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I have seen many awesome before and "after" pictures here on this site and as I am losing weight (down 50 now) what do you recommend to tighten my stomach area? I'm in my late 20s so I am hoping that I can bounce back, ha! I do have 4 kids- and one of those being a twin pregnancy. So, I am totallly ok with the stretch marks and slight saggy-ness, just wanting to try what I can to eliminate what I see in the mirror. (I'm still waiting for my brain to catch up to my progress!!)

Don't Quit When you've eaten too much and you can't write it down, And you feel like the biggest failure in town. When you want to give up just because you gave in, and forget all about being healthy and thin. So What! You went over your points a bit, It's your next move that counts...So don't you quit! It's a moment of truth, it's an attitude change. It's learning the skills to get back in your range. It's telling yourself, "You've done great up till now. You can take on this challenge and beat it somehow." It's part of your journey toward reaching your goal. You're still gonna make it, just stay in control. To stumble and fall is not a disgrace, if you summon the will to get back in the race. But, often the struggler's, when loosing their grip, Just throw in the towel and continue to slip. And learn too late when the damage is done, that the race wasn't over...they still could have won. Lifestyle change can be awkward and slow, but facing each challenge will help you grow. Success is failure turned inside out, the silver tint in a cloud of doubt. When you're pushing to the brink, just refuse to submit, If you bite it, you write it....But don't you quit! - Author Unknown

goal 1: 20 lbs goal met goal 2: 219-- lowest weight since 2005 goal 3: 199-- onederland goal 4: 170-- last time I remember feeling comfortable in my skin goal 5: 150-- size 10, felt great NSV: 1: not having my arms rub on the sides of my belly when I walk 2: not being out of breathe walking up stairs 3: being able to see ALL of my body 4: looking cute in clothes 5: shopping in regular stores 6: not always eating more than everyone else 7: feeling pretty again

Day 11 - I cheated. I had 1 light part skim mozzarella cheese string. I know most wouldn't consider that cheating but I do. I just caved, I needed something solid in my stomach. It was amazing, I didn't feel guilty at all and I still lost another pound. The bio oil I bought the other day is amazing. I used it on my face and the back of my arms. I can already tell a difference is skin tone, it's not as uneven. The coco butter is probably my favourite lotion ever. It smells amazing and made my skin so smooth.

My doctor already have me waiting till 22nd Jan for my first fill and we had same date surgery. I been loosing ok amount of weight also since surgery but I am starting to get little more hungery and I dont want to start gaining. Gotta also do some blood work before appointment also...

I seen a rheumatologist he ruled out all forms of arthritis, said it wasn't associated with my carpal tunnel. I do have difficulty swallowing at times. I and I have some reddening of my skin. Apparently you only need 2 of the 5 CREST symptoms to be diagnosed with it. Difficultly swallowing isn't because of my band. I've had 2 UGIs and Endoscopies to rule it out. I will be having sinus surgery on the 19th but that's shouldn't cause the "lump in my throat" feeling

GREAT POST LISSA, AS SHE SAID ITS ONLY NATURAL TO HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS. yOU WILL BE FINE. yOU WILL BUILD A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD. PLUS IF YOU WERE GONNA LOOSE THAT WIEGHT YOU WOULD ALREADY HAVE. I LOST 65 POUNDS GETTING READY FOR SURGERY, I TOO THOUGHT MAYBE I CAN DO THIS ON MY OWN, I COULDNT. I AM DOWN A TOTAL OF 154 POUNDS 86 SINCE SURGERY ON 4/20.........COULDNT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT MY SLEEVE. YOU WILL BE FINE AND GOOD LUCK

@ChicagoRose @Bandista & @LisaCaron Thank you all so much!! It hasn't been an easy road but stick with it and I promise it will be worth it! What you said is huge, just because you didn't loose a pound be happy you didn't gain either! This is a lifestyle change and I know people will say that to you but it really is. I decided to take this journey really young (20 y/o) so I know if I don't make the right changes, in the end, I could go right back! Try to slowly add exercise and COUNT your calories! You can easily still eat 1400 calories a day if you don't pay attention with a band. I try to stay under 1000! And once your in the green zone it's much easier! Stay strong, have faith and talk about how you are feeling with you dr. I was 240 pounds less than a year ago! And even with my plateau I've still lost 1 lb a week averaged out! Feel free to message me with any questions or follow me on MFP!! thank you so much for all your kind words!

