ellie123

Thank you so much @@lovingdavid, laying here sleepless... Looking for comfort in posts...

I was originally a September sleever... But got pushed back till the 5th! So nervous at this point. Anaesthesia, waking up, recovery... All swirling in my head! Gosh, I'll be so glad when it's over... But then again once you get the Sleeve the real journey begins doesn't it... I don't fool myself into believing it's smooth sailing from there. From everything I've read, I have some hard work in store for me and a tool that can help. Please keep me in your prayers as I go in! Blessings and Green lights

@devac and @tribal, God speed tomorrow and please let us know how you are doing! Prayers for your successful recovery!

@@debac good luck to you dear!

I actually started a post with the same name a few weeks back on several forums and got some great feedback. For me...it's too personal and I have chosen not to share. I also respect and admire those who do share as it is their choice. What I cannot stand for is people on this site, judging others for their choices! To walk in my shoes, honey, you need to first take off your own...be subject and vulnerable to my experiences, and THEN wear my shoes and walk my life. Perhaps then we can discuss what you might like to label my decision... I have already gone through the "to share" path and did not like it. I shared about my lapband...people were rude, judgmental, in my plate all the time, my mom called daily for the "weigh-in" info...and she is the "spread the news about my daughter in confidence to all my 1000 friends" category. I was in a total fishbowl all the time! At dinners my insensitive brother in law would ask in front of everyone "You can eat all that?" And when I began to regain and people stopped asking questions, I felt THAT much more ashamed, self conscious, and dejected. Not this time. God willing, my surgery next week goes well...i am having band removed, Gallbladder taken out and VGS. For the sake of co-workers (but my two close co-workers), they know I am having Gallbladder surgery, which is perfectly true (but even that is truly not their business). The other is MY private personal medical information that I don't want to share because I do not want to discuss/explain/justify their curiosity or judgement. I want to focus on me right now, and on learning how to use this new tool to hopefully prolong my life and enhance the quality of it. Other than that, it's just my one close friend and my husband....and my surgeon Now if someone very obese approaches me, if I am far along enough and successful enough to share something of substance I will probably choose to share in order to help them. But most people asking are not those who qualify for the surgery or who can even remotely begin to identify with my struggle. For those people, they will hear of my reduced food portions and exercise. Also, one point to note, is that anyone who is truly obese enough to qualify for surgery, all they have to do is so much as touch the internet with a 10 foot pole regarding their struggle, and a TON of information on weight loss surgery will pour in. Then they will probably find us, and we will privately, and non-judgmentally, love and support them into making the best decision for them Sending slimming thoughts, hopful rainbows, and the peace of heart and mind to everyone!

So proud of you for fighting for your daughters rights! You sound like an extremely strong woman! The world needs more of such! I am choosing not to share, for reasons I outline in the next post Good luck to you dear!

You are so brave to share...at least you know you need help. Many people are too far gone before they do, or too proud to ask. I believe you can do this. I believe if you just stop for a minute, be silent in yourself and stop the world from spinning, and reach deep down within to that peaceful place where you can visualize yourself achieving your goal...you can quiet down some of the mental chatter that has you feeling so frantic. Good luck dear!

Thank you all so so soooo much for your awesome candid responses. Love it! Another member gave me this quote that I think really applies... Ben Franklin said, "To whom thy secrets thou does tell, to him thy freedom thou doest sell." Good luck to all of you amazing women! I wish we could all gather together and have a good old time exchanging stories and eating our two spoonfuls without judgement

Thank you all so much for the insights, and I especially LOOOVE this quote that Miss Mac posted. How true is that. There are many a times I wish I'd shared less...

That's awesome! Let us know how you are doing!

Thank you all for your awesome, candid, insightful responses! I know for sure I'm not alone in how I feel, and that is pretty awesome

@cargirl2013, my surgery was moved to 11/2 :/. I have tried to stay on course, but it's not easy. You are going in after tomorrow!!!! How exciting! Sending you thoughts of strength, speedy recovery and healthy weight loss on your day. Love and hugs my dear!!

Wow, that's awesome!!! That's like 11 pounds right? Wow bravo, way to go!!! I'm still at 5lb's, a little over 2kg I think, but I've added fruit back in and I walked over 16,000 steps today so I'll take comfort in that . How are you doing it?

Weight loss is such a personal journey...a hairball of the bliss of eating favorite foods, complex emotions, compulsions, defeating behaviors, shame, embarrassment, resentment, and the list goes on and on. No one wants to admit that they can't control what goes into their mouth. I'm coming up on my surgery Nov 2nd...and frankly, if I could, I would tell no one at all! Some of it is the former, but also, from having my lapband surgery, it added sooo much pressure, having people watch everything I ate, asking me how much weight I've lost each time I saw them, saying insensitive comments and remarks, etc...and then it was what they did not say, as I put the weight back on slowly but surely...I could almost hear what they were thinking while watching me eat. My mother falls into the category of people I don't want to tell. I love her dearly, but she's a stoic, non understanding person, who, when I had the lapband, called up each and every one of her thousands of friends to "in confidence" express her fears over my decision, and to ask their opinion. I was mortified at how many people knew, way before I was willing to share... When I loose weight, folks will surely ask how, and I'm not sure how to circumvent lying. I don't want to be dishonest, but then again, I don't feel like I need to share my personal and medical choices with certain folks... I will need all my mental energy to focus on learning to use this tool to loose weight, rather than appease peoples curiosity and deal with their remarks and opinions. So in short, just wondering, if you decided to tell or not to tell. And if not, how you coup with the inevitable questions that will come.

That's Awesome Scarlep! Keep up the good work, way to go!

Riley053, how are you feeling? Were you able to have your surgery done? Hugs dear!

Congrats dear

Hang in there dear, I'm sure it will continue to get easier

I just realized this post is in the 30's group. Awesome! We have a lot in common. I'm 37...yicks! How did that happen lol. Yeah, I'm not a spring chicken anymore...so I figure another motivation is that the sooner I get this done, the better because I can't help but think it's tougher the older you get. Since most of us have kids here, the first hurdle we'll have is not even Thanksgiving...it's Halloween (which I'm not particularly fond of), with all the bounty of chocolate and Candy. It's there at Easter, at Valentines, at Halloween, at Christmas...there is just no escaping it's presence....we will have to strategize to fight back!

November 2nd for me! Started the pre-op diet for Sept 29 but it was moved back. When I started pre-op Southbeach plan, i lost 5lbs in under a week. It can be done! Good luck!

That is awesome, and what it's all about! Congratulations and happy loosing!

I'm November 2nd with 2 kiddos (a 3 and 5 year old), rocking in the same boat with you... Not sure how we'll get through this, except that the best Christmas gift I can give my kids is that of a healthy mama, to last longer on God's Green Earth for them. When I look at it that way...it helps Let's stay in touch!

WOW! You are rather inspirational! My surgery was postponed 6 weeks out, and I'm mopping. Was on high Protein no carb and no fruit. So I added the fruit back in and now have carb cravings again. What I should do is like you and stick to the plan...Bravo!

You are beyond inspirational!!! That is my starting weight! And to see someone go all the way like that is awesome! I'm trying to see if I can dig up your older posts to see what/how you did. Bravo, you look every bit the model you have become. So happy for you!

That's awesome @@desertgirl_74! Slow and steady is best, especially if you still have your gallbladder and want to keep it Plus, I hear it's way better for your skin to go steady. Do you find it easy to loose this weight? Do you have to starve to loose weight. Do you crave anything, or eat anything bad, or is it strictly whats on the plan? Blessings!