JupiterinVirgo

Most of us had to go through one of those ordeals to get approved for surgery.

I'm almost 6 months out, and I still take very little pleasure from food/eating. It still feels like a task I have to force upon myself. I still have no appetite. I still don't want to eat. From a weight-loss perspective this is a good thing, but it also means that I can go a week or two sometimes barely eating anything and not even noticing it because I'm busy, or in a creative whirlwind or just plain disgusted by the thought of putting food in my mouth. It's a weird dichotomy, because after stage like this, right around my. I suddenly become voracious because I wasn't getting enough nutrients during the fasting period. Lucky for me this is not hurt my weight-loss but all this is to say that you should settle in for the journey, because there will be a lot of times when you don't enjoy food, when you have no appetite. And there will also be times when you become voracious. The best approach to this is discipline; balancing out with good planning and follow through on the plans. Mine balances out because of these two extremes I go through, but I'm sure my body would feel better if I was eating three or four times a day every day.

I think it's very common for many of us to have difficulty seeing ourselves clearly, especially when our bodies are changing so much, and so quickly. Every couple of months I feel this way. I get to feeling frumpy and deflated, old or unattractive. I find it that would always helps lift me out, is doing something and seeing people who make me feel pretty, who is knowledge my beauty as a person. Just last week, I got a radical new haircut and color, then immediately did a photo shoot afterwards with full make up. I stared at those pictures for a couple of days, because I could almost not believe that that was me. I want to acknowledge the tenderness of this. But I also want to state, it is very unlikely that the people around you see you the way you do.

I found a great product for the interim. It doesn't grow your hair back, but it camouflages thinness and covers the scalp. I have used it personally and find it to be a fantastic product. It isn't a dye or spray. It's actually teeny tiny hairs that match your hair color, and the teeny tiny hairs stick to the downy hair on your scalp. Undetectable. Doesn't run. Makes your hair look so much thicker. I love it!

I'm almost 6 months postop and I'm about to take a year-long RV tour around the country, which would've been impossible a year ago. I think that is going to be my next best feeling. My most recent best feeling was buzzing one side of my head because I lost so much weight and my face that I can pull it off! One before that, shaking my hips.

You look beautiful.

Riding the scooter at the zoo because my back hurt too much to stand up all day and walk around.

Thank you so much for your comments. That's very reassuring! They tested the A-1 C and said it was one point past the line between normal and prediabetic. I'll just keep an eye on it for now.

I got that too!

When I went in for surgery I was not prediabetic. I am now 5 1/2 months out, and my recent bloodwork indicates My A1C was one point over the level where you are considered pre-diabetic. Has anyone else experienced this? It seems to me this is a condition that would be reversed with weight loss. Should I be worried? Will this go away on its own with the continued loss of weight? Or is this something that I should pay extra attention to? Diabetes runs in my family, and one of the reasons I got the surgery was to avoid becoming diabetic.

My hairdresser turned me onto this fabulous cover up product, that really helps hide the appearance of my thinning hair. I highly recommend it! You can't see it and it doesn't run or fall out. Tiny hairs that cling to your tiny hairs!! Awesome!

Who's your doctor and where is your doctor? It appears to be an amazing job! Holy cow!

There are ways to speed up your metabolism. I lost a huge amount of weight many years ago by eating in a very balanced way, keeping my saturated fat intake under 17 g a day, and eating on the schedule. By eating every 4 to 5 hours religiously, never after 8 PM, I never counted a card or a calorie and lost 100 pounds. I lost weight almost on a daily basis. I never stalled. Eating on the schedule let your body know that there's no danger of starvation, and it causes your metabolism to work in accordance with the abundance of the food that is available. Because your body needs more than 17 g of saturated fat to run every single day, the extra few grams gets burned up from the stores of fat in your body instead of your muscles. This gave me a very fast metabolism. So I'm not overly concerned about my low caloric intake now, or the rapidly of my weight loss. I will restore my metabolism through the same technique I've used in the past. And to be honest, I'm much more concerned with getting my body to a comfortable weight that doesn't hold me back, then being able to eat so much more later on.

