Fluffnomore

This is going to seem low, maybe, but 10 Crossfit sessions (2-3 per week) and 16,000 m swimming. I'd ideally like to be at 3 CF per week but my evenings don't always work out that way!

I have lost about 44 pounds so far. Although I don't always see or feel a huge difference, I was dragging a 40 pound bucket of Rid Ice around the other day, marveling that over the summer I was literally dragging the equivalent of a 40 pound bucket of Rid Ice around, on my body, every day. I couldn't believe it. Here are things that don't hurt anymore: my ankles and my knees. I can jump rope without having to stop because my legs/knees/ankles can't take the pounding. My husband insists that I am more energetic. The stairs are not daunting anymore. Those are the biggest differences right now.

I haven't told the majority of my extended family. My husband and kids, my mother, and one of my cousins know. My siblings and my father and the rest of the family do not. I may go back and tell them later, but I may not. I think part of it is that I wanted the time to do this, establish habits, etc, out from under the watchful eyes of 40 people. I think I made the right decision for me thus far and I will reevaluate if I need to. But I still think most of them don't need to know, weigh in, etc.

No drains, no catheter.

Costco rotisserie chicken blended with mashed potatoes. Just a bit. It was lovely. Also a scrambled egg. Never tasted so good!

Right, for me two big calcium carbonate pills with my morning meal prevented the explosion. Haven't bothered with it since the sleeve surgery. Some days are good, some days it's the same old thing.

Me too, and because we were prepared for it I had meds in the hospital and that was that. No problems at home.

I wear jeans almost every day. For the first couple of weeks I wore them with the binder and it was no problem. I bet you could also find a compression shirt or tank that will tuck in if you don't have a binder. It's amazing how much better my incisions felt with the compression.

I'm going to sound about 85 years old here, but both of our kids are going out with friends. So the hub and I are going to go have an early dinner somewhere and then probably walk the aisles of Walgreens. We're nutty.

Oh boy, can I ever relate. I get lots of little nasty (not even so bad, but still) asides when I go work out, or get my nails done, or go out with friends. I'm around 85% of the time and running around doing stuff for everybody the majority of the time. And you're right, taking this step is huge. It is basically a surgical way of putting your needs first and focusing on your health and happiness. There is inevitable pushback. So far, I just continue to explain that these things are what I need; just as I am happy to work to help others obtain what they need most of the time, it is not selfish to also take care of myself. I expect that a true understanding of this will take forever. As a matter of fact, in Hobby Lobby today my family brought me a sign that said something like, "Let me drop whatever I'm doing and help you with that." They thought it was hilarious, and that I should hang it on my door. I said it hit juuuust a little too close to reality and I couldn't condone that sentiment. There was a group, "ooooooooooh!"

Poor you! I lived in fear of this (I think we all do!) Thinking of you and hoping for a better outcome next time. But seriously, you've done so well thus far...

For bigger sizes, Wacoal has a great one that I find at Macy's. It is built like a brick shithouse, and looks like it has the underwires on the outside. I will dig mine out of the laundry to find the style/name. It's about $50, so not cheap, but it is so worth not risking a black eye from the bouncing.

Thanks, Misty. You got to it before I could. I just used the very plain pills, and it did seem to help. I don't notice anything now with my calcium chews. I think the Xylitol or whatever they use to sweeten them would probably cancel out the calcium citrate.

And this is why you should butter your Beans, too. It lowers the glycemic index. At least, I think that's where the name came from...

Just don't forget to use both arms equally. It will require a second Guinness to be sure, but nobody gets buff by half-assing it.

The 16 oz curl is an oft overlooked fitness regime.

No way. All good!

Awesome job! What a way to end the year!!

I will say this. I think if you had asked me in September why I was overweight I would have told you that I didn't eat like crazy. And I never did, really…but I think my metabolism was destroyed and I had NO idea how many calories I really took in. I mean, yes, a general idea and I am very good at giving you calorie counts for every food on the planet. But I had my head in the sand when I didn't want to be thinking about it. I exercised some but not nearly enough to offset what I took in. That's why the restriction is working for me. Unless I'm mistaken, my physiology has not done a 180 in the last two months. I will say that other than being hypothyroid/Hashimoto's, I don't suffer from the other underlying conditions that can be cleared up with the surgery. (I get the thyroid retested next month; we'll see if that function has improved or if I can go down on the medication.) So if you have some of these other conditions, my condolences. It is really tough. Now that I'm eating 1,000 calories a day or less I am losing weight. And that, to me, indicates that I was taking in enough calories to maintain a much higher weight. No judgment, no magic formula (I will be interested to see what the "tipping" point is there…is it 1,200, or 1,500, or 2,000?) but the main thing the surgery has done is make it possible for me to eat a low number of calories, stop when I am full, and thrive while doing it.

Hydrate to oblivion the couple of days before you have surgery. I know you will have your pre-surgery "nothing by mouth" orders but it will be helpful if you can get a jump start before. Hot packs are a great idea too.

I hear it! I grew up in Syracuse, NY and live in the upper midwest of the US now. Some days I think I should get a clue and move far, far south. Hey, let's find some videos of shark attacks for our southern neighbors.

I'm almost 10 weeks out and I'm averaging about 900-1000.

Woof, Arts? Really??? LOL!! This is a tough question. I'm not aware of a specific person whose nose I want to rub it in, but I do have several friends/situations in which I am/was the fat girl. I feel like over time I have morphed into that "role" and I want more than that from my life. As I was in the pool last night doing laps I was thinking about this a little. I've been doing measurements all along and although I have lost almost 6 inches from my waist, and 6 inches from my hips, I still have about another 6 or 7 to go in each area until I am back down to a "normal" (not tiny) measurement. And that threw me for a loop. I am beginning to think of myself as a smaller person, but I'm not yet. I'm smaller than I was, for sure, but no one would call me skinny. Maybe it's good that we don't turn a switch and drop the weight. My sense of how much space I take up is warped and I wonder if my brain will ever really catch up to reality. Back to the original question…I want this for the people who have thought or vocalized that I let myself go, but I want it more for myself and the people who genuinely worried and thought about me, and loved me and included me regardless of my looks. Sounds very Pollyanna, but there it is. And although this is petty and selfish and not the main driver of the surgery, it would be fun to be the "hot mom" instead of the "fat mom" for once in my life. If it happens, I don't expect it to change my life though.

I read somewhere that taking calcium would help and I tried it with moderate success. Let me see if I can find the link. It's been a while.