RobinRg

Hello! I am in Marietta, Ga. Scheduled for 6/3/15 with Dr. Jean-Pierre at Kennestone Hospital. Hoping there are some "sleevers" out there in the ATL area! "Can we talk!!!!!!!"

The name of the face book group is Low BMI Friends. Figured that was pretty vague. Lol! I have it where any one can find the group but members can only read the messages. If you are interested in joining it then ask to join and I will approve. After everyone has joined I will make it secret where no one can even find the group unless they are invited.

Hey anyone want to start a LOW BMI BUDDY GROUP on Facebook? I find this site hard to follow....
let me know and I'll start it up. Just need a few people to invite by Facebook name

I love hearing all these stories! So much of it is the same as mine! Highest weight was 265 and I did manage to drop some and keep it off but could not lose more and keep it off. I used to spend hours at the gym, swimming and lifting weights. I got pretty strong but no fat went away. I have the co-morbidities ( hate that word, makes me feel like I am dying), did the 6 months record of food and activities.......I lost 7 pounds in 6 months! That added to my depression! I worked so hard and the results were practically nil. My PCP says my metabolism is shot and has been pushing me for a decade to do this! I looked into it years ago and Blue Cross said NO WAY. I got heavier, felt guiltier about it, developed more problems and now we have different insurance!
After so many diets for so many years, I am tired of listening to other people, especially when I have learned enough about Bariatric surgery to know most of what they say is really wrong! I tried it myself for decades without asking for help, now I am asking! My husband had a DS in 2013, he was insulin defendant, his stomach stopped working from the diabetes and he was getting bad nerve damage from it, too. Things were going downhill fast for him. His best option for any kind of health was the DS and he took it. About 150 lbs later he is in great health and feels terrific. There is no better proof for me!
As for telling other people, I have told plenty of people I work with and they are surprised I am big enough but are really supportive. Maybe it is because #1 I work in a hospital and #2 they have all seen me drenched in sweat after very little activity or just because it is humid! I have not told my family (in an other state) but I will at the last moment. They did not really understand my husband's surgery very well, they still think it was some kind of diet! Since the Dr. will also be fixing a hernia for me I will tell them it is surgery for that and later tell them the rest. My Mom is 90 and worries about EVERYTHING, so I kind of hate to add to that............ It is a conundrum!
For all the nay-sayers, I say mind your own business and health problems and let me mind mine!!!!!!!
Getting excited and it is hard to wait!

So I posted about my colonoscopy from earlier this week. The day before the colonoscopy, I had my psych eval. These are some of the things that we talked about during my psych eval.
Ever since I decided that "enough was enough" and I wanted to have WLS, back in November 2014, my right eyelid has been twitching. Almost constantly. It drives me crazy, but it's what happens to me when I'm stressed. I couldn't figure out what I was stressed about, but I figured it had something to do with my decision to have WLS. I have spent a lot of time since that decision really exploring my past and how I got to where I am.
I looked at pictures of my childhood, and saw that during the time my father was telling me I had to diet because I was too big, I was actually normal. I was shocked. I was shocked at how much one person could really screw you up. I thought about all of the things he did over the years, and the things that brought me to cut him off about 10 years ago and stop all contact. He is a mean, toxic person and is no longer in my life.
I also thought about the time in high school when I weighed 195 (I'm 5 ft 7 inches tall) and thinking, "well, it's okay, because I'm not 200 pounds." I remembered in my early 20's weighing 281 pounds and thinking, "well, it's okay, because I'll never weigh 300 pounds." Now all through this time period, I was still dieting, losing weight, then regaining weight when I couldn't keep up with the demands of the diet. But hey, it was okay, because I wasn't XXX pounds, right?
Then in my early 30's, I got serious (or thought I did), and dieted down to 225. I married someone who liked big women and was not supportive in my efforts to lose weight. Two years later, at 350 pounds, I got pregnant. When our daughter was two years old I left him. I continued to struggle with weight. About 5 years ago, I got on the scale and it read 397. I was shocked. There was no way in hell that I was going to let the scale read 400. I went back to my go-to plan, Atkins. I lost 75 pounds. But I couldn't keep it up, I was still emotionally eating and eating out of boredom.
But hey, it was okay, because I have tons of clothes (thank you, internet shopping), boots that fit my fat calves, and even tights that fit. There was nothing wrong with being a BIG BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, because that's what I was hearing all over the place. Accept who you are! Accept your size! That's the message I was hearing.
People couldn't believe that I was 50 years old. They would say, "you have no wrinkles" and I would respond, "that's because I'm fat - only skinny people have wrinkles." And they would laugh and I would laugh. Because it was okay to be fat, right?
In November 2014 I got on a scale and it said 403. I felt sick to my stomach. I did some soul searching. I decided to stop kidding myself and to stop accept being fat.
I told the psychologist that Fat Acceptance did me no favors. It may have done wonders for other people's self esteem, but it just enabled me to be fat. Now most of you are younger than me, and you may not remember what things were like before "FA" became a thing. There was no such thing as "BBW" - the term hadn't been invented.
I told the doc that I was afraid of failing. That I had read a post here about someone who was afraid to get rid of her fat clothes, because every other time she had done that, she had to go back and buy that same size again when she failed in her efforts to keep the weight off. I told him that I had a hard time with failure (and had been my whole life, another thing to thank my father for), and I think that was what I was really stressed about.
I poured all this stuff out to the psychologist, things I had never, ever admitted, even to myself. And it felt great.
And then my eye stopped twitching.

