Dashofpixiedust8

@DeactivatedfatgalCongrats on meeting your challenge goal!! Would you like to set a new goal for the last weigh in next week or just keep it the same? @doingit4me2017 You are so close to your challenge goal!! @DanceMomOf2 You beat your challenge goal! Congrats! Would you like to set a new goal for the last weigh in or keep it the same?

@Pam_2-06-2017 Congrats! I know when you are stuck in one set of 10's it's frustrating! You are doing great! @Entrise Stalls do suck...the big one! It will pass! @MelissaH74 Congratulations!! Would you like to make a new goal for next week or just keep it the same? @Torriluv87 You did go down a few ounces! Stalls are no fun but it's good you are getting your eating in check!

@rubia72 Thank you!! @aprilsdiamond Thank you!! Congrats on reaching your original challenge goal! I have updated your goal! @sjfink I'm so glad! I hope you are feeling good! @janedoe92Stalling is very discouraging I know. Keep at it though! @Kiwi_N_Rio Congrats on meeting your goal! Your new goal has been updated! @Daja That's such great news! Congrats!

@Sleeveforme2017 Great job! See you got that small gain off and are even less than you were 2 weeks ago! @klette0147 That's great! I knew you would get right back on track! @Omieliz That's amazing! Keep it up! @jwinters19 I believe in you!

I'm glad the date went well but I had to respond to "wanting a shot at a guy who never had weight problems"... I'm sorry but what? I don't want to sound harsh but weren't you just worried he would judge you for previously being overweight and now you are doing just that to him. If you like him then like him. Just as it shouldn't matter that you WERE overweight it shouldn't matter that he WAS overweight. Weight is not everything...it shouldn't be anything when trying to find a romantic match. If he is nice, fun, and you are attracted to him then just see where it goes. I would hate it if someone didn't give me a chance just because I used to be overweight. I'm sure you would hate it too...

@OutsideMatchInside That's the experience I've had. The guy I'm seeing now knows how much I used to weigh and when I told him he said "I didn't know you then, but I know you now, and you are gorgeous. I'm so proud of what you have done"

3 weeks post op I was at around 400-600 calories a day. I upped it to 600-800 calories about 3 months post op. Then 800-1000 6 months post op. Then at 8 1/2 months post op I went to 1000-1200. I'm almost a year out and now eat 1200 calories a day. They said that is what my goal will be for life now.

@nurse247 I can't wear shorts because of the extra skin on my thighs...it looks like I have huge testicles on my upper thighs there is such a flap...I wish it were only wrinkly...

I do plan on getting a commemorative tattoo when i reach goal. I'm about 80 pounds from goal now. I need to work with an artist to get it drawn up. My idea is to have a chain breaking for no longer feeling trapped with the word strenth in one of the links, I'm trying to decide whether to have 540 for where I started or 340 for how much I had lost possibly in roman numerals, a sunrise in the background for new beginnings, a lotus flower for rising out of suffering, with the quote "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." around it or underneath it.

Congrats to you!!

I also appreciate it!

Congrats on your success!! I totally understand. I was stuck in stretchy pants and tshirts for so long now I am semi dressed up all the time. haha I can finally dress cute so you bet I'm going to do it all the time!!

Thanks @Joann454!!

Awesome! I hope you are feeling good! My surgeon gave me a 90% wound complication with the thigh surgery. I am in desperate need of it though. I'm glad you are doing well with it! I had my pannis approved by insurance and my surgeon said once I get to goal we have a good chance of getting my thighs covered because they are the most significant he has seen. Your thighs look great by the way!

