ruthie74

I lost almost 70 pounds since my surgery back in June. I am a size 12 a little on the loose side but not a size 10 yet. I went clothes shopping I fit Into everything but walked out with nothing. Why? Because I still see the old me from three months ago, and I feel like despite everything fit, in my mind it looks horrible. My brain is still trying to process what I'm looking at in the mirror. My question is....if you went through this how did you over come it? How long did it take for you to see yourself as you really are? Thanks in advance

Your wounds shouldn't get red, swollen or hot to the touch. Which indicates an infection. Keep it clean and keep your hands off of them as much as possible. Once they start healing most people get itchy. That's normal. I agree with Arts, don't scrub it just let the soaps and water trickle down on you. Congrats!

Thanks everyone for your input The hair thing is so difficult. I didn't have the greatest hair to begin with :-/

M a little over 3 months out. My hair is thinning out. I get gray hair at the top of my head and I usually dye it. I'm wondering if it's ok to dye my roots? Or since my hair is thinning out right now should I wait til my hair gets back to normal?

Mine is ruthiecoyne I added most of you but if I missed anyone feel free to add me

I tried adding you but it says invalid name

Such an awesome feeling!! Congrats!! You look wonderful!

Oh my gosh! You look great! Congrats!

I thought I was going nuts! I'm 3 months out and I am freeeeeeezing!

My surgery date was June 17 and I have lost 64 pounds so far I am 31 pounds away from my goal of 135! So when I get to my goal weight how do I know how many calories to eat to maintain? Sorry if this sounds silly or if already has been asked. Thanks in advance!

I have to agree that even with 800 calories your no going to be gaining weight unless your eating empty calories which it doesn't sound like it. Have you tried cutting back on your sodium a bit? Maybe your retains Water? Try increasing your Fluid intake and reducing sodium and see if your weight starts moving again. Hang in there we all have those moments of are we eating too much??? Which reminds me...are you tracking your food? A lot of people here are on myfitnesspal which is awesome. Sometimes I tend to nibble and I try to estimate my nibbles and you'll be surprised how much it adds up too

You look younger! Your so beautiful! Congrats on your progress!

I've lost over 60 pounds since June

Hi!!!congrats in your weight loss!! My date was June 17. Post op weight was 230. Weight right now 168. Yayayay for us! This has to be one of the most exciting things I have ever done for myself!

I agree with sassygirl. Try to remain positive. Have you though about swimming??? Swimming is an excellent cardio vascular exercise and it also makes you strong. Good luck hang in there and where there's a will there's a way

You look awesome!!! Congrats!

Totally know how you feel! I itches so bad I couldn't sleep. I would be red raw from the scratching! I'm lucky I didn't scar by from all the scratching! Hang in there! I hope the Benadryl and coconut oil helps!

I had horrible itching until I was about 8 weeks out. My doc told me it was normal and didn't seem to concerned. It went away completely. I'm 3 months post op I took Benadryl and used coconut oil. It helped a little.

I think I added almost everyone but in case I missed anyone my user name is ruthiecoyne

I feel lucky....no scratch that blessed. Not to long ago I felt hopeless and miserable. Here I am today, lost almost 60 pounds. This has changed the ways look at food. I still have lots of mental changes to make and still need to make sure this new found thought process sticks. In the past I have lost weight and I have regained it back with a nice bonus extra weight. What's so different now? The week before surgery when I could only drink Protein shakes had me come to a realization, this is not going to be easy. I already knew it was going to be hard but actually experiencing the hard made me realize what it truly meant. When I came home after surgery my brain wanted food. It wanted to feel good. I even had dreams about food. I cried a lot. I felt like I lost a friend. When I began eating solids is when I realized how much this surgery can really help me with this mental change. I embraced it. Began logging my calories. The scale moving down was exciting! Here I am 3 months later almost 60 pounds lighter...37 pounds away from my goal of 135. Everyday I have been working on my mental stomach. I have been feeding my mental stomach nourishment. A positive mental outlook on life, a eat to live not live to eat kind of attitude. I read health food magazines, I look at pictures of women with toned bodies rather then admiring skinny women. Every day I look in the mirror and admire what I have accomplished so far. If I don't do this I will fail. I will fail at this losing weight again and this surgery will be for nothing. I will regain the weight back. I lost so far. I didn't get fat because I was physically hungry after all. It wasn't true hunger. It was hunger from my mental stomach begging to be fed. Now I feed it something different. Yes I was a food addict and now I am in recovery and I will always run the risk of relapsing. I have to avoid trigger foods, trigger people, and situations. I avoid revolving fun around food. If we go out to eat I make sure they have healthy choices. Yup this will be a life long battle but I believe it can be won! Thanks for listening (or reading) I just wanted share

Hello everyone! I'm 3 months out and I have been cleared to eat whatever I want. Today I had lettuce for the first time. Made lean beef tacos with tomato, avocado, a little but of shredded cheese. For the first time I had lettuce. I made the taco shell with lettuce...kinda like a lettuce wrap. So right when I was about to finish my second taco my stomach started to cramp. Not painful just feels like cramping and lots of moving around in there. Is this normal? Did the lettuce cause this? Thanks in advance

I agree everyone is different. I am 2 months post op and I have lost 50 pounds and only have worked out maybe 3X. I was very tired and weak for a long time after surgery and I have just recently started feeling more energized and started being more active (not through exercise) but I have been going to the mall, six flags, painted my dinning room) I ultimately will begin working out regularly where I get my heart rate elevated and start pumping some Iron but for now I have a pedometer (my fitbit flex) that tells me how active I am during the day. Exercise is a habit I believe we need to add to our new lifestyle. For me, I need to take my time easing into. Some people begin right away after surgery and some of us takes a little more time. I don't want to be a flabby thin person so what I really want to do it start hitting the weights.

Thanks! It was just my iPhone giving me a hard time. It's letting me add friends now. I just couldn't get in at all earlier today. Something about network not letting me.

Anyone else having trouble with the iPhone FB app for myfitnesspal? I keep trying to log and add friends but no luck. Just wondering if its just me