CowgirlJane

Janey my losses crawled to a halt about 7 months post op. I was just under 200, looking and feeling good. And truly had obtained "success". I had to do some soul searching about kicking it up a notch and doing what it would take to get all the way to my personal goal. I got advice from NUT and just kept on working that sleeve! Here is the blessing, since the weight didn't just "fall off" I had to learn behavior that has helped me tremendously in maintenance. I hit goal In Feb 2013 and have been maintaining since..currently about 15 pounds under my goal.

You know Denise it is frustrating but I wonder if you are maintaining a few pounds lower than your body wants to be at? I bounce up a few pounds every weekend...probably from the wine...Haha....and I drop back to 140-142 by middle of the week without alot of angst. I don't like fried or junk food, bread and wine are my"gotchas"... but I eat at restaurants a couple times a week and am still NOT doing formal exercise (just horses and dancing) so I believe my body is happy here. I suspect if I tried to maintain at say 135 I would experience the same frustration you are...and is 5# worth it? Just something to think about. Having said that, when summer ends I am going to return to strength training which may drive my weight up a few. Sarah, how is the recovery going? Loving you hot bod??? I had so much fun at my 1980 theme dance last night. What a hoot! I got alot of compliments on my "look" - I did the leather pants rocker chick thing. My niece's funeral was yesterday. She was40, her sister is 37. The surviving sister looks terrible...I was shocked. I swear she looks older than me. I think she is a chain smoking druggie..not sure. The one who passed had gotten super obese. I hadn't seen her in over a year and I was shocked by the photos. I thank God everyday for my second chance at life since the sleeve. I am going to take a few private dance lessons..I prepaid for them awhile ago...just to learn basic 2 step etc. Then this fall I will take a dance group class. Right now I am back to riding like 5 days a week and loving summer so won't commit to a class till the winter rains return.

That's me in the long curly hair and black headband.

I did 5:2 to address a 5# regain and it worked so well, I decided to lose a bit more. I am not doing 5:2 now, but I still use some of the techniques- and they work! Anyway, an article, not about 5:2, but about health benefits of fasting: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/07/25/this-is-what-happens-to-your-body-when-skip-meals/?intcmp=obinsite

I navigate to "content I follow" It is the only way I can find this thread on all 3 devices....laptop, kindle, android phone.

The ladies in the social club are 30s...maybe 40s. My point is any of them with a few extra pounds. ..it's the mid section. I think us formerly obese judge ourselves so damn hard... we don't realize how typical we actually look is all.

I was advised to get the bypass originally due to my high BMI and failure with the lapband. At the time I could not wrap my mind around the bypass so had decided to stay obese and miserable. I contacted a lifestyle based program and they told me I needed surgery and to consider the sleeve. I have been very successful with the sleeve and maintaining for awhile but I no longer have the negative feeling about the bypass. I think you should talk it over with your surgeon and do some reading. Personal stories like mine can lead you down a path and we don't really know you medical profile. There are some good reasons to choose one surgery over the other and that should be discussed with a surgeon.

Not everyone is the same. My emotional upheavals happened AFTER the first year too. I think counseling is a good idea, I also think a good relationship is worth saving and is more important than many other things.

Ann... that was my anti WLS argument pre sleeve. It was my sleep apnea doctor who said "let's say you gain back 50% in 5 years, aren't you still better off then gaining year after year... ?" I thought he had a valid point. Now I have been maintaining for a bit but am aware that 3-5 years out is regain land (potentially). I am on it like white on rice. I watch it with the same diligence (not perfection but intention) as weight loss phase. I really like being slim and I have yet to find any food as good as this feels.

I was banded in 2001. I weighed 272. I lost 30 pounds in the first month as my surgeon had me on a liquid diet for a whole month. It took me another 11 months to drop an additional 40 - I exercised daily and really tried hard. I never got under 200# and started having severe reflux and had to have all Fluid removed. I was not a success story. Once the fluid was removed, I regained and hit my lifetime high of 332 by 2005. I didn't expect it to be a cakewalk, but i really thought it would help me more with appetite control, portion control. I tried really hard but I needed more support and education than I received ... also, as a tool, it just didn't work that well for me. I revised to the sleeve in December 2011 which has just worked better for me as a tool AND I sought out a surgeon with a very detailed 2 year follow up support plan that was mandatory. I am down to 140 now and maintaining...

