The first few October guys and gals will be joining the losers' bench today! Please let us know how you are doing as soon as you feel up to it. I'm joining you tomorrow. :-)

Molly (10/2/13)

How's everyone doing? I'm 14 lbs from goal. Feeling great.

Almost at the 11 month mark, it's gone by so fast! I'm feeling great, still 20 pounds off goal. I went on a cruise last month and got a bit off track, scale hasn't moved an ounce in almost 3 months. So I'm doing a week of liquids right to kind of purge system and get back on track.

How is everyone else doing since we're almost at our year mark?

I just hit 100 woot woot...still need to get under 200. .feel great the right pic is pre surgery left is now

Well the 1 year mark is fast approaching!!!

How are you all feeling?

Reading back thru the last few post I'm glad to see I'm not the only one struggling not that I want to see anyone struggle or fail but I have been having a hard time the past couple months, I need to get refocused some how.. I did reach 100 loss last week but still would like to lose about 30 more. I was surprised at how much hunger came back, I get my water and protein in and nothing makes me dump... I think I need to change my job for a bit so I can really focus on changing me... good luck all

I agree with Truckerchic about the issues that caused you to gain weight in the first place being the ones we still have to battle. I am not physically hungry very often but my head hunger is crazy. I am working on it and have an appointment to see a counselor next Tuesday.

I have had sleep apnea for years and unfortunately it didn't go away with my 115 lb weight loss. As a matter of fact, I had a new sleep study in May of this year because I was feeling sleepy driving to work. I discovered I could lower the pressure on my CPAP significantly, but that I had Restless Leg Syndrome which was making me wake several times during the night. I began taking Ropinerole.

The Ropinerole helped with the RLS and I began to sleep better but I think it is messing with my Anxiety disorder that I treat with Lexapro. I have periods of high anxiety, irratability and impulsivity. The impulsivity is making it hard to ignore my head hunger.

I figured all this out in the past two weeks by reading the side effects of Ropinerole. Since the Sleep Doctor doesn't want to touch the mental health side effects, and feels the Ropinole has solved the RLS and sleep issue, I am waitiing on an appointment with the pychiatrist for med review. That will happen in the next two weeks. The appointments are not fast to schedule.

In the mean time I haven't gained much weight, two to three pounds, because I walk every day. Gotta get this fixed FAST.

Sorry for the side trip, but whatever food issues you had before don't go away when you have bariatric surgery. At first the extreme weight loss from small amounts of food do their job, then when the weight loss evens out and you can eat 3/4 cup at each meal, you have to work on the head issues.

If you commit to exercise it can boost your mood and give you some reprieve as you work on the bad habits that resurface. I have hope I will resolve all this. Good luck to all of you as you face your issues also.

Hi OMG October peeps,

I can't believe it, but today is my first "surgiversary." It ranks as one of the best decisions of my life so far. 105 lbs gone!

How is everyone doing?!

Molly

Oh my devil!! You look amazing!!! I love the red hair, you are rocking it!!

You look so much healthier and happier!

Thanks so much! I do feel much better than a year ago. The weight has come off slowly but steadily. This is a new hairstyle. Shortest since I was 17 years old.

I can't wait to Celebrate everyone's surgiversaries this month!!!

I just posted this in the success stories forum, but you OMG Octobers are my friends and supporters, so I hope you don't mind this long recap of my journey:

Today, I'm celebrating my first surgiversary! 105 lbs gone from my HW. Time to share my story:

I was morbidly obese for the majority of the last 20 years. I'd diet and lose 30 only to regain 40. Sound familiar?

My ankles and left shoulder were in constant pain from old injuries, bone spurs and edema. I could barely get up from a chair without assistance. Exercise was very difficult. I thought that having surgery to repair my ankles would be the answer to getting moving again. In January 2012, I had surgery to remove bone spurs and repair my left Achilles' tendon. A week later I had bilateral pulmonary embolisms. Luckily (obviously), I survived, but even with the surgery, my left ankle isn't any better.

It was during 2012 that the start-up my husband worked for was acquired. Starting in 2013, we'd have insurance that would cover WLS. I made a plan to get a lapband with my family doctor and he was very supportive.

With the new insurance, I had to have 6 months of documented visits with a nutritionist. For those visits, the nutritionist recommended changing one or two habits per month. I'm a gadget girl, so the first one I tried was to log my food into MyFitnessPal. I'm proud to say that since March 2013, I have only missed 1 day logging my food. Other habits changed during that time included cutting out soda/carbonated drinks, no straws, eating more frequently, measuring/weighing my food, chewing 30 times, separating liquids from meals, etc.

At month 4 pre-op, it was time to finally meet the WLS clinic team to start their process which included a psych eval, meeting the WLS nutritionist and my surgeon. My surgeon told me that a sleeve or RNY would be a better option for me than the lapband. I had an upper endoscopy which uncovered an issue (Barrett's Esophagus) which ruled out the sleeve. RNY is was!

