MichiganChic

@@tammygRN so sorry to hear how that went for you, but happy you are recovering. What a story Please keep us posted on your progress, and get well soon!

I have the Vitamix and I love it! It makes great Soups, smoothies, and frozen Desserts.

I weigh daily first thing in the morning. I track it, then move on. I don't get on the scale again, because it most certainly will be different. I watch and track trends. Now that I'm in maintenance, I still have the same routine, but I watch the monthly average. The daily incremental weights tell me if I'm track or not. A slight gain will remind me to course-correct, and adjust my diet accordingly.

I don't think you need someone to tell you to stop. You already said it yourself, and you know what to do. I don't think this is about not knowing what it could do to you. I think this is about commitment. The nicest thing I can say to you is this: In order to succeed, we all have to commit to a new life style. If you can't commit, make the needed changes, and make the right choices according to the plan your physician gave you, then you are not committed to losing the weight and becoming "normal". The nice thing about this is that it's YOUR choice. You are in charge, not a victim of WLS.

I hear you. I'm in the same boat. If I ate 900 calories a day and exercised for an hour every day, I could probably get my weight lower. I might, at some point. Right now, though, I'm trying to make peace with that number on the scale because I look pretty normal and feel great. Even maintaining this weight, I have to be very careful with my diet. 80-90% of the time I am spot on, no digression from my plan. But once in a while, I allow myself a little break from the strict plan, and I'm sure that's why I don't drop more weight. I've been at this weight for about 8-9 months, and my body likes it here. Like you, I need for it to be a sustainable loss, and so far, it seems this is. At times, I do yearn for about 10 more lost pounds though....

Just curious - how long did it take for the arm scars to flatten? Mine are starting to really heal, I think, and are more raised than they were initially. Still pretty fine, but a little red and raised. The front of my LBL is flat and barely visible, too, but the back actually split in one spot and is still not totally healed, so I'm going to have a 1x2 inch area that's wider and thicker from that. I also have a couple of other areas on the sides that didn't heal into a fine line where the drains were. She said she can easily clean them up in her office, though, so I may have that done at some point.

I had an abdominoplasty, and had the muscles sewn back together along with the skin removal, along with a butt lift and brachioplasty. I honestly might not have even had the abdominoplasty done since it was the thing that bothered me the least. My arms and legs bothered me much more. But my insurance actually paid for the abdominplasty portion, so I went ahead and had it done. Now that I did, I'm really glad I did. I had some loose skin, and actually looked pretty good in clothes and had a nice waistline, but the surgeon said the muscles were really separated. So, now that I'm about 3 months out, I'm actually shocked at how great I look! Seriously, way better than at age 20-25 when I was pretty thin. I have a new almond shaped navel and now that the swelling is going down, you can see obliques. I am taught and flat and thin. I didn't think the pain from that was too terrible (my arms hurt way worse). I am 52 years old, was overweight for most of my adult life, and had three kids. I had no desire to bear my midriff out in public, so I didn't even have expectations that it would be possible. Now that I've had this done, I realize I had set my expectations too low. I think i was so used to being morbidly obese that it never occurred to me that I could look this good. As an aside, I've started doing yoga, and my abs are still a little sore. I chuckle to myself everytime I'm at yoga because I keep thinking plastic surgery is much quicker, and more effective and rewarding than yoga!

I am so happy I had my arms done. I am about 3 months post op, and I still have fairly red scars, and they are starting to thicken a little now. I expect them to fade and flatten over time, but even if not, I look way better in clothes. I had mine placed to the back inside of my arm, but they are not perfectly symmetrical. The left is a little more median than back, so slightly more visible. My left arm was bigger to start with, so that may be why. That's one of the risks of plastics, that the scars are not perfectly symmetrical. Mine healed fine, though, and I don't regret it. I had a lot of swelling, which caused a lot of discomfort, but I think I'm in a small percentage of people who get that. I had to wear long sleeves to cover the bat wings year round, so even if the scars never fade, I'm not worse off that way. I can always choose to wear something to cover them, though I doubt that I'll need to.

