MichiganChic

Glad you had a good time. I'm an old woman and I can't help it, I like some of her music, too!

Yes, my shoe size went down about a size. I was in 10W that was always a little too snug, but 11s were too big, to now a 9 that fits well. I can sometimes wear and 8.5 depending on how it's made. LOL at the fat girl lean - that's gone, too!

The shampoo "system" (as they call it) is a Glytone product. You can only get it via a physician. It's quite expensive, but I'll do or pay almost anything to regrow my hair! I've only had it for a day, so can't say if it works for me, but you can check it out online. And like I said, the NP told me she has actually seen it start to work on her friend. Honestly, when you read the label on the Vitamins you'll likely be unimpressed. It's b vitamins, Biotin, zinc, and a couple of other things. The office girl said they had to attend education about it, and of course, the vendor said it's the combination that makes the difference. I found it on amazon just now MUCH cheaper than what I paid for it. They sold me the anaphase shampoo (not on this link), the anacaps, and a anastim spray that I don's see here. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_12?url=search-alias%3Dbeauty&field-keywords=glytone%20shampoo&sprefix=glytone+sham%2Cbeauty%2C342&rh=i%3Abeauty%2Ck%3Aglytone%20shampoo The injections in my head didn't hurt, and you could really see the growth where they injected it.

Cheri, I'm so sorry for the loss of your dad. Reading your story really made me just want to send you a hug. You truly are a strong woman and I know you will be ok, but it's hard when so much happens at once! Just know we are sending you compassion and prayers to help get you through this. I had to chuckle a little when you said you can handle it all better if you are skinny. I totally get that. No matter how bad my day is, I have that thought to comfort me. You are still skinny. Focus on that, and take care of yourself. xo Teri

I've lost a lot. I had a lot of weight to lose, so I've been super restrictive with my diet for 14 months. It started coming out around month 4, that lasted 3-4 months, and it's not really coming back very fast. I went to the dermatologist, got some cortisone shots in my head which quickly halted the loss. I wish I had done that sooner. I also got a topical solution which seemed to help the loss. After the shots, I could see some regrowth. My hair was a little thin to start with, now it's really bad. I use Bosley fibers to cover up the shiny scalp at the part. Yesterday I got a new product from the dermatologist that's supposedly been used with great success in Europe for years, and was just approved for use in the US in the past of couple of months. It's a shampoo, topical spray, and vitamins. The NP said her friend also has thinning hair, has been using this about 6 weeks, and you can definitely see regrowth, so I'm really hoping it works for me.

I agree about the idea of focus. I do track on a spread sheet daily, and also track what I'm eating. Every bite. Those are two of the strategies I use for success. I'm visual, so those are tools to help me stay FOCUSED. I joke about it being an obsession, but it's not. I'm an informatics nurse, so it's perfectly natural for me to track health related things on spreadsheets. It takes about a minute a day, at most. I weigh, log, and move on. I am really happy I did it, though, because on days I'm struggling or irritated due to stalls, I can look at that as a positive reinforcement. It's like a bit of a reward system for me, too. Again, a tool to stay focused.

Don't take a water pill unless your doc tells you to, and monitors you. Some people might still need them, but as you are eating so little and losing, your blood pressure could drop too low with a diuretic. Besides, a diuretic won't make you lose weight, only water, and that comes back when you stop the water pill. Just ride it out. Trust me, it all evens out in the end.

That does not sound obsessive at all, to me, because I do the same thing!! Want to see my spread sheet, lol? I say whatever works.

Mmmm.....good question. I try to have a lot of "me" time, lol. I made 2013 the year of me, and I liked it so much, I've rolled it over into 2014! I really like it. I shop. I rest. I read. I work. My youngest is a high school senior, so for the first time in 25 years, I'm starting to feel like I have some time for myself. Tonight I think I'll take a zumba class - it will be my first one. It's pretty liberating to have so much freedom I'm also joining the gym at work. Not sure how that's going to go - not so much me time there, lol. I'm hoping to go on my lunch hour and fit in something, since I've been lazy lately.

Seriously Gman? You just have to keep rubbing it in . I've been looking so forward to the day it's above freezing in Michigan. Right now it looks like Sunday will be 36, so I'm pretty excited! It's treacherous around here....you can't see around/over the huge piles of snow that have turned into ugly, dirty icebergs. Driveways and parking lots are covered in ice, and it's always below zero with the wind chill. Yeah, I'm jealous of you. On a positive note - you could go ice fishing here if you wanted to It's kind of like gardening.

