Comfy_Blue

The Pros - 1. I love my new body and the confidence it gives me. 2. It feels so good to be able to fit into (most) medium sized shirts (compared to XXL and some XXXL's) and a loose sz 14 jeans (compared to a tight 18, a snug 20 and a comfortable 22) 3. I lowered my cholesterol and blood pressure! 4. I haven't been back for a sleep study, but my sleep apnea seems to have dissipated. I'm no longer groggy in the morning and husband says I stopped snoring. 5. I've stopped hiding from cameras and floor length mirrors because the image doesn't make me sad anymore 6. My watches and bracelets aren't so tight they leave marks on my arms anymore. 7. I no longer feel self conscious because I know I'm the heaviest or one of the heaviest women in the room 8. I have a glow about me I NEVER EVER though I would ever lose weight (I believed I would be that .1% the surgery didn't work for) but seeing myself be disciplined enough to do the Clear liquids pre-opt diet, follow each stage of my post-opt diet, then lose nearly 60lbs between October 2013 - March 2014 has inspired me to take control of other areas in my life such as: 1. Grad School: After 7 years of putting it off, I finally enrolled in graduate school and begin next month. 2. Therapy: I started going to therapy to get to the root of why I was eating so much. It's only been two months, but I am happier, more upbeat, less tired and my patience level is improving. 3.Clothes: I've started dressing better (not necessarily sexier, but instead of throwing on jeans and a t-shirt, I take my time to color coordinate and wear more stylish clothing). 4. Better hair style: I also have started doing my hair differently (when I was heavier, I wore my hair bone straight to try and make my face look smaller. Now, 60lbs down, I'm able to wear my hair in it's natural curly state because my face has thinned out and is more oval) The Cons: 1. Every once in awhile I miss stuffing myself with food. I didn't know I was suffering from depression at the time, so food gave me comfort. It made me feel loved, safe, satisfied, etc. 2. Sometimes I resent my husband (I think it's a little twinge of jealously) when I see him piling his plate high with food and I've got a little, teeny, tiny dessert plate of food that I'm only able to eat half of 3. My surgeon said I need to wait 18 - 24 months to get pregnant (I turn 30 in a few months and would like to have had a baby sooner) 4. Sometimes I feel guilty, especially when I see other friends, family and coworkers struggling with their weight. Like the other day at Macy's my mom was complaining about her weight and how some of the clothes she liked didn't fit. I used to be able to commiserate with her.

I weigh myself anywhere between 1 - 3 times a day. I have a weight watchers scale and once I got on it and though that morning I weighed 192lbs, the scale said I was 185lbs (in the evening nonetheless) so I'm a bit paranoid now. I also use my husband's scale to verify mine. I weigh to keep myself accountable and to keep an eye on my weigh fluctations. when I don't drink many fluids my weight tends to be higher because i am retaining Water. also heavier in the evenings or when I'm on my period. I used to weigh myself like once every few months which is how my weight went from 150lbs to 2i45 lbs in 10 years.

I'm happy to hear that most of your friends have been supportive. Not sure if my friends think I'm sick or not. Looking at pictures of me "then" and "now" I feel like I look a lot healthier. I have more energy and I feel more bubbly. Hopefully it's just the awkward thing and not that they aren't happy for me

I have a group of about 5 friends from high school. We don't all get together often (conflicting schedules, life and distance) but we're all very close and each others support network through big life changes. (Ie: marriage, first child being born, death of a family member, graduating college, buying a new house, etc). Hence my confusion why they have been the only ones who don't seem to notice my weight loss. Now bear in mind I have lost almost 60lbs and unlike my parents, coworkers, husband and other friends who see me more often (and notice I'm smaller) i would think my decreasing waist line would be most noticeable to my group. Heck, when my husband took a picture of me on his cell phone two days ago and showed me I gasped at how much smaller I am. I kept staring at the picture sure that it wasn't me or that my head had been photoshopped onto a thin woman's body (lol). Anyway how have your close friends reacted to your weight loss(and about how much have you lost)? I figured my heavier friends might not mention it because they are self conscious of their own weight, but two of my friends are very thin (like a sz 8 and sz 6) and they haven't said anything either. I started to wonder if maybe they never saw me as "fat" and just as myself, so that's why no one notices my weight, or if they notice and feel weird saying anything.

i'm so proud of you! Entering Onderland is such a good feeling. I'm glad you found so much help and support on BP. I love seeing the scale go down and feeling a difference in my clithes. I'm sure you have gone down at least a size by now. It feels so good to feel your old jeans getting loose in the thighs and waist. keep up the great work! Cya in the century club!

