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I had clothing from size 24-14 and after purging everything I did not love I sorted down and by season, still nice we travel a lot and I sometimes need summer cloths in the winter. I plan to donate or toss everything as soon as it's to big. The size 24's where loose by my surgery day but the 22's were tight. I laundered and boxed all the 24'sc up to donate to "dress for success" this morning.

Venting is good, and we're good at it here. Maybe I can help make sense of some of the things you're experiencing. Doesn't it seem like we lose weight at a snails pace compared to everyone else? By we do you mean people with the band, or just people who are significantly overweight? Even worse, it seems like we GAIN weight faster than everyone else. This I have noticed. Gain on the tail end of loss is predictable. I think rate of gain also has to do with the extent to which we overeat. E.g. take a "normal" person who has lost 10 lbs, and may gain back 2. And a "fat" person who has lost 50 lbs, and may gain 15. Two things working against the fat ones - the amount they lost (which usually has a strong correlation to the amount that is gained), and the way in which the weight is gained. The "normal" person doesn't have an eating problem, the "fat" person does. Chances are the fat person is consuming a helluva lot more calories, hence the quicker weight gain. Have you ever been on a diet, stuck to every single little rule and didn't cheat even just a little bit - then, one day you have a morsel of something "bad" and gain 2 pounds?? This experience is exactly what kills so many diets before they even have a chance to kick in. People defeat themselves way too quickly. If you've been around a while you've seen me say it more than once - weight does not equal fat. Weight is your skin, everything on it, and everything in it. Fat is fat. During the first 7 - 10 days of a diet, especially a full omission diet (where some thing or things are excluded, e.g. low fat, low carb -- as opposed to a redcuded calorie diet where the overall calories are viewed rather than individual types of foods), your body is fighting like mad to keep the fat on. I won't go into the sordid details, but one byproduct of that battle is to retain things like Water and glycogen. What happens most of the time is that -- maybe some fat is lost, meube it's not, but it certainly isn't gained. However, the body is being greedy with all the things it's trying to hold on to, and not releasing the way it does when you're in a dietary equilibrium. This means you weigh more than you did a week ago, even if you have less fat on your body. People see that jump in the scale and say, "F it, I'm 2# heavier, this diet isn't working" when - if they could have just given it a little while longer - their body would have adjusted and they would have started to see the difference. And then there's the specific restriction leaps and bounds. Take low carb diets for example. While in a state of ketosis, the body uses a lot of water. Most people don't adequately increase their intake, so their body is continuously in a state of mild dehydration (that's on TOP of the dehydration most people are always in). When you break ketosis, you will gain water weight. It's pretty much a guaranteed thing. It can be as little as a pound, or as much as 18+ pounds. People on low carb diets in ketosis will "cheat", break their ketosis, see they've gained 10 lbs overnight, NOT make the distinction between "gain" and "fat gain" and give up because all of their sacrifice has been for nothing. This is why scale's aren't the way to go. I'm so frustrated I could scream! I'm on my pre-op liquid diet, been good as gold for 8 days and I've lost 5 measly pounds! GRRRRRR! I remember when I could lose 5 pounds in 2 days, now it takes me 8 whole days of nothing but liquid??!! Liquid diets usually aren't for weightloss, they're usually for a specific outcome, e.g. shrinking the liver, giving intestinal issues time to "take it easy," flushing some part of the body, etc. Try not to let yourself be frustrated by this. Part of it could be your age (you mention remembering the day -- also remember that your body has changed since then), part of it could be the liquids... there are SO many variables here. So frustrating. I really think that years of yo-yo dieting has messed with my metabolism. No worries here, it can't happen. Your body - if subjected to extreme dieting - becomes more efficient at storing fat. This "unexplained" weight gain, coupled with the additional challenges in weightloss that can come with age, hormonal changes, etc., and the body's natural tendency to change its own composition (which yoyo dieting can add to - remember, the body always tries to hold on to the fat it has... yo-yo dieting can make your body, well, to make a long story short, your body can become less sure of where its next meal is coming from, and want to hold on to even more fat, just in case... hence your equilibrium state is now fatter than it used to be). I know I didn't gain this weight over night, and I know it'll take a long-long-LONG time to lose it... but 5 pounds?? Come on! And I would say to you, 5 pounds in 8 days?? Come on, what more do you want!?!? :cool: Of course now I'm concerned with what will happen when I'm banded (this Friday). I know I'll go crazy when I see the scale creeping along, or even stopping after surgery. It's just so frustrating. The ideal thing would be to hide the scale - been there, done that. I always talk myself into stepping on it. I try not to be obsessive with the numbers, but, how can you not be? It's not that hard to get away from. It really does work to get rid of the scale. Just throw it away. It doesn't tell you what you need to know. If you want to do something compulsively, invest in a body fat meter, or hell - a $4 tape measure. Those will give you a much better idea of the changes in your body than a scale will. I'm really discouraged and really just plain bummed out. I know it'll take a while, but, I'm literally starving on this #$#%$ pre-op diet and so disappointed. I know we've all felt like this - I just needed to vent. And vent away. It's good for you. And understanding why some of these things may help.

