JupiterinVirgo

So, I haven't felt very sexy in a while. Right before my surgery I had met somebody and had a short but extremely passionate relationship during the first few months of losing weight. Ever since, I have been focused on me. And this turned out to be wise, because I'm down 130 pounds and have traveled across the country in my RV, currently residing in beautiful Southern California. The first time in my life I've been able to out run anything: New York snow! As it turns out, SoCAL might be the place I have been looking for all my life. Culturally, it seems wonderful. I am meeting so many cool and interesting people! Even men! So, I'm under 200 pounds, getting attention from men, and considering stripping down and getting laid. And I'm scared to death! I feel so insecure about my body which is right now a work in progress. And I know that my hangups about my body are obviously not the same as the men who would like to have sex with me, but I want to feel confident and beautiful. I'm also so horny that I feel like a tiger pacing the cage LOL… I still have more weight to lose and intend to have plastic surgery on my belly and my breasts. I did not expect this to happen/finish for at least a year. And I have no intention of waiting that long before I enjoy some much needed pleasure. Sisters, what do you do to feel pretty and confident when your body is a work in progress? Brothers, perhaps you can share some insight as well from your perspective? Some men say that women worry way too much about some of this. Thank you in advance! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

So let me just state upfront so that I do not believe in the BMI scale as a measurement of health and normality. I understand many of you might disagree with that but this post is not a debate post. The history of the BMI scale is something worth looking into if this is your sole measurement of reaching your goal. It isn't mine, which is why I am trying to consider what a proper and also realistic goal weight is for my body. I have the surgery 11 months ago, i'm down over 124 pounds, and have entered ONEderland. Before my surgery, I thought that if I got anywhere under 200 pounds I would consider it a smashing success. And I do! That said, I feel I would like to continue losing weight. My original goal weight, sit by me, was 180 pounds. Currently, I am about 15 pounds away. I chose this number because it is the lowest weight I have been in my real adult life, and after the last time I lost a lot of weight, this was where my body settled. I found it very difficult to get any lower than 178 179. Thinking that the odds of me getting to 180 were not very large to begin with when I began, I thought this was a realistic goal-if a stretch. But now I see it is not unreasonable to believe that I could go further. Right now, I am considering a goal of 160 pounds. Which is 35 pounds away from where I am now. This to me, is a stretch goal. I haven't weighed 160 pounds since childhood. That is, before graduating high school. I'm not sure if it's realistic or not, and I'm not sure if it's too high of a goal weight or not. When I told one of my good friends that I moved my goal from 180 to 160, he suggested I should go for 130 which to me seems ridiculous. I know I would be very skinny at 1:30 but I don't think it's realistic. My height is about 5'7". I am female. I am 37 years old. Is there anyone out there who would share with me where they began, what their goal weight was and why, and whether they were able to obtain it? I think you so very much for sharing your story with me! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I would not define myself as skinny, but I have lost 160 pounds and weigh about 160 pounds. People definitely treat me differently, and almost every situation. I am included more in social activities, and frequently told that I am beautiful. I have come to be known in my community has a bit of a party girl, because I am always dancing and smiling. I'll admit that I am also different and more ways than just the shape and size of my body. I hold myself differently. I am happier. I feel better physically. But I have no doubt that the reduction in the size of my body has made a huge effect on how other people perceive me.

When I was preparing to have my sleeve surgery, I spent a lot of time on this forum. I found most of the people here to be very helpful. Even though there's every kind of personality here, we all have one thing in common: we wanted to lose weight and be healthier. Approaching any surgery is scary. There are real risks, and real rewards when all goes well. I have struggled with weight my whole life. Total sugar junkie. Used food to replace every unmet need I had, to repress every emotion for which I was unprepared to deal. I gained and lost hundreds of pounds over the course of my life. Hundreds. When my husband died eight years ago it broke me. I shattered, and it took me almost a decade to put myself back together. During that time, I lost everything: my beloved, my home, my income, even my sense of self. And I spent the next eight years eating to fill this giant empty void inside my being where someone who I thought of as the love of my life used to be. I ballooned up bigger than I had ever been, surpassing my previous high weight and moving into the 320s. I avoided social situations, and only left the house when necessary. I was afraid I would have to ask for a stronger chair when invited to sit down for dinner at somebody's home. I was afraid that I would need to sit down every 20 or 30 steps during a leisurely stroll through the mall with a friend. My body ached; sometimes the pain was so bad that I could scarcely move-even sitting still was painful. Life had become extremely small. Deciding to get the surgery was surprisingly easy, but getting through the approval process and going through with the surgery summoned up terror in me that had been there since my first surgery when I was three years old. I thought it would be a miracle if I were able to get the surgery, simply because my trauma was so severe for so many years that it seemed like an impossible feat to put myself in the hands of medical professionals, who I have never trusted all my life. With lots of support from my mother, my sister who had already had the surgery, and my therapist, I was able to get the sleeve. And it changed my life! I also decided that I was going to make up for lost time now that I was going to be able to physically get around again. I sold all my stuff, ditched my apartment, bought an RV and moved in! And it's wonderful! I could not have fit in here, nor could I do the things necessary when living in an RV, at my previous weight. This surgery has allowed me an opportunity for a whole new lease on life. I am officially one year postop, and I am down about 130 pounds, with another 30 to go. It's amazing the difference a single year can make! If you know that this is right for you, and the only thing giving you pause is fear that is not coming from your true intuition: there are many people on these forums who feel that this surgery has saved our lives. I am one of those people. Here is a before and present a photo of me, in a year, this could be you! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I live in Mexico, but I've only been here a few months. I am almost ready to seal the deal on my weightloss with plastic surgery. By the end of the year, I hope to have several procedures completed. Does anyone have any good recommendations for someone who does an extraordinarily good breast lift in Baja Mexico? I have always had very large breasts but now they are very long-though there is still a lot of tissue. I don't want implants, but I want them to look good from every angle so may also need some armpit lipo or something! Lol

Thank you!

