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Hello everyone, I am a newbie J I couldn’t ride the rollercoaster at Disney World with my kids (July 2012). How humiliating to have to exit the ride because I was too big. How humiliating was the remainder of the day having to use the “check to see if you can fit” seat before standing in line. With eyes wide open, I now accept that my obesity is preventing me from living my life to its fullest. It’s more than just wanting to look good in my clothes, it about having full mobility, and control of my body. I sit here today amazed at how it has slowly disappeared as the years have passed by. I begin my 6 month (actually 7) physician supervised weight loss to satisfy my insurance requirements, then on to a barrage of test as you aware. Instead of looking at each visit as an obstacle, I am going to view them as small successes on the way to reach my goal(s). Although I am scared of the unknown, I am excited to be doing something to improve the quality of my life. I am glad to know I can pull on the experience and encouragement that can be found here. Thanks to everyone who has had the courage to share their experience as I embark on my own. Traci aka mykidzmom10k

SW 242 Height 4'11'' 6 month Pre-op loss (-28.6) Surgery date 8/8/11 213.4 1 month - 194.2 (- 19.2) 2 months - 180 (- 14.2) 3 months - 170.2 (- 9.8) 4 months - 164.4 (- 5.8) 5 months - 167.2 (+ 2.8) 6 months - 162.4 (-4.8) 7 months - 155.4 (-7) 8 months - 149.6 (-5.8) 9 months - 143.4 (-6.2) 10 months - 139 (-4.4) 11 months - 132.6 (-6.4)

Five weeks ago, banded and hopeful. Today, I'm down 23 lbs and so happy about that! Not a super fast loss, but I'll take slow and stead and PERMANENT any day over fast and yo-yo! I'm finding that summer time is the most challenging time for me - although there are many fresh fruits, veggies and healthy options out there at this time of year, for me and my husband, there are many social engagements including barbecues, outdoor concerts, farmer's markets, weddings, and other really wonderful events. The events for me are not a challenge, and I'm finding that the food at the events is not the problem, but I am one to enjoy a glass or two of wine or a cocktail with friends at these events. While I'm still losing, I'm thinking that I'd do myself a bigger favor if I stuck to non-alcoholic beverages and watch the weight come down faster. But like I said above, it's not all about losing it fast - I am learning a new way of living right now, and if that life involves an occasional cocktail or glass of wine, so be it. This week has been full of festivities related to a dear friend getting married tonight. I haven't exercised as much because work has been insane busy and we've had engagements every night this week. But isn't that what life is all about? Some weeks are busier than others, it's all about having balance and taking care of myself. I feel like I've been doing a pretty good job in that area. Will I have a glass of wine tonight at the reception? YEP! My daughter turned 18 on Thursday and headed out to Denver (about 4 hours away) for the weekend. As life would have it, she ended up in a fender bender, wanting to come home, not sure about her future move to Denver for school, and so upset (poor baby!) My old mode would have been to hit the pantry since I couldn't be right there to help her. But this time, (luckily her dad is over there), I was able to deal with the problem, feel the emotions I was having, and not stuff them down with a bag of chips. I just talked them out, and I felt better than the food would have made me feel. Again, life happens. So the ups and downs can still happen without dousing them in food - I am learning a whole new way of being, a new way of dealing, and I feel good that so far I've been able to take on stress (good and bad stress) in a healthy way. Hope all of you out there are doing well, remember it really is a JOURNEY and our bands are helping us physically manage hunger while we learn to deal with the other habits and head issues that have made us obese. It is so much easier to understand old patterns, look at them for what they were and change them when I'm not constantly starving. I LOVE MY BAND!!! My best - D

