NewSetOfCurves

@@MIMISAN, the spiral thigh lift is when they cut aliong the line where your thighs meet your groin. Most of my saggy skin was in my upper thigh area, so I was a good candidate. This avoids the long scar that runs down the inner part of your thighs. LOL! Yup, that's what my breast and belly looked like. Unfortunately, my insurance did not cover it because the hanging skin was not causing irritation or any other abnormalities. I used up my savings and got a loan to finance the plastics, but it was well worth it !!! I work very hard and I am dedicated to my gym time--and since I made the investment in myself, I better keep up with it .

@@sylvi, the sleeve was the BEST decision I ever made. Life right after surgery was a little difficult, but I had mentally prepared myself for those struggles because I researched-and-researched and knew what to expect. My doctor also gave me the best advice: he said, "If you are not ready to change your lifestyle (i.e. eating healthy and incorporating exercise), then you are not a good candidate for weight loss surgery." I asked him why and his response was that the sleeve is a tool. A tool that controls QUANTITY, but I have to learn to control the QUALITY of the food I intake. So, my answer to your question is this: the risks of obesity, the illnesses that are associated with it, and the utter unhappiness of being obese, FAR outweigh the little risk and the hardships of life immediately post-op. I am almost 3 years out, and I can eat ALMOST anything, but in that first year I taught myself to eat and live healthy. I DO NOT MISS ANYTHING ABOUT MY LIFE PRE-SURGERY AND I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT MY LIFE POST-OP (well, except those first few months post-op)! Hope everything work out for you. Good luck!

@@MIMISAN, I actually did my sleeve in Laredo with Dr. Morris. However, my LBL, spiral thigh lift and augmentation were done in San Antonio with Dr. Peter Fisher.

@@MIMISAN, we are almost neighbors! I live just south of San Antonio

@@MIMISAN, LOL!!!

What about calcium citrate chewables? Those are easy to take. I tolerate them well and there are all sorts out there in the market to choose from.

What are your preworkout, during, and postworkout supplements? Preworkout: I've tried NO-XPLODE (however, I do not like the new formula), C-4 (made me constipated, TMI, but good info for those who have problems with the bowels), and I am currently taking MHP's Fit Trainer. I wake up 5 am, but I do not get to the gym until around 6 pm. I need a really good pre-workout to get my workout started at the end of a really long day. Any suggestions? During: Aminocore by AllMax Nutrition . I have also tried a few others, but right now--in my bag--I have another supplement that increases blood flow. it gives me a really good pump. I'll add the name when I get home because I cannot remember it at this time. After: Myozene by BioQuest. I have actually added on 15 pounds of solid mass with this supplement. I started taking it in October and I have increased my weight from 140 to 155. I am still the same waist size, but it has definitely helped me add on the mass.

@CowgirlJane: squats, lunges, plie squats, courtesy lunges, jumping in-and-out squats, hip thrusts...I know a plethora of butt building exercises. Hit me up when you are ready! @@mark1733, glad to hear it. You know, I was really cardio intensive my first year out. However, I hardly do a lick of it now, but I must say that my weightlifting sessions are pretty intense, lasting anywhere from one to two hours (leg days are 2 hours..Ugh!). That being said, the great thing about muscle, the more you have, the more calories your body burns. Literally. Your metabolic rate increases because it takes your body that much more work to maintain all that muscle mass. Good luck to you.

This is my favorite type of NSV! CONGRATS!! WHOOP-WHOOP!!!

This is all about perspective. Don't be so hard on yourself that you spiral down because of a cheat. What is done is done. Learn from it, change direction and move on. Think about the consumption of all these liquids and mushy goo like this: ALL of your life you have consumed everything you have ever wanted in copious amounts. Right? That is why we are all here: the over consumption of food. So, since the majority of you life has been spent consuming what you want, what is a few weeks of having to sustain a limited diet? You have already had it all, so a few weeks cannot be that bad. Everybody's sleeve reacts differently. Some get chest pains or feeling of food being stuck, some have "slime" or vomiting, and some don't get any of that. This is a process and journey, everybody's story and path is different. Some of us share some of the elements, some of us are on opposite ends of the spectrum. The main thing is that you start teaching yourself how eat right and live. Use your sleeve as a tool to control the quantity of food that you consume, but teach your self about quality. You will fall and stumble. But you have the capacity, integrity and will power to get back up. We usually learn best through our failures anyway. I'm rooting for you. Good luck!

