AJW

Glad you started this thread or I was going to. Last week I was 179 even. Had a party on Sat. night. I was GOOD, barely ate anything and by barely I mean I ate my regular diet foods during the day, and at the party I had 2 small pieces of cut up cheese, 2 small crackers, 1 raviolli, nothing exotic in it, no deserts, and wine. I was conservative on the wine, too, but I was on my feet all evening mingling with my guests. In the morning I thought good, I barely ate, maybe I lost another pound. NO, I was up 1.6 pounds! I'm like WTH, I didn't even eat! So I figured fluid retention from all the walking around and wine. So yesterday back to my basic diet foods (Medifast, I follow their plan). And this morning weight was up again another .2!! I don't get it and now feel at a loss (and not in a good way!) about what's happening. I do not have periods so it's not that. IDK what's happening. My husband's, who's on this journey with me W/O the surgery but eating Medifast, weight was up 2 days in a row too. We're scratching our heads here. What do ya'll think?

Congrats, Linda! I just ordered a size 12 from my favorite jeans retailer, Ralph Lauren. I love their stretch jeans. My 14s were getting too big, too, so I ordered a size 12 which should be here this week. I just get 1 at a time; when it's too big, I give them away and buy the next size down. Helping the economy and others who need them. It's a win-win for everyone.

/ Ah shucks, Ma'am, thanks! I appreciate that. When I told people I have about 50 pounds more to go, they were like "What?! No, maybe 5 pounds more." Yeah, OK, they aren't seeing me naked yet. LOL! No, 50 more to go and I'll look basically the same only in smaller proportions. You look great, too, Missy; thanks for the nice compliment.

All the best to you, Tracy. My God woman, you've been through hell! I originally had looked into the band but had also read some horror stories and knew it was not going to be right for me. I got sleeved in August and have been doing great with it. I just posted some new photos taken yesterday evening at our holiday bash. Best of luck to you and I will keep you in my prayers and thoughts. Your surgery will be fine. Don't worry about going to Mexicali alone, a lot of patients do. You'll be fine, trust me, and there will be people there for the same surgery and you'll meet them all. Pretty soon you won't be alone, and you have all of us here. Take care, sweetie!

What about bat wings under the arms? I never had big arms but with the weight came bigger upper arms. Now that I'm half way to goal, the under the arms skin is loose. Will this go away or tighten up or will I have to have it taken off? What do you guys think?

My goal is to be at 170 by 12/31, the day I leave on our NZ/Australia cruise. I'm 179 today so hoping I don't run into any stalls before then. Last cruise was in Oct. 2008, and I was dragging myself everywhere and so uncomfortable after being on my feet for hours that I was taking pain pills to stand it. That's horrible to travel in that condition. Not this time; this time I'm up for most anything.

Congrats Helen. I just ordered a size 12 jeans today. My 14s are too big now, and wasn't that long ago I was in 16s since surgery. Shrinking down.......love that! If I order something and it's too small, I just save it until it isn't. Wearing a T-shirt today that was way too tight when I received it; now it's still a little tight across the bust, but fits elsewhere. :tongue_smilie:

Thanks VA! Unfortunately Santa Cruz Nutritionals does not sell or even discuss their products on their web site, and Sam's Club does not list the product on theirs, either. Oh well.

Glad we survived Thanksgiving. I went out to dinner with friends on TG and fortunately, I didn't find the food all that appealing so didn't overeat. We were also on a trip for the whole 4 days. I could feel myself retaining fluid so to me I looked like I was gaining weight from eating out in restaurants every meal. But weighed in this morning and had actually lost .2 from the day we left, so happy about that. Going on cruise at the end of the month and am worried about how that's going to affect me. I always hover weight-wise when I travel and don't lose like I do at home. I'm only 3.5 months out, though, so weight is still coming off. Had my labs done and everything looks GREAT; glad to hear that news.:001_tongue:

Glad we survived Thanksgiving. I went out to dinner with friends on TG and fortunately, I didn't find the food all that appealing so didn't overeat. We were also on a trip for the whole 4 days. I could feel myself retaining fluid so to me I looked like I was gaining weight from eating out in restaurants every meal. But weighed in this morning and had actually lost .2 from the day we left, so happy about that. Going on cruise at the end of the month and am worried about how that's going to affect me. I always hover weight-wise when I travel and don't lose like I do at home. I'm only 3.5 months out, though, so weight is still coming off. Had my labs done and everything looks GREAT; glad to hear that news. Hope you all did fine as well. Now to get through Christmas.

What's the name of these wonder gummies?

I looked this product up on the Net and see that it used to be Rx, but not now. It states 1 dosage in a glass of liquids, and drink. It also says not to be used for more than 2 weeks. What is proper dosage to just soften stools without becoming dependent on a laxative? Let me know what you guys do. I don't usually have a problem, but lately have been straining, in my opinion, too much and don't want to do that any more. Thanks......

