AJW

I weigh 100 pounds less than my husband and he's 215 and 6' tall. I used to outweigh him by 15 pounds. It's all good.

I read this post and thought size 8 sounds pretty normal size to me. Skinny is my size 2-4 when you're over 5'-7" tall; that's skinny. I wear a size 26 waist pants in skinny jeans/leggings, and the thighs are a little loose. I'm definitely skinny, as in "too thin," and am having trouble gaining or keeping weight on. I gave away all my size 8s and 6s already as they were way too big. I will have to have my husband point out someone else who's as thin as I am, but to tell you the truth, it's hard to find anyone. I look all the time, and most people are overweight in my part of the country - So. California. Saw my granddaughter yesterday. She's only 11 and approx 5'-2" tall and I'm guessing 135 pounds, with quite a big belly and butt on her. Her Mother has gained approx. 20 pounds since I saw her last time, and she was 170 then; now she's easily 190 or 200. I'm sad to see my granddaughter this heavy, she's an obese child, and the parents aren't doing anything to make sure she's getting the right portion control or good food choices. They eat a lot of junk food, so there you go. It's setting her up to be an obese adult unless she gets a handle on it. Nothing we can say, though. They think she's just fine, I'm sure. Oh well.

You're so young with wrinkles; imagine being my age (61) with a face that is too thin and wrinkled after the loss of so much weight. It's an issue, big time, only I need a face lift and neck re-do, along with fillers and whatever else I can manage. That on top of new implants - my skin shrunk around the saline implants so now you can clearly see them if viewing naked. All the clevage went away, so I look like I have (basically) bolt-ons. I'd be happy with face/neck work and a boob re-do. I don't even care that much about the stomach, although there is loose skin, none is hanging off. It reabsorbed pretty well considering the 132 pound loss.

Oh sorry, well I stuck pretty much to the Medifast diet which is a whole lot easier to do after the surgery. I had their protein shakes and supplemented with extra protein, I had snacks, ate their oatmeal for breakfast, and had a regular small portion (real food) lean and green dinner. I lost the weight because I couldn't eat very much and that's b/c of the surgery. It was just a lot less calories than I had been eating before starting Medifast and the surgery. Hope that helps you. Keep your protein up, carbs down, follow some kind of plan, and it will come off barring any other physiological issues, etc.

My surgery was 8/10/09. I lost 26 pounds on Medifast before surgery (from end of May 09 to Aug. 10th) and weighed 220 on surgery date. It took approx.9 mos. to get to 135, then I kept losing from May 2010 to current date down to 125, then 120, then 118, then 116. I was at 113 when I got a stomach bug, but gained back 3 pounds. This is where I hover. I hit stalls along the way, too, but the loss continued. Now, as I say, I have to remember to eat to maintain and not lose more. I could easily slip down to 112 or 110 if I'm not careful. People who are normal size but heavier than you, and some who are obese, will tell you that you're TOO THIN. Remember that their POV is skewed to the heavier side and your POV will be "I'm not thin enough." I saw myself as FAT when I was FAT. There was no denying I was fat; I had trouble looking in the mirror at all. Now I'm thin, no denying that, but I like looking in the mirror. I look sometimes and think "you're too thin" as my face looks gaunt (hey, I'm 61, so the weight came off differently now than it would when I was 31) so yes, I've lost the "pad" in my face. That can be fixtured with plastic surgery and I'll get to that once we get moved and settled in our new home coming up. With surgery, I'd look put back together and more in my late 40s because I basically have good skin. This is a process of transformation and nobody's process will be the same. Go for what you want and what makes you happy. If you get a little thin, you can always gain some back if you eat all the time (every 2 hours), and supplement with some high calorie foods. I like this weight and prefer to just fix the cosmetic things I can. I can dress in high fashion (couture) sizing which is NOT vanity sized by any means, wear skinny jeans, high heels, rocker chic, etc., in other words, I can dress any way I want to within reason, and still look THIN with clothes on, in the mirror, in photos. My normal sized friends are very jealous, and that's fine with me. My heavy friends think I'm anorexic; that's fine too. It's my process and I have the clothes, shoes and bags to prove it. Source: Body image changes after WLS

My surgery was 8/10/09. I lost 26 pounds on Medifast before surgery (from end of May 09 to Aug. 10th) and weighed 220 on surgery date. It took approx.9 mos. to get to 135, then I kept losing from May 2010 to current date down to 125, then 120, then 118, then 116. I was at 113 when I got a stomach bug, but gained back 3 pounds. This is where I hover. I hit stalls along the way, too, but the loss continued. Now, as I say, I have to remember to eat to maintain and not lose more. I could easily slip down to 112 or 110 if I'm not careful. People who are normal size but heavier than you, and some who are obese, will tell you that you're TOO THIN. Remember that their POV is skewed to the heavier side and your POV will be "I'm not thin enough." I saw myself as FAT when I was FAT. There was no denying I was fat; I had trouble looking in the mirror at all. Now I'm thin, no denying that, but I like looking in the mirror. I look sometimes and think "you're too thin" as my face looks gaunt (hey, I'm 61, so the weight came off differently now than it would when I was 31) so yes, I've lost the "pad" in my face. That can be fixtured with plastic surgery and I'll get to that once we get moved and settled in our new home coming up. With surgery, I'd look put back together and more in my late 40s because I basically have good skin. This is a process of transformation and nobody's process will be the same. Go for what you want and what makes you happy. If you get a little thin, you can always gain some back if you eat all the time (every 2 hours), and supplement with some high calorie foods. I like this weight and prefer to just fix the cosmetic things I can. I can dress in high fashion (couture) sizing which is NOT vanity sized by any means, wear skinny jeans, high heels, rocker chic, etc., in other words, I can dress any way I want to within reason, and still look THIN with clothes on, in the mirror, in photos. My normal sized friends are very jealous, and that's fine with me. My heavy friends think I'm anorexic; that's fine too. It's my process and I have the clothes, shoes and bags to prove it.