Hi All, I just got my date today and its in 2 weeks time. I have to start the Optifast this Thursday which will be ok I as its the begining of my journey. I wanted to as, did any of you have uneasy thoughts about having the port under your skin? I know thousands of people have had this done and I would like to know if any of you also felt uneasy about the port. Thanks Gerry:ohmy:

Like most, my story starts off the same; I started gaining weight as a child; I’d say around the age of 7 or 8, which was a about two years after I had my tonsils removed (the only surgery I’ve ever had!). I was raised by my grandparents and had a happy childhood. I never wanted for anything, including food. There was always food around, whether it was leftovers or snacks granny would buy just for us kids. Our lunch boxes were always full, because we participated in the after school care program, so Granny always packed extra snacks for late in the after noon after school. A normal lunch could consist of: 1 whole ham sandwich, ½ a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, apple/orange slices, pudding cup, fruit gummies, and two fruit juice boxes. THIS is A LOT for an 8 y/o girl. I don’t blame my grandmother, though now as an adult and an aunt of a 6 y/o niece, I do realize that maybe our grandmother gave us these things to appease us. We were active to an extent, and maybe she thought it would be ok. I think this was the age where I gradually began to put on weight. It was noticeable, but I guess not enough to really bother me. I knew I was bigger than the girls in my class. We attended a private school where we had to where uniforms daily and during PE. So, when buying PE clothes and having to get an “Adult Lg/XLg”, it dawned on me that I was a little bigger. When I reached the 5th grade my weight still didn’t hinder my childhood, but it was obvious that I was going in a downward spiral. I tried out for cheerleading and I made the team, but I couldn’t wear any of the uniforms that the squad already had. They had to order one specifically for me because I was larger. Some would see this as an embarrassment, but at that time in my life. I felt like I was meant to be the way I was. I wasn’t worried about getting bigger and in my mind, I felt like I was special because I got a “NEW” uniform. (I was obviously in denial) I played volley ball and basketball 6th and 7th grade. Still the chunkiest girl in class, but I didn’t let this bother me. I never had any incidents with bullying or name calling in school (thank GOD), and I always had plenty of friends. Summer of 8th grade was an eye opener for me. My family owns a funeral home, so one day I went with my Dad to pick up a body from the airport. While waiting for him to sign paperwork and talk to the “man”, I saw a large scale used for boxes and packages to be shipped. Making sure no one was around; I stepped on the scale only to see that I was 220llbs. I was mortified! Here I was all of but 13 years old, and I was 220lbs, not much less than my 40 something year old dad. I believe this was when I started to NOT weigh myself anymore. From this point on when anyone asked me my weight “I didn’t know…” nor did I want to know out of embarrassment. Buying uniforms, I realized that we had to special order my uniform skirts. I remember an incident when the lady was measuring me and gave my waistline as somewhere between 40-44 inches, and my grandmother making an “oh my goodness” sound under her breath. Of course my head was hanging low and the lady must have noticed this. She said, “Don’t feel bad, that was another girl in here and she needed a 48!” I guess she told me this to make me feel better, and I suppose at the time, it did; knowing that I wasn’t the only one. Like I said 8th grade was the turning point. I didn’t want to participate in school functions as much. Going on school field trips to theme parks was embarrassing because even though I could still fit the roller coasters at that time, I would be forced to sit on certain rows that were made to accommodate the “larger” rider because it had two belts instead of one. In the end of the year 8th grade program where we performed the stages of the cross, I readily jumped for a speaking role, because I didn’t want to go through the embarrassment of not being able to fit any of the costumes. When it came time for us to give our height and weight for cap and gowns? Well, of course I “didn’t know” my weight. After graduating 8th grade I wasn’t all too excited about high school other than the fact that the braces I had from 6th through the 8th grade, were coming off before my 9th grade year started. So, in my mind I said, “I may be fat, but at least I have an awesome smile!” Once again I didn’t have any issues with being made fun of at school, but I still felt out of place. I could barely fit into the desks (the kind where the seat is connected to the desk), I was still wearing size 40-44 waist pants/skirts, and just felt like… not a normal teenager. The summer following my 9th grade year, but grandmother decided to take a stand. She told me I’d be spending 6 weeks at a weight loss camp for teenagers. I was mortified! I refused to go, but in the back of my head I remembered seeing an episode of the cartoon “Wait