CowgirlJane

I was banded for 10 years - epic fail. Not only was I scared of another surgery, but I was scared of failing again and I was scared of the permanance. I had one basic question "what if it is as awful as the band but I can't reverse it?" Well, I reached the point where I felt I had no choice but to leap in. It took me over a year of wrestling with this before I finally had the band removed. Surgeons were adament it needed to go before it slipped further. I couldn't get courage up to do the sleeve, but I was preapproved for insurance. Then, I found out my insurance was changing and i had a "last chance" to get insurance coverage for the sleeve - so i went for it in Dec 2011. Now 160+ pounds lost - I weigh around 140 instead of around 300-315 and it was the best decision ever!

Well, the guy makes snide remarks about men too, I think that is just his style. What I took issue with is the presumption that all women workout for the same reason - to look hot for guys. While that may be MY motivation I am sure there are a few women who work out to feel good, improve their health, get stronger, lose weight, improve their aerobic conditioning, live longer, remain more mobile and limber, meet athletic goals like running marathons etc. So, he used the example of how awful runners look, which is bull because I happen to find a lean, long muscled look very attractive. To say that runners have high body fat is also kinda a nutty remark really. He also leaves out the genetic component of results. I always thought I must be strong because i have visible muscles - nope - turns out my genetics gives me that defined muscle look from working out and doesn't mean I am fitter or do a better job of working out then the next woman making mistakes at the gym... I do agree that many people don't have a clue when they work out though and therefore don't get great results. I have made the mistakes of following alot of general guidelines that didn't really pay off that well. My uninformed opinion, based on my personal results only - the best results are garnished from a combination of high intensity interval training and doing workouts that use your own body weight as resistance like TRX, boot camp style (or crossfit style) type stuff as long as you don't kill yourself in the process. Long duration exercise gets you other benefits, but shorter duration high intensity helped me lose weight and at least appear more tones. Yeah, my bodyfat % is still about 27%, higher than I prefer but well within the range of normal for a 49 year old woman who used to be morbidly obese.

Well, I had quite the weekend. Horse related injuries... turns out my horse does NOT like having a gun fired by someone on her back..haha.. even if it is just primer shots. I would have stayed on except that the gun safety rules are that you reholster your pistol before dealing with an out of control horse. I am left handed and the clinic provided the gear - the holsters were set for right handed persons. Comedy of errors and I fell off. Ouch. I fell pretty light, almost stayed on my feet so the side I hit the ground is not sore at all. The opposite side - my hip, waist and knee are sore - they all got twisted. Ouch. That happened Sat so I decided to accept Tino's invite to go boating on Sunday instead of my riding plans. I had mixed feelings because it was a boat party with his 13 year old daughter (who I hadn't met) and a bunch of her friends. It was super fun though, glad I went. We worked out the whole issue around the cancellation. He kinda freaked out on me a little bit after that whole dinner fiasco and turns out he has alot of stuff in life (ie he discovered a leak in his roof and needs to do major home repair plus some business related stuff) and was feeling panicked like he didn't have time for a girlfriend etc. I had one of those... "you gotta be kidding me... I could have stayed with Steven for this bull" moments. Instead, I was calm and mature and just asked what he wanted. He told me he wants to see me and just was feeling like he had screwed it all up. I let him know that I am a grown up, we don't need to see each other all the time and we don't need to have 10 hour dates (the boating) so why don't we just chill a little, cut back a little, and take care of some stuff in life. He was so happy, relieved and it seems to me we are still talking everyday and seeing each other every few days... which is PLENTY for me. Plenty, really. I enjoy my time with Tino a great deal although there are a few things about him that raise some of concerns about long term compatibility BUT I was looking for a boyfriend to do fun stuff with, that I enjoy talking to and that matches my energy - he is really a good match for all that, and I figure enjoy it while it lasts! His youngest daughter - the 13 year old - is a complete doll. I like her alot and was surprised how warm and friendly she was to me. I am not sure I would have been that way at that age to a strange woman taking a parent's attention. I hear she approved of my pictures on POF early on and told her dad he should marry me because of my horses...haha. kids.

Go low carb and change exercise routine to high intensity to shake things up. I lost after he 12 month mark.

