Forsythia

Random update. I bought a new bra today after my post. It was a 38 like I suspected, but it was a DD. LOL.The boobs are still smaller than they used to be when I was a 44D.

I like to go to Ross, TJ Maxx and Marshall's. I got a $99 Vince Camuto skirt for $20. At Macy's on the clearance rack I got pair of Jones New York trousers originally $95 for all of $16. I love a deal.

The ball is going to roll around because you are probably not used to using your stabilizer muscles to keep you stable. I like to do my ab work on the ball because I feel like I get a better range of motion than abs on the floor. But you will find all of your small muscles in your legs and sides and abs working hard to keep you stable. Give it time!

Bought two tops today that were size 14/16. And a bra that is a 38DD. Funny that even though my boobs are way smaller that the cup went up a size. I've been losing a lot of inches lately rather than weight. My pants are loose. I think I'm ready for 18s. I didn't find any pants at Ross that I liked to try on though. So I will just have to take the victory on the tops.

VS is one of the worst places to get sized at. Go to Nordstrom if you have one near by. Or go to a legit bra store like Intimacy. The girls at VS are not really trained correctly to size you. Or if they do size you, that will only be for their bras. But at least if you go to a department store you can try on various bras in by different brands and find ones that work for you since they all run differently

I just bought a bra today. Pre-op I was a 44D. The bra I bought today was a 38DD. I don't mind though. The actual boobs are still smaller. Bra sizes are quirky. The band size is what makes me feel good. The cup size is gonna depend on the cut and style of the bra.

I was a 44D, I'm down to what I suspect is a 38C. I kind of miss them, but I don't, because all over I'm smaller and know in the end I'll be a normal size. And there is always a wonder bra. LOL.

I was on liquid for two days in the hospital. Then purees immediately upon getting home. Total time for purees was about a week. Then I was on soft solids for a month, then okayed for general diet after that. Purees were the worst. Everything pureed was awful. I also was not hungry at all the first three weeks. But that changed on soft solids.

Are you an outdoorsy sort? Organize a hike. Not so outdoorsy? Maybe go to a museum. Art. Science. Natural History. Or get out your aggressions and play some laser tag (I'm totally retaining my youth on that one. I would avoid paint ball though since you might get hit in the stomach. Ain't nobody got time for that). Is it a more family crowd? Arrange a hay ride at a pumpkin patch. Depending on your location, it still might be excellent weather for a concert or a movie in the park. If you are sporty, you can go to a football or basketball or hockey game. Stadium food is always way overpriced anyhow.

It sucks that you are getting keloids. I'm not prone to them, but all my scars heal really dark compared to my skin tone. I've noticed a lot of drapey saggy skin on my thighs as well, as well as my arms. Proportionally those areas have more weight on them than some of my other areas. Grr.

In the past few weeks, I've only lost a minimal amount of weight. I'm at 236. Before labor day I was 240. I'm one lb short of being 100 lbs lighter than my all time high (335). I'm not here to whine about the scale. I'm here to say that I'm still getting smaller. In the last couple of weeks my under bust measurement has gone from 41 to 38.5. My waist has gone from 45 to 43. And oddly, my calves which have always been really muscular and well defined (I've never been accused of having cankles - rather, I often heard "How come your legs are so skinny? No wonder you have sprained your ankle so many times. Those things are too small to support you") have gone from 16 inches to 14.5. I am sure my hips went down too, but I don't remember the old measurement for them. LOL. So even though I am still 236, my size 20 jeans are getting quite loose. My 2x tops are starting to look ridiculous. My point is that the scale is not the ultimate measure of your success. Don't pin your hopes and mental well being to the number on the scale. How do you feel? How do you look in your clothes? How much lower is your blood sugar? Blood pressure? Cholesterol? How much can you bench press now? How much easier is it to make it up a flight of stairs without pain? Without feeling like your lungs are going to explode? Don't equate success with the scale. The scale is just one tool in your kit. You are not (and never have been) solely your weight. Don't make yourself that now.

