Butterflyhigh

YES!!! Several years ago I did the Raw Diet. I juiced everyday multiple times per day. Actually...I'm pretty sure I ONLY did juice for the first couple of weeks. I lost 80 lbs in three months. It was awesome. But the amazing part was all of the other health benefits. Glowing Skin...and I mean glowing. People would stop and ask me what I was using on my skin. I stopped wearing make-up because my face was totally flawless. Super Shiny hair....my hair had this beautiful sheen to it. It totally stopped falling out in the shower and the hairbrush. It grew longer and thicker. Same with my fingernails. More Energy....I was popping up in the morning so refreshed and alive. I didn't need as much sleep! It was like all of those fresh vegetables were making every atom and cell ALIVE. No Cravings For Processed food....now this was the best part. After about two weeks eating only raw food I lost ALL of my food cravings. I could be around and even cook food and not have any urges to eat it. It was like once the processed crap was out of my system, my system didn't yearn for it anymore. It totally showed me how food is physically addictive. I wish wish wish I could go 100% Raw again. But that whole process was so psychological and I've never been able to go to that space since. I was going through a divorce and spiritual awakening/transformation and PURGING myself of so many toxic things, food being one of them. I still juice, but not like I did during my Raw phase. It was really cool.

I had originally decided on the band for the same reason you did....it was reversible and there was no cutting out or re-routing of any internal organs. Then I started reading about the sleeve. At first I was like...Oh no. Not going to go that extreme. But then I really started to visualize life with the band vs the sleeve. With the band there is so much maintenance involved....filling, loosening, adjusting the fill amount. The problems associated with the band were also ongoing....slippage and erosion. At any point in time after having the band placed, problems can occur. Wether it is days, weeks, months, or years later slipping and erosion can be ongoing problems. With the sleeve there is more of a risk for problems in the very beginning, right after surgery, but not after the physical healing has taken place. Once the sleeve is healed it is just like any other stomach...only smaller. The % of patients with complications are low. Then I had to come to grips with the idea of it being reversible. Why exactly is reversing the restriction important? So I could eat larger amounts of food? I have already proven to myself that I cannot self-regulate the amount of food I eat. I'm obese. Point proven. I ALWAYS gain the weight back after loosing it. I ALWAYS end up fat again. I want to go through this extreme form of weight loss....and then NEVER be fat again. I have decided that I need something permanent so that my weight problem can be over for good. It has taken me two years of kicking the idea around in my head and a solid eight months of serious committed research to get as far in the decision making process as I am currently. I am still pre-op and am still deciding between two doctors. I will be having my surgery sometime in June. Research research research and Read everything you can get your hands on. Visualize what life would be like with the sleeve and with the band. Give yourself time to let the idea settle in and see how comfortable you can get with it so when you do make your decision you have given both options thorough and equal consideration. Good Luck!!

I started with a top four and have now got it narrowed down to a top two. Three of my four were the ones you have listed. I never really made cost a consideration since they are all so much cheaper than self-pay in the US anyway. Out of your three I decided on Dr. Lopez (it's currently between him and a different Dr. Ortiz) With Lopez you get two full days/evenings in the hospital and two full days/evenings at the hotel post-surgery in addition to one day/evening at the hotel the day before surgery (total 6 days and 5 nights). I just feel better with that extra day of monitoring and healing before boarding an 8 hour flight home.

So much great and very helpful information in this article. Thank You for posting!!

You could start juicing vegetables and add unflavored Protein powder to that...or fruit smoothies if your nut is okay with allowing you fruit. Like the above poster said, you can even add unflavored powder to soups.

I know that no one here meant any harm in what they said so hopefully this will help each of us to better understand. Here is a good and helpful rule for thumb for how to refer to folks. It may seem to be overly PC, but words are very powerful in influencing perceptions. Use "people first" language. A person is not defined by a color, illness, disability, etcetera.. They are a person first, and other identifiers second. Not blacks or colored..........People of color Not the mentally ill...............People with a mental illness Not disabled people.............People with a disability Not homosexuals.................People who are Gay Not the handicap.................People with a handicap Not the obese......................People with obesity Also, don't use the word "the" when refering to people. The word "the" suggests that those we are referring to are other than us. It creates a sense of otherness. It places those people into an often stigmatized category. For example: Equal rights for the gays. Equal pay for the women. Equal opportunities for the blacks. More understanding of the mentally ill. See what I mean? Words are very powerful. Without intending to we can easily keep feeding the division between us and them.

What about tips/tricks to getting all of your Water in? With being a mom, running a home, and providing self-care I need to make sure that dehydration is not an issue. How about tools to help sooth the emotional and physical recovery? I've heard that some people use a small pillow to hold when they cough or sneeze? Any tips to avoid vomiting?