There's no way to know how you'll feel after surgery, but for me, I don't cook much as I used to. I used to love to cook, and I worked part time, so I cooked great meals almost every day, and had big family gatherings every chance I got. I loved to bake, too. I was always trying new things, and just loved to feed people, including me. I always had too much food, too. And usually, there was no expense (calories/fat) spared in any of it. Of course, I would alternate that with periodic attempts at weight loss, often for a year or more at a time, where I would prepare healthy meals. However, I was still pretty focused on food, and it took all of my energy. So, when I had my sleeve, I had to make a conscious effort to back away from the food. I try to limit the amount of time and effort I put into food planning and preparation. I still cook some, and I entertain some, too, just not as often. And when I do, I think about things that work into my eating plan, and I usually don't have the abundance of food in terms of quantity and choices I used to. So far, no one is suffering from that I have only baked once in the last 2 years. That was a huge change, because I used to bake several times a week. No one is worse off for that, either. It was a choice I made. I knew that if I continued with that lifestyle, I would not be successful. I don't know how you'll do, but for me, spending so much time and energy on food is a disaster. Even now, when I cook, I tend to sample what I'm preparing, and I over eat sometimes. From a reformed foodie, I say it was an excellent trade for me. I found other things to occupy my time, and now I don't really miss it. You said your husband is athletic, so you might find other ways to spend your time if you decide cooking isn't worth it to you, either.

I agree - others can't seem to stop comparing us to our former selves, as opposed to what is normal. I think society in general has "fat brain" and we've lost site of a normal weight is. We rail against too thin, pretend, air-brushed models, we rail against obesity, but we don't seem to have a gauge of normal thin appearance.

I think it just depends on your insurance. Mine covered the abdominoplasty. Everything else is self pay.

I wish you much luck and a speedy recovery! So sorry you've had to endure all of that. Keep us posted!

When I say I can eat whatever I want, I mostly mean I can tolerate just about any and all foods. Things didn't taste right for a long time, but now things tastes like I expect them to. However, almost nothing tastes as good I used to think it did, and I remember that to keep from overeating. As far as for the amount, that's a relative statement, because I got used to eating very small amounts. I always think I can eat a lot because I can eat more than 4 ounces, like maybe 8-12 ounces, depending on what it is. It is certainly way less than before surgery, but I do wish I didn't have that much capacity. I loved it when I could only hold 4 ounces. I do not think I stretched my sleeve - I've been very careful and followed the rules, but on occasion, I have eaten that much. For the most part, I restrict myself. When I "go off the rails", my sleeve will restrict me, but I can do some caloric damage before it does. If I allowed myself to overeat, I'd gain weight.

I also had that. Room temp worked best for me. Even now, frozen things will fill be up way faster than warm or room temp food. I use that to curb eating sometimes, because at 2 years out, it's pretty easy to eat whatever I want!

I use myfitness pal and find it to be useful. I've tried using just the fitbit app, and that's less helpful. I'd be interested to know if there is anything else out there that's better.

I know you already said you are going ahead with it, but thought I'd chime in anyway. I think it's a good decision! I had my sleeve December 19. I was on a 2 week liquid diet before, so pretty much the entire holiday season was not about food that year. I wanted to get a jump start on a new years resolution that I could keep for once. I've never been sorry I did that, and I didn't miss the food, and still don't. I felt pretty miserable but still went places and spent time with my family. Food always played such a big part of every gathering, and I learned that it really doesn't have to. I bet you won't regret it either!

