CowgirlJane

It is a shame that profiles and signatures can't be seen on most mobile devices because when i was doing research and learning was helpful and often inspirational to be able to see all that. Now most people access via the phone app and really miss alot of useful content! In the collage I attached, my before picture is obvious - I weighed in the 305-310 range in that photo. I was at one point much heavier than that but I stopped weighing (guessing I was about 350# at one point, highest recorded weight was 332). The photo of me standing with my horse was me at goal in 2013, but preplastics and WITHOUT shapewear. I chose that picture because although I could definately disguise it with clothes, I did have a bit of melted snowman look. the photos on the left - the cocktail dress and bathing suit were post plastics - both taken in 2014

Port removal spot was very tender.

I have done better focusing on low carb vs calories. Also literally eat Protein first. Like I was having chicken on salad and nut advised me to eat the chicken before digging into any lettuce. The dense protein presses against the "receptors" at bottom of sleeve which is a banana shaped stomach.

I am fasting today. I might be dying of hunger.

Decades ago I gave up new years weight loss resolutions..haha. i got to goal in Feb 2013 and then in 2014 decided I wanted to reduce my body fat percentage while maintaining my weight. I decided to hire a personal trainer. That began a process of injuries, physical therapy and discouragement. I am once again planning to improve my fitness this year - but tackling it MYSELF since I no longer trust the alledged experts. Anyway, for me, I am regularly staying focused on maintenance, good health, trying to eat a bit more naturally (ie less and less processed foods) etc. Normal people do this - continually work on improving! Lets just say it is alot easier to do now that i am no longer obese. congrats on yoru success!!!

My BMI was at my highest 55; I started my sleeve journey at a BMI of 51 3 years ago. I have lost in the ballpark of 160# and been maintaining since Feb 2013. i think high BMI people have some unique challenges and as someone who was banded before sleeve - I agree with your surgeon that the band is not the right tool. I will be honest, i would consider the DS if I was over 60 BMI. That is a scary procedure in the sense of it being riskier and more prone to nutrient deficiencies but I think it is worth at least investigating check out website called dsfacts (google it). One downsode to the DS, is when I did plastics consults i was told by surgeons that those are the patients they feel are higher risk due to nutrient deficiencies (you MUST supplement consistently). Back to the sleeve.. it has been great for me however, it is possible to overeat with it. Actually, i think it is possible to over eat with any of the procedures (although DS is most malabsorptive) over the long haul. Most people have very good restriction in the first 6-18 months of the sleeve and then it gets harder. At 3 years post op, I am not sure how much I can eat, but it is enough that people guess I am a light eater (watching my weight!) but not that I had WLS. I can eat like a shrimp skewer and a small side salad for example. So, my perspective is this, the sleeve is a tremendous tool and can really make getting out of super morbid obesity a reality - BUT - you really need to be "over" using and abusing food. That does not happen in an instant and almost nobody is really fully there pre-op (or maybe ever!). Even after all this time, I make a very conscious effort to manage a healthy relationship with food, fitness, activity etc. Someone once said on these very forums "none of us got over 300# without having some kind of food issue" and it does not magically disappear so getting your head around being comfortable with eating small portions, with making a permanent committment to this new way of relating to food etc. is really important. Good luck to you - my life is so much better and I have so many wonderful experiences and opportunities that eluded me when I was morbidly obese. check out my before and after pictures on my profile if you want to see how far I have come! it is still a wonder to me!

I want to lose about 15# which seems impossible...Haha. Thing is I am pretty "ok" where I am at but feel the desire to get back to a trimmer weight...gives me wiggle room. Also, I like how I looked in the low 140s. So, let's do it! I am attempting a fast day today....wish me luck. I feel low confidence about it but I remind myself of the amazing results I got from 5:2 in August 2013.... lost 12-13 pounds in just over a month! I was in much better condition (muscle mass) then so I expect it will go slower this time but I am using that memory to build"success" visualization.

Ok January 5 is my official reset and restart day. I have been avoiding the scale the last two weeks. My weight is up, but clothes still fit so much of this must be water gain. Anyway, pretty soon this will show up as no clothes fitting so time to get ON IT! I know a few have started already....but should everyone who is actively doing 5:2 in January check in? A roll call of sorts?

I made cauliflower pizza ages ago and it tasted great. I did get a decent crust but it was alot of work. Denise, I am sorry this recovery has been so rough, I think focusing on that is good right now. You mentioned walking hunched, is th a that normal part of recovery? What have they said about prognosis? Kevin inured one of his shoulders about a month ago. He has serious permanent shoulder problem (has had 4 major surgeries) and so this just piles on. It hasn't been good for our budding relationship because he is in pretty bad pain. You probably don't remember but his neck went out a few weeks into our starting dating so I would say in 3 months of dating he has been in bad shape for 2 months of that. It isn't the reason but has contributed to us not becoming attached or in love. I had a wonderful time with him over new years and we talked alot. After our 2 days together I thought we could get on really well but now, days later I keep reflecting how much he still loves a crazy ex girlfriend - that woman sounds really toxic but he is drawn to her. I am not jealous or anything but it remind me that is what is missing. We are not falling in love. That would be okay with me I think except the"lifestyle" we do when together is too much wine and (healthy) cooking. He is never up for hiking, riding or biking. I have gained weight since seeing him (my responsibility) and so I am needing to modify things. A month ago I was ready for "next steps" and he did have dinner with me and my sons but now I think other thoughts...like this just isn't working for me. He is a good man, but I am not in love and I don't want to be so limited in activities. I feel guilty in a way because I think if it weren't for the new shoulder injury I would really be still hanging in there. However, I sense he is feeling the same way as I know how important love is to him and we just seemed to have lost whatever might have been brewing.