Personally I would send a meeting request and reserve a conference room so this meeting will be private. I would tell him that you are very uncomfortable with him policing your eating habits. That you do your very best to eat healthy and if you end up having to eat a unhealthy meal on RARE occation; it is not his place to comment. Also that he does not know how you will eat when you get home to make up for a higher calorie lunch. If after you have this meeting he continues to comment on your eating habits go to HR. What he is doing is bullying you. Tell them you've spoken to him privately and he is continuing to harrass you. It is their job to deal with work place bullying. Trust me an HR generalist/manager does not want you going to their boss (HR Director/or VP) because they've failed to deal with work place bullying. I had a boss that would comment about everyones lunch. She was a vegetarian and no matter how healthy your lunch was she would say gross/disgusting there's meat in there! She would have vegan soup for lunch that had 35 calories and make sure EVERYONE knew about it. She also however would talk endlessly about her alcohol fueled orgies on the weekend! NOT kidding. I had several thin coworkers comment to me how annoyed they were about the way she commented about everyones food habits, yet she was a high functioning alcoholic. Oh and by the way she would go to the company store at the other end of the building and buy cookies and eat them when she thought no one could see her. Priceless. This is why I don't tell coworkers that I've had WLS. You can be guarenteed that every though I have skinless chicken breast and raw veggies (no dips/dressings) everyday for lunch; the day I have a 1 inch square piece of birthday cake someone will comment about it. For other readers esp. if you work in an enviroment with HR you boss does not need to know what surgery you are having. That is the beauty of HIPPA. A manager does not have the right to determine what medical proceders, ordered by a doctor are neccesary. The notes my doctor gives just say the gastro/intestinal dept; says nothing about WLS. I had a coworker have breast reduction surgery and was out on disability for 6 weeks. Some might argue the company should not have paid her to be off 6 weeks after breast reduction. Clearly WLS is more health oriented that that.

3 weeks left omg it's going by fast. I am starting to get a little nervous about going to Mexico. I've done all my research and have chosen a great DR. but it's still scary. I'm trying to think only about the positive changes that are to come in my future. Start my preop diet in a week. 8/7/12 here I come!!!!!

Next time he decides to comment on what you eat, you should respond "Do you really think you should you should be acting like my mother in the work place?"

Well it is Friday and I have been doing the liquid diet for almost 2 weeks. I have lost about 14 pounds which is great but I am tired of the protein shakes. I am wanting real food and it is rough drinking only sweet protein shakes. I wish I would have gotten some unflavored so I could hide them in soups, oatmeal etc. I have worked in a couple cans of soup over the couple of weeks but that is the only cheating I have done. I am very proud of myself for being able to stick to this since I really didn't think I would be able to do it. Nervous does not even explain how I feel about Monday. I just want everything to go well! Jumping in with both feet!

It's so normal to go through all the emotions you're going through. You just went through a very tramatic experience. Your body is healing and yo need to give it time to do so. Also, my surgeon told me NOT to get on a scale for two weeks. Due to all teh water retention, gasses, and other things, you're going to gain weight right after surgery. However, I know what it's like to want to see if going through all this was worth it. Trust me, it is. Do yourself a favor and don't get on the scale for four days. In those days, get your liquids in, walk, walk, walk, walk and walk. That will help get all those gasses out and regulate your water retention. Then, you can check. But, be aware, you are still swollen and healing so don't expect to see a 10-20lb loss. The good thing is, in a month from now, you will be so happy when you get on the scale you won't even remember this emotion time. keep your head up and trust me, every day gets better.

It's so hard, we get tied to that scale, I mean that's why we did this surgery, right? It took awhile for that scale to move for me and I was reading about everyone else losing tons of weight it seemed....but we all heal differently...and when I stopped worrying, the weight started dropping off... I am a slow loser, but slow and steady and I feel great 3 months out. I can eat all kinds of things in small amounts, and I no longer doubt this was the best thing I ever did for myself. Have faith girl !!

Me, you just have to find something that you like and do it. I second Fluffy's suggestion to load some good music on your phone or iPod and only listen to that music when you're working out. I'm fairly competitive, so that helps me as well. Favoredone posted about a month ago that she did 7 miles on the exercise bike on her FIRST visit to the gym. That motivated me to try to up my mileage during my 30 minute a day ride...and it worked. I'm now consistently hitting the 7 mile mark, so I'm now working on getting to 7.5 miles in 30 minutes. I like the idea of watching a tv show, too. I haven't tried that one, but it sounds like a great idea!