PopsFury

Fascinating responses... I'm on the "I have 1-2 drinks and I feel like I used to after 7-8 drinks" side of the equation. So I'm trying to slow down and really enjoy each sip.
And I'm a much cheaper date. Luckily I'm hilarious when I catch a buzz

Almost 2 years to the day separate these photos.
Me at 406lbs on Memorial Day 2017 in the pic to the left. I started my diet and exercise journey the day after Memorial Day 2017. I lost 88lbs through diet and exercise, then had VSG surgery on 12/11/17 and got down to 220lbs by August 2018. I added 5lbs back in muscle with my weight lifting routine, and just had skin removal surgery on 5/2/19. Currently sitting at 225lbs on the pic to the right. Still a bit swollen and healing from the skin removal surgery.
Guy's over 400lbs, IF I CAN DO THIS, SO CAN YOU!!!

Great job. I’m a little over three years out and have lost 190 lbs. I have not had the skin removal surgery and I may not need it. How much actual weight did you lose from the skin removal surgery? Im still debating the surgery.

Fascinating responses... I'm on the "I have 1-2 drinks and I feel like I used to after 7-8 drinks" side of the equation. So I'm trying to slow down and really enjoy each sip.
And I'm a much cheaper date. Luckily I'm hilarious when I catch a buzz

Same here! Quitting Advil will be hard, but it’s interesting how I hear so many people say that Tylenol never worked for them pre-op but works great post-op. I wonder why that is. 🤔

Literally feel your pain. Hoping to build up a tolerance to this?

Starting out I wanted to at least be the avg loss which put me in the 220s. Anything beyond that was way to hard for my brain to wrap around. Once there then it was can I get into straight sizes and under 200. I’m now in theory 20 lbs to the not overweight per BMI chart. At 185 my team and I are so happy that our goal has changed from a pure weight number to a fat to muscle percentage that will likely put me over a bit in the 170s... I’m consistently in 12/10s and mediums. At this point it’s going to be where can I land that is where I look/ feel healthy and maintain it.

I'm your height and at 140 you can see some major collar bone action.

Tell me about it. I've needed a new hip for over a year and I can't find a surgeon who will even talk to me about it until my BMI is at 40. I'm at 41, and they wouldn't schedule me for a CONSULT. Ludicrous.

And I've been doing research on the complication rates for BMI over 40. They go from about 4% to 6% and can be influenced by other things. Denying me care should be criminal.

Topical did nothing for me. I've been ordering from https://www.thecbdistillery.com/?homepage=new which has a good range of products and lots of information on their site about dosing. It's been really helpful as an anti-inflamatory for me.
I've been experimenting with dosing, and put the drops right under my tongue in the morning. It gets me through the bulk of the day, sometimes I'll take some more in the evening. Worth a try!

I've worked with some amazing, knowledgeable dieticians. The ones I worked with for weight loss were quoting 20 year old research and were useless. But they were an Insurance requirement so I nodded and smiled and did what was right for me.
Maybe you'll get a good one?

UPDATE: Yep, I was definitely overthinking things
The dietician was so nice and very helpful. We talked for a good hour and a half and the best part is, she's down with keto! She said her main focus right now is to get me prepared for life after surgery like working on weaning off caffeine and mindful eating. Also, these dietician visits are free and unlimited even after surgery which is flippin' great! My mind is at ease now

Lots to unpack in this topic. I used to drink a LOT of Diet Coke (thanks to free soda at work!)
A few things I realized, half of a real Coke would satisfy me more than 6 Diet Cokes. Real Coke wouldn't make me crave other sweets, which the artificial sweetener does to me.
But what I missed most of all was the bubbles, which were easily replaced with Talking Rains - no artificial sweetener and no calories.
Now post-op I take caffeine when I need it, sometimes in black coffee but more often in Yerba Mate beverages which give me a more pleasurable energy uptick than the jitters I get from coffee. Some of the bottled beverages have calories, but they are calories I'm happy to consume.

You are very welcome! I've been there, so I'm happy to help. Even WITH insurance coverage, I am on a med for an autoimmune disorder that would cost $2300 a WEEK if it wasn't for patient assistance. Now it's $5/month.

~SW: 278 CW: 165~
RNY 1/5/2005
"What got you here won't get you there."

Apply for patient assistance through the manufacturer. You may be able to still get the Trintellix, possibly for free. Scroll down on the website to the Trintellix link.

https://www.takeda.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/patient-assistance

~SW: 278 CW: 165~
RNY 1/5/2005
"What got you here won't get you there."

Thank you I'm sure something will work out...

Ya'll...I just learned my anti-depressant, Trintellix, is not covered by my new insurance policy AND neither are any of the weight loss drugs we were all talking about last week. I went down the list and checked them all once I finally figured out where in the Anthem website...Contrave, Belviq, Qsymia, Topamax, Saxenda, phentermine, Adipex-P, you name it...NOT covered. So I told the office and she canceled the appointment which is totally fine, I didn't want meds anyway. Crappiest part is, I won't even have my depression meds anymore after about 7-8 days (not sure how many pills I have left). Trintellix has given me my brain back. I'm kinda dreading what's to come...waiting on my doctor to get back with me about what to do next

I've worked with some amazing, knowledgeable dieticians. The ones I worked with for weight loss were quoting 20 year old research and were useless. But they were an Insurance requirement so I nodded and smiled and did what was right for me.
Maybe you'll get a good one?

Cbdistillery and Lazarus Naturals are my favorites. I have RA and fibro, so not being able to take NSAIDS is a b**ch. But I also do the CBD under the tongue and it works well for me.

And it's recently been federally approved for farming, so every state should be able to get it now (CBD has 0.3% THC or less, so it's legal to sell/have/use in even non-MJ friendly states.

~SW: 278 CW: 165~
RNY 1/5/2005
"What got you here won't get you there."

CBD is legal where I live (I mean if you combine with TCH) but I have an impossible time trying to pick something out. How do you choose? strength? brand? Are you ingesting the oil or is it topical?

I've worked with some amazing, knowledgeable dieticians. The ones I worked with for weight loss were quoting 20 year old research and were useless. But they were an Insurance requirement so I nodded and smiled and did what was right for me.
Maybe you'll get a good one?

Well, I won't say "disagree"...I do know that overeating Protein can cause weight loss stalls (in the pre-op world). What's not used by the body during protein metabolism is converted to glucose by the liver. I don't work out or powerlift and I know once I reach about 100g of protein for the day, I've over done it and better chill out. I know fat satiates me, not just protein. The idea of a high protein, low fat diet (without having surgery) scares me. I don't believe in calories in/calories out (CICO). That's an antiquated method of achieving weightloss (for the pre-surgery people), it's not sustainable, doesn't work for everyone especially those with insulin resistance and it eventually ruins metabolism. Soo...that's the kind of stuff I'm afraid will bite me in the butt in conversations LOL However...I did email the dietician and let her know my eating habits. Hopefully she'll message back with some supportive words.

Update on my hair growth!

Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm really digging it!

Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I bet it looks fantastic. Anytime I see women with shaved heads, I think, "There goes a badass!" Congratulations!