Lissa

I was a hard-core cigarette smoker before surgery. Right up until I started the three week pre-op diet. I was frank with my surgeon about it and he didn't test me, but I did quit and my surgery was successful. I was probably the whiniest pre-op diet person ever because I gave up all my addictions at once: diet coke, all caffeine, smokes, food. I really feel sorry for my youngest son because he had to live with me through that!

Rootman, I noticed that recently at the BBQ place! I had to sit six inches forward from the back of the seat. Then I looked around and had to gasp at how many people filled the booth from the seat to the table! That was ME 11 months ago!!!

The only thing close to a banded sleeve that I've heard about is a banded plication. I "think" that involves folding the stomach up, then putting a band around that, but don't quote me on it. Might be a good issue to google, but I wouldn't go for a procedure like that personally.

That's an awesome NSV and an awesome picture... not to mention that those shoes are an NSV in and of themselves!!!

Gorgeous!! Amazing!! And the video is great, too!! I'm crying happy tears for you right now!!!

Wonderful!!! I'm so happy for you! It's a great feeling!! Congrats and enjoy!!

Michelle, I could have written your post if I'd thought of it. I've experienced both sides: friendlier men and catty women... and I've lost a couple of "good friends" over my weight loss. It's sad that we women are so competitive with one another when we should really support each other more. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around why someone would get angry because I've lost weight and become healthier, but it's happened with two people, including my sister in law. I'm not sure that being obese made me a nicer person. My sense of humor has always been slightly sarcastic and I was the funny fat girl. I'm trying now to learn to quit making jokes about myself being fat, so I'm changing the dynamics of several of my relationships. This seems to make others uncomfortable, especially those who were used to being the "hot" girl (comparatively) in the relationship.

Good luck! It's tough to make these decisions, but I hope you'll update us and let us know how you're doing!

I'm so happy for you on the size changes!! I think you need to post a new face pic for your profile, too! That's where I first noticed my weight loss and I'm betting your face has slimmed down a lot. YOU are amazing! You go girl!!!

Many years ago, as a single working mother, I learned about something called "Once a Month Cooking". There are tons of websites about it if you're interested. Today I was thinking about what I'm going to eat this week. I guess I'm at goal, but next week is lining up to be crazy work-wise, so I'm going to be doing a lot of running and won't have a lot of time to think about food. I live alone, so stopping to cook a meal doesn't always happen for me and I end up eating lots of Protein bars and cheese. It's getting boring. So, here's my plan for the week. I've cooked sausage and bacon for breakfasts this week. I'll have a piece or two alongside a yogurt/cottage cheese or with an egg. I have a whole chicken cooking in the oven. Once it's done and cooled, I'll pull the meat off the bones and make broth too. The chicken will be used for snacking/meals and some of it will become chicken salad, which I've been craving. About 1/2 a cup is enough for a nice lunch or dinner. I like walnuts and grapes in my chicken salad and I use a tiny bit of ricotta in place of the mayo. I cooked up a small package of cube steak, one of my pre-surgery weaknesses. Since a six piece pkg of cube steak makes 12 servings for me, I'll be dividing this up and labeling it in single serving freezer bags. Cook once and have cube steak many times. Yummy! The servings will be the perfect size to have with a single-serving veggie for a meal. Ricotta Bake is also cooling on my counter right now. I found some loaf pans with paper lids at the store and I made a double recipe of the ricotta bake in one of them. I'll keep that in the fridge for meals and, if it turns out to be too much for one week, I can always freeze portions for later. I guess I'm actually cooking for more than one week, but I think it will be great to have some already prepped food that fits into my diet without having to deal with the preservatives in frozen Entrees. Most of those have more carbs than I like, too. I get my food custom made to MY tastes. Yummy!

Meg, Would you elaborate on your onion jam? Do you use oil to cook the onion down? What kind of onion? I'm loving sauteed onions these days, on everything, and I think this would be delicious and moist to put on almost any kind of meat or bean! Izuri, I started cooking all of this around 6 yesterday evening and I was totally finished, including prep and cleanup by 10. So, for 4 hours of cooking while watching television and reading the board, I got 25-30 my sized meals. I think that's a terrific return on my time! I even hand washed most of my pots and pans, and I only had to have the oven on for a little over an hour for all of that. Robyn, I love your ideas, too! I buy boxes of small freezer bags when I find them on sale and keep a sharpie marker in my kitchen drawer. I love having lots of options for meals and, if the freezer bag is sealed well, I can heat it up in a small pot of boiling Water rather than using the microwave for reheating things. I'm thinking about cooking some dried Beans in the chicken broth and then dividing those up into bags as well. I'm not overly fond of canned beans, but I adore cooked dried beans. Doing things this way gives me a ton more meal options without buying those preservative laden, Pasta rich, frozen dinners. Win, win, win, IMO.

I'll be watching this topic, since this appears to be my next step.

You DO look fabulous! Congrats on being able to wear it... and I'm so sorry that beautiful dress will be way too big when you're done!!

