CowgirlJane

Thank you for your kind comments. I have been at goal for awhile, but i "re-share" pics from time to time because when I was that 300+ pound woman I never imagined in my wildest dreams I could look normal, much less be considered attractive. I used to think my eyes were just so ugly - turns out they were just hidden by all the fat! Looks are not the core of who we are but somehow looking normal has made me feel like a more complete human being. Like others are more at ease around me. I am no longer invisible or even worse stared at out of shock. I hope that my pictures give others hope that they too can transform. It is a different journey for each of us, and we don't all share the same goals, but the amazing is possible and this thread is FULL of wonderful examples. I am so proud of all of us!!!!!

Dorrie - I think you should do what would give you genuine pleasure. I don't want to miss out on opportunities just to stay at a certain weight. when i feel happy I usually control my food pretty good. Right now, I am just in angst, but this too shall pass.

Start weight 308 Current weight 148-150 amazing what losing half your body weight does for ya...

Butter let me know he saw my nekkid post plastics pix a few months back...haha... so at least back then he checked in sometimes.

We are all different... but X pounds by a certain date is a formula for a disaster for me. Too many years dieting... What I do instead is focus on losing those 10#, no time box. But I visualize it. I do stuff like change passwords to reflect it. I write it on my mirror (did you know that dry erase pens work great on a mirror!), I keep it in front of my face all.day.long. I visualize being there. That is how i work toward goals. Doesn't matter if it takes me a month or six... I WILL get there.

Well, that is actually his name too, Stephan. pronounced Stefan, but in the USA that is sorta a gay sounding name according to him.... so he goes by either Steve, Stevie or Steven. He has worked alot in the construction industry - doing sales not doing construction so this whole sissy sounding name was a big deal I guess. To me Stefan (ie pronouncing the "F") is a normal sounding name but I work for a European company so there are Stefans everywhere...LOL

I had a really bad eating day yesterday. I ate crackers, really salty crackers all day. I am up 2 pounds, I know it is just the salt... but... it doesn't feel good. I am falling back on food to cope I think. It is early on, I can get this back under control the first step is my ex and his crackers, bread and BACON need to be gone...LOL

You might surprise yourself eventually liking exercise. I started out doing Water aerobics and found it to feel so good... warm water, fun people, made my body and soul feel great. I only quit it when I just couldn't seem to get an intense enough workout anymore. I have done lots of different things since but now, I am totally digging on these group weight training classes. I love lifting and this keeps it fun, full of music and an instructor that motivates.

Denise that is wonderful! And I am seeing Steven again tonight. If we could maintain at once a week I will be quite happy for now. I have been over eating...stress over my EX.

Alan sounds wonderful but the 2000 miles between us might be an obstacle! Well the consensus seems to lean towards Steven's advice.. most won't care, it's not who I am anymore and it really doesn't matter. I WOULD tell someone once we are serious because I think a man might feel betrayed to hear it from someone else. Crap I am missing a section of a bone due to a horrible bone infection as a kid.... never been a showstopper for anyone....just part of who I am. You know what is crazy though, people who have known me forever are already forgetting that I was ever huge. I am the family athlete -hiking, riding, adventurous sister/aunt. My own sons hardly believe it is me when they see old pix. The person they see now is the real me. I think that says good things about humans....we really CAN change and our loved ones really do accept the new "me" and truly believe that I have this obesity crap whipped. Makes me feel good that they accepted and loved me as an obeses woman and now just as much as a normal one. (Ps my son's are so cute, they begrudgingly confess I am hot now...lol)

I had plastics at 150. I can gain or lose 15# without messing with results. 135 would put me at about 22 BMI I think and would be amazing as long as my face still looks good and I keep an ass. Lots of squats etc and I am getting more shape back there. Also found amazing compression garment that gives me a cuter butt...just worry that is where the weight will come from.

That sounds great! I had to fire my personal trainer because he was trying to kill me. Seriously - I am good with sore muscles but when your joints and back ache for a week you know it is just too much. I am doing these group fitness classes that involve weights and lots of core work - hard workouts without killing me. One thing that I have found... and maybe it is just me... but I have visible muscling in the shoulders and arms, but I feel like I STILL have too much fat to see much definition in most parts of my body. I think it is just my reality.... I am curious if anybody who has lost alot of weight (I am down over 180# from my life time highest - down 160# since sleeve) can ever really get a toned looking body. I suspect the ship has just sailed.....LOL... but, I am happy enough with how I look, just never gonna look like someone who was never fat.

