OutsideMatchInside

I wear to the grocery store. My grandmother never left the house without lipstick on and I can only hope to be as great as woman as her. Ruby woo from Mac is flat matte, so you can really wear it every day if you want.

Diamonds! When I get under 200 pounds, I am buying myself diamond earrings. When I get to a stable weight, I am going to replenish my shoe collection and the first thing I am going to buy are a pair of nude Louboutin pumps. I think jewelry is the best choice though really, you have something you can keep long term that has meaning attached.

@@AchieveGoals I had hair loss, even though my Protein was at or above goal from the very first day after surgery. I also took all m Vitamins. The time my hair started shedding was the time my hair normally sheds in the winter, it just shed more. As it stopped my hair came back in fuller, since I get a lot of protein each day. It seems to just be random who has hair loss and who doesn't. I did all the right things and still lost hair, but it is growing back so fast I don't care. Also, this is why they make wigs and hair extensions. There are so many other benefits to losing weight you won't care about the hair, at least I didn't. Also unless you are willing to chug tons of Water every day, I wouldn't recommend Biotin in large doses, it will break your skin out.

@ You aren't supposed to lift more than 10 pounds at until about 4 weeks, so if you pick your toddler up, you are going to need help. Plus you get tired fast and need naps. The nap time your toddler takes might not be enough. Arrange for help, you have to recover and you don't want to risk a hernia.

@@AvaFern My natural teeth are A1 thanks to using Sonicare for a over a decade, I had to get some dental work done recently and even the dentist was surprised at how white my teeth are. I say go as white as you want. People don't smoke anymore and most healthy people do have really white teeth. Like I said my teeth are super white even though I drink coffee. Veneers are so expensive, don't do a half measure. Go for the shine, go for the gleam. Blind people, who cares. I'm a Dior 063 and my teeth gleam, so it doesn't matter what color you are. Go all the way white as possible. When you wear Ruby Woo with your new teeth, the wow factor will be off the chart.

Bwahahahaha!!!! Sorry. I've done yoga 3-5 hours a week since three months out. Like serious yoga. Like yoga arms muscles. Never did a thing for my skin, though the muscles filled out some of the space the far left behind. I can't even begin to understand how yoga could possibly impact skin. And I'm a yoga freak. You don't stretch skin during yoga, you stretch muscles, fascia and connective tissue. Also did all the lotions and potions, collagen, Vitamin D, bio oil and vitamin E oil; drank tons of Water and got all my Protein in. Took Biotin and keratin and vitamin A and E. You know what helps? Genetics, age, ethnicity, how many times you've yo-yo'd, how heavy you were and for how long. Time helps too. Skin will "come back" once you stop losing. How much depends on the things above. And surgery. A year out and six months at goal I had surgery. You just said yoga stretches the fascia, which is connected to the skin just under the skin. You can definitely improve your skin with yoga. Yoga helps drain the lymphatic system which helps with skin also.

My tastes are the same, they are just more exaggerated. Things I didn't like before surgery I hate, like eggs and yogurt. And things I love, I love even more like lobster and crab. People not liking Water is like the most puzzling thing to me about surgery. Water is the corner stone of life on this planet. Even Fiji water?

It didn't taste that bad to me, I was so desperate to drink anything, I didn't even care.

@@Jessicacherry3 Don't forget to update your weight on the site. Yes the weight loss is slower now, but going down slow is better than gaining I have found that I need to eat more calories to lose weight. If I eat under 1400 I don't lose anything.

@@samy278 Thanks for chicking in! What kind of massages are you getting? I am thinking of getting a membership at Massage Envy unless I can find a good local person.

@@Vsg_lma @@AvalonNeeCee @@jas84047 @@rainnie1976 @@nads64 @@Heatherrc1 @@Cubancountrygirl @@thinner-me @@bnm4 @@faithful @@rainnie1976 @@nevadapinkprincess @@LauriTX75 @@wheezysmom @@lorilove @@ExcitedButNervous @@Jessicacherry3 @Nurse52 @@jjbowersock @@mgilleo @@lorilove @@Vsg_lma @@mataz78 @@evett @@laceygorrell @@Tricebhasstyle @@AYRW71 @Mention @@nataliearias @@Remix @@Bullydog Mom @@MaryPh @@marypups @@oceanlover I tried to tag everyone but I only made it to page 16 before I got bored. Anyway, some of us are hitting one year today, and some later in the month like myself. How is everyone doing? At goal? Still working towards goal? Are you exercising? Have you switched to any diets like vegetarian, vegan, Keto, Or Paleo? How happy are you with your sleeve? How has your life changed?

@@Red_lips_and_confidence Was your swallow test live? Did you watch it? If you did you saw that the liquids pass right through like sand in the hourglass. You can't stretch your sleeve with liquids. The Jello might be bothering you because of the temp. Right after surgery I could only have warm things or room temp, then it got better and I could drink cold things.

@@PrinceVanHalen When there are other Peanut Butter powders with no sugar, there is no reason to choose one with sugar. PB2 doesn't have enough Protein to make those amounts of sugar worth it. Like I said over time all these small amounts will add up. And when you keep consuming sugar, you will keep a taste for it. It also makes it harder to detect items with sugar in them when you are eating out and away from home and some tells you something is sugar free and it turns out it really isn't. People add a surprising amount of sugar to something like hot wings, when a good hot wings recipe uses no sugar at all.

@@NewBeginning2016 That is a splenda based sweetner, so if you use Splenda that should be fine. I don't use anything with Splenda, I use stevia and I want to work on eliminating that from my diet over the next few months.

