Hey Guys,

It's been quite a while since I have posted on my blog here but I know how much others like to see the progress of those who have had this surgery. I also enjoy looking back on my progress. Well firstly, my current weight is 194. My initial weight was around 325lbs, so I've lost about 130 lbs so far. I really haven't lost more than 4-5lbs this year, but ofcourse I haven't really been putting in much effort. However, I find that I am able to maintain any weight that I lose. My goal is still to get to 170lbs. To be honest I have been a little apprehensive to lose more weight because I'm not happy with the way my naked body looks. My concern is that if I loose more weight I will just become more saggy and have more loose skin. I've really been taking a really hard look at my body and I feel that I need alot of plastic surgery to obtain a more aesthetically pleasing and shapely appearance. To be clear, I believe I need a tummy tuck, a thigh lift, butt lift, breast augmentation and probably liposuction. Everybody's body is different and I probably wouldn't have had as much lose skin had I lost weight at a younger age. (I'm 37) Also, I probably would have needed to do some form of strength training aka weight lifting. Perhaps I would have firmed up a little better. I mostly focused on cardio exercise because I didn't want to do exercises that I knew would frustrate me and make want to give up an exercise program. Right now, I really haven't been doing any formal exercise, but my energy level is so much higher since losing weight that I find it difficult to sit still for very long periods of time. So I'm sure that helps me to burn calories.

Ok, now about my eating habits. I eat pretty much whatever I want. Obviously, I cannot eat large quatities of food. I can probably consume about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of food at one sitting depending on what I eat and how empty my stomach is to begin with. If I decided to eat a cheeseburger from checkers for instance. I may be able to eat half or maybe the whole thing but that's it, no fries. Not that I should be eating from that particular place! I will admit that my diet does consist of a significant amount of high fat foods and I tend to think that this in part to wanting to feel satisfied because of not eating high quantities of food. Ofcourse, old habits die hard too so I wll blame it on that too. I definitely try to eat healty food as well such as salads, fruits and vegetables. I probably eat about 4-5 small meals and/or snacks per day. I do drink regular juice more that I like to admit to, but I drink diet teas, crystal light and water as well. I do still eat too fast or don't chew well from time to time and I will vomit or rather have a PB (productive burp) episode. This may happen 1 to 2 times per week. It really does not bother me too much that it happens but it can be embarrassing at times to have to run to the bathroom or grab something real quick to vomit in. It's usually caused by me trying to eat and drink really fast at the same time. Basically my doctor recomended that I don't eat and drink together but I will admit that I do it and usually have no problem if I take my time. I don't have to eat really slowly or anything, I just can't scarf my food down in a hurry. I can say that fibrous foods are foods that I tend to avoid because they don't go down easy. Unfortunately that does include vegetables. I eat them but I like them cooked well. I love spinach and broccoli. I like cabbage and peppers but things like that don't always go down easy if not cooked to being soft. I really love seafood, particularly fish, scallops, and crabs. My sinful pleasure is haagen daaz ice cream . But again, I might eat tablespoon or two and I'm satisfied, unlike before my surgery when I would eat half of a pint.

I'm overdue to get my band checked, but haven't been back to the doctor since being laid off from work and losing my health insurance. I had my band tightened about a year and a half ago (i think) and I got a great level of restriction that I haven't wanted to increase or decrease. Every so often I may have a dull ache around my port area, but it's rare, almost like a cramp. I don't drink carbonated drinks because they are supposed to cause some sort of problem, but I do take ibuprofen from time to time which is a no no because supposedly they can cause ulcers. I've been taking a multivitamin regularly. Overall, I feel good. I don't have any pain around the band area. I consider the surgery to be a success. I'm just looking forward to the next phase which is to get plastic surgery. I don't think I will have any difficulty losing the last 25lbs once I really get serious about losing weight again as I work toward my goal of plastic surgery. I hope this offers some helpful information to someone and good luck to all on your weight loss journeys!

W8TYGIRL

AKA

KIA