Til Your Father Gets Home” and the daughter on the show was over weight, she happened to go to a “fat farm” and came back looking “HOT”. LoL! I laugh now, but I believed that if I didn’t come back svelte, that I would’ve at least lost a little weight. So, I went to the camp, and I learned a few things (I didn’t retain the info, though), met a few friends, lost a few inches, and lost enough weight to where I could notice a difference in my face and the way my clothes fit; my family noticed too. I was happy to be home, because I’m definitely a homebody/family oriented person. I was able to share a few “diet” recipes with everyone; who were more than obliged to try. I went back to school, and no one noticed. Which I think took away my drive for losing weight. My friends and teachers didn’t notice. So in the end, nothing stuck. We were your typical African- American family. Most family functions revolved around food, so whatever weight/ inches lost were gained back, plus more. From what I can remember, I’ve never bought clothes made for people my age. I was always in the next section over. Whether it be huskies, plus sized teen, or women’s. If memory serves me correctly, I’ve been wearing anywhere between a size 20 – 22/24 since 7th or 8th grade. I think about this now at the age of 24 and I realize that being that size at the age of 13 is just horrible and wrong. As I’ve gotten older, it sucks that if I decide to go shopping with friends, that I can’t shop in the same stores. When going out to clubs, I sit in the corner and drink my drinks, even when I know I LOVE to dance. I don’t feel comfortable in the clothes I wear 75% of the time. You know that feeling when you’re walking into somewhere and you’re just constantly pulling down your shirt or pulling up your pants, making sure you look ok in them, when you feel huge? I remember being in either late middle school or a freshman in high school, when Carney Wilson went public with her RNY surgery. It seemed like an easy fix in my head. To be honest, I thought about doing it for about 30 minutes, and just wasn’t interested. And I figured being as young as I was, that they wouldn’t approve it for me (which they hadn’t at that time, approved this procedure for young teens). It seemed scary and invasive, so RNY was an awesome tool for WL, but it wasn’t for me. A few years later, my mom mentioned the lapband after seeing a few infomercials. At this time in my life I had accepted my size. I didn’t think anything was going to change. I had had at least one boyfriend so I knew men liked me as I was. I wasn’t an ugly person, so why couldn’t I be happy with the size God made me? I again brushed the lapband idea aside as well. In 2008 I began working at my local hospital. As I’ve gotten older in life, my friends and family are starting to settle, and I still feel as though I haven’t done much. Like something has been hindering me this entire time. I found out that I have PCOS, which was likely due to my obesity. I started developing hair on my face (sideburns) and hair under my chin. I didn’t realize then that this is also attributed to obesity, I just pushed it off on our Cuban heritage. After getting health insurance, in what had been years without, I went to see a doctor for an annual and learned about all the things that were wrong with me. I’ve developed high blood pressure. Not to the extent of having to take meds, but I’m on the tipping point. My glucose levels have been testing high, which one doctor states may be causing my irregular periods and PCOS. So now I’ve been medicating that issue with Metformin… As I get older I know my problems will only get worse if I don’t do something about them now. Both my parents and grandparents suffer from Adult onset Diabetes. Both my parents have high blood pressure, both are over weight, and my dad uses a BIPAP machine to sleep at night. I decided to change because I don’t want to live this way. I want to be able to have kids, and not worry about being too overweight to play and spend time with them. I feel as though I’m young enough still to correct this issue. I still have a life to live! My main issue with accepting that this is something that I WANT to do, is worrying about what my family, my friends, and my peers will think. I’ve already discussed loosing weight and I’ve had negative comments like, “you wouldn’t look good smaller”, which is mind blowing. I want to do something to better my health and you say “I wouldn’t look good?!” I don’t want people to think I’m doing this for vanity reasons. Though it would be nice to say I went shopping in a store that I never thought I would or to be able to wear a bathing suit without shorts AND a tshirt on (LoL), but it’s not about how I look, because I know I’m pretty. It’s about how I FEEL! I feel fat, I feel overweight, I feel like my body is stopping me from doing the things I want to do. I’m a summer baby (Zodiac: Cancer), so I feel like I could be this active person, I already have a bubbly personality; I just need the body to go with it. So, my reason for doing this is my health, and my future children. I want to be there for them… HELL I just want to be around period! So I’m going to make this effort and hopefully everything will work out in the end.

