arthritis_me

I've been trying to conceive for 2.5 years now and having the extra fat on my body messed up my hormones so badly, it really has made me very infertile. Now that I've lost 30+ lbs out of the 70ish that i had to lose I've got my cycle back and I'm ovulating every month. Your hormones are fat soluable so the more fat you have on your body the more bogged down your hormones are going to be. When you get the fat off you might have a change in your cycle like some of the ladies have posted but it will be better, you'll be closer to functioning normally than when you were fat. I'm going through IVF right now because I've been told my chances are slipping away from ever having kids, I have nearly nothing left in my ovaries lol. Don't be too hard on yourself when you don't lose during that week, just be glad you have a regular cycle and keep guzzling the water/tea and exercising!

You need the Water to flush your organs, they're dealing with alot of toxins and fat when you lose weight this quickly. Have you tried crystal light or tea? I don't know what's wrong with me but I'm 2 months out and can guzzle a whole cup of tea. I put back a 1.5 L water with a half a single crystal light flavouring in the morning and one in the afternoon. I'm very scared to get gall bladder stones or to lose it altogether. So many people have lost their galbladders it's scared me into making sure i'm getting plenty of water everyday. Tea is also an appetite suppressant. Green teas removes the peaks and dips of the sugar/insulin spikes after a meal. Your weight loss has been amazing, no need to worry. The faster you lose, the more likely you'll have droopy skin issues. Slow and steady wins!

In your GP's annual physical you can ask to have your estrogen/progesterone tested. When women stop ovulating they lose progesterone, when we age our estrogen hikes to try to pump out more eggs anyway and with fat it really hikes high and everything gets bogged down. Google Estrogen dominance, it's terrible. There are different signs of it and sometimes there are no signs. Susanne Somers used bio identical hormone replacement therapy. If you keep the fat off your estrogen won't hike as high but one of the side effects of estrogen dominance is weight gain I take progesterone cream. Progesterone relaxes your muscles, helps you sleep, helps immune function, balances estrogen etc. I recommend a blood test every few years along with your physical just to keep an eye on it. http://www.ehow.com/how_4423839_increase-progesterone-naturally.html I never thought i'd have to deal with this at 37.

Very much like gooddaybetty, my arthritis (stage 4 knee chondromalacia) and infertility I believe is wrapped up in my weight. We've tried for 2 years to have kids and I've always wanted a big family, 4 kids, and having watched all of my friends pop out kids with nothing we're up for IVF. THEN my nurse friend said i may not respond to the drugs because your hormones are tied up in fat (they are fat soluable), I looked into how to lose weight via lap band, found so many bad reviews about it but also found GREAT reviews about the sleeve and had my surgery 2 weeks later with Dr Quinones (he teaches the procedure to other docs & was a chief of surgery for 3 years, unlike most other docs). I hated my photos - always couldn't believe that was me, GROSS!. Now I feel like my knees will last longer without all the weight and I have a good shot at IVF in April. I'm hoping for twins. Wish me luck everyone xx

@gooddaybetty I was SICK of being over weight, life is too damned short for that. I am also suffering from stage 4 arthritis and infertility, both wrapped up in the weight. I'm doing IVF in April and can't wait. I'm 8 lbs to the 'healthy' weight BMI and feel confident that I can get well below it before IVF comes. With the Ketosis diet I've learned a new way of eating and will never gain this weight back again. I feel it's quite easy to lose now and I'm very motivated to work out / eat well because of the pay off. Don't let a lower BMI effect your decision, it's how you feel in your skin everyday. There are still health consequences to a higher weight, estrogen dominance which SO few women are aware of until they get breast cancer at 50+. It's because your hormones are locked up in fat, when you're fat you're at WAY more risk of cancer. But overall, do it because you feel this will be a positive step forward and squash the fears of what if-those are self doubt messages that do us no good.

Sugar does turn to fat and so does carb, if you try using stevia or the natural sweeteners you can avoid some of the bad rap associated with asperitame (headaches, depression & possible infertility-I haven't seen the studies on the infertility but someone mentioned it). I don't believe that sweeteners just make your body crave more, I use some sweetener in certain teas and in protein cookie/brownie baking. I'd rather be eating less calories and forcing my body to burn it's own fat than creating carb and sugar calories for it to burn first, faster weight loss = a happier me.

Oh yes, that's 1 week every month that I really can't lose weight. Most times I don't gain weight just hold steady but as you've probably lost all of your water/carby weight it'll be a little slower to take it off now and that time of month can really be difficult. Just have faith that it'll come off the next week, also try to watch your sodium and drink lots of water/tea to flush your body.

Oh I wish I had looked into this, I just got a 'look' from an older woman at my belly when I was on my way to the hot tub yesterday after my workout. I don't care what others think, it's a war wound as far as I'm concerned, a wound from my personal battle with weight. I'm just so happy to be in a bikini now I'm not covering up this little bod for anything. But had I known, I would have asked Dr Quinones (my Tijuana surgeon-he teaches many of the other docs over there) about the belly button incision. Good luck with your surgery, you're wise to be asking for this, hopefully they don't ask too much extra for it.

Yea, there used to be lots of bad news about egg yolks, it's just not true. That's really where the omegas and all of the goodness is. But like anything, eggs in moderation right? There's no harm in 1-2/day but all that bunk about high cholesterol (my BIL still won't eat them-he had a cholesterol problem 10 year ago). It's all of the other crap he was eating to get his cholesterol up there. Pop, white bread, cheese sandwiches with mayo,burgers for lunch, fried takeout food, whiskey chasers to his 6 pack every weekend day. Then he cut out the eggs. Makes alot of sense hey?

