Forsythia

They say it starts in month three if it's gonna happen. .I am 3.5 months out. I've not noticed any unusual hair loss. I stopped relaxing my hair a few years ago, but my texture is not coarse/kinky, rather its fine and curly (or frizzy as my dad likes to call it). I do lose a lot of hair, but that is because I wear it curly and when I wash it after the gym or my swims its all matted and gnarled up and I have to really run my fingers through it to wash/condition. Today I flat ironed it and it looks the same as it always does. But I'm monitoring it closely!

None. Swearsies! But I tend to eat a lot of dairy so most days I am over calcium goal. I was told to take a B-12, Pre-natal and Vitamin D because I'm deficient in Vitamin D.

I bet that felt good. That assclown was probably smugly stroking his ego and the fact that you came back and gave it too him probably ruined his buzz.

66lbs. Congrats to all of you.

I'm diabetic so I had bloodwork done in June. Surgery was in May. I'll have it done again in September. My NP does a standard panel and checks my HgA1C and my Vitamin D levels since i always seem to be deficient. Hopefully next time I get drawn my Vitamin D levels will be higher.

Good for you! Also, I think we could be body shape buddies!

I'm not vegan. I'm never going to be vegan (I could never give up cheese), but I will say a lot of people have issues with digesting veggies for a few months post op. Especially the leafy green varietals. You definitely need to reassess post sleeve to find out what if anything your sleeve has issues with before taking the full plunge.

Don't react if you hear something through the grapevine about yourself. Haters want a reaction. Don't call them or confront them or anything. Because yeah, haters gonna hate. Your best reaction to those broads is to live your best life and keep being awesome.

My understanding with BCBS IL is that you need to have had continuous coverage by them for one year, not that you have been going to the same doctor/clinic for a year. PPO doesn't care who you see as long as it is in network. H.M.O coverage might be pickier. I do know that none of the hospitals I was interested in affiliating with took the H.M.O. when I had it (I immediately switched to the PPO during the next open enrollment). Edited because the nanny software thinks H.M.O. is dirty or something w/o periods or spaces.

I had a woman at my office say to me "What are you doing, you are losing so much weight!" I told her that I go to the gym 5x per week for at least an hour if not more, and that I log everything I eat in my fitness pal - this is the absolute truth. I do work my ass off at the gym and I do log all my food. She has no idea I had surgery, and I plan to keep it that way. A couple of people here do know, but I trust them not to blab all my business.

I have no restriction on rice/pasta/bread etc. Occasionally I have said items with no digestive issues. Lots of people do have a terrible time with them, and a lot of people avoid them because they are so carby.

I'm always sleepy after lunch. But I was always sleepy after lunch before surgery. I think my body is just a jerk like that. LOL!

I have yet to notice smaller feet. I'm still a 9. Smaller fingers sure, but not smaller feet. My size 7 wedding band and engagement ring don't stay on my left hand anymore. I have to wear them on my right hand (which is also smaller but not as small since one's dominant hand is usually larger anyhow).

I have zero issues with sugar. I could eat three or four (or more if there were room) Cookies and not have one bit of an issue. As part of my pre-op work I spent time breaking myself of my sugar addiction, so I don't need it like before. I used to jokingly say that if I died in a vat of sugar I'd be okay with it. And honestly before the break up, I probably would have been a little bit okay with death by vat o sugar. But is all about the mental game and finding other outlets for my stress. At home I just don't have any of the treats around anymore. Work is more of a minefield, but I try my best to contain my stress and let it out when I go to the gym.

I live in Chicago and there are a crap ton of hospitals and a crap ton of surgeons. I personally like my hospital and used one of their two surgeons. This hospital's program is also a bariatric center of excellence, so that was encouraging. Basically I found out when they had seminars and went to one. But really, if you have no allegiance to any specific hospital, you have no reason to not shop around. You don't just take your car to the first body shop on the street - you look up reviews, you talk to friends. And this is a person who is going to put you under and cut up your insides. You need to feel comfortable with this person. So if you don't get the same vibes as your husband does, keep looking until you are comfortable. His hospital or clinic should have numbers they should be able to provide on him. What is his complication rate? How long has he been in practice? And if they are not able to provide that sort of info, move on.