I was fast tracked to have my surgery in August, but the week before the boot camp WLS class, my husband was laid off. In the severance package, the company was going to continue coverage for us, but there would be a month where it would appear that we didn't have insurance. Ugh. Then the morning of the boot camp class, I got a call from my family doctor's office that I had appendicitis and needed to go to the hospital at 1 pm to possibly have it removed. The strangest part was that I wasn't in any pain! It turned out to be a false alarm (duh) from a CT scan I had done.

Once insurance was straightened out and the RNY was approved, my date was set:10/2/13

For all the worries I had about the RNY surgery and recovery, that was the easiest part for me. Nothing dramatic or even remarkable happened. I was back to work at my desk job 10 days later.

I've followed the clinic's plan and have lost pretty steadily with only the typical 2 week stall and a month stall in July.

I could exercise a bit more. I found that I will stick to an exercise plan for a month or so, but then I get bored, busy or both. I just signed up to learn to be a Strong Women leader (it's an evidence-based exercise program for middle-aged women to build strength as we age. ) Two of my co-workers and I are planning to lead free lunch time classes for our colleagues probably starting in December. I think if I'm teaching, I'll be more likely to keep up with it. Plus it will be fun!

I was a fashion merchandising major as an undergrad, but it was expensive and difficult to be fashionable when I was obese. I'm having so much fun now shopping for clothes in the local thrift stores. Recently, I've had to buy all new shoes because I'm now a size smaller.

Another unexpected bonus is that I've made some new amazing friends through the local WLS support group. We eat dinner at great local restaurants once a month. It's pretty funny when there are leftovers from 5 people sharing one pizza. :-)

One fear pre-op I had was that I would lose interest in my favorite hobby: cooking. I'm happy to report that cooking is still my main hobby, but what I cook and how I cook has changed dramatically. Now that I get full so quickly, I want everything I eat to be tasty and nutritious. I'm no saint, but most of the time I'm satisfied and my family is as well. We just don't have the junk around. Everyone is reading labels before deciding to buy or eat. I was the only obese member of my nuclear family, but we've all gotten healthier as I've lost post-op.

Health wise, my ankles are still problems but less so because the edema is gone now. I now don't have to have help getting up from a chair. Pre-op, I took Celebrex for swelling and pain. Since a week post-op, I've only taken 6 Tylenols. I think 100+ lbs gone has lessened the strain on them.

If you've stuck through this long, rambling- thank you for listening! Now, it's your turn!

Molly

Congrats, Molly. You look great.

Please be forewarned, I have added a few skin photos.

So today is also my surgiversary! !! When I started this journey, I knew I was a big girl, but I never knew how big. This has not been an easy year as you know, but it has been totally worth it!!

I started this journey at 333 pounds. I currently weigh 173 pounds. I have lost exactly 160 pounds. I have lost 90% of my excess body weight.

I feel like I have been successful on this journey and the team will be proud.

I am not a poster child for this journey, but I have made so many changes in my life, that I feel I am a healthy person now.

I love my life, love my body and I could not have made a better decision for myself.

There are a few things I have personally learned this year that I would like to share.

1. This is a horrible mind game! You have heard this before, but it is terrible. There are some days I feel like I am never losing more weight and will get fat again, and have not changed anything.. This is a cycle. Most days are great! But just remember, like susan always days, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Give yourself a break!

2. Fiber and water!!! Bowel movements are very important!

3. Fitness. Learn to love it, learn to embrace it. This is something that everyone should embrace. I highly recommend it. If you have physical ailments that inhibit you from doing one thing, do something else. I cannot express how important this one is!

Although some days the scale defines me, I try not to let it define me. I am at a stage now where every pound does not come off without a lot of work!! So that is a huge victory, both scale and non - scale.

The excess skin, I have it, and it sucks. But it does not define me nor does it bother me. It hides well in clothing and I don't care. To show, I have added some before skin photos and after skin photos to show. You can also see in my other photos, the skin isn't a big deal with clothing on.

Thank you for being there for me over the last year!

So, here are some pictures!

Congratulations! You look amazing!

Edited October 31, 201411 yr by DevilBlueDress

Hey October peeps! I have a question, how has your stomach capacity been? I was at one point great with eating about 12 ounces of food in one sitting, including a well balanced meal high in protein, and not incredibly dense. Super dense foods have been around 8 ounces.

The last month and a half, my stomach can only eat maybe 6 ounces max at a sitting.

Have you noticed you capacity getting smaller at all? I am not vomiting or anything, so I am certain I am not developing a stricture. But, I do find this kinda weird lol my experience is most people say they can eat more

How are you doing October peeps? Have you reached goal yet? I have not

I am 20-30 pounds from goal, and am focusing on strength training again.

How are you?