@ckji don't know the answer but I have noticed the same thing I had oily skin on face after surgery so dry all over the desert lol still somewhat dry but seems to be balancing out

There are probably a few different things going on here, including hormonal changes and the fact that you are not eating very much, if any, fat anymore. I, too, had terribly oily skin prior to surgery, I imagine it was because I was the BUTTER QUEEN! Now I have to put a very thick and LUSCIOUS cream on it (CeraVe in the big tub, find at Walmart), and do that twice a day. Summer will be worse as it is far drier here at that time of year. But think of it this way: if it's leaving your face, it's leaving other areas, as well!!!!!! Yay!!!

The whole banding procedure was great for me. I did not have much discomfort. My scars are healing well and looks like small scratches, except where my port is located. That incision was just a little larger and is more sensative since the port was sewn to the muscle. However, it feels and looks better everyday. It has been almost 2 weeks since I had my lapband surgery. I want to know how much liquids or puried foods you guys have been able to consume. I can drink a sixteen ounce bottle in a short amount of time and have 1 cup of broth, Soup and cream of wheat. I only have them for meals, 3 times per day. My Doctor did tell me that my band was very loose after the surgery. I don't want to over eat. I have read about some people having no restriction after the surgery untill their first fill.

:thumbup:I have lost 26.5 lbs total.... 20 of them came off right after surgery because of all the liquids... 1st fill: 4cc's 2nd fill: 1.5 cc's 3rd fill: (this week) .75 cc's Down to around 227 lbs, which means 27 more until I reach my first goal weight of 200. (Thats my doctors goal).... Ultimately I'd like to get down to around 170... We shall see. I continue to eat less and less, use much less insulin, I don't snore anymore according to my hubby, and all my clothes are getting way loose. I can't eat anything but oatmeal, yogurt, etc (slidy things) in the morning, which is fine because I'm not too much of a breakfast fan anyway. For whatever reason my band seems to become looser during the course of the day, and is loosest late at night which happens to be when I'm way more likely to pig out unfortunately. can't tolerate any white breads anymore, toasted or not, no rice, no cold chicken (random I know, but I found this out last night, yikes) Stuff getting stuck is the most painful thing ever. I absolutely hate it. This can happen when I havn't chewed sufficiently, or when I try something my band rejects... For instance I chewed the living daylights out of a bite of blueberry muffin the other day, was pratically liquid going down... couldn't tolerate it, came back up. I do tend to feel satisfied longer, on smaller portions, although not drinking anything during meals sucks. It's a strange, crazy trip. I hope I continue too lose, and hope the pace picks up a bit. I'de be more than happy with a pound or 2 a week but sometimes dont' budge one bit.

today was an great day, loss another pound even if its just water weight i still dnt want lose it to fast. dnt want to much loose skin. already people are noticing.and i like that cnt wait to lose another 20 lbs...