Everyone is different. There is no way anyone could tell you for sure if you will have loose skin. I know I would rather be healthy with loose skin than be overweight with a saggy belly. Funny to me how people become 400 pounds overweight and are all of a sudden so worried about how they will look if they have this surgery.

I usually find that people who run their mouths like that are really just rude, un-empathectic people talking out the side of their necks! They don't realize or appreciate the incredible amount of COURAGE it takes for someone to change their lives like that! It's not like it's a quick fix! It takes WORK! Shame on them as medical professionals (and I'm using that term loosely) for saying things like that! As for your decision not to tell your co-workers, that is completely ok. It's all about what works for you. I have not had the surgery yet but just about everyone knows that i intend to have it. I have had mixed responses, but most have been incredibly supportive. Personally, I don't care if anyone disapproves of what I'm doing...It's not about them! This is about me being healthy and happy. I see no reason to not be completely open about this kind of thing but that is something to be dealt with on an individual basis and whatever you have decided is perfectly ok! I'm proud of all of us that are being so brave and changing our lives! ...

Annoyied. I've finished all my Options classes through Kaiser but I lagged on doing my Psych evaluation. If it were done prior to finishing my pre-op classes I probably would already have my final meeting with the Surgeon and a step away from getting my surgery date. This is just going to push everything further out. I'm scared because I've only lost 5 pounds during my pre-op weight loss classes and I don't want to gain those back since now I'm basically on my own without support from my classmates. It sucks. It's so damn easy to put on the weight but so hard to loose. =(

I constantly get the PB. Its very hard whether it is with soft food or hard food. However, its wierd, I have no problems with the bad foods like candy bars, chips, etc. But when I do eat the healthy food like broccoli, carrots, apples, off to the bathroom I go. I try to eat healthy and it is hard because I really believe that my body has entered the starvation mdoe. I dont eat at all sometimes because Im always in public and I am afraid of pb in front of people. Some people think I have developed bulimia tendency which suck because I am far from that. I dont know if anyone has had this issue, but I could really need some advice. I went to the Doc and he says that its normal. I'm sleeping half the day because I can't eat to increase energy that I need. I've have two fills back to back, and the more fills I get the worser I feel. SO I stopped getting fills to reduce the problem and I still getting the pb symptom. I was hoping to loosen it, the worst thing I want to do is to drive the 300 miles for a visit if I absolutely don't have to. Please help anyone, I want to loose the weight and no matter what I try its not working. HEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPP

Not to be a downer, but everybody should loose with a post op diet of liquids, then mushies, etc.... The challenge becomes when you are released to start eating normal solid foods again....I gained all that weight back....because my band was not yet adjusted....and I was the same as before I had the surgery..... It took months to get things on track with the band, and it was not very enjoyable...but down right frustrating and difficult....the hardest time with this surgery was that phase.... So yes, enjoy...just be forewarned...but not to worry...many here have gone through this and there is a end to it, eventually.

I have heard too many horror stories about the band. From slippage, constant vomiting, hemorrhaging, and pieces coming loose!!? I would rather know that a decision I am making is sticking for life and will help me, not hurt me. These surgeries are lifestyle changes - I don't think any one person who makes the decision to endure this journey would want to take it back and be heavier again. So the sleeve is worth a lifetime to me.

