Forsythia

Oh god, she calls every day? I love my MIL, bit if she called every day is lose my $#!+. Your husband needs to have a talk with her and tell her to chill out.

I have always had freakishly thin ankles, yet well muscled calves. I still have freakishly thin ankles and well muscled calves. I have gone from a 16 inch calf to a 15 inch one. My ankles are still 9 inches around. I've got a lot of weight in the hips/thighs. My bottom half is one size bigger than my top half. I'm always gonna be a pear with a lot of junk in my trunk and birthing hips. So far I've not lost all my boobs. But then again I'm still actively loosing. I was a 44D in the chest, now I'm a 38DD. So proportionately I've lost more around than in the actual breast.

I have not really lost any hair other than my normal daily amount. I have fine curly hair. I do get it highlighted, but no longer relax it. I have not taken anything special to prevent loss. While I generally get 80 grams of Protein a day, there are days where that doesn't always happen. I think a lot of hair loss has to do with your personal genetics and luck along with how anesthesia effects you. Edited to add my surgery was on 5/5/14.

I used it for the 30 day trial. Ultimately I decided not to pay for it because my connection to the innerwebs was not fast enough for the workouts to stream without constant buffering. The workouts themselves are solid and doable in your living room. There is a little quiz you take to assess your goals and levels and it will put you on a program based on your goals. I would recommend it as long as you have a fast internet connection. My AT&T Uverse 1.5Mbps connection did not cut the mustard.

My Hemoglobin A1C is 5.5%. this is normal. Like, perfectly normal normal. Not, well controlled for a Diabetic normal, but not a diabetic person normal. SUCK IT DIABETES!!!! Also, my NP tested other levels and my vitamin D level is finally normal. My cholesterol continues to be fabulous. And she took me off of my blood pressure medication. SUCK IT, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE!!! Bought two pairs of size 18 pants. I'm in this weird purgatorial area where an 18W is too big. Some companies that carrier an 18 in missy sizes, well, they are often too small. So it looks like the only place I can buy pants is Old Navy until I get down to a 16. Damn you, birthing hips. I'm 232. I've never been 232 as an adult. I mean, I think the last time I was 232 I was 14? Hoping to be in the 220s by the end of this month.

I was only on liquids in the hospital. I was on purees as soon as I got home. That was the worst week of my 37 years. Purees suck. Lol. Then soft solids for a month. After that general diet.

I was able to eat salad about a month out. But, I've never had issues with any veggies or fruits. I like to throw some diced ham on my salad so there is some protein in it.

@@Selina1000 is that your first solid meal? If you are coming off of soups and whatnot it's gonna feel weird. And is going to sit in your tummy for way longer than a bowl of soup. Try something else soft to see if it bothers you. It could be that the fish sticks just did not agree with you.

Sweet!

I was okay with the nookie after about a week. This thread is also quite amusing.

Honestly, I don't know what size I want to be. I've never been thin. So I don't know what would look good. Right now I'm a 14/16 on top and an 18 on the bottom. I'm 5'5". I guess I will assess that when I'm closer to goal.

Used one in the hospital from day one. Never had issues with them. My water bottle has a straw in it. I drink from it every day.

A lot of people don't keep up with their stats on here. So their profile will say some low amount when they have lost 100 lbs.

I used to say that if I were to drown in a vat of sugar I'd be okay with that death. I'm also diabetic. That said, I do not dump at all. I can, in theory, eat all the sugar. I mean, I can have the chocolate chip cookie with no issues. Having said that, I don't crave it like I used to, and even if I do have the cookies, I can only eat a small amount before the sleeve is like "girl, stahp!"

Back in the day, I used to use ankle weights with some of my Firm videos. But only on lying leg work. Never during cardio. From what I can tell the only thing that is going to prevent saggy skin is good genetics.

I love that weight loss boards are the only places on the planet where calling someone a loser is a compliment. LOL!

Scales are cruel, evil things. For awhile the scale was stuck at like 240. But I took some measurements and noticed my under bust measurement shrunk to 38. So I went to the store and fit into a 14/16 top - with room! So even though the scale was stuck, I was still shrinking. So the moral of this is when my scale sticks I like to take my measurement to gauge where I am. Usually if the scale is stuck the tape measure has gone down. So if you find yourself stuck, take weekly measurements of your bust/waist/hips/biceps/thighs to see how things have changed. Good luck!