I just made a thread about this, and people shared better options http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/371526-100-pure-peanut-powder/ Good for you on reading the label and paying attention to the ingredients! That is an important part of starting a healthy lifestyle, paying attention to what we are consuming. A lot of people don't pay attention to the things they are eating and sugar sneaks back into their diet in small amounts in small things and it adds up in a big way at the end of the day and the end of the month. I read the label of everything, it is a good habit to make, that along with weighing will save you a lot of grief.

I had the nasal B-12 at first. Then I switched to sublingual. No differences in labs.

Well, not everyone was eating whatever. I gave up sugar, soda, and alcohol years before surgery and the weight wasn't coming off. The post op diet isn't very different from how I was eating before, except now I have portion control without feeling like I am starving. Even though I went from first visit to surgery in a few weeks it took months of planning. I work for myself. I spent hours at the beginning of the year picking a plan that covered surgery the easiest with the least out of pocket, which meant higher monthly premiums. Then I started the ball rolling with a new primary doctor. It took months of prior planning to make it smooth so it happened at the time of year that was best for my business. If I did the long 6 months plan at Northwestern or Washington University, I would have never been able to have surgery. It would have taken so much time from my business, I wouldn't have been able to afford surgery. My time is money and time is the most expensive thing on the planet. Once lost it can never be replaced. I didn't have time to waste and a lot of people don't either.

I don't see any benefit in making people wait and letting their health get worse while they wait. Healthcare is a human right, not a privilege.

@@Laughkc11 If you have to drive any distance you probably shouldn't return to work that quickly. If you have a good recovery, you will have energy but you will also fatigue very easily. If this is the only way you can work surgery in, then do what you have to do but like @@Bufflehead said, don't lie at work. You need some integrity in the work place. Just tell them surgery and talk to HR, don't talk to your boss. The amount of people that post on here about things they discuss with their boss and HR baffles me. 95% of the people that post here are a lawsuit waiting to happen for frazzled HR managers everywhere. Keep it light, keep it honest. They don't need to know exactly what you have having done. Surgery is enough, if they pry, practice your death stare.

When you are in the hospital the staff take care of your every need. You don't really need family around. You might need someone to take you home just for legal reasons, but as long as you don't have complications you don't really need help. You have to get up and move anyway to prevent blood clots so not having help is going to make you.

@@MrsKarenC2008 I haven't lost as much as you have but I understand how hard it can be to wrap your mind around. Even though I am thoroughly enjoying my loss of as now I know I still have a long way to go and I do not want to get complacent at this weight. So all I keep thinking about is the 50-60 I want to lose and not the 137 I have lost. It is really hard to accept that you have lost a whole entire person and wrap your mind around it. Most people never have to do it, so we are in a special category. One of the things that has helped me accept that I really am smaller and not deluding myself is trying on clothes a couple times a month I go and try on clothes in dressing rooms and I I try on a lot of clothes. Tops, Dresses, Pants, Jeans. I take pictures, I look at the current pictures then I scroll back a year or 2. It really helps to see yourself in the abstract. I can accept myself as smaller much better outside of my home, and in new clothes, than in my everyday workout clothes and the lighting in my home. Before I had surgery I never thought I was massive or unattractive. Now I look like how I felt I looked before, so it is harder to accept I really made any progress just by looks. I feel very different, much lighter and a lot more energy but looks wise, I always felt pretty and attractive but now it falls more in line with what the outside world expects. So a lot of us have the same kind of problems, they just manifest themselves in different ways.

I love eating fish, because it is low in calories and high in Protein, but cooking it with variety can be tough. Fish of your choice, I use Swai or Cod Seasoning of your choice - I use Flavor God Garlic Lemon Oil of your choice - I use an Avocado oil spray Cast Iron skillet - it needs to be cast iron or able to withstand high heat Electric grill Place your skillet on the grill, and heat the grill to at least 550, 600 is better. While the grill is heating weigh and season your fish. I find that even portion controlled pieces of fish vary in weight. Once the grill is hot, spray or carefully pour your oil in the skillet. I find that I can get away with one short spray of oil. The skillet is so hot that it makes a nice crust and the fish releases easily with very little oil. Carefully place your fish fillet in the skillet. Close the lid on the grill and set your timer for 3 or 4 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish. when time is up, carefully using a fish spatula or a large spatula, remove the fish. Voila. Easy grilled fish, you don't have to worry about it falling all apart and the taste is excellent. You could probably do this same thing in the oven, but I have only done it on the grill since it is grilling season. I found this recipe here http://food52.com/recipes/58018-skillet-grilled-fish-tacos-with-cilantro-lime-crema and if you use low carb tortillas and make cole slaw with walden farms cole slaw dressing you could totally make a fish taco meal that everyone will enjoy without breaking the calorie bank.

Last year this time I was frantically getting ready for surgery and focusing on getting my business in a position it could run itself for the 6 weeks I thought I might be out of commission. Turned out I only ended up not working for about a day Anyway, last year I went to a summer fair 4th of July weekend and walking around and stuff was pretty tough. It was hot and humid and I was carry my portable chair with me for concerts. It was hellish. This year I am down over 135lbs from my high weight and bursting with ungodly amounts of energy. I plan on having a good time this weekend. This includes kayaking, bike riding, and climbing those hills at that summer festival that killed me last year with ease this year. What are you doing?

Turn them all into the state insurance regulators, and see what happens. I would give them once more chance then say that is what you are going to have to do. Edited to add: It is possible you are still meeting your out of pocket and deductible?