Mandagirl

I am very early in this process, but I found myself to be snacky at times and the scale was not moving. I started logging everything in my fitness pal and the weight is coming off. I didn't want to have to journal food for the rest of my life, but I will probably have to. This is a tool, portion control, it will work wonderfully if I will stay away from the grazing and high calorie junk. So logging my food is part of my lifestyle change that will keep me from being 294 again. I am a mental health professional and there may be some services available of which you are unaware...Your college might have a counseling program where you can go for free as long as you are a student. It is worth looking into. Your community mental health center might have a sliding fee scale which discounts the rate you pay based on your income. Those are a couple of options if you are looking for professional mental health services. Admitting to the problem is the first step. You already know what it takes to be successful. You have done it before and you can do it again. I wish you the best and I look forward to reading about your progress.

I took off two weeks. I would have been physically able to go back to work after the first week, but I took some time to rest.

I am a LCSW. I am a school based therapist at an elementary school and I have worked as an weekend advocate at a shelter for victims/survivors of domestic violence for 12 years. I live in Arkansas. I had my surgery on May 10, 2013 in Mexico and I am down 58 lbs since the day I decided I was going to have this surgery and 38lbs from the day of surgery.

Your results are awesome! I had my surgery with Dr. Almanza on 5/10/13. Hopefully I will have similar results at 6 months.

When the scale said 294 I had a flashback of my sister telling me, "You better do something now. If you get to 200 it will be easy to keep gaining and you will not be able to lose it." I think I was 21 when the scale said 201. I wasted all of my 20's being fat. I looked into WLS in my mid 20's, but I never thought I would be able to save $18,000 (that's the cash price here) and my insurance rules out everything obesity related. So on January 2nd I went to a doctor for diet pills. I lost seven pounds, but then I would stray and gain it back. My sister went to the same doctor in February and he told her about people going to Mexico to have WLS. She thought it was totally crazy, but I decided to do some research. I found out I could go to Mexico and have the surgery for 1/3 of the price. I had my surgery with Dr. Almanza on May 10, 2013. I am down 58lbs from 294. I feel wonderful. I laugh every time someone says how "skinny" I am because I am still a plus sized woman, but people are always telling me how great I look. I would not change anything, unless I could go back in time and do it when the scale said 201.

I found some recipes on this site under Forums and share recipes. I don't even have anything pinned on pinterest. I did a google search for WLS friendly recipes and the pinterest recipes came up. If you click on the picture it will open and give you the recipe. I also like to use my crockpot. I will put in two boneless skinless chicken breasts and a jar of salsa (I use Pace Picante sauce) and let it cook four hours. I did the same with pulled pork and salsa verde, but I let it cook six hours. I use carb control tortillas and make a taco, but it would also be good on a lettuce wrap. Recently I made Hawaiian chicken with boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins, 1 can pineapple in it's own juice, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and a package of onions and peppers. Modified from a recipe on facebook. I let it cook for six hours in the crockpot and it was really good. It took away my craving for Chinese food.

I entered WLS friendly recipes and found lots of good recipes. I also like the World According to Eggface's blog. She has lots of recipes that I have found helpful.

I have been making turkey meatballs. They are simple a pack of onion soup mix, one egg, bread crumbs, and ground turkey. I like to make pizza on carb control tortillas. I have found lots of recipes on pinterest.