I don''t have children, but I do have a Southern husband that likes to eat. I was having the same problem, how can I cook healthy stuff for me, but things that still are hearty (and quick) for him? I started gong on pintrest while in my full liquid faze and searching for recipes under "clean eating", "vegan" and low carb/calorie. I found so many useful recipes that mimic the classic, high caloric foods I love. Zucchini lasagna, quinoa (tastes like rice), chicken teriyaki(with low sodium soy sauce, a small amount of organic honey and white meat chicken combined in a crock pot. I eat it over quinoa which I cooked with zucchini and plum tomatoes and I swear it tastes just like Gen. Tso from the local carry out), cauliflower Soups something called a twice baked cauliflower casserole(it tastes so much like potatoes my husband forgets they aren't and keeps calling them potatoes when we eat them). I also take portabella mushrooms and put pizza sauce, low fat mozzarella cheese and a few pepperoni's (for husband) and bake them to make a healthier pizza. Husband also cooks chili with turkey meat which is so delicious and high in Protein. Helps keep me regular. Freezer bags are my best friend. I usually cook on Saturday and/or Sunday evenings and freeze some of the food. Or if it's around the middle of the week and I notice we aren't really eating a certain dish, I throw it into a freezer bag and seal it. Then a week (or two or six) later when in a pinch, i open the freezer and have several options to defrost. There are also some great food blogs created by bariatric patients like "the world according to eggface". I also really like "Bunny Food for my Rabbit Teeth". It's doable once you get into the rhythm of cooking for yourself and have a cache of go to recipes that are yummy, but meet our dietary requirements. OH and crock pots are also helpful. I like to find recipes online and on Pintrest for the crockpot so I can throw them together, then turn on my crock pot and forget about them.

Today I was eating some chicken and noodles and I started feeling too full and my nose began to leak a very thin mucus that had the consistency of Water. It's so thin and watery that sniffing it back up doesn't help and it refuses to dry on it's own. (I know, I know. Disgusting) If I don't dash for a tissue, it'll run out my nose and down my face (Double disgusting) From what I've read on the forums, that seems to be a pretty common thing. Unfortunately I'm not sure if it applies to me or not because my nose runs at random throughout the day, especially when I bend my head. This started happening about 2 years before I had my surgery. My dad is the same way. I've been told it's allergies, but I'm not one to do a lot of sneezing, have itchy eyes, hives, etc.

I'm nearly a year late, but thank you for posting this. I stumbled upon your name by fluke (I google'd "century club, bariatic and your posting about being in the century club from 2012 came up.) After reading your post, I was curious about your profile, so I clicked your name, then your blog which led me here. Anyway, I never thought about how we come to learn that fat is bad, how the hatred of who I was (and still am inside) began. It puts things in perspective and makes me aware that when I have children I shouldn't speak of my former overweight self in such negative light. There's a good chance I may have overweight/obese children if we don't instill healthy life style choices because my husband's family are all morbidly obese and my family range from "a few extra pounds" to morbidly obese as well. I feel like I'm rambling. Must be the lack of protein (lol). So thanks again for the posting and way to go on your weight loss! I see from your profile that you're down nearly a person. Go you!

When I eat out I usually opt for salmon if it's available because it's high in Protein. I also eat salads and avoid the bread bowl. I can't find anything to eat that I actually want at McDonalds, Chipotle(steak burrito bowl w/no Beans was my favorite), any most fast food restaurants, so I don't go. Even though I'm almost 30, I sometimes order off the kids menu at Bob Evans and other s. At IHOP I order the senior sampler which is like 1 egg, 1 pancake, 1 sausage, 1 bacon, 1 ham. At Red Lobster I eat shrimp scampi and a caesar salad

I drank a skinny vanilla latte on Saturday. It was really cold and I was outside a lot so I wanted to warm up. I drank about half and chucked the rest. I am allowed decaf coffee, but I don't think express come decaffeinated and I don't really like drip coffee. Aside from .that one cup I haven't had anymore coffee and don't plan to. I was a Starbuck's junkie and fear if I start having it again I will trigger my caffeine addiction and not be able to stop.

