livvsmum

The last month or so leading up to my surgery and then probably the 1st month after I was a complete emotional wreck. I remember having a complete just crying, sobbing breakdown the one night in my bedroom thinking "food is how I've dealt with stress, and hurt, and everything else....how am I supposed to live without that coping skill." And grieving that "comfort" lasted for me even after surgery. I will tell you that it is an emotional process and it's best that you're aware of that now rather than later. I think beyond any of the physical, the emotional parts of the surgery adn the weight loss have been much more intense to deal with. But yes, join these forums for support, start a blog to document your journey. I'm so glad I did! I've been so amazed at how far I've come. Good luck to you!

I definitely mourned the loss of food while I was pre-surgery. I had all of my favorite things....several times. I felt like I would "never be able to eat ______ ever, ever again." I think that is a pretty normal thing to go through. I don't think that it indicates that you will be any less successful. I had a terrible time sticking to my pre-op diet, and have been incredibly successful after surgery (in my humble opinion anyway). So do the best that you can!

134.4 :-)

So I had the most awesome experiences over the past week. First of all I passed my goal by one pound.... But on a side note, now I feel compelled to lower my goal by 5 more pounds....do you all struggle with that at all? Like knowing when to stop? But in any case, that was exciting. Then I took my 17 year old shopping for a swimming suit. While while we were there she wanted me to try one on too. Swimming suit shopping in the past has always been an experience that took hours and left me either in tears or feeling extremely depressed. I have always had a skirted swimming suit for at least 15 years. So I was like, what the heck....why not. So I tried on a high-waisted bikini and my daughter said I looked awesome in it. She talked me into buying it! Thank god high-waisted binkinis are "in" this season because it pulls in my little extra skin, but maybe after my skin removal surgery I'll go for a regular bottom one too! :-) Now maybe if i get brave I'll post my bikini pic, but right now I'm not feeling that brave!! Then, my husband and I are planning a vow renewal in Punta Cana, so I went "wedding dress" shopping. It was AMAZING to be able to pull anything off of the rack and have it be too big and have them clipping it in the back to stay on. It seriously is just a whole new world of experiences. On a side note, when I was in therapy this week (I STILL go to therapy weekly to deal with my disordered eating, which I highly recommend) she said that in her experience, if WLS patients have met their goal and maintained for a length of time by the time they reach 18 months post op (which is where I am) she has never seen anyone at that point gain their weight back. now they may rebound a few pounds, but in her experience, most cases of gaining most or all of the weight back happens within the first 18 months. So I was very encouraged by that to think that perhaps.....just perhaps.....this is a forever thing! :-)

I was trying to decide which forum would be best to post this in, and I thought here since there are a larger number of people who may be at this point in their journey. The "insurance & financing" board seems more about the weight loss surgery itself. Anyway...... I have a consultation coming up in March with a plastic surgeon to have a panniculectomy and brachioplasty done. I think I have met all of my insurance's requirements to have it covered. I will be past 18 months post op, I have documented 6 months of skin problems & attempted treatments (they only require 3 months) and the pannus hangs low enough for their standards. So I "think" I have a good chance of getting at least one of them covered. Does anyone have any suggestions about anything I'm forgetting? Things I should ask the surgeon, things to tell the surgeon? Anything at all that would make my visit more effective? I specifically chose a plastic surgeon who is willing to submit to insurance and appeal, because a lot of them (around here anyway) don't want to bother with that. So, any suggestions??

I use myfitnesspal religiously. lol. It keeps me on track. I worry more about Protein, carbs, and Water than calories. I typically find that if I get all of my protein in (60-80g) and keep my carbs below 40 that the calories fall right in line.

You are right. Pre-op was TOUGH. Hang in there though, it is so worth it in the end!!! The first few weeks after surgery are hard too, emotionally if not physically, so prepare yourself for that. But once you get through that you'll return to a new normal and it will all be worth it!

Starting weight: 137.2 Goal weight: 132.0

Looks like we have the same stats too...how funny. I'm starting at 136 and goal is 130. Good luck!!