My health plan will be one week clear and two weeks full. How much have you lost on four weeks clear? It's got to be boring...but man, you must have dropped some serious pounds!

Hot Damn lady...you look gorgeous! But even cooler than your looks is the fact that you just completed a 5k! You must be so amazed and proud of yourself. That is one of my deepest desires...to be the hot mamma who is jogging through the park on a regular basis. You are inspirational!

By "you" I just meant anyone who get's to hollering and finger-pointing. My comment was not to anyone in particular. Honestly...I didn't even pay attention to who was saying what. Diversity is one of my academic interests and I can't really help myself from chiming in when I see the topic come up. Peace & Love to everyone!

Aww. Sorry that you are feeling that way right now. I am still pre-op but this is one of those things that I have worked at coming to grips with...the whole first few months of mourning eating while babying the sleeve, or dealing with uncomfortable sleeve issues, or having weird sleeve things happen with the wrong foods, of just in general always being aware of the sleeve. You know as well as I do that everyone says the first few months are the hardest. And then things get better. And then people adjust. And then they are living normally without constant sleeve thoughts. And their skinny! Look at it this way...you've made it through the surgery without major complications. Big hurdle overcome!! Now it's just wait and heal, wait and heal. You'll do great! Keep your eye on the prize and know that this time will soon be a memory and you will be living a normal skinny life soon!

I'm sorry KristinaRnY that your post has been hijacked. I was actually looking forward to some helpful ideas and advise as well. And while we're off topic...one of the things that has stuck with me from a recent talk with Dr. Mia Angelou that I was privileged to be a part of was : "Don't ask yourself IF you are racist, ask yourself HOW are you racist." It is easy to label someone as being racist when they poorly choose their words as in the case of the above poster. However, when you get all sanctimonious about it you are showing a lack of insight into the fact that you also have racist tendencies. We all do. It is impossible to be raised in the United States as a white person and not have bias and prejudice deeply imbedded in your psychology. To deny that is to think yourself untouched by what society is seeped in and it is that self-righteous denial which protects those deep deep seeds of racism and prevents eradicated them from your spirit. So go ahead and throw stones. But don't kid yourself by thinking that because you know better than to use the word "colored" and will aggressively correct someone else's ignorance that you are somehow above all of that. Educate instead of Humiliate. Persuade instead of Persecute. Converse instead of Chastise. If you want to help the situation ask yourself how YOU are a racist.

That's so great. You look awesome!

Yep. I am targeting the second week in June. The kids will be on summer vacation and we are all headed out to Puerto Vallarta. They can enjoy a Mexican beach vacation while I can enjoy my recovery in the comfort of a sweet hotel on the beach! It's not set in stone yet but that's the plan I'm leaning towards.

It's not on Netflix yet. I watched it on Amazon Prime but had to pay $1.99 for it.

Just finished watching this. Wow. Just...wow. So much about her story reminded me of the people on Hoarders and Intervention. Denial, blame, projection, manipulation, victim mentality, justification, combativeness, defensiveness, egocentric thinking, selfishness, entitled mentality, and extremely skewed perceptions. She is the ringleader of everyone in her environment and manipulates them all. It seems to me that her motivation was never to loose weight but rather to be the Ultimate Victim of failed weight loss surgery and unsympathetic doctors as well as the Ultimate Martyr fighting the good fight. HA! Her husband is a class A enabler. He is literally feeding her to death. He acts like a spineless puppet Yes man. In many ways her premature death will be on his hands. Ultimately though, he is just a victim of her addiction. I feel so so sad for her little boy. He is going to grow up with a lot of issues that will plague him for a lifetime. I could get into all of the psychological affects and baggage he will have as a result of having a childhood like his, but it would take up another several paragraphs. It is just so sad to think about how this little baby boy was born to parents who are so clueless as to the problems he will have well into his adulthood because of them. In Penny's defense...on her FB page she states that she's lost a total of 217 pounds. HOWEVER...she will not post any pictures of herself and her profile pic looks like she did on the show, still obese and with oxygen tubes. After hearing the way she can skew facts and make ridiculous statements on the show I would not be surprised if that 217 is what she *thinks* she has lost based on loose skin and her shirt sleeves being longer than before surgery. <eye roll> Tomorrow I will feel sorry for her, but today I am just blown away by her levels of denial and delusion.

