CowgirlJane

I think it is important for us to recognize our own patterns of denial. for me it was the scale. When i stop weighing myself, I am gaining weight. The scale keeps me accountable. I come back from a long camping weekend of much merriment and feeling like i ate too much, only to have a loss and I realize that I matched my food to my activity because crap, I rode horses 5 hours a day, went on a steep hike, pushed wheelbarrows of manure, carried firewood and Water while still eating mostly low carb. - I guess that extra snack of trailmix didn't put me back at 300# now did it? The scale keeps it real for me. I permit myself to stay within a 2# range and when I get above that, I adjust course. This is so far working but I am not saying it is for everyone.

Nobody says anything negative about Dr S

I track my weight... not my food. For me, food tracking and calorie counting is a remnant of my professional dieting days. I do believe in tracking, and it has been an effective tool for me but since I am not likely to do it for life, I moved to a more natural way of monitoring my food even during the weight loss phase.

Well if she has done a good job for you follow her advice. I eat full fat food and i do have calorie dense foods like nuts and cheese....I need the energy for an active life. Part of it is that i have chosrn to moderate carbs and not worry about fat or calories...working so far.

What is the poodle dog?

No, he is in monterry mexico just in Florida for his annual consult trek.

I worked out alot and lost 150# I have less excess skin than some....but mostly I am tone and fit under skin for two. Plastic surgeon complimented me on what was under that skin tho.

I am scheduled in May... so the time is nearly upon me to finalize some things and I need help!!! Okay, I have never been the kind of person who ever thought I would have plastic surgery and I think at times I ask myself if I am just caught up in the hype. But, the reality of it is, I have lost 150+ and just like tossing those huge 3X sweatpants, I want and need to get rid of some excess skin. Here is the deal, I have 4 areas that could benefit from improvement, but there is a certain diminishing return. I am trying to decide if it is worth the money and pain and suffering to do what i am planning. I picked a surgeon with a good reputation who is also very conservative. She does not want to do a bunch at once to keep risk as low as possible. Also, she feels that if you risk breaking open the scars if you use your arms or thighs too much after those procedures, so is very cautious about combining surgeries compared to the out of country surgeons especially. I don't know what to believe anymore, but when it comes to being sliced open and sewn backtogether I run on the conservative side myself... lets face it, I am scared! I am not afraid of dying, I am afraid of going through alot of pain, discomfort and then not having results that are worth it. so, my doc recommended surgery #1 as an lower body lift (tummy tuck plus goes around the back to address saggy butt and lower back fat) PLUS breast lift and implants. She is right in that those are my biggest problem areas - my boobs basically disappeared the last 15-20 # and I love the fitted clothing look too. The downside of this is that thighs and arms would be two more surgeries in that scenario. I went back to her and said, i want just two, not three surgeries, So she gave me a plan B lets do lower body lift and arms as 1 and then breasts and thighs as two. She wants to be sure you can use muscles to move your self so won't combine certain things. I liked this but then started thinking.. do I even want to do my arms? They are hangy loose skin but it is my 4th priority and some people have ugly scars after the arms. This doc has great after photos of arm scars but i know darn well that alot just depends. My ams have had stretch marks and sorta wrinkly skin under them since I was 11, I am worried how they will heal to be honest. some people have tummy and thighs together but my surgeon makes a compellign case that SOME people have wound separation when they do that and i have very thin/delicate skin so my conservative nature has decided to take her word for it. Bottom line, I quickly need to decide whether to stay with the first plan or go with the revised plan. So, I would like to hear from people who have staged surgeries over time and what you would recommend given what you know now. Plan A: surgery 1 : lower body lift and breasts - biggest impact get it done quickly... and then thighs this fall. And then if I want arms, it is a 4th surgery Plan B: surgery 1: LBL and arms now Surgery 2: breasts and thighs probably in the fall or next year. either way, it is a crapload of money and my surgeries will be 6-12 months apart so I am waiting along time for surgery 2, 3 and possibly 4.

I swear I posted to this thread... or maybe it was another on the same topic. I KNOW the answer to your problem because i went to an ob/gyn Obesity/extra fat creates extra estrogen which tends to create lots of vaginal moisture. So, I went through menopause with NO problems with dryness when I was obese. Then bam, i lose weight and suddenly have a huge problem. Well, I have less estrogen now! Maybe you are not menopausal, but even women before menopause can start to experience symptoms (perimenopuase is like the "pre" state) and losing weight makes that estrogen drop. My doc prescribed a hormone cream that i use very low dosage. Its purpose isn't to just lubricate but to actually restore the "tissue" of the vaginal lining because if you let it get too bad, you can start having big problems like break down of the tissue and even pain with urination. I luckily am not at that stage, but lemme tell you, spinning classes on the bike were getting not fun.

