Neversaynever

10 hours ago, Native Girl said:

My Surgery was May 3, and I am down 49lbs. My tool is working for me, I just ignor all of the negative talk about how we should all be losing faster. I feel that we will lose it when we lose it, come off slow makes less of a hanging skin effect, at least I think so.

I agree, I think we all feel that need to lose as fast as possible but we all have our own separate journeys, all going at our own pace.

I have lost about 40lbs after surgery on the 14th of May and my skin is looking ok so not too disheartened about the time it is taking!

Interested to see your journey!

You look stunning, such a difference, well done x

Jaw dropping!

I am 3+ months out of surgery.

I don't enjoy food. There I said it. Take today for example, over here in the uk we traditionally have what we call a Sunday dinner which consists of a joint of meat (if you aren't vegetarian) along with vegetables and roast potatoes as well as fabulous Yorkshire puddings with gravy.

I haven't enjoyed any of my "Sunday dinners" since after my surgery. Its a combination of things I think, even though I put a tiny amount on my plate, I still get anxious that I won't be able to enjoy it and that I will fill up too quickly. This makes it a self fulfilling prophecy as it feels like my stomach gets tighter and then obviously I can only eat a few mouthfuls.

I don't get hungry very often at all but I do get head hunger most days which is a pain. I want to eat something, because I am thinking I should be eating for my health, even though I am not hungry, confused much lol.

In saying that, I did enjoy something yesterday but I think it was because I knew the size of it before I started eating it and I didn't get anxious about it. It was half a corn cob with a little butter on it,it was divine!

Its a journey as we all know and I have been lucky in that I have lost weight most weeks so haven't really suffered much (yet!)

Glad to hear it x

Congrats Diana, you have done amazingly well.

Wow, so you see, thats even better! we can see just how well you have done now, congratulations again!

On 14/08/2018 at 9:45 PM, Naughty Glitter Goddess said:

I'll be here ASAP!

Hope everything went well for you and you are recovering nicely x

I am also interested. I saw a video on youtube of a lady that had had her arms done and the skin looked very puckered, kind of put me off.

I know its a pain in the beginning but for me, its the easiest and least painful way to find out exactly how many calories/protein/carbs etc that I have eaten for that day.

I have been logging since my pre op days and because I basically eat a lot of the same things, I can make life easier for myself by adding those things to the "my meals" section.

You only have to do it once and then you can reuse those items time and time again. Its seriously worth the effort.

I wore a pair of strappy sandals that previously wouldn't do up, not that I could bend over anyway to do it or that I could get that close to my own ankle!

But now, I can do both!

I was a bit silly yesterday. I drive for a living and can easily get bored and boredom can lead to snacking.

I called into a garage for some diesel and on impulse bought a Twix. I knew I shouldn't but my willpower disappeared

I had the whole thing and within minutes felt so ill, I had to pull over into a layby. I thought I was going to erupt from both ends, I felt clammy, it was truly awful. I managed to keep it in and after about half an hour, I felt well enough to drive home. I had delivered a parcel in London but I live 4 hours away in Yorkshire so it wasn't the best situation!

It was my first real instance of dumping and its not something I am going to repeat.

P.s I had my gall bladder out years ago and suffered from ibs ever after but this surgery has made that go away, its been amazing!

You look so slim!

Do you have a before picture to show us

I am 52, and I do not regret a thing!

It has changed my life so dramatically and everyone in my immediate circle can see the difference in me. I have energy, I can walk fast! and I can slide about in my bath when before my hips used to get stuck in the middle, I kid you not!

Go for it, you will never regret this life changing surgery x

I can comfortably drink before a meal but am conscious of filling up so I only have a little bit as I want to be able to enjoy the dinner etc.

However, I cannot drink with the meal or until at least 30 minutes after. I get a strange and very unpleasant feeling if I try to do so, its totally not worth it for me and it has put me off drinking with meals full stop.

I do have bingo wings unfortunately! its only because I am still and not moving!

I'll just have to keep standing still when people approach so they don't notice ha ha x

I made a vow to myself to not eat any of the following as they were my downfall in the past and I haven't yet...

chocolate

Biscuits

Cakes/ pastrys

Pies/sausage rolls etc

Its not hard to do either as like others, my taste buds have totally changed. The only regret I have is that tea doesn't taste the same which is a shame as I loved a good cuppa.