Looking at your stats, we are identical for this challenge. This morning I was 136 and I was just contemplating making my goal 130. As the numbers get smaller it gets harder and harder! Good luck!

I have to say, once I hit my 1st goal weight I started to let myself slip in the "rules" area a little bit. I bounced back and forth between 140-145 for the longest time - like months and months. Well I revised my goal to 135 and I really want to get there. So I've started really tightening up on myself. Getting back to the basics, and I've lost 6.6 pounds in the past week and a half. So if you do what you know works, it will work. If you let yourself slip here and there you may not gain a ton, but you won't lose either. At least that was my experience. So the "rules" that I stick to now: no more than 40g of carbs at least 65 g of Protein at least 80 oz of Water planned Snacks (not grazing) cut out the sugar altogether...cold turkey (and after the first week or so, my cravings really lessened) Nothing after 8pm I also try to get in a Protein Drink every day, whether it be a shake or protein hot chocolate because it gives me a lot of protein and few carbs.

I'm in! I hope I remember to come back on the 23rd and post my goals!

My final weigh-in is 136.4. I didn't reach goal, but I'm so very glad the scale is moving in the right direction again!

I like the Atkins Advantage (still have a few a week), I also liked premier Protein, but what I really love is bariwise protein hot chocolate (80 cal, 5 carbs, 15 protein, 1 sugar). It is still - even after 17 months - my "treat"

140.0 . I have 5 pounds to go. Doable!

Sometimes it's good to remind myself that even if I'm not exactly where I want to be, I will never go back. I thought that reminder might be helped by trying on the 1 pair of pants I kept....a size 20, down to a 4. So here's a visual of what it looks like to be literally less than half of yourself, given that I've lost more weight than I actually weigh now. I have to say I quite enjoyed the reminder :-)

I absolutely enjoy a good glass of wine every now and then. I would say my first drink was probably 4 months post op. A lot of surgeons will tell you wait a full year. You will hear a lot of different responses, similar to the coffee question. There's not really a definitely right or wrong. The key - like everything once you get a year+ out is moderation. If I have 1 glass every now and then there is no difference in my weight. Now if I were to drink 3 or 4 glasses on a regular basis, that is a lot of calories and like any other caloric intake, will add up. The other issue is that sometimes WLS patients develop crossover addictions. Since it's not feasible to be a food addict, people sometimes become addicted to other things. So just be mindful of that. All that being said, there is no difference really for me. I was a light, social drinker before, and I am now. The only change is that I get feeling tipsy a lot more quickly than before and I usually try to opt for the "skinny" drink choices whenever possible.

I would absolutely add cardio. That is a must for me. I started out about a year ago and just jumped on the treadmill with my couch 2 5k app, and the rest has been history. Since then I've run multiple 5k's 10k's and a 1/2 marathon. I'm currently training for a full marathon in May. I highly recommend it. But if running is not your thing, then definitely something else.

Thank you! I am 5'7" and my starting weight was 278.4

140.6 for me this week. Finally got my head back in the right place! :-)

My weigh-in for the week is 140.6. The scale is moving again! woohoo!

Thank you! I actually do have some excess skin on my arms and stomach that I am hoping to have removed once I get to 18 months post op in March.

Good for you for re-focusing! I'm just gonna throw this out there because I struggled with it too. You say that you know to some extent you are self-sabotaging. Have you done any "emotional work" to figure out why? If you've never read it, I would highly recommend "When food is Love" by Geneen Roth. Reading that was pretty life-changing for me to break the cycle that you are talking about. Good luck to you!

Thank you for reading! I try to be as honest as possible! :-)

I think that my doctor officially considered it a "success" when you lose something like 65% of your excess weight. So for me that would have been around 90 pounds. However, I set my own personal goal that I would feel comfortable with, which was 50% of my original weight because that is what my plastic surgeon requires for skin removal. It's really kind of a subjective thing. You can base it on your lowest weight that you remember feeling comfortable with if you were thin in your past, you can base it on your surgeon's standards, or the bmi charts. There are lots of options.