Yoga-lady

Yes, Fother Muckers.... Apparently so.
I'm a normal BMI.
I can't believe it, either!
Has anything changed? No, it hasn't. I buy smaller clothes, but I still see a zeppelin in the mirror. I have major body dysmorphia (sp/ph).
Does anyone love me more? No, not really. My girlfriends keep slapping my ass saying 'how f****ing long are your legs?!!!'; does it make me feel better? No.
What it has done is make me feel.. conspicuous.... I don't like it...
Years hiding in the shadows and all of a sudden I'm 'out there'... and its made me feel very insecure about other things. It appears I have swapped one set of insecurities for more... A lot more. At this stage, I'm happy (truly I am) and I'm turning down the voices that are telling me other things in my head. Every day it is a struggle. But I am trying.
As for the metric heads? Yes, I have hit goal. Realised I had done it today. Does it mean much? No. Because I have greater things to worry about. Body Dysmorphia being one of them.
But... I couldn't have got 'here' without the surgery and without all of you. For that, I am eternally grateful - despite my need for refined sugar! (and a chemical peel!)
Meh, what can I say? I'm exhausted (house move, mother with cancer, employment issues, fiance who threw me under the bus)
But, I'm still here and still smiling. I'll leave you with a picture of me with my beautiful nieces after I'd sparked them up on Halloween. They're so beautiful, intelligent and funny. I love them; like I love you all.
-x-
Revs

@thesuse2000 You are totally entitled to your opinion, I just happen to totally disagree with you. I don't understand why you feel that I am not being honest because I'm not divulging every piece of information about what I'm doing. Nothing I said was untrue, but it sounds to me like if I don't give someone all the details that I'm telling a lie which to me is totally ridiculous.
You may not agree with the way others think and view things, but I would caution you about the way the words that you use come out. I'm not hear to judge you, but I don't take to kindly to being called a liar, and that's exactly how you came across.
And that's MY opinion!

Sorry...that's supposed to read "140 pounds lost and holding" but it wouldn't let me edit the title.....
I haven't updated in a while, so I thought I would share a pic I snapped from this morning, a little over 14 months post op. I've lost 140 pounds and I am holding steady, rocking a size 4!!! I would love to lose 5 more, but hey....considering where I started, if I never lose another pound, I am ok with that too. My life has definitely transformed in a lot of ways. I have more confidence, more energy, I've run a 5K, 10K, 1/2 marathon, and am currently training for my first full marathon, and I'm healthy which is one of the best parts! I know that I have a much better chance of being around for a long time for my kids. I've learned a ton about myself, loving myself, and my vices through this process.
Good luck to all of you at the beginning or in the middle of this crazy journey!

Good week. Nov 21-154- four more to goal!

OMG!!!! I'm going to steal your line..."I still don't see normal..I see my therapist" and add it to my collection!
It's nice to be "normal". My BMI number says I am "merely" overweight. But to me it's just a number. I prefer to go by how I look and feel about myself. I've been allowing myself to be judged by someone else's standards for far too long.

Nov 14 th weigh in 156

Today i Celebrate my one year surgiversary! I am so proud of everything that i have accomplished. I started at 257lbs and am now dow 98 pounds in total. My current weight is 159lbs. I am still a few pounds away from my goal but i am happier than i have ever been in my life. I have struggled with my weight since i was a little girl. I had such an intense loathing for the way i looked most of my life. I feel like this surgery has changed me so much mentally and physically. before i had pain all over my body, Migraines, depression etc. I would refuse to even look at people. Now i have gained so much confidence and it feels so good! i chase my kids around the park for hours while before i was only able to go for about 30 mins. i wouldnt exercise at all and I was treating myself horribly by gorging myself on food. now i feel like i actually know what real NUTRITION is. its not just stuffing my face. its all about giving my body fuel, and using that fuel for energy. One of the best parts is that i can go about my day and not have to think about food every second. Before i literally felt like i was that little boy in the movie d**k Tracy, all i could say is "when do we eat?" I wouldnt trade my sleeve for anything. So for the first time here are my before and after pics.

Bad: Stopping to check myself out in every mirror I pass.
Good: Stopping to check myself out in every mirror I pass.
True story!

Let's do it!
Cw-157
GW-150

It is two years today that I had WLS. I have been plunged into a bit of a fog over the whole thought of it. I know since I had this life changing surgery that I am no longer the person I was before in any way. I think completely different. Believe things differently and look completely different as well.
I found out yesterday that I will have my 17th surgery on Nov. 27 to repair part of the bedsore scar. So it continues. That is one of the reasons for distress. But it is not all bad. There are some pretty amazing things I have learned about myself and experienced through this journey until now. I know myself better and have a lot more energy then before. I know that a lot of you know parts of my story and know that I would do it all again in a second if it meant that I would be the person I am now.
I have met some very wonderful people on this forum and it would take pages to list them all. Each shared in my journey thus far and I thank you for your encouragement and help when I needed it. Could not have gotten this far with out all of you.
I only dreamed of a time that I would weigh this much and be so happy with it.
Another year starts tomorrow and the continued fight for health and well being is ahead of me. I wish all of you the same outcome.
I just can't believe it..TWO YEARS since I told them to get this show on the road.....

