Sheribear68

Well honestly I “met” my husband on an Internet forum. We’re both huge OU fans and posted for YEARS on a football chat board (we had posted to and around each other for 6 years before we met at a website sponsored tailgate) Because of literally years of reading (and sometime arguing) with each other’s posts, I felt like I already knew his personality. We insta-bonded and were married 2 years later in 2015. Yeah I don’t find it odd at all to call each other friends after 6+ months of all we have shared and gone through together

And here is my today OOTD. on day 2 of the 9 day work stretch from hell. Figured I might as well have fun with animal prints while the weathers still warm enough for me to wear this top. Lol, I swear I have shoes, I keep them down the hall in another closet so they’re never around when I take my OOTD. 😂😂

I realized today as I was getting ready for Pilates that this thread was in the back of my mind. I was wondering what fabulous outfits I would see, the victories that we post, and the love and encouragement and sense of complete understanding that I’ve seen here. So many times, the insiders in our lives just don’t “get” what it’s like to feel so uncomfortable in your own body and how something so basic (clothing) hasn’t been fun for us for such a large part of our lives. It’s wonderful to have this site (but especially this particular thread) to share those victories and model our outfits and find a new love for our metamorphosis that would quite frankly be tedious even to those who love us the most were we to post daily progress pics. Love this thread guys!

CONGRATS on your first surgiversary and the weight you’ve lost! Hey you’ve now got years added on that you didn’t have pre-surgery so yes..... you’ve got sweet sweet time to get your goals in. I live in Oklahoma, which is in the top 5 fattest states. It always discouraged me to see so many MO people around, and I felt like such a hypocrite being a health care professional. Now that I’m almost “normal” BMI, (25.8–woo hoo) I feel even more of a responsibility as a FFF (former fat female) to let people know they don’t have to live trapped in this hell

Yes. I used to completely avoid PP bc is was so over the top sweet, but adding to iced coffee and milk I can have them. Plus now I’m feeling better about the fact that I’ve got a protein boost from them

It’s heart-breaking, isn’t it? My friend and her sister (who is just as SUPER-MO) live together, work together, and will most likely die together decades before they “should”. Their mother died in her mid-60’s from complications of MO and during this spring when I could get to the CICU, I got to spend time with their father. Poor man. He’s lost his wife to MO, and you can see in his eyes he knows there’s a better than even chance he will lost 1– if not both daughters- to MO. Sadly I think it’s too late for my friend. She’ll more than likely never get that transplant bc she’s too far gone to even be a realistic candidate at this point. As unbelievable as it seems, she’s noticeably put on even more weight since her 2-3 month stint in ICU. It simultaneously makes me so relieved that I was able to find my way out of that horrible labyrinth, but terribly sad that she never made it through. Meanwhile I still have who knows how many more years to watch her slowly kill her self. I hate it

Okay so Fnished yesterday with 20:4 (actually it was 19.5/4.5, but it couldn’t be helped) and I got on the scale this morning. My weight on Saturday am was 166.8 and as of this morning 164.2. Lol, I was smart enough to wait til IFing for a few days after my taco salad/wine feast of Sunday night. Loving this tool and will continue to hard-core IF/exercise/work through the next 9 days

Lol, hit send before I posted the pic! I’m so scattered today

Yes I’m finding that I’m either holding onto things still that are waaaay too big, or I’m completely avoiding items that are flowy bc I’ve associated “flowy” with “hiding fat” for too long. I bet eventually I get more comfy with different styles Today I went to clothes mentor and bought several things. I’m running late for Pilates, but here is a quick snapshot of some new jeans and a top I got. The jeans are a size 10 from old navy and I’m floored they fit. I think they’re a bit snug, but that could be DM. The top is from Talbots and it’s a size medium. Also a bit snug, but I’m currently buying for fall and a bit snug is fine since I plan on losing at least 15 more pounds

Sorry this is happening. Normally I would say to stay away from the negativity, but family is tough to avoid at times I know what you mean about how weird it is to be told you’re now too thin when you’re not even as thin as you’ve been in your life. My best advice is to ignore the comments as much as you can and be happy that you’ve made such positive movement in your life. Eventually this won’t be so new for your family and once they get over the shock of seeing the “new you” the comments will stop

