supbanana

You should definitely have the surgery and all the benefits it will give you.
You should know though, that this is not going to be a cure all. It is very possible to gain all of the weight back if you don' t make permanent changes in your eating habits.
There are several of us in the veterans forum who are dealing with trying to take off the regain. It is much, much harder later on down the road. You're going to have to find a work out program that you won't give up on, and you may need to change the people you hang around with, if you want to be successful later on . You have your whole life ahead of you, and they will do surgery on your stomach, but that is not going to change the way you think about food.

Ha, I have kind of an 'all in one' deal. My grandma likes to tell me, "wow honey, you sure can tell you lost weight!" Which is great, but reminds me of how she used to say, "gosh honey, you sure can tell you gained weight!"
My favorite compliments though? Apparently surgery increased my confidence or something because people keep commenting on my excellent posture, how regal I look, how I walk with 'poise', etc. I love it.

No, no, no...that is the worst thing you can do..That is your depression talking...If you walk away from the help and encouragement that we can give you..Then you will really be on your own.....I know you are lower then a snake in a wheel rut right now and for good reason..I would never judge you for that....but if you give up on the few things that make your life worth something then it is totally over.....
We are here to listen and help where we can..others are having hard times too and you holding on and still working it is an encouragement to them as well...
Please do not go and give up the forum family!

Mmm so I am down 43 pounds I was 306 ..and I am wearing same new things like high heels and dress. .. whan my brother say am to fat to wear them heels with my dress. .. just like that he says that I should not dress like a skinny girl... so I cried and cried. ...that was my worst

I used to eat all of my mom's expensive diet food as Snacks when I was in high school and never realized how frustrating that must have been. Now that I'm reading your stories I'm feeling a little guilty, guess I owe her some nutritious snacks lol.

Oh, honey.. this very issue has been discussed at length on this site.. Sadly, it goes back to the adage 'you can take a horse to Water, but you can't make it drink'... If he doesn't want to, then he's not going to. Nor, really, should he have to. However and you never know.. When he sees you succeeding - he might get motivated. In the meantime, you either tell him as it is.. Or you blame it on being preoccupied with school... Either way, the truth will out sooner or later. Never easy and I don't envy you your position. x

Sorry to be so logical but how is it hypocritical to be against fat shaming? Any decent person would be against fat shaming. What would be hypocritical is if you were NOT against it. If you used to be fat and now make fun of other fat people, then THAT would be hypocritical. Your friend is not only hurtful, and jealous, she is also illogical.
Sorry I know that wasn't the point of your post, but maybe you can see how not only is what she's saying to you is mean, it also makes no sense. Which means she's manufactured some stupid reason to pick on you.
People who don't love all of who you are should not experience the pleasure of your company. Let her go, which I know is easy to say but will likely come with pain, and open yourself up to new experiences and people who think you rock.
So sorry she did that to you ((hugs))

You know I'm not sure where she's getting her info and opinions from... We don't really see each other anymore.
But I don't like how it made me feel about myself.
It made me feel like I'm not as successful as I am. It chipped away at an already fragile ego.
Weird how stupid comments can hit you some days.
I'm supposed to go biking with her next week to reconnect. It is not something I'm looking forward to now.

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

Ha, I have kind of an 'all in one' deal. My grandma likes to tell me, "wow honey, you sure can tell you lost weight!" Which is great, but reminds me of how she used to say, "gosh honey, you sure can tell you gained weight!"
My favorite compliments though? Apparently surgery increased my confidence or something because people keep commenting on my excellent posture, how regal I look, how I walk with 'poise', etc. I love it.

It's been a long time since I posted but I wanted to make sure I come back and update you all on my progress. I reached my main goal this morining, I'm finally below 200 pounds!! I'm 199 but I'll take it!
I had my surgery on 8/1/12 and have since lost a total of 143 pounds. Feel free to ask me anything... I was so happy I found this site when I considered having my surgery and pictures were a main factor in my decision as words can only mean so much but a picture can show a lot more.

Hey folks. Had my TT today. They removed 6 pounds of skin. 2 giant pieces like the one on the picture. I'll get some photos of me posted as soon as I'm able, but wanted to let everyone know it all went well.
I'm in the hospital tonight and I'll go home tomorrow. I've got 3 drains....how in the world do you folks walk around in public with these things?
The doc came in earlier and opened up the binder for a second to take a look....holy crap! I don't recognize myself. It's so unbelievable. Now let the recovery begin.
Btw not much pain right now, morphine is awesome!!!!
So this is half of what they cut out.

