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I was always very regular before surgery (2-3 times per day). Since surgery I've had problems with constipation, even Miralax took about 6 days (I think) to get things moving. My longest bought lasted 11 days. Now at almost 6 months out, I eat more of a balanced diet with fiber, etc. but there are still times when I don't go for 3-4 days. Earlier this week I thought wow, I've gained 1.5 pounds, but sure enough I realized I hadn't had a bm for a few days and after was back to the weight I had been (I know...way too much info.). FYI-Usually spinach and apples help me, but not always. Good luck!

My fingers and toes are crossed for you. I hope you get to feeling better soon. Why does life have to be so difficult?

Congratulations! Stalls can be so frustrating.

This is just my opinion and experience, BUT I have not been as successful as others...so take it for what it is. I followed the low carb diet (30 carbs or less) for 1 month pre-op and most of the first 3 months post-op. At that point I decided to try to lose the rest of my weight eating a more "normal" diet so that I'd be sure to be able to maintain once I got to goal. I also figured that if I stalled, I could go back to low carb. My carb intake typically ranges from 30-100 per day. Since New Year's Eve I've added a few too many simple carbs back in (mostly on the weekends) and really need to work on that. I'm in a bit of a stall right now, but REALLY want to get to goal (2 pound away again as of today) so I'm thinking I need to go back low carb for a couple of weeks. You may want to run your ideas by your nutritionist/surgeon. Mine felt I was being successful enough and didn't mind me doing it this way (well, I didn't really ask, but did inform). Good luck on whatever you decide. It's kind of fun (in a weird kind of way) learning how to live again.

Congratulations, that is such good news!!! You are doing so well on your journey.

Welcome Lauren! Good for you making the decision to become healthier. I was 29 and definitely wanted to live a healthier, more active life in my 30's and so far that is happening...so glad I did this. I wish you luck on your pre-op journey!

Don't apologize, you look GREAT!!!

lol about the Wii, yes it's a stickler. Glad you are feeling more normal. I look forward to your Friday post!

I so wish we could go shopping together! Next time for sure. I'll try to post some links later, but have you thought of going to Nordstrom Rack? I was there a few weeks ago and found great dresses. I bought this amazing red dress that I'm going to wear for Valentine's Day. And happy belated birthday to your baby!

I'd never hear of it, would love to know what you think.

I remember the first time I realized I couldn't use food to make me feel better post-op...it sucked, but thank god I had this tool in place. Good luck with your loan process, I'm rooting for you you!

Welcome to VST! Congratulations on getting your date. This is a great site to ask all the questions you have and get needed support. Keep us posted on your journey.

It does get better, at least it did for me. The month or two it was because it was all new to me and I spent a lot of time thinking about and planning what I would/could eat. Like renebeau said, once I got "in the groove," I became less obsessive. Good luck through this phase!

I've had this happen to me twice now since surgery almost 6 months ago, but I always had bad cramps, just not like this. My acne hasn't been any worse since surgery, but I always (and continue) to have breakouts at different points in my cycle.

This is just wonderful. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Jenn, it's hard not to feel down when the scale moves up. So I weighed the exact same weight everyday last week and again yesterday. I was excited to weigh this morning thinking I did so well in the eating/exercise department over the weekend and yesterday that there should be some movement. Well, the scale moved up 1.5 pounds today! It sucks, but I'll get over it. Eventually the scale will move in the correct direction, we just need to make sure we are following our programs and the weight will come off. Good luck this week, I'll be thinking extra positive thoughts for you!

Welcome Christabel! I wish you luck today at your appointment and hope your insurance approval process goes smoothly. My surgeon too feels this is the best wls option and wishes more insurance companies would cover it. Keep us posted on how things go today.

Today I had a gyn appointment. When the nurse took me back to get my weight she moved the 50 pound weight to 0, thinking I weighed under 150 lbs. :thumbup: She did have to move the 50 pound weight over again, but I was wearing my jacket (it was so cold, I wish I had taken it off--I could have had a weight under 150 on their scale). At Jazzercise tonight I weighed in on their scale and it read 151.4 lbs. Even though it's not my scale and doesn't really count, I can't believe actually weighing in the 140's is an actual possibility for me. It completely blows my mind!!! Not everything is roses and sunshine though. Although my weight loss has slowed down (I lost 9 pounds in December-less than any prior month), my lose skin is getting worse. Maybe it's just finally catching up with me. My arms (triceps) are so flappy...I've made a decision to start using 10 lb weights when I exercise. The upper part of my tummy has a lot of lose skin as do my upper inner thighs. BUT, I'd take these issues over being unhealthy and fat any day.

My audition to become a Jazzercise instructor is less than a month away. Today they offered a 2 hour class to work on movement technique for us trainees. I ended up spending an extra hour after that to work on certain moves, so spent a total of 3 hours exercising. I am so sore! I'm also starting to wonder if I might need to wait until April or June to audition. For the most part, my movements were okay...the main trainer walked around the room and gave us immediate feedback. BUT I had a lot of difficulty with keeping up with the proper intensity. I know it didn't help that we had to repeat many of the most intense parts multiple times. The problem is that for the most part I was working as intense as I could and it still wasn't enough. In two more weeks we have another one of these training sessions and our instructor said she'd let us know if she thought we might want to hold off until a later audition. I know that each week I'm building more muscle and getting stronger (I'm quite proud of how far I've come with strength and endurance since November when I had my movement screening), I just don't know if I'll be where I need to be by mid-February. I also know there are things I can do to build my strength/endurance, but don't want to push my body any more than I currently am, just feel I'll get stronger with time. So we'll see if I audition in February or wait until April or June. But, I am very proud of myself for making it this far and know that I will audition eventually. Today was just a needed wake up call.

For me there was no test. I sat down with the psychologist and we talked. I gave her the paper explaining what needed to be in her report to my surgeon and after we talked some she looked back over the surgeon's questions to make sure she had enough information to write her report. I ended up staying with her and attending regular therapy for the rest of my pre-op journey and immediate post-op journey. It was wonderful and I'd love to go back, just need to figure out how to fit it into my schedule. Good luck!