@@Forsythia I see your post "up above" and see you have lost 99 lbs, so close to the century club i'm holding the door open for you - come in soon keep up the good job kathy I keep losing inches, but that one pound is mocking me. Lol. I'm cool with losing inches. I lift a lot of weights. It will come off eventually.

Ha ha ha ha ha! Lol.

Well, you can't not drink, so just ease back into it. Small sips. Don't try to drink too fast. You might have just had a freak experience that may never repeat itself. One day I had 3 oz of chicken and it made me feel nauseated. I gagged a couple of times even. I don't know why. Never happened before or since. Maybe it just struck a nerve oddly. But I still eat chicken. Don't give into fear of a one time occurrence. If this happens again it might be warranted, but for now, don't assume it was the start of something bad. Maybe one of your pills hit a nerve on the way down.

Yay! Now let's talk about Costa Rica. You going to the beach, the jungles and Arenal volcano or the cities? I wanted to honeymoon there, but money. Boo.

You should certainly be able to use any and all of the cardio equipment at the gym. You should ask if you are clear for weights and swimming. Some doctors don't clear you for weights over 10 lbs until 6 weeks out. And swimming depends on how well your incisions have healed.

@@Chubalicious Sadly fat does not become muscle. Fat is fat and muscle is muscle. If you work out the fat cells will shrink and the muscle fibers will get bigger, but you can't turn one into the other. If we could, I think we all would have opted for that instead of surgery. You also have a lower BMI and are a lady, two things that cause slower weight loss. Guys tend to lose much faster than a woman of the same weight. Higher BMI individuals also lose faster than lower BMI individuals. You are going to have stalls. Sometimes they last for a week, sometimes longer. Keep on your plan. Keep working out. Resist the urge to weigh yourself every day. My weight is going to fluctuate. Even on a perfect day it might go up for various reasons. Try to limit your scale time to once a week or even less if you find yourself getting obsessed about the number.

coffee. But even without coffee I am super regular. For the first month or so, not so much. But now, All is right with my bowels. LOL.

I take my Vitamins when I can remember. Which for me might be at Breakfast, or a lunch, or 10 minutes before bed. LOL. I take one prenatal as opposed to two regular multis (not that I am pregnant but I'd rather take one pill than two and the NUT suggested we could take a prenatal). Vitamin D and B12 all in pill/capsule form. I started out with a chewable multi but all the rest of the vitamins were pills. I'm not required to take any calcium. I think the bottom line is for you to work out a schedule that works for you. Because they are only effective if you remember to take them! I will say that this thread has reminded me to take my pills (Which I actually drag around with me in a sparkly pill case).

I didn't try any Protein bars until I was cleared for a general diet, which was one month post op. If you have a nutritionist, shoot him or her an email and ask. Here are my thoughts on variety! You can take something like chicken salad or tuna salad and put it in your food processor to make it more of a puree consistency. You can also get unflavored Protein powder and add it to a pudding cup (or, if you have a health food store near by, there is literally a brand of protein pudding, but I can't remember the name, but I see ads for it in Oxygen magazine all the time) or Soup (don't add it to the soup while you are cooking because it will curdle, Add it in after it is warm.

Howdy Geoff, there is a whole forum dedicated to exercise. Lots of good info there! http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/991-fitness-exercise/

As an aside, I love corsets and steampunk. I did my best steampunk costume a couple halloweens ago. Sadly, I am at work and won't be able to click on the link right now (I mean, I probably could, but I try not to look at lingerie while at work). But I will give my opinion when I get home!

76lbs post surgery.

These are the sorts of things that do not require any sort of response. Just heap a healthy side eye and general snarky disdain.

I started in my program at 312 and went to the hospital at 294 (so they tell me). For the entire time (six months) I basically lost and gained the same 10 lbs. Only when I went on the pre-op diet two weeks before surgery did I get down to the 294. So on that diet I lost 18 lbs. This was not a liquid diet either, but what was basically Atkins phase 1 (High Protein, low carbs lots of delicious steak. LOL!). Before the program I lost 23 lbs when I realized my scale said "ERROR" instead of a weight (because the scale only weighed up to 335).