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Good afternoon from blizzard Boston. In the local paper there was an article from Soma Intimates. They said that when women that leave their abusive person they usually forget bras. So Soma is collecting used and new bras for DOVE. I know having lost weight I have many large sized bras. Maybe some of you do to and we can all donate them. Enjoy your TGIF.

Ok i have been sitting here reading the furums this morning... and WOW.... I mean were all in the same place....sure some of us are a lil more ahead then others...but we all started at the same START LINE....we all want to get to the same place.... yet Im reading so much meanness from so many people....Were living in a world with so much meaness right now....It just saddens me to see a group of people with the same goals...hurting and even wishing bad to each other.....I just cant wrap my mind around this....

I went in for a fill today, my weight had gone up by 5 lbs since last week so I wasn't thrilled about going in. I went in they weighed me- up 1 lbs since last month!!!!!! I was pissed. She checked my band and gave me another cc - I always get fills with floro. I told her about my weight jump from last week and explained it was my TOM time even though I don't actually bleed. She said that the weight fluctuation was not abnormal, that everyone will have fluctuations from week to week. She also ask how many calories my fitbit said I was burning a day- I told her between 2000-2200 depending on if I work out or not. She ask about my eating habits - I told her I was only eating 3 times a day and sometimes having an afternoon snack. She ask about my calorie intake- I told her I was getting between 1200-1300 a day. Surprise- she said I'm not getting enough calories. Now this is what my doc said, I trust my doctor, she is a Duke Doc, I have full confidence in her- do please do not bash her or me; if you doc said something else fine ok, I am just putting out there what mine said. She said that since I am now over 6 months post that eating 1200 calories a day isn't enough. She said that having a 3-500 calorie a day deficit was good, but not more because the body would not let go of the fat- sorta like starvation mode. She said if I upped my workout routine to up calories. To try and keep my deficit around 3-500 for optimum weight loss. So I am going to try and see what happens. Maybe it has to do with where I am in weight- I don't know, but she is my doctor, she is trained, so I will listen to her. If you don't agree fine, but again don't bash!!

I have done the steps, accepted that I am over weight, took the steps to see the doctor, asked some questions, had the blood test and went to the seminar. I am now in the process of seeing the cardiologist, pulmonologist, dietician, and therapist. I have to wait a month to see them, but I am willing to wait and do what I need to personally to get myself prepared for what is to come. I was also given a tentative month for surgery and it looks like April it is. So many emotions each day seem to catch me by surprise. Today I felt blue because I don't have many to turn to about my process. My husband is hard to talk to about it because he likes me just the way I am. He knows that I am depressed about it, and agrees with me to do something to make myself feel better, but sometimes I feel that is not enough. We have kept the news of my decision to go through this on the down low becuase I am still embarresed for the things I have to do to get what I want. The hospital that I am going through has a group that meets this Monday and I think I am going to check it out. I hope this helps with the blues that I get from time to time. Maybe even connect with someone and build friendships. I do know that God is on my side and going to take it one day at a time!

I really have tried to be better at eating meat because it has been such a chore to me with my silly band. I became a vegan and very B-12 deficient because our bodies need animal proteins in order to get B-12. I kept looking at this thing and thinking no meat could be that moist but heck yeah it is. I have no issues eating chicken cooked in my nuwave and before I couldnt even swallow it let alone attempt to eat it. The outside is so crunchy and the inside is so moist. I really and truly love meat but it hated my band. Today I ate about 3 ounces of chicken breast (the darn dryest meat of the chicken) and it was absolutely the best moist chicken I have ever had. It was a good investment and I have cooked in it almost everyday since I got it. Saves on cook time too. So my next feat will be to learn how to cook my entire meal in it. I usually eat raw veggies because I love them but with lots of good ole seasonings out there, you can never go wrong with veggies. It is worth the money for sure and very band friendly which is always a plus and if you get one and it doesnt work for you well you will enjoy cooking in it because I can have a whole chicken cooked in less then an hour. No heating up the kitchen and no stove to deal with.

