AJW

I read this post and thought size 8 sounds pretty normal size to me. Skinny is my size 2-4 when you're over 5'-7" tall; that's skinny. I wear a size 26 waist pants in skinny jeans/leggings, and the thighs are a little loose. I'm definitely skinny, as in "too thin," and am having trouble gaining or keeping weight on. I gave away all my size 8s and 6s already as they were way too big. I will have to have my husband point out someone else who's as thin as I am, but to tell you the truth, it's hard to find anyone. I look all the time, and most people are overweight in my part of the country - So. California. Saw my granddaughter yesterday. She's only 11 and approx 5'-2" tall and I'm guessing 135 pounds, with quite a big belly and butt on her. Her Mother has gained approx. 20 pounds since I saw her last time, and she was 170 then; now she's easily 190 or 200. I'm sad to see my granddaughter this heavy, she's an obese child, and the parents aren't doing anything to make sure she's getting the right portion control or good food choices. They eat a lot of junk food, so there you go. It's setting her up to be an obese adult unless she gets a handle on it. Nothing we can say, though. They think she's just fine, I'm sure. Oh well.

You're so young with wrinkles; imagine being my age (61) with a face that is too thin and wrinkled after the loss of so much weight. It's an issue, big time, only I need a face lift and neck re-do, along with fillers and whatever else I can manage. That on top of new implants - my skin shrunk around the saline implants so now you can clearly see them if viewing naked. All the clevage went away, so I look like I have (basically) bolt-ons. I'd be happy with face/neck work and a boob re-do. I don't even care that much about the stomach, although there is loose skin, none is hanging off. It reabsorbed pretty well considering the 132 pound loss.

Oh sorry, well I stuck pretty much to the Medifast diet which is a whole lot easier to do after the surgery. I had their protein shakes and supplemented with extra protein, I had snacks, ate their oatmeal for breakfast, and had a regular small portion (real food) lean and green dinner. I lost the weight because I couldn't eat very much and that's b/c of the surgery. It was just a lot less calories than I had been eating before starting Medifast and the surgery. Hope that helps you. Keep your protein up, carbs down, follow some kind of plan, and it will come off barring any other physiological issues, etc.

My surgery was 8/10/09. I lost 26 pounds on Medifast before surgery (from end of May 09 to Aug. 10th) and weighed 220 on surgery date. It took approx.9 mos. to get to 135, then I kept losing from May 2010 to current date down to 125, then 120, then 118, then 116. I was at 113 when I got a stomach bug, but gained back 3 pounds. This is where I hover. I hit stalls along the way, too, but the loss continued. Now, as I say, I have to remember to eat to maintain and not lose more. I could easily slip down to 112 or 110 if I'm not careful. People who are normal size but heavier than you, and some who are obese, will tell you that you're TOO THIN. Remember that their POV is skewed to the heavier side and your POV will be "I'm not thin enough." I saw myself as FAT when I was FAT. There was no denying I was fat; I had trouble looking in the mirror at all. Now I'm thin, no denying that, but I like looking in the mirror. I look sometimes and think "you're too thin" as my face looks gaunt (hey, I'm 61, so the weight came off differently now than it would when I was 31) so yes, I've lost the "pad" in my face. That can be fixtured with plastic surgery and I'll get to that once we get moved and settled in our new home coming up. With surgery, I'd look put back together and more in my late 40s because I basically have good skin. This is a process of transformation and nobody's process will be the same. Go for what you want and what makes you happy. If you get a little thin, you can always gain some back if you eat all the time (every 2 hours), and supplement with some high calorie foods. I like this weight and prefer to just fix the cosmetic things I can. I can dress in high fashion (couture) sizing which is NOT vanity sized by any means, wear skinny jeans, high heels, rocker chic, etc., in other words, I can dress any way I want to within reason, and still look THIN with clothes on, in the mirror, in photos. My normal sized friends are very jealous, and that's fine with me. My heavy friends think I'm anorexic; that's fine too. It's my process and I have the clothes, shoes and bags to prove it. Source: Body image changes after WLS