Hey Linda, I was reading your stats and we are almost twins! I had surgery on Aug. 10th, started at 246 highest; time of surgery was 220 due to pre-op diet of my own choosing; now at 184, with a goal to 135-125 depending on how it looks/feels when I get there. Congrats on your journey - glad we're all on it together.:thumbup:

Weighed in at 198.8 today. That's 21.2 pounds down since my August 10th surgery, and 48 pounds down total inc. pre-op diet.:thumbup:

I found another fun NSV thing to do: go back and try on jewelry (rings) you haven't been able to wear in years and now they fit. It takes you back to where you were when you got the ring or jewelry and that's usually a fun time to reminisce.:crying:

Good for you, Susan. Nice tat. I don't have any tats, but that's just me. I get bored with things way too easy to have anything permanently on my body. It's a nice gesture that they did that to forward breast cancer awareness.

I take in approx. 600-800 calories a day and have a BM every day - most days - without the need for laxatives. I am derelict on getting all the fluids I should, as well. I think what is normal is what's normal for YOU, and on this subject you cannot compare yourself to others' BM habits.

Lost 60 pounds in 5 months. I had/have a total of 121 pounds to lose to be at my goal of 125. I'm 5'-7.5" so 125 might be a tad skinny, but I'll decide that when I get closer to it. Right now at 186. I figure a 10 pound loss a month is a realistic goal and should be attainable; it allows for small stalls and other holding patterns.

OK, some of mine; some might be a little X-rated or offensive, sorry 'bout that but we've all been there: 1. Not having to be a contortionist to wipe your butt. Sorry, I warned you. 2. Being able to glimpse the hoo-hoo in the shower over the belly which is getting smaller. 3. Being able to feel the "C" down below whereas before it was hiding like a turtle and you had to hunt for it with both hands. 4. The "U-Touch" works much better now because the nerve endings are much closer to the skin since the fat's gone. (If you need an explanation of what the U-Touch is, think I-Touch and you'll get the picture. 5. Crossing legs is a matter-of-fact position rather than a pretzel twister. 6. You can undress in front of your significant other instead of hiding in the closet with a warning DO NOT ENTER sign on the door. 7. Your jammie bottoms keep falling off you when you turn over in bed cause they're so loose. 8. You're beginning to give yourself some credit for doing all this hard work instead of slamming yourself for how you got into this situation. 9. You look into the mirror and smile focusing on your achievements instead of all your imperfections. 10. You need a calculator to figure out how much you've lost on any given day instead of having it in your head at all times. 11. You catch guys looking at you out of the corner of your eye because you've removed the blinders that didn't want to see anyone looking at you before. I'm sure there's more, but these come to mind first.:crying:

Hey, you're doing really good Missy Hen! Down 26 pounds since Oct. 1st. That's great. You keep going. It's a re-learning experience so you have to make mistakes before you know the way that works for you.

Mostly the upchuck experience comes from eating too fast. The over-full feeling you get when you've over-eaten is a different experience; you just feel sort of miserable for about an hour. I still have trouble gauging how full I'm getting when eating soup. My husband makes great soups, in fact, the one we had last night - Taco Soup - is a WW's recipe I got from a friend. I was never in WWs. Anyway, it has a lot of ground round in it and beans. I ate about half a bowl and knew I was done; however, about 20 min. later the beans must have been expanding in my stomach and I became very uncomfortable. Then you'd like to have it come up, but it doesn't. It just sits there and taunts you! It's all a learning experience. Have to eat very slow with these soups so you can get the full signal, something I'm still working on. I agree: it's a little too easy to have something come up and once out, you half-way think "hey, I could eat that again and it'd just come up, no big deal." That's a dangerous thought.

Every body is different so now that you know your weak places you'll be extra careful. Cheese is BINDING, I think everyone is aware of that, so cheese is probably not a food that you can now tolerate. Stick with veggies and fruits for fiber, plus your supplements, and be active as you can handle it. I use to love Ahi tuna, we use to have it at least 1X a week. Now, I can't tolerate it because it's too fiberous for me. Things change after this surgery. The only kind of cheese I have on occasion is low fat string cheese as a protein snack, however, no more than "on occasion." Hope you heal completely. My Dad, who is no longer with us, had fistulas, and had surgery more than once to correct them. IDK why he had them; we never discussed. IDK if it was something he created by his eating habits or not, but the result was bad news. He had a high stress job and was always running around and eating on the run, bad habits that didn't help him in the long run. I digress. Hope you are feeling better by now and this all becomes just a memory. Thank you for sharing your story; it's good for everyone to read about the what-ifs of others. Best to you.

Wow, Tiffy, you're getting really close to your goal weight. Congrats to you!!