livvsmum

As far as getting approved, I would say just be clear on what the insurance requirements are. As long as you meet the requirements you will be fine! And if you are denied, appeal, appeal, appeal! Good luck!

I did a combination of both. I set smaller milestone goals (ie. 10% lost, 20 pounds, 50 pounds, onederland, etc.) but I always had a larger goal in mind. I think if I only had the larger goal it would be easy to get discouraged. Reaching those smaller ones kept me motivated. Then there is exercise. I had to set goals for that too. I always have to sign up for a race to keep me motivated to continue training. I guess it just depends what kind of person you are and if you're pretty intrinsically motivated, or if you are more goal-orientated. I'm definitely goal-orientated. I really love the feeling you get from reaching a goal and passing it.

I've been at and around goal since 10 months post op. I dipped down a bit about 6 months ago, but I'm thinking it was primarily because I wasn't able to eat much at all after my tummy tuck. It seems that once I got to a certain weight my body just kind of wants to stay there. Luckily for me it's about 10 pounds under what my initial goal was. I think that eventually your body does kind of settle down into a range that it feels most comfortable at. Or maybe at a certain point you have to perhaps mix things up a bit to continue to push through the plateau. Either way, I could probably lose another 10 pounds if I really stuck to my numbers religiously, but at this point, I'm happy maintaining right around 130. Hope that helps!

Great work! Congrats on your long-term success!

I used to hate exercise, but as the pounds fell off it became super motivating to see all the new things that I could do with ease. I started to really crave exercise. It also helps me to sign up for classes and races so that i have something to work towards.

If you're still pre-op and not on the liquid diet yet, I agree that you don't need to skip the stuffing altogether. Just do a small portion! Now....if you were post-op, I would say something else. :-) I will approach Thanksgiving like I do any other meal. Protein first, then veggies, then if there is any room left I may indulge in a bite or two of mashed potatoes. I am definitely going to steer clear of the desserts and heavy carbs like stuffing.

Welcome! I'm sure you will get lots of info and inspiration here for your journey! :-)

Hmmm there have been so many of them over the past 2 years! To pick a few highlights...... 1. Being able to go to the amusement park and ride all of the roller coasters with my kids. I had an unfortunate event where I couldn't fit into a ride pre-op which was the turning point for me deciding to have surgery, so that was a big one for me. 2. Becoming a runner 3. Having enough confidence to have boudoir photos taken as a thank you for my husband for all of his support 4. Buying and wearing bikinis this past summer 5. Being told on many occasions that I look like my teen daughters' sister not mother 6. Having plenty of room in the middle airplane seat 7. Having to do my laundry separately because I get my clothes confused with my daughters' 8. Being called "thin" or "skinny" on a regular basis 9. I never get over having collar bones and hip bones. It's the little things.... lol 10. Having more energy to be more active with my fam

Great ideas. Reminds me that I need a new crockpot.....a smaller one for the smaller batches of stuff I'll be making now. I really need to work on my chili game. I think I'll try to make some Carol Shelby's white chicken chili next weekend and see how it works out.....using ground chicken and ground turkey. Ohhhh chili, yes....I forgot that! That is a staple for me! :-)

I can relate! Just about the same time - 7 or 8 months post op - I got so sick of what I was eating because it was the same thing every day. A few of my go-to's are a scoop of chicken salad (light mayo, of course) with a tiny side salad, a handful of frozen shrimp sauteed up in light soy sauce with a few florets of frozen broccoli (only takes a few minutes to cook up from frozen), and I like to do chicken breasts in the crock pot with a bottle of FF Italian dressing. That way I can eat them all week as a main dish or on a salad, etc. I'm a big crock pot person because it's just the easiest way to cook with working and having kids. I also do turkey meatballs in in, pulled chicken bbq in it, etc. Hope that helps!

I had a difficult time eating eggs for the first few months after surgery. They just did not agree with my new stomach. However, as time progressed I was able to eat them with no trouble...maybe around 6 or 7 months post op.

Are you taking b12 supplements? That helped me a lot with the fatigue. As for the skin, I think the best thing you can do is start with your PCP. Even if he/she wants you to try over the counter treatments at least you can get them documented. Then from there they can prescribe you other creams/meds to try to show insurance that you have tried a variety of things and they didn't ultimately cure it (because ultimately you will still have the skin issue). That is what I did for about 4-5 months and then submitted to insurance. They completely covered my TT & panni. Good luck! I hope you get some relief in the meantime!

For breakfast I usually have Protein oatmeal or a hard boiled egg or scrambled egg with a slice of cheese melted on top. For lunch I usually have a scoop of chicken salad made with "light" mayo & a tiny side salad. Other things I've done for lunch include a subway chicken teriyaki salad, chili, basically some kind of lean protein and if I still have room some veggie of some sort. For afternoon/evening snack I usually have either protein hot chocolate, greek yogurt, ff cheese stick , peanuts, hard boiled egg, celery with Peanut Butter (probably can't do that though at 2 moths post op) For dinner I sometimes just have the protein part of whatever my family is eating, but if that doesn't work something quick and easy is to keep a big bag of frozen shrimp or chicken breast cutlets, throw a couple on the stove and saute them with light soy sauce and a few florets of frozen broccoli. I also like crockpot quickies. i like to throw some frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot with a bottle of fat free Italian dressing and that gets me through much of the week. I can eat them alone, on a side salad, etc. Hope that helps!