Yes, I see what you mean, since you've basically done this twice, first with the band and now with the sleeve. I thought I wanted a band until I researched it and figured out I didn't. So glad I listened to others re that. When I got to goal at 135, I thought a little more would be OK, to me (in photos) I still looked a little "plump." So I went to 125 and thought, OK, this is good. But then it was ........well, maybe 5 lbs. more would be better. So when I hit 120 I thought, yeah this is good, and then thought well maybe 118 would be better. You can see how I ended up where I am, definitely too thin, and yes, I see that I'm too thin in the mirror, but in photos with clothes on, I think I look normal according to fashion magazines, which as we all know, are stick thin models in winter clothing (these days.) Anyway, now I'm bouncing between 115-116 lbs. and trying to maintain the weight and even gain a couple of pounds which is not that easy to keep on you. We're about to go through another residential move which always causes lost pounds, and to a cold climate in the winter, which also causes lost weight. I'll be a challenge to maintain during the next month. C'est la vie.

I'm actually Welch by ancestry, although born in Calif. My maiden name is Evans.

You must be British; no one in the US says Gob smacked. Well, good for you and there you go. I never saw myself fat, even though I clearly was; so when I became thin again, my response was "Well, there you are!! Been a long time since I've seen you."

OK, well nobody will probably like my response to this question, but here goes: You are only 9 days post-op so yeah, your emotions are all over the place at the moment. Your body is going through a major shift and your hormones will go wild for awhile before all settles, but it will settle. A year from now you're start looking at obese people in a different way, as well. You will know what it's like to be them, and yet you'll feel like you want to tell them they could have a different life and why don't they?! Of course, you won't say a word to them, but you'll think it. As for your husband, he probably doesn't get his feelings hurt as easily as you - does any man? I mean seriously? You know that we're the drama queens in the emotional department. I think men can let stuff roll off them a lot more easily than women, so I wouldn't worry about his sensitivities. He'll deal with his weight as he sees you becoming smaller and more healthy. As for other people's comments and what not, you have a choice: you can choose to be offended or you can choose not to be. That's totally on you. I always go with it's better to be/stay positive than go to the darkside on any issue, WL included. When you get "hurt" by every little thing, the only one hurting is you, and you have a choice. I'd stick with the concept that I'm "difficult to offend" and keep a positive frame of mine when there's a choice to make. Choose to be grateful for what you've chosen for yourself, and screw anybody else, kwim?! Yes, of course you do. Stay in your happy place. Everyone has issues - be it weight or some other - you've taken the step to fix that issue for you. Let the others do as they may and know they don't speak for (or to) you. That's my 2 cents worth of ADvice.

I'm 14 mos. out and below both goals I set (one was 135 and one was 125 lbs.) I look too thin. I'm 5'-7.5" tall and have a small frame, so I look kind of a like a tall stick. When I dress to the nines, I look like a model because I'm tall with boobs (from implants - any such fat associated with that area is gone.) I have no butt - we now refer to the behind area as the "Buh-thigh" because that's all that's there. I have to exercise to maintain leg and hip flexor muscle mass because that sort of slid south b/c I didn't exercise with the loss. My weigh varies from 116 to 115, I weigh daily to keep tabs on it lest I lose too much. I do need to consciously eat to maintain that weigh and try to add a few pounds when I can. On the upside, I can eat 1/2 of an In-and-Out Burger now (yay!) and a couple pieces of pizza. Hey whatever, it doesn't cause me to gain any weight, and I do it to keep what I've got. There are challenges on both sides of the scale. At first all you can think about is losing the weight; once you're there, you need to maintain the weight. I'm a size 2-4, and my bones protrude. Who knew my breast bone was so protruding?! Ewww....don't like how that looks, but there it is for all to see. I need plastic work to get my Sharpei hiked back up to original position, but that will come in time. So there you go.......my synopis of what's what in the WLS world.

Do you happen to work for this doctor or in any way have you agreed to advertise for his procedure posing as a patient? Because your post sounds rather like a member of the staff and not a real patient. I shared your post on another WLS thread and that was the response most everyone had, that you don't sound like a patient. Whatever, I'm not judging, just wondering if you are for real. Thanks

1000 calories is too many calories a day unless you're burning 200 of those a day on exercise. Are you? Obviously, the combination of foods you ate did not agree with you, hence, the heartburn. Too rich and wrong combo. This whole WLS thing is a lifestyle change mostly which means even on holidays you can't eat like you used to back in the day. Go back to your regular food schedule and drink lots of water. You're probably retaining water from the salt in the food. My husband goes up and down 2-3 pounds a day just in normal non-WL eating. Of course he eats very fast and then holds his chest due to the heartburn and wonders why he doesn't feel good. I've given up trying to explain the eating too fast issue to him. For lunch today he had Medifast chicken soup ( a diet food) and then cuts up 10 slivers of fattening cheese, triscut crackers and a bunch of tomatoes. Bet that goes down real well. That has nothing to do with you, but you get my point. He was complaining this morning that his weight was up, well DUH, I'm thinking, look at what you eat?! For you, just get back on track. Everyone - except me who needs to gain a little - gains a couple pounds with the holidays. The main point is to get it back off ASAP.