jensjoy28

I hear you...the best, quickest way to deal is to smile and graciously say "thank you" (I know, that sounds crazy hard)...hopefully you will be able to start actually BELIEVING the compliments you receive, but telling the person all the reasons why you don't think you deserve said compliment just prolongs the spotlight you are trying to avoid.

May sleevers - Seems a big group of us were in another 3-week stall. Me too, but this morning I reached ONE-derland! Finally in the 100s instead of 200s! Praising God and thanking you for this community! 54 lbs to go for me. I am on the slow train but it is a train moving forward (or down)! Blessings to you in your journey!

I don't drink soda pop, But I drink several bottles of sparkling Water per day, and an average of 3 beers a week. Carbonation doesnt bother me.... and no it has not and will not strech my stomach. (I am 26 months post-op) I waited until 4-5 months out.

Here in Texas "pop" is the guy that gave you your allowance.....or didn't give it.

Don't you hate when you f**k up your spelling when you are ranting about other peoples spelling?

Surgery date: 2-16-13
Dr. Garcia
Starting weight 232
Goal weight 155
Current weight 155.........
Soooooo Happy ......this feels awesome!

I am going to consider this a NSV. I think I am actually on a regular schedule for my period! It has been probably 15 years since I have been any sort of regular. Going on three months now, and on schedule. Don't know why I am so excited lol I guess the whole waiting game of having it every few months before is gone.

Awesome job! It's amazing how we don't see the transformation in ourselves unless it's pounded into our heads! A couple people didn't recognize me and I asked my husband if I really looked that different. He said, "honey, sometimes I don't recognize you in a crowd of people"!!! Keep up the great work!

I met and married my exhusband at 360 pounds. I met my most recent exboyfriend at 340 pounds and we broke up two months ago. I went back on the dating sites at 240 pounds and 41 years old. It's maybe a little different... now I get men who tell me that I'm too small to be in the BBW category. I also get messages now from men who are not necessarily "chubby chasers" I live in a small city (harrisburg, pa) and I received about 5 contacts a day.. maybe ONE of those is from someone I might be even remotely interested in. After two weeks on the site I met a great man and we've been dating exclusively for over a month.. He's 8 years younger than me, kind, funny, athletic, and extremely handsome.. oh and he's single, straight and employed. SCORE! He thinks it's great that I've had the surgery and that I'm still working toward my goal. He says that I'd be fine if I stayed as I am, but that it's good I'm working to meet my own goals.
In order to have success on a dating site, here is my strategy:
Be VERY clear about my bodytype and size without being self deprecating. Post many pics at realistic angles including a few full body shots.
Put yourself in the correct bodytype category.. If you are more than 30-40 pounds overweight you belong in the BBW category.. if you are 20-40 pounds overweight you can use the "little extra" category and if you're less than 20 pounds above ideal weight you can get away with "average" if you want OR "a little extra"
Meet lots of people! I can't even count the "coffee dates" I've been on over the years. Unless you're totally turned off or creeped out by someone, then meet up for coffee in a SAFE PLACE without giving him any of your information. If you hit it off you can have a longer date later.. or turn it into coffee plus something else. If you don't hit it off then you've only spent a half hour of your time and you can move on.. I'll tell you this new guy I'm dating had horrible pictures online.. His profile was nearly empty and he didn't have great grammar during online messaging (he's not a native english speaker) BUT I didn't have anything to do that night so I decided to meet him at the local pizza place for a quick bite (well he ate, I just had some diet tea)WOW! I'm so glad I did, We hit it off right away personality wise and we have fantastic physical chemistry.
Don't waste your time becoming attached to people you haven't met yet. Seriously, MEET as soon as you can. Otherwise you spend time building him up in your mind and he builds you up too.. It's better to just meet in person right away.
Good luck to you!