My doctor recommended a supplement called Veinoblend a "vein support" supplement by Vitanica. I am sure there are others... I am not sure how much it helped because I improved my eating at the same time but I am no longer covered in bruises so i do think it helped. what i find interesting is that my blood work is perfect, and i had it tested when i was in the worst of my "difficult" time so it doesn't make much sense to me.

I went years with no physical relationship with my EX and I blamed it on my weight. I felt I couldn't complain because I looked so bad. I realize now that it wasn't the issue at all. I tried talking and sometimes that doesn't work but it's a great start! In my case "talking" clarified the situation and I am good friends with my EX..but he is my EX for a reason.

Florinda, we always judge ourselves so harshly. I have been going to these social group dance parties and frankly MOST of the women over about 30 look a few months pregnant if you want to put it that way. A belly roll is where those extra 20 sit. It is age related progression. I keep getting asked about how I got a flat stomach at my age by this fun group of chicks. since they are casual aquaintances I don't particularly want to discuss losing the equivelent of a medium sized man, having a normal BMI now and then having plastics.... A lady I ride with is as skinny as a stick - she is itty bitty teeny tiny and has been slim her whole life. She is in her mid 60s, stays very fit, but has a bit of a belly too. It is just what happens to women - the difference between being 20 and being not 20 sadly. don't be so hard on yourself. Just be healthy and the "good enough" looks follow is what I think. You are a beautiful sexy lady and need to be kinder to yourself.

I can't explain it, but I am doing great with weight management in spite of the crapstorm. I dropped back down to 140 and decided I needed to eat more and am now in the 142-143 range. I actually am interesting in maintaining in the 135-140 range if I can do it healthily and not just from stopping eating. So for now, i am using that as a barometer. I think I still use certain 5:2 techniques even though I am not doing 5:2. Example, I try to have a good long overnight fast period many days of the week. Like, maybe don't eat between say 7pm and maybe 11am perhaps 4-5 days a week. If I am really active, I will have a protein drink that is super low carb. I also mix it up so not every day is the same. If I feel hungry or really low energy I eat heartily and sometimes actually lose weight doing that. I hope I am able to maintain this comfortable balance because I really like how I look right now, I like how clothes fit etc. The only thing I really feel I want to improve is more strength, more muscles like i used to have. I sorta lost fitness between plastics, gym injury, depression and the like. I am still very active (moving hay, moving horse poop, riding, hiking etc) but i am not doing any kind of formal strength training which i want to do. I am going to try ... one last time... to learn to couples dance. I have always felt physically awkward and sorta feared dancing for that reason. I tried dancing lessons during the last stages of my relationship with my EX and even though I had lost much of my weight by then (I was maybe 180-200# range) I just felt uncomfortable. I think part of it was we were uncomfortable pretending to be a couple at that point... not sure how much crossed over into the dancing. I have just loved going out and doing "free style" rock and roll dancing with that social group I am a part of so maybe I will be more comfortable showing off my two left feet couples dancing now? I know this sounds very shallow, but I feel like skinny people get away with being awkard and off beat and maybe a little sweaty and it's sorta cute whereas a fat woman just looks bad unless they are perfectly groomed etc. I fully realize that is a self image issue that I have, but it is how I feel about myself. Oddly, I never think that way when I see other overweight people - I love it when the fluffy people get out and just do it!!! And lets be honest, even in a size 4 pant, I sometimes still fluffy myself (ah the dismorphia rears its head from time to time) but I do feel NORMAL and that is all I ever wanted! Anyway, it has always been a dream of mine to be a "dancer" - you know someone that knows the steps. So, it's like I tell other people, if not now, when???

I also looked at lelo...which model? I have never been into toys but life is such that I don't have the real deal these days...

It's a real shame that the mobile app people can't see signature or profile. There is so much to be seen and learned (not just mine bit in general). If you log in from a laptop you can click on profile and many of us have before and afters in there - I found that very motivational during the pre op and losing phases. I started at 308 and now weigh 140 so over 160# lost. I have lost over 180 from my lifetime high

I lost alot.. My mons area never had hanging skin but oh my....the tummy, thighs and arms sure did. It didn't bother my boyfriend but the day he MOVED my belly skin out of"the way" during an intimate moment was the day I decided I needed plastics..Haha. I was mortified. Anyway, due to the massive weight loss I needed a lower body lift which is a tummy tuck plus. As stated previously, you are pulled up!

