Queen of Crop

How exciting MsDiggs!!!! YAHOO!!!! Are you in for a wonderful 2016!!!! Very excited for you. That first year for me was so amazing....but then it went uphill from there!!! Check in when you are on the other side! And welcome to the club!

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO GET HEALTHY AND REINVENT YOURSELF. Congratulations to all of us who made this life changing decision! I'm over 4 years out and on 8 Feb I am having an abdominaplasty...I had a breast reduction and lift 3 years ago and that turned out great. So happy with my life!!!

Great topic....I think most people will feel it and know when you are ready and I think alllowing yourself to always be open to meeting new people, either as friends or potential partners is a good a idea and can keep your life full and rich. Although I'm married, most people who have read my blog and book know I am in an poly amorous marriage and I go to Tantra seminars, so even though I don't date, I am in situations in which I am in close contact with others; but it took me a year before my mind caught up with my new body and I could be open to new adventures. Once you are feeling better about yourself you can create whatever life you desire.

Wonderful statement....a few years ago I stopped thinking so much and started feeling...a much better way to live a full life! Here's to all of us who are learning to feel and trust our instincts. Happy New Year my friends!

Happy New Year InnerSurfer Girl....it's been great to follow your posts and good for you for signing up for the writing workshop (I take them as often as I can and find most of them very inspiring). The best advice I can give you is to set aside a few hours every week and just write...don't worry about grammar or flow or anything...just get stuff down on paper. Then at some point you can go back through it and edit and revise. But stick to a schedule and you'll be amazed how much you will have. Also, my goodness...you've posted over 3,000 posts...you already have a book! I have a goal to write a novel this year and hoping I can find the time. But to be honest, I'm so busy having fun that the days just go by! I'm having surgery to remove the extra skin in my abdomen in Feb so I will have some downtime for a month or so after that. Good luck and will be interested in what others goals are....

Good luck Cherri2082...as jintycb has said...a WHOLE NEW WORLD IS WAITING FOR YOU...I am now 4 years out (sleeved at 58) am 62 and no one believes it. I have never been happier or complimented so much in my life. I am not living my dream life because I NEVER dreamed my life could be THIS amazing. You have many more miles to go....good for all of us and HAPPY NEW YEAR....what a great gift we have given ourselves and the people we love.

I just want to say I love the people on this thread...basically I LOVE interesting people...I am straight but in a polyamorous situation and when I 'come out' to people I feel proud that I am expanding my circle of love. Bascially someone above has it right...are they good decent people...I can only imagine how fascinating that person at the hardware store would be to go and have a coffee with. All of us HERE have struggled with being different, ours was called BEING FAT. We have found a way to make ourselves happier and so should everyone else. If you see him/her again...tell him/her to come visit me in Amsterdam. I would LOVE to visit with her and I have a guest room to boot! MERRY CHRISTMAS OR WHATEVER YOU Celebrate TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!

At Cherri2082....what a great way to start a new year! A new life!!!! And trust the rest of us...you will be rockin' a lot more than a white pair of capris! @Heidikate....Merry Christmas to you too...to all of us. We have given ourselves such a great gift...YAY!!!

Oh so excited for you! I was 58 when I had my surgery and that was over 4 years ago....your life will be transformed!!!! I am 62 and truly living a DREAM life I never thought was possible....now I am off to the gym! YAY FOR ALL OF US WHO ARE TAKING CONTROL OF OUR LIVES....

Go to www.meetup.com and find your people!!!! What ever you are interested in....music, art, language, yoga, dancing, mediation, games, cooking, hiking, biking, you name it....what ever it is....you can find it in your area most likely. All it is is a site for a group of people with similar interests get together casually; at someone's house, a local pub, a park, a hall and talk about your mutual interests. I met so many people when I moved to Amsterdam through this resource....there is no reason to be bored....so much to do and so many opportunities to live a life you never even dreamed about! I'm living proof. Good luck to you, can't wait to see where you are emotionally, mentally, and physically in another year.

ALC are my initials OK, I'm sitting here officially feeling pretty stupid!

Thanks Avafern....that's good information....any weight loss in the end?

Sorry to be so stupid...but what is ALC???

