loridee11

Thank you so much for sharing. You look great!

No. Lower body lift (as I understand it) extends the tummy tuck scar around the back. You see results in your back and booty, and in your thighs some. However, it doesn't do much for your inner thigh (again, as I understand). Thigh lift focuses on the inner and lower thigh. I've seen some scars along the groin crease and some running vertically along the inner thigh (kind of like an arm lift scar).

I bloat with carbs - even the good kind. I also bloat with some vegetables (like brussel sprouts). I think I probably always did, I just couldn't tell with the extra cushioning

I'm not in maintenance yet, but pre-surgery I had a lot of the same concerns you have. Dr. Weiner has a video on YouTube about "set point" - worth watching as it really explains how our bodies can fight against us as we lose and try to maintain loss, and that surgery seems to have a metabolic impact and help reset it.

First - you look great. Congratulations on not only the loss, but the gain Thanks for the great visual and reminder for all of us. The scale is only one part of this journey and it is more important to focus on how we feel. My goal for 2021 is to focus on building strength, stamina and flexibility (and I'd like to lose those last 10 lbs but that will be secondary). Lori

My inches and lbs don't always seem to line up. Some months I'd have 10+ lbs of loss and my measurements would barely move. Other months I'd only lose 5ish lbs and my measurements would drop a lot. I've also found as I get closer to goal, each lbs makes a much bigger difference. When I was at my heaviest I could lost 20-30 lbs and it would barely be noticeable.

A few of my favorite (in no particular order): - A standard bath towel fits all the way around with overlap - I went on a 6 mile walk/hike yesterday and felt great. Before, walking around the block would have caused major pain both during and after. - Knee high boots - Out for a walk during a break at work and was disappointed I could only do 1 mile (it was a short break). I realized not only is walking almost every day a habit, it's something I actively look forward to and regret when I miss or have to shorten. ~Lori

I 100% understand. I was out walking with a friend yesterday - she's one of my friends who has always been fit - runs marathons, hikes, etc... Mentioned how excited I was about my BMI being almost normal and she indicated her BMI is about the same as mine. for the life of me I cannot see myself as close to her level of fit and thin...

I'm almost a year out. I have had a couple of dumping instances when I've had too much sugar - one time a small amount of a margarita and one time some cake. I can have small amount --- a couple of bites of cake v. a whole piece or a glass of wine and I'm fine. I don't push it because its unpleasant (although I seem to have pretty mild dumping, I just get a really bad stomach ache and extreme fatigue) and I think it's a good thing since I really don't need that much sugar anyway. Other than that I can eat pretty much anything. I have found that carb heavy meals make me really sleepy. Since they are also generally calorie dense I don't do that very often. In fact, the vast majority of time I eat on plan. In terms of volume, most meals I measure and I only need 5-6 oz to feel full. However, I can eat more. If I'm eating out I don't weigh my meals so I'm not sure how much. I just try to listen and stop when full. I've never gotten sick from eating too much .

So, I may be a little slow, but I finally figured out how to add protein to my coffee without getting all clumpy so I thought I'd share in case others have had the same issue. Since I've never been a fan of breakfast, this works great because it allows me to drink my breakfast and get a good boost of protein for the day. What I do is mix the protein powder (Isopure unflavored); Collagen and a benefiber with 2 TBS half and half and 3 pumps sugar free torani. I mix that until it is really smooth. I then add to my coffee. Because the protein is already dissolved in the cold liquids I don't get clumps. And I get delicious coffee with 35 g of protein

I'm getting ready to start having consults for a full body lift and arm lift. I will probably try for a June date (I am hoping to hit goal in January) but finding a surgeon and then coordinating time with work will take some time. I have a good start for what I want to ask during consults, but thought I'd check with the veterans. What question did you ask that really helped you get an insight into your surgeon and helped you select? Maybe you didn't ask, but one surgeon volunteered something you wish you'd thought to ask? Anything you didn't ask that you wished you had? Thanks in advance! Lori

Thanks Catwoman! That's my concern, I have a lot of loose skin up near my breasts and then down through my abdomen and it hangs down when I exercise. I'm fairly lucky I don't look too bad standing up, I really don't have folds horizontally, but when bent over - its really really bad.

Congratulations! Such a great feeling!

