LilMissDiva Irene

I was blessed with big thighs too. And when all the weight was gone I was left with empty fat cells and wrinkly skin. Yuck! My plan included first having the excess fat cells lipo'd which I've already done, and in a few years I'm going to have a full body lift. That will help stretch out the excess skin down there. Other than that, not much but time to allow relasticity will help to get rid of the skin. It is a burden for many of us.

Um, no. In fact I'm a little envious. It took me months to feel back to normal! That said, welcome to the losers bench! For some it never goes away, ever. I'm one of them. 3.5 Years P.Op

I'll never doubt any of you, so please never doubt yourselves. I personally have struggled a lot but nothing can keep me down, except myself. I agree with you Kim, it does feel good sometimes to decompress and not be so obsessive over "I can't have this, oh I shouldn't eat that!" For me it leads me down a path of bingeing. Then self-loathing. Taking one sultry bite of anything just really isn't a bad thing. It's when you take too many bites it is. Higher Power help us all!

In the last few Seasons of Biggest Loser I've watched it less and less. Once I seen Dolvett and his demeanor with those he's training I started to get more interested again but never as much as I did in the first few seasons. This status isn't about Rachel and how thin she looked. I admit I only barely watched the finale yesterday and yes IMO she took it too far. That said, she is extremely competitive and she won. Is it okay? Probably not but that is something only she herself can work to correct. It's really UNFAIR to judge her because I know how it can be to take anything too far. I have an addictive personality and I empathize with her. Who would I be but a hypocrite to demean her. All I can do is pray she remedies herself. All that said it is also VERY UNFAIR to lay blame on her trainer. I highly doubt Dolvett would approve if he knew she took it that far. And especially shame on NBC and the comments left by Bob and Jillian on this issue. Personally Jillian constantly cracking her whip on those she's trained in the past makes me think she is full of hypocrisy! I can not support her anymore, as I had in the past. When she returned after leaving the show for the enth time she came back softer but I'm unsure it was from the heart. That's her cross to bear though. I will never again watch BL. I hope Dolvett does leave the show but as he does to take his personality elsewhere. To train people in a positive, respectful and healthy manner. From what I see of him, that is really what he is all about. Losing weight should never be competitive! ! I fight against this all the time. Anyone who is obese already lives their life with feelings of low self worth and inadequacy. So then we display a bunch of severely overweight people and put them in front of a TV screen, put them in a bunch of ridiculous scenarios and expect to be entertained by it? No. No more. This show is a clown song and dance... and shame on ME for partaking in it for as long as I did. In my own defense though I watched it more for the inspirational factor, but I see now that is not what it's really about. And I will not continue to be a part of the problem.

Cheers!!

Hi Jane, I totally understand how it sucks to be sidelined. I was stuck for many months though... so it could be worse. I'm barely and finally able to walk normally and it's been 3 months so far. Get this, it's only post op I'm talking about. I'm not talking about all the months I stood waiting for my surgery. -And- may I add I'm getting ready to start working on my other knee now. That said, hunny put your big girl panties on and kick some butt. You know how and what to do, no one here needs to tell you that. Only offer you big hugs and a pat on the back. But after that... get it together.

It just depends on what exactly they mean by "losing weight the right way". There are lots of wrong ways to lose weight, such as an eating disorder, diet pills, gimmicks... etc. I never take offense to someone who says this statement because for me, my VSG was "losing weight in the right way."

Most times there really isn't much we can do to stop it, sadly. You can combat it by taking daily doses of Biotin. It will help your hair grow back thicker and faster. When you have weight loss surgery our bodies go into a state of shock (healing from) from surgery and a massive decrease in all the many nutrients our bodies need daily to survive. The most logical response for our bodies is to send all those lacking nutrients to our wounds to heal as well as the necessary functions to stay alive. Our brains, our heart, our lungs... etc. When this happens we no longer receive "extra" nutrients that supply our hair. Then it falls out. I hope this helps.

Heyyy I haven't posted in this thread in ages. Well I just seen my flat belly and it's been awhile! I still have a ways to go but if anyone here knows me and knows me well, I can and will get back to it. Me at my largest and then me at my goal weight. Then me today 2.5.2014. If you don't know me... Hi, my name is Irene AKA LilMissDiva 2.0

