B.Annie

I should have clarified - my bad. A square foot of muscle will weight more than a square foot of fat. This is why I explained that measurements help on this one. While the scale might show a gain due to muscle gain, measurements might show a loss - which would be the replacement of fat. HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 275 (preop 53# disowned)

My approval took less than 24 business hours. Even though that's rather unheard of, my PA said that she usually gets a decision in 5 business days. My state allows 2 weeks for the insurance company to make a decision though. HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 275 (preop 53# disowned)

I hope your surgery went well! Thinking of you today. HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 275 (preop 53# disowned)

By the way, I also love far away from family and have kept this decision a secret from everyone except my husband. I feel the solidarity. HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 275 (preop 53# disowned)

Progress! Good news. You and I are sharing the same life right now lol. My husband doesn't want me overweight but doesn't want me to have the surgery just because he's scared something will happen and believes it's unnecessary since I've lost 53 pounds preop and prove that I can lose in my own. The problem is, I'm a yo yo and have never been able to get anywhere near the weight I was when we met. He says he will support my decision if I feel it's best and I'm prepared for the distance for awhile too because that's how he handles stress and frustration and fear. We have 6 kids that we care for (3 biological and 3 non biological) so I won't be able to rest either. If he's anything like my husband, he will get much better as time progresses and just needs to see a happy and healthy wife through it all - even on days you feel like utter dirt. HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 275 (preop 53# disowned)

I had 188 to lose. I'm still only preop and have only lost 53 pounds so far and only 1 person has noticed. She said "it looks like you lost a little weight??" So I said yeah and told her how much and THEN she complimented me lol. Anyway my motivation has only been from non scale victories (NSV), goal NSV and incentives I gave myself for weight loss numbers. I posted my charts on another thread and I believe my profile but I'll also include them here just to give you an idea of what I mean. Sorry for low quality and poor handwriting lol. I didn't initially intend to share. The last pic is of my "skinny bucket list" / goal NSV HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 275 (preop 53# disowned)

I started my clear liquid preop diet on Wednesday and I woke up feeling a tad better today. Wednesday was hard, yesterday was a bit better but still very cranky. Praying today will be even better because my poor kids are dealing with mama crank right now. It's surprising how many people are allowed to have protein shakes like boost slim fast or premier protein (which is my favorite protein drink). I can't even have those after surgery because of the calorie to protein ratio. Too many calories for the amount of protein you get. My dr gave me a list of protein I can have and those I can't. For my preop liquid diet, I'm only allowed SF popsicles, SF jello, water plain or with protein powder mixed in, decaf tea, and low sodium broth. Only starting my third day and already hating the taste of it all. HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 278 (preop 50# disowned)

Exercise for anyone can cause weight gain. Two main reasons seem to be not increasing your fluid intake and increasing your muscle mass. Fluid needs to be increased during exercise or else you'll experience water weight. It's so counter intuitive, but water flushes out water retention. It's your bodies way of freaking out and holding on to what it has because it doesn't think it's getting enough. And then of course is muscle gain. We all know by now that muscle weighs more than fat, so if your gaining muscle, the numbers might reflect poorly. That's where body measurements come in handy. Lastly, there's always the potential that your body is in a stall mode while one or both of the above options are taking effect as well. Stalling plus muscle gain or stalling plus water retention. Keep at the exercise, increase your fluids, and check again in a week or two. Your body should get the right idea soon. HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 278 (preop 50# disowned)

SF = sugar free HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 278 (preop 50# disowned)

I don't know all abbreviations but here are some: HW = high weight SW = surgery weight CW= current weight GW= goal weight DS = duodenal switch RNY = Roux-En-Y = gastric bypass GS = gastric sleeve NSV = non scale victory I'm having a blank trying to think of what other abbreviations you'll see. Do you have any that you've seen and want to know what it means? HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 278 (preop 50# disowned)

Odd thought... have you gotten a new mattress since losing all this weight? My mattress is form fitted to my current shape and weight due to normal wear and tear so when I lose a lot, I expect the mattress to do worse for me. It would be like sleeping in an awkward shaped hole. Maybe your body is bent wrong when sleeping due to an old mattress? HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 278 (preop 50# disowned)

My surgery is scheduled for next week... and so is my period lol. Should be fun. HW: 328 (02/21/17) CW: 278 (preop 50# disowned)

Woot! Looking good!! I can't wait to be able to announce that I've disowned 85. When did you start? HW: 328 (02/21/17 CW: 278 (down 50 preop)

This is such good news and I look forward to experiencing it! Of course the random fear of "always being hungry" after surgery has popped up a few times. HW: 328 (02/21/17 CW: 278 (down 50 preop)

