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I've had shingles twice (right side on my rib cage and the left side of my head) and it's not something I ever want to go through again! If it is shingles, the sooner you start on anti-virals the better. Delay in starting can cause the shingles to be worse and that can cause long-term issues with nerve pain. I didn't start the anti-virals for 3+ days the first time and ended up with a lot more long term pain than the second time when I started the day after. Also, you can get the vaccine after you've had shingles. It will help prevent a re-occurrence. I wish someone had told me that after the first time.

Already this year I have run 2 half marathons, a 10K, and the Miami-Key West Ragnar Relay. I only have one more race scheduled this year... the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon Relay where I'm running the first 2 legs of the relay and concurrently running the half marathon. I'm considering running the new Disneyland Avenger Half Marathon in November, but I want to get plastic surgery and that race would only work if the surgery is timed just right. Have fun in your races! My first 5K after surgery was in May 2013.

Thanks Jane! I can't imagine ever getting down to 162, which would be 18 pounds less than my current low bounce weight. By the time I have surgery I'd like to be in the high 170's without bouncing around. Based on my current race and work schedule I think I'm going to shoot for getting surgery in May.

The best thing is to just get out there and do it! Make sure you have a poncho so you don't get soaked. Don't worry about time. My first 5K last year I ran the first 1/2 and then did run/walk intervals for the rest. I still felt like I accomplished a lot because I got out there and didn't stay home.

I have knee problems (2 surgeries for torn cartilage and chondromalacia) and the best advice I have ever had was to learn about Chi running style. There are videos on YouTube and websites. I also switched to zero drop shoes (Brooks Cadence) in September when I was having a lot of knee pain. They have been amazing! I've lost 85 pounds and have not lost any size in my shoes (unfortunately, I wear a woman's 12 and would love to lose a size!). Another thing that I have done is get Orthovisc injections in my knee. Orthovisc is a lubrication and is done in 3 injections over 3 weeks. It makes a world of difference in my pain levels.

Thanks for the responses! I think I'm going to go ahead and schedule a consultation. I'm considering going to Mexico (Dr. Sauceda is on the top of my list), but want to make sure I consider local options too. I had my WLS in Mexico, so I would be okay with that decision, plus my sister is an RN and would be going with me to help. I'll let you know how it goes!

Finished my first week on Pact. I wanted to start at a manageable level, so I set it up with a goal of exercising 2 days per week. It will accept FitBit and MapMyFitness/MapMyRun, so I set it up for both just to make sure that whatever I do it will be counted. I don't have a gym membership yet, but I'm starting at one in another week. First workout: I had a 5K run on Friday and used MapMyRun and wore my FitBit Flex. About 20 minutes after my run, the MapMyRun synced to Pact and I received a notification that I received credit for the run. The exercise has to take at least 30 minutes and my 5K was about 35 minutes. Second workout: I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon on Sunday and again used MapMyRun and wore my Flex. I think I missed the notification from Pact when the MapMyRun synced and I didn't look at the Pact app until Monday and I saw that it recorded my run. Extra workouts: I synced my FitBit on Monday and Pact notified me that I had 3 exercises that were not counted. Two were the FitBit workouts for Friday and Sunday that had already had MapMyRuns counted for those days. The other was for Saturday when I didn't get over 10,000 steps. So far so good, and I didn't have to pay in because of missed days. I also noticed that because my first week was a partial week, Pact gives me to the next Sunday to earn my workouts. So this "week" is actually about 11 days and will end on 3/2. I have read that it can take about 2 weeks to receive payout on the weeks that you earn $$, so I won't know if it's working for a couple of weeks. It's important to note that I don't think the $$ rewards are enough for motivation. I think it's the $$ punishment for not exercising that really makes the app work. I'll keep reporting back on my experience with it. I'm not ready to increase my days yet because I want to be successful with it.