I am still seeing the guy i met recently. He seems genuine which for me is huge. I did adjust my standards as far as looks goes because I realized that my holding out for a hottie was leading me to jerks. So I personally think that those of us that are older (i am 49) are so jaded, it really interferes with finding love. Middle age guys that look good have their pick of 30 year olds. My new friend is tall and good looking but a bit of a belly and not the Robert Redford look alike I had been holding out for..haha. so far, good call as he treats me like a princess and I love being around him. We go boating and it's just plain fun! Me, I just want companionship, a guy to do fun things with, who I enjoy being with. I think clarity of what I wanted helped alot too.

Hi... is your gas pain from the lap surgery (in your shoulder etc) or do you mean digestive gas? Have you tried gas X strips? Walking is one of the best ways to work out gas from lap surgery too. I think easy does it walks also make you feel better emotionally. Did you say it is getting harder to sip Water? Did you mention this to surgeon? If you get dehydrated you will feel awful and maybe need iv fluids. By 6-8 weeks it will be alot better but it was closer to 12 before I felt human! I have lost over 160# though. ..so worth it!! The early weeks really suck but it gets better I promise.

I am 2.5 years out and having a costly detail nutrition analysis done. I have heard that even without surgery and decent eating you can have imbalances due to digestive or absorption issues. I figure it will be good to know!

We talked about all the physical weirdness post weight loss on another thread. Well, I have really been suffering some pain. It all started with a gym injury in January that apparently has exposed some "issues" Anyway, sports med doc said it might be weight loss related but he sees people with my issues who were never overweight. I am going to try in addition to Phsycial therapy and chiro... a supportive vest kind of thing for my back. More info to follow... He said a couple of other notable things... "you are a young 49, but you aren't 19". I think that was a realistic expectations comment. He was very worried about my recent loss of appetite and emphasized exactly what follow up needed to happen with my primary care doc. He gave some very compelling reasons and told me to not assume it was related to the sleeve... better safe than sorry. I listened and will be scheduling soon. He also told me I was the most successful weight loss surgery patient he had ever met (in terms of maintaining a large loss and attaining a level of fitness and activity). I thought that was intriguing as there are many of us on this very forum that have lost and maintained significant losses. Wonder how rare that really is?

I was so obese..BMI over50, that I didn't have any vanity. I really needed to lose weight to live the life I want. Becoming hot and vain was an unexpected side benefit...teehee

I wish we could be shopping buddies! !!

cutie, that is weird. What do you supposed his "motivation" in all this was - to scam you of money or ?

same circus... different clowns... describes my dating life...sigh

I am 5'5"and I need a seatbelt extender on most planes when I was over 300. i carried alot of weight in my midsection though so not sure I can answer your question. If you can afford to fly first class - problem solved!

Congrats! Are you on his Facebook group? It is a great way to get so many details and hear about others experiences. It is only open to people who have a scheduled date with the good doctor. I am 6 months post plastics and couldn't be happier with my results and the experience.

Frank, I think it is pretty normal. I wasn't on solid food yet but progressing through mushies etc at that point. I would say things didn't start feeling somewhat normal until about 6-8 weeks out. It was honestly 3 months before I felt fully human. The good news is that this is a really great time to work on letting go of that attachment to food that many of us have/had. Food is fuel, view it as a prescription for good health and not as a friend or comfort.

I found out that some of my bras look pretty new, but the band is stretched. My 36Cs were not fitting right... too loose and the cup sorta floated around. I got measured and i belong in either 36d or 36DD. the band on my bras had some stretch which is why I thought they were too big.

So, last night was a bust. I had planned a nice romantic dinner ... he was supposed to arrive at 6:30. At about 530 he called and said he needed to delay due to a high drama family thing going on. At some point, it was gonna be delayed to 9pm. I cancelled because well, i start work at 6am so that is just way too late for me to start dinner and a movie like we had planned. He called me about 9:30 and I didn't answer because I was enjoying an episode of something on netflix and wasn't in the mood to discuss the huge amount of food I have all ready to cook - my goodness it is like a week's worth of food for me and much of it will go to waste now. Anyway, he left me a vmail saying how he wouldn't take the call either, knows I must be all mad etc etc. I am annoyed, but I am not that pissed just annoyed. I sent a text this am saying... hey, all is good, no worries but he is ignoring me. i was a little worried that he is a bit of a high drama/high maintenance kind of guy and if that turns out to be the case, bye-bye. We shall see. Oh, family drama seems to be a theme with him. He has been divorced for 5 years and is still in open warfare with his exwife. Not a good sign. The family drama last night involved a nephew who's wife is having an affair in Dallas or some damn thing. I am just not a drama kinda woman....

