Fluffnomore

For me the main danger of an all or nothing attitude is that it often leads to a falling off the wagon, which is then followed by a f*&k it attitude. In my past. So while I think complete compliance is important early on, while you still have the new car smell on you, I am positive that I will experiment like Butter when the time comes. Off topic, I am having a really hard time chewing scrambled eggs. Who knew?

You can wear that. Just not to a football game with your teenaged children. OKOKOK, I don't like cropped tops on anyone.

My mom was shocked and to her it came out of nowhere. She is a nurse, so her first question is always credentials. Mine was covered by insurance and she calmed down a bit when I told her I was at a bariatric center of excellence. But everyone in my family has at some point struggled with weight, so after the initial shock wore off, she was curious about it, particularly for my older brother who is over 300 pounds and has diabetes. I've sent her a lot of information; the biggest problem is that he would need to change his lifestyle and based on his current choices unless he was ready to do this he would probably just "eat around the sleeve or band." I feel like a jerk for even saying that, but what I really mean is that I feel like this surgery has a much greater chance of being successful if *you* are the one who wants it. Not if your mom tells you to get it. LOL The other piece of this is that I didn't tell her until I was approved, and once I was approved my surgery date was scheduled for the next week. So she had NO time to get used to the idea and then it was a done deal. I don't know if others have this issue, but my mom is also the slightest bit competitive. I don't know that she would even recognize it, but for example when I got my master's degree at 38, she told me she had gotten hers at 36 or 37. (Really??) She lost a whole lot of weight doing a liquid/protein diet, watching intake very carefully and taking appetite suppressants. This was a few years ago. Since then she's probably put back on about 20-30 pounds, but she is still much healthier than she was. So one of the things I said to her is, "I admire what you've done, but I don't want to be doing that in my 60s. I feel like if I can stop this in its tracks now I will be much happier overall." And she said that yes, she wished she had been able to accomplish it in her 40s or earlier. Moms.

Dinosaurs have big bones. Most of us don't. One of my biggest pieces of denial is that I actually am small to medium boned. I've just covered those bones in fluff for most of my adult life. I mean, I'm no delicate flower…but I'm not a Viking maiden either. Sheesh. People.

Never officially, but at this age I will say that if you can think to a color or colors that you always get complimented on, that's your palette. For me it is cool pinks, blues, and lavender. Of course I usually wear black, so I blast that right out of the Water.

I'm so far off yet, but I will say that at one point slightly after the earth cooled I was at 148 and it was a good weight for me…in that I was happy with the way I looked and comfortable in my clothing. I am 5'5"…so technically I could be as low as 125 for the charts. But that would be silly.

Might have done my children some good to develop in a hostile environment. I mean, other than the one I'm providing.

I grew up in upstate NY and every member of my family has hit a deer with their car (except me.) The code for that is "Oh, sh*t…sorry Bambi."

It's almost too soon for me. I am taking to heart the advice about summer stuff. But then too, like most of us I will be able to "shop my closet" for a while. That said, I have a wedding next week and I know that the dress I have that would be perfect for it will most likely no longer fit me. It's one of those Adrianna Papell banded-type dresses in a 16W, and it seems like all of my weight has come from around my waist. I'm going to try it on just to be sure, but I have a sinking feeling it's going to hang in all of the wrong places. I actually thought about buying a new dress but I can't justify buying a 14W or 16 dress right now that would fit for a month or two…when I have nothing else to wear it to. There are a couple of things in my closet but they are blah. So if any of you can get a pretty 14W cocktail dress for an hourglass figure up to me in the next 24 hours, I'd be appreciative. Patience. I has none.

I'm tempted to tell you to send them to me…but that's probably my fat hoarder brain talking.

I just got the text from my cousin (who's getting married next week) begging me to take the crazy aunt at my family's table. I told her no to mess with her but then I totally caved. The bonus will be watching my father lose his mind over her. We follow this with Thanksgiving for 60 at my uncle's house. My immediate family makes up 17 of that count…and 2 of the husbands are staying home. Good times. Guaranteed assholed behavior.

Squirrels are huge assholeds.

Bleah!

Wow, McButter…I'm 4 weeks out and eggs are just okay now. I did experiment with a half cup of blended stroganoff. That was plenty though I had my worries. I have had no problems with any foods I've tried, starting with the cream Soups. It is soooo hard to figure out servings. Half cup seems just about right, but I worry because I don't feel any issues eating too quickly (I've caught myself doing that.) I guess I just don't feel confident yet. Maybe one of these days...

Husband's tests are in. He's pre-diabetic. You have to have a count of 126 to be diagnosed as diabetic, and his count is (yep, you guessed it) 125. We will appeal anyway, but needless to say it's frustrating.