Chimera - we have some things in common. Started at over 300 , are both 49, live in the same area.... and I forgot the other things that struck me last night haha... Wanda, I don't count calories so I too believe my main success with 5:2 is the long fasting windows....the at least 18 hours without food. So for those of you with BMI in the lower range...say 20-22... did you notice any ill effect on you looks? I have been toying with making a push to lose another 10-15# once my ex moves out..and takes his bacon and bread with him. My biggest worry is that my ass will get even skinnier and that my face will look less youthful. Right now I have a bad chin wattlle (hidden by angles of photo) but otherwise face is ok. My current BMI is 25 which is FINE, so I am just curious what you all noticed as you dropped a little lower.

I am going to a big deal cocktail party/awards banquet in a few weeks. I am a little at a loss as to what women currently wear to this type of event. I have lots of dresses, but i don't really have a little black dress. Any tips of where to shop and find something appropriate? I sometimes feel that the dresses I have seen are just a little too casual.... but I dunno!

I assume you are talking about scar tissue on the stomach itself. I had a band for 10 years and I had ALOT of scar tissue. I had the band removed 2.5 months before my sleeve surgery. When they removed the band, they scraped alot of that scar tissue away. The danger - as I understand it - with the scar tissue is that it might alter the shape/size they can realistically create for your new tummy and also that there is an uptick on leak and other complications risk for revisions. My advice - go to a trusted surgeon who has a good track record with REVISIONS. I suspect that the reason some revisionistas don't lose as well as "virgin" sleevers is because the surgeons are working with a scarred up tummy and must modify the approach. Not sure there is evidence to back my theory.... Skin scars - they recycled my old lapband ones for the most part so I didn't wind up too much worse off. I wasnt in the running for vicotoria secret model anyway... so it is fine.

I decided to update my profile pic...teehee... now i am expecting to see corset photos from some of the rest of you! I would like to say something about our squishy looking bodies. My friend Steven one time said to me "You know that is just what women look like, right?" He went on to talk about how really skinny people (and he is one of them) model clothes but in the real world that isn't what women's bodies look like. He looks amazing all dressed up since he has this ideal tall athletic build, but naked he is kinda skinny looking.... not so perfect either. I have mentioned before he has told me I look like Betty Boop or an old style pin up girl - in his words a sexier look. His point being that it seems like it is really only WOMEN who seem to think we need to be skinny to be attractive, worthy or whatever regardless of our underlying body type or genetics. It does ... disinhearten me to see the squishy - but photos can be both cruel and overly harsh and they can be misleading and overly perfect (most media images we see). The truth is we are all filled with beauty and it manifests in different ways. I choose to focus on the images I like but that undies photo definately made me reconsider my swimsuit plans for Mexico....haha I look better in my gym clothes.

I was a band to sleeve revision and they had me wait either 6 or 8 weeks - don't recall.