I hope you keep coming here for support. The hard cold truth about maintenance is that life still happens - the good and bad. That is a crudload of stressful things to hit you and I know many of us (me included!) have a life time of gaining weight after those sorts of events. I hope you DON'T somehow feel bad about yourself because you are having a normal, human response to these "life sometimes sucks" moments. I hope you ARE proud of yourself for picking yourself up and getting back on track and taking care of yourself. I am only 3 months into my maintenance phase ... I have been thinking alot about how from here on out - controlling my weight is less and less about the surgery and more about me. (hey, even the losing took alot of effort from me, but as time goes on it becomes even more so) Crap.

nuts and cheese as a snack. Maybe add crackers or something carby like that. IT may not take alot of extra calories to stop the weight loss. sure didn't for me - once I hit goal I started adding in a few more foods and immediately stopped losing...lol

I want plastics, I need plastics, I have saved the $$$ for them. I would say that in the end, even the process of going through the "consults" has helped me feel alot better about my body and helped me work through dismorphia issues. All good. And yet, the whole process has given me alof of stress. Monday morning I woke up in a full on anxiety attack. I am not prone to those, however, when my sister died a very slow and painful death 6 years ago, they did creep into my life. I did some emdr therapy and felt I had moved on past it, but this week i realized that I have not. There is anxiety (normal and acceptable and it is okay to feel this and not worry about feeling it) and there is freakout mode which is where I was. I just started seeing a counselor and we spent a whole hour talking about it. Between that and the many hours my poor friends have had to listen to - i have come to realize something. I have normal anxiety over the prospect of surgery. My over the top freakout anxiety is actually unresolved trauma from that past experience. I am basically an optimist, so at some level, I am glad this has happened. This weight loss journey has been about changing my life, from the inside out and I have found, or rather rediscovered some demons that need to be tamed. I am going to do more post traumatic stress type therapy because I don't want this hanging out over my head the whole rest of my life. and the plastics - I will do them. I think I am mentally prepared now to do it (oh, there will be stress) but yesterday I found out my main caregiver post op/support person's older brother is gravely ill and may be dying - we just don't know. So now I am feeling like maybe the powers that be are sending me signals that a delay should be considered. hmmm But in the meantime, I am off to play with horses with a bunch of other horse crazy people and their beloved horses too all weekend long!!! There will be tons of long rides through new terrain, there will be campfires, live country music and dancing. FUN! I cannot say it enough times, I love life normal sized. Damn, who knew???

I had a great weekend! My main support person is having a family crisis and asked me to postpone... so even though I had "steeled my nerves" I am delaying. It is all good and I am going to work on this trauma feeling from the past and like I said, I am almost glad this came up in a way that i need to face it. Life just gets better when you deal with things rather then try to dull the pain with food or something like that.

Dr S seems great with many satisfied patients posting on OH. I have one main reservation - alot of times he puts implants over the muscle. Other surgeons I consulted with just dont do that. He is willing to do jumbo procedures - everything at once. That exceeds my comfort zone BUT I could choose to have less done at once. He does consults by email but will be in Florida in June.

Okay, and then there is height.... this is more of a thing to me now that i can wear heels. I love HEELS. So, I sorta like hanging out around guys who I don't tower over. I start at 5'5" and add several inches to that - i feel well matched to someone who is at least 5'10". would I pick a life partner on height? heck no. Might i pick a dance partner on height... maayyybbeee... okay, I am superficial!

Let me tell you a little "secret" - self confidence is probably the most important attractiveness factor when women are evaluating men. Do not discount the power of a friendly smile, eye contact and a genuine interest in a nice woman.

I don't think that is true. I know several "portly" couples and they were both overweight before they married. So, the whole BBW thing on dating sites often seems to me like skinny guys who like big boobs... sorry to be so blunt. It seems pretty superficial.

I don't know - I had the band for 10 years and my pouch was dialiated it was unclear if it was a slip or if it was just super duper dialiated. Sleeve has worked for me - but i also knew it wasn't a sure deal.

My losses have been excellent - according to my surgeons office exceeded expectations considering my high BMI. Here is the trick - don't use the lapband tricks you learned to try to trick the sleeve (ie no sliders, no grazying!!!) Instead use the lessons from the band to reflect on any contribution you might have made to not being so successful. What I mean from that, own up to your part in it and learn from it. To me the sleeve has been amazing and I have had great success compared to quite poor success with the band.

Yeah - congrats! Getting under 200 was an amazing milestone for me too. When you spent alot of time on the plus side of 300 pounds... well, it almost seemed like an impossible dream. Anyway, good job - and keep rocking that sleeve!!!!!

Here is a puzzler.. France is sorta known for NOT being obese. Their meals are quite elaborate and have many flavors. I would say the same about alot of Asian food... at least in some countries, a traditional meal has many foods offered. I do notice that since being sleeved I am a boring eater, I have very little variety except for times when i go "out" or to a special event. Alot of it is that food is just fuel, not that important to me. I very much enjoy a special dinner, but not enough to cook it...LOL

There are excellent surgeons in Mexico - but I think that it is a misrepresentation to say their patients get better results. These boards have alot of patients of certain Mexican surgeons - when you go out of country you don't have as much "in person" support so the boards are a major source of info and support. I think the key is to have a good surgeon, and that the patient finds a way to get proper education and support - through whatever means. I was blessed with insurance to cover my revision to sleeve and the local practice I went to boasts pretty good stats. I certainly feel I have done very well.

I lost my younger sis/BFF to breast cancer 6 years ago. It was devastating and cam just a few years after losing our beloved mother. I don't have any wisdom to share as it still hurts me deeply except to suggest that you can best honor her memory by remembering how supportive she was of your weight loss and how much she wants you to care for yourself. Honor her by caring for yourself now.

this is interesting... i had not heard this before about the flavor combinations.

I think you should log your intake for a solid two weeks... have 4-6 minimeals a day. I bet that the answer will be clear to you once you have the facts in front of you. You might decide to keep logging to help you stay on course for your new approach. Eating too little can also cause losses to stop. Eating high protein/low carb will help maximize your losses. Exercise DOES help - it changes the body in ways beyond the calories burned. drink alot of Water