CowgirlJane

For the record, I think it is a useless rule and I hardly visit either of those forums anymore, they were alot mroe entertaining when "cross posting" was allowed.

I was sleeved Dec 2011; so similiar timeframe. Hunger definately returned and i am having to really "work this sleeve" but I made it to goal. Suggest you check out the veterans forum where these topics are discussed ALOT!

Thanks Butter I am "okay" with dairy - cheese and yogurt don't bother me. I can have a skinny latte, no problem. If I go dairy heavy or eat something really rich like ice cream, I risk getting the cramping too. Can you suggest a decent Protein to try with Casien? It just seems like not all the Proteins satiate me the way Premier Protein does...

This is normal for the phase you are at - consider it a blessing and take advantage of it to maximize your losses. There are threads that talk about this on the main forums, but bottom line I recommend viewing food as almost a prescription - take it like medicine. This phase was hugely valuable for me in getting past some of my food abusing issues.... at 18 months out food appeals to me but without the insatiable hunger, without so much emotional attachment.

My NUT told me that people who take probiotics lose weight better on average. I never did because i was maxed out on pills just taking vitamins but I think there is something to this.

In fairness, I prefer fitter looking men over obese too.

I went riding today with friends all three of us were hit hard by one single day of gloomy weather.... back to great weather but wow.

globetrotter, what you say does make sense. I went through a somewhat frantic phase...LOL I think when I stopped abusing food as a "mood stabilizer" it took awhile for me to auto stabilize without external help. In spite of what I said above, I actually do sit around and lounge and can do so without feeling restless. It is a matter of degree though, I do not WANT to spend my life watching TV - I want to "do"

My significant other of 15 years has always been one to watch alot of tv- alot of sports especially. We have always had plenty of independence and separate interests but my level of activity increasing after losing weight definatley changed my habits and lifestyle. It wasn't really about working out (which I did and he didn't) it was more about how you spend those evening hours - relaxing or doing. As you may know, we did split up although it had nothing to do with this issue, it certainly didn't bring us any closer.

Thank you for sharing your story too! I have heard elsewhere that lipo is a b*tch!!! That is actually more painful then surgery which is quite a surprise to me. I am a little scared of the twilight sedation but i am terrified of general anethesia because i get soo sick... i think this is a good alternative!

I am trying to get a "Date" with Dr Sauceda end of October - be sure to let me know if any of you will be down there at the same time. I am a bit skeered, but really looking forward to having this work done too!

I am not offended, no worries - I am just adamently stating that some of us are in a situation that we need plastics to have a normal looking body. I look okay in clothes, but am not too crazy about the visuals without... and I wanna have it fixed and waiting buys me nothing at all. also, most of the "alternatives" like wraps and all that really have very little evidence supporting that they work long term. Especially for those of us with alot of excess skin.

thanks for sharing Michelle. IT will take several months before your final results can be seen - you should post again! Congrats on your surgery and i am so glad you are recovering well.

I think this is such an individual journey and each of us needs to have our own "heart to heart" talk. I started out at 308 and in my own mind i considered this surgery a success if I could get under (and maintain) 200#. Guess what, at about 194, my weight loss slowed/stalled. I had a few months of very slow losses when i had a heart to heart with myself if "this was it" or if I wanted to take advantage of the honeymoon period (first 12 or so months after WLS) to get smaller. I decided to go for it and really had to work it/push to get to my ultimate goal of 158. I am now maintaining around 155#. My surgeon asked me "how I did it" and honestly I had to make a conscious choice to go for it and really push - exercise, eat low carb, track food etc.

I am sorry you are so frustrated. I can say alot of things that I think are true (like that weighing 185 is a crapload better then 224) but I know that doesn't help your feelings of failure and disappointment. I went through this after the lapband surgery and so I know how it feels. Truth of the mater is that for me to make it to my goal i have had to "diet" and really seriously modify my eating. I eat like a bird,eat low carb and am quite active - if I didn't do all that, my weight loss would have stopped when I hit about 200#. I knew that intectually, but never could really do it with the lapband so I definately feel and understand all that you are saying. If you want advice/help here how to attempt to lose more weight, this is a good group of people to get support from.