I'm 14 months out, and still have one every day. Makes it much easier to get that protein in.

I have a slightly different opinion. First, let me say, WLS is not easy. The stress and strain of a surgery is difficult in and of itself. The steps you have to take to succeed are far from easy. But having said that, for me, WLS surgery was easier and far more successful than anything I had done to date. I used to try to diet, and I couldn't tolerate the weakness and light headedness I got from anything less than 1400 calories. I would somehow manage to stay on track for months at a time, doing everything right according to conventional wisdom, and meet with marginal success, and it was always short lived. So now after WLS, it is much easier for me than what I was doing. I can now eat 800 calories a day and tolerate it. And guess what? My body won't lose eating much more than that. No wonder I couldn't succeed. When someone says it's the easy way out, I just dismiss them. They haven't walked a mile in my shoes. However, by comparison, this is an easier way of life for me, now. I'm thin (almost) and I can eat very few calories and be satisfied, compared to over 300 pounds and hungry all the time. To me, it's obvious which one is better, whether you call it easy or not.

I'm 14 months out, and I'm also stuck. I have been for two months, and I track every bite - religiously. I am over some days at around 1800, but most days I'm around 1100. I would be happy losing 2-3 pounds a month at this point. I really think I only have about 10 pounds to lose, and I think the rest would come of with plastic surgery - about 15 pounds. No advice for you, only commiserating. My plan is to just keep doing what I'm doing, and not stress about it any more. Except for one thing, I've not been exercising, so I'm going to start that again and hope it makes a difference. If not, I'm way better off than I was. Sometimes our bodies defy what we think we know to be true.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there's not really anything that you can do. Your skin is what it is. Age, genetics, years of obesity, weight lost and general health all play a factor in how your skin does. There's no way to know how yours will respond, either. You can exercise, which builds muscle and tone, and if your skin isn't too bad, it will help. If you have a lot of loose skin, it won't hurt, but likely will not make a big difference. I wouldn't worry though. Clothes hide a multitude of sins/skin, and for me, I'd rather be thin and saggy than fat and saggy/fluffy

I wish I filled my time with cleaning or exercising or church or something, but I don't, lol. I do find that I shop a lot more, both in stores and online. I'm actually forced to because I constantly need clothes for work as I go down sizes. I have to REALLY resist sometimes though, since I don't want to have more than the minimum as I go down sizes. I think I'm pretty much nearing the end of weight loss, so I'm buying a little more. I find it thrilling to be able to go into ANY store and put on anything I want. It is such a rush for me. I can now buy and wear things I could only dream of before! I'm not sure it's an addiction, but I do spend a lot of time doing it. Given the choice of cooking/eating or shopping, I'll take shopping every time

Great job, and beautiful pics of a wonderful success story!

You are smart to think about the changes that will be forced on you, and the changes you will need to consciously make for the rest of your life. I also thought about those things, and I really wondered if I could do it. I even hate to admit that in the back of my mind, I sort of thought bullshit, I'm not doing that! I don't know how or why, but I'm so grateful that through some divine intervention, I actually did do the things I thought I would not do. I actually did make those changes. Maybe in the back of my mind, I knew this was my last, best chance at living a healthy normal life. I also knew someone at work who has RNY, and was very successful. She told me how rigid she was with following the rules, and attributed her success to that. It struck home with me, so I followed her advice. At first, I think the hardest thing for me was to not eat and drink together. But, I did get used to it, and now I rarely even think about it. I still follow that rule to this day. I follow the no straw rule. I honestly don't think there is a good reason for it, but I don't want to mess with success, lol. I get in my Protein, and I rarely eat bread, rice, or Pasta. That used to be the mainstay of my diet. I also posted in that 16 day post-op thread, and my response was that I feel so normal. And I am, and I don't consider the changes I've made to impact that feeling. You do adjust to the changes you've made, and they become a way of life, and that's what allows us to succeed. We all know on a conscious level that something needs to change....otherwise we won't lose weight. So you have to eat less. You have to pay attention to what you are eating. You have to go about your life and figure out how to fit it in. I think that's a little different for each of us. I don't think everyone succeeds after WLS, but I do think everyone can. Our success is up to us, and I think the secret lies in our minds more than anything else. The restriction from the sleeve is a START - after a year, when the newness wears off, it truly becomes a tool that you can choose to use or not. I'm so grateful I paid attention to making those changes early on and recognized the impact they had, otherwise, I'd be on my way back to 300+ pounds by now.

