lnelson796

I tried watermelon at about 4 or 5 weeks out and my tummy was not happy! Listen to your doctor AND your body, it will tell you if it's not ready!

I went on vacation at 5 weeks post op. Just went to the lake, but still went shopping, went for walks, and had a huge hill to climb getting from the lake to the house. No issues besides food choices, since I was still trying to get used to the right portion sizes and figuring out what to eat. But that's a battle whether you are home or away! No regrets with taking a vacation.

Mine has been from my mother in law. Telling me when I'm still at 230 pounds that I've lost enough and should stop. I informed her that I was not going to do something like surgery and stop before even getting out of the twos! I think the biggest issue is that she knew her daughter was jealous of my weight loss and didn't want me to pass her. Her daughter then went on phentermine and went from a 12 to an 8, and made sure I knew she can wear some 6s. I'm in a 12, hoping for a 10. And if I want to continue to an 8, that's my choice, not theirs!

One year ago today was my surgery. Starting weight was 285, at 5 foot 2. Now I'm down 115 pounds with 20 pounds til goal. So happy with the changes this has made in my life, heck, I'm a green belt in taekwondo now! Before surgery walking to and from my car was all the "exercise" I got! Not good with attchments, we'll see if this works.

missbrown, I have loose skin but it's certainly manageable. I use shapewear when I'm wearing something form fitting. As far as exercise, I do taekwondo about 3 or 4 times a week and yoga once a week. I've never been active, so group activities are a better way for me to stay motivated.

Oh no! I weigh 170! I've lost 115! :-)

Thanks everyone! I feel so blessed that ive had such positive support in this journey, on here and at home.

I still have problems with that sometimes! I try to eat off of dessert sized plates to keep me from adding too much food to the plate. Then when I eat it all I'm both physically and mentally satisfied.

Ive had that problem ever since I got below 200. Spent what seemed like forever bouncing back and forth between 180 and 185, finall went down, now bouncing between 170 and 175. Loss has slowed to 3 to 5 pounds a month, which feels like nothing because its not a steady loss anymore. Just step back and look at a few months at a time and realize you're still making progress, even if stalls are becoming more frequent. It will happen!

My friend used Regina Neuhan at Monarch Plastic Surgery. Was very pleased with her.

Well I'm currently at 110 pounds and with clothes pn I look just fine. Have to wear a shapewear camisole with certain tops to smooth out the bumps but otherwise you can't tell. Sleeveless tops and shorts this summer may be different because the sagging skin will show, but otherwise I'm fine with it.

Im right there with you. Had a minor procedure last week and gained 5 pounds. Lost 2 by the weekend then participated in a 7 hour taekwondo boot camp, and gained the 2 pounds back again. I think my body freaked out and thought it needed to protect itself. Now waiting for my body to return to normal and decide its ok to let go of the fluids its held on to!

I'm about five months out from surgery and have had such menstrual issues I thought I'd share them! Right after surgery I started having abnormal periods, I'd go about 2 weeks between periods. Figured it would level out but instead it got to the point of having week long periods, 3 or 4 dry days, then back on a week long period. Finally decided to go to the doctor because this was obviously not going to get better on its own. So spent this week having a pap, sonogram, pelvic exam, and a biopsy to make sure it was not cancer or something else causing it. Everything came back normal except the biopsy confirmed that my uterine lining had been thickened due to an elevated level of hormones. Have to take progesterone for a month to offset the elevated estrogen levels, then back in for another biopsy to make sure the lining has thinned back to normal. Doctor confirmed what I've read on here, that the estrogen that has been stored in my fat cells has been released back into my system. Will probably need to go back on birth control to regulate my hormones, hoping that once I stop losing weight it will all level out. Glad I went to the doctor, not only to stop these darn periods, but my doctor said that when your hormones cause a thickened lining and doesn't allow it to go back to normal once in a while, you are at greater risk for endometrial cancer. Just thought I'd share in case anyone else experiences something similar.

Ended up I didn't need the D&C but I did have the ablation and haven't even have the spotting that was expected from the procedure. Hope this is a good sign that I am through with periods!

I actually just had an ablation done this past Tuesday. Two biopsies and a pap showed no other issues besides the elevated hormones. Hoping the ablation does the trick. Pretty happy so far that im not even having the spotting they said to expect after the procedure so I'm hoping that's a good sign. Good luck with your tests.

I'm from Independence. Sleeved by Dr. Hoehn June 4, 2013. Down 109 pounds and not regetting a thing!

Mine have been out of whack ever since surgery 9 months ago. Doctor confirmed that I have elevated hormones most likely caused by surgery. Next Tuesday I go in for a D&C and an ablasion. Hopefully I will be through with periods after that!

Had that happen too. Call your doctor, let them know, and see what their options are. My doctor allows you to substitute in 3 ounces of lean meat for one protein shake if you really need it. Doesn't sound like much but it makes a huge difference in how you feel.

I agree to take the promotion! Surgery will still be there when the project is completed. And you'll be in a better mindset because of the better job. Plus you can use that time to start the mental adjustment into your new way of eating, and work on your meal planning during that time. I was grateful I took 4 months before surgery to change my eating habits, which made the transition post surgery so much easier.

I'm almost 9 months out, and I'm taking pills just fine. My vitamin, calcium, and fish oil are all pretty large, but as long as I pace them out over a couple minutes and drink enough with them they go down just fine.

For the muffins I went to Pinterest. Theres a good lemon blueberry made with almond flour, and this weekend I'm going to try a banana one made with oats and oat flour. Plus protein powder. My granola bars I've kinda made up my own recipe for a fruit and granola bar, using things I liked on other sites I googled. I'm at work but this weekend I'll try to add some of my recipes on here. Also have a smoothie that can be made ahead of time but stays thick.

I always try to keep a protein bar handy for emergencies. Do you like to cook? Ive started making my own protein bars and love them, and have started playing around with protein muffins using recipes from Pinterest. They're actually pretty good.

What stage are you in? Soft foods only or can you eat anything?

Same thing happened to me. Over holidays I stalled, in January got back on track (although I wasn't too far off track to begin with), increased my exercise, and gained 4 pounds. Now all of a sudden in the last 2 weeks I've dropped 13 pounds! It's like my body said ok, I'm rested up now, lets go! I fully expect another stall soon after losing so much so fast but I'll take whatever I get! I did track through the stall, but to be honest it became hit or miss because I felt like no matter how good or how bad I was, the results were the same. Now that the scale is moving the motivation is back to be more diligent on my tracking. Be patient and good luck!

When I was flying at a size 24, my usual guess for whether or not I would need an extender was the size of the plane/number of seats. If there were 3 seats on each side of the plane I could usually get it fastened, but on smaller planes with only 2 seats per side I'd need an extender. Not sure why smaller plane equals smaller belt.