The Disney Princess Half was AMAZING! I hurt a lot more at the end than I did on my last half, but made it in under 2:45, which was my goal. I had heard that the race gets really crowded at spots, but never had that happen. No races for me until April! Going to take most of the week off to recover. Just looked at my FitBit and it recorded 30,000 steps yesterday!!! Wow!

Ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon yesterday and had 13.1 miles of running and 5 miles of walking for the day. No wonder I'm in pain today!

Logged my first exercise today, the Disney Royal Family 5K. I used MapMyRun during the race. I wasn't sure if it would work because Pact says it works with MapMyFitness. It worked really well. About 30 min after the race, the app popped up and said I had logged my exercise. Pretty cool! Hopefully my MapMyRun will work on Sunday and I'll get credit for the week. I'll let you know how it goes.

You don't have to do the food logging pact. You can choose exercise, food logging, or veggie eating. This is my first week. I've got it connected to my Fitbit account, so shouldn't have any problems getting my exercise in since I have a 5K tomorrow and a half marathon on Sunday. I think it takes a few weeks to process the $$ for meeting goals and you can't cash out (using Paypal) until you've got $10.

If you find that your B12 shots and Vitamins are not working, you may want to try Methyl B12 instead. My body doesn't use the other B12 correctly and it builds up to a very high level. When I switched to Methyl B12 it made a huge difference in my energy levels. I'm getting my labs done in a few weeks, so I'll see if the blood levels have decreased.

Dumping is usually foods passing through the digestive system quickly and in the process usually causing extremely bad cramping and diarrhea. It may also cause nausea, sweating, flushing, dizziness, vomiting and/or heart palpitations. I get it from eating foods that have a lot of sugar and sometimes from dairy. Here's some good info on it: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dumping-syndrome/basics/definition/con-20028034

That's awesome! I started about a year ago, a little over a month after surgery. I love seeing new runners in here! It's wonderful that you have a sister that can support and encourage you. I am just now meeting runners in my area. I love making new friends that prioritize fitness. I would LOVE to do the Disneyland Half. That's on my bucket list of races, but I'm not signing up for anything right now. My last race this year will be the OKC Memorial Half Marathon in April. I'm doing the half and running the marathon relay with my cousins. My sister was a first responder (RN) and my cousins and I are running it in her honor (she has PTSD from some things that went on during response and being attacked at work in the ER). It will be an emotional race for sure. After that race I'm going to get my knee injected with Orthovisc (hyauluric acid lubricant). It takes 3 weeks of injections, but relieves a lot of my pain. After that I'm going to try to get plastic surgery done (arms, boob lift, and tummy tuck). Recovery from that will take at least 3 months, so I won't be running again until the late fall.

If you haven't had the 3 week stall yet, it may be that as well. Search the site for 3 week stall for more info.

It's just water and not fat. Focus on your program and not on the scale. Take weekly measurements. Try clothes on. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but increase your water intake if you think you're retaining Fluid. It helps flush it out of your system.

How is everyone doing? Is it me or does the site seem extra dead lately? No one is posting on any of my long running message threads. Had a crappy run on Sunday. Planned on 10 miles and only made it to 6 before my whole body started hurting. Had to call for a pick up from my husband. First time I've ever had to do that. Yuk! So kinda worried about this weekend's run. I'm doing the Disney Royal Family 5K on Friday at Epcot and the Disney Princess Half Marathon on Sunday. This is a pretty special run for me because the Royal Family 5K was the first 5K I ever ran back in 2010 when did C25K the first time with my two BFFs. It took me about 48 minutes. This time I'm hoping to run it in <35 min. I'm just hoping to complete the half and have fun and take a lot of pictures. I've never done that on a Disney run before, so it should be fun.

We have very similar stats and I think you're tall like me (5'11" here). I didn't start getting those types of reactions until I was around 185, so give it a little bit more time. Also, even Demi had to have $100,000 in plastic surgery!

