KristenVSG2014

I chopped mine off. I started with baby fine hair and now it's baby fine THIN hair. Worst combination ever. My new growth is still coming in. I want a topper sooooo badly but a good one is out of my price range. Here's a picture from over five years ago vs yesterday. You can kind of see my scalp now. Sometimes I use Toppik to fill it in but I didn't use any in this picture.

I would eat. Because I can't eat very much I generally can't make it more than six hours without getting so weak and tired I can't function. As long as it doesn't become a common or routine excuse you should be fine going off plan once in a while when you forgot to plan ahead.

I went to my cousin's wedding last night. I actually felt beautiful in my dress. My mom took a picture of me sitting down. No problem with it. I love my sleeve!! Here are some pics.

I took the smallest dose for three months. The side effects were very scary. My heart would palpitate and race. I went to my PCP and when he saw my blood pressure (which was already borderline high) on the chart he said, "What in the hell are you doing?!" I confessed and he told me I was to stop cold turkey and never touch it again unless I wanted a heart attack. I continued to lose weight on my own but it was much slower. Then over two years I gained forty of the fifty pounds back. That's when I decided to have WLS. Try everything else first. Try Whole30. That's freaking difficult but I lost ten pounds in 30 days and felt better than I ever have before. It's a lot harder than popping a pill but it's good for your body and resets your relationship with food.

I think the biggest issue is swallowing gum because it cannot be digested. Because our stomachs are so small now it could potentially get stuck. Another issue is chewing gum causes your brain to send a signal to your stomach that food is coming so it starts producing stomach acid for digestion. Others tend to swallow a lot of air while chewing gum which can cause uncomfortableness. I have only chewed gum a handful of times since surgery. I didn't have any issues but I'm a former gum swallower so I have to be very mindful of spitting it out. I actually don't chew it because I have issues with TMJ.

I was two years older but very similar weight when I had my surgery. I'm not going to lie. I want a tummy tuck and breast lift. However, even if I can't get one, I would still have my surgery all over again. I lost a LOT of weight in my face and neck and I have zero sagging in those areas. Here is a pic to give you hope! Don't listen to that mean nurse.

Maybe weight loss shows like Biggest Loser have sensationalized weight loss. They want us to step on the giant scale and see how many pounds we've lost. I believe the majority of people are truly happy for me and most can't believe when I tell them how much I've lost.

I had my gallbladder out years before I had my sleeve but yes, it can cause all of the issues you are experiencing. It can also be triggered by fast weight loss. You will feel SO much better once your gall bladder is out. The good news is the recovery is fairly easy. In a week or two you should be able to go back to school.

Also, a lot of times fried food is more for convenience. Do you actually fry your own foods? If so, it should be easy to transition to roasting in the oven. If not, the issue may not necessarily be that you prefer fried food. It could be that you prefer the convenience of picking up fried food. Don't get me wrong. I like French fries as much as the next girl. But there is NO nutritional content to them. While it takes some work and planning, preparing and cooking your own food has so many benefits. It's usually more cost effective. It's WAY healthier. You know what went into your food. Yes, there's work involved. You have to come up with some recipes for the week and go grocery shopping. You have to remember to take your meat out to defrost. You prepare, cook, clean, etc. Picking up fast food is WAY easier. It's also why so many Americans are overweight now. We work our 40+ hours a week then we are too tired or stressed to cook dinner so we pick up our yummy take out and go home, eat it, then throw away the container. No cleaning! But what has that done for our waists and our bloodwork? There has to be some work involved. Download Pinterest and search for Bariatric Recipes. You have to be your own advocate. Surgery alone will only help you lose weight the first year or so. After that it's 100% up to you. If you don't fix those eating habits now you will be right back where you started. If you want to follow me on Pinterest I already have a ton of recipes I've made and loved. Just send me a PM and I'll give you my email address.

You've gone THREE YEARS without coffee?!?! Wow. That's truly impressive. I had a hard time waiting six months. I don't drink it every day but dang I love coffee. It's so comforting to me. I tried it early on and I couldn't handle the acid so I didn't try again until six months. It still burned a bit so I only had it sparingly. Now I can drink it whenever I want without any issues.

Roasting will be your new friend. One of my favorite fast weeknight meals is to put tin foil on a baking sheet then set a rack on the sheet. On the baking sheet I put zucchini and onions drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper. On the rack I put chicken thighs and/or drumsticks that I have rubbed with olive oil and spices (usually Italian seasoning, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper). Make sure to dry the chicken before rubbing with oil and spices. The drier the chicken the crispier it gets in the oven. Don't let the chicken pieces touch on the rack. Cook at 450 for 45 minutes (flip chicken halfway through). The chicken skin will crisp up and the juices will fall on the veggies. The onions usually get dark and a bit caramelized. It's not fried chicken. But dang it, it's yummy. And a drum stick is the perfect amount of food for my sleeve. I wouldn't recommend this method with breasts because they would dry out too much.

