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I can officially say I"m in the 170"s. I weigh between 178 & 179. I offically lost 70lbs. My 2 year anniv is 3/25/12. I'm happy.

I think I am adjusting pretty well. So far I have lost 12 pounds in the almost month since surgery. I have my first fill on 3/14. I still am feeling pretty good. I do not eat anymore than 1/2- 1 cup at a time and I always eat my protein first. Water is a bit of a struggle because I have to make sure that I drink it slow enough to not cause this overwhelming feeling of being super full. Mushies have been so great!! But honestly I am not looking forward to solids. The thought kinda scares me. I know I can not stay on soft food forever, but i just am not looking forward to regular food. And I will be back to liquid and mushies after I get my fill for a day or two, so I really will not have a chance to actually be on solids for long. Sigh....... I am enjoying not being focused on food and also I have learned the difference in between being hungry and just eating for the heck of it! My mother is not really happy that I did this. She told me that between her and my brother that they thought I was being vain and it was not as though I was spilling out of my clothes and falling out of my seat. Well, I am never going to spill out of clothes, because I always have clothes that fit. But buying a size 24 in said clothes is not ideal. Oh and nevermind that I take meds for high BP for two years( I was able to stop those recently) or that my back, knees and feet were hurting all the time. My feet will swell at the drop of a hat due to the amount of walking I do and the weight I carry. I am only 37 years old and quite honestly I should not have these "old lady issues" So it hurt my feeling when she said it, but I just told her that I did this for me and my health. I can't place my health and expectations on no one but me. I have been getting lots of compliments on how defined my face is looking. I looked in the mirror and it actually looked "skinny" to me!! I can not express how happy I am that I have made the choice to do this!

Wednesday night was the Seminar on WLS. I found it very informative but also felt prepared after scouring this website so much! There was about 10 people there, the WLS Coordinator spoke first then one of the three Bariatric Surgeons. I was actually a little let down, I had gone in so stoked about the Lap Band, and the surgeon that came actually disliked Bands and much preferred the Sleeve or Bypass over Bands ("difficult to balance, very easy to put in, very low risk BUT highest failure rate with post-op weight loss). After the seminar I introduced myself to the coordinator and we chatted for a moment about my insurance (I asked if I could fax back in the paperwork instead of mail - again, I'm Type A, tell me to do something I get it done, and I want it finished NOW). She asked more specifics on my plan and when I filled her in that I had UHC through my husbands employer, and who that was, she was ecstatic! She said she had already approved 3 patients that worked for his employer this year, and the insurance was an absolute dream to work with. She said to fax in my paperwork ASAP, she would get it done the next day. I came home FULL of info, got my paperwork filled out and faxed in the next morning (Thurs.). Cathy (WLS Coordinator) called that night about 6:30 and said that I completely met their criteria, it was VERY basic criteria, and they've given me pre-approval! She locked in my benefits, 20% co-insurance after my deductible (which I've almost met) and out of pocket max of $6000, which by the time surgery rolls around it should cost me only about $1500-$2500 out of pocket, then EVERYTHING will be covered the rest of the year since I will have met my max! So now...appointments! There are about 20 steps before surgery. Tomorrow I have to have 13 lab tests done. On March 21st I have my 4 hour appt with the Dietician/Internal Medicine/Surgery Coordinator/Physical Educator, then the following week I have two appointments set up for my Psych Evaluation. The timeline said to allow 2-3 weeks for insurance pre-approval and I got it in one day. I still need authorization, which comes right before surgery when I've done EVERYTHING and am ready to go, but Cathy said it should be a breeze. I'm excited for the whole thing. 539 question psych test? Yay! Two weeks of skim milk pre-op? Bring it on! Projected surgery date is mid-May/early-June. I've got to kick some butt fast afterwards because I have my best friends wedding in September and plan on looking astonishing.

