MissDonni

A year ago today I sat in the prep area waiting for my surgery to begin. Today I am 150 pounds healthier and happier. I finally got back into my clothes I wore 8 years ago. It's so great to go shopping in my own closet!! Although I am not at my goal weight yet I am very happy with where the last year has taken me. :-). I feel like a caterpillar that turned into a butterfly :-)

A year ago today I sat in the prep area waiting for my surgery to begin. Today I am 150 pounds healthier and happier. I finally got back into my clothes I wore 8 years ago. It's so great to go shopping in my own closet!! Although I am not at my goal weight yet I am very happy with where the last year has taken me. :-). I feel like a caterpillar that turned into a butterfly :-)

A year ago today I sat in the prep area waiting for my surgery to begin. Today I am 150 pounds healthier and happier. I finally got back into my clothes I wore 8 years ago. It's so great to go shopping in my own closet!! Although I am not at my goal weight yet I am very happy with where the last year has taken me. :-). I feel like a caterpillar that turned into a butterfly :-)

A year ago today I sat in the prep area waiting for my surgery to begin. Today I am 150 pounds healthier and happier. I finally got back into my clothes I wore 8 years ago. It's so great to go shopping in my own closet!! Although I am not at my goal weight yet I am very happy with where the last year has taken me. :-). I feel like a caterpillar that turned into a butterfly :-)

A year ago today I sat in the prep area waiting for my surgery to begin. Today I am 150 pounds healthier and happier. I finally got back into my clothes I wore 8 years ago. It's so great to go shopping in my own closet!! Although I am not at my goal weight yet I am very happy with where the last year has taken me. :-). I feel like a caterpillar that turned into a butterfly :-)

A year ago today I sat in the prep area waiting for my surgery to begin. Today I am 150 pounds healthier and happier. I finally got back into my clothes I wore 8 years ago. It's so great to go shopping in my own closet!! Although I am not at my goal weight yet I am very happy with where the last year has taken me. :-). I feel like a caterpillar that turned into a butterfly :-)

@b.Annie - i can totally relate!! only 5 people knew I was having/had the surgery and I didn't tell anyone else. It's no one's business. Luckily no one has come out right to ask me but I see them questioning how I lost the weight so quickly. Love the pounds disowned!!

For the first few weeks after surgery my doc and nutritionist told me it's not about calories it's about Protein. I needed to hit at least 60 grams of protein a day. I think I started focusing on calories around the 6 month mark and even then they told me worry more about reaching that protein because it helps you heal and gives you energy. I put Protein Powder into my yogurts and pudding to give it a different flavor and to make sure I was hitting that goal

For the first few weeks after surgery my doc and nutritionist told me it's not about calories it's about Protein. I needed to hit at least 60 grams of protein a day. I think I started focusing on calories around the 6 month mark and even then they told me worry more about reaching that protein because it helps you heal and gives you energy. I put Protein Powder into my yogurts and pudding to give it a different flavor and to make sure I was hitting that goal

For the first few weeks after surgery my doc and nutritionist told me it's not about calories it's about Protein. I needed to hit at least 60 grams of protein a day. I think I started focusing on calories around the 6 month mark and even then they told me worry more about reaching that protein because it helps you heal and gives you energy. I put Protein Powder into my yogurts and pudding to give it a different flavor and to make sure I was hitting that goal

You are gorgeous! And trust ME, I've seen rookie who look deathly from wls or natural wl & you look FIT & healthy! Naysayers lol

Don't do it!!! Avoid carbonation at all costs, it stretches your pouch. You went through all this, don't let soda derail you. It's more than just a soda it effects how much you eat too!

Congratulations on your success!! That must feel so great To be able to shop at any store. Give it some time and you won't have those feelings. It will be your new normal!!

Sorry to hear you've had some health issues and having a hard time. But how awesome that you lost 22 pounds in a month?! When was the last time you can say that?!! For nausea, my nurses told me sniff a alcohol wipe. It will make you feel better instantly. I mixed New Whey Protein with Isopure and lots of ice and just kept sipping throughout the day. At one point I had a timer set. During puréed foods I had a lot of blended fish and ricotta cheese. Amazon sells unflavored protein powder you can shake into your blender to add some more protein.
I know how you feel about the regret and was it worth it. I remember very vividly my first few days after surgery thinking ... what did I do? Was this worth it? Could I have tried one more diet? And the answer a year later and 146 pounds lost is yes!! I am two weeks away from my 1 year anniversary and how I feel, how active I am now, all worth it.
You are doing awesome!! I wasn't walking as much as you after surgery. Keep your head up, every morning say it is only going to get better :-).!! Feel better!!

I was at a stall beginning on day 17. I was so scared and nervous that I was doing something wrong. Everyone told me judo that stress and keep doing what I have been which is following the plan and walking. Your body just needs time to regulate to its new normal. Give it a few days and you will be fine and losing weight quickly!! Good luck!!

