Mrs. Reid

@@ProjectMe You have degrees, am I supposed to be impressed? You are an all American...do you think that makes you some kind of expert?, you would not have mentioned them if you did not think so. Then why were you fat? You were a FAT woman, It was because you did not do everything right. You had struggles...YOU fell flat on your face and YOU screwed up. OP has her issues..I am sure that not everyone told you what a total f**k up you were. I am sure there were those who stayed in your corner and who accepted you and held your hand when the chips were down. I think that in this world of fat degradation, everyone gets as much tough love as they can handle. You may have overcome you FAT issues and paid your FAT knowledge forward. Now you are some kind of expert on who needs your FAT tough love?

I don't think it is fair to question someone's motivation because they are having a hard time. I bet there is not one single one of you who has done every single step of this journey perfectly. You may be struggling post op with getting your Water or Protein down...why can't you 'just do it'? You don't really want it. You may have struggled pre-op with cutting negative people out of your life. Why can't you 'just do it'? You must not have really wanted it. Every person is different and just because you overcame a particular part of the puzzle does not mean other people who struggle with that particular issue is unmotivated and isn't ready.
Every single one of us is here because we have been unable to control our relationship with food.
Let she/he who be without sin cast the first stone.

oooooooo evil!

After reading this forum, I have decided not to weigh myself at all. I will just find out when I go for my followup visits with the doctor. Other than that I am going to wait until around the 3rd or 4th month to pull out the scale.

I have heard from my relatives that have had the surgery that if you brush the area with a stiff bath brush as you are loosing weight, the skin does change back to it's regular color. They also say that brushing your skin in the shower helps with the lose skin...it stimulates cell turnover apparently.

Happy surgiversary! What will you do to Celebrate?

Congratulations! It is so awesome to hear the confidence, excitement, and enthusiasm in your post. You have accomplished a tremendous amount in the last year and that isn't even counting the weight loss.
Thank you for sharing your story. You are an inspiration.

This is one of the nicest one-year surgiversary stories I've ever read.
It sounds so ... weird word to use ... organic. Like everything fits together well.
I'm very happy for you and send you good wishes for continuing success on all fronts.

It's been one year since my surgery and I am so happy I did it.
I was frustrated at first because I was a slow loser. Now, I say THANK GOD I am a slow loser! I am one year out and I have lost 80 pounds. In the first 4 months I had lost 20 pounds. I was sad, upset and discouraged. That made me look at how I treat myself. How I put myself down as a failure, how I don't buy nice things for myself etc.
Things sped up between 4 months and 8 months because during the first 4 months I had to experiment with what I could eat and had to figure out what worked for me as a unique human being. After month 9 things slowed down again. I now have my eating habits set for life. I learned my new habits slowly and I feel they are solid now.
I am losing about a quarter to half a pound a week still and I'm ok with that. I don't focus so much on my weight. I'm taking classes, learning new things and changing my life. I stick up for myself and walk away from negative people and situations. I have a new job,
I hardly have any lose skin. I will not need any plastic surgery. My blood pressure is normal for the first time in over a decade. My A1C numbers are below the pre-diabetic level and my bad cholesterol has dropped so low I am no longer in danger of heart disease.
I would have been great if I could have done all of this without the surgery, but I am so glad I did it. Looking forward to another great year.

It's been one year since my surgery and I am so happy I did it.
I was frustrated at first because I was a slow loser. Now, I say THANK GOD I am a slow loser! I am one year out and I have lost 80 pounds. In the first 4 months I had lost 20 pounds. I was sad, upset and discouraged. That made me look at how I treat myself. How I put myself down as a failure, how I don't buy nice things for myself etc.
Things sped up between 4 months and 8 months because during the first 4 months I had to experiment with what I could eat and had to figure out what worked for me as a unique human being. After month 9 things slowed down again. I now have my eating habits set for life. I learned my new habits slowly and I feel they are solid now.
I am losing about a quarter to half a pound a week still and I'm ok with that. I don't focus so much on my weight. I'm taking classes, learning new things and changing my life. I stick up for myself and walk away from negative people and situations. I have a new job,
I hardly have any lose skin. I will not need any plastic surgery. My blood pressure is normal for the first time in over a decade. My A1C numbers are below the pre-diabetic level and my bad cholesterol has dropped so low I am no longer in danger of heart disease.
I would have been great if I could have done all of this without the surgery, but I am so glad I did it. Looking forward to another great year.