I had my revision one year ago today. I’m shocked and amazed at the changes that have occurred this year. My boobs have disappeared, I lost a lot of hair... but more importantly I’m no longer overweight. I still have a belly (and lose skin) but I’m learning to love myself just as I am. I’m so thankful to be on this road. Now I just need to get my butt back in the gym, good news is that it is within walking distance now. No regrets. ❤️

I have to disagree, the amount of weight lost has nothing to do with how much you weigh. Everybody is different. For instance, my mother was 270 before her gastric bypass, at 5'7" her goal weight is 170. So that's 100 pounds. The fact that you are only 5' your suggested goal weight would be 115 to 130. So technically you need to lose the same amount as her. I don't see how that would make you any different than her. She had gastric bypass in March and she has already lost 80". On the other hand, I have friends who have had gastric sleeve that have lost as much weight and at the same rate. Whatever surgery you choose, it's gonna be hard, but there's no way of knowing how much or how fast you will lose weight. That all depends on how much effort you put in, but you could be just as successful as anyone else. Most people do lose the majority of their weight the first year, but honestly you would have less saggy skin if you did only lose 10 pounds a month. So it's a win either way, lol!

LOL ... I like the way you worded that, Unfortunately I am in the minority where at that time of the month my band is as loose as loose and I can wolf down things I cant eat at other times of the month.

The band being "fickle" is normal; many people have this issue. You just have to roll with it -- try to stick to eating your pre-planned amount of food when you are too loose. The other issue is a problem for most long-term bandsters: thing like ice cream, chocolate, chips and Cookies go down easily while food choices like chicken and veggies have a harder time going down. This becomes a matter of choice, since the band will not solve the problem. We have to put aside junk food and eat healthy food most of the time to lose & maintain weight. Not probably all that helpful, I know. I'll commiserate with you that it can be hard at times to stick to healthy food!

Yeah, I think all of the docs require it. I got so made about it that I even told the doc, look if I could loose the weight on my own, I wouldn't need the @$%# surgery!! But I did it and was fine. I allowed myself to eat scramblers, they're an egg substitute like eggbeaters, but I like the way they taste better. They're solid protien with 0 fat and they really helped curb the hunger. Alot of other people add things to their protien powder drinks, like bananas, strawberries, just about any kind of fruit you would find palatable with what you are drinking. I would think that since this is pre-surgery, as long as you eat mild non fat foods with a high Protein levels, you would be okay. Like applesauce, cottage cheese. I know it's not our usual preferred food, but it actually helps you to start adapting to eating properly after the surgery. Hope this helps. Good luck, Oh, I would think you could also eat sugar free popsicles, no fat in those and I think the cold numbs the stomach a bit so you are not so hungry and they're actually pretty good. Take care, Let us know how you are doing.

The point of shrinking your liver is so that your surgeon has room to work in your belly. As it stands, everything is sort of smooshed together. By shrinking your liver, you are providing some much room. Yes they fill you like a balloon with CO2 gas (my imagination runs rampant...) but shrinking the liver helps it so they don't have to change it to an open procedure. You DO NOT WANT an open procedure. The healing time and the scar just isn't worth it. Well, it is worth the surgery, but it isn't worth not following your doctor's orders for loosing weight. My doc strongly recomended the liquid diet, but I didn't do it. I actually gained wieght between the intial consult and the surgery, but I'm a speical case... I was hospitalized a few times and stuck on more than one course of steroids. But enough about me...

i started at 273lbs. i weighed myself 2 days ago and i was 158lbs. my bmi went from 51.6 to 29.9. according to online bmi calculators, i am officially no longer OBESE! i am considered overweight. im so happy! i wear a size 6ish in jeans. some of the 6s fit a lil loose & some are skin tight. this surgery has truly put me through hell but im glad i am alive and living!

my doctor sent me home with a binder, a wide elastic band that I wrapped around my middle section which helped a lot the first few nights of sleeping, kind of kept abdomen skin from moving if I wanted to sleep on side. I'm sure you might be able to get one at a pharmacy or medical supply company. Also helped for the 85 mile trip home. good luck all trisha

Your story reminds me a lot of mine also. I am 22 years old and ALL of my family members are over weight. I was not brought up with correct eating habbits and I believe that I made a lot of bad food choices that got me where I am today. With that said, I did struggle with the decission to get the band, mostly because I am so young. I am not sure if I could do it long term or not with out the band, but I do know that I am making the right decission for me. I need to loose 74 more pounds to get to 130 and to me that is a huge goal and I am very thankful that I have the oppertunity to make it happen! My advice is do it now, don't wait until your 30 or 40 and look back and wish you had done it sooner.

What is the best exercise for upper arms and stomach?