I went through this too. From both men, women, and close family members. I know they meant well, but it would still offend me. My response was, "My husband's love and attention is all that I desire. He has loved me skinny, fat, and everything in between. I am the lucky one."

@@CowgirlJane, for almost a year the only supplement I consumed was Protein. I consumed 150 grams a day, and about 60 of those came from whey or casein. I would consume a Protein shake an hour before my workout, another one within the hour after my workout (when your body is most likely to absorb it for recovery), and casein (a slow release protein) before bedtime. My physique defiantly got leaner and toner. I was beginning to love my new shape. However, I hit a sort of plateau. I wasn’t really getting stronger and I wasn’t adding enough mass to fill in that flabby skin that flapped in the wind, caused by massive size and rapid weight loss. So, my husband (an avid weight lifter with massive 19 inch arms ), suggested I started to take a pre-workout to help fuel my workouts. I started off with NO-Xplode. I loved it. It definitely energized me and changed the intensity and quality of my workout. After about a month I started to see a difference in my strength and physique. At about that one month check point, I started taking a “during” (your workout) supplement: BCAAs. The benefit of BCAAs is that they bypass the liver and go directly to the muscles. Once there, they fuel, build and aid in repairing the muscles. Thus, their popularity as a “during” supplement for endurance and muscle building/recovery. Again, I believe it was a new dynamic to my body building experience. The intensity of the soreness—that usually lasted for days—seemed to decrease. While I was lifting weights, I was starting to see more defined definition in my arms, legs and calves reflecting back at me. Finally, here recently (back in October) I started to take Myozene as a post-workout. It took the place of my post-workout protein shake because it had 25 grams of protein, but its selling point for me was that it was mass gainer (which I REALLY wanted to achieve, especially in my arms and upper legs). I did my homework. Read the reviews, read up on the science and studies behind the product. It was pricy, but I decided to try it. Let me just say wow. WOW. Within in 6 weeks I was 10 pounds heavier. I could flex and show off some guns of my own. Yet, I was still the same size. So, I know that it was all gains in mass, while still leaning out. You know, men—our testosterone fueled counterparts—are able to acquire mass a lot faster and easier than women. Estrogen promotes the retention of fat. We are naturally fattier, while they are naturally more muscular because of their testosterone fueled bodies. That being said, I feel like I have to work out that much harder and utilize some of these supplements to optimize the potential muscle growth that I am seeking. Hence, the post. I want to see what others are taking and how their bodies are reacting to those supplements.

So, just curious about your experience with exercise post plastics. What did you have done? How long did it take you to get back with your exercise regimen? What was your experience with swelling after an exercise workout. If you had a tummy tuck, when did you start working your abs? Any other words of wisdom to bestow upon us post-plastics exercise enthusiasts? I had a lower body lift (which includes the TT), breast augmentation, and a spiral thigh lift. I started walking 6 weeks post-op, and working out with weights 8 weeks post-op. I had to lift very light, so I would not to place any strain on my abdominal muscles. At 12 weeks I started to work my way up to the heavier lifting I was used to doing (I did lose strength in that time period; although, at this point I have surpassed my strength from pre-plastics--yay me!). I have not done any specific core exercises, even though many exercises secondarily target your core. I am choosing to wait until month 6 to target my abdominal muscles due to the good amount of swelling I experience after a leg day (you use your core as a stabilizer in exercises like squat and lunges). My tummy just bloats up into a ball, even after 5 months. Push ups make me swell up as well, since--you know--your core stabilizes your form. I am just recently starting to do those. I started doing them off a step, modified on my knees as to not engage my core so much, I then continued to do the modified version off the floor, and just this past week I found that my core is able to tolerate full push-ups without much discomfort or excessive swelling.

I think you hit the nail-on-the-head with that statement. You lose a lot of muscle mass within the first few months of this surgery. That is one of the reasons that Protein intake is so important. Muscle mass is very dense and it takes up very little space; versus its counter part, fat, that takes up a lot of space. Here recently, I have been trying very hard to add on mass to make up for the little bit of skin that I have flapping around in my arms. I finally managed to add an 15 pounds. Despite my weight gain, I remained the EXACT same size. Why? Because my fat content went down and I added on muscle mass. Look don't sweat this. You're still a newbie with your sleeve. Continue educating yourself and retraining yourself to eat correctly; fueling your body with the right foods and the right amount of protein. You are not going to learn this or get there overnight. That is why most doctors tell their patients to take the FIRST YEAR to reteach and relearn how to eat. Also, take this time to formulate a habit of exercise. Incorporate some weight training in there. It is very hard for women to gain muscle, so learning to lift heavy could be something you could do to help gain that prized muscle mass. The great thing about muscle: the more you have, the more you lose. Your body burns more calories working to maintain its muscle mass, than it does trying to maintain fat. So, the muscle you have, the more calories you burn. Okay, side-tracked conversation is now over. Good luck to you. And remember, with a little bit of education and a routine of healthy eating and exercise, YOU WILL GET THERE!!!