Most docs recommend waiting it out a few months past the rapid weight-loss phase. Our labs aren’t going to normalize until about a year out or longer

Okay so it depends on your height, weight and body composition. When I was a size 22/24, I would have to lose 20-ish pounds to go down a size. I’m 5’7”, was reasonably fit for a 50yo woman in the high 250’s. Now I’m still in my losing phase. I’m 164 pounds, and a size 12 pants/medium tops. I find as I get closer to goal, I can drop just 5 pounds and my pants don’t fit anymore. I started Pilates 1 month PO, and I hit my treadmill 1-2 times weekly for some cardio. I have a scale at home that breaks down % of fat,muscle,water and it’s my fat % that keeps dramatically dropping. So my theory is that WLS surgery alters our metabolisms to burn straight fat and not convert muscle to energy. That way, every single pound we lose is pure stored fat, which makes for so much more dramatic of a size difference. People my current size who have never had WLS would rarely drop a whole pant size from “just” losing 5 pounds.

Yeah it was after cancer scare #2 in early 2018 that I was seeing a new, young, female PCP. I was so horrified bc I was in her office seeing her for the first time and I started crying when I saw my weight. I’d managed to gain over 20 pounds in 2017 and was falling apart bc of it. She wasn’t phased at all by the fact that I’d shown up as a hot mess. In fact, she’s the one who gently asked me if I’d ever heard of/considered WLS. I was stunned bc I honestly thought that WLS was just for the super-MO people (thanks to shows like my 600 pound life) so I didn’t even realize someone like me (bouncing between 36-42% BMI) would be a candidate. If my PCP had not put that idea in my head, I would’ve never come to it on my own due to just assuming I wasn’t “fat” enough. It took me several more months of researching, checking with my insurance, going to a seminar, and—quite honestly— gaining intentionally an extra 15 pounds so I could qualify, but once the idea was there and I learned what I needed to do and determined I was ready it all fell into place. Yeah, the months leading up to surgery after the decision was made was tedious. It took me over 8 months from decision time to surgery day, but now the reward is just simply life-transforming

Congrats!!! This is always such a HUGE milestone and is so important to us ladies! Keep on rocking it, you’re a rock star!

Side questions: I don’t totally hate exercise. For example my I LOVE Pilates classes, but HATE going to the gym. I have a nice treadmill at home that I bought over 3 years ago when I was struggling yet again to find an exercise groove and I walk/run/incline train on it 1-2 times weekly. I need to get in a better pattern of being consistent with that TM 2. I’ve always been a big water drinker, but I have noticed an improvement in my skin in spite of the fact that my jowels are more pronounced and is obvious I’m going to need some kind of facelift to avoid looking 5-10 years older than I am. I was the lady that would get acne breakouts in her late 40’s and I’ve only had 1-2 breakouts since surgery so there’s a vast improvement there. Of course it could also be bc I’m truly post-menopausal now so who knows if it’s the water or not. 🤷‍♀️

Lol, I love how so many of us realize there’s no way we’re going to be able to eat all of whatever it is we’re having, and make sure to finish off the protein first. It’s always comical to me to see the meat “missing” in the Afters bc I do the exact same thing 😂

I know, right? Back a few years ago when I was in a running phase, I could run 3-5 miles at a time and even though it wasn’t pretty, I could do a 5 mile run in under an hour. At that time I was “skinnier” at a weight in the 230’s. Mostly I’d run on a treadmill at the gym, but from time to time I’d run in my neighborhood. One time I was running outside and a really fit and trim lady was heading out to her mailbox. It was a cul de sac and she waited for me to run past because she was actually cheering and gave me a “high five” as I labored past her. I’m 100% certain her heart was in the right place, but it was humiliating to me. I ran on until I got a couple of streets away and then broke into tears right there on the street and walked the rest of the way home. Don’t think I ran outside again for a few weeks after that People run all of the time in my neighborhood and I’m willing to bet the skinny ones don’t get high fives from that lady. The pain and humiliation of that memory is what keeps my thoughts to myself. I have told myself though that if anyone ever gives me an opening, I will share whatever health history of mine they want to know if I can just impact one single person to make this choice.