Getting a slow start this month. Going to have to pick it up. Next race is Disney Princess 5K and Half Marathon in two weeks. Run: 20.5 (Goal: 60) Walk:12 (Goal: 60) Bike: 0 (Goal: 30) Total: 32.5 (Goal: 150)

Finished Ragnar Relay and finally home again. It was in the top five of my most life-changing experiences. I loved all three of my runs, but they were all so different. The first was 5.9 miles at about 8pm. The first part of it was down a gravel path. The rest was on the side of the road. Most of the road did not have a shoulder or a bike path. Very scary at times, but I had a good pace for the conditions. The second run was 2.9 miles in the morning. I had very little sleep... maybe 1 hour on the sidewalk of a school where we exchanged runners and then another 1.5 hours in the back seat of our van. This was my best run and I had 5 "kills" (passing other runners) and I only got passed once. The final run was 3.5 miles in the early evening as the sun was going down heading into Key West over the final bridge. It was extremely challenging because it was hot, I was so tired, and my back was cramping up. I loved running with awesome athletes. Many of the runners on my team place in their age divisions in runs in this area. I learned a lot from them and made wonderful new friends. I didn't know anyone on the team. My regular running buddy works for one of the women on the team and I heard from her that they needed a last minute substitute last Monday. I loved running the race as a part of a team. The team didn't worry about how fast you were running, their only concern was supporting you as a runner, whether it be going forward and stopping to offer you water or just cheering you on as you were running. The only thing I wasn't prepared for was the lack of sleep. I didn't get much sleep on Thursday night (maybe 3 hours) before meeting the team Friday morning to drive to Miami where the race started for us at 11:30am (they stagger start times to keep the race and exchanges from getting crowded). I got 2.5 hours of sleep Friday night. After the race ended on Saturday we drove back to Miami and got to our hotel at 2:30. Then got up at 8am to drive back to Clearwater. Overall it was an amazing experience. They have Ragnar Relays all over the country and I highly recommend them if you want to really challenge yourself. Here's our team pic and the bling:

Thanks! I like running in skirts because they seem more comfortable to me.

Along with my surgery a year ago, I decided to remove the word "can't" from my exercise vocabulary and replace it with "why not". I am 48 yrs old and have a bad knee and several autoimmune disorders. My doc has diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. I had every excuse to say I can't. Instead, I decided to persevere and to always try. I started the couch to 5K training program one year ago this week. When I started I could barely run for 45 sec walk 90 sec repeat 5 times. I finally finished the program in August. This weekend I am part of a team that is running from Miami to Key West (200 miles). Three weeks ago I ran my first half marathon. None of this happened overnight and none of it would have happened if I continued to say I can't. I never planned or dreamed that I could do these things a year ago. For veterans, what are some things that you're doing that you never planned on or thought you could accomplish? For those of you just starting out, what are your fitness dreams?

I had lots of time to think about things the past two days. All of my relay team members were incredible athletes. I felt so lucky to be a part of the team. I still have moments when I still think of myself as the person from a year ago. Out of shape and obese. I'm still trying to come to terms with the changes. This weekend was a huge help in that process. Our overall times was 31 hours and 45 min with an average pace of 9:30. I always think of myself as a slow runner, but I'm only 2 minutes (and sometimes less) away from that time. Six months ago I was 2 minutes per mile slower than what I am now. I'm going to persevere and hopefully lower my pace by next years's Ragnar. It's funny, but during my program I never set weight loss goals. I did set goals for the steps that I had to take to get there though, which for me was 60+ Protein, 60+ Water, 60+ min exercise. Those were goals I could achieve and that I had control over. I don't have control over how much or how fast I lose. My exercise programs has been a little different though. I set goals (and signed up for races) to keep me accountable and moving forward. It's interesting the similarities and the differences. I love your goals! They are all about living differently and I think more than anything else WLS gives us that ability.

Running in the Ragnar Relay from Miami to Key West. 200+ miles with 12 runners. My share is 12.3 miles. First run of 5.9 miles is done. Would LOVE to do this race next year with a WLS team!

First leg done. 5.9 miles in the dark on a trail and beside the road. Next one is 3.5 miles around 7 am across one of the bridges. Body is aching and I am so sleepy.