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. My best advice is to see a therapist, preferably one who is well versed in your culture. Perhaps tell mommy dearest that you want to "improve" your behavior by seeing someone who can help you deal with "your" issues. A therapist can help you find ways to cope that are acceptable within your cultural background. I grew up with an emotionally and physically abusive mother who was probably schizophrenic, but was never diagnosed. Let THAT person raise children! YIKES! I did run away AND I married very young. It did NOT help with my issues. I finally went to counseling in my 30's, and I sincerely wish I'd gone much earlier. You definitely need to deal with these issues now rather than wait until you're in your 30's. It's difficult to fully develop a sense of yourself without some help with your situation. While you aren't doing anything wrong, you're also not doing anything right as far as healing yourself emotionally. This WILL affect your future relationships, both with a man and with any children you have. Combine this with the issues from rapid weight loss and you really do need a therapist. Good luck! Please let us know that you've found some help. If you have to, lie to your mother about why you want/need therapy, but please get the therapy!

I had/have RA in my knees. Pre-op, they hurt constantly to the point that I sometimes needed a cane just to walk around. Right after surgery my knees hurt REALLY bad from just walking, but I haven't had any pain from them in months. I didn't even realize that the pain was gone until I saw this post. If you do buy a knee brace, don't spend a lot of money on it. You're not going to need it for long, I bet! I've finally quit running into walls as well. My center of balance is finally coming back!!

Thanks, ladies! I was leaning towards thinking she is immature and bi*#$y, but she's the second defector in the last few months. Isn't it strange that they get insecure and act dumb, yet I'm the one who is mean, nasty and stupid. @@ It's good to know I'm not the only one who thinks this petty stuff is just dumb. I'm seeing signs that one more "good friend" is going to follow this same pattern and I've tried to head it off at the pass. We'll see if it helps. If not, I'll be working out alone. My workout partner, who has not had WLS, is constantly making comments about how she's having to "work harder for (her) goals" because I have had WLS. As far as I can tell, I sweat just as much on the elliptical as she does and I spend as much, or more, time in the gym than she does. My only advantage is that I'm able to turn down second helpings of things much easier than she can. I need a workout partner who has had WLS!

Drinking the water, especially pre-op, is REhydrating your body. Diet coke and other caffeinated drinks act as diuretics and pull water out of our cells. Once you start drinking the water, you will gain a bit, but it's a temporary gain. Keep up on the water; that's a FANTASTIC change for yourself!!

Green veggies can affect the clot factor in your blood. Since most of us take some kind of blood thinner, at least during surgery, I think the juicing questions should be brought to one's surgeon. Also, be careful if berries are part of the juicing routine. Most berries were prohibited for me post-op until the six month mark due to tough skin and seeds that could possibly get caught in the staple line. Definitely watch the carb counts when juicing, too.

Who is rolling their eyes at you? I put lots of smiley faces in my posts. Are they coming up as eye rolls? <---should be a smiley face

Your weight loss is not slow. It's not super fast like some folks get, but a lot depends on your genetics and how old you are, along with starting BMI. 60 pounds is amazing! You are right on track for YOU! Keep up the great work!

My skin isn't as bad as I thought it would be at 110 pounds lost, although it's still pretty loose in my underarms and stomach area. I've been using Neutrogena Bio Oil generously since surgery on all my skin. It's expensive ($14 a bottle), but I still haven't used a full bottle at 11 months out, maybe half the bottle. I have used the brushing on my arms sporadically since surgery and it seems to have helped. There is a pinned thread on VST that describes the proper way to do the brushing. Whether it helps the skin or not, it feels really good when you stimulate the blood flow! I also lift weights, low weights, high reps.

Congrats on having your date! I know it's sudden, but you will be so glad you did it. And, you're right about the trip to Vegas! You will enjoy it more when you can go as a svelte chick!!!

Wow! What a horrible thing to happen! I am always supportive of someone having therapy in conjunction with WLS, and it sounds like you're on the road to getting that help! (((Hugs))) Please get all of the help and support you can get during your journey. I'll keep you in my prayers.

The fallout keeps coming for me. My (almost) sister in law has been mad at me for over a month. Apparently when I invited my brother to the family reunion that was held in July, I didn't invite SIL and her kids separately. We live in FL and the reunion was held in KY. I assumed that my brother would invite her himself if he wanted her to go to the reunion with him. Turns out he didnt' come anyway, but she texted me a few days before the reunion to tell me how angry she was at me over my "not inviting" her to the reunion. After rolling my eyes, I told her what was stated above. She told me that I didn't have to be rude about it and I just said Oh Well to the whole deal, figuring it was neurotic crap. Fast forward to tonight, over a month later, and she sent me another text message about how rude and nasty I am and how no one wants to read my WLS updates, or about my diet or exercise, so she's deleted me on Facebook. Honestly, I hadn't even noticed that she deleted me. I simply asked her if her eyes were green and tried to end the convo. It's been several hours of nasty messages from her today, with my replies being an occasional "I'm sorry you're jealous. Have a good day." The last message was a voicemail telling me how I'm so nasty and ugly that, even with weight loss, I'll need a pork chop around my neck to get any male attention. I guess that sometimes you can't win, no matter what you do.

OTR, I have to commend you for taking a stand for your child! It's tough when it's a beloved grandparent that is ignoring your wishes, but YOU are the parent. I cut off communications between my mother and my children when they were small for similar reasons. It took my mom several years to get the message that she was not allowed to try to drive a wedge between me and my kids. Eventually, though, she got it and stopped trying to play "divide and conquer". By the time she was allowed back into their lives, my kids were old enough and smart enough to see the head games she was playing. Dealing with other people is tough, but it is twice as hard when those people are deliberately trying to diminish you, especially family.