avanti

Hi.. my 6 month labs just came back and my Iron saturation is very low.. it is currently at 8%.. and it should be between 15 and 35%.. the doctor is referring me for iron infusion.. i just wanted to know if anyone has had an iron infusion before.. and would like to know your experience.. this is the first time I’ll be having one.. and I’m worried about side effects.. especially because the oral iron tablets I take always make me nauseous..

one of my best friends weighs 137#s at 5'7" which is well within the healty range.. but everytime she saw me.. she kept saying.. she needs to lose weight and that she is fat! I showed her the good old color coded BMI chart and she was happy with her weight..and settled on the idea that she needed some toning.. not weight loss.. this was a happy story.. and then there is one of my friend's spouse.. who weighs 140#s at 5'6".. she is completly obsessed with my weight loss.. and i have no idea how to deal with it.. there are some days when i just want to shout at the top of my voice.. you are not fat.. stop being a b****!!! over the last two months she has been on crash diets twice.. has mentioned more than once to me.. "I'm jealous you get to buy cute clothes now.. and i can't".. I mean seriously..! she is a size 8.. I'm 16!! When we are dining out.. she knows exactly how much i'm eating and makes a fuss about it... I feel bullied by her.. and these days when i know she will be around.. i end up wearing my old 2x and size 20 clothes just so that she will leave me alone.. has anyone had experiences like this..? how do i deal with people like this? ps: she does not know i've had the sleeve.. and never will.. a friend was suggesting arm lift and this lady had to voice her opinion.. "I'd rather die than have unnecessary surgery"

Thank You all for your suggestions.. I tried to talk to her yesterday.. tried to explain that it makes me uncomfortable when my weight loss is discussed in almost all conversations.. showed her my food and exercise logs for the previous month and reasoned that its a struggle everyday to stay on track.. and I don't really want temptations.. Well.. lets just say.. I'm not going to be seeing her until she does not stop rubbing off her insecurities on me..

Hello VSTers... This past labor day weekend.. I took a short vacation and visited San Francisco and met with a friend who has not seen me in person for over 2 years.. (she did see my weekly update pictures though..) I’ve been overweight/obese for as long as I remember.. and being invisible is my specialty.. but not this weekend! This is going to be one weekend that I will always remember.. First, I walk to my terminal in airport.. all worried that I was not going to fit in the plane seat.. and a pretty young teen walks up to me and says.. “You look pretty..” I had the biggest smile when I said thank you.. Second, I fit my seat…I actually had a little wiggle room! Third, my friend was flying in an hour later than me to SFO.. so I was waiting for her and I started waving to her when she stepped out.. She kept looking back.. not knowing who I was.. Fourth, one of the guys in a restaurant was more interested in “me” than my skinny friend!!! That never happens!!!! Never! And I clearly did not know how to react.. Fifth, downtown SFO.. my friend and I were crossing a road.. and I got called out.. “Hey.. you look pretty!” by a wow looking guy.. I’m yet to believe that I was not dreaming.. he he.. and the thank you that came out of my mouth was very awkward! I just wanted to dig an hole and hide my head in there.. :ph34r: Sixth, I can’t stop looking at the pictures we took.. for once.. I’m smiling in the pictures! Thank You... for reading that.. no skinny person is going to understand how it feels to be not invisible!

you look WOW!! and so radiant...

thank you.. this feeling truly is awesome.. makes you never want to go back to before.. and work really hard for the next milestone..

same here.. my iron saturation was very low.. just finished 4 sessions of iron infusion one every week.. my next appointment is after 4 months..

I sure did feel free.. for once i was not worried about people looking at me and thinking... oh god.. this one needs to go on a diet..

one of the reasons i love these bars.. they just wont slide in.. i have to work and chew them..

i'm sorry.. it not 50gm of Protein.. its 50gm the bar size.. its 200 calories and 20gm of protein.. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002XULC6Q/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I somtimes also have the smores version.. its bigger.. so split it into two Snacks.. and 280 calories with 30gm of protein.. and much tougher to chew than the Peanut Butter version.. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GBKEO0/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 these however have higher carbs.. but my nut was ok with it..

I dont really have a said slider food.. except for potato chips.. which i try to stay far far away from.. but maybe what you are feeling is head hunger..? the reason i ask.. is because.. i'm almost 8 months post op.. and have a pure Protein chocolate and Peanut Butter bar for lunch almost everyday.. its a 50gm bar and i can barely finish it.. and i "think" that i'm hungry after an hour or so.. but cant really eat anything.. or maybe you are not drinking enough Water.. most protein bars i've seen come with a label asking us to drink atleast 8oz of water with the bar.. we obviously can not do that.. so i drink 4 oz some 15 minutes before and 8oz after 15 minutes..

These past years i've been avoiding vacations.. and plane rides.. they are what nightmares are made of for me.. :ph34r: now.. I'm 7.5 months out and half way there to my goal weight.. and I'm hopping onto a plane to SFO tonight for the long weekend.. and hopefully.. this time i'll not be spilling over my fellow traveller's seat.. and the NSV part.. i was packing my bag last night.. and usually.. I would not know what to pack.. well.. it is not easy to find.. weather appropriate, good fitting and cute clothes.. and fit them in one bag! Yesterday.. I did not know what to pack.. there were so many options.. I packed a weeks worth of clothes.. and there's still some space left in my bag.. guess my clothes have been losing some weight too..

I had my surgery in Jan.. i started out with 44DDD.. and now am at 36DDD.. everytime I buy a new bra.. I try a DD size.. really hoping it would fit and nothing peeps out.. but nope.. but I still have another 80#s to lose.. I hope they atleast get to a D.. but looking at the women in my family.. i doubt it..

my bmi was 53.. i had no letter from my pcp.. i scheduled an apt with the surgeon directly.. and had one nut appointment.. the physc eval.. upper GI.. some blood tests.. the insurance was approved in about 2 weeks after submitting the documents..

I live an hour way in Addison..

swallowing too fast.. or taking too much air in maybe?

thts the only time i lose some weight actually.. about 4 to 5 #s

I've not wanted anyone to talk about my weight for so long.. and now.. no one who has known me for a long time says a word about my weight.. how much i'd love to hear them say... "looks like you've lost a ton of weight finally!.".

ofcourse!! I had blocked this scenario out of my mind..

this is a good list.. helps your mind prepare for all possibilities... and not feel like the universe is working against you.. I had something similar during pre-op.. one more thing to add.. the possiblity of the dumping syndrome..

i'm 5'3 too.. when I started this journey.. i was being too idealistic and set my goal at 122.. right in the middle of the BMI chart.. my mom and I have pretty much the same body type, build and height.. and she weighed 180#s when i had my surgery.. she went on the liquid diet and part of the post-op diet with me for moral support.. "love her!!".. anyways.. i saw her shrink.. and at 160#s she looked awesome.. and as she went lower.. it made her look like she was sick.. so i re assessed my goal to 145 (given my age).. its slightly higher than the healthy bmi range.. (mom is currently maintaing at 162#s and feels a lot better than when she was at 156) nothing is set in stone.. we can always evaluate our progress and update our goals depending on how we feel..

thank you.. i've scheduled mine for 8/8 (next thursday).. i've always been anemic.. and don't know how it feels not be one.. been google-ing a lot about this and now i'm looking forward to feeling the real normal..

a good photoshoot session..and nice potrait pictures..?

only twice..? the fisrt few weeks.. and now over the weekends.. its everytime I walk into the batchroom.. which would be all the waking hours.. any excuse to get onto the scale!

i've been planning to hide my scale for a long time now.. mustering up the courage... and doing it this sunday..