kaitlynm

People who think WLS is the easy way out don't get it. It still comes down to eating healthy at a drastic restriction and working out for it to be successful. Someone made the comment to me this weekend about the pounds just melting off and it makes me mad. The pounds are not melting off, I'm working extremely hard to lose those pounds. She doesn't even know I had surgery. To me the greatest benefit of the WLS hopefully will be the help it provides with keeping it off. Just ignore what other people say. It is your journey and you should use whatever tools you have available to set you up for success.

Great! I'm the same way, not running every time someone brings out a camera.

I've noticed some tightening of mine as I am loosing weight. It is still not great, but better than it was. It was the worst when I had lost about 70 pounds, now at 100 a bit better. I wish I could say the same about my upper arms.

You need to check with your employer whether they cover WLS. (Or whoever provides your insurance). They are the ones that determine what the insurance will cover. They also can change every January so what might be covered in 2015 may not be in 2016. If that is the case you can talk to HR to try and get an exception if you were already in the process of qualifying.

Has anyone tried these on scars from plastic surgery on their arms? My biggest problem with saggy skin is my arms, but I hear that it is not worth getting the plastic surgery because of the scars.

I have PCOS and I'm loosing weight with the sleeve. I think I'm loosing slower than many folks, but at least I'm loosing. I'm down 100 pounds after about 7 mos. I didn't have any hair loss, and other areas seem to be growing faster than they did before. (I think it is the biotin in the multi vitamin and the hair follicles are closer together since there is not as much skin). There is hope for weight loss even with PCOS, just be prepared that it might be slower than others.

I think that is the pill that I'm on, but I only have to take two per day. They are kind of big, but fortunately I don't have issues taking pills. I think if you contact bariatric advantage they will send you a sample. I take two of those and two calcium chews every day.

I use my fitness pal and it allows you to post pictures with your weight recordings. It then let's you compare the old ones to today (or any other day you like). I find it encouraging to see how far I've come. I look at it almost every day. I was sitting next to a friend that I hadn't seen in over a year and she didn't recognize me. When I look at those pictures I can see why.

How are you doing on protein? I make sure that 50% of my calories come from protein and that helps. I'm loosing pretty slowly at 7 mos out, but I'm still loosing and not gaining. I also get in at least 60 minutes of cardio per day and most days more. I think it is just going to be much slower losses at this point. How long have you been stalled?

I think most PCP Doc's can do an EKG in their office. You should just need to tell them that your surgeon is requesting it. I had one done at the hospital the week before surgery as part of the pre admission process. My insurance covered all of it.

I tried the Halo and really didn't like it. It could be that it was too old in the store. Kind of tasted like it had froze, unfroze, refrozen, etc. That experience is what led me to start developing my own recipes. It is also a lot cheaper to make your own if you have the machine.

The cuisinart ice cream maker is really easy to use. Just keep the tub in the freezer for 24 hours first. The tub goes in the machine and then there is a paddle that goes in the tub and the lid on top. Turn it on for 20 minutes and you have ice cream. Today I used 1 c half and half, 2 c almond milk, 1/2 cup stevia in the raw, 2 eggs, 3 scoops Protein powder, mint extract, and green food color. Im going to add dark chocolate chips once it has firmed up in the machine. Be sure to taste it before you put it in the machine so that you can adjust the taste if you wish. I almost forgot the stevia. Also make sure you get peppermint extract. I have mint extract which is spearmint. I think I would have liked the peppermint better. It looks pretty good so hopefully it will taste good. Good Luck on your experimenting.

I'm not sure that these were goals, but things that surprised me. Jewelry - had to get a new Pandora bracelet for my charms because all of mine were the biggest ones they make and no longer fit. When she fit me this weekend she said that my new bracelet is the standard size. Pretty cool. My ring size has gone down two sizes. I still have fat fingers wearing a size 8, but much better than the size 10. Necklaces are too long. At least I could add extenders, but haven't figured out how to make them shorter. Shoes - have to get rid of most of my shoes. Flip flops were flying off my feet when I walked. My wide calf boots are now way too wide. They were really expensive too. Even my pumps seem to be too big now. I can now reach a light switch in my kitchen for the under cabinet lighting. Before I had to use a spoon to reach it. I never even realized this was because I was too fat and the counter was in the way. The room between me and the steering wheel and the table in booths is amazing. I really didn't realize how uncomfortable I was before. I'll be on a plane in a couple of weeks so can't wait to see how the seat belt fits.

Congratulations! You are doing a great job.

@@cat.jackson89 I'm thinking about making mint chocolate this afternoon.

Wow, you look great!

Amazon has pretty much all of the flavors and both the tubs and the packets. I like grapefruit and green apple. I drink 2 a day so I have almost all of the fruit flavors. Only one I didn't like is dragonfruit. Reminds me of the penicillin that I used to have to take as a kid 40 years ago.

I'm 7 months out and no hair loss for me luckily. I use the bariatric advantage multi vitamin and it has biotin in it. I do notice that my hair is growing faster which is bad for my bank account because I have to get it colored more often.

Congratulations! You look fantastic. You will be ready for Ironman in no time.

Congratulations! I've always worn shorts. I figure if I had to look at these legs everyone else might as well. Plus in Texas it is just too hot not to wear them. Hope you enjoy the hot weather in your new shorts this summer.

My friends at the gym today presented me with a $300 gift card in my workout class. Now I really have to think of something special to get.

I was at the grocery store one day and couldn't figure out what was holding up the line so long. When I finally could see what was going on it was this lady arguing with the cashier over an expired coupon. I got a closer look and it was the President of my company and his wife. The man makes several million bucks a year and they hold everyone up for an expired coupon!!

@@irishaggie I think you are doing fine. I've lost 100 lbs since pre surgery, but I have 45 yet to go to hit my goal. I work out every day between 1 to 3 hours and yet you are not that far behind me. If you could work some in it might jump start your losses again. I just came off a month long stall. I lost 5 pounds last week all of a sudden. It seems to have stopped now unfortunately. I have a feeling this is going to be how it goes for most of the weight loss. Stall, loss, longer stall, loss, etc. hang in there. We will get there and hopefully by the time we are a year out we will be trying to figure out how to stop the losses.

Hi @@anewme2015 I had my surgery on Oct 13, and am not doing too bad. I've been on a mission to add protein to my favorite foods and get rid of some of the carbs. Mostly I end up with frozen Yougert and ice cream which are mostly a form of frozen protein drinks. I also discovered syntrax nectar protein drinks which have zero carbs. What type of foods are you struggling with? I think I have downloaded every chicken recipe from Pinterest and am getting kind of sick of chicken. I usually then switch over to frittatas. I'm sure you can get back on track. I've learned it is just like exercise and you have to find what you like if you are going to stick with it.

Great job! I'm sure that last 6 pounds will come off soon enough. IMho the closer you are to a goal, the slower your metabolism works. At least it always seems that way in my experience.