Great topic and responses. It's such an interesting phenomena. When I was fat, I didn't think of myself as fat as I was, but when I took a hard look I could see it. I was surprised sometimes when I did that. Now, I think I see myself accurately as others do, and I see that I'm normal/thin, but it's not so much what I see as what I know (or think I do). Even though as a size 8/10 and small/medium, I'm pretty sure I'm not fat, the number on the scale and my BMI say I am overweight and make me think I must be/look fat. So it's a never ending cycle of thinking I better lose another 20 pounds to not be fat, then remembering I look pretty good. I really feel like the fat girl getting away with something! Somewhere in the back of my mind I think maybe I actually DO look fat and I'm not seeing myself accurately, lol! OMG, we need a pill for that kind of crazy

I got all of my protein every day. I took all vitamins religiously. I did everything right; and I wasn't that lucky. I think plenty depends on genetics and while not doing things right might contribute to hair loss, there is nothing you can do to prevent it if its going to happen to you. I think mine was more severe than a lot of people, but most people do lose some. Its pretty distressing when it happens, but it does come back.

Probably 50%. I think I have most of it back now, but not all of it.

I have a continual and healthy fear of gaining weight. Notice I said healthy. I think we all know how easy it is to have that happen. It's a continual and conscious effort to maintain my weight. It's the recognition that we can't exceed a number we've set for ourselves, and doing something about it immediately when it happens. The healthy part comes in when we recognize it's time to course correct and do so, rather than ignoring it, or letting it send us into a tailspin of either over-eating or under-eating. So now you are course correcting - good for you!

@@Comfy_Blue I also got all those comments, and more. How I responded depended on who was asking. I worked at the same place for 30 years, since I was a teen. They saw me go from a cute young thing to an old, fat woman. They never commented to my face negatively about my weight gain, and I think the comments and questions were born out of two reasons: 1)Genuine happiness for me, and/or 2) They wanted to know what my magic bullet was. Even my non work friends, who mostly are thin or at least not very overweight (but work at not getting huge), wanted to know what I was doing. I told the people I was closest to that I had WLS, and the not the others. In both cases, I was forthcoming about my diet and exercise. I think it's funny, because there was always a little disappointment when they learned (in both cases) that it was still just diet and exercise, lol. It is not socially acceptable for people to ask why we are so fat, but it seems once we start losing, all bets are off. It's just the way society is, and I think it's probably because losing weight is "better", ergo, a compliment to mention it. Right or wrong, I think it's a cultural thing.

Here's another - You went through the stage of the empty closet as you lost weight, to now a full closet of size 8s and 10s - and absolutely everything in it is something you bought because it was cute! Not one thing in there that I bought because "it fit" and I needed something. Now I sometimes can't figure out what to wear because I have so many choices. Oh - and one more thing - it all fits! Nothing out of style, nothing ugly, and all in my size.

@@Queen of Crop you are welcome! I am going to get the fillers for my cheeks. The nurse who does the injections said that it is like a subtle face lift. Along with the botox, it might be enough! Good luck at the surgeons office, and let me know!

@@Queen of Crop did the Botox hep the chicken neck? I sent you a PM with some of the details, but I can say everything is nicely lifted and in it's proper position, and the results were better than anything I had imagined. So worth it, to me. It was a 6 hour surgery, pretty uncomfortable, and required an overnight stay at the hospital. The lower body lift is where I was cut all the way around my hips. It's a tummy tuck and butt lift. and I also had an autologous fat flap, meaning she used the existing fat in my behind to give a better shape. The incision is nicely hidden under my lovely new Victoria Secret bikini underwear And my arms look so great I can't believe it!

@@sherry24184 I agree! VSG was the best thing, and plastics was second. I had my arms done and a LBL in August, and look way better than I ever dreamed. I just didn't realize what it could do for a person! I still need my legs done and breast lift so everything matches You already look wonderful, so I'm sure the last surgery will really be the finishing touches! Our stats are also similar - I'm barely 5'4", and my all time high weight was 325. I had about 5 pounds removed from my arms and lower body, but I haven't lost any weight. It was 2 months ago, and I'm still a little swollen. I have a tendency to retain Water, so I'm not surprised. My surgeon said it could take up to a year to go down, and I'm sure it will. I had my surgery done near home, and I can't imagine having to travel with what I had done. However, I am considering going to Mexico for my next procedure because it's just so expensive to have it done here. I see so many people with great results...but I'm just afraid of being miserable and having to travel, and Mexico is a really long way from Michigan! Anyway, congrats on so many wonderful successes!