minaleigh

I know exactly how you feel. No offense to you older sleevers but the majority of the people in my support group at the hospital are older. Most of them say "as long as I'm healthy, I don't care what size I am." Am I a little vain to want something MORE? I usually say the same spiel they do just so I don't look like an ungrateful "youngster." Lol. I tell people I would be happy to be a size 8 or 10, but I secretly want to be a 4 or 6.

My darn TOM still refuses to let me forget about chocolate. What I crave most of the time is salty and/or crunchy Snacks, like Cheetos or Lays. Thing is, I've never been a big salt eater! I don't even use salt when cooking, and if I do it's seasoning salt. No idea why I'm craving salt so much.

Hey all! I am currently about 6 weeks out and for the past few, maybe several, days I have been feeling very dizzy and lightheaded. At first, it was only when I got up too fast. Now it's whenever I move my upper body, particularly my head, too fast. It sometimes gets so bad, that I almost fall over if I don't have anything around to catch myself on. Sometimes, my vision sort of blacks out when this happens, with a bunch of colored dots appearing mainly in the bottom half of my vision. Has anyone else experienced this? I don't think it's because I'm low on Protein or Fluid intake, in fact I've even upped it to see if it'd help. Nada. It gets so sensitive sometimes, it even happens when I just switch positions in bed or reach over to turn off the alarm clock. At work, it's annoying because I am on my feet all day but I do have to bend down a lot. When I get back up, it feels like I just got off a 50 mph merry-go-round, but without the nausea! My mom suggested that maybe my sugar was low. Granted, I am pretty much sugar-free in my diet, I've never had much of a problem since I was never hypoglycemic or anything similar. Do I need to just up my fluids even more? Even when I was so dehydrated that I had to go to the ER, I never felt this way. Maybe more protein? I didn't have this problem when I was right after surgery and couldn't get in any protein in while just on fluids. I would call my doctor but he's still on vacation in another country, and I'd rather not ask his PA because she is such a witch! If it continues, I might break down and do it, though! Anyone have any advice? TIA!

Instead of making a new thread about it, I just wanted to update what I found out. I went to the doctor last month after having more episodes of extreme lightheadedness, especially when I stand up. They did some tests and found out the probable two main causes: My blood pressure is actually lower when I'm standing up than when I'm sitting down. It would drop from 120/75-ish sitting down to 105/60-ish standing up. I completely forgot the name but it was basically an ultrasound of the neck. They found out I have no plaque, but the two main arteries in the neck are 50% narrower than they should be, which is a moderate risk (which is between mild and severe, I'm told). They said I need to avoid fried foods and carbonation (both easy for me), but also eggs and cheese... which is not so easy considering those are two of my main Protein sources. Apparently they want to test my cholesterol. I'm sort of worried because my dad usually had high cholesterol (he has since lowered it but I believe it to still be in the high normal range), but my mom has always had low cholesterol. I just hope I have something in between! They have prescribed dizziness medicine, which I now carry with me in my purse everywhere!

I know with some people I pretty much can't talk about my weight loss thus far. They either act disinterested, jealous, or condescending. Then I have some friends who say things like, "You better not get to a size (insert number here) before me or we can't be friends!" They add the just kidding line afterwards, but sometimes I wonder... Just how much of that statement is truth?

I didn't even know what a bougie was (actually still don't really, just know it has to do with the size of the sleeve) until this forum lol. My surgeon never mentioned anything about it or its size. But he didn't set a goal for me either, just asked me what MY goal was.

I'm planning on doing something similar to this on my facebook when I get to goal! I really don't want everyone to know about the surgery as I'm going down, so they can wait to be awed when I'm a smexxy beast. Congrats on your success thus far! You go girl!

I had mine over Thanksgiving break last year. I was definitely not up for it though. I had to walk pretty far carrying a heavy computer bag and I had to stop and rest two or three times walking to class since I was so exhausted. Never even had to do that when I was heavy! Thing is though, I was very sick and actually had to be readmitted to the hospital twice because of complications. I had a lot slower recovery than most. If your school is anything like mine, it sounds like you'll have 3-4 weeks to rest, which should be fine. I would still recommend what others suggested: Plan ahead and use a roller backpack for a little bit until you get your stamina back.

I'm not trying to use the age-old excuse of genetics, but maybe that's what is wrong. If what you say is true, she should be fine. Then again, when I was her age, I was swimming 6+ hours a day (5 at the city pool and 2+ in my own). Turns out I have PCOS and a thyroid problem. If she's swimming so much and supposedly eating so healthy, what else is wrong? Maybe she should be tested by a doctor?

I hope it works out for you and your daughter! I weighed about 125 when I was 10. Not really sure what my height was, but it was probably 4'10"-ish. Age 9 is when I started gaining weight because that's when my parents divorced. Not only was I depressed, but I was living with my mom who didn't care as much of what I ate, as opposed to my dad who was/is a vegetable fanatic. I would definitely nip this in the bud now, without trying to force her on a diet. I was put on diets starting junior high and it made me very self-conscious. I wish my mom did a decade ago what others are suggesting for you now. If lunches aren't free/pre-paid at your daughter's school, then don't give her money, or least not enough for her to buy lunch. She'll have to eat her packed lunch then. Also, cut down on sugary drinks. My mom was a coke fiend growing up and I was raised on Sunny D. :/ It'll help out in the long run.