A year ago, I also didn't know what the future held for me or what I might accomplish, and I'm so thrilled at what I've done in a year. I lost the majority of my excess weight, got a great new job, and have become decidedly happy. (I never was unhappy or negative, but now I'm just more enthusiastic about life ). By this time next year, I hope to be at goal and have completed reconstructive/plastics, as well as a knee replacement so that I can begin training. I want to compete in marathons, too. Right now I can't see myself ever running, (I'm 51 and I really always hated to run, lol) but I do think I can walk and incorporate training and fitness into my daily life. Beyond that, I just want to make sure that I maintain the changes I've worked so hard to make so that I can just LIVE

You are so newly post op, it's hard to see how bright your future is now. I remember those early days/weeks, and i thought maybe something was wrong with me because I just felt so generally awful. Super fatigued, the weight wasn't coming off like I thought it should (I was ridiculous - it was coming off great) and just uncertainty that all would be OK. I would read threads on here about people who felt great 2 days out, blah blah blah. Results "not typical". It was hard not be short-sighted, but the truth is that if you work on making the changes you need to, you will transform your mind and body. Now, at over a year out, I am so incredibly normal! I can eat anything and everything. I can drink Water to my hearts content. I can eat small but normal portions and feel fine. I look normal. I was wear normal size clothes. I'm normal, normal, normal. That's all I ever wanted to be. I also had/have a great life, so losing the weight, managing my diet, and moving into a healthy life just completed it for me.

I know what you are saying. For me, it's a more of a little bit of surprise that I want to eat more, irritation that I can't revert to my old habits, and relief that there is enough restriction to stop me before I go too far. I can still over eat and eat around my sleeve, so the irritation (and desire to eat too much) I feel is unsettling. I know that it's all up to me, and that even though I can't eat a lot at once, I can eat enough to get fat. When I get that feeling that I'd really like to eat a lot, I am fearful I won't be able to continue managing my weight...wish there was a surgery for that. Then I remember that I used to feel like that when I was fat, so it's way better to continue the battle while being much thinner!

Sounds like fun, and what's not to love when you get to dress that gorgeous new bod up! I think your dress is lovely, and splashy enough with the sheer neck line. I would not wear anything around the neck at all. I like the color of those blue shoes, but I would go with plain black for this - too much texture in the blue ones. Definitely bare legs, too. As for the pop of color, I'd add it with one or two items - maybe bangles and a color matching but conservative ear ring. I probably would not do blue nails, but that's just me. I'd go with nude or french manicure, in this case. You'll exude confidence and understated elegance. When you look as good as you do, you just about can't go wrong no matter what you choose Once you decide or when you are ready for the event, show us a pic of what you decided and how you look!

Just wanted to stop back by and mention again how much I enjoy shopping now I still have to be careful not to let myself go nuts, but I could! I now watch the sales online and in the store for my favorite stores. I think White House Black Market has come to the top as the absolute favorite, especially for work clothes. They are mostly fitted, have a lot of peplums, which tend to look best on me. I use coupons codes online, and I'm a "black book" member (aka spent a lot) so I get free shipping and an additional 5% off. I went in there yesterday to check the sale racks, and this guys was helping me. He filled the dressing room with clothes in different combinations, and it was a lot of fun just trying all the looks on. I still only bought a couple of sale items, but I really did enjoy it....though I had to resist a couple of the full price newer items. So there is the sport in shopping. I'll dog the stores and watch online till that stuff's on sale and get it then. Has anyone else noticed that size 10s and 12s are NOT that easy to come by? I read that they make fewer of them. So when it comes to sale shopping, you need to be quick because mediums and 10s are the first to go!

I'm not single, but if I were, I think it's something I would share at some point, but probably later. I think it's kind of like the missing the bone thing. Both were no doubt HUGE to you, but to a potential mate, not so much. Just part of who you are. On a slightly different but similar note - I have a new-ish job. The people I work with now never knew me as that super obese person. I don't disclose that to them, and if they come to learn that information through a common acquaintance, I still wouldn't disclose how I got here. I'm planning to have plastics soon, and I'm not telling them that, either. (not sure how that will go, lol). Guess my point is I don't feel obligated to share my medical history with co-workers and new friends, though I might if ever there was a need to. This is also a different approach for me, because for the most part, I'm a full disclosure type of person, too - all open in the sunshine

It doesn't bother me, I just stir it back in. But if it did, I'd have a hard time eating it. I've started adding a couple teaspoons of Peanut Butter, equal, and a little sugar free Torani caramel syrup to my Fage 0%, and I LOVE it!

Lisa, I'm so sorry to hear this news. You and your family are in my prayers.