Lissa

Go to the reunion and enjoy the fact that you look great! Most of them are now gaining weight at 40 years post high school and you're losing it like crazy! You'll be the hottest chick there!

Great job!! Congrats on the loss!! You do look great! And younger!

Mishy, I have to say that we all make mistakes, but this one could be really serious for you and your body. I see that you have committed yourself to doing better in the future, which is awesome! I hope that you do take the advice to see a therapist to help you deal with your food addiction. I'm not slamming you. I've been pretty open that I see a therapist for my food and other issues. I want to see you posting your successes as time goes on and I don't want to see a thread from you that you have complications because you couldn't wrap your head around the post-op requirements. This is a tough journey. Asking for help is a good thing and you've done exactly that by posting here. I agree that using My Fitness Pal is a great thing. It helps you know exactly where you're at in relation to your goals. It also gives you a way to track whether you're meeting your Water and Protein goals per day.

Love those NSVs!!! Congrats!!

I don't have one. My surgeon said it's an unnecessary expense, so I skipped it. I do, however, have my card saying that I am sleeved directly behind my driver's license in my purse and my cell phone has a note under ICE (In Case of Emergency) that says "See Notes". My Notes section (iPhone) has a section labeled Medical with details about what I take, no blind tubes, no nsaids, and my surgeons name/phone number. Hopefully that's enough information for a medical responder. My son, who is a type 1 diabetic, has a tattoo on the inside of his wrist with the AMA symbol and IDD underneath it so that emergency responders always know that his is an Insulin Dependent Diabetic. He and his dad have matching tats and his dad's actually came in handy while he was working out of town.

You look fantastic!! I know you've had a rough road, so it's great to see you celebrating your successes!!

I took Centrum chewables until about 7 months out and then I switched to Centrum pills. I'm pretty sensitive to iron and will vomit because of that, so I always have something small right before I take my vitamins. Usually it's a mini babybel cheese for me. That seems to be just enough to keep me from getting sick while still leaving enough room in my sleeve for my morning meds.

Congrats on your date!! You'll be sleeved before my one year surgiversary and you're absolutely right, your life will change tremendously!!

I spent several hours last night talking to a guy who has lost 176 pounds with his sleeve about just this issue. He gave me a lot of tips for dealing with seeing myself as way bigger than I am (plus several compliments, lol). He said that looking at your own before/after pictures is a great thing to do, along with keeping a few clothing items from your biggest period and trying them on occasionally. He also told me that he still has days where he gets up and still thinks he's his former size. He calls them his "fat days". We got into lots of subjects, but this one is my bugaboo these days and it's the toughest one for me to wrap my head around. I still see Fat Lissa in the mirror, even though I'm down 110 pounds. One of my problems is that I tend to focus on the bad areas, like my tummy and loose arm skin, rather than seeing how far I've come. I'm still a work in progress, though, and it IS getting better.

Jazzmin, I was working out twice a day for a couple of months and my body hurt! I couldn't eat enough, sleep enough, or relax enough to quit aching. I was living on Icy Hot and hurting constantly. As soon as I stopped doing the double workouts, everything lined back up for me. I agree with changing things up. I lose when I eat more. I lose when I exercise less, then I'll lose when I do a killer workout for a few days. Once I started varying my routine, my weight loss restarted and has been steady again since.

It sounds to me like you're doing great. Keep up with the walking, add in some good carbs like PDXMan suggested and don't let the scale drive you crazy! That's what kids are for!

There is a search button in the upper right corner of the home page. Inside that search box is a drop down list where you can choose to search forums, members, etc. Or, you could just tell us her name and maybe we can point you to the proper person.

PKB, BiPap is a CPAP machine that has two pressures, one for when you are inhaling and one for when you are exhaling. For me, it made a huge difference in the clausterphobia from the mask. Since I have good insurance, my doctor made sure he set me up for the best machine he could get for me. My current pressure is 22/12, so it's really pushing air in when I inhale and then drops really low when I exhale. I use the full face mask, probably the same as yours. During my last sleep study, the tech tried to give me a nose only mask and I almost had a panic attack. I like being able to open my mouth if I need to without having air pushing out!