Hi Everyone, I have been absent for awhile and just thought I'd do a check in. I love the new look! Super fast loading and easy to navigate. I've been out due to injury / illness. I was in a very bad place for awhile and even was a little depressed. I've gained some weight (about 35 Lbs!) and I've lost all my great muscle tone from all my hard work! But enough for feeling sorry for myself, I couldn't do anything to prevent it because I wasn't aware these problems could be a possibility, and some things I already had issues before WLS. The only thing I can or could do is FIX IT!!! Sitting on my bum feeling defeated has never been me nor in my DNA. I had knee surgery and I went through a serious time where I couldn't even get out of bed due to severe lethargy. I had a lot of different issues happening at the same time so here they are: -Extremely low Iron -Arthritis in both knees / with trauma and tears to my ligaments (too many to go through) -Heart palpitations -Restless leg syndrome -Depression -Sinus infection and bronchitis -etc. -etc. Okay so many of the things going on were actually all symptomatic due to my extreme low iron. I didn't know this BUT PLEASE NOTE having a sleeve can prevent us from absorbing all the iron our bodies need to survive and or function properly without supplements. Especially if you are a woman. I am about 3.5 years post op so this might not be something that others will encounter for years to come. It just hit me last year and I didn't figure it all out until I kept going to my PCP's office complaining of one thing or another. All in all I will survive, but I'm still working toward getting back to 100%. I cannot workout like I once was right now, I have to slowly work my way back up there. I did get a silver lining last night at my PT appointment though. My therapist was very impressed and told me I've finally gotten myself back into the "functional" range! SWEET!! This is not an excuse to abuse myself though and workout too hard... lol. I have to be patient and just keep doing all the right things. My heart is fine too. I simply have an irregular heartbeat. Apparently the low iron was not helping the situation, though my cardiologist is keeping an eye out and fixing me up for re-checks every six months. As far as my asthma, well I just keep going round about with prednisone and antibiotics. I'm trying though! That said I have a new pair of maltese darlings and they've really saved me! They make me laugh and smile when I feel like I'm having a down moment. These photos were of me just before I got ill. I will FIGHT to get back here if it's the last thing I do. Needless to say you will be hard pressed to find any photos of me right now! LOL my family has to beg me!! Haha!! So, how's everyone else doing?

I have those moments often. A break is understandable from time to time. But just like that kitty I always come back!

Christina Aguilera is one that comes to mind at this moment because my husband and I were sitting in bed drinking our morning coffee. The Celebrity Gossip section comes on and they show a clip of C.A. walking down the street with her entourage. Well, my husband gives out a "grunt" in a good way, meaning he thinks she's hot. I kind of laugh a little bit, and smile. I'm not skinny and really I don't want to be. He says WOW!! She thick, like my Wife.. I laugh again. Then the News comments on how awful she is because she's "Let herself go" and she is "Fat". I'm not kidding, they really used those terms. I was aghast. CHRISTINA AGUILERA IS NOT FAT!!! I was FAT! I weighed 330+ Lbs. THAT'S fat. That said, I don't even like the term "Fat" anyway, but that's my problem, no one else's. I just think the mainstream media needs to stop putting it in our heads what is considered Fat and not Fat. And this calling anyone who wears a Size 8 or a 10 Plus Sized? Really?? It's sickening in my opinion. Okay, rant over.

It's natural to be nervous! That said, do not think that the surgery will prevent you from ever eating what you want again someday. All the weight you gain right now due to the "last meal syndrome" will have to come back off. Don't set yourself even further back. All the best in the upcoming days!!

LOL thanks for the vote of confidence! I'm surely going to get on it. My diet food should be here today sometime.

Ive been kinda doing the bootcamp lite to get me prepared for when my diet food gets here. I WILL BE READY!! Great job hun!

I really hate it when I have to think about what I'm going to eat all the time. I like to just know something is there so I can reach in my cabinet or drawer and pull out Snacks when I get hungry between meals. So... i did some research on Medi-fast. I guess it's being done differently than it used to (all liquids) or maybe I just didn't really understand how the system worked. I liked the idea of it, looked around and realized they had some better options and lots of variety. I get sick and tired of the same thing day in / day out - unless it's scrambled eggs. It's kinda costly, but I know that I need some kind of plan that works well with a sleeve (tiny portions and high Protein and lots of veggies) and have a large variety of low calorie snacks. It's simple enough and I know I can follow it. I bought 2 months worth of food! Well really one and got about another whole months worth of free food due to some start up initiation sign up deal thingie. I'm excited, I get my shipment on Friday per the UPS tracker. Ok.. didn't someone tell me that once I had WLS I'd never have to "diet" again? JK (before someone replies and knocks the breath outta me...) Anyhow, the jist of this thread is to see if anyone else has either thought of it or has been doing it? I'm needing some support over here. And, I need to give support too, because it's in my DNA.

Actually I havent gained more stomach room since about 6 months out. I can only eat about 3 oz of Protein and a few bites of veggies and a few bites of carbs. I haven't got my package yet so I'm not sure how full I will get on the diet food. It's only 2 months so I'm not really too stressed. After the 2 months I'm going to start logging again on the WW Online.

I eat Mahatma Whole Grain brown rice. I'm full after a few bites and of course with eating Protein first and my veggies. I grew up on rice! Making the switch never prevented me from making goal, going below or keeping the weight off. In fact I love it! Fiberrrr... does a body good.

Woohooo WELCOME!!! Thank you for checking in! Best wishes on your upcoming sleeve surgery as well.

I was prescribed to take ferrous sulfate, some high doses 2x per day because I was not taking my supplements like I should have. Okay, bad me... that said no matter what it is be sure to take it. I tried all of them, the chewable, liquid - but I never liked any of them. Come to find out simply taking them is more important, at least it was in my case. But of all the evils I liked the chewable the best that CGDR suggested above.

That is the best response I've seen here and anywhere

Sometimes I will boil it, just like spinach. If you get the large size cut them up a bit smaller. The end part looks like celery, I cut that up the same. When I do mixed veggies I'll do it as a stir fry using EVOO. Don't need a lot because it creates it's own juices too.