ShrinkyDink

For me it's just the opposite, an ache in my shoulder is my first sign that I've had enough to eat. I feel it before I feel full and if I take another bite or two it gets pretty uncomfortable. It's my built in "put down the fork" monitor.

I also didn't lose on the post op liquids. The shock of the surgery causes your body to go into survival mode, conserving every calorie it gets, and it's common not to lose. It's also common to gain a bit when you start eating again while your body gets used to having regular meals again, but I promise it will settle down and you will start losing. I know it's hard to be patient, but give yourself time to heal, you'll be dropping sizes in no time!

I definitely noticed a difference after surgery too. I tried the Mitchum clinical strength and it burned the bejeebers out of my skin. I then tried the Secret clinical strength and I love it. It doesn't irritate or cause break outs for me at all, and I've used it right after shaving. I did notice it rubs off white onto my clothes if I don't let it dry completely, but I guess I was just spoiled to the kind I used before that didn't do that. It's fine as long as I wait a minute to get dressed.

I've been all over the map this week, as low as 217 and as high as 224, but as of today I'm 219, down 1 pound from last week.

I had terrible port pain that actually got worse as I healed. About 2 months after my surgery it was to a point where it was doubling me over, and my doc said the scar tissue that formed around it was likely pulling on the muscle it was stitched to. He did a very minor surgery and clipped a bit of the scar tissue and it was like night and day, haven't had any trouble with it since :w00t:

I just started taking Lyrica about 2 months ago, slowly building up the dose. At 75 mg per day I felt no benefit but also no side effects. At 150 mg per day I still felt no improvement in pain but my sleep was quite a bit improved. Trouble was, my weight loss stopped. Strange thing was I really wasn't having cravings or eating more, I just stopped losing. My doc's goal dose was 450 mg per day and I couldn't imagine how much trouble I'd have if I kept bumping it up so I decided to stop taking it for now. I figure I will lose the weight first and then maybe I can handle the effects of it when I'm only trying to maintain my weight, not lose. I was very hopeful that it would help my pain but for now I'm going for thin and in pain instead of fat and pain free. I'll give it another shot when I reach my goal.

I only told a few people, and actually wish I hadn't told a few that I did because: 1. I didn't want to be under a microscope, feeling like I was being sized up every time they saw me, knowing they were wondering how much I'd lost and watching every bite I put in my mouth. 2. I had a huge fear of this failing just like everything else I've tried has failed. Then I'd be 'the girl who couldn't lose weight even with surgery' in everybody's minds. Now that I'm nearly halfway to goal I don't fear this nearly as much, but it's still in the back of my mind. 3. So many people have misconceptions about the band being the easy way blah blah blah and I don't feel like listening to it or explaining it. When somebody asks how I'm losing I usually say I'm eating smaller portions and exercising more. I view the band as a tool that helps me along, but I feel like I've done about 75% of the work, with the bands help amounting to 25%. Where it's been the most help is when I get discouraged and say forget it and sit down with a box of Girl Scout Cookies and it only lets me eat 3 instead of the whole box. It's a lot easier to get back on track mentally after a backslide of 3 cookies than it is after a backslide of an entire box. I could easily cheat it with slider foods, but I don't, so I don't feel like not mentioning that I have it is a lie at all. What changed is I reached a point of realizing that I HAD to do something about my weight or die. That change in thinking is what's responsible for my success more than the band. I got the band to help me along the journey, not to do it for me. If somebody who truly has a weight problem and could benefit from the band asks me and I'm close enough to them I tell them, but I take the time to educate them a little too and ask them to please not spread the word. They have nearly all completely understood my desire for privacy and have appreciated my telling them about my experience. I had one friend who was actually very offended that I hadn't told her from the beginning and has been cold to me every since, but that's her problem.

It always makes me laugh when they come by and ask how everything is. I answer "it's great thank you", and they look at my plate and back at me like "well why aren't you eating it then!"