Psychological hunger thoughts. I'm getting plenty of protein and liquids in to be physically satisfied. The lack of chewing substance always makes my brain think it's starving. HW: 328 (02/21/17 CW: 278 (down 50 preop)

I'm in northern AZ. The only bariatric surgeons around are in the desert valley (Phoenix). It's not the worst length of time, but it's very twisty and drops 3000 feet in elevation. Just is disorientating and way too many accidents happen both ways due to it HW: 328 (02/21/17 CW: 278 (down 50 preop)

Akules82 thank you for posting your frustration. I'm still preop and already having some of these thoughts. Food is currently the only way my family socializes with my other family members so it is going to be weird to sit and not eat. I like the idea of grazing off of my kids plates for now. We currently always take home leftovers so I'm sure a few bites off of theirs won't be a problem. I'm only on day 2 of my week long preop clear liquid diet and those feelings are stronger than ever. I cooked dinner last night and no one really ate because they weren't hungry. I couldn't have anything so I was frustrated that I wasted time over the stove just to not even be able to enjoy it or have it eaten at all. That got me thinking about what my next 6 months is going to be like and I woke up a cranky mess. HW: 328 (02/21/17 CW: 278 (down 50 preop)

New date is 24th for me. How much did you lose in the process so far?

Also I'm on a clear liquid preop diet so can't have shakes anyway. have to have powder mixed in to my water

Premier protein was always my favorite because it was the one that had the most protein that I could find without carbs, sugar or other extra junk. My doctor gave me a list of preferred proteins supplements and I did the math and the protein to calorie ratio is 1 to 3 or 1 to 4 for almost everything On the list versus Premier protein is 1 to 5. That means it has more calories per gram of protein.

They just bumped my date to the 24th (instead of 26th). 1 week away! Starting liquid diet tomorrow

SO my preop appt with my surgeon went well. I signed some documents and got a folder full of every bit of information you could ask for from preop to surgery, discharge through post op life. Even a list of recommended and not recommended protein supplements. They gave me my pre and post op prescriptions and Then they said that I only needed a week of clear liquid preop diet so they moved my surgery day up from the 26th then 24th of this month (next week). The only thing that I'm disappointed about is that I have to go back down to do the hospital registration and pre-op tests on a different day. It's just one more trip that I didn't want to have to take considering it's an hour and a half away and I have been 6 kids. The office manager did say that even though they don't like to, since my surgery date is a week away they might be able to just do all the testing is the day of surgery and I would just go in a little bit earlier.

I'm having my preop appointment on Tuesday and I'm just wondering what to expect. What questions did you ask that you hadn't had answered beforehand? Did you do any hospital tours? What was a surprise at the appoitment? Im curious to see your experience! My surgery is scheduled for May 26th and I haven't seen my surgeon since my consult in Feb. I'm so excitedly to go in that my mind is going blank.

I did things a bit opposite of you but have a similar story. I lost 60 pounds on my own after being diagnosed it's severe PCOS and endometriosis. I was waiting on approval for a hysterectomy when a surprise pregnancy came. I was on 2 forms of birth control due to waiting for surgery and my son came through all of it. Well, I gained 100 pounds during that pregnancy and couldn't believe that I had worked so hard before only to have it all come rushing back on and then some. I was defeated, especially since even 2 years after giving birth I still couldn't couldn't lose even 5 pounds. I was referred to WLS by my PCP and here I am. Anyway I was talking to my husband last night because although he's supportive of the surgery and my feelings on it he really wishes that I could try to lose more weight on my own in lieu of surgery since I'm currently being successful pre-op. I explained to him that I had worked so hard for so long to lose weight before my son only to have it come on so rapidly when I was pregnant. And how I was just very tired of the roller coaster that I've been going through since high school. I'm older and I'm mentally exhausted of the fight. And I need a tool to help. My husband looked at me and looked at our son and said "but wasn't he worth it?" i hope you can answer that question easier than I could. My son is my life joy and I would never want to be without him. He's everything to me and honestly the best and easiest baby. But I still couldn't answer the question. I was mentally done with having kids before I got pregnant with him. I had 2 children already who were already preteens. I was having major life threatening health issues. I was excited to not be in pain anymore and I was almost done with the process of adopting another child who needed a family. All of that that stopped when I got pregnant. And I gained 100 pounds and end up leaving my beloved career to raise him. So while I do not regret him, I struggle with that question knowing what I went through- and what I couldn't go through- to have him. And still going through because of it. I did a lot of therapy just to get beyond the conflicting thoughts and am in a much better place mentally now. There is hope for it all, and reasons for everything. You just have to get beyond your own ideas of how things should be and move forward on the path you're brought to. Depression is the result of looking at the past. Anxiety is from looking at the future. Peace is looking at the path your feet are currently on and seeing which step to take just to navigate today. Good luck!