It's been one year since my surgery and I am so happy I did it.
I was frustrated at first because I was a slow loser. Now, I say THANK GOD I am a slow loser! I am one year out and I have lost 80 pounds. In the first 4 months I had lost 20 pounds. I was sad, upset and discouraged. That made me look at how I treat myself. How I put myself down as a failure, how I don't buy nice things for myself etc.
Things sped up between 4 months and 8 months because during the first 4 months I had to experiment with what I could eat and had to figure out what worked for me as a unique human being. After month 9 things slowed down again. I now have my eating habits set for life. I learned my new habits slowly and I feel they are solid now.
I am losing about a quarter to half a pound a week still and I'm ok with that. I don't focus so much on my weight. I'm taking classes, learning new things and changing my life. I stick up for myself and walk away from negative people and situations. I have a new job,
I hardly have any lose skin. I will not need any plastic surgery. My blood pressure is normal for the first time in over a decade. My A1C numbers are below the pre-diabetic level and my bad cholesterol has dropped so low I am no longer in danger of heart disease.
I would have been great if I could have done all of this without the surgery, but I am so glad I did it. Looking forward to another great year.

It's been one year since my surgery and I am so happy I did it.
I was frustrated at first because I was a slow loser. Now, I say THANK GOD I am a slow loser! I am one year out and I have lost 80 pounds. In the first 4 months I had lost 20 pounds. I was sad, upset and discouraged. That made me look at how I treat myself. How I put myself down as a failure, how I don't buy nice things for myself etc.
Things sped up between 4 months and 8 months because during the first 4 months I had to experiment with what I could eat and had to figure out what worked for me as a unique human being. After month 9 things slowed down again. I now have my eating habits set for life. I learned my new habits slowly and I feel they are solid now.
I am losing about a quarter to half a pound a week still and I'm ok with that. I don't focus so much on my weight. I'm taking classes, learning new things and changing my life. I stick up for myself and walk away from negative people and situations. I have a new job,
I hardly have any lose skin. I will not need any plastic surgery. My blood pressure is normal for the first time in over a decade. My A1C numbers are below the pre-diabetic level and my bad cholesterol has dropped so low I am no longer in danger of heart disease.
I would have been great if I could have done all of this without the surgery, but I am so glad I did it. Looking forward to another great year.

It's been one year since my surgery and I am so happy I did it.
I was frustrated at first because I was a slow loser. Now, I say THANK GOD I am a slow loser! I am one year out and I have lost 80 pounds. In the first 4 months I had lost 20 pounds. I was sad, upset and discouraged. That made me look at how I treat myself. How I put myself down as a failure, how I don't buy nice things for myself etc.
Things sped up between 4 months and 8 months because during the first 4 months I had to experiment with what I could eat and had to figure out what worked for me as a unique human being. After month 9 things slowed down again. I now have my eating habits set for life. I learned my new habits slowly and I feel they are solid now.
I am losing about a quarter to half a pound a week still and I'm ok with that. I don't focus so much on my weight. I'm taking classes, learning new things and changing my life. I stick up for myself and walk away from negative people and situations. I have a new job,
I hardly have any lose skin. I will not need any plastic surgery. My blood pressure is normal for the first time in over a decade. My A1C numbers are below the pre-diabetic level and my bad cholesterol has dropped so low I am no longer in danger of heart disease.
I would have been great if I could have done all of this without the surgery, but I am so glad I did it. Looking forward to another great year.

It's been one year since my surgery and I am so happy I did it.
I was frustrated at first because I was a slow loser. Now, I say THANK GOD I am a slow loser! I am one year out and I have lost 80 pounds. In the first 4 months I had lost 20 pounds. I was sad, upset and discouraged. That made me look at how I treat myself. How I put myself down as a failure, how I don't buy nice things for myself etc.
Things sped up between 4 months and 8 months because during the first 4 months I had to experiment with what I could eat and had to figure out what worked for me as a unique human being. After month 9 things slowed down again. I now have my eating habits set for life. I learned my new habits slowly and I feel they are solid now.
I am losing about a quarter to half a pound a week still and I'm ok with that. I don't focus so much on my weight. I'm taking classes, learning new things and changing my life. I stick up for myself and walk away from negative people and situations. I have a new job,
I hardly have any lose skin. I will not need any plastic surgery. My blood pressure is normal for the first time in over a decade. My A1C numbers are below the pre-diabetic level and my bad cholesterol has dropped so low I am no longer in danger of heart disease.
I would have been great if I could have done all of this without the surgery, but I am so glad I did it. Looking forward to another great year.