Okay, so I think that alot of what is said here is based on general info that one reads on forums. I have had 4 local plastic surgeon consults and two email consults (Mexico) so have actually discussed all of this with plastic surgeons about MY situation including how long you should wait. I think it is easy to make remarks like this below if you have not been educated on this directly by actual experts. Plastic surgery is a big deal because you are under anesthesia (all surgeries have a risk) BUT the incident of death and serious complications are low. They are not near internal organs, the main issues that can happen are "wound healing related". I think most would consider it less dangerous/sever then weight loss surgery. But yes, it hurts and requires more pain meds then most of us needed post sleeve. The bounce back of the skin might apply to people who have less excess skin. If someone who is pretty good waits 18 months, they will see some skin reabsorption and might in fact decide they don't need procedure "X". However, lets do some quick math shall we. I weigh about 155 pounds. My highest weight (in 2005 was 332). I spent alot of years in the 250-300# range. I spent pretty much my whole life either overweight or obese - I am 49 and I would say less then 8 years of that was I normal weight. I did alot of weight bouncing over the decades losing and regaining the 25-85 pound range. I had a baby some 21 years ago. I have extra skin. I have skin for 2 + women. I can do one gazillion situps and still have stomach skin. The skin under my arms, and around my breast is so stretched the docs have urged caution even about implants and that my skin can't support any weight - the skin is STRETCHED. So, even if waiting 18 months post goal weight (I am 18 months post sleeve) caused me to reabsorb 5-10% of my extra skin it would make a negligible difference. I will need the same procedures I need now and get the same results. I personally have no reason to wait any longer. For some people, docs will do procedures even while a very heavy person is still a ways from goal; knowing they may need revision later. Why? Well, I didn't go that route, but let me tell you it is discouraging to be able to see my ribs on my chest and back and yet have a "big belly" that is basically all skin. They do it to help people get to the goal of looking normal. It took me awhile to accept my body as not still being fat - extra skin looks alot like fat. So Fiddleman I know you didn't mean this as a criticism of me personally, but I am a little defensive because I feel like people at times imply that if I just worked harder or was more patient I could wish away my extra skin and it just doesn't work that way. I too was FREAKED OUT by the surgery photos. When I went to my second consult and the surgeon brought up the topic of the lower body lift (I thought I just needed a tummy tuck) I nearly vomited. the very idea of the LBL sent me around the bend. It took me a solid 4 months of looking at photos and talking to PS patients to get over the freak out mode. I have a much more rational view about it all, I want the best results I can get. I know that the recovery from the LBL isn't that much harder then the TT and the difference in the results is so worth it. In my case, the LBL will make it so I don't need to have anything done on my butt for example. It will make a huge difference in my thighs too. What I am most disappointed/discouraged about is that one of my key problem areas is under my arms/braline. I wear bras that are too big in the band to keep that skin from spilling over all ugly. The only solution to that one is an upper body lift and I am not sure I am willing to go that far. I love wearing fitted clothing and it is a disappointment to me that I will still have a significant problem area...

realself has tons of pics. This is a local (for me) doc that has a section on "massive weight loss" patients. http://www.egrari.com/procedures/weight-loss-contouring/ http://www.egrari.com/gallery/weight-loss/lower-body-lift/lower-body-lift-1/

Butter, my initial consult was TRAUMATIC. They pointed out things I had never even noticed - apparently my boobs are uneven and i never knew that!!! They lifted my skin...eeekss. They pulled on said skin to show me what it would look like after the lift. It was awful, I came home and cried. I did 3 more consults and I have to tell you that by the end they made me feel BETTER about my looks. The plastic surgeons helped me realize that i am at a good healthy weight, that which looks like fat is actually skin, they helped me realize how lucky I have it. You will love this, the last consult I had the surgeon told me that my shoulders and upper chest and below the knees are perfect... and everything else can be fixed..hahaha. Seriously, some women have huge fat calves or don't have a nice shape to their upper arms and shoulders and those really can't be fixed. For the first time in my life, i was grateful for the horror of my inner thigh fat/skin. Anyway, I too feel that I will always feel fat as long as I am packing around that pouch of skin - especially around my lower tummy and um... it sorta impacts my girlie area too. I am looking forward to all that being fixed! My advice is to get multiple consults - every surgeon has a slightly different recommendation. And then, if mone is an issue, don't rule out Mexico...

