MsNat3

I am 20 months out and feel awesome. Starting weight was 387 I never thought I would see 1?? Anything ever appear on my scale. I look at my pics now and sometimes shead tears on how much of life I missed out on because I didn't feel like doing much because of the weight. It takes work but you can do anything you put your mind to. Hope this inspires someone that is struggling right now it gets better you just have to learn how to use your tool correctly. Top left pic was my start and some pics in between bottom middle is my most current pic (pink pants) I would have never! 😂

I can't believe I made it into the 100's , Goodbye 200's. Started the process in June 2016, was 290 lbs, diabetic, sleep apnea, GERD, high blood pressure, back and knee problems. Surgery 4/4/17 weighed 250 lbs, I had been going to the nutritionist and learning to eat right, gave up regular coffee and switched to decaffeinated, still drink decaffeinated, I finally get to shop in the regular section, no more plus size, I am so happy, feel so much better, no longer on meds for diabetes, GERD, no sleep apnea, and blood pressure meds cut in half then again hoping to stop at 6 month checkup. I had multiple stresses through the program, my apartment but my down and I lost everything, I got custody of my 15year old daughter. Became an American citizen, my brother passed away, Today I weigh 193 lbs. My goal is 175   
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Also day 4 of pre-op, surgery 21st. Went to a seminar memorial weekend, that is when i started the process. Have lots of diets in my history.

It took me 3.5 months from when I started until I was approved. My insurance no longer requires supervised weight loss. I'm on day 4 of my pre-op diet, surgery date is August 21st.

I kind of just need to vent and air out my laundry. So feel free to read on and offer advice as you see fit. I know it is long so you don’t have to read it either. Maybe you can relate, maybe you can’t but I wanted to share this with people who might understand. I do have some before and after pictures at the bottoms also if you just want to look at those!
I am having a hard time lately. I had my sleeve surgery on 5/29/16. I started this process at the end of October 2015 weighing in at 540 pounds. I used to have to wear portable oxygen 24/7 because I was so overweight my fat was pressing against my lungs and restricting my breathing. I have managed to get down to 248 pounds since my surgery 14 months ago. Now I can walk 6 miles up and down hills without even getting out of breath.
I just had the first of many plastic surgeries on June 5th. It was just an interim surgery since I am not at goal yet, but losing over 290 pounds will affect your skin drastically and I needed my stomach hang removed for quality of life reasons.
I want many more plastic surgeries. My thighs are my biggest concern. My plastic surgeon told me he wants me to get to goal and wait at least 9 months at a stable weight before we do any more though.
My doctor’s just want me to get to a size 12 or 10 as my goal. I started at a size 38/40 and now I am a size 14/16. That is insane to me honestly. I don’t think I have been a size 14/16 since I was 10 years old.
Now, to be clear, I am a huge self-sabotager. I have been challenged by this since I was a kid. I have been in therapy since I was 6 with various issues and still see a great therapist every week.
For over the past month I have not been cooking. Mostly because I had no energy and I was in pain still from my surgery. I don’t heal that great after surgery and it lasts with me a long time. Instead of meal planning and cooking I have been eating take out, sweets, and junk and I know it’s not helpful. Thankfully I have only gained about .8 of a pound with my self-sabotaging ways.
Honestly guys, I think it’s because I’m scared. I’m scared of what it will be like without my fat around me. I have been overweight since I was 3 years old. It’s all I’ve known. I used to have day dreams when I was in school of just getting on the bus and unzipping myself from this fat suit I was stuck in and everyone being amazing at this beautiful girl I actually was.
Here I am at 30, basically doing that and it terrifies me.
I’m not saying I’m unhappy with the weightloss, not at all. I am ECSTATIC! I can actually live my life and join in on the world instead of being trapped in my body and only living as a shell of a human being.
I can go to amusement parks and fit on the rides. Which is what I did this weekend as a kind of declaration of freedom and just a time to enjoy myself with friends.
I can be active, I don’t need to worry about if I will fit in a small space (but still my mind tells me I won’t and I’m scared every time that I won’t fit. I was terrified to get on every roller coaster at the park. Not because of the ride, but I was afraid I wouldn’t fit and the embarrassment would kill me).
This has been a draining experience, both physically and mentally. But for me, the mental part has been the hardest.
I was able to recognize that I was self-sabotaging out of fear though. I was able to get up, shake myself off, and start again. Because that is what you have to do. I have meal planned, weighed and measured my food, tracked everything, and started more activity.
I will not let my manipulative brain win this time.
I have come too far to stop now. I will not give up and I will NEVER go back to the girl who couldn’t live the life she wanted.