I had heard a lot about Biotin, but I did not take supplements because Biotin is in my multi-vite. But last month...desperate and willing to try anything...I started taking 5,000mcg biotin supplement everyday. I'm seeing my hairline filling in....I should have started taking the stuff right from the start....but happy now to see hair growing.

I had heard a lot about Biotin, but I did not take supplements because Biotin is in my multi-vite. But last month...desperate and willing to try anything...I started taking 5,000mcg biotin supplement everyday. I'm seeing my hairline filling in....I should have started taking the stuff right from the start....but happy now to see hair growing.

I had heard a lot about Biotin, but I did not take supplements because Biotin is in my multi-vite. But last month...desperate and willing to try anything...I started taking 5,000mcg biotin supplement everyday. I'm seeing my hairline filling in....I should have started taking the stuff right from the start....but happy now to see hair growing.

Honestly no offense to the guys that post here, but their weight loss posts make me $#%$%^$ nuts. They lose so much so fast and it skews everything. "Hey guys, lost 60lbs in 5 weeks, hitting the gym hardcore, added 20lbs of muscle in 2 weeks." Bro'in out. Bro'in out.
If you discount the men and read between the lines and cut out all the pre surgery weight loss from people, you get a better picture. A lot of people will be like "Down 40lbs, 3 weeks out!" and leave out the fact they lost 30lbs before surgery, and have lost 10lbs in the past week once the IV fluids and swelling goes down.
Really it seems like most people lose 10-15 a month the first few months then its like 5 lbs a month. The thing that people don't really take into account that almost always constantly losing for months, even with stalls, really ads up. 10lbs a month is 120lbs in a year. That is huge, that is a whole person. That is also around 2lbs a week.
Real weight loss isn't biggest losers numbers. Almost all those people gain it back, because they lose weight in the worst ways possible. Our views on weight and weight loss are so skewed that we don't know what to expect.
I will totally admit there have been times I have been disappointed in my weight loss. Even though looking objectively my loss has been great. It is hard to be objective about something so personal, but we all need to take a step back. I can't ever recall losing over 60lbs in 3 months and not feeling miserable and starving. Surgery has allowed me to lose this weight without feeling terrible doing so, that is a great blessing that shouldn't be overlooked.

I don't wear an ID Bracelet, but I have a medical alert notice on my driver's license. Then behind my driver's license I have a card that lists my allergies and that I had sleeve surgery.

I would ask your daughter what she thinks. Personally, I would not cancel. Life is always throwing curveballs at you... if you put plans on hold until the curveballs stop, you'll never live your life.

I was about to answer someone’s post when I thought I'd rather not derail it and instead start my own. This is hard for me as I am not usually a person to open up to strangers so please bear with me.
For a long time, even in my teenage years I would be a bit ‘chubby’, not fat but a little over weight. When I look back I can laugh, as my idea about dieting and losing weight, was to drop the 4 or 5 lbs I put on over Christmas or family holidays. I was about a UK 10 which is a USA 8. I heard from my Mum all the time, “If you could only lose a few pounds you’d be happy”. That confused me as I always thought I was happy!! My Mum had a 24 inch waist when she married and had a 24 inch waist after having me 7 years later. She came from the generation where you dressed to clean the house or do the gardening, so I don’t blame her mind set but it hurt me, a lot.
When I married my first husband I was already a slim 8 stone 4lbs (116lbs) and only put weight on during my pregnancies and lost it afterwards and was around 10 stone (140lbs). Then my thyroid stopped working, my body ate it up and to cut short a 22 year story of hell and despair I put a lot of weight on. I tried so hard to lose weight but between my thyroid, depression, moving every 2 years (my ex-husband is military) AND my own inability to stop putting food into my mouth, I failed time and time again. Seventeen years ago my Mum told me that she was very disappointed in me. She had no complaints about me as a Mother, she felt I was an outstanding Mum however everything else disappointed her. I disappointed her. She told me, her only child, not to visit anymore as I was FAT and embarrassed her. I haven’t seen her since.
I was unhappy in my first marriage and ate as a comfort. I also thought the fat would stop him wanting to touch me. It was a shield and if it was there nothing could hurt me. He wasn’t abusive, we had a good lifestyle and at times a good marriage but there was no real emotion there for me or the kids. I am not blaming him either, he just couldn’t do the connection thing on any levels. After 25 years of being together we divorced. food was now my partner and I stayed fat.
I met my second husband online 7 years ago. Online is easier isn’t it, you type and people don’t ‘see’. People can get to know you before they see the blubber. I was safe and felt secure. Even when we skyped about 4 months after sending emails and chatting on messenger, he only saw my face and you can always angle the webcam to make yourself look 40lbs lighter, only use it at night when the house lights are dimmed and wear black! We finally met and as the saying goes, ‘that was that!’ He saw past the fat. For 3 years he drove down from his home in the north of England to see me (I live in the south) every weekend. The drive was about 5/6 hours and he never ever missed a single weekend. We married 4 years ago this October. Not wanting to sound big headed but he worships me, loves and adores me. He accepts me for who and what I am and I am so blessed.
I always kept it in mind in the past that I had to diet for ME. Now I have had the surgery for US. I want to be around for a long time so we can enjoy life together. Doing it for US doesn’t mean I don’t want to be able to buy ‘skinny women’s’ clothes and get into a swimming pool without feeling I was going to pass out with shame. I want to peel back the layers and open myself up to life, grab it with both hands and shake it till it bleeds. I don’t want to waste any more time.
So yes ~ I keep to all the rules, yes ~ I’m not rushing to the next stage because I am tired of one week of soft foods, yes ~ I will wait to listen to my body and not my head or my fears, yes ~ I may make mistakes, learn from it and move on rather than sabotage it.
Yes. I can begin to love me.