I took a week, I could have gone back in five days, but did not. Mostly because my job is my least favorite place in the world. I just wanted the extra time away from it. LOL.

My pre-op diet was not a liquid diet. I would describe it as atkins phase one only with veggies. Lots of meat. cheese. No bread or Pasta. I had no issues with it, because as an avowed carnivore and cheese-a-holic, I was content. Still, I managed to lose 18 lbs from my program start weight (I was not required to lose weight, I just could not gain). The Pre-op diet is temporary. Like being forced to listen to Justin Bieber by your little neice, this too, shall pass.

Emotionally I was crabby for the entire week I was on purees. Thank god it was such a short phase in my plan. Once I was on soft solid foods my attitude went away. I think for a lot of people the liquid and puree stage are just difficult and make you crabby.

Throw the Cookies in the trash. Or take them to work and pawn them off on your co-workers. If you do feel snacky, you will have to get in your car or get on the bus or walk to the store to buy them. That is a pain in the ass and keeps me honest. If there are no cookies around I'm not gonna walk to the Walgreen's and buy a package of them. I have better things to do with my time. Having said that, what's done is done. No use feeling guilt over it. Every day is another chance to turn things around.

Any time you up your workouts your body is going to react. Typically by holding onto the weight. At least for a little bit. You need to off set that by upping your calories/getting a bit more protein and carbs. I always try to get up above 1000 calories on my workout days (It does not always happen, but I try). That seems to work well for me because since I've done that the losses have been steady.

I'm down 66lbs since the surgery, sleeved on Cinco de Mayo! Down almost 90 from my highest weight ever (335.. ugh). I don't compare my weight loss to other people's. I try to set a goal for myself. Currently my goal is 235 by Labor Day. Not sure it's gonna happen. I'm in the 240s now though. But I'm on track in that my losses are where I personally expected them to be. My surgeon feels 100 lbs is a successful number for me, but I plan on losing an additional 50 on top of that.

I do not regret having surgery. I will say I was on the fence through the entire 6 month program. I'd lost weight before. But that was before I turned the corner to diabetes. I didn't want to be on dialysis or lose a foot. I'm in my 30's. That is a long time to manage diabetes - which I was terrible at managing. I needed the surgical assist. I will say that I have had no complications or issues though. I can pretty much eat whatever I want without pain or getting sick.

If you don't want to see the OMG YOU ARE STARVING EAT MOAR FOODZ message, you can just not complete your journal for the day. It will still log the food, but you won't have to see their gloom and doom message. You can also ignore it.

To be fair, I really hate being hot too. But my office is a meat locker. Since my sleeve my perception of the office being at morgue like temperatures has only been exacerbated. As I lose my layer of protection, this bone chilling cold is only going to get worse. Right now I am wearing jeans, a tank top, a long sleeved shirt and two fairly thin cardigan sweaters. WHO WEARS TWO CARDIGANS?! This broad. I'm pretty sure under my manicure my nail beds are turning blue. I'm just shivering and miserable. Every day. The building controls the heat/cold. So there is nothing I can do about it other than complain in my blog and suffer in abject misery. The funny thing is that summer is my least favorite season due to the heat and the humidity. This summer has been really mild with temps barely topping 75 F all summer. In theory it's been my dream summer. But I'm so cold, that I want the heat. I just want to go outside and warm up, only I can't. It's barely going to be over 70F here today in Chicago. Are skinny people always cold? Do they sit around in freezing misery? Am I doomed to wear cardigans evey day for the rest of my life?! Perhaps I'm being overly dramatic. This is a consequence I had not even thought of. There are worse problems to have. This blog post is brought to you by me being a whiner.

At a restaurant, I just eat what I can eat without feeling like I'm going to barf and get the rest boxed up. If a waiter asks if the food wasn't to my liking I always say that everything was delicious but that I had a late lunch or a snack beforehand. With friends who know about my surgery I might offer to split what I am eating with them to save us both a little money. In a buffet like setting it is easier because there is just a table of food and you can get as little as you want. So you can just say you ate beforehand and just want a little snack or a sample of something rather than having to pile your plate full of the noms.