So I am 30 and I have been dating now too. I took 5 years off and as the weight started going down I decided to try again. I started dating again around October so I have had lots of experiences as I had Surgery last May. I'm at a BMI of around 40 right now but at the beginning of my journey I had a BMI of 78. As long as your pictures are not edited or in a special light don't even ask him. You are hardly overweight now! I know you are tempted to ask him that but that will just show to him that you are insecure about it. Be proud of who you are and how far you've come and just let your personality shine through on the date. As for telling them about the surgery...that is up to you. For me, I am VERY open about the surgery and will tell a stranger I met on the street how much weight I've lost and that I had the surgery. I tend to let conversation flow and determine if I want to share it with him yet. It usually comes up though when I tell them I can't eat and drink at the same time or that I can't use a straw. They usually ask why and I tell them I had weight loss surgery. No one has seemed to care at all. As for a chance for regain that is COMPLETELY unnecessary. Someone who is super skinny has a chance to gain weight. There is ABSOLUTELY NO need to go into that. If they are curious they can look it up on their own accord but DO NOT mention it. That's putting a seed in their mind that you are planning on regain. I tend to focus on my accomplishments so far. The guys I've been out with have been impressed with my efforts and are super supportive of me and my journey. The guy I'm going out with now always tells me how proud he is of me. He gets lots of chances because I feel like I'm always sharing a new accomplishment or realization about my weight loss. It's one of the biggest things going on in my life so I talk about it a lot. Haha I know how exciting and scary and frustrating dating can be...especially when you are overweight. Good luck to you!!

Definitely! Thank you! It has been a crazy journey!

I usually go to the ones at the Perelman center. Thanks! I am! All my doctors are at Penn, I find it's easier for them all to keep track of me even though I live in Wilmington.

I do. I went to the one in April but missed May's. I wanted to go to the one in June but I will have had my panniculectomy 5 days prior so I will most likely not feel up to it lol I will be going to the one in July though. Have you been?

@grrlann I have been overweight since I was 3 years old. It's been a lifelong struggle, one I'm trying to break free of now. That's great you are doing so well! Congrats to you!

So I cleaned out my closet of clothes that are too big for me for the third time. One of the items was a fancy skirt I had worn to my Bat Mitzvah. It then hit me that I was about to be smaller than I was when I was 13 years old. I am now 30 years old. This was a happy and sad feeling. It was happy because I have worked so hard to lose these over than 260 pounds. It was sad though because I let myself stay so heavy for most of my life and it stopped me from being the person I always wanted and knew I could be. I know I can't change the past and can only look towards the future but I started to mourn for my past struggles again and it made me tear up a bit thinking about all the time I spent trapped in my heavy body. I know many of you can relate, though maybe not all of you can to the extent that I was trapped when I was 540 pounds. This is not only a physical struggle but an emotional one. I'm glad I finally got motivated and am taking my life back. I am even less weight than I was when I had gotten the lapband in 2008. As they say, this is the first step in the rest of my life. I'm excited to see what else I can accomplish. I am only 78 pounds away from goal now and it seems like nothing with how much I've already lost. I just wanted to share these thoughts with you all because I know out of anyone, you can relate.

@outsidematchinside the skirt is a size 22...I can't even accept that at age 13 I was a woman's size 22.. I understand your embarrassment. I honestly can't believe I let myself think I was okay at such a heavy weight. I'm a bit disgusted with myself. Thank you for the encouragement! My weight is still coming off pretty rapidly (I lost 9 pounds last week) so I may start feeling differently once it slows as I get lower! You are doing great though! I think I remember you started at a high weight like I did. I always appreciate your input on the boards here. I think you are very knowledgeable and give people a blunt kick in the ass when they need it. I know I need it sometimes!

That must feel really good! I was at that calorie goal around that time too. If you are exercising heavily you will need more calories than that.

@deactivatedfatgal thanks!

@njgal it is! I am now a size 14/16 to 18/20 top and 22 bottom. I probably am actually smaller on bottom but I have A LOT of extra skin. I am having it removed June 5th though! [emoji51]

@njgal haha I definitely mourn that! I shop so much now. It's terrible because I don't stay in the sizes that long so I'm just wasting money but for the first time in a LONG time I can dress cute so I am! I was stuck in stretchy pants and Tshirts for too damn long. I refuse to wear them out in public now. My friends always ask my why I'm so dressed up all the time but they don't understand how much I hated only being able to wear stretchy pants that were a size 34/36 that were stretched to the limit and size 5x/6x tshirts that I had to stretch just to fit but they were still a little tight. I will never go back. I am going to wear my cute clothes and waste money. The sales girls know me by name. lol it's terrible!