:clap2::whoo:Hi all. It's been a long 7 months, but I got my approval December 10th. I thought I'd never hear from insurance. The paperwork was submitted to Cigna November 16th. I was beginning to worry, well worry even more. I've worried my friends, my family and my husband till they are sick of hearing about it. NA they are proud that I want to do something about my weight. Like most it's been a life long battle. When I got the call, my preschool class was about to go outside. My assistants laughed as I chanted, I'm gonna get skinny! I goto Dr. Spaw Monday the 17th. I guess for pre-op and visit with him. They say he doesn't have any more December dates open, but it might be January. That's fine with me. I can start the year off with a resolution to loose weight and hoepfully this tool will get me there. Now for the pre-op diet. I start it next week. Good luck to all! Felicia

My sister had a Lifestyle lift. She was happy with the results but said if she knew the truth about recovery she probably wouldn't do it again. They do it while you are awake - cutting and stitching as they go. It took 3 months before she could sleep in her bed and several years later she can still feel tightness behind her ears where they pulled the skin back to smooth out her neck.

I need some advice. I don't know if I'm imagining things or not. Sorry this is so long. I've been having a weird problem leading back some time. I just went to the doctor (my PCP) and had stellar reports. Part of the follow up was to schedule a colonoscopy. The doctors office did the referral call and within a few days I got a call telling me to expect a packet in the mail with the schedule and other information in it I would need. Well I got it yesterday and my colonoscopy is scheduled for 1/4/2013 - 8 FREAKIN' MONTHS OUT! I could see a month or two, maybe even 3 - but 8 MONTHS OUT? When I called THE gastroenterologist's office asking about it the woman in charge of scheduling hemmed and hawed and never gave me an answer as to why so long a wait. I directly asked her if ALL patients are asked to wait 8 months and she would NOT answer me. This is not the first referral I have had to wait and wait for either. I had kidney stones a few months back and my PCP recommend I go to a urologist to get to the bottom of this third stone attack. I waited and waited and a MONTH later the urologists office called and asked if I still wanted to see the doctor. I was told it would be a 1 to 2 month wait to get in. This seems a little absurd to me. Since the symptoms went away I just skipped it. A while back I had a bit of cancer removed from my chest skin, it was squamous cell carcinoma. I asked to see an oncologist as this is the cancer that killed my Dad (albeit lung cancer). The referred doctor NEVER called back. Is this just dumb luck? We are in NW Arkansas, believe it or not an area of the country that is prosperous and has remained pretty well off in the recent economic downturn and is literally PACKED full of medical professionals. Two fairly large hospitals are within 10 miles of my house and others just 20 or so miles. I mean, really, 8 months for a colonoscopy? Am I being "targeted"? I can't imagine why. I have great insurance and have always paid all my bills. It makes the 6 month wait some have had for the VSG like a walk in the park. This year I switched to a high deductible insurance with a medical savings plan. is that an issue? I DO have the money for the entire deductible all ready and we are already almost half way through our $4500 deductible.. My PCP DID have some legal problems with the largest medical group in the area, he ended up being sued and counter suing them and WON. Would they be low enough to put his patients at the BOTTOM of a "list" - or is it the TOP of a sh*t list? Who can help me figure this out? The PCP's office just sort of brushed me off. I wonder if the doctor actually knows this is going on. Short of setting up another appointment to speak to him what else can I do? Am I just impatient or do you all think something else is going on?

I just had a LBL about 3 weeks and I have HORRIBLE swelling. I have visible swelling in my back, abdomen, and thighs. I also had really bad swelling in my legs, ankles, and feet. I also had brachioplasty, so my arms and hands were also horribly swollen. I have to say it's been pretty miserable. The swelling in my lower legs and feet went down a little in the past few days, but by the end of the day, they are swollen. I had a tendency to swell before surgery, and so I'm not surprised. I am a little surprised at how much weight I've gained, and how frumpy I look! I keep thinking I'm the only person on the planet to have plastics and have my waist circumference increase 3 inches. My skin is ridiculously taught - who ever thought I'd say it like that, lol! My doc also said it's normal, but that if it persists, she might prescribe a diuretic short term. She does not require any sort of compression garment, but you can wear one. I've noticed the swelling is way worse around my abdomen without it, but then my feet swell worse with it. I think I'm going to invest in some good support hose and see if that makes a difference. I'm still asking myself why the heck I did this to myself.....yet, I need another surgery for my legs and breasts, and I know I'm going to proceed, even though I'm beyond miserable. How crazy is that!?