You look so happy!

Well done, we are very similar starting dates for surgery and I have also lost about 40lbs since surgery but 58 since my heaviest.

This is from an article that I read recently. I am considering buying the Vitamins she mentions.

its a bit long but well worth the read.

I went to an excellent and brilliant doctor who my best friend uses. He practices Oriental medicine & uses a different approach than other doctors; he doesnt want to treat the problem but find out the cause, then fix that. He ordered a full blood work up like all the other doctors do but this time he added something no other doctor ever did and that was my ferritin levels & my Iron saturation. My iron came back totally normal, as it always had BUT my iron saturation was 14% and my ferritin level was a 34. There it was, MY SMOKING GUN.


I ran home & googled low ferritin levels and there it was; the most common reason for losing hair is a ferritin level below 70. Why the hell this never came up before when I searched I dont know but whatever.

nothing was going to get me down now because I found out what is wrong with me so now I can fix it. I did ask the Dr why I have low ferritin & he said its not important why or how, lets just get my iron stores up. I eat red meat at least 3x a week so it was pretty shocking that my iron is low but for some reason my body wasnt able to store it. I started on 325mg of FERROUS SULPHATE 2X A DAY , after 1 month my blood was tested & my ferritin level went to 41. Did I notice any hair improvement? A tiny bit maybe instead of losing 1,000 hairs a day it went down to 950! Then I decided to search for a better way to raise my levels & thank the lord for the internet because I found out that the best iron with the greatest level of absorption is FERROUS FUMARATE so I started myself on 325mg twice a day AND with each pill I take 500mg of L-Lysine & take it with a big glass of orange juice if I have to take it with Water then I add 500mg of Vitamin C.then I waited, but not for long because within 2 weeks my dream came true. The shedding really slowed down. but I thought it was my imagination /maybe I was going insane because I was at my breaking point with my damn hair. i saw my best friend who said, holy **** your hair looks so thick on top, I think its working she asked me to take it down from the clip but I wouldnt. Not yet. Another week passed and it wasnt just a dream or wishful thinking but I could tell my curls were longer & when I showered it wasnt ALL over my body. Its been about 5 weeks since I began taking my ferrous fumarate cocktail and I am wearing my hair down. I can hardly believe it. I just took a shower and hardly anything came out. A lady at Target came up & asked me if I permed my hair or if my curls were all natural, and I had such pretty hair.TOTAL SHOCK!! I COULDNT EVEN THANK HER BECAUSE I WAS SPEECHLESS. I havent had a compliment on my hair in about 14 years.14 LONG years!

So this is my story with a very happy ending. All it took was a simple blood test followed by 4 weeks of supplements and the nightmare has ended. Every 30 days I will get my blood tested to make sure I dont go into iron overload but my goal is to get my ferritin levels over 100 and keep them at about 120sih. If I had read a post like this 10 years ago I would have avoided a decade of hair despair. And if your ferritin levels are fine, keep searching for your smoking gun because it is out there

I personally found that after 3 days, I no longer felt hungry on my pre op diet. I think sometimes just the fear of thinking you will be starving is enough to give you the jitters, but in reality, once you get into it and get a routine going, its not that bad.

Take heart, we have all been there, we all survived it and you will too!

One thing I have noticed is that my chin(s) have receded a bit, I now have more neck

30 minutes ago, Frustr8 said:

@ neversaynever What a beautiful,wonderful change in you and I bet you are still a work in progress, how far from goal are you at this time?

I think about another 70ish lbs but to be honest, I will see what my body thinks and go with the flow. I want to lose at least another 50lbs so fingers crossed!

So I started at 304lbs ( 21' 10 ) for the uk'ers and blimey did I feel every pound!

I have lost steadily and I am now 245lbs (17' 7!) so very chuffed, and cannot believe how much my life has changed.

Here are a couple of before and afters, one at my heaviest and the other, two days ago for clarity.

I can't really see a massive difference myself but others have told me they can definitely see it, can you?

1 minute ago, istytehcrawk said:

Uh, thanks, but I'm not sure where you're getting that number?

Lol, god knows! but, you have still done absolutely amazing