FibroDiva

Point out the potential health hazards you are currently facing. My children were actually the ones that convinced me, I had mini stroke in 2007 and then two more in 2012. They did an intervention and brought together all the grandchildren and had them rehearse, "we love you YaYa and want you around to see our children!" Once your family realize that you are doing it for health and not simply looks, they hopefully should be more supportive.

Quick drastic weight loss is a strange experience. Don't get me wrong, I was fully prepared, after all it took over 10 years to finally break down and undergo surgery. After all the research, doctor's visits, and support groups/forums, I was prepared buuuuttt. I'm having trouble moving into the "skinny mindset". I eat like a skinny person, I don't have a choice since 95% of my stomach is gone. I'm becoming active like a skinny person with Fibromyalgia [there's only so much you can do with Fibro]. The problem is clothing. I still see myself as fat and think I should wear larger clothing. That's where having lots of children [young adults] in one's life helps. After being teased for wearing clothing that is too big [even though it is smaller than what I use to wear], I broke down and purchased items from stores I would have never dreamed I could patronize, Express, Old Navy, J C Penny, Victoria's Secret. Everyone thinks I look great but I feel they are too small. Oh well, I guess my self-perception will catch up with the physical as time goes by.

Quick drastic weight loss is a strange experience. Don't get me wrong, I was fully prepared, after all it took over 10 years to finally break down and undergo surgery. After all the research, doctor's visits, and support groups/forums, I was prepared buuuuttt. I'm having trouble moving into the "skinny mindset". I eat like a skinny person, I don't have a choice since 95% of my stomach is gone. I'm becoming active like a skinny person with Fibromyalgia [there's only so much you can do with Fibro]. The problem is clothing. I still see myself as fat and think I should wear larger clothing. That's where having lots of children [young adults] in one's life helps. After being teased for wearing clothing that is too big [even though it is smaller than what I use to wear], I broke down and purchased items from stores I would have never dreamed I could patronize, Express, Old Navy, J C Penny, Victoria's Secret. Everyone thinks I look great but I feel they are too small. Oh well, I guess my self-perception will catch up with the physical as time goes by.

Wish me luck. I'm venturing out into the cold to meet with the personal trainer at Planet Fitness. I don't need luck with the personal trainer, I need luck venturing out into the cold with Fibromyalgia.

Wish me luck, I'm venturing out into the cold to meet my new personal trainer at Planet Fitness. Don't need luck with the personal trainer, I need it with going out into the cold with Fibromyalgia. ????

I gave myself and my daughter post-Christmas presents, memberships at Planet Fitness. Since I don't drive and PF allows you to bring a guest, my son gets one by association - he will be my driver. The problem is that with this extreme cold weather, my fibro has been in overdrive. I don't like to go out when it is really cold because it aggravates my pain so I've been following the exercises set up by my pre-op personal trainer and my post-op physcial therapist.

I was retested for sleep apnea and still have to use my CPAP

no regrets. I wasn't prepared for the loss of my baby cheeks and my "girls" but digging out old pictures I realized there was a time when I did have either. I am healthier now and that is what matters. I have noticed that now I spend my spare time at old hobbies, crochet, jewelry making, and even cake decorating [family eats the cakes].

I have Fibromyalgia, degenerative disc disease cervical and lumbar, siatica, and cervical stenosis. I had my sirgery Aug 01, 2013. My pain doc ordered physical therapy to begin Sep 01. I went to PT until Dec 31. My pain doc also ordered liquid versions of all my medication. If you can, go to physical therapy and use a recumbent bike first and build up to walking on the treadmill next.

they made me remove polish from both fingers and toes. I got a mani-pedi with no polish as a compromise. they used the monitor on the finger but still wanted no polish.

