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Hi guys... As you are starting to see, I really like to find natural ways to help my body. I really don't like all the chemicals and unnatural things people put in and on their body's. Over the past few weeks before surgery I have wanted to start taking care of my skin. Mainly because I am worried about the loose skin thing after I start loosing weight. I am sure I can't escape it all, but I figure if I start now I can at least get a jump start on it. I can make it better than it might have been without the effort. So through my research, I stumbled upon "dry skin brushing" It is said to help with ~ Removes toxins from your body ~Tighten your skin ~Help exfoliate dead skin cells ~Help with aging and half a dozen other benefits... I am adding a link to one of the main articles I found helpful. http://www.pureinsideout.com/detox-skin-brushing.html# I figure if I add this into my daily life of keeping my skin hydrated, taking skin helping vitamins and staying fully hydrated, maybe I can get some of the elasticity back in my skin. Give it a try or at the least look into it. I know I am going to try it. It can't hurt

I've been down the last month or so because my weight didn't seem to be moving. I was following the doctors orders, doing what I was suppose to, but the scales were not moving. Then last week all of a sudden I came to realize geez my pants are falling down, my shirt feels bigger. The scales weren't moving, but the inches were. I purchase some summer shorts and capri's in 14's and 12's - holy cow, WOW!! A XL in the ladies section is to big, I need a large. Yesterday the hubs and I went to the mall to finish getting what we needed to our Florida vacation in a few weeks. I tried on a new pair of flip flops and was standing in the mirror looking at them. It took a second for it to register I was looking at my leg- OMG- it's not huge. I look nice. I am sliming down all over. When heading to the store I was tell the hubs- last year at this time I was poured into my 20/22 capri's and wearing a 2XL shirt; yesterday I had on a pair of 14 shorts that are loose in the waist and a size large ladies t-shirt. Wow- this has worked, I did it. I have lost weight. I feel good. At the start of this journey I said I would be happy to get to a size 12/14, well I am here. But, now I am thinking a 8/10 would be nice. Me in an 8/10 WOW- what a thought. I never imagined that could happen and I could still eat good food. I don't feel like I am being deprived or eating rabbit food. I eat the same things I have always loved, just less of it. I don't feel like I am missing out on anything. The only thing I could totally go for that I really should avoid is a slice of Cheesecake Factory Red Velvet Cheesecake. Most likely I will get one for my anniversary (we got engaged there), but I will likely eat it over a few days vs at one time or share it with the hub. So for anyone reading this just starting out or hasn't been banded yet, good news, you can loose weight and still eat good food. It's possible to have it all!!! Today I am on top of the world!!

I can not believe how fast time is moving!!!! Just two months shy of a year! 107 lbs down and happy with it. I am able to eat more and that's a little scary!! I make sure I eat my protein first. Lunch is usually a grilled chicken breast with lettuce, grapes, and strawberries. I still measure my food because I worry about over eating. My work load is kinda heavy at this time, so I am lucky if I go the gym once a week I feel so guilty about that! That's why I stay on top of my food intake. On a typical day I usually intake: 2 Isopure protein shakes( 100 gr protein), 64 oz of water, two eggs in the morning, grilled chicken for lunch, Atkins bar for snack, and Chili for supper. I should confess now :Last week I ate three Oreo cookies, and last Friday I ate a bag of M&Ms!!! LORD HELP ME!! I hope this is not going to become a habit because I refuse to undo all my hard work! HIGHEST WEIGHT: 348 LBS TODAY'S WEIGHT: 241 LBS :wub:

I have been going around reading stories of people having plateaus and I get more and more discouraged. It feels like I went back in time and now I am on weight watchers and wanting to scream because I can't get that darn gold star. I lost 65 pounds in 3 months and was on a roll and BOOM! road block! I haven't done anything wrong and have been sticking to the plan. Is this my body's way of telling me enough is enough? I still have 30 pounds to go!!

The surgery yesterday evening went well, they were able to get the kidney stone out, so that's good. I'm still uncomfortable, and running a fever on and off due to the infection it caused. My blood pressure is kind of all over the place, one reading high- the next might be low- the next normal...so between that and the fever, they're keeping me one more night to make sure they get all the antibiotcs on board that they wanted to. (P.S.- these liquid meds TASTE TERRIBLE! lol) As much of a bummer as it is to have kindey stones, I really took a lot of comfort in knowing, I have no remaining issues from surgery. The pain I thought I was having b/c of it turned out to be kidney stone, so I'm completely healed and doing well with my sleeve itself. I've also found now that the stone is out- and the pain is down, I'm much better at getting my fluids in- still working on the protein angle, but it's hard to fill that order at the hospital- I've been using muscle milk for now- just to get something in. Thanks all for the support and well wishes the other day! Best of luck to the rest of you sleevers!

I joined the gym on monday and have been going consistently since then. It has made me extremely tired and I have finally felt my hunger again. It has definitely been a difficult past few days. I'm tired, hungry, and I think I am dehydrated. I still have some things to work on as far as eating goes. I go too long without eating and let myself get famished. By the time I eat, I am so hungry that I kind of want to just stuff my face. Of course I can't, so what I end up doing is taking a huge bite (and then I remember and get afraid) and slowly chew and every once in awhile I will swallow. I have to work on eating every 2-3 hours. I know it isn't an excuse, but sometimes I get so busy that I don't get a chance to. The other thing I am failing on is giving my body enough water. I get my recommended dose, but I don't think it is enough. I still feel thirsty. I haven't really been carrying around a water bottle all day which is what I think I need to do. Oh and I definitely still need to work on my half hour before and after no drinking rule. I am getting better, but it is sooooo hard. Well, back to the hunger. I keep feeling hungry and not quite satisfied. Except today (because I ate some chicken at chili's) I have been averaging about 600 calories...so I haven't necessarily been eating more food. I really think it is the cardio and weight lifting that is making me feel like I need more food because my belly feels full, but just doesn't feel like it is enough. I am going to put more effort into drinking water ALL day long instead of what is convenient. I am hoping this puts a dent in things.