My name is Leslie, i've been obese since i was a little kid, i weight over 200 pounds starting in fifth grade, never really had any friends, kids were always so mean...but my family was worse......my own grandparents don't even have pictures of me up on the walls in their home, and they only have 2 grandchildren.....and pictures everywhere of my lesser obese cousin....it really saddens me when i visit them and see that....when i was 18 and graduated high school i decided i wanted to loose weight, i stopped drinking sodas, and ate alot less, and only once a day, and stopped eating sweets, and i lost 80 pounds, weigthed about 250, was able to fit into blue jeans that didn't have ellastic that was like the best feeling, but it wasn't good enough for my famiily, they told me i had to keep loosing, and not to eat this and not to drink that, and them harrassing me just got me down, my entire life they harrassed me on my weight and they couldn't have just been proud of me that i lost 80 pounds in only 3 mothes, so i got what i wanted out of the weight loss ( a boyfriend) and then started eating and drinking whatever i wanted again, and gained all the weight back, luckily not right away, it was about a year or so before it all came back, and as i was in and out of relationships the weight would come on and off, i'd loose weight when i wasn't in a relationship and gained weight by being comfortable in a relationship, of course most of the guys i went out with were also overweight so they liked sodas, sweets, and fast food restaraunts, not a friend to someone trying to loose weight.....but then i met my husband moved from san antonio to dallas after knowing him 1 week, and after 1 month living with him i gained 30 pounds, weighing 300 when i met him, we lived with his parents the first month, and they had sodas galore in their house, and all the sweets you can imagine, and every chip available, i love them to death but the temptations in their house are awful to someone who needs to loose weight, so yea i started drinking sodas again, before i met my hubby i was off sodas for a while, and the first 30 pounds came fast....then we got our own place and started trying for a baby, we weren't having any luck getting pregnant, i wasn't having regular periods, i haven't had regular periods since junior high, so after we married in nov we went to the doc to find out why we weren't getting pregnant, and after being treated horribliy by the obgyn telling us there was "no magic pill i can give you to get pregnant" those are her exact words, and not what we were looking for......we had tests done....found out i had a thyroid problem, but oddly enough i had the thyroid problem that affects skinny people, which happens to also be the thyroid problem that the meds you have to take are not safe to get pregnant on, so that left us with only one option, to kill off my thyroid and have me become hypothryoid....so that happened about a year after we met plus a few monthes, and i was bed ridden for about 3 monthes, in horrible pain after i had my throid killed off waiting for the meds to level off and have normal thyroid levels....i could barely move, my neck would cramp up my back would cramp up, it hurt to lay down, to sit up , to do anything so this was another 30 pounds added to my weight gain.....so now the biggest i've ever been in my entire life and can't do some simple things that i used to be able to do i'm so misserable.....then all the meds i'm taking to get my hormones in check to give me periods and to make me ovulate cause me to gain another 20 pounds......so now i'm really uncomfortable, i mean i was always used to being a big girl but 80 pounds on top of what i was used to being is ridiculous and so uncomfortable, i told my husband a few weeks ago if the clomid didnt work this month to make me ovulate that i want to have the lapband surgery, and of course the clomid did not work.....so i talked with my obgyn and she said having the lapband surgery would be a very good idea.....and go figure a week later and i have my first period on my own in probably about 2 years, my husband was thinking about trying just in case i ovulate on my own too......but i told him no, i decided i want to have this surgery, i don't want to try till after i have this surgery and get the ok to start trying.....it was just so depressing all those monthes trying and thinking maybe this time....and then getting a negative pregnancy test, i just want to feel like me again, and if i loose more then the 80 pounds to get me back to the "me weight" the weight i'm used to, then thats just an extra bonus.....

I did and still do lol. I am two months post op and still ask myself most days will this work for me? What if it doesn't? I asked myself these questions mostly in the beginning when I could barely eat after the surgery, and with the pain I felt at the port site. I am now confident that it will work and your body just needs to get used to this new little device that is doing it's thing underneath the skin. Good luck with your new way of life