I took 56 really nice shirts to Goodwill last week. I kinda hope theres some fat guys who can wear 4x and 3x shirts!!

@@bayougirlmrsc - You just won my heart quoting Designing Women. I loved that show.

I think I have a pretty decent ego (hopefully not too much, lol). I always felt pretty, but I do love when I do a nice hair style with my hair or my makeup comes out exceptionally pretty. I am one of those people that takes selfies. I've noticed when I post them now people comment more on the now noticeably weight loss much more than whether my shade of lipstick was flattering.
Another thing: I'm getting some work done on my house so I have to clean out the spare room. I have bins of stuff that I haven;;t looked at in years. I've been going through them. I have clothes in every size from a 32 - 16! A lot of them are designer clothes so I guess I couldn't bear to part with them. I'm having a really good time fitting into those old clothes again. It's also feels *really* nice to get rid of the bigger clothes.

I'm trying to hold out until I go on vacation two weeks from now because I want to do some outlet mall shopping, but I don't know if I'm going to make it. I'm hiking them up every few steps as I walk around the office!

Every time I'm feeling like a fat cow in the past couple of weeks (been in a stall), I've tried taking my pants off without unbuttoning or unzipping them. That reminds me of how far I've come, since I'm on my third set of dress pants since pre-op and now even these are HUGE on me.

Adding to what Just Watch Me said, I like to put a "treasure", a true find (such as a cute sweater....) kind of a trophy out on my dresser to "encourage" me to either fit in it, or wear it (depending on it's size) as a little "spur" to keep me going! Nothing like looking good to prod you on!

Off the top of my head this came to me. I have a running list of my weights and the dates in my phone. When I feel like I haven't made any progress, I look back a few months and see where I was compared to where I am.
I also look in my closet and I have NO fat clothes left. I got rid of them. Even the ones that are one size bigger than I am now. Everything fits and everything looks good. Except for my baggy bathing suits. I need a new one again! My closet always had several sizes when I was fat.
I also say a few prayers every day that put my head in the right place.

What did/do you do to keep up the encouragement. I keep a dry erase marker in my bathroom... and when i found a good saying.... I wrote it on my mirror.... This way i saw it when i woke up and before i go to bed...
I wrote things like: You are beautiful. Yesterday is over, Today is a new day, make it count......

I love hearing all these stories! So much of it is the same as mine! Highest weight was 265 and I did manage to drop some and keep it off but could not lose more and keep it off. I used to spend hours at the gym, swimming and lifting weights. I got pretty strong but no fat went away. I have the co-morbidities ( hate that word, makes me feel like I am dying), did the 6 months record of food and activities.......I lost 7 pounds in 6 months! That added to my depression! I worked so hard and the results were practically nil. My PCP says my metabolism is shot and has been pushing me for a decade to do this! I looked into it years ago and Blue Cross said NO WAY. I got heavier, felt guiltier about it, developed more problems and now we have different insurance!
After so many diets for so many years, I am tired of listening to other people, especially when I have learned enough about Bariatric surgery to know most of what they say is really wrong! I tried it myself for decades without asking for help, now I am asking! My husband had a DS in 2013, he was insulin defendant, his stomach stopped working from the diabetes and he was getting bad nerve damage from it, too. Things were going downhill fast for him. His best option for any kind of health was the DS and he took it. About 150 lbs later he is in great health and feels terrific. There is no better proof for me!
As for telling other people, I have told plenty of people I work with and they are surprised I am big enough but are really supportive. Maybe it is because #1 I work in a hospital and #2 they have all seen me drenched in sweat after very little activity or just because it is humid! I have not told my family (in an other state) but I will at the last moment. They did not really understand my husband's surgery very well, they still think it was some kind of diet! Since the Dr. will also be fixing a hernia for me I will tell them it is surgery for that and later tell them the rest. My Mom is 90 and worries about EVERYTHING, so I kind of hate to add to that............ It is a conundrum!
For all the nay-sayers, I say mind your own business and health problems and let me mind mine!!!!!!!
Getting excited and it is hard to wait!

I've lost 20 lbs and one pants size PRE-OP so far and I feel amazing. I put on a bathingsuit yesterday and my husband and one friend who both know I'm having the surgery said "you don't need the surgery, I do". Lol! I'm still doing it though. My surgery is in 37 days!!! I never thought I would loose weight on my own I feel very motivated knowing I'm going to be helped and it's going to stay off for once!!