I don't know about my skin, but I think it helped my recovery tremendously. I was able to sit up with very little pain, walk very soon after surgery, etc. I am hoping that the exercise will prevent excess skin but I am 44 years old and it might be too late for that. I no longer have young collagen!

Oh good! We have identical garbage bags too. :-)

I just had my 4 week checkup. I am cleared for the following: walking, running, elliptical, stationary bike. But I do CrossFit, and I am not cleared for abdominal work, lifting over 25 pounds, the rowing machine, or anything that compromises the abdomen until 2 more weeks have passed. I think that includes swimming too. There's someone around who was allowed to go to CF at 2-3 weeks. I'm basically going to follow my surgeon's advice, as I don't want to overstrain and then have to wait another month. His other guideline: If it hurts before 6 weeks, stop doing it. If it hurts after 6 weeks, do it anyway.

Oh! And winter coats! I'm in a 7 year old coat that has seen better days (the ubiquitous long black puffy down coat that all women over the age of reason in the Midwest eventually break down and buy) and I am thinking that I should just hang onto it for this season because I have no idea what size I'll end up. Sigh. These are all first class problems.

Ugh. I am overwhelmed like this. About 5 years ago with the gallbladder saga I ended up being about 40 pounds less than I am now. So I do have some of those sizes still in my closet. But I found myself last weekend trying to put some bags together for charity, and I realized that I am terrified to get rid of stuff. I mean, it's November. In 6 months I really should be at least 30 pounds lighter, and that's if I lose very slowly. Which means that by next summer I will need new everything. So why am I having trouble getting rid of stuff? Maybe because it sort of still fits. I seem to have lost 4 inches in my waist and about 1 inch from everywhere else. So what is my problem? And ALSO it's not like these are really nice clothes! Like you guys, I had started to just grab things that fit, regardless of what looked right on me. Target, Kohls, Walmart, Kmart, and sometimes Macy's. So is it a leap of faith to get rid of things now, or do I just wait until it's obvious that I can no longer wear them under any stretch of the imagination? I will say that I bought a pair of dark wash jeans in the style I like in the next size down and put them away. I am in jeans every day because I work at home, and I know I will get to them eventually. But that's the only thing I've been able to do.

Roo, I lost my first 10 pounds prior to surgery, and it looks like you lost way more. I think it's normal that the big jump comes first and that we fight for each pound afterwards. I really only started losing in the 2 weeks before surgery. So it stands to reason that I would have lost around 20 pounds from 10/24 on. I really don't believe it will come off like this ever again. And as I think about it, it NEVER has come off like this before. I think I'm in this little bubble where all of a sudden I think a 10 pound weight loss per week is normal or something. Even MyNetDiary, which I am using for tracking, tells me that with the number of calories I am eating I can expect to lose about 1-2 pounds per week. Isn't that crazy?? It's such a huge change, and for 1-2 pounds per week? But on the other side of it, 1-2 pounds per week for a year is 52-104 pounds, or more than I actually have to lose on the high side anyway. I think it's amazing that you lost 35 pounds prior to surgery, so give yourself a huge break! I have to believe that as we follow the program we will each eventually be successful. I have to believe that because otherwise I'd cry.

My PA said yesterday that after a few months I should be able to tolerate the capsule again. But I don't see her again until January so I am interpreting that to be that we discuss it then. I have a CR version of dexilant; I gather it's important NOT to have that capsule dissolve slowly in the sleeve right now.

It always cracks me up when I see the moms teetering around in the high heels and the cropped tops at football games. Biznatches, you are in your late 40s. I don't care if you CAN rock your midriff or if you look better than your high school daughter, put your junk away. Caveat: I understand this potentially reads as jealous, as I am always in the stands in my jeans and double XL men's t-shirt. But even if I could, I would not dress sluttier than half the girls at the game.

I get to do Thanksgiving with my extended family after a family wedding on Wednesday afternoon. I'm hoping that amongst so many people no one will really notice that I'm eating a) mashed potatoes, b ) sweet potato and c) a bite of the middle of the pumpkin pie. I don't think there's anyway to blend the turkey in that setting, LOL, and only two people really know about the surgery. I'll be traveling with protein shakes and bari puddings. This is the "food should hurt" crowd, but I think I'll handle it well. And I also got clearance (Clarence) for one glass of wine at the wedding, if I want it. I'm reserving judgment on that one until later as I know it's a possible trigger. And by that I mean for another glass of wine or grazing…not that there's much to graze right now.

My surgery was the same day as yours. I stalled out a week ago; actually went up slightly and have been inching my way up and down around about 4/10 of a pound. I think it's totally normal, if totally annoying. I noticed that things stopped going so fast when I moved from clears to full liquids. But the overall trend is still down, and like the posters above say, it took a long time to get up to this point. You got this.