YEs.. i am having my 1st fill in two weeks and i am scared. I love drinking my water and i dont want to be chocking on it. I think i am going to tell my Dr. to give me a small fill...after all so far with out one i have still managed to loose 18 lbs in 4 weeks. I hate vomiting or chocking !! Good luck

It has been awhile since I have posted here. So long, that I almost forgot that I was a member. September 15th will make 5 months since I had my surgery. A lot of things have changed for me. First off, the Protein shakes, had to stop. At first they were easy, and great. Except, I could only drink one kind and only one flavor of that kind. Everything else was making me sick. Of course, two of the same flavor, of the same kind, twice a day, every day, after a few months, also started to make me sick. It got to the point where I was getting sick, thinking about drinking the shakes. My meal also changed. After the healing seemed to complete, I noticed I started eating more often. At first this bothered me, because the idea of eating more often, seemed in my mind to defeat the purpose. Yet, I also noticed that I was eating a lot less.... just more frequently. I also noticed I was drinking a lot more fluids then I had ever done. I also, have not had a drink of soda, since my surgery, which I think probably also helped. I noticed that bread, will not be eaten again. That includes cake, bagels, doughnuts, etc. I have tried almost all of these things, and while it does not make me sick, it hurts. I am not a fan of pain, so I do not try them again. I find that I do not miss any of them. I have noticed that I have a very huge craving for grapes. I now go through grapes, like I used to go through milk. I used to go through a lot of milk (something else I find, I do not miss.) Well, after almost 5 months, and fearing that my eating was going to become a problem, I have lost 92 pounds. I am very close to the goal that my doctor set for me, and I believe I will pass that goal. Some other things that have changed. I am off all of my medications, except for my thyroid. Since I eat more times a day then I used to, I find foods that are high in protein for Snacks, such as tuna. For the first 3 months, I could not eat tuna, but my dietitian told me to keep trying. She said that if I am going to cut out the Protein Shakes, I needed to find other sources, and tuna is a great source. So far, now at 5 months, I find I can eat tuna again. In fact, other then the breads, I have found that I can eat just about anything. My sweet weakness is M&Ms. I usually eat a bag of them a week. Which compared to how I used to eat them.....much much different. I also have a weakness for chocolate chip frappachino from Mcdonalds. I had someone tell me, I should not drink those, but I compare it to what I used to get at Mcdonalds. One meal at Mcdonalds for me used to be, a double quarter pounder, large fries, two mcdoubles, and a milkshake. Now a meal for me at Mcdonalds is the frappachino, and thats it. So I felt guilty at first, but not so much in contrast. That and instead of going like 3 times a week, I go like once a month. I also found out, that I can run. I started running a mile every morning. It was only taking about 7 minutes once I got into it, that I thought that was not enough time. So now, I run for 30 minutes every morning. One day I will try to see how far I am going. I leave my house, and run for 15 minutes, and then turn around and run back. It is amazing, because I would not run before. I used to have a joke at work, that if someone made me chase them, they would get hurt if I caught them for making me run. Now, I have had to chase people, and smile the whole time I am doing it. In my local area, I am signed up for two 5ks.... coming up in October, and another run, called a Mud run in December. That one has an obstacle course, which I think I need some training for. Learned about something called a Zombie run, which I will be doing next year. As far as more personal things, there was a rumor that I was told about.... size. I am talking about the little guy size....downstairs. Anyway, I was told that for every 30 pounds lost, I would gain an inch. I thought that was complete BS, yet, it was extremely pleasing to one day wake up in the morning, and notice that I could see.... everything. In a way that I had never experienced. Then to top it off, my wife, told me some stuff about things that could not be done before, that was being done now. I do not want to go into detail, but that rumor, seems to have a bit of truth behind it. Something I used to be ashamed of, I am now very proud of. My kids have noticed a difference with me as well. I am doing all sorts of activities with them. Went to a Water park with them, and they where shocked that I went on the slides with them. Something I would not even think about doing before. I had an amazing time, and I am sure they will remember it for a long time. Something I do not think I would have been doing before I had the surgery. I also got very luck with loose skin. As, so far, I do not have any, and have been told by the doctor, that I might not have any. He said to make sure, once I lose to the point I feel comfortable, I should start weight training. That building up muscle, would help fill in the skin, that was full of fat. Sounds like a plan to me. Anyway, that is my story so far. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me.

I work out 1-3 hours per day including lifting (pecs are nice and strong-- with floppy pancakes attached). I also wear compressions everyday and take good care of my skin.... If you have a miracle exercise to add to my regimen, PLEASE let us know! Have you found the secret and aren't sharing???