You sir are a MACHINE! You've done incredibly well - please keep us posted on your progress please?

(And in regards to the haters - sometimes I think people get caught up counting others people's blessings instead of their own. Sad but it happens. Just keep letting your light shine [emoji295])

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I get up daily and walk 3 to 5 miles and I like to drink 50 to 70 g of Protein during my walk instead of Water and light workout at gym maybe twice a week on legs....but never skip walking 10k plus a day

And P.S. don't believe me it doesn't matter LOL cause I still have the most amazing sleep every night....I don't lose a wink over haters

The funny this is about people that hate let me break it down. First off I gained weight after I left the Navy due to being single father, stress etc, doesn't matter... I always knew how to eat healthy, workout etc...just because you aren't doing something right don't come at me... I was 381 April 1st got down to 369 the day of my surgery on April 12th and now I'm 280.... I'm happy I can walk 5 miles a day and drink Water, Protein etc and I love sweet tea I eat I just know not to eat wrong....

I started my liquid diet April 17th @ 347 lbs, had surgery the following week. Im currently at 272, so 75lbs in less than 3 months. Its possible, not saying its the best. The human is a strange thing. Everyone is different, but thats why I make sure im not starving myself, I eat healthy, I haven't had any bad food days or bad habit days, I take my Vitamins everyday and drink about 70 to 100 oz of fluids. I workout 2 to 3 times a week. I havent stalled yet, but I know its coming. Plus men lose weight differently then women. Honestly I am more concern about how much better I feel than the LBS. I am concern that I may lose more than I want to, but if it happens so be it!

It's been fun doing this and it's paying off so far

Here with you in spirit![emoji4] Everything is gonna be great. Surgery is gonna be awesome! Anesthesia is awesome for folks who don't sleep well! Your gonna wake up and revel in that great nap and wonder about that great walk to an awesome healthy future! And the AWESOME SHOPPING COMING YOUR WAY! I hope this gave you a laugh or two.

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Congratulate to all who had or is having their surgery this week! I wish.you all a healthy & speedy recovery. My surgery is on the 16th. I hope I won't have to stay in the hospital for 24hrs because my co pay willl be expense! But if I do so be it as long as Im healthy!

I'm scheduled for August 21st

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Feeling so good!!!!

It did not strike a chord with me...I think its unfortunate that overweight people attack each other when we all obviously have similar issues. Is there really that much of a difference between someone who is 400 lb vs 425 lb or 290 lb vs 322 lbs? We got issues with food...

I personally think it is taking advantage of someone who is in a desperate situation. It is an opportunity to show the voyeurs the warts and all of being fat, instead of exploring it as an illness. Why is it necessary to show them naked in the shower or someone else having to wipe their bums.
In my opinion this is purely for the entertainment of people who do not understand the illness and tragedy behind super obesity.
For people like us who have weight problems we can see the struggle and pain and it can be motivating. We are but a small portion of the watching audience and the rest is humiliating and dehumanizing.
Inside every overweight person is someone with feelings and problems and hopes and dreams. Surely it would be better to explore the illness from all sides rather than focus on the surgery and the way they look.
As the message says this is a CASTING call, to me, that says it all.
Just my thoughts on this.

It's a f**king freak show that people watch and gawk at. I'm surprised you'd want these producers anywhere near this sight.

That's just my opinion.

Raleigh area, sleeved on 7/17/17

I totally agree. The first problem is someone is buying the food!!! They always say, if I don't feed him , he gets mad. Well , let him get fo mad he gets out of the bed!!!