It was heart breaking. I didn't loathe myself for being obese, but failing at WLS, well, I took a self esteem hit of epic proportions. That was back when I was naive and thought that I was about the only person on the planet who actually got fatter after WLS. I felt so much shame, and a sense of failure. Very few people knew I was banded and one of the reasons i kept that useless piece of crap for 10 years was I just tried to deny it all. I now understand so much better what happened, what my body needs and why that procedure sucks. I no longer see myself as a failure and i no longer even regret it. I see having the band as proof of how hard I tried, how committed I was (and still am!) to weight loss. When people ask me what finally got me motivated to lose weight I tell them that i have always been motivated (desparate is more like it!) but really didn't have the right tools and understanding of what i needed to do. It is like the cigarette smoker that has to fail at it 35 times before he can finally permanently quit. That is me. I will never give up now.

coops, I knew but forgot you had the TT. another survivor - always gives me hope. I used spinning as the technique that got me the last 20# off to get to goal. It is insanely intense if you have a good instructor. I loved it, and found it to be very effective!

Ditto on pushups. I about passed out looking at my tummy mid pushup. Yes, plastics are scary as hell and yes it really interferes with your life for several months. It is painful too. I am frankly worried about getting depressed during the recovery because I like being active and my horseback riding, working out and alot of stuff goes onhold for awhile. Then add to it that SOME people have swelling problems for many months post plastics. Reality of it is though I lost HALF my body weight. I can exercise forever and still have way more skin then i need. I feel like I am keeping around a baggy pair of sweatpants that i can too easily grow back into. I have seriously considered the negatives of plastics but I need to do this. I know that sounds self indulgent but i feel like I am wearing that fat suit still and it just needs to be gone. Everytime I try to talk myself out of the plastics (due to the negatives) I wind up back at the same place... I need that extra skin to be significantly reduced for me to feel completely normal looking.

I would love love to talk to fellow vets about plastics. I am in full on freak out mode ont he subject myself... so many decisions. I am leaning very heavily toward going to Dr Sauceda in Mexico in late oct/early Nov.

You know the day that about sent me over the bend? I was laying in bed, appreciating my smaller tummy, and that i actually have ribs and can see the and feel the bones around my chest and neck when I noticed... skin that used to be wrapped around a very fat thigh... just laying there next to me. Seriously, skin, laying on the bed next to me. I was so... revolted... it was a real emotional hit. My perspective on all this has improved with time. I remind myself that few people my age look "perfect" and that I am actually blessed to have had such great results. I do plan on having plastics because i am sick of that extra skin making it so I can't wear the fitted clothes that I love unless I have shapewear (which i rarely wear). However, I don't have that revolted feeling response anymore, i have a bit more peace about it.

It is mind boggling how much variatiion there is in surgeons. One surgeon recommended doing extended TT with thighs. Another doc told me that is the worst idea and refused to do it that way because the "pulling" is in the opposite directions and increases risk of wound separation. There is a surgeon in Mexico that does jumbo procedures - basically everything at once! I no longer no what to believe... I have read alot of forum posts and talked to many post ops and have come to my own conclusions. Breast lift/augmentation and arms aren't "too bad" to recover from. Tummy tuck (or lower body lift which is what I really need) and inner thighs are painful and difficult to recover from. The TT is due to the muscles they fix and the thighs it is the whole sitting/healing issues. I have decided that i will not do the thighs with the LBL. I will do the LBL with the breasts and if the surgeon agrees it is safe - the arms too. I have decided to save my thighs for last because my inner thighs are absolutely awful and I think I will see some improvements after the LBL and then can assess just how much work I should have done. I talked to someone who flew back from Mexico after having a jumbo procedure (ie the works) including thighs. She said they bandaged and drugged the heck out of her to put her on the plane... but i just can't get my mind around that long flight back to seattle after the thigh procedure. Even in first class with an aisle seat - just can't fathom it.

I am enjoying this thread. Since I failed at one WLS (lapband) I had a pretty good idea about what it means to make "permanent lifestyle changes" and the consequences of not achieving that. However, the reality of it at times slaps me in the face. You know in some ways I am finding friends to be the hardest challenge. I have a gfriend that i do alot of horse camping with. She often tries to entice me to eat ice cream, have sandwiches, eat snacky junk food etc because we are "on vacation". Well, we go camping several times a month - honestly, I can't call that a special occasion. I have also started dating.... most of the time I don't get any flack for my eating habits, but one gentleman i have seen several times remarks that I "don't eat". That isn't true at all, I do eat, but - I skip bread, appetizers and dessert and my main course is generally half portion or less.... Sometimes these people remind me that i am somehow missing out, but i am really not missing out. What I am doing is protecting my health. I have shared how strongly my surgeon emphasizes this on my follow ups - never forget that I am an obese person who is currently managing my weight very effectively, but it is so easy to slip back. I don't stress about it, I don't get emotional about it. It is like brushing my teeth to prevent cavities - it is just something I need to do - for me. Doesn't mean I have to like it.