Coming up on six months out of surgery, and find that sipping on coffee or tea with protein powder in it throughout the day keeps me from being ravenous or hungry even at all most of the time.

I really agree. The first time I had fallen into port eating habits I was so incredibly grateful that my temporary madness was tempered by the size of my belly. I realize that I was not on a diet. So what I did to my stomach is permanent. And so there was no giving up or feeling discouraged. It was simply a meal that didn't have enough nutrition. By the time I could eat again I often regain my sanity!

Thank you all so much for your encouragement and support! I'm so excited about my hair… I would never have been able to wear it like this at my former weight without looking totally Butch!

Hilarious.

I completely agree that the markup on plus sized clothing is ridiculous. I completely agree that the industry takes advantage of the limited choices currently available plus sized people. I have been repeatedly appalled shelling out $80 or more every time I bought a piece of clothing, and although paying top dollar, the quality of the material was probably only slightly higher than what you would get from Walmart at about 20% of the price. In our culture, anyone outside the box of so-called normalcy, which in my opinion doesn't exist, has to pay for it. And the real cost, isn't measured in dollars and cents.

It is crazy to me how it feels like the body isn't doing anything and then it suddenly changes dramatically. These dramatic changes should be visible on their own, but it usually takes having my attention brought to it. Early nsv's included fitting into a diner booth, and under growing my clothes. My newest non-scale victory he is a pain in my ass! Literally. I sit down too hard because my body memory this program to throw down over 300 pounds which takes momentum. Today I went to a doctors appointment what to sit in the chair, and I could feel the bones in my butt-they actually hurt against the seat. Stuff like this really helps me realize throughout this journey that the hard work pays off!

I think I'm going to just get a lift with no implants. But honestly I really don't want them. Implants, that is. I'm almost 40; I don't need the boobs of a 20-year-old. But I do want the longness to go away. And whatever size they end up being after weight loss and lifting, that's fine with me. Although I can't imagine them being less than a D even when I'm done losing weight. I've always liked having big breasts; and I don't think they would bother me at all if they were big and perkier. But they're uncomfortable in current state.

Post-op care in Mexico can be fantastic, as long as you make a good choice of surgeon and recovery facility. When I went for my TT and breast lift with augmentation, I stayed for 2 full weeks post-op in a recovery house where I had 24/7 nursing care, all my meals prepared for me (made all my food specific to me... had given them a huge list of foods I wouldn't eat), had all sorts of equipment to make my life easier (motorized hospital bed, walker, raised toilet seats with handles...), and my surgeon came and checked on me every single day. Had I had the same surgery in the US, I would have been discharged to fend for myself one day post-op and had to be driven to see my surgeon maybe once or twice those first two weeks? I can't imagine relying on my husband or family to care for me in those early days post-op. I couldn't even use the bathroom by myself! Now, if you are only having breast lift done, the recover is MUCH less intense, so you might not need so much aftercare. I had already discussed with my husband that I might consider staying in the US if all I was having is breast work or an arm lift. But anything like a lower body lift, tummy tuck, or thigh lift, I would definitely want the round-the-clock care you receive in Mexico. Thank you so much. That is so helpful! I may eventually get a Tummy tuck about I don't think I would do them both at the same time. I think I'm going to just start with just the boobs-which from the look of post op pictures on the Internet of the lollipop and anchor cut looks pretty awful to survive as it is! I cannot imagine the pain of having all that work done at one time.

I really like artisan cheeses. There are times in my weight loss journey where cheese takes a starring role as my main source of protein, so I go to artisan cheese shops, farmers markets, and other high-end food stores to find the cleanest, best, most unique and tasty cheeses.

It is probably possible to get by on your own right after surgery, depending on your personality type, I would recommend that if at all possible you have a friend or family member stay with you for at least the first few days. I was heavily medicated for the first week and if I had not had family members staying with me I would've probably dehydrated it ended up back in the hospital, as all I wanted to do was sleep. Moving around was painful, so I didn't want to get up very much. I would say just three days of help would probably be enough for most people.

Wow! Congratulations. Do you feel as good as you look?