This is how i see it: if you want to marry this man then continue with him. Please don't expect him to change drastically. He will always be insecure, jealous and not want to go out. People don't change much. You need to adjust and be ok with this. If you can't see yourself with this man for the rest of your life, the longer you stay in this relationship, the more difficult it is to get out. You also need to realise, you attracted what you got. Somehow when you met this man, you were ok with his insecure tendencies and you've attracted him to you. If you intend to move on, maybe evaluate if you come off to people in a confident manner. For example, my gf is ALWAYS asking for compliments an a variety of ways. Men sniff that sort of thing out quickly, I think she's lost alot of really great guys because she's always got to be the center of attention and she's either putting herself down to fish for compliments or asking straight out what something looks like. It's a turn off. I'm sure this isn't what you're doing, this is my example just from watching her but do take a look at why you attracted his type in the first place.

When you're feeling blue put the kettle on and have a cup of tea. It's very British but it helps. Very comforting.

EmergenC is the best thing I like bar none. The other things I'd usually take are hot tea and ColdFx. That stuff works well too for a faster recovery.

Seriouslychange, have you tried hot herbal (decaf) tea? For me it's WAY easier to get hot/warm tea down than cold Water. cold water gives me gas in there too and I burp alot. I drink tea all day now and it's very soothing, especially for a cold. I hope things get better for you soon. PS. there's so many flavours too. I'm sipping ginger right now but we wake up with a dacaf earl grey-like or mint tea. Afternoon is cinnamon or deaf green tea, after dinner one of the Puka teas with ginger/cinnamon/cardamom, licorish (warming spices).

Hi lovetennis, I was sleeved a day after you and having around the same calories. I'm not hungry for more and losing weight at a decent rate, not too fast, not too slow. I've added lots of excercise in, yoga Tues/thurs, walking on weekdays & the gym on weekends. I feel lighter than the scale says weirdly. It's great tho, I can see how I'm going to reach my goal at this rate.

I love soft poached eggs smothered with Unjury's protein cheese sauce or soft poached salmon + roasted veggies. When eating the liquid stuff I can put back alot more. Try having soft foods once in a while and don't eat till you're stuffed. If you watch the calorie content and roughly measure (6 small meals/day) you shouldn't be hungry all the time. EG I can put back a massive thick shake full of protein, berries and spinach (fish oil, vit C powder, liquid iron, greens powder, chia seeds and all of my nutrition stuff) but when it comes to an egg or salmon I can only eat a small quantity before becoming full. There's a difference and that's why you should count calories. Yoghurt and applesauce can be calorific if you're packing it back in large quantities. They are desert material and meant to be portioned.

Air resistance when you're walking lol.

I've been using bio oil since 2 weeks before surgery and will continue over all the bits I think might get flabby. I've heard Vit A (retinol) can be effective too. Avoid the sun on your arms at all costs. This is the worst for skin elasticity. There are unproven supplements that people sometimes take. Vitamin C is meant to help collagen and it also helps absorption of iron. I take EmergenC powder in my shakes. It's also great for avoiding colds I take small doses of vitamin E also and rub it along with bio oil on my arms & belly.

OK, I was just going to go take a shower and I stepped on the scale and down 1 lb. I guess the stall is over? Either way, I'll take it! I always get so excited, I always run to enter my stats as SOON as I see the lower scale number...like a little kid at Christmas

After Christmas I was 210, I lost 4 lbs and decided to get the sleeve Jan 5th. lost 4 lbs on the pre-op diet and was sleeved on Jan19th at 202lbs. Went up a few days after that and then started losing gradually. I'm at a stall right now at 194 so I'm going to shake it up and add to my walking/yoga routine a full workout at the gym today. They say to break stalls either decrease the calories or increase/change the workout routine. At 500-700 calories decreasig calories isn't an option for me. Hopefully some different exercise and a little sweat will help. For gas problems I found that breathing in as much as I could possibly get into my lungs and then 3 more breaths and hold really got the gas out fast. I think the walking helps by circulation and getting deeper breaths in. To all those struggling with it, I feel your pain and I hope it gets better soon!

I am in a stall 3 weeks after having the sleeve. I'm def only eating between 500-700 calories and walking/yoga every day. Today I'm going to the gym to see if I can shake it up a little and get that scale to move. I hope your stall ends soon.

Try liquid Floridex for iron, it'll absorb MUCH better. I like the gummy vits so if you can find these is a much more tasty option. I have liquid B12 that tastes good too.

I hope your blue day goes away tomorrow. Try to do something for yourself today, go for a walk, take a hot bubblebath, some yoga before bed, take an hour, read a book or simply put on some good music and enjoy this day. Your health is getting better, you're treating yourself more kindly. Well done on the quitting smoking, that's a terrible habit to kick and you need to give yourself a huge pat on the back.

Oh yea, i just got liquid calcuim and Floridex liquid iron today. All those things people have been complaining about in the threads, paleness, restless leg/sleeplessness, hair loss are a direct symptom of iron deficiency.

Iron deficiency also causes hair loss. If you take iron try to get the liquid kind, pair it with vit C, in small amounts and with a meal. If you take calcuim, take it on the opposite end of the day, way far away from iron. Otherwise you'll get the worst constipation you've ever had! EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_deficiency I just read the symptoms and holy crap, I didn't realise restless leg syndrom was associated with iron deficiency. How many threads have i read with people waking up throughout the night and can't sleep due to restlessness?