You can fail to maintain a healthy weight after ANY WLS. I just found the sleeve to be a better tool and with no pain over the band. I also learned a few lessons along the way and surely have more to learn. Honestly just spending time reading posts , talking to people, go to real life support groups etc. I did that for awhile before taking the plunge to revise to the sleeve.

Yeah, but my bruising issues happened this year - a few years post op. It may be a deficiency. My blood work is PERFECT though so could never find a reason. I bought a supplement that is supposed to help, I am eating well and I seem less black and blue these days!

My sister and niece staged an intervention. I am 5'5" and when I got down to about 155 range they were very concerned. What I realized is that they have only really seen me as overweight over obese so I looked too thin. Also, immediately after rapid weight loss you do tend to have a certain "look" that normalizes out over time. When I told them my actual weight and that it is healthy for my height there response was "you look about 125 and still losing". They felt better knowing that my doc feels it is a healthy weight etc. and that I weighed more than they thought. I am about 140 or so right now. I got another round of negative feedback but once again I was just honest... I am not trying to lose more and my weight is still very healthy for my height. A male friend told me I look GREAT right here and to stop because pretty soon my a$$ would completely disappear. (He couldn't help but throw in to try really hard to maintain here and not regain - gee thanks dude). As blunt as he was, he is right. My hips measure 36" and I don't really want a skinnier butt - I like how I look, I like my clothing size. Everyone else is adjusting to my current size and I really don't get razzed about it anymore. Or if I do, it is a compliment - my close girlfriends call me "skinny b*itch" which is a huge compliment after the lifetime of being the hugest woman in the room - and we all know it is a compliment so it's fine! My advice is to smile and nod, or if it is someone you really care about (like my sis) actually talk to them about it. Find your own happy place and don't be too worried about others - they will get over it. I am finding that people are forgetting now how huge i used to be. I showed a before pic to my own grown sons and they couldn't believe it - they have become used to how I look now.

To some extent I don't care if it is a physical stretch or a change in the feeling of restriction. I know how to maintain good restriction and I continue to behave that way so it works. I was sleeved Dec 2011

I was banded in Germany in 2001. It had been used for several years there by then so I believe there are a few from 20 years ago. There were also a few other procedures from the past like a mesh thing that was bad news...

While it may be anecdotal it has been my observation that major life changes often end long term relationships. I observe this in my friends - doesn't have to be weight loss, often other changes like new found confidence due to career or maybe the kids moving out (empty nesters) - anything that shakes up the status quo. For me, i was in an unmarried LTR with a really good guy, supportive of my weight loss efforts but he hadn't been "in love" with me for a very long time. I tolerated living like roommates for years and frankly did blame it on my weight. After I lost 125# and asked him if he noticed my looks any different and he was essentially indifferent, i started to get the clue that his lack of interest in me was not weight related. I sorta realize now that we should have ended things maybe 5-7 years ago, but out of respect and caring and family orientation we were sticking it out. I had to face the question... do I want to spend the rest of my life in an unmarried "friendship" with no intimacy, doing nothing together and essentially half way between being single, and not really single. The answer was NO. When I was obese, I couldn't even think that way and frankly I thought it was all because of my horrible physical condition. We are both better off apart and are still friends - that never changed - we are just living a more honest and authentic life in many ways. I realize my story is not typical (ie no jealousy or any of that) but my point is that new found confidence makes people start asking themselves if they are really thriving in their relationships or are they just getting by....

Last night shoveled out bettys kitchen guest bedroom and main bath so her dad from AZ can stay there. It was a potentially depressing task but my son helped and we attacked it like madmen and it was okay. I am still a little ill from digging out the kitchen sink but mission accomplished! I have let go of the guilt I feel that she was living like this due to the tumor. Weight is stable in the 142 range so feel like I am doing good. I still think of Steven but I ended it with him for good and we parted with loving words so I am ok with that too. Sunshine...blue skies...good friends...kid at home...it all helps. I had hoped to go to the ocean with horses and friends this weekend but nieces funeral is Sat so that won't happen. I have plans to go riding and dancing Friday night though!

There are a few long timers but most don't post here anymore. I revised from band 2.5 years ago after 10 years banded. I have had great success with sleeve...if you click on my profile you can see details.