Hi Annie, I'm biased because I adored Dr. Illan and had an amazing experience, but I truly believe you're in incredibly competent hands! I would have surgery with him again in a heartbeat.
Are you referring to the Team Illan group on Facebook? If so, right on! That was by far my favorite resource pre surgery. If not, please join the group!
I never came across a sheet of hard facts, unfortunately. Before surgery my dad was convinced that I would get to Mexico and they would take my check and leave me stranded. The only way to convince him how wrong he was was to come home, perfectly fine.
I think your best bet, like the person before me mentioned, is to set up a phone call or Skype chat with Dr. Illan so your husband can ask questions 'in person'. Dr. Illan is very friendly and professional and was happy to answer any and all questions.
Good luck!! I hope you love your experience as much as I did... Shoot, even if you only like it half as much, you'll still be happy with your choice.

Thank you, everyone, for the helpful input!
Whatever the industry or profession, I am used to paying more for high profile, seasoned/accomplished veterans with easily verifiable credentials. Sometimes when I don't have time to research, I'll go ahead and spend extra $$ on one of those to up the chance that I won't have issues. But most often I like to put extra energy in to finding talented up & comers & save my re$ources. I've found a couple of good & reassuring morsels about Dr. Illan that I hope to summarize & offer up to my husband (and to this forum) soon.
Thanks so much again!
Annie (mid-November sleever to be )

This is so dumb. I have quit smoking. I have been a smoker for about 30 yrs. whenever it comes up that I've quit, people say things like "it's about time" or "good for you!" Or "that's great!" (Here's the dumb part) I want people to do cartwheels! Do they not understand that that is HUGE? Well, I know they do, really I do, but I want the sky to open up and drop balloons and confetti... all over the place.
And doves and unicorns, too

I would also like to say that Dr Illan's on site coordinator is "THE BOMB"! Omar Acosta will do anything he can to help you. He did a Skype call with me first, them set up another Skype call with Dr Illan and when I told him I wanted to get some dental work over there and could he help with that, he was right on it. He set up a Skype call with a dentist over there who answered all my questions and gave me a great estimate on what I needed done. Omar Acosta is golden and having just had the sleeve surgery himself about 5 months ago, he is very helpful and sympathetic to your concerns. Without him, I don't know if I would have made this decision. OMAR ACOSTA, YOU ROCK!

Annie, I have a blog with pictures from my surgery with Dr. Illan. sistersleeves@ blogspot.com I had my sleeve done 8/31/13 and would recommend anyone in my family to him. Care and surgery were great! My incisions look beautiful and healed just fine. No pain since the day of surgery. I loved the whole team and I'm sure you will too Feel free to ask anything.

Dr. ILLAN AND OMAR ARE AWESOME!

Oh boy ! could not agree more - that is exactly what I was thinking when I read the above post from nomorecupcakes - her doctor choice "Dr. A" most certainly has had some drama in the past couple of months. But unlike nomorecupcakes thankfully most of us recognize that this can and will happen to any good doctor ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD including the United States and Mexico. And as for bargain shopping - well why not !! - good lord most of us are not blessed with being independently wealthy - every penny counts - you just do your best to temper costs with choice - AND my choice is the lovely DR ILLAN !!

I'm not talking about Dr Illan, Sherri. He is actually the Dr I am planning on using. Go back and read the person I quoted and you will see that my comment is directed at her and her comments.

This kind of comment makes me so angry. Lots of fat women like fat guys and lots of hot guys/women like fat men/women. My taste in men runs the gamut, I married a Navy Seal and he was hot and VERY physically fit. I've also been in a long term relationship with a fat man and I found him very attractive as well.
Please don't place your self hate on anyone else...

I can't date extremely thin men....I like my guys to feel a certain way. If they are under 200 no way. I think it's just a personal preference.

This is an extremely rude assumption to make. it's people like you that make heavier people hate themselves and what they look like. Just remember that you are/were one of those fat ugly guys and if no woman wanted to date you, I think it was more a problem with you bro.
Ultimately, you will find someone who cares about you as a person. If they are superficial, they were not worth your time anyways. As you begin to feel better about yourself, you'll start to put out a better vibe and you'll attract awesome women, both fat and skinny.