Thanks All. I spoke with the coordinator at one surgeon this week. Surgeon works on mostly weight loss patients which I like. One thing that concerned me is they don't do the tummy tuck that includes the vertical scar. For those of you who lost significant weight and had a LBL or tummy tuck which just the horizonal scar, how are your results? I have a lot of laxity up my entire abdomen and am worried just pulling down won't actually solve for it. I'll be talking to other surgeons of course - just curious to hear from those who've done this.

Following. Excited to see your journey!

I am about 10 lbs from goal, so I decided to splurge on some nicer tops since 1- you can only see my tops on my work video conference calls and 2- I don't think I am going to go down another size. NSV 1: I'm in a freaking MEDIUM! at 5'10 - holy cow!!! And this isn't a "in specific loose cut tops I can squeeze into a medium" - I ordered a bunch of nice work tops and I fit into ALL the mediums. NSV 2: I bought a pair of knee high boots. They are wide calf, but a narrow wide calf if that makes sense. My legs have always been where I carry a lot of my weight so I've never really been able to wear true knee high boots. They fit perfect (even over pants) and they look GREAT!

My program is moderate on carbs. Once I was released to eat anything their target was 50-80g a day. Any one of the balanced meals my nutritionist suggested was 1 slide whole grain bread, egg, and yogurt. At around 9 months the target moved to up to 100g a day and most days I stay under that. They allow whole grain breads, etc.. although I generally try to get my carbs from unprocessed sources: Vegetables, etc... I do occasionally eat rice, sweet potato's etc... but try to limit as they are higher calorie and if I'm not careful they do kick off cravings.

I waited until 6 months post surgery to have alcohol. I only drink when socializing and with everything going on it's maybe 5 or 6 times in the last 6 months. I haven't actually noticed wine having a bigger impact on me. I pretty much never had more than 2 glasses a night anyway and I can still have 2 (of course no driving). I did try a strawberry margarita and I had less than 1/3 and ended up having a dumping episode - so I've pretty much stuck with wine on the few occasions I've drank since.

I was eating purees at day 3 as well. However, I was told 2 oz max at that time (the first few days I didn't get in my 2 oz at my "meal" times). I'd check with your surgeon or nutritionist as what you are eating may be fine, you just might need to do less.

During the first few weeks I kept reminding myself that I am healing - you literally have stitches holding your stomach together. That visual helped me be 100% on plan for the first 6+ weeks since it isn't just about trying to lose weight - it's about allowing your body to heal from something that's physically pretty traumatic. Good news is the body is an amazing thing!

We had surgery on the same day! I'm down to my last 15 or so pounds as well. First - congratulations on losing 100 lbs this year! Hopefully you are feeling all the great things I am that come from that. The last couple of months my loss has slowed way down. I'm still losing some but I had to really up my exercise. I am also varying my calorie intake to try to keep my metabolism confused. I have some days around 1,000 calories, and others around 1,700 and that seems to work for me. Regardless of the day I really focus on protein and fluids and make sure I hit those goals.

Like many, I've lost a TON of hair as part of this journey. In August, at 7 months out, I cut it to a long bob which helped, but as it started to grow out it quickly became scraggly and looked very fine. SO I did a major cut this week taking it to a long pixie (almost 10.5 months out) I am super happy at what a difference it made in appearance - parts of it are almost back to normal density with regrowth. Now if it only stops falling out and I can keep what I have.

Hi All, I am a 42 year old cis female, heteroromantic asexual. As someone else mentioned, I only recently had the words to explain myself even to myself and am just starting to explore what that means for me. Appreciate the opportunity to connect! Lori

I'm almost 1 year out from Bypass and was just thinking about this today. With the exception of LOTS of sugar (I had 2 early dumping episodes and have been really good at staying away from it for the most part) I can eat anything. Any, I can eat a "regular" portion (not as much as before but I really over ate before). I rarely get that full/stuffed feeling (I try very hard not to eat a bunch most of the time, but on occasion my head gets the better of me and I fall back into old eating patterns for a day). What I have noticed is: I physically don't NEED to eat that much. Before surgery, I would have been physically hungry pretty much all the time unless I was stuffed full. Now, I can eat a protein shake and coffee for breakfast, then 5-6 oz of food for lunch and dinner and be physically satisfied. So for me, that means now that I am further out I need to put more focus on the headwork (to get the last 15 lbs off and to be in a good state to maintain).

I am officially at the lowest weight of my adult life as of this morning! I've got a bit to go to get to goal but I wanted to celebrate this win! 🎉