that's wonderful! it feels so good when something doesn't fit because it's too big. i would highly reccomend you keep those size 20 jeans as long as you live just to remind yourself how far you have come. when I get down or feel like I haven't lost enough or still feel fat, I put on my old sz 18s (which were super tight and barely fit) and it helps me put it all in perspective. I plan to keep them as a constant reminder of how far I've come. I hope you'll do the same

I'm so happy that there are enough people on here that don't weigh daily to give you advice. Unfortunately I am not one of them. When I was heavier I rarely weighed which made it easier for me to deny the pounds as they slowly crept on. Daily weighing holds me accountable. when i'm tempted to buy a butterfinger Peanut Butter cup and gobble it down I remind myself i'll be weighing in the next day and it helps me. Last Friday through Sunday I didn't cook for myself at all and only ate fast food and at restaurants. It was only 3 days, but by Sunday night my weight had crept up from 187lbs to 189.8. (190 in the evenings) If I hadn't weighed I probably would've took some leftover chinese food for lunch Monday and stopped at starbucks for a skinny lattee. But seeing how eating out effected my weight, I opted to take in some homemade chili I had frozen, fruit and Water. for lunch today I had salmon and veggies.

I don't eat much bread because I am paranoid about weight gain, plus it swells up in my belly and i get that stuck feeling if i am not careful. I especially am not a bread fan because I don't drink with my food so my mouth feels dried out after i'mdone and i'm stuck feeling that way for 30mins. lol right now my husband and I just ate some cold cuts. he ate 7 inches. I had like half of a 3in and was full.

Aw, thank you. I really appreciate that because I did feel kind of shallow/lame for wanting her to see me. Though we've been friends many years, we do have a bit of a rivalry going on and whenever we'd get together with other friends, I'd kind of dread seeing her because she's been steadily losing and maintaining her weight for the last 10 years while I was ballooning. I didn't realize how bad it was until she posted a pic of us from HS and I saw how tiny I used to be.

I do the exact same thing. Sometimes I just have to take a little drink, especially when I go to restaurants. It's really hard because the servers bring out drinks first and I never know how long the food will take. So there're been times I will chug an entire glass of Water then 5 minutes later our food arrives and I can't eat any. Other times (like last night) I didn't touch my glass of water for fear the food would arrive any second and it ended up being about 45 minutes after placing the order. I was pissed because I could've drunk for 10 minutes easily, then had enough time to wait. So now I try to either drink on my way to the restaurant or take a few tiny sips of water if I'm feeling very thirsty the moment I get to the restaurant.

My honest desires: 1. I want to not be afraid/ashamed to post pictures of myself on facebook because I don't want people to see how big I've gotten 2. To have a healthy pregnancy 3. To completely rid myself of sleep apnea 4. To no longer be the "fat" one of my friends (in HS, my friend Jane was chunky and I was thin. Now she's super thin thanks to a Vegan diet and I was chunky and I could tell she delighted a little in that. Looking forward to getting back to my old, thin self and having her see me) 5. No longer avoiding my husband's work/family gatherings because I am embarassed about being the fattest woman in the room and/or that people are like, "DANG, his wife has a pretty face and nice personality, but she looks a lot bigger than in the photos" 6. Being able to buy clothes without trying them on first (I've actually done this several times so far and it feels great) 7. For my knees to stop crunching from the excess weight 8. Even though I'm sure I will always see my imperfections, I am proud of how I look and enjoy seeing my slimming form in the mirror

I decided to get the sleeve because after doing (mostly internet) research, I learned the sleeve had a lot of complications like being too tight or too loose. I didn't like the idea of having to go in to be re-filled every 1 -2 months (my friend has the band and that has been her experience). I also read about the band slipping, eroding the stomach and that most banders end up having it removed and/or getting a revision surgery such as the gastric bypass or the sleeve. To me, the sleeve just seems more natural. It's still my stomach, just smaller. No foreign objects, sleevers are supposed to experience little to no dumping syndrome. What made the decision for me was attending an information session with my surgeon.

