RJ'S/beginning

Sorry but your breasts are made of fat...So they are usually the first to go....I hear you with them not wanting to hold up..But my trainer said to keep exercising and building the muscles under them and it will help....Okay then what to do with them when they are hanging down to my waist..I roll them up now and put them away....I so need a plastics to step in....

I am in the throws of The Change..And after my surgery I had a period. I was sent to the specialist because I was not supposed to have any anymore. I hadn't for almost 8 years...Then bang there it was...They tested me and all was in order so they said it must have had to be due to the Estrogen stored in my fats..Like @@LipstickLady said....Only one period......so i am fortunate I think in that area. So it does happen!

congrats on a job well done....."Your doing it Peter"

For the rest of our lives we will struggle to gain control over this addiction. We have used food as the number one go to for a long time. Since the sleeve is a tool and not a miracle we will struggle to maintain our mind set and keep on the path. That is human! I admire your pluck to admit your on the wrong path and want encouragement to change. Go back to basics. Do a few days of liquids and start to look again at your dietary intake. It is work but in no time the weight will start to come off again. I am sad that we all struggle to not regain...But you certainly have folks here that are willing to encourage your new goals. Forward go....Water, Protein, veggies, fruit and last but not least carbs...Complex carbs....You got this...Just stay close to the forum and don't go when you think you got it together.....You may find that your experience will help others in the same struggle...... Just keep swimming...

Sweetie, you don't have a clue what price I have paid for this adventure. And even though I don't regret it one little bit I am still suffering from the complications one after another because of it from 18 months ago... Need help. I think the people who think this is a walk in the park need help...Me I put one foot in front of the other and go forward...For me personally...If I had killed myself it would not have been this painful and it would have been over in a flash..I meant it more tongue in cheek.... okay!

The easy way out would have been to kill myself instead of doing this.... This may be my Helicopter but I am being transported through a category 5 hurricane for this.... Some fun eh Bambi!!!!!

Maybe what you have to say @@CowgirlJane is very valuable to someone asking the question. And maybe you are the one that personally affects them in the right way. Each of us travel this trek differently and fear of failure and lack of trust in ourselves makes it difficult not to reach out at the time when you are panicking. Even if it has been addressed over and over again.. Even some of the worn out people on here that have traveled the road keep doing what they can to pay it forward.. I owe it to the people who helped me and others that are in my boots now.... So for now, i will try to help where I can and hope it helps someone somewhere.....

I think that you are concentrating on numbers instead of healing and getting stronger so that you can tackle the so called stalls. Your stomach is still raw. it is not healed yet and your body is still flushing out the poisons that they put in your body while during the surgery and afterward to avoid possible complications. Not eating enough calories will slow your progress down. Right now I think you are probably dead on. I have never looked at stalls as stalls. i call it body at rest....That is when my body needs a break and stops losing to catch up with everything you are doing to it. If it feels threatened. It will shut you down. Once it feels safe again...It starts to lose again...We are an amazing machine. Your machine is different then mine. Stop with the numbers game. Take the scale out back and hit it with a sledge hammer until you can feel the difference in your clothes and how you feel. Then step on your doctors scale. You will find it much easier to stay positive when you don't weigh yourself too often... I have never had a gain or a stall yet. And you know why! Because I have only weighed myself 5 or 6 times in 18 months. I never weighed myself when I was fluffy. I don't see the point now. I follow the program spend time learning and changing my thinking and eating habits and have confidence in my tool.... you have the option to make numbers the main concern or your health the main concern.....

Not everyone on this site have the intellect that you do my dear. Nor do they have the ability to put so elegantly your rants. Some people like myself are somewhat computer illiterate and I make exceptions for that.... I am not tired out of answering questions that I feel need to be addressed over and over again. I hope that maybe the way I reply might, just might be the right thing said to ease someones mind. Or answer questions. Most people today can wield a computer like a sword never miss anything and have all the ins and outs covered...I wish I were them, but I am not.... So I try to do what I can with the limits I have until one day I get brave and fit in some boring computer courses....hmmmmm... You slay me Revs. Please don't ever change......Just reading your threads make me smile!