It's so true! You can completely remodel one room and it looks fabulous, but then you go, OH, well that other room looks worse now! Or one time, we had a little flood in our bathroom, the insurance said they would pay for a new floor; and I thought, well, as long as we're going to get a new floor, might as well replace that old vanity, but then the tub looked so outdated, so might as well get a new one, but then I thought, wouldn't it be great if we just knocked the wall out and put in a new window and extend the bathroom so it's much larger? So our 'free' floor cost us about $15,000! But I loved it when it was done...we used to call that 'feature creep!' But now we're remodeling US!!!!!

@ Mynewlife15 Thank you for the compliments! I hope you found it encouraging and inspiring! Have you had your surgery yet? And just curious what age range you are in? I'm really so excited for you and all the others just starting this journey...it was actually a very fun year in my life! And as your name implies...a whole new life is just waiting for you!

Looks fabulous, especially after only 5 months....amazing. You must be so happy! I can't wait to have mine done in Feb. I'm just having a TT; I had a breast reduction done 2.5 years ago and have been thrilled with those results. I have nice 'B' cups, didn't want implants. My TT is 4500 Euro (almost par with the dollar at this point). My hips are fine, my upper legs horrible but probably won't do anything about it. But Jan of 2017 I would like to have my upper arms done, then hopefully I will be done...but you never know...I'm 62 so will probably have to have a face lift! It's like remodeling a house...you're never really done!

@newsetofcurves....So, it sounds like you think it was well worth it? And just curious, did you lose any weight from it? And how long did you wear your compression garment? Thanks for all the Protein tips.

@walkonwaking...just an FYI, my blog is just a sample of some of my chapters...not sure if you are reading it or the book. The book is week by week, for the first year. Paperback or Kindle. Thanks for your support and wow, only 48 hours and you will be on your way!!!! How exciting for you.

HI Jintycb! Thanks for the compliments...I'm happy you are finding it a good read...and you are not being nosy...it was my pleasure to share and I only wish I had some reading on this topic that was a week to week account...and from someone who was a bit older...but there was nothing out there. Sounds like you are right on target, although I must say my mush phase probably only lasted 2 weeks and one of those weeks was in the hospital with hardly anything but broth. But it all worked out just fine. And yes, WW does work for some people, but some of us it didn't so I am grateful every day for my sleeve. And 13 lbs in one month? That's awesome...what's so funny is that when I got down into the 170's I felt like a million bucks because I felt so thin and hadn't been there in so long....this past week for some reason I gained a few lbs and got up to 142 and I am freaking out about it!!!! And I feel it....so the brain is an interesting thing for sure.... Good luck and keep us posted!

HI Avafern....thanks for the update....can you tell how much weight you lost due to the TT? I don't really know what a 360 is, but am assuming it is when they include the back as well? I am very encouraged by your post...we are the same height and I started at 233 lbs. That seems so long ago that I don't even remember being that weight, but indeed I was!

HI Lacowgirl....I can't comment on the TT, (mine is scheduled for 8 Feb) but I had a breast lift done 2 years ago and wow, I am SO happy!!!! Actually it was a breast reduction....150 grams of tissue from one, 9 from the other! I have no idea but when I lost weight one got so much bigger than the other and they looked like party balloons....a week AFTER the party!!!! So so happy I did it. And I think what you will hear, is just load up on the Protein to help you heal. Good luck!

Wow, thanks for the positive wonderful post Jess! What is a scar treatment? I would love to know.

@ choosehope...sounds like you have had a rough 8 years...however, you also seem like a realistic person and now you are taking the right steps. I have a question though...did you lose the 140 lbs on your own, or did you have the sleeve done, and are now coverting that to a bypass?

When you say you wore it the whole time....how long did you have to wear it?

So sorry to hear about your weight gain, of course we all fear that. I have been at my goal weight for 3 years (took me one year to get there) but in the past month I have gained 5 lbs and have now hit the reality that I must get this off before it becomes 10 lbs....and I'm really confident I can. Knowing my surgery is in Feb is an incentive because my doctor wants me to lose some weight before hand so it will be more successful. I am easing into the 5 day pouch test with doing the 5:2 this week....today being one of my fast days. I'm just curious though, it sounds like you think you should have waited to have the surgery until you were at goal weight? I can't imagine the trauma your body and your hormones went through with both a hysterectomy and a panniculectomy.