First congrats on doing such a great workout. Please keep it up.
Here is the important thing to keep in mind, it doesn't matter if you build muscle or not, as long as you lose the least muscle possible while losing fat.
Consider the following situation. There are three people who each weigh 300 pounds and have a lean body mass of 150 pounds, so each has 50% bodyfat. Let's consider what happens when each of these people loses weight. (These examples are a little unrealistic just to illustrate the concept)
Person 1 doesn't exercise, and so loses both fat and muscle, but lots of muscle. At the end they have lost 70 pound of muscle and 30 pounds of fat. They end up with 80 pounds of lean body mass and 120 pounds of fat, so they end up with 60% bodyfat.
Person 2 exercises some and so loses fat and muscle in equal amounts. They lose 50 pounds of muscle and 50 pounds of fat. They end up with 100 pounds of lean body mass and 100 pounds of fat mass, so they end up at 50% bodyfat.
Person 3 exercise a whole lot, and loses more fat and not as much muscle. They lose 90 pounds of fat and 10 pounds of muscle, and so they end up with a lean body mass of 140 pounds and 60 pounds of fat, so they end up at 30% bodyfat.
So the issue is not really if you are going to build muscle or not. The issue is really that as you lose weight, your percentage of bodyfat can increase or decrease even if you are not building muscle. So I would think that most people would like to be person 3 above, and not be person 1.

It's creepy right? The surgeon took that. I've got this image now of the surgeon and nurses taking selfies during the operation with me cut open in the background. Talk about the ultimate photobomb.

Oh, man...I agree with you completely. It's rampant among foods targeted towards kids (and lazy parents), but it's also a problem in foods targeted towards adults as healthy or diet-smart. So often, when fat is removed from a food, sugar is added. The original amount of fat would likely have been healthier for our bodies than the sugars that replaced it. We have so many processed, additive-laden, chemically altered, tweaked-based-on-market studies kinds of products in our grocery stores. The amount of real, unprocessed food available in our stores & included in our diets is declining rapidly. In my opinion, the rates of obesity in this country are directly connected to the amount of processed crap we consume.

I eat hummus, which my nut considers a carb, and occasionally steal a bite of calzone or fried cheese stick. I haven't done a lick of real cardio. I too count my coffee towards my liquids. And there was the cookie incident.

Today I was packing for a mini trip to Vegas.. Realized nothing fits me. All my jeans are way too big... So I packed skirts and dresses..
I hit the ca/Nv state line and thought eh ill look at the outlets I'm making great time!
I went into the old navy outlet and went over to the jeans.. And the largest size they had was a 20 now all my 26 old navy jeans always fit great and I thought NO WAY were these gonna fit me. But I went to try them on anyway and to my surprise they fit no sucking in the gut or struggling.. I almost screamed! Lol I went into a non plus size store and bought jeans! Me! So ecstatic !!!

He surely did. My man has the most amazing... okay, wait, wrong website. Shall we get back to talking about bariatric dirty little secrets instead of deviating into my personal dirty little secrets?!!

Wait...my husband lied?

8 days post op I licked the seasoning off some wheat thins...I think it was the sun dried Tomato basil flavor. f**k it was good. My sweet dog Wrigley ate the licked crackers afterward. She was all too happy to dispose of the evidence for me.
Also.....I parked in a handicapped space at the dollar store while on my 2 week pre-op diet. I was running in real quick to get a Kit Kat which I may or may not have eaten. Honestly it disappeared so fast I'm not sure where it went.

Proton pump inhibitor...
Muahaahahaha.....
this is my one and only chance to correct you, so I'm taking it!!!
:::: Laura runs from the room, into the kitchen, grabs an Oreo and stuffs it with glee and self satisfaction::::::

I drink Coke Zero. Through a straw.

I can't believe it's already a year since my surgery. I love my results thus far, I still want to lose and it has gotten a lot tougher now that I am past the year mark.
144 pounds down so far and don't regret a single moment of this journey
First pic day of surgery, 2nd pic was taken Sunday

I've been sleeved for almost 3 weeks now and I asked my doctor about carbonation just yesterday. He said "if it hurts, don't drink it- otherwise enjoy". He said he tells people to stay away from it a lot because they want people to avoid sugary sodas. I like seltzer Water and it's nice to know I can have it again if I want to.

I think some of these responses come about because we drop weight so quickly...imagine if we gained weight as quickly...it would be equally alarming.......of course, this only accounts for some of the responses...the rest are responding from a whole other cadre of underlying insecurities, jealousy, resentment (some that they are likely not even aware of) that has more to do with them than us...

I had a troublesomefirst pregnancy followed by a twin pregnancy and got TONS of unsolicited advice. Also, with all 3 of my kids being preemies, I got more of the same. I learned a phrase my OB taught me and have used it A LOT over the years. "I've discussed this with my doctor already. Thank you!" I've used many variations of this in the years since, and think it should fit nicely in this situation. "I'm following my doctor's orders and am being closely monitored."