Stacy160

Hi. 30 lbs. in less than three months is excellent for a lightweight! Sure, if you'd started out at over 300 lbs. you'd have lost more (numbers-wise) than starting at just over 200 lbs... but I'm betting on a PERCENTAGE basis, you're right there where you should be. I hate to say age could be a factor, but it could. I went into obvious peri-menopause right after surgery (was 44 then, I'm 46 now) and it gets harder and harder to get these last pounds off--not sure if the ever-decreasing hormones have anything to do with it or not, but I have the feeling that if I'd done this 15-20 years ago I'd be about a size 4 right now instead of a 10! Anyway, just keep plugging along at it, doing it right, and the weight will come off. Don't let the old habits creep back while the sleeve's still doing the work for you. Know that stills do happen, you can't prevent them, and it's just your body holding onto excess Fluid because it's confused about what's happening to it. You'll get there, I promise!

If you can afford the carbs, or you want a little treat, try sprinkling some Brown Sugar Splenda on fresh pineapple slices and grilling it.... omg, it's amazing.

I have super-curly hair, and the last couple of times I've grown out from short to long, in that horrible in-between stage where I can't do anything with it (cause it's also super-thick so it gets REAL big and bushy), as soon as I could squeeze it all back into a pony tail, even if it meant using a band to keep the shorter front and sides in, I'd use a curly, clip-on longer ponytail that I got at Sally's. It's the claw-type of clip, and just squeezes right around the base of your own ponytail and works great! At that time, they had a shorter, curlier one and a longer, looser-curled one.

Nope! Just carbs, calories, and protein.

You know that Thanksgiving Full where you've eaten to the point where you feel sick, and it feels like every nook and cranny in your gut is stuffed with food? It's not like that. Think about it--your stomach, the stretchy "feed bag" part of it, is gone, and right now not only do you have a skinny little tube for a stomach, it's not gonna stretch. Plus, there'll be swelling in there for a good long while, before it completely goes away. For me, early on (when "full" was 1-2 oz. of refried beans), it was just pressure right there where the stomach is, kinda between the ribs, feeling like it maybe could chuck right back up through the esophagus (which thankfully only happened a couple of times). As the swelling goes down that feeling subsides, unless you overeat, but "full" is still in that same area... you'll never have the bloated, distended abdomen again. Which is awesome, 'cause you don't have to unbutton your pants after eating anymore!

Any time there's an incision, there's a scar, BUT, I can say that at a year and a half out, only one of my 5 shows unless you reeeeally look for the others. That's the big one above the belly button, which started at 1 1/2 - 2 inches long and is now only about a half inch. It's faded just as much as the smaller ones, but between there being more adhesion under it (since it's bigger) and the loose-ish skin around it, it dimples.... if it weren't for that, it would barely be visible.

There's a certain temperature that you have to keep your liquid below... I think it's 120 degrees? Anything hotter than that, the protein will separate and rise to the surface and form a disgusting gelatinous mess. Even if you mix it separately and then add it in, make sure whatever you're adding it to isn't too hot.

Yikes... OK, here we go! Diet Plans: Weight Watchers (3x)... hard to do when the lowest point items are the highest carb foods. *rolleyes* Medical Weight Loss (1x) ... lost 12 lbs, felt justified in buying a chocolate-chocolate chip muffin at the mall, and that was all she wrote. Cabbage Soup Diet (1x) ... with no Protein at all in it, as directed. Day 5 when I had to grab on to a rack at the video store to keep from falling on the floor as I was starting to black out. Headed straight to Taco Bell, and that was all she wrote. Oddly, this is now a staple in my diet, but with lots and LOTS of ground beef or chicken! Slim Fast (once or twice) ... Yeahright. Self-hypnosis CDs (2-3?) ... Whatever. Atkins (at least a dozen times?) ... works GREAT but still no portion control. And you get so sick of meat and veggies all the time. Once lost 35 lbs., but just could not keep away from the carbs after awhile, and like any abused substance, we all know what happens once a slide starts. And finally (and I'm sure I'm forgetting some) .... the Master Cleanse Diet, aka the Lemonade Diet. Surprisingly not difficult to stick with, lost 17 lbs. in a week before I just HAD to get some solid food, and of course it all came back plus some, as always. This was two months before my decision to give it up and have surgery, and the final straw. pills: Dexatrim (2-3x), first time at 19 years old. Metabolife (1x), didn't do a damn thing for me. Hoodia (2x), see above. Adipex/Phentermine (2x), sure it worked great, but it bound me up like a mofo and turned me into an angry, raging b***h! No thanks. And, of course.... The Gadgets: Exercise bike Ab roller Ab wheel Ankle weights Dumbells of all sizes The Gazelle Steps (for aerobics) The Ab-Doer (not a bad piece of equipment!) Treadmill probably forgetting some. This was fun, and gives me a whole new perspective on things.

I'm in agreement with everyone else... I'd have loved it if a healthcare professional would have shared their WLS experience with me. And you did it the right way, waiting until she brought up the subject and then sharing what worked for you instead of focusing it on her. I'm sure she's immensely grateful and she's probably still thinking about what you said... heck, I bet she's already Googling it. I work in PT, and while my co-workers know that my surgery is NOT to be brought up out in the gym among patients (just don't want to deal with the questions and comments), I have shared privately with a handful of them... mostly people we've been treating off and on for years who we know very well on a personal level. There have been a few others that I'd like to say something to, and have tried to steer the conversation in such a way that maybe they'd bring up the subject of weight loss struggles, but so far the opportunity hasn't presented itself for me to share my experience with someone who I think could benefit from it. If and when the chance comes along though, you bet I'll do it!

Real Age is 43.6... I just turned 46 a few weeks ago, so I'll take it (even though I was hoping for better! ).

I teeter back and forth between a 7 and a 7 1/2.... almost always a 7 1/2 the last few years (pre-surgery), and ALWAYS a 2E or extra wide. Since surgery I'm able to get into 7s much more often, and very often just a W and sometimes just normal width. I'm LOVING that.

Ask her if she thinks you should wait until you're on YOUR last chance, can't move and are close to death... or if it's better to stop the progression now while you can still prevent more permanent damage to your body. Then take care of yourself, get it done, look and feel like a million bucks, and rub her face in it when you finish your first 5K.

Well, at 10%, that $150 would make the cost of surgery only $1500... sounds like the Dr.s office told you the WAY wrong amount and whoever came up with that amount must have huge problems with basic math. Still though, they verify benefits as a courtesy to you, they don't have to do it, and ultimately, legally, it's your responsibility. Good news is, even if you have to pay the $1340 (meaning that the amount the insurance OK'd would have been $13,400), that's still a heck of a lot less than any of us self-payors dished out!

Torani and Davinci both make a HUGE variety of excellent sugar-free syrups you could try. Nettrition.com has them all and it's $5 flat rate shipping no matter how much you order. Other than using it like sour cream, my favorite is to just add vanilla and splenda (and sometimes, especially before running, I'll toss in some original Fiber One cereal).

I had no idea that Callanetics was still around! I did it for awhile years ago (like 20-25 years?) when I wasn't overweight, and it really did make a difference in a very short amount of time. My only complaint was the way she talked, it just annoyed the heck out of me LOL... didn't know there was a book though! I just may see if I can find it and start doing them again.