Woo hoo! Just looked over my initial post from the August challenge and noticed I lost 7.2 pounds last month!!! *does a happy dance*

lol, well lying down and dying wasn’t an option so I chose plan A— survival 😂😂 Seriously though... thanks. It’s hard even now after 10 years to accept that what I did was quite phenomenal. In the moment, it was just surviving til the next step was over. I will say this though: people automatically assume getting cancer and being on chemo will make you emaciated— um... nope! I gained OVER 25 pounds of that hard-fought 40 and then added another 15 in the next year. The whole year of being on steriods, followed by the metabolic disaster of the chemo finally did in what my chronic dieting had not already destroyed. It took me a few years to admit it, but my metabolism was completely and hopelessly damaged. What funny is now that I know this, I see many many patients of mine who have also come out successfully the other side of chemo complain about inability to lose weight, pre-diabetes, and even full-blown type 2DM years later. Edited to add: It was a second cancer scare in early 2018 that got my butt motivated to do something like WLS to get this weight off.  Not sure if everyone knows this, but the number one risk factor for ANY kind of cancer is obesity.  Still being MO for 10 years post cancer was stressing me out so much.  Luckily scare #2 was just that— a false alarm, but I’m thankful now that it happened bc it was the wake up call I needed to make  this drastic of a lifestyle change.  

Ageee! Although my grocery cart back in the past would sometimes look like a health guru, and sometimes it looked like a 30yo bachelor planning a super bowl party loaded it up I’ve tried almost every fad diet known to humanity and then I’ve had periods where I got despondent and didn’t even try. I shudder to think what my cart looked like during those dark periods. To the average onlooker, it wouldn’t have seemed I would’ve been able to do this lifestyle, but the truth was that I was just sick and tired of being sick and tired in that moment. Luckily I never stopped searching and refused to just lay down and die. I kept fighting and came to know that WLS wasn’t just for the “my 600 pound lifer” it could be for “normal” people like me who honestly needed the metabolic reset and I knew in my heart if the metabolic reset was real instead of being a myth, then I had a great chance at making this work. Yes it’s VERY hard work and always will be, but so is being 100 pounds overweight. My heart aches now when I see people in actual physical pain from merely walking in their own body. Last week I went outside my pharmacy to give a lady her flu shot because she came through the drive Thru and when my tech asked her, she said she couldn’t get around very well and didn’t think she could make it inside to stand and wait. I knew who the lady was (EXTREMELY MO) and told her I wasn’t going to let her miss out and that I would go to her. I desperately wanted to have some kind of dialogue about my WLS, but just couldn’t figure out how to open it. At the end, I simply gave the shot (had to use a 1.5 inch needle and I pray that was long enough to get in her muscle) and moved on with my day.

Lol! Yeah, I’m definitely still in the “budget” phase because I’m hoping to go down at least one if not 2 sizes farther. I too will be open for advice and I too tend toward more, rather than less, conservative. I think part of that is my personality, but another big part of it is when you’re the largest person in the room, you don’t really want to draw attention through clothing, ya know? It will take some conscious effort on my part, but I’m going to try for bolder patterns and colors and more daring styles

Lol! I’m seeing the same in myself. Oh and your road trip outfit is PERFECT.

Yes. Cancerous. It was triple-negative breast cancer. Which is one of the most aggressive and fastest-growing ones you can have. it only has a 50% survivor rate and that’s when you catch it early. If it’s caught after it gets into lymph nodes..... game over. I was very very lucky. We got it when it was 1/8 away from my chest wall. Spent a whole year on very aggressive chemo and did a 7 week stint with radiation in the middle of the chemo. Because I was so MO (even though I’d lost 40 pounds, I was still in the 230’s) and my breasts were so large, nobody would’ve ever found that tumor until it was too late. Thank goodness for the running-induced chest pains

Yup. This is what I’ve been doing so far. I just get so dang tempted though sometimes

1. My personal goal: Practice intermittent fasting throughout the month and get a better mastery over this new tool. 2. VGS on 2/6/19. Still losing. 80 pounds gone, 20-25 to go. 3. CW: 166.8 (taken last Thursday) BMI is 26.2 4. Will choose easy because the first half of this month is going to be beastly for me 5. Favorite flaw: I enjoy eating on the same leftovers for days on end because it’s just easier that way. Ironically, even though I’d spent so much of my life MO, I’m not a foodie at all. Simpler is better.