That is a never ending learning issue with people who have some kind of issue. Society teaches us that we have to look a certain way. Society teaches us that it is alright to beat up on those that are fluffier then others. When you come here and people talk about themselves. And they are expressing that self loathing it is part of the journey to change that feeling or thought process for their own well being. Being content with who we are now or becoming is a work in progress for sure...I feel like you @@CowgirlJane that we all need to except the us inside while we work to improve our health. But by nature and how we have been taught at a very young age it is a slow and painful process... I remember when I was a teenager and I was a skinny little thing...I thought I was ugly. I felt like I had no shape and that the boys of my time were still looking for the hour glass figure girls...and to be honest they were..... I did not appreciate myself back then and would love to relive that time being content with who I am and maybe all this would not have happened to me. One of the issues is that we buy into the propaganda of what is acceptable and what is not....It is all a mirage. In reality there is room for all of us. But the issue gets blurred when our health is involved. And that is where we make the necessary changes that we need to make for ourselves. When I am sure about everything and know the answers to life's secrets it will probably be when I take my last breath and I say oh yes now I understand...Life is like that you know....lol

I know exactly what your talking about. But it is true they are thinking about how they felt about themselves. Not thinking of you at all. That is self absorbed and in a sense they are overcome with how far they have come. Not only that but they are thinking about the work and struggles they had to make and still have to do to maintain what they have done. I have approached this subject on here as well. People are not trying to talk about the fluffy ones they are only seeing themselves and how they felt about themselves. But it does sting the ones who are heavier then they were to start off with. Some have the ability to speak elegantly and able to say what they mean without the punch in the stomach. Others well I just assume now that they are not talking about me and go on... It is hard to stop hating yourself after you have been down and out for so long and we tend to insult ourselves before we think others will have the chance....... Your doing great....I have always used the word fluffy instead of obese...I hate that word!!!!!!!!! Some skinny guy or gal must have invented it.....bla!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poor chickens..lol http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_chicken_wings_considered_dark_meat?#slide=1

My daughter bought me a leather jacket when she found out I was having my surgery...I still can't wear it but it stares at me as my goal. Then she bought me 2 blouses for the future as well. They were bigger...By the time I got out of the hospital they were already too big and i was not able to wear them......I was secretly happy about that because that meant I was smaller then that size then and that was okay with me..... I still buy the next size down in hopes of it happening. But I think soon the thrill will be over for me....Enjoy the downward slide into smaller and cooler clothes. i know I have....

Are you kidding me lol...A debate over a chicken wing and not a brownie. Oh we have to start somewhere ladies and if it is a chicken wing then so be it...eating normally is a great accomplishment in this program. Increasing real food intake is imperative to good health. I am sure that she will not eat only chicken wings for the rest of her life...I have been known to put down a wing or two myself once in a while. They are darn tasty! 18 months after surgery I still cannot eat beef, pork or chicken breasts and Tuna makes me gag. If it wasn't for dark chicken meat I would be living on cheese and eggs...Or the like... @@Carlotta1 . It is a learning curve to see what you can and cannot tolerate. At this state in the game a chicken wing is good news...However a brownie would have been something for her to worry about!

congrats..you are on your way to getting better and starting to have the chance to figure out what suits you and what does not....This is the fun part!

Congrats on becoming a loser like the rest of us!

You poor darling...lol Just to have your problems eh.... Your body will level off and maybe you will go back to a size 4 or not. it is your metabolism, and genes that set the pace. I think I could fluctuate nicely between those 2 sizes...I will never be that small but some have to work at leveling off their so used to the program that they have trouble reprogramming themselves to maintenance. Everyone is different. Seems to me you are one of the blessed among us who is having trouble maintaining a size 4......Hope things get better for you....

I have body issues as well. And have trouble in reality of seeing myself smaller. but I have always been small and young in my dreams at night....Weird eh! @barbarahadz1 @Roo101769

That is in reverse eh @@Mrs.RRn . Interesting!

When you dream at night and you are in it do you see yourself as you are now, in the past or at the end of your weight loss? I have never dreamed in a dream at night that I was heavy. i have always seen myself in my dreams as a 19 year old girl in every situation I encounter in my dreams. I was just wondering if anyone else sees yourself like that while you are sleeping...Interesting thought I think!

