Lisalu

When can I expect this lovely hair loss to begin?

Hi Everybody, I saw this article cited on google health news. The research showed that about 1 in 6 people were able to lose 10% of their body weight and keep it off for a year. The study included those who may have lost unintentionally and also those who may have had temporary weight gain (e.g., Freshman 15). The greatest % of loss was among 75-84 year olds, which isn't surprising as the elderly often lose weight unintentionally. Once agin, I'm sure I made the right decision. 10% of my body weight would have been a measly 21 lbs when I needed to lose 75. If you want to see the abstract, here's a link: Access : Long-term weight loss maintenance in the United States : International Journal of Obesity

Hi Everybody, I'm out (gaywise) with my colleagues at work but not in all places. For example, I'm not out with my adult students. Many are from other countries and I just don't want my sexuality to be the issue. I want them to be focused on the subject matter I am teaching. This caused a lot of friction with my ex-wife. She was out to everyone everywhere all the time and wanted me to acknowledge her as my partner to everyone in all circumstances. Another problem with being out with people I don't know well is that I identify as bisexual not lesbian. Some straight people think I'll @#$% anything that moves. Many lesbians view me with suspicion because they think I will leave them for a man. I think a lot of people think in pretty rigid categories, so when someone has Fluid sexuality like mine, it just doesn't make sense to them. But I am getting off topic. I'm here to talk about coming out about WLS. Do we come out to everyone to reduce stigma and educate or do we keep quiet and protect ourselves? I guess I have some guilt about not being completely out with my sexuality. I know why I haven't been but I do agree with Harvey Milk that if we all were out all the time, homophobia would disappear pretty fast. It's just that I haven't been willing to personally pay the price to lead the way. After all, look what happened to Harvey. So now I'm dealing with the issue again with WLS. I feel the most socially responsible thing I could do is to be a champion of WLS, talking about my experience to everyone I can. Part of me, though, just doesn't want to deal with people's ignorant judgements. What do you all think? What have you decided for yourselves? I'd love to hear your feedback.

Hi Will. I haven't been on this forum in ages. I thought you were family though from your posts on other forums. Something about your other posts made my gaydar go ding ding ding. :-) What are you doing in Yellowknife? Are you from there? Do you get midnight sun? I live in the SW desert so Yellowknife seems exotic.

Oooh Tom Yum soup. I hope I still like it. I may try tonight. I got some Patak's Madras Curry paste. I'm going to try to make some deviled eggs with it (curried eggs actually). I'm hoping I still like Indian, just not trader joe's. The weird thing is that I'm craving it. Will it be as good as I've anticipated?

I got a card but I haven't used it. I eat so little that I usually ask a friend to share with me, though sometimes I order something small. I don't like coming home with a week's worth of leftovers, so I like it when I can share.

Lately, I don't like anything. OK, that's not entirely true, but I don't like most of the things I'm supposed to be eating. Chicken--gross, pork--gross, eggs--gross, etc. I have tried 2 trader joe's indian dinners in the past week and both tasted terrible to me. I find that disappointing. Mostly I want fruits and veggies. And carbs. I think I will indulge myself in eating more veggies even if that means I'm low on Protein for a couple days. I eat about 1 serving of fruit a day in my protein smoothies. Yum. I'm planning to buy a loaf of German Vollkornbrot--the german bread that is as heavy as a brick. I love that stuff (ok, I used to, not sure about now.) I need to eat it in moderation as my nut doesn't want me to eat grain at all and carbs have been a problem in the past. In the end though, in spite of no longer liking indian or vietnamese, it's completely worth it. It's just weird not to know what I like.

Coops, I think losing in fits and starts is the rule rather than the exception. This is why I try to weigh just once a month. It's hard sometimes---we all have the temptation to step on the scale just to check. For me that spells obsession and discouragement. I just follow my diet and exercise plan and get on the scale around the first of each month.

Yep,yep, I feel like I could eat the paint off the walls a couple of days before my period. Twice now, I've thought: "Oh crap, my sleeve doesn't work. I'm going to gain all the wait I've lost." Then a day later, my period starts and I have very little appetite. My periods are irregular so I can't predict when I'm going to have these supercravings. You are not alone.

I tried 1 dove dark promise yesterday and now I've confirmed it: I still love chocolate.

Actually, the comments were not as bad as I expected. Yes, some of the writers were seriously ignorant and judgemental, but not all which I thought was encouraging. It is very difficult for some people to understand ANYTHING out of their own limited experience. Just because they don't have a weight problem, they think that those who do suffer from gluttony. We see the same thing with drug/alcohol addiction and poverty. It's simpler for these people to pass judgement than to realize the complexity of the issues involved. Thank goodness NHS is continuing to pay for WLS. I don't blame you for being annoyed, Jane; it is annoying. I would like to submit the idea, however, that it could be much worse. I live in the US where there is no comprehensive coverage. I also live in AZ where the government is just plain mean-spirited. I could go into detail here but I don't want to start a political debate. Let me just say that I think they are fascist a-holes.

I told just a few people before my surgery. Now, 8 weeks after, I'm starting to tell more and more people. I only tell people if they ask how I managed to lose so much weight. I could say diet and exercise but that would be a lie of omission IMHO. Diet and exercise haven't gotten me here; the surgery has. I don't think there is one correct answer about telling or not telling. It's all about what you are comfortable with. I'm pretty open and extroverted so maybe I will tell more people. Others like to keep what they feel is personal, well, personal. Play it by ear.