Most everyone understood this....but to clarify....guy in bar was complimentary and for a drunk guy both elequant and funny. He clearly found us all appealing. ..this isn't about him. This is about realizing what I thought i had worked through (dismorphia) is alive and well The more mentally healthy I get, the more I realize. ...

I have been at goal for nearly 2 years and am quite accustomed to my size/shape these days. I had the most trouble with face dismorphia - feeling like I look so old and weird post weight loss but I thought I had really gotten past it. I do feel like I could benefit from some injections, but hey, who wouldn't at age 50?!? So, Saturday night I went on an ugly sweater pub crawl with 2 girlfriends who are just a few years younger than me. We booked a hotel in town so we didn't have to drive and really had fun, dancing, talking to people - enjoying the ugly sweaters and holiday festitivites. Anyway, at the end of the evening, a gentleman who I guess to be in his 50s (but who knows) bought a round for all 3 of us. He didn't ask, just delivered the drinks to where we huddled near the dance floor trying to plan out next move- it was last call, the music had stopped etc. So, the guy was actually pretty funny but was complimenting us all (of course). Started with D who is a tiny little thing and had an epicly ugly sweater that essentially made her look elfish or like a pixie. He said something about how she was just so tiny and adorable with her cute little round face (true!). Then he complimented S and said how she was the thin tall blonde and oh so beautiful (also true!). Then, he said that i had the smoking hot bod and looked great especially after the sweater came off. I do believe he specifically mentioned my breasts and certainly NOT my face. Okay, all in good fun, no big deal. I realized today - days later - that I have been seeing my face as very ugly even before this incident. I don't care what some guy in a bar thinks, and it's not like he insulted me even, but it made me aware of that underlying feeling and it has been hanging with me and I don't like it. I thought I had gotten to a point where my looks were becoming way less important to me. I am not fishing for compliments, I have people tell me I am pretty, young looking etc. but I simply don't feel that way. I absolutely refuse to let this get me down or make me think less of myself but it bothers me that this has come up in my mind again. I think I am going through a little holiday sadness so even though that ugly sweater event was an absolute hoot, I am not super excited about the holidays.

I weighed 150 at plastics and am committed to staying within 15# of that weight to preserve my results.

Okay, ideally you are stable at goal for awhile. For people who decide to do skin removal and still lose more weight, wont have as tight of results. The Dr Sauceda support group has several people who have gone this route...still overweight but making the most of their assets! Do not plan on plastics as a weight loss technique...it isn't worth it forthat in my opinion. Plastics made me look normal and fixed much of the damage obesity caused and I am thrilled with it , but it is N O JOKE!

Dorrie..our maintenance stats are similar. I want to get back to 140-145 range but I am floating in the upper 150s. Still alot better than 300# weight class I started at, and I start the year NOT loathing myself or the small regain but thankful I have the tools and support to get back on track. I don't have a timeframe but my goal is to see 140 in 2015, doing it while getting fitter and maintaining good health

I am not sure Florinda, I feel there is a physical change. When riding the carb train, its like things don't work properly. When I am eating high protein, drinking lots of water etc I get full. Even so, I am not full after 3 bites of salad.

Ah our sisters from across the pond are leading the 2015 5:2 charge....woohoo! I have had a lot happen last few weeks. Had an amazing new years eve special night out. It was one of those "this kind of magical night never happened when I was obese" I am oddly in a weird mood. Well, I know why but not sure what to do.

i put money aside in savings and then went to mexico... i really couldn't afford the 40-50K I needed for all the procedures in the USA

I had 2.5 months weight and went on a medically supervised diet to keep from gaining. I was starving 24/7

I have had a volume incrrase. NUT said to literally eat dense protein first. Example I was having salmon Cesar salad by crumbling salmon over the lettuce. She said to try eating the salmon first and then. The salad. It makes a difference. Damn kids gave gave me a bunch of treats but what I can't resist is the soft individual wrapped gourmet cookies. I have eaten 4 out of 8...grrr Anyway I think many of us have some work to do in January.! I am completely over people remarking on bow little eat but when I there man I have been dating for 3 months makes jokes about how much I like food, how I can pack it away -then I feel insulted. Truth is my appetite is strong but I still eat small portions so I don't know why he'd say that just seemed unsupportive.

Lisa, wondering how you are doing. Holidays can be very hard.

Don't mean to sound discouraging but I am finding maintenance much harder at 3 years -I was still losing at 12 months. Anyway I am thankful for this forum as I realize most of us are going through this.

Boot on helps re grow but protein and zinc can help prevent losing. I was told to suspect deficiency if hair loss goes on at one year post op. Hoswver, what you describe really does sound like rubbing since in one spot.

I hope everyone has enjoyed at least some aspects of the holidays! It has been by far the lowest key christmas EVER. It was good except the boys bought me JUNK food for Christmas! arrgggghhhh

Do you ever find yourself overly sensitive about food related remarks? Kevin can be a bit of a smart ass... and three times now he has said something about how I eat. First time, it was the usual how little i eat. Last few times it has been along the lines of how much I like food... like it is supposed to be a joke but I don't find it funny AT ALL. I realize I am being overly sensitive but it was all I could do to keep from telling him to go F himself. I think I my tolerance for people is just decreasing ...

I think people w ho have problems are likely to post asking for help. For most of us the first 1-3 months kinda sucked but I didn't vomit or run crazed down the street since I can't handle (fill in the blank) since being sleeved. So it's not easy but it is very "do able"