I'm sure it happens in some people, but that was the only time it happened to me. I didn't take that tylenol anymore after that so I don't know if it'd still affect me in the same way. I'm guessing that it wouldn't, because I have healed since then (I was VERY sick the first month after surgery due to complications) and am now about 7 months post-op. I don't have problem with sugar. I know it's best to limit sugar, especially in the first stages after surgery. I'm guessing that if you ever do get dumping syndrome, it happens then.

This happened to me after I took liquid children's tylenol, grape flavor, after surgery. I swear it was pure syrup. Not even 15 minutes after I had taken it, I had a severe hot flash (and it was winter!) and felt swelled up. Had to rush to the bathroom...

I've lost about 90 pounds total and I can tell that some people treat me different. I work in a customer service type job and customers treat me slightly better, or at least it seems like they do. If I was sitting in a classroom or anywhere with a bunch of seats, before no one would sit next to me if they had a choice. If there were two seats open, 90% of the time they wouldn't pick the one by me. Now, people seem to actually choose to sit by me more often now. To be honest though, I am slightly more confident than I was before. But sometimes I still feel self-conscious when sitting in class, pulling at my shirt to hide my almost non-existent rolls and I still want to sit in the back so people won't look at me. One awesome thing is that more guys are flirting with me. Before if I was with my friend, they would automatically flock to her. I'm not saying they flock to me now, but at least they don't completely ignore me!

I pretty much drink normally again as well. It's really helpful on a hot day or when you haven't had a drink in a while! Though I have found out that I can't take more than three gulps in a row as it tends to make my stomach feel weird and sloshy.

So far, I have gone from a 42DD to a 38C, almost B. I can pretty much fit my boobs in the palm of my hands easily now, *sigh*. I wouldn't have minded to lose them so much if my body would just keep up! Lol. I'm disproportioned because I have huge hips and thighs that it basically makes me look flat-chested! I can't really wear an undershirt with a built-in bra because it just smashes them down...

Okay, so I've always heard that the elliptical is supposed to be better than a treadmill for being lower impact. So why is it that I can run (okay... jog...) just fine on the treadmill but literally feel like I'm going to die after two minutes on the elliptical? I tore up my knee when I was younger so I figured it would be better, but after not even a lap I feel like I ran a marathon! I know that probably means I'm getting a better workout, but I'd rather not be the still-fat girl huffing and puffing after only two minutes on the dang thing! Lol. Some people on here swear by the elliptical and can go for 30-45 minutes without stopping, or even 15-20 minutes for some people around my weight. Am I just doing it wrong? Should I suck it up and just power through it even though if feels like I'm going to have a heart attack? Should I just stick to my trusty treadmill and bike?

NSV means Non-Scale Victory. Basically anything that you couldn't do or have happen to you before when you were heavier.

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. Is NP a nurse practitioner? Is health first your insurance? And what letter are you talking about?

Barely squeezed in (pun intended!) into the criteria for this topic. From surgery until final goal, I want to lose 123 pounds, from 273 to 150. Nice, neat number. As of now I've lost 72 pounds in the past 6.5 months, so about 10-12 pounds a month on average thus far. The past couple months it has drastically slowed down. The first month I lost something like 25 pounds and last month I only lost 8. I was hoping that since I was young, that my skin would "bounce back" more nicely. Sadly, it hasn't. I now truly believe it when they say a lot of it is genetics. My mom was over 300 pounds and had the gastric bypass when she was 28, and they had to remove 11 pounds of excess skin on her stomach. My stomach area isn't that bad, just a little pooch. It's my thighs (both inner and outer) and arms that are horrible. I feel self-conscious wearing a tank top (I still do wear them, since it's so hot out) and am trying to do arm exercises to tone that area. I have a feeling board shorts are going to forever be my future swimsuit of choice when it comes to my thighs. My ticker states my birthday goal of onederland, that is under 200 pounds, by my birthday which is in August. Now if only those last two stubborn pounds will come off to make that happen! I've been flucuating between 201 and 205 the past month. I wanted to be at my final goal by my one year surgiversary, but I don't think it'll happen unless my body decides that we're in this together and wants to cooperate!

You could also be still in the throes of the inevitable 3 week stall. You're a month out, but you could have started the stall at 3 weeks out. Mine lasted about a week and a half. That could be why, as well.

What my question pretty much means, do you catch yourself doing something that you couldn't otherwise do before when you were heavier? One example for me is constantly rubbing my newly discovered collar bones. I don't remember the last time I could see them. Now I catch myself poking and prodding and just generally being amazed I have these bones! Lol. Another thing is when I first realized I did something when my friend came over. She was on the couch and as I was talking to her I sat down Indian style on my recliner, as if I've been able to do it all this time! I've never been able to sit like that comfortably, even on a spacious surface. It always felt like it strained my muscles or that I looked like an exploding sausage with everything hanging out. It was a great feeling to be able to do something so... normal... without thinking and not feeling exposed and uncomfortable. How about you guys? I know it's a pretty random question, but I'm curious!