Theory # 2: She had a hundred and thirty pound tumor they removed. I think I saw something like that on Discovery Health. I don't think it is possible to lose 130 lbs in 4 months if your ending weight is low-normal. The only people I have seen lose 30+ lbs a month over 4 months have had about 200 to lose. Could she have had undiagnosed severe diabetes? Unlikely. I think it's your basic sham.

Ahh, Rittersport. I remember that chocolate fondly from Germany. I love the noisette and the marzipan. Haven't had it since surgery because I'm afraid I'll still love it. I did try about a teaspoon of nutella. It, unfortunately, was still heaven.

blackberryjuice: of course. I don't make witty comments that often--I'd like them to get as much circulation as possible.

maybe she forgot to mention that the "diet" portion of her "diet and exercise" regime consisted entirely of methamphetamine

Ah yes, the boots. I live in the southwest desert. It never rains. It's never cold. What do I want boots for? Never need them here. And they're really gonna be fashionable too.

You know how when you tell people you are going to have bariatric surgery, they say, "You don't need that! It's so drastic. Why don't you just try a diet?" Well my situation with my DS was different. I WAS thinking about surgery but I hadn't told anyone. My sister sends me an email out of the blue, offering to give me her old shoes (she has over 100 pairs), if I lose weight. I hadn't told her I was trying to lose weight, nor had I asked for her shoe cast offs (though they are pretty nice and expensive). Specifically she offers to send me her top quality boots (many pairs) from the 1980's. Gee thanks, DS, hard to pass up. Then she suggests that I might find a bariatric consult helpful!! GEEZ! So I don't respond. My sister can be insulting but she's also so strange and clueless that she's hard to take seriously. I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt me, she was just being her interfering, clueless self. So I have my surgery and last month I decide to tell the family. So I told her over the phone and she said, "Oh, I'm so glad you decided to do something about that!" Mind you, she is rather overweight herself. Sometimes, relatives are so weird, you've just gotta laugh.

OK, I know this is a loaded question, but I've got to ask: Does anyone feel any moral obligation to tell people in order to educate people and combat the stigma of obesity? I've done the research, I know. Obesity is not a moral failure--it's largely a matter of genetics (see Stunkard 1986 for the landmark study). Diet and exercise do not work in the long run for at least 95% of the people (can't remember the citation here but it's famous). So this idea that surgery is taking the easy way out is just BS---surgery is likely to be the only way out. I think, ironically, that this is rather like the decision that gay people must make about telling people. On the one hand, it's private and no one's business. On the other hand, the world would be a much more gay-friendly place if everyone came out. Oh, and also it's a pain in the butt to keep secrets and not have people know some significant truths about you. So the question is: how much is the personal political (to use a 70's feminist phrase) and how much is is just personal? I'm not sure where I land on this.

7 1/2 weeks out. Yesterday I had: (work Breakfast buffet) 1 scrambled egg white 1/6 strip bacon 1 T low fat sausage 2 1" cubes of watermelon (lunch) cheese from 2 pieces of a medium pizza (between 1 1/2 and 2 oz I'd guess) 1/4 cup lettuce with dressing (snack) 3 1/2 calamari rings w/o breading (dinner) 1 oz kippered herring (supplements) 2 Protein shakes My estimate is somewhere less than 800 calories and at least 65 gr of protein.

Crud, Barbie, I was hoping the coffee was gone forever. The problem with coffee is that it messes up my sleep and I only really like it with about 4 or 5 tablespoons of cream. Not exactly healthy for me. So I'll keep away from it as long as possible. I just discovered today, that I no longer like vietnamese food. It was my absolute favorite before. How disappointing.

Mostly I crave sugar less and salt more. I tried some salami last week. I found it too rich to be palatable. Strange, I used to love the stuff. I have been craving saladitos for weeks now. These are mexican salted, dried plums. Before I thought they were disgusting, now I think thay are wonderful. Oh yes and coffee. I was a coffeholic-- I haven't touched a cup in 7 weeks.

OK, just want to poll people. Who do you tell about your surgery? Everyone, family, friends, only close confidants? I'm of two minds here. Clearly, it's nobody's business, so I don't need to tell anyone, but I feel like this might be a good opportunity to spread the word about this surgery. I ended up telling several of my adult students. They asked me how I managed to lose the weight. The women were overweight or obese, some morbidly so. One particularly heavy woman asked, "What is your secret?" I couldn't lie to her, couldn't make her think that if she just had more willpower, she could lose weight and keep it off. So I told them, though it made me feel sort of vulnerable. Most of my co-workers don't know so it's weird to have my students know but not my colleagues. I guess for now, I will decide case by case who I should tell.

MlkPas--This sounds like something I would do! PSA#2: If you leave an atkins RTD shake in your car for 1 afternoon in Tucson, it get really really lumpy. Gross.

Ourborous, As someone with along-standing mixed anxiety/depression disorder, I hear you loud and clear. For me the good habits and meds go hand in hand, much like VSG and good eating habits. Before meds, no amount of sleep, exercise and eating right would have sustained my mood. I'm just too disabled off meds. With meds, those good habits make a really big difference. The exercise, especially, helps with the anxiety immensely. When I had my psychological visit before surgery, the psychologist asked if I knew VSG wouldn't make my weight disappear. I told him that I thought the VSG was going to be like antidepressants for me: necessary to achieve my goal but not sufficent in and of itself.