Not Applicable

I still want to be Her! She was the Warrior Princess of the Amazons and therefore was designed to be tall, strong, and curvy. Plus she was smart and had stellar empathy skills. Sounds like an awesome combo to me! As for men: George Clooney as Batman.

I am 100% with you on the fear and the focus on food & food issues. I have always been a great dieter, just crappy at maintaining, and Super at regaining ++ gaining additional weight. I am fearful that with surgery, exercise, portion control, supplementation, counseling, and this (& other support groups) I will still struggle to maintain. Sorry to be a downer, just my thinking for today.

* Sorry I posted my response b4 I realized there was fun & humor taking place...

My name is Kendi and I definitely have an addictive personality. I am addicted to food and have to watch my alcohol intake. I could easily choose to go down the wrong paths, but instead I work at staying vigilant & supplement my addictive tendencies with healthier options. By that I mean that when I sense that my emotions are in a place where I could easily cave into my addictions, I have to consciously choose to replace my addictive behaviors with healthier activities. {Alas I have not reached the place of love & devotion to exercise as some of you have (I still have to FORCE myself to exercise Every da@n day)}, but I have learned to supplement my unhealthy desires into more positive activities like reading a book, doing some sort of art / creative work, sewing, etc. The latter activities help me unwind without harmful consequences (of course with the exception of possibly creating UGLY fashion but that's a different issue)... in reality, I am waiting for the day that I don't have to feel the struggle. I wish my brain would automatically choose healthy behaviors vs. addictive ones. I dislike feeling like I have to fight myself in order to overcome my automatic & initial tendencies... I guess what I am wondering is when do our new habits become the permanent lifestyle change we are all working towards?

Yup, EVERY day. I add Unjury protein powder to it in vanilla or chocolate & it's yummy. (You do need to wait for it to cool down a bit b4 adding the protein powder). P/ doc & nut, I did wait for a month post-op b4 indulging.

Greek yogurt has more protein than regular yogurt. That's why I switched to Greek.

Had my surgery in San Diego on Jan.14, 2013.

I got Restylane (filler) to my tear troughs (under my eyes) and to the nasal labial folds (the wrinkles from my nose to the corners of my mouth) to fill out some of the newly defined wrinkles I am seeing on my face! For me, it definitely helped. However, I am a receptionist at a plastic surgeon's office so thankfully I get reduced pricing for fillers & Botox. Off topic side note: it's not fun being the only morbidly obese person in a small plastic surgeon's office of 8 women (not including the doc) who are all size 6 & under. Especially when they complain at lunch about how fat they think they are.... If they at size 4 are fat, what does that make me???? Sigh.... (Please excuse my gripe).

Well crud, mine says neutral... Now I'm going to have to figure out who I've managed to offend...

That looks scrumptious!!!

I am so sorry you are going through this; my heart is with you. IMO it showed a lot of courage on your part to share with them your plans, even after you experienced the disapproval of your step-mom. So I think you are very strong! And, certain in your decision. Please don't let them sway you from that. It's not like you said, "hey I really need your opinions / advice on this"... I think if you were feeling indecisive or asked them for their advice it would be different. But you didn't, and for them to bombard you with negativity is simply unfair and uncalled for. Maybe you could forward them the link to this thread (or others expressing how it feels to be overweight) since they seem not to understand where you are coming from. Or, you can suggest they carry around (insert whatever weight you want to lose) weights for a day to help them gain a little perspective on what it feels like to move through out the day carrying excess weight. It's definitely not easy! Just some thoughts.... Again, I am sorry you are struggling with this.

Sleeved Jan. 14, 2013 I take: 1. B12 sublingual 2. Opurity Multivitamin (Made for Bypass & Sleeve patients from unjury. A little more expensive then other Multivitamins, but I only have to take it once p/day). 3. Biotin 5000 mcg twice p/day 4. Caltrate: Calcium & Vitamin D, soft chews (vanilla) 5. I'm taking Melatonin at night before bed too because I've been having trouble falling asleep since I was sleeved.

Every day. My husband keeps threatening to hide the scale from me.

^^^^^^ Really good question. How will you feel if you don't go?

All is not lost. I was denied initially and then my doc submitted some more info and I was approved. I hope the same happens for you!

Are you looking for something pretty or sporty? Nordstrom online has pretty and I recommend Speedo online for sporty. IMO the options for women are much better than the ones for men.

I agree with Laura-ven, hydrate before your workout and you should be good. Also, ease into it so you don't overdo it while your healing.

Yay & Congrats!

Yay!!!

Wow, 7 lbs. in a week is pretty good pre-op. I think it will definitely show them you are committed. Please keep us informed on how it goes...

Wow!! Wonderful job!!

I just started reading "Banished" which is a memoir from Laura Drain w/ Lisa pulitzer about a woman who grew up in The Westboro Baptist church and had the courage to leave. I'm only a few chapters in; so far it's a fascinating & infuriating read...

You look fantastic!! I wonder if your bf meant the exact opposite of what he wrote? Maybe he was (in an admittedly unfortunate and misguided way) trying to compliment you on all of you hard work and dedication and thought it would be funny or ironic to say the opposite.... To me, his failed attempt at humor would be lame, but forgivable. In this situation, intent matters. Was he intentionally mean spirited or just clueless?

Hi Kirk, That was pretty courageous! You both look amazing!! Congrats on all your success.