anniedub

Phew. Finally someone tells it like it is! Thanks, HeatherO. There are way too many people on these boards who just don't get that THE DOC'S ORDERS ARE THERE FOR A REASON!! OP, this is not directed at you. Just at the worrying trend I've noticed lately in pre-op and post-op boards....

My sympathies. I have the exact same problem. Been going about 3 months. I have severe polycystic ovarian syndrome so I was losing hair even beofre the surgery, but now it's on overdrive. I've been wearing a wig recently, but I've just taken the step of cutting it all RIDICULOUSLY SHORT (about 1.5cm / half an inch long) and it actually looks fuller and thicker! The bald patches just seem to be blending in! Anyway, I'm just starting biotin, and I use nioxin which is great. You just need to find the solution you're comfortable with -- whether it is wearing a wig, cutting it super short, or just embracing that this is a temporary problem on the way to a permanent weight solution. It's hard to swallow if your hair is your pride and joy, believe me I know. But you just need to try some different things and see what makes you feel better. Good luck :smile2:

Well Banditos, Here it is! I kinda like it, at the moment (half an hour after the fact). Maybe tonight I will be in tears, but who knows. I'm still in two minds as to whether I just go about with this, or wear the wig, or a combination of both.... But anyway, here it is! Bloody short, bloody thin, my bloody natural colour! Opinions appreciated! Annie.

1. To be AT goal weight 2. To feel happier and more confident 3. To be fitter and healthier 4. And what the hell -- to get a date!

Thanks, Lisa. I bet Fenton was lost without me -- no one to tease! Poor guy. Yep, I always had thin hair pre-banding and now it's the same PCOS pattern, just even worse. I hope that you don't have to go through the same thing. And you know how it is when you're in your 20s -- especially with guys in their 20s -- image is everything. So I've been pretty depressed lately - the image has taken a real hit. Anyway, i'm moving on to short short hair tomorrow, and we'll just see. Just taking it one day at a time.. And if you know any of those guys who accept faults, flaws and general crazyness, send them my way! :biggrin:

Thanks WCM. I've been thinking about just embracing the super-short hair, I will see how it looks when I get it cut tomorrow. The problem is that I have a chubby moon-face, and so I worry that it will look terrible. Ah well, even if the super short doesn't look so great, at least it will be easier under the wig. Maybe in another 10kgs (25 lbs) I will embrace it. Nothing like being "one of those fabulous bald women who is all about earrings". And the "letting go of what other people think" bit? I can't wait for that day. It currently eludes me.

Hi Shamrocks! Well, now I've caught up on 10+ pages of posts! Phew! It's been a bit of a random few weeks for me, I've been sick with the flu and working 6 days a week (couldn't get any time off) so basically every night I come home and just collapse. No energy for witty LBT repartee! Anyway, so I'm better now AND I have a few days off, what bliss! My exercise has basically become void the past few weeks, and it's showing on the scale. Plateau City: Population Me. From yesterday, I'm making a concerted effort to turn it around. Yesterday I biked, today I'm walking AND biking. And probably Wii-Fitting as well. In other news, my self-esteem is currently lower than it was when I was at my heaviest. I wouldn't have thought that this was possible. But it is, and it's mostly because of my hair. It's still falling out at a rate of knots and it looks shocking. My doc now thinks it's a combination of the weight loss and the fact that I have severe polycystic ovarian syndrome. A winning combination. So anyway, I'm wearing a wig all the time when I leave the house, but I am having the "Samantha Jones Dilemma" - do I try to brush it off and let people believe it's my real hair / hair extensions? Or do I just adopt the "yes i'm wearing a wig, what's your problem?" mentality? The few people that i've had to tell have all been supportive, probably because they can see how upset I am when I talk about it. But what I'm most worried about is men. Yeah, you heard me. Ok, basically my reasoning is this. On the off-chance that I happen to land a man in the next 6-12 months (expected duration of hair loss), and i'm still wearing a wig. I will have to let him know PRETTY EARLY ON that I have very little hair, and that I wear a wig. You know, when you kiss someone and they run their fingers through your hair? Well, let's just say they would instantly know something is up. And, come on. 99% of normal, red-blooded males in their 20s would run as fast as they could if this girl they have just started seeing showed them that she wears a wig, and underneath it she ain't a pretty sight. And started crying or something to boot. I talked about it with a good girlfriend, who suggested it would be a great "a$$hole detector" - if they're a good guy, they won't mind, if they're an a$$hole at least you'll know about it early. But I'm just not sure if i'm ready for the brutality. At least it's winter here, so I can wear lots of hats over my wig. Makes it not so obvious. This afternoon, I'm getting my hair underneath cut short - like really short. So, when it starts growing back it will all grow evenly. Well, now that you've all had an essay of my problems, aren't you glad I'm back? :biggrin:

Hi Shamrocks! I've just been trolling. I'm sick with the flu and miserable, I ned to go back to bed. Just thought I'd stop in to see you all and wish all your Americans a happy 4th of July! Congratulations on the weight loss everyone! We're steaming along!

Oh now that's just uncalled for!

Woohoo! Looks like a great trip! And you are looking FABULOUS! :thumbs_up: :biggrin: :eek:

Indeed, the Sydney one is amazing! It's generally televised as well, which is great! I hope that sometime i'll be in Sydney when it's happening to go along and support, but so far I haven't been that lucky.