Soooooo it's day 3. It's also the last weekday of my spring break and I've done absolutely NOTHING LOL. Back to the surgery. I'm officially post-op. The surgery went very well. Passed the leak test, started my liquids, discharged yesterday. I thought I was prepared for it all. I've had a c section before, I read the forums, blogs, but nothing prepares you for this. The pain is different. My pain was constant. Its not just the incisional pain, its the gas and acid! It was very hard for me to walk my first day. I was on a dilaudid PCA and I would fall asleep at the drop of a hat, but I tried anyway. The walking does help. Walk, walk, walk! I overpacked. I couldn't even tell you everything that was in my bag, but I can tell you what I would not have made it without: 1. My heating pad 2. Gax-x strips 3. phone 4. tampons 5. wipes for the ladyparts 6. small pillow to splint your stomach I'm trying to get all of my fluids in. It's a full time job I tell ya. I try to remind myself to sip and Keep a bottle of something close to me at all times. Slowly but surely i'm getting it in. Whelp, it's time for the good ol' pain meds again, so I will keep you guys posted on my progress!

Lost 3 more lbs, two more months and then surgery! I used to have these "pockets" of fat under my boobs, I'm young I can say boobs, and they're gone!! My calves are getting toned, theres an indent in the side! My back is smoothing out! My face is slimming down! haha Sorry, just really excited. My skin is lightening and my cycle came by it self this month! I wanted french bread pizza today, two slices, saw it was 470 calories for one, said nope! had turkey bacon, an egg with egg whites, and weight watchers toast. I don't think I've ever felt so good!

Today marks the begining of my sixth (6th) week back on track. Still can't believe that I had this restriction all the time and was not allowing it to do its job! Still keep wondering if its just willpower. Still amazed at how often hunger really happens in our heads! Today was extremely easy, the easiest day I've ever had when it comes to eating! I had absolutely no appetite an now I truly understand what it means to eat to live. I now eat insanely small amounts of food and feel satisfied. I try to average the necessary calories per week for a 2-3lb loss per week. I can and do eat(or sometimes taste) most foods that I want to. Some days I go as high as 1100 cals and others I go as low as 600 (protein shake days). I have lost 4lbs this week. YAAAAY!!! I weighed in at 315 this morning and that's 20lbs loss since I re-started my journey on 3rd Feb '12, which originally began in 2008 with me weighing in at 352lbs. I have lost 37lbs overall!!! I am down from size 26 dress to a snug-fitting 22 in the five weeks. I am still receiving complements, the degree of which depends on how long ago the complementee (word? lol) has seen me. My major goal for this month is to get my BMI below 50... even if its 49.99 lol. I am pretty close cause it's now 50.8. Also I have started to exercise. I have pledged to myself to walk at least 15 minutes a day everyday, even if it kills me! lol I have been keeping my pledge since last Saturday. YAAAY!!! lol Till next time..... I continue on my weigh down!

"When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place." ~ Unknown

I just got home from Maui last night and was really interested to see what the scale would tell me. During vacation I decided to not put any limits on what I ate or drank, so had many treats over the course of six days ... I really enjoyed my food at Maui, but restriction kept me in good control of caloric intake. Plus, we were pretty active ... lots of swimming, snorkeling, and walking around in the warm Hawaaiian sun. So I figured the activity would counteract the splurges at the table. So ... my final weigh in was on July 5th (the morning we left for Maui) and I was 169.6 (just barely missed my July 4th goal of 169.0). Today I got on the scale, and O Happy Day, it said I weigh 167.2 -- a loss of 2.4 lbs.! Yay! That was a happy moment for me! I had a couple of NSVs this week too. The biggest one was how easily I now fit in a plane seat. I used to hate and dread flying, because I would overflow the seat and could barely close the seat belt, but now I have no problems at all with the plane seat or seat belt. That felt great! The second NSV came this morning -- my hubby went out to get the mail and saw one of our neighbors, who told him, "Your wife is the incredible shrinking woman!" LOL! I am now wearing a size 14 (or women's Large) and that is so cool! Life is really great with my sleeve!