Well its been 10 days since my surgery and these are my thoughts so far. 1. It has been better in many ways then I thought it would be, no vomiting, no nausea, no gas pains, no bathroom issues, 2. It has been harder in that I still want to eat, I miss food! I feel depressed and so much of my social life revolved around food and drinks I not sure how to balance the changes with being in those situations. 3. I am off work for two more weeks and don't have the energy I want to exercise and getting some small projects done while I am home. I feel like my butt has been glued to my recliner and have started to go a bit stir crazy. 4. I have not been drinking enough water or exercising enough. 5. I have lost 22 pounds since I started my preop diet a month ago. I stalled at a week out from my surgery and the scale hasn't budged in a few days. 6. I didn't hide the fact that I was having weight loss surgery so I feel like when I do start back to work and being out in public everyone will expect me to have dropped a ton of weight. That is what my boss asked me a few days after the surgery "have you lost a ton of weight?" Changes to make: 1. Exercise 30-60 minutes of walking or exercise bike a day. 2. Weight resistance exercise 30-60 minutes a day. 3. Plan out snacks and meals and water and track on MFP. 4. Plan out projects to work on while I am home. Hopefully with these changes I will see the scale move once again and feel less depressed

ooooh, my stomach cramps everytime I drink. I just had the vertical sleeve procedure yesterday, Feb. 5th, so this is my 2nd day post-op. I am following the sleeve diet regimen: 1 ounce of liquid diet every 15 minutes x 12 hours/day. My starting weight was 212.4 lbs and I my goal is 150 lbs. After surgery, I had gas pain which went away soon after my nurse administereda dose of mylicon and pepcid. Other then this, I'm doing fine. As for the cramping, my new stomach has to heal.

I started this journey for a change. From the time learned about what a gastric sleeve was (on 10 Nov), within 16 days, I had read extensively about it, drilled a friend of mine who had the procedure and paid over $15,000 cash for my very own sleeve.... Why, because I was tired...tired of the struggle....

It's starting to get harder and harder to track! Not because anything is hard, but because this surgery has become a life style change for me! I don't count calories, because I eat such small portions. THis week I've been eating pretty badly, but normally I make really good high protein choices. Every time mother nature comes around I immediately go for the bad stuff, but my sleeve doesnt let me binge eat. I take a bite of something and I'm done. It kills the craving and I move on. I'm hungry but nervous starving like I use to be. I'm so thankful for my sleeve. I still have a ways to go, but slowly and surely, I'm getting there- that happy place we all dream about pre-op. Height: 5'9 Highest (Surgery) Weight: 216 1st Primary Goal Weight: 169 (Achieved 11/27) 2nd Optimal Goal Weight: 145 Sleeve Journey: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 8/17/12- PreOp/Surgery Day w/Pics Posted in Blog Week 1 (8/24): 204.8 (-11.2) Week 2 (8/31): 200.6 (-4.2) Week 3 (9/7): 196.8 (-3.8) Week 4 (9/14): 193.5 (-3.3) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 9/17/12- 1 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-22.5 lbs) Week 5 (9/21): 191.6 (-1.9) Week 6 (9/28): 190.1 (-1.5) Week 7 (10/5): 187.0 (-3.1) Week 8 (10/12): 181.9 (-5.1) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 10/17/12- 2 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-11.6 lbs) Week 9 (10/19): 181.4 (-.5) Week 10 (10/26): 177.9 (-3.5) Week 11 (11/02): 176.8 (-1.1) Week 12 (11/09): 174.7 (-2.1) Week 13 (11/16): 173.3 (-1.4) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 11/17/12- 3 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-8.6 lbs) Week 14 (11/23): 173.1 (-.2) Week 15 (11/30): 167.3 (-5.8) Week 16 (12/7): 168.1 (+.8) Week 17 (12/14): 164.6 (-3.5) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 12/17/12- 4 Month Anniversary (-8.7 lbs) Week 18 (12/21): Holiday Break/Vacation- No Scale Available Week 19 (12/28): Holiday Break/Vacation- No Scale Available Week 20 (1/4/13): 164.5 (-.1) Week 21 (1/11): 161.5 (-3.0) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 01/17/13- 5 Month Anniversary (-3.1 lbs) Week 22 (1/18): 161.7 (+.2) Week 23 (1/25): 158.7 (-3.0) Week 24 (2/1): Out of town- No scale Available Week 25 (2/8): 157.2 (-1.5)

Saw the doctor yesterday and it couldn't have gone any better!!! Our converstaion was like we had known each other for years. He didn't beat around the bush and told me that I had a lot of work to do. I am totally ready for this and willing to do whatever it is I have to... I was able to have labs drawn that same day and so the process is officially started, AND to top everything else off, I have already been approved by my insurance. In about 3 months I should be ready for surgery! I can't wait to get an official date to put on the calander. Next appointment in a month and is suppose to be full with many other appointments.