Thanks k-pod! It's actually synthetic. I wanted real hair, but after talking with my hairdresser and a few friends who've had to wear wigs after chemo, I decided on synthetic. Real hair wigs need to be washed MUCH more often, wilt in the heat, go frizzy when it's humid and need to be blowdried into shape every time you wash them. This one is just two minutes to put on, and ready to go! I wore it to work today, wasn't quite sure what to expect... I was a bit nervous, thinking that people would think I was vain or just laugh and me and think I looked stupid. But EVERY woman I worked with commented on how great my hair looked, and said "oh did you get it cut on the weekend?" I was just like "yep, got it cut. Thanks". Only one (a very close friend) pulled me aside and said "your hair certainly looks amazing.... but it's not YOUR hair, is it?" After I explained to her, she was like "good on you for doing something to make yourself feel better instead of just complaining like most people would!" So yes, relatively painless! I'll continue to report reactions, if any, over the next while... Thankyou for all the positive comments! Self-esteem boost to the max! :thumbs_up:

Hey Banditos, Well, you guys probably remember that I was having some issues with hair loss. I've now lost about 40% of my hair, and I was really paranoid about it. Basically, I thought I looked like shit every time I left the house. Very demoralizing. So I tried weaves, but it was never quite right, because most of the loss was around my face and I couldn't cover that with a weave. So after weeks of careful consideration, i took the plunge and bought a wig. The wig people were great, they do a lot of work with people who've lost their hair from medical treatment and they were really understanding. And I think it actually looks pretty decent! I feel like a bit of a sexpot, and let's face it, we could all do with feeling like that sometimes! It's the same colour and shape as my real hair is (was), so there's not a huge change to get used to. And for those of you who are visual learners -- I present a picture! (Excuse the face - tired, pale, no makeup - but just enjoy the "hair").

Oh don't get me wrong re: protein-enriched jello shots. I highly endorse this product and/or event. Yep, there should be a small black sensor bar that came with your Wii -- it will have double sided tape spots on one side, and needs to be attached to the top of your tv, right in the centre. It's very incognito. I'm sure your living room is very pretty, but the benefit of anything designed by nintendo is that, as with anything designed by Apple, it's very pretty too :thumbup: And it's all white and sleek and sexy. It is very inconspicuous tucked away in a corner, don't worry. Enjoy!

WOOHOO! Congrats!

I know what you mean... I keep thinking "So, when is this dream weightloss just going to stop like it did every other time?" And then I remember that this is not a diet, this is a lifestyle... and it's my lifestyle forever. And then I remember that i'm virtually half way to goal in only 4 months, and I can't stop smiling! :thumbup: :crying:

"You love me, you really love me! I'd like to thank the Academy....."

You've got to "give it all you got", punch like a madman and it's not difficult to break a sweat. Each round is 2 or 3 mins so I try to do 5 or 6 rounds in a row. It's great!

Ha ha where do I fit in? Neurotic or diva?

Woohoo, go Team Christine!

Woohoo! Congratulations! :eek: :biggrin:

Take Garfield's advice and throw it out the window! No seriously. The fact that our bodies fluctuate by up to 2lbs during the day means that unless EVERYTHING is consistent (food, Water, exercise etc) there will be inaccurate readings on most days. The best thing I ever did was restrict myself to weighing once a week, because I basically forget about the "scale anxiety" until thursday evening, and I normally get a nice reward! Eg, instead of half a pound in 2 days or something similar (little trickles), I get 3 pounds in a week, and feel such a tremendous sense of accomplishment! If you think you'll die without weighing every day, or you'll never be able to think of anything other than the scale, then just keep going as is. But maybe give it a try just once -- eg weigh yourself friday morning, and promise not to do it again until next friday morning. The anticipation will make you work harder and the sweet reward at the end will all be worth it!

Should probably explain myself more. Was fine until yesterday lunchtime, when I decided that Pasta would be a good idea. Boy was I wrong. I was PB'ing it pretty much immediately. So anyway, about an hour later I thought I should have something else, so I had about 10 cashew nuts -- I never have a problem with this. PB'd them within about 5 mins. Then in another hour, I tried two small cubes of feta, and PB'd them in 5 mins. So that's when I decided it would be liquids for a day to calm things down. Had a Protein shake for dinner last night, then about 3 tablespoons of icecream afterward (I rationalized it by saying that "the frozenness would help the swelling yaddah yaddah). Protein shake for breakfast this morning, and so far, all is going fine. It definitely feels like i'm quite tight though - I can only have a few sips of the shake then need to wait about 10min. The mad mind hunger was pre-pasta, and pre-PB'ing. It's still there, but I know that if i try to eat any of the things I'm craving I will have stuckness and extreme pain, and that's enough of a motivator to stop me So anyway, I'm doing liquids until breakfast tomorrow and i'm just going to see how it goes. I'll keep you posted!

Yep, you're right on the money. It's two years since my fiance and I split. I'm trying to keep in mind that it is currently my brain sabotaging my body, not my body actually wanting these things. While I have had a couple of indiscretions involving chocolate, it was like 8 squares, whereas before it would have been the whole block. So my willpower is certainly better than what it once was, I am no longer a binge eater, and i'm just going one day at a time. Hell, one MEAL at a time. Thanks rugman

Yep, I'm doing liquids until tomorrow morning, just trying to get rid of any inflammation. And i'm currently taking the center path I had a little ice-cream last night, because that is what i've been craving most. I didn't go nuts, just a very small serving (about a 5th of what I would have eaten pre-band) and was satisfied. Thanks for the support!