JengaBee

Join the Facebook MGB group! There are people on there 10+ years out. They are super nice and happy to share their experiences.
I'm only 3 months out, but I'm so glad I got the mini. I had severe reflux pre-op, and zero since.
Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

I miss the mental and emotional "click" I got from overeating (and from alcohol and from pain meds) that put me (oh so temporarily) into my mellow happy place.
I don't miss hating myself.
Life is a million times better clean, sober and abstinent from overeating.

It's been a while since I've been on here and just wanted to share my progress. My starting weight was 314, I'm currently 196! I'm amazed at the difference and progress I've made! I wish anyone thinking about surgery or just beginning their journey the best! This was the best decision I've made and it has truly changed my life!

When I was in the pre surgery faze I found peoples pics very helpful and inspiring. Not trying to brag just wanted to help others who have worries! Q 

Join the Facebook MGB group! There are people on there 10+ years out. They are super nice and happy to share their experiences.
I'm only 3 months out, but I'm so glad I got the mini. I had severe reflux pre-op, and zero since.
Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

I'm almost to my 6 month mark and I'm feeling great! I'm 86 pounds down and have about another 75 more to go!

Dr. A did my sleeve on 1/20/16 and the whole experience was amazing. Highly recommend!

Im booked with Dr A for a few weeks from now and I can't wait. I am a member of his support groups on Facebook where he is super active and he has always been available to answer questions I have in a super timely manner. I have heard absolutely nothing but wonderful things about him!

Dr. Altamarino was my surgeon aswell! He is awesome, Professional medial work plus Great bedside manners.
He came to me After i was released because i had a light Fever (nothing serious) but he was there 20 Minuten After i contacted him on a Sunday evening. Had No Paid After surgery, just highly Renommend him!
I Travelled 10000 Miles to TJ and Dr. A and it was the best decision of my life!

Dr. Altamirano did my sleeve and he's magnificent. I've heard wonderful things about Dr. Zavalza as well. I know Dr. A does skype consults and I bet so does Dr. Z, I would schedule a skype consult with both of them and see who you connect with the most and go from there. I don't think you could go wrong with either one.

Yes. Reminds me of this article I just read
http://nyti.ms/1WCZ4kT
As someone with the keen observational skills of Mr. Magoo, it took me a long time to notice a problem social-media acquaintances had been talking about for months.
“I woke up to four new people today asking me for money on four different donation platforms,” one friend said. “One was my ex-babysitter announcing her wedding and where I could send cash. No invitation to the wedding. Just cash.”
“I’m a believer in giving to real charities: medical research, school drives, the Red Cross, et cetera,” said Heidi Knodle, owner of a picture framing store in San Francisco. “I’m tired of people asking for a vacation, funds for a wedding or their college tuition.”
The crime writer Mark Ebner, whose mailboxes have been increasingly filled with monetary requests, has a theory about it all. “I think online begging has become the new economy.”
I thought my friends were exaggerating. After all, a visit to GoFundMe or YouCaringyields site after site of worthy donation recipients. People whose homes were wiped out by natural disasters. People with diseases I’d never heard of, with no insurance and staggering medical expenses. Kids trying to pay for their parents’ funerals. Parents with seriously ill children wanting a trip to Disney World, and sick animals owned by people who couldn’t afford the vet bills.
One man had set up a fund for a friend who needed to take a couple of months off while his wife died of brain cancer.
But then, there were others. Many, many others. Education funds are great, but do I really want to pay for a friend to travel to Peru to become a shaman?
Should the woman who has lost a lot of weight (good for you!) ask her friends to pay for $2,500 worth of laser skin tightening? What about the girl seeking $600 for her “personal development journey”? (Not much to ask, but she was so beautiful, I didn’t understand why she didn’t develop herself into a model and make a whole lot more than that.)
......Here’s the question I can’t stop asking myself: Has social media made our craving for attention and validation overwhelm all other considerations? There is nothing new about asking your friends for help (remember rent parties?), but that help was confined to a small group of people you actually knew.
Now, no such boundaries exist. Your 4,000 Facebook friends should know if you can’t pay your rent — or your plastic surgery bill. And who knows? They may just pay up.
There was a time when there were needs, and there were wants, and we knew the difference. Now?
Now I’m not so sure."
People need to stop begging friends and family for money unless it is a life and death emergency.