Every week, I take a class at my gym (LA Fitness) called Body Works Plus abs. It is what I term a fast and light weight class. Fast enough that you get a cardio effect while doing it, along with high reps (as opposed to the slow and heavy stuff I do in the weight room). The class has 2.5, 5 and 7.5 lb dumbbells in it. Stronger people (usually guys and super fit broads) can go out to the floor and get heavier bells if they want. Normally I take a pair of all three. Last night, Florence, the instructor, walked by and called me out about the 2.5s! She said I was strong enough to stop using them. The high reps do exhaust me! So I took that as a challenge, because normally I do use the 2.5s on some of the shoulder work because I am weak like a kitten in the upper body. I basically only used the 5s and 7.5s for the class. I didn't die. So I guess Florence was right. If this is worst of the problems in my life, I have it pretty good.

Once I was on soft solids, I took a trip back to Indiana to see my parents. Of course at the train station there was only fast food. My best option was a beef soft taco. So I ordered one and basically ate the meat and cheese and pico. The world continued to turn. Ultimately I knew that I was never going to be a clean eater. I just don't have it in me to eat kale and quinoa. The appeal of the sleeve is that I am able to eat what I want just in small quantities. So if I want the taco I can have the taco. But only one taco. Before I would have had four or six. That is a joy of the sleeve - I can have a little bit of the food I love which makes me happy and makes me feel like I'm enjoying the food experience.

I'm at the point where I no longer sip my Water. I take a pretty normal sized drink of it. So after a few months it does get easier. You'll feel more like a normal human being rather than this freak with a water bottle attached to you. I find I can actually drink my entire 25 oz bottle during a workout if I am working super hard. But I can knock back 12 oz in significantly less than an hour. So fear not, soon the sipping will ease into drinking a normal sized drink.

I chose the sleeve because I was not interested in a plumbing re-route. I didn't like the mal-absorption issues many people have with the bypass. I was not interested in possibly dumping (though, some sleevers dump, I do not). I found that my diabetes was in check as soon as I was home from the hospital. No more medications for that. No more waking up in the middle of the night to pee because my sugar levels are high. I like that I can have everything I like, but in much smaller quantities. So if I am out and about socially I can have a sliver of cake without getting sick. I'm 4.5 months out. From my high weight I'm down over 100lbs. Since the surgery I'm down about 80lbs. I wear a size 14/16 top now, down from a 22/24. Pants are an 18 down from a 26 or 28. Whichever surgery you choose will be the right one for you. But I have zero regrets about having the sleeve at all. It was absolutely the surgery I needed for me.

In a way, weight loss surgery is like stepping off a cliff. You can take the step and not know where you are going to land. You can back away and stay on land and stick with what you know and how you are. Now if you take the step, what happens afterward. Do you like a bird, soar into the air, or like Wyle E Coyote, fall to the ground? The result is not pre-determined. You can be the bird or be the coyote. Funny thing for me, after this surgery, I grew more and more agitated with my job. I tolerated it. But I certainly did not like it. Most days I would come home and be miserable. Often times customers would make me go to the bathroom and have a cry. A few months after my surgery, I ended up putting in my notice and quitting. So now I am between jobs. But I feel so much better emotionally. That job was slowing killing me. My weight was also slowly killing me. Diabetes was out of control. Blood pressure was high. Everything hurt. I had to take the step off the cliff. I'm 100 lbs less than my highest weight. I can fit into a 14 top now. I've never been this small as an adult. But every day I wonder if I will be a success at this. The same parallel is happening to me professionally. Will I find another job? Will it be something I like? Am I going to fail at finding a job? So in a way, I've got two things happening in my life that are evoking similar feelings. All I can do is to do my very best. And I don't know if I am the roadrunner or if I am Wyle E. Coyote, but either way, I had to try.

Inches matter. It is totally the difference in between being a 14 and a 12. I've lost 10 lbs in the last month. And it has been slow, but I am so much smaller. That is a win, girl. I have never worn a 14/16 as an adult. The last time I was able to wear a size 14, I was 12 years old. 12! It was 1989, and I was able to wear my mom's clothes. I could borrow her stuff again (at least in tops, she is still smaller than me in the hips, so that's a no go. But anyhoo, you get the point). Just keep in mind the scale is just one indicator. If you are shrinking, take that win and own it. Don't let the scale dictate your happiness, Ria!

Cardio for overall loss, then do things like swim. Swimming is a great upper body workout. Push ups, triceps dips, kick backs, skull crushers all hit the triceps hard.