Yes! I had surgery over 2 years ago and my family knows, and then only a handful of close friends who I chose to tell. Others may suspect it. I don't know. But I didn't feel an obligation to tell anyone other than my immediate family. I mean, I'm sure my friends and co-workers don't tell me everything about their medical history, so I don't feel compelled to either. :-)

I'm read to do this! I've gotten extremely lazy with my food choices and exercise, and it's no one's fault but my own. I'm at my highest weight post-tummy tuck and that sucks!! I am determined to get these last 10 pounds off by the new year if it kills me....and I'm pretty sure it won't :-) Good luck everyone! CW: 138 GW: 125

I'm so bad at follow-through on these, but I want to really try on this one. I'd love to get down to my lowest weight by New Years. That would be a great way to start 2016! I'll post my starting weight on Monday, but my goal weight will be 125

Thank you! I try to be as honest as possible about the good and the bad :-)

Sorry for the cross-posting. I put this in the general forum then thought, wait a minute! This is a success story...lol. So here I am too. Today marks 2 years since my surgery. I never, ever would have thought I would be in the 120s when I started this journey. It has- and I have- surpassed my wildest expectations. I remember vividly the exact day I decided I had to do whatever it took to lose weight & be healthy. I was at Hershey Park with my then-6th grader daughter on a class field trip. I love parks, and since I didn't have the littles, I was excited to ride the roller coasters with my daughter. So we came to the first one, I squeeeeezed myself into the seat & to get the lap bar down the attendant had to step on it to push it past my huge stomach. I was mortified and my daughter felt terrible for me. I was nearly in tears; in my minds eye, I was no where near that big. I didn't ride another ride the rest of the day & swore at that point I would not let my weight hold me back from experiencing life with my family one more day. It HAD TO change. Don't you worry. Since then I've OWNED that park!! In fact, the next time I went back was not only to ride every freaking roller coaster in that park, but also to run a 1/2 marathon through the park just over a year later. Take THAT!!! Lol. Anyway, these 2 years have been amazing. I've learned that my body is capable of so much more than I gave it credit for. I've learned I absolute can accomplish even the most seemingly unreachable goals. I've learned that I could not achieve long-term success without overcoming my eating disorder. I've learned that I deserve good things. So, it's definitely NOT about the numbers, but I feel like I would be leaving out something someone following this might really want to know if I didn't include them so.... I started my journey at 278.4 pounds & 2 years later I am at 128 pounds. That's a loss of 150 pounds :-). What an amazing journey it's been!!! I even rocked my first bikini ever this year! Ha!

So I am headed to Vegas next week with my hubby and I thought, you know what....I want a more-sexy, less-mom bikini for this trip. SO I went out on a limb and ordered one from Victoria's Secret that I would normally never, ever think about wearing, let alone, buy, let alone post a picture of me in it. But then today I was looking back through some old beach vacation pictures and I couldn't find one single picture of myself in a bathing suit or with my kids at all. Through 4 summers worth of pictures that I got through, I found ONE. One single picture and I'm trying desperately to hide behind my kids. It made me so incredibly sad because I remember so clearly what that was like. Can I just say, it is freaking amazing and freeing to be able to feel good in my skin and not feel the need to pull a kid in front of me when the camera is around. Here is the ONE single picture I could find, along with the quick snapshot of the new bikini for Vegas. :-) (Don't mind my scar sheets from my TT sticking out...this wasn't a picture I intended to share), as well as one snapped this summer at the beach. I also did a side-by-side comparison of myself in basically the same "at the beach with my daughter's" pose. Just thought I'd put this out there for anyone on the fence about the journey or the process. It works if you stick to it!!!!! *** PS be kind. I know that I am not perfect. I still have saggy legs and arms. It's a work in process!***

Well, I followed pretty much the same procedure I followed to get my VSG covered. First I called the insurance company and found out what their requirements were to have it covered. I have 2 insurances (one through my work and one through my husbands). My husband's plan wouldn't cover it no matter what. My plan covered it given you meet the following: (1) be 18+ months post op, (2) have a surgeon submit photographs, (3) have 4+ months of medical records showing tried and failed medical treatments to treat the issues that the skin is causing. I had my PCP work with me on documenting things for several months, then I went to the surgeon to have the photos, then the surgeon submitted everything. It was approved within a couple of weeks. :-)

That would have been tough for me at that stage. Greet yogurt was a staple of my post-op diet. It helped a great deal in reaching my Protein numbers. I still have it several times a week

I feel great physically. I became an avid runner (currently training for a marathon) and found that I love to try new kinds of work outs like group classes, etc. I never would have been confident enough to step foot into a group class before. I also find that I am, overall, just more confident and more willing to speak up in meetings, assert myself, etc. I think some of that is in part due to the many, many months of therapy I've done alongside the new eating habits. I've learned that I am worth it, I deserve good things, and I can be heard. I've gone to an amusement park with my family and rode all the bit roller coasters, which I couldn't fit into before. I wore not one, not two, but three bikinis this summer which I have never in my LIFE done - not even before I gained all the weight. AND this is crazy, but I had enough confidence and satisfaction with my body to have boudoir photos taken as a thank you to my husband for all his support through my surgeries. I would say that I feel like a new person, but that is not true. Honestly I feel like the same person at 130 pounds as I did at 278 pounds, which was probably the biggest surprise to me. But I feel like a more confident, happy, satisfied, and healthy version of myself. :-)

I drink the Protein hot chocolate quite a bit. Sometimes I find if I'm craving a snack, a hot drink will help take the craving away.

That is really remarkable! Congrats!

Congrats on your long-term success!!