221, same as last week, but I was actually up 2 pounds mid week so I'm just happy to be back down. *editing since I just weighed again and I'm now 220, that's 60 pounds gone forever baby!

I don't get swelling, my worst pain is primarily in my collar bone and shoulder, and also in the backs of my arms. I get generalized pain all over though and serious brain fog and insomnia. The only benefit I've seen from the Lyrica so far is improved sleep, but I'm only up to 150mg per day at bedtime. Doc was building me up slowly to watch for side effects, but I think I've decided to stop it at least for now. Might try it again when I've hit my goal weight.

Wow I'm so torn, I'm so thrilled to finally be losing my weight that I can't stand the thought of gaining it back, but the idea of my pain being gone is a dream come true. Which is better, thin and in pain or fat without pain? I didn't realize weight gain was such a common side effect, but now that I've read this I'm wondering if my slow loss the last couple months is because of the Lyrica. Arg what to do!!!

Is anybody having luck with Lyrica? My doctor said he has yet to get anybody to a therapeutic dose because it's too sedating, nobody can tolerate taking enough of it to help. I'm working up slowly, up to 150mg at bedtime now but I don't notice a single bit of help yet.

Last week: 223 This week: 221 I'm almost to 60 pounds off and only 6 pounds from halfway to goal!

1. Get a tatoo 2. Meet my girlfriends in LA for a celebration weekend 3. Buy a pair of red cowboy boots

First thing I did was get my brain around that fact that I don't have to stuff myself or clean my plate to enjoy eating out. Since I've accepted that I enjoy eating just about anywhere, I order whatever I want, eat my normal banded amount of it and take the rest home. If I don't eat the leftovers somebody here does and I figure I make healthy choices nearly every time I eat at home so when I go out I order whatever I want with no guilt. That being said, I have an awful time getting chicken chewed enough lately so I nearly always order beef or fish, even pasta is ok if I chew it like crazy.

I've noticed lately that all my shoes are too big too, isn't it weird how that happens? They are all flopping like flip flops, gonna have to go shopping soon!

Some of the ads I see most often for those products are so obviously photoshopped it's painful to look at them. If the product worked, they would have real before and after pics to show. This post just confirms to me that the stuff is a scam.

I still get shoulder pain when I eat just a bit too much, I guess the pressure in my pouch causes it. It's a good warning for me that I've taken a bite too many and I better stop. It eases up as the food starts to pass on through but it hurts pretty bad in the meantime.

At first I only told family, but as the weight loss became obvious I told a few friends and boy I wish I hadn't cause now I'm under the microscope. I even had a couple of friends get offended that I hadn't told them earlier. I wish I'd only told my husband and left it at that. The other day I went into my mom's Sunday school class before it started to tell her something, she was eating a doughnut and I said oh yum, where did you get that? She reacted with this huge shock and loudly said 'You can't have doughnuts!' which of course caused all the other old ladies around her to turn and look at me and made me feel like I was a 10 year old. *sigh* I wish I'd kept it a secret, anybody have a time machine?

Last week: 226 This week: 223 I'm very happy with 3 pounds since I've been so slow lately! I'm 8 pounds from halfway which I was hoping to hit by my birthday which is the 26th. Don't see how I can do that in 6 days but I'm really happy to be so close!

Last week: 227 This week: 226 Only a pound but hey, a pound's a pound!

Forgot to post yesterday, but I was 227 which is the same as last week. I'm kinda bummed cause I was down to 225 a couple days earlier but it somehow eeked back in there.

I get that feeling of full on top, growling hungry on the bottom if I let myself get too hungry before I eat. I started paying closer attention and eating something small as soon as I started feeling hungry and it made a big difference.

The bottle I have says to chew 4 of them. I've tried several times but it's never helped me, it's always ended up coming back up anyway.

I didn't post last week cause I was out of town but I've finally broken my plateau! I'm down 6 pounds in 2 weeks! 1/16: 233 1/30: 227