I was in your shoes. I was the "healthiest" obese person. If I continued on the path I was on I would have developed all those things within a year. So I decided surgery would help me. As I sat in the waiting room hooked up to all the pre op ivs, I turned to my family member and said if they don't take me in the next hour we are outta here because the second guesses kicked in. Almost a year later I am very happy I did the surgery. It's not easy some days. I miss some of my old habits but I love my new habits and healthier Active life :-)

I was in your shoes. I was the "healthiest" obese person. If I continued on the path I was on I would have developed all those things within a year. So I decided surgery would help me. As I sat in the waiting room hooked up to all the pre op ivs, I turned to my family member and said if they don't take me in the next hour we are outta here because the second guesses kicked in. Almost a year later I am very happy I did the surgery. It's not easy some days. I miss some of my old habits but I love my new habits and healthier Active life :-)

Sorry to hear you've had some health issues and having a hard time. But how awesome that you lost 22 pounds in a month?! When was the last time you can say that?!! For nausea, my nurses told me sniff a alcohol wipe. It will make you feel better instantly. I mixed New Whey Protein with Isopure and lots of ice and just kept sipping throughout the day. At one point I had a timer set. During puréed foods I had a lot of blended fish and ricotta cheese. Amazon sells unflavored protein powder you can shake into your blender to add some more protein.
I know how you feel about the regret and was it worth it. I remember very vividly my first few days after surgery thinking ... what did I do? Was this worth it? Could I have tried one more diet? And the answer a year later and 146 pounds lost is yes!! I am two weeks away from my 1 year anniversary and how I feel, how active I am now, all worth it.
You are doing awesome!! I wasn't walking as much as you after surgery. Keep your head up, every morning say it is only going to get better :-).!! Feel better!!

@b.Annie - i can totally relate!! only 5 people knew I was having/had the surgery and I didn't tell anyone else. It's no one's business. Luckily no one has come out right to ask me but I see them questioning how I lost the weight so quickly. Love the pounds disowned!!

Congratulations!! That is the best feeling in the world to go shopping in your own closet. I loved finding clothes I purchased years ago and finally got to take the tags off!! I agree on the vacation clothes. Wait until two weeks before so they won't be too big :-) congratulations again!!

Congratulations - I just went through that too. Warning, don't buy your vacation clothes too far off. I bought mine a month out and had to take them all back for a smaller size - so leave the tags on and keep the receipts until you are ready to go. Have fun!

I just had the most fun I've had in a while last night...GOING THROUGH CLOTHES!! Never thought that would be considered a "fun" experience.
Trying on clothes that I haven't worn in YEARS (and some only a few months), and comparing how they look now to pictures of when they were in active rotation, was at the same time fun, a bit depressing, and cathartic.
I'm down a size almost 2 months after surgery, in both shirts and pants. Most of my shirts flap on me now, pants are quickly catching up. I'm very glad (now) that I don't often clean out my closet - I realized I have a bunch of stuff that is getting me through this first purge without a shopping spree (although that is on the horizon - I go to Mexico for vacation in a month, and I WILL get my spree then!)
My closet is looking pretty empty - but I can now say I actually wear everything in there!!

I have lost 125 lbs as of this morning. I have been shopping in plus size stores my whole life. Even in middle school, I was plus sized. I am now at the point where I can go into any store and buy clothes and not generally the biggest in the standard store. I don't know about you guys, but I have a really hard time accepting my new size. I always take clothes that are too big into the dressing room. I'm always waiting for the sales associates in the normal stores to look at me and tell me that I don't belong in the store or to point out that I'm a fraud and am obviously in the wrong store. I know it is completely mental because I'm in small and medium tops and size 12 pants, but it is like I can't accept it! I feel like I'm going to have a Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman moment and they are going to kick me out!
Anyone else experience this?
Heather
Banded 2010. Sleeved Dec 2016
122 lbs lost

So funny that i am reading this today. I went to see my rhuematoid doctor yesterday first time since surgery i was excited to report back to her that some of my pain was gradually going away hooray! However when going over the meds i no longer take with the assistant she turns and tells me that they were also all on diets and that she was going to win because she had already lost 65 pounds the natuaral way all on her own! Just pure hard work and it was coming off. I said good for you if i could have done it naturally i would have however having the surgery has been alot of hard work too. It does not just come off. I wanted to really rip into her but opted to take the high road. Then when it was time to draw blood i realized that everyone knew about my surgery the lady that drew my blood kept telling me that now that i was skinny my life would change. This enraged me being that yes i have lost weight i would not consider my self skinny i am still considered obese. She just kept throwing that skinny word around over and over. I could not wait to get out of there for fear of blowing my top (not pretty the beast comes out and yes i just saw split lol) how unproffessional of these people if there were another specialist near by i would change doctors. They took something wonderful to me and poked at it till they were content. I still had a sense of pride however i was able to walk out of there with no blood pressure and normal sugar levels not needing more pain meds HA!

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Skin elasticity does improve slightly over time, but if you lost a substantial amount of weight you can forget the fantasy that your body is capable of making your skin look as though you had never been highly overweight. I'm down 150 pounds with a few more to go, and my skin has tightened up a little bit, but everything is sagging. Like most bariatric patients, I am in very serious consideration of having plastic surgery to remove the extra skin, which makes it hard for me to see my real body, and cause a strain on my bones. I have heard your question asked so many times in this forum over the last two years in so many ways. It seems to be a huge concern for bariatric patients, but the bottom line is that bariatric surgery is only step one. After you lose weight, you need another surgery to remove excess skin unless you are comfortable with how your body looks after weight loss. There is no cream or shortcuts to getting around this. Successful bariatric patients either live with the consequences of having been fat, or get plastic surgery to deal with the skin. This is occasionally not true for patients who had the bariatric surgery with a low BMI. Some of those people really don't require plastics, but most of us do. At least, if we want to feel like we have undone the damage, and put an end to the yo-yo for life. I know, once I invest in plastic surgery, there is a much much lower chance of me falling off the wagon and putting the weight back on. But that's my personality. Not a side effect of surgery in general. But to me, my bariatric surgery and the sacrifices that came with it are a big deal. Investing in plastic surgery, and going through the pain and recovery of that, is a huge investment for me personally. And I think it is a way to sort of seal the deal in my own head, by healing the perception I have of my body.