Thank you all for your experiences. I'm not worried about overdoing it and blacking out or anything like that. I'm really just concerned about my waist line! As far as addiction goes, I'm not worried about that either because I have always been to some extent an addictive personality he and I have never had a goal to not be that. I've never had long-term problems with drinking or stopping drinking. I just don't want to gain weight.

I've never really been a huge drinker, and before surgery it was not uncommon for me to go many months without a drink. I had my surgery Nov., 2015 and am living an entirely different lifestyle in a new country where drinking alcohol is the one common denominator at every social event. Because I suffer from social anxiety, this appeals to me because it calms me down and makes me more outgoing and friendly. That is, if I wasn't drinking I would stay home. My question is how does this effect weight loss and maintaining weight?

Thank you all so much for your feedback on this issue. I definitely think I probably have low iron and maybe some other nutritional deficiencies. I will get it checked out!

We all know that one of the effects of the surgery for weight loss is possible hormonal and thyroid and balance that causes hair loss. Like many people, I started losing my hair several months after my surgery and continued losing it pretty steadily for 6+ months. My hair was fine to begin with, and so this breakage and thinning has really affected my self-esteem. I'm down over 150 pounds now and very close to my goal weight. So close, that I am starting to look into plastic surgeons to correct skin issues that are creating physical pain for me. I'm over a year and a half out from surgery now, and all of a sudden my hair has started to come out again. The weirdest part of it is that this is following a dream in which I developed a huge bald patch on my head. Yesterday in the shower I almost cried after shampooing my hair and seeing my fingers covered in hair that was falling out of my head. It's very upsetting. Has anybody else had a new cycle of hair loss start very late in the game?

You might find that with so little weight to lose, you become a lot skinnier than you want to be. I had over 150 pounds to lose and I am having trouble eating enough even 2 years out. Some people who have the surgery with less then 80 pounds to lose find themselves in a struggle not to starve! LOL

Beautiful then. Beautiful now.

Before I had my surgery, and during the majority of my weight loss, I spent a lot of time looking at other people's pictures so I could reassure myself that I too, could have the results I had hoped for. Well let me tell you my friends, you inspired me so much that I actually have done it!Still planning for my plastic surgery to remove my excess skin, but this is what 150+ pounds of weight loss looks like!

My insurance company did not require this procedure to approve me.

I had this problem recently myself. I am almost to years out of surgery and just a few pounds from goal/normal BMI. About six weeks ago I had a dream that I had a bald spot on the top of my head. A few days later I got my period and my hair started to fall out again. Hormones and thyroid play a big part in hair loss despite the myth that this is normal after weight-loss surgery. When they say that, what they mean is it happens to many patients but it is definitely not normal. It shows that there is an in balance in the body that needs to be addressed in your surgeon will not address it.

Thank you my friends for all your support! I really appreciate your kind words and I am grateful to have people to share this journey with. I love you guys

No, you cannot stretch your sleeve in 10 days. The swelling goes down. Some foods will slide where crumble and feel like you can eat much more than you should. Stay away from them. I'm almost 2 years out from my surgery and just a few pounds from a normal weight, and I find that as long as I don't need sliding foods, the restriction is still plenty to keep my weight loss happening slowly and I'm very nearly at maintenance

Surgery scared the crap out of me too. I always thought that bariatric surgery was a very extreme approach to weight loss. And then at some point I realized that my weight was so out of control that extreme measures were necessary to rectify the situation. I agonized for months and even after I made my decision to go for it all I wanted was for it to be over with. Well let me tell you something: it was the best thing I ever did for myself in my entire adult life!

I know nobody likes ads, but the truth is that the people who put the site together, pay for hosting and traffic, and put in all the hours it takes to maintain site deserve to be compensated. They made this wonderful forum available through their efforts brought so many Bariatrics people together. You benefit from it; they deserve the opportunity to benefit as well by letting us know what they have available.

Your body needs time. The weight will come off. This is not an expensive diet; this is a massive physiological change to your digestive system. Your body is going to be different now.

I was not required to get one. I would be willing to bet my insurance wouldn't cover that. Most surgeons offices will put you through every test they can get your insurance to cover, it increases profits.

I couldn't get the approval for surgery until I quit smoking. I was still allowed nicotine cessation aids.

I suggest a nice tea with raw honey and cinnamon to help your belly heal. At least, that was what I did as soon as I got out of the hospital. I also smoked the old-fashioned way with no problems less than 48 hours post op.

I had the sleeve, which is a less invasive surgery then the bypass at 320+ pounds. I'm less than two years out and I'm down 150 pounds, last I checked I weighed 165. I wish I had done this so much sooner in life. It gave me an entirely second chance!

I live about an hour away from Tijuana in Mexico and I am definitely inspired to check out the surgeon. I would like to have all my work done at once but I don't know if I will be able to afford that. I know that this doctor is the tummy tuck queen of bariatric patients in Baja. How did your breasts come out? I was thinking I will probably have my breasts done first.