And I feel better already. I lasted two weeks with a scale in the house. At first it was ok, I weighed myself every day and when I found I gained a pound or two I was ok with it. I would think about how much salt I had...or if I was dehydrated etc. But yesterday morning I got depressed because my weight was not dropping at all. (I am not a person who has the discipline to only weigh myself once a week.) I realized that for the last week I have been thinking about that number on the scale all day. I also noticed that the negative thoughts about my body and my ability to achieve my weight loss goal were coming back. I was stressing out...I was craving food for comfort.
Soooo...I picked up my scale, walked outside to the dumpster and tossed it in!
I have a follow up visit in the bariatric clinic on September 24th and I will not know how much I weigh until then!
I feel so free!

And I feel better already. I lasted two weeks with a scale in the house. At first it was ok, I weighed myself every day and when I found I gained a pound or two I was ok with it. I would think about how much salt I had...or if I was dehydrated etc. But yesterday morning I got depressed because my weight was not dropping at all. (I am not a person who has the discipline to only weigh myself once a week.) I realized that for the last week I have been thinking about that number on the scale all day. I also noticed that the negative thoughts about my body and my ability to achieve my weight loss goal were coming back. I was stressing out...I was craving food for comfort.
Soooo...I picked up my scale, walked outside to the dumpster and tossed it in!
I have a follow up visit in the bariatric clinic on September 24th and I will not know how much I weigh until then!
I feel so free!

And I feel better already. I lasted two weeks with a scale in the house. At first it was ok, I weighed myself every day and when I found I gained a pound or two I was ok with it. I would think about how much salt I had...or if I was dehydrated etc. But yesterday morning I got depressed because my weight was not dropping at all. (I am not a person who has the discipline to only weigh myself once a week.) I realized that for the last week I have been thinking about that number on the scale all day. I also noticed that the negative thoughts about my body and my ability to achieve my weight loss goal were coming back. I was stressing out...I was craving food for comfort.
Soooo...I picked up my scale, walked outside to the dumpster and tossed it in!
I have a follow up visit in the bariatric clinic on September 24th and I will not know how much I weigh until then!
I feel so free!

And I feel better already. I lasted two weeks with a scale in the house. At first it was ok, I weighed myself every day and when I found I gained a pound or two I was ok with it. I would think about how much salt I had...or if I was dehydrated etc. But yesterday morning I got depressed because my weight was not dropping at all. (I am not a person who has the discipline to only weigh myself once a week.) I realized that for the last week I have been thinking about that number on the scale all day. I also noticed that the negative thoughts about my body and my ability to achieve my weight loss goal were coming back. I was stressing out...I was craving food for comfort.
Soooo...I picked up my scale, walked outside to the dumpster and tossed it in!
I have a follow up visit in the bariatric clinic on September 24th and I will not know how much I weigh until then!
I feel so free!