been Lap Banded before being sleeved, I knew the whole reason we are instructed to never eat and drink at the same time. It is not advisable to do this. However, we are all adults and we make our own decisions. Just wanted to give the reasons behind the no eating and drinking at the same time rule. Even though I'm at goal, I still don't eat/drink at the same time but very rarely. I certainly don't want to start gaining back all the weight I've worked so hard at losing!!

WOW THAT'S INCREDIBLE!!!!! Congrats to you!! Your journey has truly been a huge success. You've lost a lot of weight, and by the looks of your photo, you really have removed about 20 years off. You literally look like a father and son side by side. I'm sorry to hear of your serious struggles in the very beginning, but like so many others, you would go through it all again says so much of this fantastic WLS find. Cheers to you!!!!!

This question should really only be answered by your Surgeon / Dietician / Health Care Manager / Primary Care Physician. I was not given any or much instruction to this. The only things that I will watch out for are carbonation in the drink, which being a year out now I do take a few sips here and there. Also, transfer addiction is another thing to watch out for. Also, during the weight loss phase, drinking acohol really should be avoided almost always. All the best in your journey!

I got Silicone 550 cc's, over muscle, and the incision is on under the breast (crease area). Each incision is about 1.5-2 inches long and I can already tell they are not even going to be noticeable. They are so tiny and hairline thin. Awesome! They didn't even bruise at all. I did not get anything else, no lifts or reconstructions at all, and was not needed, thank goodness. My implants were the fuller, rounder type. They look totally normal, which I didn't doubt they would because I'm really just filling out what was already full at one time. I've seen most everyone since my surgery and they all say they totally look normal for my body type. I'll tell ya, it's crazy because my original choice was to go for 500cc's. Bumped it up to 550's and now looking at them, I wish I'd gone even bigger!! OMG... oh well, I'll just have to settle with these... LMAO!!!!

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! OMG you are so pretty, gorgeous, and you look incredible!!! I need surgery to look like that!!! Your dress is awesome... we don't have dresses like that here. I wish we did!

Journaling is what I do when I'm being uber cautious and serious about the counting. I use Livestrong.com - and though you have to be careful on the choices you're using on the website, it's still very helpful. Anyway, it's free!!! I tend to eat a lot of the same things too, so once it recognizes that it will put the option at the top of the list so I don't have to search for the best possible choice. I'm very picky and will crack open my Calorie King book to match the choices and even match the Nutrition Facts to everything too. Good luck!

Hi Kami, Yes, head hunger and true physical hunger are two different beasts entirely. My physical hunger is pretty much non existent. I probably feel rumbles in my stomach a few times per week. In that case, I simply eat. If it's still a few hours until a real meal time, I'll eat a very light snack, no more than 100 calories and avoiding carbohydrates. In fact avoiding carbohydrates will help in itself in keeping the physical hunger away as much as possible. If you do eat carbs, just make sure you're also eating Protein with it as that will help neutralize the body's response to the carbs. Anyway, I don't starve my body, if it's really truly hungry, I feed it. Now, head hunger... that sadly for me has never really gone away. I'm just much better at "ignoring" it some times over others. Pd. time I find is incredibly difficult to do this. I usually cave for a few days, but I will white knuckle it until a day before or day of. I can usually do that, but once it hits I think it spikes even worse and it becomes pretty futile after that. Once the spike is over, which takes about 3-4 days I can usually get my critical mind to take back over. I just look at my craving choice... what is it? Is it Sugar? Salty? Full of Carbs? If yes, then the answer is NO!!! I'm an Analyst by day, so this is pretty natural for me. I think of myself as the Terminator. My brain fires up like a computer and I'm processing the food like data, checking labels and considering the food choice. If the outcome is that the choice will end up on my belly or thighs, then I'm not going to have it. LOL HTH. Hang in there!!!

Ruby, you have just entered BFF status!!! Sassy, have you told your Hubby how you feel? I sure do! My Hubby calls it me giving him "black eyes". He senses when they're coming too... if I don't feel he's doing the things he should be, I let him know. He gets right quick!! We'll have been married 16 years in December too.

Today I am ONE FULL WEEK POST OP!!! Wow... I can't believe it!!! I posted this on the Boobie thread, and I'm pasting it here for my one week update. Sorry, no photos. They pretty much still look the same. However, I was reading http://www.justbreastimplants.com/forum/ for those of you interested, and it seems that it takes to around 4 months for the swelling to be completely gone and to look normal again. I suppose mine will shrink a little, which is fine... because right yesterday I felt tight in the 38DD bra I have. Wow!!! I know it's all swelling but my goodness. From a 34C to a 38DD+ in 6 days is a bit much... LOL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's really weird how mine deflated. I was good to go for a really long time, and thought I'd end up lucky. I carried my Full D's all the way until I got under or around Onederland. Seriously then one day I woke up and realized my bra ain't working no more. I was so sad... and yeah, it's all vanity but so what? In my whole life, it was always my boobs that I loved and helped to overlook my heaviness. They were really great! Then whoosh... gone... like a balloon with a tiny whole poked in it!! I went from a full D, immediately to an average C... then even from there the Cs starting feeling like I could go smaller. I never did out of pride and knew I was getting them fixed soon anyway. I'm one week out now today (WOW time flies!!) and for the first time I have not woke up with any amount of serious pain. I have a high tolerance for pain too, but have needed the heavy stuff for the first four days and have needed Tylenol beyond that like clock work. However this morning, I haven't even taken anything. I have a few things to do later so I will still take some preventative... but it's nice to know I'm getting a little better every day. I know no one asked, but for those looking into it, I'll tell you getting breast implants feels a little strange. My breasts have been completely numb since the day of surgery. Its really hard to explain... however since yesterday I've been getting little tingly sensations in them. It's almost like, you know how when you sit in a certain position to long and your leg falls asleep... well when the leg starts to wakeup it feels kinda prickly... weirdish? It's kinda like that. Not only that, the feeling in my nipples are coming back. (Yay!!! I was worried... LOL) Right now it kind of feels like I'm getting ready to start my Pd. I'm just getting over it, so I know it's not that. They're just coming back to life... so to speak.