I just watched a video diary of a lady who was documenting her WLS journey. She was laying in her bed 3 days post-op and was talking about how she just finished a soft boiled egg, didn't like the taste, and so would try a fried egg the next day. She also stated that her surgeon's post-op diet was one week Clear liquids, two week's full, etc...but he just doesn't understand how impossible it is to not chew food. I just can't believe how some people disregard their surgeon's diet plan and make-up their own rules....as if their way is a better way. It reminds me that a big part of obesity is the ability to live in denial about and to make excuses for our bad behaviors. I hope to God that when I have my surgery I am strong enough to stick to the post-op diet. I think I will be. I am not viewing the food guidelines as "optional" and I recognize that doing things My Way is what got me to point of requiring surgery. I feel for those whose food addictions have such a hold on their mind, body, and spirits.

Hi Ree....how ya doing? It's been cold and non-stop snowing in my part of the country. I've been wondering how you've been holding up?

I dislike when people think they know what is best for everyone else. I really dislike when they apply their personal life situations and choices to other people's life situations and choices. Why all the judgment? Can't you just be comfortable with your own decisions without judging someone else for theirs? Small minds can't see beyond their own.

I actually agree with the crux of what you said although I would never had been so unkind in my expressions. Mostly though, I think it is beyond arrogant and shows a real lack of empathy and compassion to judge other people to the extent that the original post did. None of us know what others are dealing with. We don't know what their psychological background is or what they have been through. We ALL have baggage, faults, and character flaws. When you judge others you don't define them, you define yourself. ~ Wayne Dyer When we judge our brothers and sisters in our heart, and worse, when we talk about it with others, we are killer Christians. ~ Pope Francis There are no chains like hate...dwelling on your brother's faults multiplies your own. ~ Gautama Buddha Be curious, not judgmental. ~ Walt Whitman Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself. ~ Eric Clapton Just saying....

For me it came after loosing weight using phentramine. I spent nearly a year on that horrible drug and saw the toll it was taking on my body, mind, and personal relationships. I went off it....and quickly gained all of the weight back. I was so disgusted with myself. Disgusted for STILL being fat, for another diet failure, for another Summer spent not swimming or wearing shorts. I just can't keep doing this. I hate being naked. I hate the guilt/shame cycle I get stuck in. I hate the feeling of being out of control. I hate the way I "need" to feel stuffed to the gills and I really hate how much food it takes to get that feeling. I want to do this one more time...get control over myself...reset my relationship with food...get on with living...

That's wonderful! And it's also so nice to hear as a pre-op girl who is worried about those first two weeks. Congratulations and keep it up!

Wowza. You look fabulous! And that smile is just as beautiful in the before's as it is in the after's. Congratulations...keep it up!

I do not have a high enough BMI to qualify for insurance coverage of WLS here in the states. I decided to go ahead with a local doctor and pay the $15,000. I met with him and his team and put a deposit down. Then I really started researching doctors in Mexico and reading other's experiences. I've watched about a million youtube video's of people traveling to mexico, their hospital rooms, their immediate post-op posts, and their long term follow-ups. The most important factors to me were #1 the individual doctor's experience and training, #2 the hospital facilities, #3 the surgical team, and #4 the immediate aftercare. Other important factors were the coordinator's way of dealing with my questions and the way they "market" themselves. I HATE the pushy, sensational, "our doctor is a Rock Star", hard-selling some of them engaged in. I have relied less on individual patients "feelings" about their surgeon. Most people feel very protective of their decision and will defend their choices no matter what. The "I loved my surgeon so much...he's THE best....The team was WONDERFUL....I would recommended them to ANYONE for ANYTHING" tended to not make too much of an impact on me. The fact is....if the surgeon is qualified and has a lot of training and experience, and the hospital is fully equipped to handle emergencies, and the entire process from beginning to end is well coordinated...then the difference becomes the personalities of the doctors which I don't really care about. As for my decision...I am STILL narrowing it down! There are a few more things for me to get right with and then I will finally make my choice. Good Luck!!

That is the problem that I have with my family. The problem is not necessarily that my larger flaws are more visible than their smaller flaws....it's that my successes highlight their lack of success. Many people no matter their size, income level, relationship status, etc. are insecure about themselves. When standing next to a person who is confident and/or more successful than they are they feel their insecurities strongly. It makes them uncomfortable. They feel "less than". I feel empathy and sympathy for people like that, but I don't have the time or head space to devote to making them feel better. Either they work it out themselves within themselves or they don't. I had a friend who had a hard time when I started doing much better financially than she was. She was a good friend and I recognized that. We openly talked about how it was sometimes difficult for her to see me do so much better in the money department. She recognized that her feelings were her insecurities...and she dealt with it. Years later we are still the best of friends. So maybe just openly talking to your friend may help you both understand what is happening internally. That is the reason why I am keeping my surgery a secret from everyone in my family. They would not be supportive, they would feel threatened, and they would not try to deal with those internal feelings. They would just gossip and trash-talk me behind my back. So screw them.