I added you!

29 years old. 5'7. Highest weight was 290. Currently 169 so I've lost 121 pounds total. Here's my loose skin.

Sounds like you two could use some work with the book "the five love languages". Seems like your love language is "words of affirmation" and he isn't speaking it.I've read it... We started a couples devotion using that book... I dropped it once I saw he wasn't taking it seriously. For him the only book worth giving any credence to is the bible. Then show him Proverbs 31:28. "Her husband rises up and praises her". Also, pray about it. Sometimes we as wives have to set the example and show respect for our husbands then they will reciprocate.

My husband has always struggled with complimenting me. He likes to playfully make fun of me instead. Which is fine but every now and then a girl just wants to be told she's sexy. After surgery I didn't get any comments for a long time. He didn't start complimenting me until the last two months or so and even now his compliments aren't really compliments. Here's what happened last weekend. *Grabs my butt* "Your butt has gotten so small. My butt is bigger than yours now!" At a romantic dinner, he says, "You're so pretty now." I couldn't help but laugh and say, "As opposed to...what before?" Then later in bed he grabs my boob and says, "Your boobs are so much smaller now!" (They are still DDD). I know he's trying to compliment me. He just struggles with it. Maybe yours will come around eventually.

When I went to my 3 month check up I had been dealing with dizziness and muscle cramps. My doctor reviewed my MFP charts and told me I needed to increase calories to 800-1,000 depending on activity and add some more carb in the form of fruits and vegetables. I thought he was crazy but now I eat a banana every other day. I'm not suggesting you do this without consulting your surgeon or nutritionist but if you are 3 months out you may need to bump those calories up a bit, especially if you are exercising at all.

How many calories a day are you eating? It might be time to increase them a bit. Do you have a nutritionist you can see?

This actually happened yesterday. I broke out in a prickly heat rash after running. This made me laugh though!

Alex, any timeframe on whether BariatricPal will partner with plastic surgeons in Mexico? I'll be needing plastics next summer.

I think it's a special club. Saggy Thighs Club. Welcome!!

I think of mine as my bossy best friend. Her name is Stevie the Sleevie and she decides when enough is enough even if I want more. She refuses to like lunch meat. She sends it right back up my throat when I test her every three months. When I drink coffee she gets extremely vocal. Like Dory trying to speak whale. If I eat fibrous fruits or veggies she verbally groans and croaks at me.

You make me so excited about planning for a tummy tuck next year!! Didn't you have yours in Mexico?

Monthly Update! I weighed in at 169.0 so I hit my goal of being in the 160's. Woo!! These last pounds are taking longer than I anticipated. At this point it doesn't look like I'll hit my ultimate goal weight by my surgiversary because it would require I lose more than one pound per week and I don't want to stress myself over something like that. I got myself a FitBit and I'm so excited to try and figure out how to meet those dang goals. Right now it's been raining every day so I was only able to get to the track one day but I'm planning on getting back into running this fall. My friend asked if I would do a 15k with her in March and I would love to! My stomach is looking very wrinkly and sad. The skin on my legs is starting to firm up a bit. I asked my boss if I could bank a vacation week from this year so next year I could take off four weeks in a row to get plastic surgery. He said yes! Now I just need to figure out how to finance it. But I'm probably a year away from that for now so I'm not worrying too much yet. I went shopping last Friday. After six hours I had two pairs of shoes. And I only bought those because they were on sale. I don't quite know what my sense of fashion is right now but I don't like anything on the racks. I'll figure it out. I guess I'll just have to spend more time trying stuff on. My cousin's wedding is in a few weeks so I'll be seeing family that hasn't seen me since before surgery. I'm excited to see their reactions. I'll laugh if my grandpa doesn't recognize me. ???? Current measurements Neck - 12 1/2 Under breast - 34 Waist - 33 Hips - 39 Arm - 13 Thigh - 22 Total inches lost Neck - 2 1/2 Under breast - 11 Waist - 12 Hips - 14 Arm - 3 1/2 Thighs - 5 1/2

Heard this song today and it made me think of this post! You're beautiful No matter what they say Words can't bring you down Oh no You're beautiful In every single way Yes words can't bring you down Oh no So don't you bring me down today Christina Aguilera - Beautiful Lyrics | MetroLyrics

One thing that helps me is to NEVER bring foods I could sabotage myself with in my house. There is never cake, Cookies, ice cream, chips, crackers, etc. in my home. My home is my "safe zone". That means I only need to deal with temptations when I'm out of my house. I also will plan special occasions when I will allow myself to eat things so I don't feel deprived. Today my husband and I went out of town for a date and had some cheesecake for dessert.