I think that there are still plenty of "classic" type clothing available. I am a Ross Dress for Less fan - plenty of junky stuff there but also nice stuff. I sometimes shop in the juniors stuff for a few fun things, but they also have nice Calvin Klein, Michael Kors and other "adult" fashions that are classic without looking frumpy old lady. I will never ever wear a once piece jumpsuit. Never. ever.

You'd be amazed at how fast you can get to 2,739 posts (haha... PDXMan current post count... I will see mine after I hit the POST button!)

sounds like you are using an app, not accessing via your computer. What kind of device?

Well, it is of course not related to the sleeve unless you are one that gets yeast infections from antiboitics. However, yeast infections do not cause a yellow discharge - maybe you should see your general practioner doctor?

oh, tonight I am cooking dinner for Tino for the first time. I am so nervous I bought a ton of food because I eat so little that I misjudge how much food to have. Tino is a huge eater (big tall guy) so I just wanted to be sure he got enough. I don't know why it is so important to me for this first home cooked dinner to go so well...haha.. I must really like him. Veggies and dip, cheese, crackers and little chicken skewers for appetizer since he really is a huge eater... Salmon and salad (with oven garlic fries for him) for main course Raspberry sorbet and raspberries to round it out

No, you don't want to hear about my low calorie days - which is pretty much most days I am by myself - because it isn't a "plan" it just happens. For example, I make a yummy veggie egg beater omelette and add a bit of protein like turkey sausages. It is my typical breakfast as I work hard to get veggies in so this is a veggie/protein start to my day - I estimate the omelette to be maybe 150-200 calories plus another 100 calories for the low carb/low fat sausages so maybe 250-300 TOTAL. Used to be i would eat half first thing, then half for mid morning snack. Then, I was eating second half for lunch... then I noticed sometimes I was having second half for dinner.... and there were a few days that it was still in the fridge the next morning. So, that is just an example of how I get ridiculously low calorie days - by not eating. I don't recommend it, it isn't healthy and it isn't normal. I am working very hard to eat more normally even if the scale bounces a few pounds - I want to be healthy! I am eating even when not hungry which goes against my grain, but I don't want to wind up as one of those sickly looking post WLS people. I love how I look - I look healthy, and I think young for my age, just happy with how I have turned out post weight loss and don't want to screw it up. This is the nutrient analysis I am having done: http://www.spectracell.com/clinicians/products/mnt/ I don't know if it is legit or just hooey... but it sounds good and my doc thinks it is far superior to standard labs. Yes, Tino has many of the attributes I am looking for. I think he will be a good boyfriend - so far so good.... but we shall see how things unfold. As I get to know him better and better I realize he has many things in common with Steven which at first made me a little uncomfortable, but I realized that so far the things he has in common are the "good things". He is incredibly reliable (unlike Steven) and has so far kept commitments and promises almost to a fault. He apologized too many times for being 30 minutes late (he called and told me he was late!)... as he said "never keep a beautiful woman waiting"..haha... and when he showed up it was for a surprise date on the lake again - boat in tow - which is what made him late. I thought we were just going out for a lunch and hanging out. He is also very affectionate and communicative which I really do love. I don't like that he sometimes seems like a food pusher, especially at first. If truth be told though, my eating has not been normal. Take a normal post WLS person - over 2 years out... and consider if they were eating about 1/4 of what they should be eating. That was me. So in fairness, he wasn't really a food pusher but rather could not understand why I ate so little. I have had the surgery talk though and he has backed off from commenting on my food and at the same time I really am trying to eat more.. especially when I am with him. Denise - you point out yet another reason I never want to live with a man again. I will have my son at home again as he graduates in June... I will make an exception for him... but living alone keeps the junky food out of the house that is for sure!

I can only speak for my experience, but the pain from plastics just wasn't that bad. The arms really were not painful at all, but they were WEIRD when healing. As the nerves started coming back to life I got some zinging sensations, especially when I exercised. Arms made a huge difference on how I look though, even with long sleeves on. That skin just added alot of bulk. I really really need to get updated pics going so people can see the side by side. I almost bailed on the arms because I was afraid of the scars - silly fears as the scars aren't even noticed by most people. They aren't that bad either. I hope to hear from more of you! 17 members of this group... I know there are more news updates out there!!!

This sounds less weight loss surgery related and more emotional/mental health related. My dad was a temper tantrum throwing tyrant and what you describe is how he behaved every day. He was also quite capable of becoming violent. I think you should get yourself to a professional (counselor etc) and figure out what you need to do to 1. protect yourself and 2. find a way forward Good luck