arthritis_me

Oh yes, that's 1 week every month that I really can't lose weight. Most times I don't gain weight just hold steady but as you've probably lost all of your water/carby weight it'll be a little slower to take it off now and that time of month can really be difficult. Just have faith that it'll come off the next week, also try to watch your sodium and drink lots of water/tea to flush your body.

That's it! The scale hasn't moved all week but I'm supposed to start Friday. I'm going to have faith it will move again soon!

Oh yes, that's 1 week every month that I really can't lose weight. Most times I don't gain weight just hold steady but as you've probably lost all of your water/carby weight it'll be a little slower to take it off now and that time of month can really be difficult. Just have faith that it'll come off the next week, also try to watch your sodium and drink lots of water/tea to flush your body.

Very much like gooddaybetty, my arthritis (stage 4 knee chondromalacia) and infertility I believe is wrapped up in my weight. We've tried for 2 years to have kids and I've always wanted a big family, 4 kids, and having watched all of my friends pop out kids with nothing we're up for IVF. THEN my nurse friend said i may not respond to the drugs because your hormones are tied up in fat (they are fat soluable), I looked into how to lose weight via lap band, found so many bad reviews about it but also found GREAT reviews about the sleeve and had my surgery 2 weeks later with Dr Quinones (he teaches the procedure to other docs & was a chief of surgery for 3 years, unlike most other docs).
I hated my photos - always couldn't believe that was me, GROSS!. Now I feel like my knees will last longer without all the weight and I have a good shot at IVF in April. I'm hoping for twins. Wish me luck everyone xx

Oh I wish I had looked into this, I just got a 'look' from an older woman at my belly when I was on my way to the hot tub yesterday after my workout. I don't care what others think, it's a war wound as far as I'm concerned, a wound from my personal battle with weight. I'm just so happy to be in a bikini now I'm not covering up this little bod for anything. But had I known, I would have asked Dr Quinones (my Tijuana surgeon-he teaches many of the other docs over there) about the belly button incision. Good luck with your surgery, you're wise to be asking for this, hopefully they don't ask too much extra for it.

Oh yes, that's 1 week every month that I really can't lose weight. Most times I don't gain weight just hold steady but as you've probably lost all of your water/carby weight it'll be a little slower to take it off now and that time of month can really be difficult. Just have faith that it'll come off the next week, also try to watch your sodium and drink lots of water/tea to flush your body.

I needed to get a new (used) car. I ended up spending more that I wanted to on a car that was bigger than I like, because I could not fit into the smaller cars - even with the seat all pushed back as far as it would go and the steering wheel as high as it would go.
If my old car had just held out for another six months, i would have been thin(ner) enough to get one of those smaller, cheaper cars!

This is emotional for me. I have never walked my 5 year old to the parked. Instead my skinny neighbor takes him to the park with her twins. I was hurting inside over that. I was short of breath just walking to the mailbox. So off he went with my neighbors. I have 5 boys who are or have been in basketball i would like to try to keep up with even if i ride my bike again and more sports. Become very active live longer and see my 5 year old grow up. The last time family went to Disney world i was left at the Hotel for several of my own reasons. Not again one day I'm going to Disney World. And I will keep up and look good too!

I am a 47-year old business executive who has struggled with obesity for 28 years. I have never in my adult life been not obese or morbidly obese. I reached 400 lbs in August of 2000, and began to somewhat serious about exercise and diet. I lost about 30 pounds on my own, but then suddenly lost 40 pounds with almost no effort, although I was very tired and thirsty all the time (you guessed it, Type II Diabetes).Since the time of my diagnosis I have been through many, many diet routines, and have lost between 40 and 60 pounds each time, but nothing ever really changed on the inside. This especially drove me crazy because, as a business executive, I focus often on breaking out the spreadsheet, figuring out the problems, and rationally coming to solutions.
I attended a seminar from Dr. Pennings in Post Falls, Idaho and heard two things I had never heard before, which were the real clinchers for me. The first was a discussion of the hormone grehlin and the stomach's role in producing it, what it is supposed to do, and what happens when that gets out of whack. This really spoke to me because I had always felt that there was some kind of overpowering urge to eat in ways that could not possibly be good for me. A true addiction. The 2nd thing I heard that night was that a person with my current co-morbitities had the same mortality rate as an otherwise normally healthy 47-year old man with no other co-morbidities who had just been diagnosed with Stage II colon cancer. When I asked the doctor what the requirements were for a person with Stage II colon cancer, he said, "Surgery."
This was all on the heals of my parents both having very severe health problems in their early seventies, Suddenly I could see that the path I was on was surely a pathway to pain, worse health, a loss of time with my wife and children and early death.
All of this together made me face the fact that I had to have surgery, and use it as a tool to achieve my goals, instead of viewing it as the final option for those who had failed in every other way.
I am only two days out from VSG surgery, but am very hopeful and confident in the future.