:drool:Well, what a surprise, kind of sort of. Went for my one month check up and he says, Ok let's do your fill! Nerves set in. He leaned me back with a pillow rolled under my lower back for me to arch up. He pokes and pokes to find port, says "lean your head and shoulders up" so now I am doing a semi "crunch". He finds it, sticks it, rolls it around to get to the po( had to go in through and angle due to incision not dissolving correctly) then I feel it, my port. It felt weird to have something in there with no feeling since it is plastic. He filled, then had me drink to see if I felt pressure. I sipped and sipped then did feel the pressure, like the water pooled up in my chest, so he took a bit out. THEN the hurting happened. Those incisons that did not dissolve, he had to pull them out! OUCH! Now I have two open wounds. But, I am SIKED that I have my fill. I ate some oatmeal (since I am still on mushy) and could only eat about 1/3 cup. So YES I will loose this weight! I did also loose about 5 lbs in the past three weeks, and he said that was good for the healing stage. I am just on cloud nine that the procedures are going so timely and smoothly, with a couple of bumps here and there. Yippee!

Banded 3/5/12 down 25 doesn't seem like enough but I'm not complaining... Skin is loose so I know that exercise works for me but I've been a little down the last few Months and figured my head isn't really into what I should be doing had a few slip ups a few stuck moments but I'm back in the game now. Starting insanity today looking for some results , has anybody done this or p90x?

loose skin is a very individual thing depending on so many factors. Some people have a lot of it, others don't. It's hard to tell how yours is going to be. Like the above poster said, your age is a big advantage, but you're probably going to have at least some with a 100 lb loss. For most of us, though, it's pretty easy to hide. I knew mine was there, of course, as did my husband and doctor, but no one else did. Most of mine was in my abdomen, so I just tucked the skin into my jeans or leggings and wore slightly oversized, longish tops to cover it up. Ta da! Gone. I did finally get sick of looking at it, though, and had it removed, but I highly doubt anyone who sees me can tell a difference. Naked - yes - but with clothes on - no. I just want to add that a majority of pre-ops and early post-ops seem to be really obsessed with loose skin. I've worked with pre-op groups for the past two years and that question comes up EVERY TIME. I would also say that after losing all that weight, many of us (me too!) wonder why we wasted even one brain cell worrying about it. Losing a ton of the excess weight MAJORLY offsets the loose skin thing. I would take my loose skin any day over weighing 300+ lbs again. ANY DAY!!!! btw - here is a picture of me BEFORE I had plastic surgery. I lost over 200 lbs. See all that loose skin? I don't, either...

Abbie - for me, the surgery was the easiest surgery I have ever had. I didn't have any gas pains (proactively took GasX just in case), the pain wasn't even pain - it was soreness, which goes away completely within 2 weeks. I was literally up and cleaning my daughter's house (stayed with her the first two days post surgery) and doing her laundry and feeling fine. For me, it was a breeze and I know it will be the best tool I have ever had, along with the hope and knowledge that I will one day be thin and be healthier. Again, keep in mind, the first several months post surgery, most people don't feel any restriction and even question whether or not they actually have a band - I did. I have had one fill of 5cc in my 11cc band and still don't have any restriction. I can eat anything and everything i want - which is good and bad. Good because I have more time to convert to a new life style and become more focused about loosing weight and eating healthier, but bad as I have only lost 10 lbs. in 6 weeks. My next fill is April 2nd - hoping to start filling restriction so that I can eat only 1/2 cup of food and be full. That is my dream. I say go for it - I don't the only regret many people ever have is not doing it sooner. Good Luck girl!!

Ugh. So I've been thinking about lap band for years. Last May I decided I wanted to actually look into it and see what I needed to do. The doc gave me a whole bunch of things to do before I could qualify with him for surgery. Loose 15lbs, (I was at 360, 6' tall) which, I've lost 10, then gained it back and now I'm at 360 again. Heart clearance, sleep apnea tests, sleep studies, nutrition counceling, psych test, plus assembling lots of info. I've done everything except loosing 15lbs and the barium swallow. I can't schedule that because I need to be 330lbs to get the barium swallow. I feel like every time I make a move, there's another road block. I commit to go bike riding to get active and loose weight - I get a flat tire. I suck it up, do it again. Get another flat tire. Now I finally schedule the barium swallow and I find out I need to loose 30lbs before I can even do that. I'm starting to get super defeated here. I'm dragging my feet as it is because the idea of the surgery scares the heck out of me. It's just so frustrating though. I haven't been 330 in about 5 years. I feel like if I could diet down adn loose 30lbs, I would have done it already. I did it once, about 10 years ago. I went from like 310 to 260 but I didn't have a child, I had a lot more cash flow for healthy eating and I was way more active. It slowly crept up, then I got pregnant, then my son had some medical issues - that's when the stress eatting really kicked up into high gear. The doc wont' do the surgery if you weigh more than 350lbs. Which doesn't really make sense either, since I know other people who weighed more than that who've gotten the surgery - just from a diff doc. This is the only one in my area though, so, I'm kinda stuck! I'm not sure what I'm looking for here. Just a bit of a rant. I'm not telling anyone except my hubby about the surgery so I don't have anybody to rant to really. I'm just feeling emotional too because I turned 30 this week and this is not what I wanted to look like on my 30th birthday.