HW 274 SW 263 GW 125 GASTRIC SLEEVE 7/21/17

I admit to having spree-watched a couple of seasons of "My 600-Pound Life" on Hulu. Every single super morbidly-obese person on that show has several issues in common:
Childhood trauma: each person was either abused, molested, raped, rejected, and/or grew up in a home where domestic violence and substance abuse predominated. Enablers: each super morbidly obese person has poor mobility, so one or more relatives enables the overeating by providing the excessive quantities of fast food and junky groceries. Poor coping skills: these people do not like themselves and are trying to escape their traumatic pasts. Their food addiction is a mechanism to escape themselves and their realities. There's a saying: Addiction is a means of escaping oneself, while recovery is a means of discovering oneself. Essentially, these people are mentally escaping by utilizing food as the main distraction.

Before I had my surgery, and during the majority of my weight loss, I spent a lot of time looking at other people's pictures so I could reassure myself that I too, could have the results I had hoped for. Well let me tell you my friends, you inspired me so much that I actually have done it!Still planning for my plastic surgery to remove my excess skin, but this is what 150+ pounds of weight loss looks like!

Let me be clear. I am specifically replying to @JupiterinVirgo and her specific situation because she is almost 2 years from surgery, almost at goal, and her Hair loss from post-op had previously stopped.
Which means her hair loss is not surgery related and is not because of a massive hormone dump, because at this point her weight loss is very slow. So the issue is Vitamin deficiency or something else (stress). Since her hair loss had stopped but it now picking up.
If you are less than a year from surgery, this doesn't apply to you. Your hair loss is surgery, massive weight loss related.
Long term you still have to have your Vitamins checked on a regular basis even if you are taking them regularly, because sometimes adjustments are needed.

@JupiterinVirgo you should have posted this in the Vets forum

Girl, You are in full-blown panic mode. I get it, what we are doing is very scary, there can be complications and, if I'm perfectly honest, I tried to talk myself out of the surgery several times. I was scared and just like you - minus the throwing up. I was trying to make deals with god, I was trying to figure out how I could cancel without disappointing people, etc. But in the end I acknowledged that this is what I need to do to live past my 40's. I did regret it for the 1st 4 weeks, cause those were hard weeks. But then I healed and life opened up for me in a way I've never known. I've been obese since high-school. I've never been a size 10-12 as an adult, I've never been able to fly without worry, or ride a rollercoaster without fear of not fitting in the seat, I walk by windows and am proud of who I see rather than shamed.

And let me just address the lack of shame issue. I no longer walk around feeling total shame and embarrassment over what I look like and what I've become. That has improved my overall happiness as a person. I respect myself more and I can't even quantify for you what that full impact on my life has been...

There are going to be side-effects and complications. But, for 99% of us, the side effects of obesity are FAR worse than the side effects from the Gastric Sleeve.

Your life is NOT over, I promise promise promise promise!!! It might feel like that now but in 6 months, if you allow yourself to follow through with this, you will most likely be happier than you have been in years, moving like you would not believe and experiencing joy and success in this process. But it's NOT easy, there IS pain and struggle and tears. But there is with being obese as well.

Look, what we do here, with this surgery, altering our bodies, taking a step off into the abyss, it's terrifying. But that's what makes each of us such bad-asses!!! We are freaking WARRIORS!! Anyone who says this is the easy way out is just showing their stunning ignorance. This is, by far, the hardest, most rewarding, most amazing thing I've ever done.

I weighed 375 lbs 5 years ago. I lost 100lbs on an all liquid diet over 16 months. That was SOOOOOO much worse and harder in the long run. Because I had to eat the same thing, chocolate Protein Shake, 5 times a day for 16 MONTHS. MONTHS. lol! This is so much easier. I take all that willpower and self-control and now apply it to my exercise and keeping my head right.

You are gonna be OK no matter what you decide. It's OK to say I'm too scared and not ready for this. There can be complications, nothing is a guarantee. I wish you all the luck and success!!

Thx

HW - 508, SW - 488, CW - 387, GW - 230 God is Good!