My surgery was 8/10/09. I lost 26 pounds on Medifast before surgery (from end of May 09 to Aug. 10th) and weighed 220 on surgery date. It took approx.9 mos. to get to 135, then I kept losing from May 2010 to current date down to 125, then 120, then 118, then 116. I was at 113 when I got a stomach bug, but gained back 3 pounds. This is where I hover. I hit stalls along the way, too, but the loss continued. Now, as I say, I have to remember to eat to maintain and not lose more. I could easily slip down to 112 or 110 if I'm not careful. People who are normal size but heavier than you, and some who are obese, will tell you that you're TOO THIN. Remember that their POV is skewed to the heavier side and your POV will be "I'm not thin enough." I saw myself as FAT when I was FAT. There was no denying I was fat; I had trouble looking in the mirror at all. Now I'm thin, no denying that, but I like looking in the mirror. I look sometimes and think "you're too thin" as my face looks gaunt (hey, I'm 61, so the weight came off differently now than it would when I was 31) so yes, I've lost the "pad" in my face. That can be fixtured with plastic surgery and I'll get to that once we get moved and settled in our new home coming up. With surgery, I'd look put back together and more in my late 40s because I basically have good skin. This is a process of transformation and nobody's process will be the same. Go for what you want and what makes you happy. If you get a little thin, you can always gain some back if you eat all the time (every 2 hours), and supplement with some high calorie foods. I like this weight and prefer to just fix the cosmetic things I can. I can dress in high fashion (couture) sizing which is NOT vanity sized by any means, wear skinny jeans, high heels, rocker chic, etc., in other words, I can dress any way I want to within reason, and still look THIN with clothes on, in the mirror, in photos. My normal sized friends are very jealous, and that's fine with me. My heavy friends think I'm anorexic; that's fine too. It's my process and I have the clothes, shoes and bags to prove it.

Yes, I see what you mean, since you've basically done this twice, first with the band and now with the sleeve. I thought I wanted a band until I researched it and figured out I didn't. So glad I listened to others re that. When I got to goal at 135, I thought a little more would be OK, to me (in photos) I still looked a little "plump." So I went to 125 and thought, OK, this is good. But then it was ........well, maybe 5 lbs. more would be better. So when I hit 120 I thought, yeah this is good, and then thought well maybe 118 would be better. You can see how I ended up where I am, definitely too thin, and yes, I see that I'm too thin in the mirror, but in photos with clothes on, I think I look normal according to fashion magazines, which as we all know, are stick thin models in winter clothing (these days.) Anyway, now I'm bouncing between 115-116 lbs. and trying to maintain the weight and even gain a couple of pounds which is not that easy to keep on you. We're about to go through another residential move which always causes lost pounds, and to a cold climate in the winter, which also causes lost weight. I'll be a challenge to maintain during the next month. C'est la vie.

I'm actually Welch by ancestry, although born in Calif. My maiden name is Evans.

You must be British; no one in the US says Gob smacked. Well, good for you and there you go. I never saw myself fat, even though I clearly was; so when I became thin again, my response was "Well, there you are!! Been a long time since I've seen you."

OK, well nobody will probably like my response to this question, but here goes: You are only 9 days post-op so yeah, your emotions are all over the place at the moment. Your body is going through a major shift and your hormones will go wild for awhile before all settles, but it will settle. A year from now you're start looking at obese people in a different way, as well. You will know what it's like to be them, and yet you'll feel like you want to tell them they could have a different life and why don't they?! Of course, you won't say a word to them, but you'll think it. As for your husband, he probably doesn't get his feelings hurt as easily as you - does any man? I mean seriously? You know that we're the drama queens in the emotional department. I think men can let stuff roll off them a lot more easily than women, so I wouldn't worry about his sensitivities. He'll deal with his weight as he sees you becoming smaller and more healthy. As for other people's comments and what not, you have a choice: you can choose to be offended or you can choose not to be. That's totally on you. I always go with it's better to be/stay positive than go to the darkside on any issue, WL included. When you get "hurt" by every little thing, the only one hurting is you, and you have a choice. I'd stick with the concept that I'm "difficult to offend" and keep a positive frame of mine when there's a choice to make. Choose to be grateful for what you've chosen for yourself, and screw anybody else, kwim?! Yes, of course you do. Stay in your happy place. Everyone has issues - be it weight or some other - you've taken the step to fix that issue for you. Let the others do as they may and know they don't speak for (or to) you. That's my 2 cents worth of ADvice.

