Brighteyes

At what point did you finally get fed up enough to make a change in your life and do WLS? My breaking point was when I had an opportunity to go rappelling down a tower used to train the Army how to fast rope out of helicopters. I am scared to death of heights. But with the encouragement of some great instructors at the Air Assault school I rappelled down the rope that was several stories off the ground. Talk about having a 'I feel like a bad ass' moment. I didn't realize that anyone was taking pictures of this event. So months later I showed up to a work function that I was being recognized at. My parents even came for the luncheon. When I walked in there were a bunch of pictures blown up, poster size, of different individuals who were being recognized doing various activities at work. Well one of them was a picture of my fat ass coming down the rope at the rappelling tower. Talk about embarrassed. Th lady who put the event together came running up to me excited about the picture because she 'wanted to capture the moment that I was really empowered.' (She doesn't have a mean bone in her body so I know her intentions were good). I just wanted to crawl in a hole and die. I couldn't even keep my parents away from the picture cause you had to walk by it to get to the event. It was in the moment that I decided I never wanted to have my moments of success overshadowed by my weight. So what was your moment?

So call me strange, but when I find myself being self-defecting, I pick a "theme song" that helps me get through the moment. It's a quick way to elevate my mood and get me moving in a positive direction. If you had a theme song, what would it be? My current one is 'Pour Some Sugar Me' by Poison. :-)

Laura-ven - I almost saw this train wreck of sleeve/real life balance coming into my own life prior to being sleeved. I push perfection in so many areas of my life, particularly work/career. My perfectionism is just fear and shame. It's my way of tricking myself into thinking I am in control. So prior to being sleeved I took a big step. I gave myself permission not to advance in my career for the next year. I am focusing on myself and maximize the benefits of this sleeve. It's not always easy and it's put me in my therapist office more than normal. But the further I get into this the more I am seeing the importance of this balance. Not everything in my life is going to advance at the same time. I hope you find that balance for yourself in your journey.

You look fantastic! Way to go on all the hard work! Love the tattoos!

About a week before surgery a good friend told me I was blade running (running on an edge of a blade - slightest misstep and you get cut). I found that I got irritated with people pretty quickly. My surgeon mentioned I seemed crazy calm. It was a strange emotional state. I am accustom to the crazy calm feeling when I am in high stress situations. It was after surgery that I got emotional. I think it was everything finally getting caught up with me. It passes. I use essential oils to help balance out my moods, along seeing a therapist regularly. Figure out what works for you and take it a day at a time. Everything comes together in the end.

Your family situation sounds like mine. I am almost 9 weeks post op, so not sure how much of a help I can be. But your welcome to PM me if you need to.

First, contact your doc. I have dealt with back pain for a long time. I was three weeks post op when my back went out again. I see a chiropractor. His thought was with loosing weight my body was readjusting to how I was carrying the weight. Adjustments have always been the best thing for me.

I have been stalled for three weeks now and it started two weeks post op. I weight myself again tomorrow so I will see if if it finally broke. But I have such a huge difference in my cloths and energy levels I am not really worried about it. I am just trusting the process.

I found their shakes didn't meet my NUTs requirements, so no.

Love this! I will take pics of all my meals tomorrow and post. I feel like I waste so much food these days. It's a guilt thing I have to work on daily.

GG and Butter, you both look great! Thanks for sharing your pictures ????

So I am 5 weeks post op. I lost a total of 27 pounds, 17 of that has been post op. I have been stalled for the past two weeks. Please tell me I am not alone in this. I can't do protein shakes, long story. But I make sure that I eat 5 meals a day and it's all protein.

My trainer has suggested I get a heart rate monitor so I can determine how many calories I am burning during my workouts. Anyone have any recommendations?

I am still newly sleeved. I took three weeks off work from my job (high pressure and op tempo - military related). Physically I could have gone back to work at two weeks, but cognitively I still felt like I had surgery brain. I was slow to make connections and I had lapses in memory. I haven't had any problems since and I couldn't be happier about my decision.

Congrats! I am sure it had to feel great crossing that finish line. I am planning on running my first 5K since surgery in March.

Vodka, a splash of cranberry and a lime twist

I am normally the same way you are, but I could have cared less after surgey. One of my incision sites was right where the bridge of my underwire bra hits. But it didn't bother me at all.

So I can't find the group for mental health that we use to have here or I would have posted this there. But here is the issue. I have PTSD and if I begin to have a panic attack I can generally get it under control pretty quickly - I know the signs and as long as I start walking I can prevent the worst of it. Last night I was trying to fall asleep when I started to get this pain in my chest. The pain intensified, and I had shortness of breath, began to sweat. I made a phone call for someone to take me to the hospital and almost called 911 because it was so intense. This lasted no longer than 10 mins. It stopped shortly after I got out of bed to put some clothes on. The whole thing scared the crap out of me. I am 3 weeks post op. Has anyone ever had their anxiety attacks change after surgery? I plan to talk to my surgeon and therapist about this. If this was an anxiety attack I have never had one manifest itself in this way. I normally get the tingling in my fingers and that's my cue to get moving.

I knew that my emotions would be all over the place and I was prepared for that. My depression has gotten worst. But I have a lot going on besides just the surgery. I can make sense of things on an intellectual level. But whatever happened last night just scared the crap out of me. Now I am anxious it will happen again. I am not on any meds because I had always been good at managing my mental health issues. But I do plan to talk to my therapist about this at length cause it has me pretty worried.

I took things very slow. It takes me twice as long to get through a normal workout and I am only able to do 10% of the weights and intensity that I use to do pre-surgery. I am very careful with any core focused exercises. I don't recommend it for everyone. Have a conversation with your surgeon and then make sure you have a good personal trainer that can modify everything for you. Best advice my surgeon gave me was "listen to your body." He also said it's not possible to rip your sleeve lighting weights. The surgeons get concerned about your incision sites coming open. But my surgeon said I was healing twice has fast as normal, which is why he didn't have a problem with it.

I started doing crossfit two months prior to my surgery. My trainer took my measurements before I started and then the day before surgery. I finally got back to my trainer to work out about two weeks post op and we did my measurements again. I have lost an inch from each of my arms, 2 from my bust, 3 from my waist, 2 from my hips and 3 from each one of my thighs. I couldn't be more excited!

Two months prior to surgery I was doing it three times a week. Post op I have only been able to do it twice a week. I do plan on training for some 5Ks after the first of the year.

It's something that you would want to talk over with your doctor before you try it. It's similar to cross training, moving from one exercise to the next and combines cardio with strength training.

Alex - I sent you a PM asking you to merge my old and new account. Were you able to do it? Thanks

You look fantastic! Way to go!