Barb, I too had doubts as my surgery got closer. I think some doubts are normal. It is a major life style change, and one that you can't change your mind when you get tired of doing it. A week before my surgery, I started wondering if I was doing the right thing. I have always been fat, and have tried EVERYTHING under the sun to loose weight. I would always loose 40-50 pounds when I joined Weight Watchers (would you believe I joined 17 times!?!) But always gain it back when I got bored with the diet and quit. Usually gained another 5-10 lbs along with the 40-50 I had lost. Also tired Diet Center, Curves, Redux (the miracle diet pill. One of the side effects was supposed to be erotic dreams. I was really bummed when that didn't happen to me, and I didn't even loose that much weight on it!) Also tired Weigh Down Workshop, NutriSystem, Medifast, Optifast, Jenny Craig, Overeaters Annon., Overeaters Victorious, Slim Fast, etc., etc., etc. But now my health is at stake. As I enter my 60's (OMG that sounds old!) I find that I am (was) pre-diabetic, my blood pressure was creeping up, my cholesterol was up (I was on statin meds for that), I had really bad gastric reflux (on meds for that too), sleep apnea (breathing machine at night), bad arthritis (more meds) and the only thing I could see was more medical problems heading my way. I am (I think) a YOUNG 62, and want to live and enjoy my life for years to come yet. So I decided to commit to this and do it! I am bound and determined to get down to a normal weight and stay there. I wrote to a good friend who had a Roux N Y surgery 6-8 years ago, and asked her if she would do it again if she had it to do over. She said "in a heartbeat!" She has really struggled, and gained some of her weight loss back (lost over 120 lbs and gained 40-50 back). But says she is so much more comfortable and healthy now that she wouldn't go back for anything.I think you need to concentrate on one of the last things you said in your post "You ARE worth the effort!" Best of luck. Keep us all posted on how you are doing!

To all of my vets!! Did anyone have to get a tummy tuck after a huge amount of weight loss? If so, did your insurance cover it, As it being Medically Necessary? I know some people said they snapped back without a tummy tuck and others had very loose skin.

@@khuuxo I am not sure how much weight you have to lose. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if it is a lot it is likely that your apron will only continue to drop. When I started this process I never thought I would consider having plastics and that I would be simply happy with the weight loss all by itself. For me, I lost 152lbs which is nearly what I weigh now. I call it the mudslide that happens when there is extreme weight loss. So, in July I happily met with plastic surgeons and decided I would need to do something. The mudslide has actually made my back issues that I had before surgery worse. So I started with a arm lift in July and was amazed at how much it helped my neck which is fused at 3 levels. Not to mention I got outstanding results cosmetically. In 12 days I will have a full abdominalplasty and breast lift because they are not where god intended them. I am doing this to get rid of all that loose skin and am actually hoping I get some relief on my low and mid back. My lumbar is also fused but most of my back pain is in my mid back. I guess I found that my journey wasn't complete simply after the weight loss. I simply gained a lot of confidence which not only fixed my inside but made me want to enter the second part of my journey which was getting rid of the loose skin. How much loose skin you end up with all depends on things like: how much you have to lose, genetics, age. I am guessing if you have gone through WLS chances are you have a considerable amount to lose? Best of luck to you as you continue your journey.