I'm 14 mos. out and below both goals I set (one was 135 and one was 125 lbs.) I look too thin. I'm 5'-7.5" tall and have a small frame, so I look kind of a like a tall stick. When I dress to the nines, I look like a model because I'm tall with boobs (from implants - any such fat associated with that area is gone.) I have no butt - we now refer to the behind area as the "Buh-thigh" because that's all that's there. I have to exercise to maintain leg and hip flexor muscle mass because that sort of slid south b/c I didn't exercise with the loss. My weigh varies from 116 to 115, I weigh daily to keep tabs on it lest I lose too much. I do need to consciously eat to maintain that weigh and try to add a few pounds when I can. On the upside, I can eat 1/2 of an In-and-Out Burger now (yay!) and a couple pieces of pizza. Hey whatever, it doesn't cause me to gain any weight, and I do it to keep what I've got. There are challenges on both sides of the scale. At first all you can think about is losing the weight; once you're there, you need to maintain the weight. I'm a size 2-4, and my bones protrude. Who knew my breast bone was so protruding?! Ewww....don't like how that looks, but there it is for all to see. I need plastic work to get my Sharpei hiked back up to original position, but that will come in time. So there you go.......my synopis of what's what in the WLS world.

1000 calories is too many calories a day unless you're burning 200 of those a day on exercise. Are you? Obviously, the combination of foods you ate did not agree with you, hence, the heartburn. Too rich and wrong combo. This whole WLS thing is a lifestyle change mostly which means even on holidays you can't eat like you used to back in the day. Go back to your regular food schedule and drink lots of water. You're probably retaining water from the salt in the food. My husband goes up and down 2-3 pounds a day just in normal non-WL eating. Of course he eats very fast and then holds his chest due to the heartburn and wonders why he doesn't feel good. I've given up trying to explain the eating too fast issue to him. For lunch today he had Medifast chicken soup ( a diet food) and then cuts up 10 slivers of fattening cheese, triscut crackers and a bunch of tomatoes. Bet that goes down real well. That has nothing to do with you, but you get my point. He was complaining this morning that his weight was up, well DUH, I'm thinking, look at what you eat?! For you, just get back on track. Everyone - except me who needs to gain a little - gains a couple pounds with the holidays. The main point is to get it back off ASAP.

Thanks you guys. I don't take a PPI, and haven't since about 6 weeks out. Whatever happened to my stomach - bug or whatever - has left me 4 pounds down from where I was, and at this weight (today 113) I just feel weak and unsteady. I had a protein drink this AM, with over 300 cal. in it, so if I can keep that down that will help. I ate some turkey and potatoes last night, very small amt., and was stuffed. I later tried a small piece of pumpkin pie and could only eat 1/2. I haven't had much appetite since getting this bug thing, if that's what it is, and am facing a lot of stress with an upcoming move. The stress of the move has me stressing just sitting here, and we're moving to a colder climate which I can't tolerate as well now as I could with fat on me. I honestly don't know how I'm going to handle all this. Please keep me in your prayers and thoughts. Thank you.

OK, never thought this would be an issue but here it is. I'm 114.2 pounds today. That's a loss of 132 pounds from where I started, and I'm 5'-7.5" tall. I have no butt and my pubic bone is protruding. I've lost the fat pads in my face and look gaunt. It's not that attractive on an older woman, trust me. I've had a stomach bug the last 4 or 5 days, so have not been able to eat and will lose a pound a day if I can't eat. This isn't good. My skinny pants are getting lose and I'm a size 26 in pants now. I can't eat junk because it makes me ill, so I have to eat good stuff only. It's an interesting place to be. My friends are saying I look TOO THIN; people think I'm ill. Wonder if any of you share this perspective yourselves? Let me know if you're considered by friends and family as too thin. Thanks

You're just going through a RELEASE. Releasing stress, that's how it comes out of you. You moved to a foreign country, that's huge. You've had major surgery, that's huge too. Give yourself some credit; I think you're doing really, really well. I personally don't like tribal gatherings at the holidays; I'd rather it just be me and my husband, but that's me. I was an only child; my husband comes from a tribe of 5. Whatever. I do fine by myself. I realize I'm not the norm, but whatever. I think you're doing great. You'll make new friends in time, until then just do the things you enjoy with the people you love. The rest will come. I can't imagine moving to a foreign country; it's quite enough that we are preparing for our 28th residential move in 30 years. Yep, you heard me right. It's craziness, but the Universe moves us around a lot. We moving out of state and that's quite enough headaches right there, and we have to pay for it all. Also starting a new retail business in the bargain, so there's lots of stress. I was sick on Thanksgiving so we haven't had our "feast" yet. It's completely wasted on me because I can't eat more than a morsel anyway. You're just grieving for your comfort zone, my dear, that's what happens when we experience radical CHANGE. All your reactions are completely normal. It gets better.