Definitely an NSV! Definitely an NSV!

Yes, you will get to eat "normal"--and by normal, I mean small portions (some larger than others), but almost all foods will go through that sleeve--but, it will be a very slow progression. One day you will just realize that you can eat normally again. This is why so many surgeons and nutritionists INSIST that you take the first year "grace" period to reteach yourself to eat healthy, QUALITY foods! Okay, so to my bit of advice. There is already a bunch of great advice on this thread, but I would like to add a mind-set of thinking that got me through those first few months of adjusting to the sleeve. I told myself over-and-over that I had spent my whole life eating whatever I wanted and in COPIOUS amounts (hint, why I was so fat); so, bearing a few months of a restricted, limited diet was nothing at all because I had had almost literally every eatable, desirable food out there. That was why I was in the situation that I was in: a newly sleeved stomach, tolerating liquid and pureed foods. Thus, I took a deep breath each time, ate what I could per doctor's orders and endured it. You CAN do this. You WILL do this. You WILL succeed. And all that you will endure will be WORTH it! Good Luck!!!

My husband and I were looking at some old photos and we were both shocked at the pictures when I was at my heaviest. He looked at me and said, "I do not EVER remember you being this big." I had to agree. I don't remember being or feeling the size I was in those pictures. Like several have said before, it is because our loved ones see the person we are inside. They love that person, and our exterior is of little consequence. Give that mama of yours a big kiss.

Waking up at 3:45 to workout, so I can hit the shower by 5:30 (if not, I'll be late for work!) While administering a state test and walking around monitoring the students, I would do 100 glute squeezes at a time. It was a five hour test and completed 2000 of those booty squeezes! On evenings that I know I have an event to attend, I will actually submit to leave early from work so that I can get to the gym, workout, return and dress for the event (because I refuse to miss!). Crazy, psycho...I know. Everyday my alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m., I put a load in the wash, I get ready, I get four kids ready (okay-okay... two pretty much attend to themselves--but I iron their clothes and sometimes assist with hair), put wash into drier, load the kids, stop at 3 different campuses to drop off kids, go to work, get out of work around 4:30, pick up kids, start dinner (during the cooking of dinner, I: put a load in the wash, start and help with homework, fold laundry, sweep), feed the kids, change into gym clothes, put wash into drier, go workout, come home, monitor kids cleaning of kitchen and living area, shower the two little ones, read them a story, put them to bed, fold and put away clothes, take a shower, go to bed (no time for television). Wake up and repeat. THAT'S CRAZY!

@@Djmohr, I used realself.com as well and found my doctor, Dr. Peter Fisher, who was a reputed weight loss plastic surgeon in San Antonio, TX. He has patients that come from various states due to his prices that are extremely reasonable. I had a lower body lift that included a tummy tuck and the insertion of "flaps" in both the hips and rear area (the flaps are meant to eliminate that "boy figure" that @@CowgirlJane had mention). I also had a spiral thigh lift and breast augmentation at the same time. All of that work cost me $21K. Which, when compared to prices around the states, is absolutely awesome. My results are great and I am very happy with the work that he did. I wish you the best on your consultations.

LOL!!! Love dirty minds!!!

My friend revised from the band to the sleeve. She only had 30 pounds to go and the insurance approve it since her band failed. BEST DECISION OF HER LIFE (according to her) and she looks and feels awesome. Anyway, hope everything works out for you!

WOW!!! You look AMAZING! It is stories and pictures like yours that inspired and motivated me to begin my own bariatric journey. I truly believe that maintaining will be easy for the reminder of your life, because you have mentally overcome the mind games that plague us all--mind games that got many of us to the point of obesity and kept us there, quite frankly). I believe that 90% of this journey is a mind game. It is about perception. You can look at it negatively or you can look at it positively. I chose to focus on the positives and ultimately began to realize what you realized: Keep it up, beautiful lady! And keep us posted!

WOW!!! You are doing & looking AMAZING!!!

These were my go-to food for calories on intense exercise days!