Hello All, I was sleeved on Tuesday March 5 2013 and boy o boy has the past 5 days been rough. Day of surgery: I was poked 6 times before a usable vein was found for my IV. On the lighter side I had a great surgeon and she assured me that everything would be fine as I drifted into lala land but when I woke up I felt like I had been run over by a train. The recovery room nurses were very attntive and kept giving me pain meds until I was comfortable. A few hours later I was up in my room not much pain but when I was finally completely coherent I was greeted with the dreadful gas pains....I truely had no idea that the das pains would hurt more then after surgery. The only thing that helped was walking around and more pain meds....this summed up day 1. Day 2: I have not passed any gas at this point and only had little baby burps. After going down for my leak test I came back up to my room and a few minutes later I begin to have a rumbling in my stomach could this finally be the big one so that I am over this gas feeling??? WRONG! I have diarreha this went on for 3 hours...all I could think to myself is how is this possible I havent eaten anything in 2 weeks. I was later released in the evening and estatic becasue I thought to myself I will feel much better at home becasue I was home! MAJOR MISCONCEPTION! Day 3: The gas pain was out of this world and I am still not passing it but I am also begining to have some other pains, after reading VST I find that these are stomach spasms...at this point I can not decipher gas pain from hunger pain or either of these pains from incision pain. I began to feel like this was the worst decision of my life and all I can think about is how hungry I am and how bad I want to get out of the house even though it is snowing outside. My vision in my left eye is blurry and I dont know why. The day goes on and my gas pains get worse. I just decide to go to sleep and pray that I dont die. 4am Day 4! I log on to VST to see if anyone is having the same relentless gas pains and I find out about Gas X strips...although I know I shouldnt have I drove myself to the local Walgreens and purchased 2 packs...where had these strips been for the past 3 days what a relief and I am now begining to let the air out. I wake up and told my daughters I want out of this house and thy drove me to the mall under the premise that I would walk the perimeter of the mall to get in some excercise, I was only able to walk about 1/3 of the mall and had to sit for about 10 minutes before walking back to the car. I feel like I am losing the muscle in my calfs. We came in from the mall and I had to take a nap. I attribute the fatigue due to my lack of nutrition. Well it is now day 5 and I am finally able to pick up my laptop and share my experience with you all. Today I feel like the page is turning, still having some stomach spasms, not much gas pain and not much cabin fever anymore. I am looking forward to tommorow because I meet back with my surgeon to have my drain removed and hopefully she will allow more variety into this very bland clear liquid phase that I am currently in. My drain today does not have much fluid in it and I stepped on the scale and for the first time in over 8 years I am under 300 pounds!!!!! Today I am feeling much better and looking forward to the rest of my journey. I can wait to share with you all the rest of my journey.

Ok my son was sick and now I can feel his cold coming on. I'm drinking hot tea with honey. but I neen to know what meds I can take. This cold will not stop me from working out.

Hi guys.. So, My doctor... Well, I started this crazy journey in September 2012. My sister had suggested I look into wsl and I really liked what I was researching. So as you can see, I chose to do the sleeve. Well my first thought in choosing a doctor was NOT going to Mexico.. haha.. That thought had never even crossed my mind. I had chosen a very nice doctor who I loved, up here in Seattle WA near where I live. He was at the Puget sound surgery center and I just fell in love with them all! Everyone from my coordinator to my doctor to the beautiful lady who's seminar I attended. I just knew that that was where I wanted to have my surgery! BUT!.... This is not what happened. After doing all of my pre op testing. The sleep study screening, psychological evaluation, the blood work, EKG, upper gi etc... I lost my job... Yes my wonderful 50K a year carer just fell out from under me. All of my financing went out the window. I was back to square one. So after a few months of brooding and being pissed that my dreams were never going to come true. A friend I had made on this wonderful chat room told me about Mexico. There are actually qualified well trained wonderful doctors in Mexico that cost less than half of the price. So I started my research all over again. The "too good to believe price was the first thing I had to look into. Then I had to find the doctor that I wanted, and I had to make sure he was legit. As I started looking I found Dr Ortiz at the Obesity Control Center in Tijuana Mexico. The price was right, he was legit, he had references from other patients that I had meet and he was the one I chose to go with. I am sure there are many other wonderful doctors in and around Mexico, but this is the one I chose. I know I have other friends who want to know how everything goes so I will be sure to post play by play events as they happen. I totally understand wanting to know exactly what is expected and what to plan. So stay tuned for more information on how everything is going Amber

My husband gave up meat 35 years ago for dieting-no he quit the health kick-but still no meat. Many years ago I made meatballs and turkey balls. He eats the turkey ones. My oldest son's friend ate over and I asked do you want meatballs or turkey balls? Eric, answered, I didn't know turkeys had balls. He was a senior in high school at the time. I love dumb kids.