I applaud your grit @@HumanMerelyBeing It is one of the toughest parts of this journey. Re-evaluating you and who you were and who are are now and who you will become. It is like being thrown into a world of confusion where you really don't know what the next step will bring. The unknown is a fear that has kept so many from working through their demons and pushing them back so that you can live. Really live. The big, bad feelings are not to be feared. They are a necessary part of the healing process. One that you owe to yourself and your supporters. So that on the other side of it they will see you for who you really are. A person with an opinion, an idea and thoughts that can help and stimulate them to action in their lives by your example. I have been working on my changes for many, many years. i have had counseling up to my ying yang and it never ever helped me because I could not come to grips with why I was who I was. Not the person I wanted to be. Finally I am coming into my own. I am emerging. it has been hard work and continues to be but I am starting to have a good idea of who I am now. I am no longer a shrinking violet that stays back and allows others to abuse someone in my presents. I have a voice and I use it where it is necessary. I am not afraid anymore of where I go, who I am with or what I am doing. I grab it and run with it because for so long I couldn't. I paid dearly for this tool that has helped me to change in so many ways and will continue to help me in the future if I continue to grow inside. I am proud of you for recognizing that part of your life change is changing your patterns. Looking at food for what it is a substance to nurture your body and not the love of your life. Transforming that love for food to other areas in your life can only bring happiness to the ones that will receive it. It is not easy because fear is a real emotion and fear dictates how we respond to the new things we are finding out about ourselves... I have lost a lot of friends over my choice and now know that they were not friends at all. I see the world differently and feel I am part of it..Whether it is ready for me or not. Let those big, bad feelings out and take the changes to heart. You will be a better person for it. You will find that what is left is a person you are content with. And one that will help others and be a supporter of those you love when they are on whatever trek they find themselves..... Congrats so far! Jane

There are mistakes and we all make them or made them in this journey, trek, adventure. Whatever you want to call it. The important thing to remember at this time is that your sleeve is new and swollen and not healed yet. Putting solids in there is a risk that you are taking for a possible leak and a long journey back to health over a pretzel. The sleeve is a tool given to you so that you have the time to fix your mind. Your brain. To figure out why you did what you did to get here. And make life changes that will make you a success. Making a mistake now and then is going to happen. Eating the wrong foods is going to happen. This, right now is where the work begins. Taking chances like that so early on is more harmful then at a later date. Junk foods are sliders they have no density and so therefore go down easy and do not help in closing the flap at the bottom of your stomach. So you can keep on eating them and work your way back to where you started Even when we were our largest our bodies gave us signals about whether we were full or not. But we did not take note and ate because it was our comfort in life. Some people pause and others take deep breaths. Some will say not now to a second portion because they want to let the food eaten already settle. Our bodies gives us signs now that we are full. We just need to listen. Figure them out and stop eating before we feel it in a bad way. But doing this pretzel thing so early on is sabotage. One that could cost you dearly. The sleeve is a tool, not a miracle and if you treat it as such and look within yourself for the reasons and truth behind your addictions then you have a great chance that you will learn to change and deal with it without food. You didn't ruin your sleeve. But the chances of damaging it at this point is quite possible. Stay on track it will get easier at some point in one way and harder in others... This is a life changer and nothing worth having is gotten for free. It is the time for you to realize it is you that you are working on. Fix the brain and the body will follow....

Hey, we have all been there. your going to be fine! Just breath and remember why you decided to do this for yourself. It won't be a hop skip and a jump. But it sure is a life changer. One for the best mostly. Your on your way. Soon to be a loser like the rest of us.... Be proud of what you are doing for you and your future!

I would not consider your friend a success...sorry..She is not using it as a tool. And it will catch up with her if she does not change her thinking. All three of the issues you mention are as important as the other when you are in the losing stage. It will get easier. I know for me at first I felt like I was doing this stuff all day long. Now it is natural for me and all runs smoothly. It will happen for you as well. Your going forward and using this sleeve as a tool and figuring out it will work best for you. There is nothing in life for free that is worth having. You are going to be so proud of yourself when you make the changes you need to make so that you can live a happier healthier life...Your friend is playing with fire. She is messing with her system that works when you follow the program and can cause future problems if you don't! All the best to you!

Every day is the same...I wake up in pain and wait for the nurse to come and flush out my drain. It hurts a lot and so I buckle down when she comes and get it over with. My stomach hurts so I am eating very little...That is a problem right now for me as I am almost to goal. I hope that this will be over when all the rest is done because I will be then looking forward to plastics and maybe after that some freedom....I have been asked to speak at a seminar next month and have said I would. Looking forward to that...A lot! I am still here just in a lot of pain....Thanks you for keeping up with this old girl...