Thank you for this article. I wish I had found this when I was in the pre opt stages. Another emotional aspect of WLS I did not expect was guilt. I feel bad sometimes that the people around me are still heavy and/or gaining weight as I continue shrinking. I know how hard it is because I used to a,ways be "the biggest one" and i would feel so envious of thin people it would make me want to cry/punch a wall at the unfairness sometimes. I also heard about jealousy and extra attention but didnt think people would notice or say much. Not the case at all. It's funny because the people I want to notice I am slim don't (like my friend who lost 50lbs after high school whereas I gained 100lbs) and the people I don't really care about are the ones who notice and say something.

I would try to reschedule it at the next (and soonest) available date. The fact that when i went to my second appointment that i already had my sleepnstudy, endoscopy, proof of six months structured weight loss program, psych evaluation etc already completed moved me along at lightening fast speed. I began my journey Oct. 31. I was sleeved on Dec. 23. Everyone is different, but personally i wanted to be sleeved as soon os possible because my mind was finally in the right place and had i have waited i might have gotten cold feet or allowed the process to drag on and on.

Every time I get on the scale I am shocked to see it steadily going down because I still have this irrational fear that the last pound I lost will be my last or (as with every other diet I've ever tried) I will see the scale drop awhile and steadily climb back up. I knew there was a risk that it might not work or even that I might gain the weight back, but to me it was worth the chance that this might change my life, versus if I didn't have the surgery, I knew I would crash diet the rest of my life and eventually hit 300+ I have been focusing on making positive changes and better eating choices in my life incase by some loooooooooooooooong shot my new banana belly stops working. I'm sure I would gain back some weight but not as much as I did in the past because I have sincerely been making some awesome lifestyle changes including identifying my trigger foods (Sodas, Starbuck's vanilla Latte, lemon flavored cake/cookies, pizza, Powerade) and I avoid them like the plague. I do most of my own cooking instead of eating 2 - 3 meals out each day. I take my four multi-Vitamins at different intervals during the day, my B - 12 and Calcium chew. I work with a therapist to help elevate the anxiety and stress that helped me to put on 100lbs in ten years. I am lightly - moderately active each day. These things give me peace and help soothe my worries about the sleeve not working. As for the amount of weight loss, whenever I start to feel that it's not enough fast enough, my pre-opt self whispers "if you gained 2lbs in a week, you'd be pissed and beat yourself up then binge. so why are you pissed and acting like losing 2lbs is nothing?"

Only the largest incision point really bothered me. It hurt to lay in that side. Not excrutiating but sore like a bad bruise. What was worse was the stomach spasms. Whenever i would swallow, i would get what felt like gas rising up in my stomach then jt would sit in my chest and burn for 10 - 30 seconds, then go away. This started the day after my operation and lasted about two weeks. I am now two months out and the worse i get it a little twinge around my largest incision scar. I would say i was feeling little to no pain around my third week.

So...i had typed a long, heart felt answer, then my Ipad decided to randomly close the internet browser and I lost everything. So...the gist of what I said was I understand where you are coming from. It did seem to take forever to reach under 200lbs to me. I confess i am a bit obsessed with the scale, so I am trying to focus more on NSV's. You're doing a GREAT job. You just have to be the one thing I am not...patient. You WILL get there. Just think, would you be upset if you gained the amount lf weight you lost? That helps me keep it in perspective when I feel I'm losing too slowly or not enough. If i were gaining 2lbs a week, it would be torture.

I am very sorry you have both experienced hair loss. I'm can tell that was upsetting and a traumatic experience. I stated in my original post that I have thick, curly hair and that it's quite possible it could be thinning and I just haven't noticed yet. The veteran I spoke to was a year out and had not experienced hair loss or thinning. Prior to surgery, she did not use chemicals in her hair. After surgery she of course took in the necessary Protein and supplements which I'm sure was helpful to her continued hair growth. Everyone is different. It's not reasonable to say everyone is going to lose hair, nor is it reasonable to say everyone who doesn't use chemicals in their hair won't. Again, we are all different. I simply shared my experiences and those of a woman I spoke with.

I'm almost at two months out after years of stopping growth at about chin length, my hair now just about reaches my bra strap.When I was pre-opt, I talked to a sleeved vet in the lobby and I told her I was afraid of losing hair. She asked if I had in hair color/bleach/a perm/any chemicals. I told her no and she said neither had she and she hadn't experienced any hair losss and I probably wouldn't either. So far she's right, but then I have thick, curly hair, so it could be thinning and I wouldn't notice right away.