Totally my opinion...
If you have to beg others (friends and strangers) to afford something like this, then you can't afford it.
Reduce your spending, save money and pay for it yourself. Living below your means (which means you aren't spending every last penny of your paycheck and that you are saving a good percentage) should be a given. Just off the top of my head - cut out the high phone bill (plenty of low cost phone plans out there below $40/month - I pay around $30/for TWO phone plans!), stop eating out, cook in bulk and freeze meals, do away with shopping for fun or things like car washes, manicures or cable... just about everyone has one or two (or 10) things that they do that could be stopped to save up without causing real pain. The money is there, you just have to give up some other luxury to find it.
Again, completely my opinion, but I think it is a really sad sign that some people think they are owed an easy time just because they want something, instead of working hard and making some effort to do it themselves.

I thought WLS was for only the super morbidly obese. I didn't know that you didn't have to be over 500 lbs to get WLS. When a family member suggested it I was really offended at first, but after some research I realized that it might be the right thing for me. Now I'm 30+ lbs lighter and off one of my blood pressure medications. Although I'm only 6 weeks out, I wish I would've gotten the sleeve sooner.

Not sure of the number since I am staying off the scale. But, wanted to share surgery day and today.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

1 am 177 now, and happy with that.
day of surgery
aug 7th, at 180 lbs

I'd love to be a part of your study! I'm 2.5 months post op. Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

Yep. Same here. I take it has a sign I'm not ready for them yet. I've heard it can take a year or more.
I've been told to try more moist, dark meat of the chicken. Same goes for other kinds of meat. Avoid anything not super tender and moist.
Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

Just looked at my BMI and it's 34.9. I'm no longer heavy enough to be a candidate for bariatric surgery (but I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat). I will say it hasn't been easy. I still struggle getting enough liquids every day, but I can finally drink more than a teaspoon at a time without pain. I don't always get in enough Protein, especially on those days I'm running my kids all over the place. I'm trying to get back into exercise, but I haven't had much energy since surgery. But despite all that, I'm thrilled to be down almost 57 pounds.

2 on the left are me this past Friday 2 weeks post op. Bottom right my brothers wedding in August top right this past December.
Hw:276.2 sw:242 cw:220.2
Rny January 8th 2016

@@Alex Brecher
Now, what are your best and worst weight loss surgery experiences outside of the clinic?
My health held me back from living life. The best gift gift outside the clinic is being more invested in my relationships, having adventures and experiences in life.
Worst experience is having society mirror to me that I am more valued as a thin person.

My 6 months was on November 11! I am 96 pounds down.
I'm 6'2" and I started at 330. I am currently hanging out around 234-236. All my health issues resolved a month and a half after surgery. Now I'm just reaping the benefits of slow, steady weight loss. My goal weight is 210. Doctors are okay with me staying where I'm at! I dropped from a size 24 to a size 14-16 in jeans and a 3X to a medium/large in tops. I am so happy to be a happy, HEALTHY 21 year old.

Here is me now!

I stepped on the scale this morning and was greeted by a triple milestone surprise!
1. I've officially lost 100 pounds!
2. I'm halfway to goal!
3. I am no longer morbidly obese!
Such a happy happy day.

I'm so excited! I hit my surgeon's goal this morning (150)!! I'm seven pounds from my goal and a loss of 100 pounds since surgery in September. SO HAPPY!!
Carol

I have been going to concerts since I was eleven when my dad took me to see the Rolling Stones. Since then I have been to close to a hundred big name shows and about three dozen live local shows. Every show I have ever been to I have bought a shirt and they were a huge part of my wardrobe; I took very good care of them, made them look cool with jeans, shorts, little skirts, tights, boots, flats, heels, scarves,cardigans, blazers, etc.
Obviously the ones I bought when I was much younger (early teens) didn't fit for very long but then in the last three years, none of them fit well. It felt as if a piece of my identity grew too small for me and it made me sad. I sealed them up, boxed them up and stored them away.
Last night as I was pulling out the last of my Halloween goodies, locating Thanksgiving/Christmas "stuff", I decided I'd bring the box of concert T's in to see if any of them would fit.
All but a dozen or so looked good. Not just fit but look good. I was stoked! And I know that once they get too big, I'm going to make a quilt for my King Size bed out of them! Then I'll start collecting ones in a size that I can strut until the threads wear out.