My whole BiPap fits into a custom made bag that's about the size of a briefcase. I can set it up or take it apart in less than 5 minutes, including putting water into the humidifier. Is mine unusually small compared to other machines? I use a ResMed machine.

(((Hugs))) You're having a normal reaction, especially when you add in the complication of reaction to the adhesive! I was lucky that I knew I was allergic to latex before I had my surgery, because I react exactly the way you are describing! You will NOT fail to lose weight. It will happen. Keep working toward your Protein and Water goals, but you should realize that those goals are super tough to reach this early post-op. You can't really eat anything because you are still on liquids or mushies at most. However, you should be doing all you can to get that water in so that you don't become dehydrated. I suggest that you stay OFF the scale. It will drive you nuts if you let it. Instead, take your measurements and compare them to your pre-op measurements, so that you have a record of how far you've come. Pay more attention to how your clothes fit and notice that they are getting looser in a hurry. The scale is just a number. Your clothes and measurements will tell you much more about your progress than that stupid scale ever will! Get up, get moving, do something, even if it's just walk around the house or up and down the hallway. Any amount of exercise will give you a serotonin boost that will improve your outlook on things. Good luck! You've done the hardest part and now you're on the way to a new and better you!

I had a sleep study pre-op because I was exhausted all the time and found myself falling asleep while driving. Being diagnosed with sleep apnea was actually a relief because I knew what was causing the problem. I'm 10.5 months out and still need my bi-pap machine, but I'd beat someone up who tried to take it away from me. I can definitely tell when I take the mask off in my sleep or don't use the machine because I'm very tired the next day. I have had a follow-up study done and it shows that I still need the machine or oxygen to sleep without problems. I'll keep the machine until I can bag it up and put it in the closet. Insurance has paid for mine in full, which is great because I will need it until goal, possibly a little longer, although my doc says that I won't be using it in six months for sure. As soon as I started using the BiPap, the swelling in my ankles went down and my energy level quadrupled. I've also now driving a 3,000 mile trip twice without issues with wanting to fall asleep while driving. And, yes, I hauled my machine with me and used it every single night.

(((Kimmy))) It is SO hard to deal with our parents being ill and dying, but it is a part of life for many of us, unfortunately. I hope you do get to go spend some time with him, for both of your sake's, during this part of his journey. This is some precious time for you both to share your love with one another. Alcohol, or any other negative addiction, can definitely grab you right now because you are vulnerable. As others have suggested (and you have mentioned), exercise is a much better addiction and will give you the energy you need to get through this time.

All I can suggest is make sure your mouth is closed when you sleep. Walk around some before you try to eat and see if that doesn't help some. I'm 10.5 months out and still using my BiPap machine, but my apnea has improved considerably. My doc tells me that he could take me off the BiPap if I'd consider sleeping with a little oxygen instead. I'll keep the BiPap. LOL

The pre-op liquid diet is hard, but it's worth it in the end. Hang tough and you will get through it. ((Hugs))

SpecialK, I like Pink, too. Her "So What" got me through breaking up with my husband and "Glitter in the Air" nearly makes me cry every time I hear it.

Awesome!! Congrats on that mini-goal!!

OTR - I AM really old! So I like old music.

I just want to put in a plug for Fit Bit here! I bought mine in April and have worn it every single day since. Somehow, about 2 weeks ago, it decided to stop displaying my information. I contacted the company and they gave me good directions for how to reset my Fit Bit, but it never recovered. I waited until I came back from vacation to contact them again, thinking that it just needed time to recover. It didn't recover, so I emailed them and, after asking for a little information including my proof of purchase, they are sending me a brand new Fit Bit! I got the shipping confirmation today. I'm THRILLEd with their customer service and would highly recommend the Fit Bit to anyone who is considering the purchase!