Thank you Georgia - that was so frustrating! FYE - you said better what I was trying to say. I am thrilled for any of our little tribe's success but i feel... taken aback I guess. I thought for months of hard work - diet, exercise etc there was zero progress to report. Anyway, I am over it, but it did set me off balance a little. Brown, here is what I did with goals. I KNEW that once I got under 200# i could do many of the physical things I wanted to do. That 200# mark is like a disability line for me. So, I set that as my initial goal. I was pretty comfy in the 190s, beat the heck out of the 300s. I sorta paused there for awhile... and realized I had some fears about getting smaller...let's be honest, fears about attention. I struggled with that when I was young, but I worked through alot of the head space before making the final push to goal. I seem to have shed the need for fat as a protective layer - and I think that pause helped me figure that out. So, I would have been pretty good in the 190s and I have a feeling that something in that ballpark might be a good range for you too. Maybe you should try picking a realistic, but HEALTHY feeling weight - get to it and then re-assess? I tend to agree that 250# is probably higher than an optimal health weight - but we are all so individual! How is Curves going? Monday I did a group weight training class at the gym. It was great, muscle but NOT joint sore. Then I rode my horse. All that after a day at work - that is a good life for me, busy doing healthy and enjoyable things. Last night I went out with friends - we usually do happy hour (appetizers for dinner and a drink) on Friday night but they wanted to do bingo night at a different place. It wasn't nearly as good of food, the bingo prizes were lame-o, but the whole crowd got into it. Everytime "O-69" was called, the room erupted like we were a bunch of junior high school kids. sheesh. I think next week I want to go back to our usual Friday night haunt. So, I got the email of the day... still smiling from it. I am "piloting" some technology with our field organizations (the guys that service our customer's equipment). I had a list of volunteers who I later discovered didn't really volunteer so I only got about 1/3 of them to join. So, now I have followed up individually with some we need to join us... anyway I get a "no" from someone but we needed more east coasters and he is in New Jersey. I wrote back telling him I would remove him from the pilot, but then gave him the "elevator pitch" and he writes back to me: "Your smooth and unforgettable style has won me over let's try it again on Friday" Don't worry - i didn't email him a corset picture or anything....although many thoughts did cross my mind of how do I talk this guy into joining my little team....LOL... who knew my silver tongue (keyboard) would do the trick. HA I don't really like managing projects but i do like the people part!

Brown I am actually satisfied weighing about 150 just about 25 BMI. I am noticing my 8 jeans getting loose and single digit sizes are right for me. A bad photo can trigger that bad feeling but overall I am content. my surgeon said once BMI is under 28-29 you have pretty much the same health benefits. Maybe a 29 BMI is a possible goal?

Florida I think it is wonderful you lost your regain with or without 5:2. What time frame did this happen over? I think I am puzzled because of so many posts that I thought said you weren't getting the scale to budge and very frustrated by hard work and no results. Then the post that I really took as very negative self body image loathing that I did respond in detail to. I posted pix of my new corset then went out with friends so didn't have time to say more.

You look positively tiny! I am so happy these corsets are so nicely made! I know you probably posed with arms down because of the "underarm" (not that I can see anything at all) but really, you look fantastic, and will wow someone with that corset for sure! I need to get mine back out and try it on! I have the "underarm" going on ... but layered up with some nice jacket or blouse, who cares! No problem on the arms since plastics more of a side boob issue but I could minimize it by tightening it less at the top. After wearing it around I was able to tighten it enough to close the back panel but I still think next size up would be better next time.

And here was the photo that had me feeling so... plump... the other day. In clothes, I really don't look this squishy. sigh

Corset pix... oh boy, I have to learn to not let the neck show, that is the one place where my double / triple chin left too much skin...

Buffle, that is is my number one turn off from the many "first dates" I have gone on. Apparently I am easy to talk to because the THINGS PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME...OMG...make me wanna run the other direction. Astounding what people will say if you just keep your mouth shut and give them airtime to talk. Lordy. In reflection, I am probably being unfair, but when you first meet someone you don't wanna know about every horrible thing that ever happened, ESPECIALLY as it relates to past marriages and relationships. It always makes me think they are carrying a grudge or something, who knows if that is true, but it leaves me that impression. Don't know what they are thinking to blab so much so soon...haha. Anyway, I never talk about any of my weight and surgery history that early, but I guess I felt like someone who is actually dating me should know, but I have rethought that and think it is a conversation that should wait until we are moving into a pretty serious relationship. I did meet someone last summer that I never dated, but we became friends (we do horse and hiking stuff together). I guess I told him fairly early on and he is one of the nosiest people about my weight loss - I find it a little annoying actually. It makes you really focus on the fact that it actually isn't other people's business unless they are seriously committed to you.

Tried the corset on again... waist and below the modesty panel covers, but up higher it gaps about 1/2". I could probably get it to close but then I would have extra skin oozing out the top so i definately needed the next size up. Oh well, I think I can wear it under a jacket still. I don't know if it is even possible, but I have been thinking about trying to get to the low 140s instead of the 148-152 range I am currently floating in. I doubt it will make any difference as to my size though. I have noticed that my butt shape is changing.... the hard workouts focusing on gluts IS helping a little to develop a butt. More importantly, I found awesome shapewear that gives me a bit of a rounded butt.