It's really weird how mine deflated. I was good to go for a really long time, and thought I'd end up lucky. I carried my Full D's all the way until I got under or around Onederland. Seriously then one day I woke up and realized my bra ain't working no more. I was so sad... and yeah, it's all vanity but so what? In my whole life, it was always my boobs that I loved and helped to overlook my heaviness. They were really great! Then whoosh... gone... like a balloon with a tiny whole poked in it!! I went from a full D, immediately to an average C... then even from there the Cs starting feeling like I could go smaller. I never did out of pride and knew I was getting them fixed soon anyway. I'm one week out now today (WOW time flies!!) and for the first time I have not woke up with any amount of serious pain. I have a high tolerance for pain too, but have needed the heavy stuff for the first four days and have needed Tylenol beyond that like clock work. However this morning, I haven't even taken anything. I have a few things to do later so I will still take some preventative... but it's nice to know I'm getting a little better every day. I know no one asked, but for those looking into it, I'll tell you getting breast implants feels a little strange. My breasts have been completely numb since the day of surgery. Its really hard to explain... however since yesterday I've been getting little tingly sensations in them. It's almost like, you know how when you sit in a certain position to long and your leg falls asleep... well when the leg starts to wakeup it feels kinda prickly... weirdish? It's kinda like that. Not only that, the feeling in my nipples are coming back. (Yay!!! I was worried... LOL) Right now it kind of feels like I'm getting ready to start my Pd. I'm just getting over it, so I know it's not that. They're just coming back to life... so to speak.

Oh wow!! I would have loved to join, but I won't be able to do anything so strenuous as I'm still recovering from my surgery, even then. Maybe next years! YOU CAN DO IT!!! Lynda, GREAT JOB!!!! Keep it up!!! I can tell you, always having some kind of goal is great... for me, I know it will keep me from ever gaining my weight back. *hugs*

The one thing I've learned about reaching all of my millions of goals I've set for myself is that, my one ultimate goal is really to never be fat again. So, I forage on doing the same things I always did that got me my successes. Protein first, working out and not eating like a glutton. It's really pretty simple.

Hi All, here is the link for the next Challenge... good luck!!! http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/23839-halloween-oct-31-what-will-you-weigh/

Okay... relax. IMO, you've got the one person in this WORLD that you really only need the support from. Your spouse. Other than that, everyone else can take a back seat. This is YOUR LIFE. You have to go with what you feel is the best decision to fix it, make it better, get healthier, feel better about YOU. All that. You need to put your foot down with your Mom. That is the only way she is going to relent, and if you are reliant on a co-signer and that person is willing to give it - then I guess I'm confused. Take charge of your own life, don't let someone who really can't make the ultimate decisions for you, make ultimate decisions. Good luck!!!

For those who have met their goal for Labor Day already, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! If you'd like a head start, I'm starting the new Challenge NOW. Good luck!!! I will wait to begin on Labor Day though, in hopes to get a few pounds down by then. Today I weigh 186.2 - a combination of surgery weight and PMS... but I'll just have to work hard at getting this off. I'll have to do it without the help of working out too! I can't start to do anything seriously calorie burning until six weeks out... or really until my surgeon gives me the go ahead. So, I'll have to really watch what I'm eating!!! Not that I didn't already, but still. All I can do physically right now is walking, and not even anything fast... just... walking... ugghhh!!! I feel a little lost right now, but I digress... ____________________________________________ SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal LilMissDiva.....???..................???............169.8.............???

Okay first of all, you KNOW I love #3. That's awesome!!!! Keep it up girlie! Working out is the best darned feeling of accomplishment that I get from this whole health thing. Then, there's the other bolded line I got for ya. You are starting to believe you are great? Lady, you always HAVE BEEN GREAT!!! You're just starting to see that... that is all. Much hugs and many cheers to you!!!!!!

Thank you Sassygirl!!

<br><br>Thanks CammyD!!! I'm healing very nicely. My incisions look great, are nice and clean and I'm up and around more these days. Still taking it easy of course, but still doing quite well. They're coming out nicely!!<br><br> <br><br>Thanks hope!!<br><br> <br><br>Thank you so much Raine! Hey whatever you two decide, that's what you should do. Your Hubby likes a handful, that's all that matters. <img class="bbc_emoticon" alt="" src="http://cdn.verticalsleevetalk.com/public/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif"><br><br> <br><br>Thanks Ruby!! Yes, I'm very excited and pleased with the outcome. I went one size larger than I originally wanted, and I'm actually glad I did. I kept hearing "getting boobs is like buying a new TV. You always wish you went bigger." So, I took that advice!!<br>

Oh no, I've actually not heard of anyone gaining all their weight back. I'm not saying it isn't possible to either, just haven't ever heard of it. From what I've heard its usually around 10% back. So for me, I'd probably gain back around 15 Lbs or so... but I also think it's controllable too. I've just gone through way too much to let any weight creep back up on me. I happen to think its folks who become too complacent, aren't checking their weight or really just ignoring the gain. That's how I gained up to over 300 Lbs and really I don't see that happening for me.