Don't let the candy grab you. Too much sugar has a bad reaction on the system, ask me how I know. Yes, I've indulged in the Halloween candy I bought a month ago and had to stash under the stairs closet so as to keep it out of my mind. Eating too much sugar has an unfortunate side-effect on me: I get the sugar rush X 7 and it's not pleasant. I think it also spills into the intestines too quickly and just makes you feel like crap and all you can do is lay there and moan (and not in a good way ) so best to avoid altogether. Other than this good suggestion, enjoy the holiday! Next up: Thanksgiving, another foodie holiday. I don't care that much about food anymore, so I don't feel challenged by big food holidays. Sometimes wish I could enjoy it the way I used to, BUT that's how I got fat so it's a good thing that I'm not loving it the same way. I used to buy the pumpkin and cherry pies for Thanksgiving, and then keep buying the pies way after the actual holiday was over. Yep, I'd keep eating pie through Christmas, and then add holiday cookies and you name it. Instant 10-12 pounds from the holidays. After I'd eventually quit (when the stores stopped selling so many holiday sweets) unfortunately the weight was glued to me and didn't want to leave. That's basically how I got out of control and had to resort to desperate measures to get all the holidays off my body. Now I'm weighing in at 118.6 pounds and I'm 5'-7.5" tall so that's a skinny bitch here.

I take pharmaceutical grade supplements so I'm good on the vits. No steroids, not for me. Thanks for the suggestions.

Hey Mike, Thanks for the info. The muscle atrophy is what my physical therapy delineated, or I should say, said that because of losing my butt, so to speak, I was overworking my hip flexor muscles and they were tighening up from the over use and causing pain in the piriformis muscle and flexor muscles (I don't know all their names.) He's been working with me to tighten up or work those muscles so they don't get overworked. That and working the core muscles and legs, helped significantly lessen the pain. He still can find painful tight places when he pushes around on me, though, so I'm not done. Probably have to keep working at this for rest of my life. It started happening when I had lost approx. 80 pounds, and now I'm down 126. Never had the pain before the weight loss, and I definitely did do all the protein things. Of course I did stop the shakes when I couldn't stand the taste any longer. Oh well. One day at a time.

:thumbup: I'm now weighing 120-122, depending on the day. I look much thinner than the photo on this blog. I don't have any new photos at the moment, and frankly I look a tad skinny. Lost fat in my face and at my age, it looks a bit gaunt. I'm not complaining, just telling it like it is. My BMI is 18.9 or something which is below normal weight. I wear a size 24-26 jeans and leggings, and lost my butt. I've been going to physical therapy to help regain muscle mass in my glutes which atrophied from no exercise during the weight loss, that and probably I wasn't getting in enough protein, but mostly I think it was the no exercise part that did me in. I started having pain in my hip flexors, and the therapist said I was overworking these muscles which weren't large enough to support my frame. We work on rebuilding them, and I do my little work out every day now. Just be aware, there are some side-effects to losing a vast amount of weight; be sure you don't lose your ass with it, kwim?! I'm doing a lot better now than I was about 5 mos. ago when the pain started. Anyway, that's my story. I continue to lose a pound here and there, but am basically maintaining now. Hope you are all doing well on your journeys.:biggrin0:

Thanks for sharing your story. I think these heart-felt stories really explain the process and what it's like to be the one on the journey. No one truly understands this experience until they've done it, but by sharing your personal accountability really speaks volumes. I am hoping it will inspire those who really need this surgery but allow fear to hold them back. It is indeed life-changing. I am below my goal weight and out 13 mos. from surgery. Dr. Aceves was my surgeon too. He's a great guy with a great team and a wonderful, caring doctor. I can't praise him highly enough. Thanks so much for sharing your true-life adventure with all.