My bmi is 35 now was 33 lost using adipex when I quit using them weight came back.I'm fighting my insurance cause my coordinator turned my paperwork to early.My insurance denied me cause of bmi 33 ,lack of information. Now my bmi 36 I'm pissed.But I'm going to appeal.I have high Bp,high cholesterol,high tricy,pcos,depression,anixy,arthritis and I can't forget diabetes. You name it i have it.People also tell me"You don't need surgery ,your not that big"I got tired of hearing that.I'm proud I have someone to talk too:)I think they call us
LIGHTWEIGHTS. LOL

I'm low BMI also. BMI is a 37.5 but I have comorbidities (HBP, sleep apnea, GERD, joint pain) and im also hypothyroid. My family and friends have given me a slew of "you're not big enough" comments. Im tired of losing and regaining plus id love for my comorbidities to go away after surgery.

I'm in!!! I'm on day 3 of pre-op diet & being sleeved 21 May (yikes).
My BMI was 36 and I too receive comments like 'you don't need it' and 'why not just join a gym'
Seriously? I'm like 5 foot and look like I got stuck inside a swim tube, although I must admit none of them have seen me naked (I don't even like to look)!
I had intended to keep it to myself, hubby & kids due to the negativity from others and shame that I couldn't do it alone (the rest of the family just assumes I am lazy, pfft I walk 6km almost every day).
Then I got to thinking, they don't know my journey so far or that the treatment for my diabetes piles the weight on, or that the dietary treatment for it is carbs first, coupled with hypertension and sleep apnoea.
I'm not making a big announcement or anything, but if I'm asked I'm not going to try and hide it. This was a huge decision, a lifelong commitment but I know that this is my only hope of taking back control.
Looking forward to following everyone's journey!

Best of luck to you guys :you all have made a decision that is best for YOU. I was sleeved on April 1st with a BMI of 32.9. I qualified under my insurance plan with co-morbidities and a BMI of 35. I heard the same "arguments" from my best friend, and future MIL:"you managed to lose weight pre-op, why can't you just continue doing it like that instead of having surgery? " 1) no one understands my struggle with weight, the ups and downs, all my life, like I do 2) if I didn't think I needed this tool to help me lose and KEEP the weight off, I certainly wouldn't be doing this. It is far from the" easy way out ". I finally decided to stop justifying MY decision. My fiance, my kids, and most of the people that really matter in my life are in my corner. And.. I turn to this forum often for support. I am 5 weeks post Op now and am feeling better everyday. My BMI is 29 now, and though I have another 38 lbs. to goal weight I am more confident in my ability to get there than I have ever been. Keep in touch. I would love to know how you are all doing in your journey.

This is a great thread for me as well. So glad to run across it. My surgery was 9 days ago with a starting BMI in November of 35 (minimum for my insurance if other issues). By time of surgery I was 40 BMI because I went on a food Funeral eating all of my favorite things that I'll never have again. HUGE mistake! I've lost 24 lbs and I am so disappointed in myself for gaining the extra weight because I feel it put me behind.
I am truly struggling today especially (into tears) because we went to a funeral and afterwards at the gathering was every favorite summer cook out food you could imagine. Everyone was shoveling it in and I couldn't find a safe place and felt like I couldn't breathe. My husband saw something on my face and said "why don't we go". He by the way never ate in front of me there. This happened 3 hours ago and I am laying on the couch still starving and seeing all the items in my head and want to cry.
I feel like it's Karma for gaining the weight pre-op....

@@RobinRg have you checked bariatric-surgery-source.com? Talks about all the procedures there. Also, if you Google vsg diet it should pull up all kinds of sources on what you can eat and the various stages. Lots of bariatric programs put out documents on that. I opted for a sleeve due to struggles with my weight all my life, and worsening medical issues (apnea, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes). I did it to SAVE MY LIFE. 35 BMI is considered morbidly obese by most standards, so I'm not sure why your PCP is telling you NOT to lose weight?? Do this for YOU. So glad you have a supportive DH If you need more support, this is an awesome site, really. Ask away, vent, whatever..everyone here is great! Good luck!

I had a bmi of 34 when I had my surgery on May 1st. I had mine done in mexico. I was borderline high BP and sleep apnea. My family history is a lot of BP, cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease so I wanted to avoid that bc I knew it was coming. I was always small when I was younger. I got pregnant and gained almost 80 pounds. Two pregnancies later and like all of you I was the one avoiding pictures and if I had to be in one I was hiding. My husband is the only one who knows I've had the surgery. Everyone else seems to think I could do it in my own. I took adipex for 4 months and lost 50 Pounds. I felt great but the second I stopped taking it I gained it all plus some back. If I did even bring the subject up to any of my friends just to ask what they thought about the surgery I would hear you're not fat enough for that. Really? So I thought long and hard and made the decision to do it for me and my kids. I want to be healthier and happier. As far as everyone else thinks I am on a diet and taking adipex again to lose it. It's been a easier than expected recovery so far. I am on the all liquid phase now and I can only get 4-6 ounces down at a time. It's definately a change but I've already lost 12 pounds in 11 days. Good luck!