OOOps the above link is for the blog entry on exercise. Here's the link for the album with the exercise sheets

I have severe Fibromyalgia and because of the pain I did not work out. My insurance required that I see a personal trainer pre-op. She did not want me to exercise without the approval of a physical therapist. She did give me a package of exercise to show my physical therapist. The physical therapist modified the exercises and I went to therapy for 3 months and now I do the exercises at home. I started 1 month after surgery. You can find the handouts on my blog by clicking here. I've been scanning and uploading the package from the personal trainer. You don't need a gym. I use exercise bands, canned vegetables and Water bottles instead of weights. I've been hinting to my children that I would like a set of 1, 3 and 5 pound dumbbells for Christmas

I agree with LindarfromFlorida. Pre-surgery I battled Fibromyalgia and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I've given up sugar, even though I bake lots of cakes and Cookies for family members. I haven't had any IBS problems post-op. As I re-introduce food into my diet I am discovering what my stomach does not like, fried foods, spicy foods. Take it one day at a time. When you get to the point that you are re-introducing food, try a new food when you are not straying away from home. That way if you have an incident, you are safe within your own home.

This is not going to be a pain-free Christmas. The first ghost of Christmas, Fibro Fog, came to visit yesterday and I ruined a whole batch of Rum Balls. Last night the second ghost, Insomnia, moved in and I spent all night starring at the ceiling. This morning the third ghost, pain began unpacking. I'm so stiff and exhausted I can't get out of bed or even fathom moving about or exercising. I'm too exhausted to think about a Christmas day menu or shopping or cooking. Well I guess I don't have to worry about gaining any weight. This Chicago weather is beating me up. ~Sabrina.

I wear them on special occasions but didn't start until I hit 70 lbs of weight loss.

As the weather gets colder, my Fibro is getting worse and I'm finding it harder to exercise.

As the weather gets colder, my Fibro is getting worse and I'm finding it hard to exercise.

Well as the weather gets colder, I find that my Fibro is keeping me bedridden and unable to exercise.

Vicky says, "my Yaya [grandma] can wear Express, Old Navy, and JCPenny. Don't tell her what I got her for Christmas."

I did it. I made it through the turmoil and aftermath of the tornado where my daughter lives. My so drove me down to Peoria for the holiday. I did all the cooking and did not do any taste testing. I let everyone else do it. When it came time to eat, I used the baby's sliverware to make my plate. I only got down one bite of everything for Thanksgiving dinner and then had the rest for lunch on Black Friday. We then went shopping on Black Friday and I completed all my shopping. Now for the drive back to Chi-town. I know I will go into a flare but I am proud I did not give into the desire for emotional eating. :-)

it was hard but this is what I ate: the tur part of turducken, honey baked ham, sweet potatoes, homemade mac n cheese, green beans, gumbo and some of nephew Darren's peach crack [i mean cobbler]. Actually, I think I manged to get one bite of each item for Thanksgiving dinner and the other bite for Black Friday lunch.

it was hard but this is what I ate: the tur part of turducken, honey baked ham, sweet potatoes, homemade mac n cheese, green beans, gumbo and some of nephew Darren's peach crack [i mean cobbler]. Actually, I think I manged to get one bite of each item for Thanksgiving dinner and the other bite for Black Friday lunch. I spent the weekend with my daughter and her family and my son. There was no pressure to eat. Everyone was so grateful and thankful to have been spared the destruction of the tornado. I did all the cooking and was so tired afterwards that I didn't even want to think about eating.

I wear dreads. My journey to dreads has been a long and tedious one. I developed allergies to relaxers and dye about 7 years ago so I went to full head sew-ins. I let my hair grow natural under the sew-in. Then about 3 years ago I developed an allergy to the weave so I knew then it was time to be completely natural. Since I did not like my 70's Afro I went with twists and braids. Well, if you're allergic to weaves [synthetic or natural] then you're allergic to braid extensions. Nice thing, the 2 years I fussed around trying to find a style I liked, gave me enough growth to start with medium length dreads. If you decide to go this route, make sure you find a loctician who will not cut your hair. Many don't want to start with medium to long hair because it takes longer for them to lock. Also, if you are not ready to commit to locks, you can get them twisted [two strands or palm rolled one strand] and you have to untwist them once a week - maybe twice if your hair grows faster. It's been one year now and my dreads are now shoulder length. I bought myself a stand hair bonnet dryer and I wash my dreads once a week, twist them and then roll them on small rollers and sit under the dryer for about an hour or hour and a half. Just like when I was wearing a weave. I love my dreads, they are so versitale and easy to manage.