I'm 25 months out and I still have a hard time believing its me that I am buying clothes for in these smaller sizes - but at the same time I have trouble remembering just what I looked like before - or more to the point - just how big I actually had been.

Today 157 missed by a .5 lb

Please add me to the list

I'm in

I have had it since 1980- all has been blissfully quiet since vsg in October - feeling normal for the first time in years

Hi posting for tomorrow
Weight. 178. Goal 175 .p?????its questionable but not impossible

Walking at the mall yesterday and realized---my thighs were not touching or rubbing together!!!!

Mrs RRn
You are a dear sweet young thing, so let me give you some idea of how I, as a less sweet, take-no-prisoners, 50 something, respond to people who bring sh1t to my door...

Eek, reading that back, I have to admit that was a rather good one (by that I mean scathing) - even for me at 11pm at night!
Don't worry, if I disappear it won't be for too long. Cup of tea, painting my nails, conjugal relations...
As for a coup d'etat... Now there's a thought!
<starts plotting>

RIGHT! Can I be arsed to address the person who has obviously skulked in (no doubt at the behest of someone else), in an attempt to tell me to get out of my own thread, (which I started incidentally ) , labouring the point that if I'm bored I should leave the site all together?
Yes, I can! Huzzah!
I said 'take a break'. Please tell me, someone, where that phrase denotes leaving the website on a permanent basis? Could it mean that I'm walking away from my laptop for a cup of tea perhaps? A walk in the park? An opportunity to paint my toe nails (which, incidentally, would be infinitely more entertaining than reading your unwarranted bile). Did I say I was going to do it? No, strangely, I did not!
Do me a favour you mealy mouthed, inspirationally challenged tosspots. Go skulk in someone elses thread, or better still, go and create your own! That's right, create your own.
But that's right,you cant can you? Because you're toe-curlingly, eye-wateringly dull!
I never wanted to really go here, I thought (ever the optimist) that the mundanity of repetition on this website was solely limited to how many edamame Beans and Protein shakes people had managed consume.
Sadly not. I can now extend the definition of utter tedium to the attempted supercilious, mealy-mouthed idiots who contribute little of value and originality, other than a bilious vomitorium of defensive low-level vitriol to those they are clearly jealous.
As cuts both ways, there are a myriad of threads on the VSG forum. If you're having a whale of a time counting your beans; do, please, carry on. However and to prevent me from having to go here again, just quietly take your leave and get out of mine.
Lets leave us happy and personality filled individuals to get on with it.
'Cause whether or not it had escaped your attention, we appear to be making this place a little bit more interesting, one post at a time.

Away tomorrow so weight for today 180. Goal 175

It's a calamitous swim up a Protein infested stream!
I'm not saying you shouldn't post about yourself, after all, that's our knowledge base. Could we make the posts a little bit more varied and interesting?
As for self publication - you got it. Right here, baby!
Forgive me if I won't purchase it though. I am saving up my pennies for more edamame Beans and Protein powder

Oh, there'd only be one way to go for me on this one...
Humour.
In response to the question about excess skin, I'd get REALLY over-excited about it. I'd emphatically and conspiratorially touch her arm, leaning close to her face whilst giving a 'howl-at-the-moon-mad' maniacal grin and state in hushed determined tones:
Oh, I know, it's going to be BRILLIANT! I'm going to harvest as much as I can and have the whole thing cut off and transferred to my butt. Why? Because, and I don't know whether you knew, <looking to the left and the right> but I only had the bariatric surgery done in order to emulate my most favourite person in the world...
Kim Kardashian' <adding an extra sigh of hushed reverence>
At which point, I would produce a laminated picture of the following, press it into her hands and say whilst borderline shrieking
'I'll look amazing, WONT I?!!!!!'

Then I'd skip off into a different room leaving them dumbfounded....
(I know, I need mental help, but if you can't beat them - join them! )

Weigh in march 30- 181 stall broken !, goal 175

What's your goal? I don't mean a weight goal, but your overall goal? Do you want to lose weight? Get healthy? Lower obesity related health risks?
You created a throw away user name. You said you wanted no encouragement. You've said "I can't" to some very solid advice above. Most importantly, you don't want to go to the doctor who can answer your questions far better than anyone here and who can give you much better advice to get you to where you want to be.
To answer your initial question. The stretchy part of your stomach was cut out leaving the muscle. Your capacity will increase over time, but your max should be 8oz or so at a sitting. The cottage cheese test above will answer that.
liquids only for a few days will help you feel the restriction better as well as get you back into low carbs, high Protein. It's not meant to be forever, but a way to help you get back on track. I am going to do it once a month or so, just to keep my head in the game. It's not fun, but it's not impossible either.
It sounds as if you are grazing. Are you eating because you are hungry or because you can? If you are hungry, my guess is you aren't eating the right foods. If it's because you CAN, you are choosing to fail yourself. It's time for you to be honest with YOU for YOUR benefit.
Good luck to you!