For me, it was when I saw my sister effortlessly get pregnant with her second child when I can't even manage one and was told by my infertility specialist it was due to primarily to my weight.
But that wasn't really enough for me to change since I knew I could always go for adoption and it never really mattered to me how I became a mummy so long as I would be one day. What really twisted the knife deeper for me was when I was told by my adoption coordinator that the chances of my adopting was slim to none as I was too large to give an appearence of a desirable mother for a woman's child since it could be assumed I wouldn't be around for the bulk of the child's life.
Oh how that hurt! I didn't blame her, she was only telling me the truth after all, but it took a stranger telling me I would die before the children I would not be allowed to have grew up before I actually looked at myself in the mirror and was horrified by what I saw. So March 18th can't get here soon enough!!

Thank you for all those who responded and for those who respond later. I am so glad I found this community to talk about the pains that we all have felt at one time or another and not be judged or looked down on. Good luck to all of us on are new life and cant wait for positive stories!
Respectfully,
Joe

I walked by a mirror in a store and didn't recognize myself. It wasn't me I didn't look that big. Anyway I did some research for about a week around the end of July and had my surgery August 9th in Mexico.

I woke up one morning and realized my life wasn't going anyway. My boyfriend/ child's father started cheating and had no interest in me anymore. Co workers suggesting better eating habits for me as if they were my mate. I've learned to avoid shopping with friends and family because I hate what I look like in dressing room mirrors. I'm ready to live and stop living in a shell like a turtle.

Mine was my daughter , I had my 2 nd child when I was 38, I'm 39 now , and I want to be there for her, I want to be able to be active for her and my son . I am nearing 40 and I had this great need that I wanted to make a major change in my life, I want to be the grandma that zip lines :-) not wheelchair bound because of her weight .

What was the final thing that you encountered that made you say this is enough? I have had numerous.
1. Leaving a wife and 2 sons, Husbandless and fatherless.
2. Not being able to get on amusement park rides with my sons.
3. Not being able to take my wife to a concert, because i could not fit in a seat.
4. Avoiding restuarant,movie theaters and sports complexes with tiny seats.
For me, walking through a a department store and some little child looking at me like im a alien had to be one the hardest things.
Respectfully,
Joe

Oh I wish I had looked into this, I just got a 'look' from an older woman at my belly when I was on my way to the hot tub yesterday after my workout. I don't care what others think, it's a war wound as far as I'm concerned, a wound from my personal battle with weight. I'm just so happy to be in a bikini now I'm not covering up this little bod for anything. But had I known, I would have asked Dr Quinones (my Tijuana surgeon-he teaches many of the other docs over there) about the belly button incision. Good luck with your surgery, you're wise to be asking for this, hopefully they don't ask too much extra for it.

Oh I wish I had looked into this, I just got a 'look' from an older woman at my belly when I was on my way to the hot tub yesterday after my workout. I don't care what others think, it's a war wound as far as I'm concerned, a wound from my personal battle with weight. I'm just so happy to be in a bikini now I'm not covering up this little bod for anything. But had I known, I would have asked Dr Quinones (my Tijuana surgeon-he teaches many of the other docs over there) about the belly button incision. Good luck with your surgery, you're wise to be asking for this, hopefully they don't ask too much extra for it.

When you're feeling blue put the kettle on and have a cup of tea. It's very British but it helps. Very comforting.

If you really want to stay with this person, you two are going to have to have some major counseling sessions with a professional. If not, consider this: You are young, beautiful and starting a whole new life...do you want to live like this? Do you believe you deserve to be treated like this? I know all this sounds cliche, but have to decide if this is your time to thrive, be healthy and discover the new you OR are you going take time to deal with his immaturity and try to fix his insecurities?
My opinion- move on.

OK, I was just going to go take a shower and I stepped on the scale and down 1 lb. I guess the stall is over? Either way, I'll take it!
I always get so excited, I always run to enter my stats as SOON as I see the lower scale number...like a little kid at Christmas

OK, I was just going to go take a shower and I stepped on the scale and down 1 lb. I guess the stall is over? Either way, I'll take it!
I always get so excited, I always run to enter my stats as SOON as I see the lower scale number...like a little kid at Christmas

I was sleeved on January 2nd. Starting weight was 286 and I'm down to 263. I'm 5'8". The first two days were tough. I was nauseated and hungry as hell. I was starting to regret it. A week out, I mourned food....literally. I was so depressed. It rained for two weeks straight, I couldn't go outside and I couldn't eat my beloved food. I was like a junkie detoxing. I was depressed and couldn't run to food for comfort. Gradually, the weight started coming off and I was no longer short of breath while walking or putting on shoes. My energy levels improved. My clothes were looser. I chew my food better, and I just need to slow my eating down. Today, I broke into a run chasing my daughter through the house : she said "momma! Do you realize that you actually RAN??!!" There was no breathlessness, either! These small victories are wonderful and make me plug on. It hasn't been easy but I would do it again. I have less pain in my weight-bearing joints, too. Every day I enjoy a new little victory. As hard as it was at first, I'd do it again tomorrow!

That does sound hard!! But you will be happy that you quit so early. You will have a lot on your plate (no pun intended) after surgery so that will be one MAJOR withdrawal you will not have to do at the same time.
A lot of people smoke, drink, binge up until the last minute.
I think the way your going you will have a smoother time