I've been married 30 years this Oct. Haven't had sex in a couple of years. We're best of friends and the problem is all me. IDK why but I have no desire for it with him or anyone else. He thought the weight loss would move me in the right direction; nope. Now he thinks plastic surgery will do the trick. Can't say b/c I haven't had it yet, but probably doubtful in that regard. We don't discuss this. We get in bed and go to sleep. We're both 61 years old, not too old for sex, obviously. Does it bother me? No. Does it bother him, probably, but we deal with it and he channels his energy into projects here and there. No, he's not cheating on me, I know where he is all the time. IDK what to say except that it's not that big of an issue. I know I'm the odd one out. We used to do it a lot back in the day, but when I became fat, it stopped, that and he has a particular type of syndrome that causes the penis to curve -I forget the name - but the erection isn't as big and doesn't last, so I think I sort of lost interest. To get that "fired up" and then get no pay off, is sort of a waste of time, kwim? I know, way TOO MUCH information I realize. Just wanted to throw it out there in case anyone else is in my situation. :001_unsure:

I find that people in general are just uninformed and way too opinionated. I have an acquiantance who works in a hospital. She's seen maybe 2 bad bypass scenarios and keeps telling me how fortunate I am that I didn't end up like them. I'm like, "you have no idea what you're talking about." She's obese and chooses to stay that way; that's fine, can't change anyone or make them want to do something good for their health, that's totally on them. But then when they complain that their husband doesn't want to have sex with them and they don't know why or what to do, I'm like....."Well, you could take off some of those fenders and feel better about yourself," but you can't say that, can you?! She complains that she has "back boobs" and how ugly that is....yep, that's true, but to actually take the action to fix these self-esteem issues, oh HELL NO, not going to do that, way too scary. You see where this goes, right? Some people would rather just be fat and use food as a crutch than to have a real life, be healthy, and unobsessed with food, but then they'd have to deal with the underlying issues of their personality dysfunction. Yep, it's one big old rolled up ball of wax, all that emotional junk that gets trapped in us. At some point you have to start to unwind all that crap and get down to what's really going on. The eating and weight is just a symptom of the underlying trapped junk. You got to fix it eventually, either from the outside in or the inside out. I say congrats to all of us who've taken the initiative to resolve our addictions and create a better life for ourselves and our families. Yay!! :thumbup:

Glad you're doing better. I'm 13 mos. post-op and lost all the weight. I was never nauseous and had no complications. I remember mood-swings as that's a common thing. I was told not to worry about getting in all the protein in the very beginning, so I didn't. The first 30 days are the roughest. I also remember being told not to begin the next phase of eating until it was time to do it. But since your doctor told you OK, I guess it's OK. Just be careful with that as you have a brand new small tummy and it needs time for the staple line to heal. That's the biggest deal in the beginning. Hope you continue to improve every day. Yes, the heightened sense of smell is part of the process, too, sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not. Your taste will change too and foods you used to like will taste like crap now, especially if they are unhealthy foods. We all have our favorites from our "foodie" days, mostly fast food and the like. Now that stuff tastes like artificial crap to me. It's funny how this surgery changes you forever but in a good way.

How does it feel? It feels great, normal, you're one of the "in" crowd. You're thinner than most people are who are considered "slim." At least I am. My weight at this moment is 121 pounds and at 5'-7.5" tall, that's about a size 2-4. I have not yet shopped in a store for sizes that will fit me now. I keep losing so I'm trying not to buy clothes that might end up being too big in a few months. I was recently thinking, however, that I should go to Macy's or something and try on dresses for sizing. IDK what size I wear in dresses or skirts. In pants I'm a small or a 24/26 in jeans. Anyway, you too can experience this and more. I no longer feel excluded by fashion because they don't make it in my size, kwim?!

Then come on and JOIN us.........thin people. It's a trip and a half.:001_tt1:

Hi April.. My name's April, too. Here's the deal with VSG: you won't care about food after this surgery, so there is NO slipping back into old habits. You will lose the HABIT after the surgery. However, it's always a good thing to be evaluated by a food shrink, aka nutritionist, so you won't cross-adict to something else, like for instance, alcohol or drugs. Because after this surgery, you really won't care about food anymore, so if food is your crutch now, you'll have to wean yourself off the crutch or find a more healthy crutch - like exercise - so you're doing something good for yourself, because food will become something you simply don't care about any longer. It won't taste the same and you'll lose the Ghrelin so you won't feel hungry basically at all. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it is. If you're not sure what Ghrelin is, click on the word to know more.