wicked

Sorry, just realized I never replied to your question. I do have excess skin. Not as bad as I thought I would have (nothing like the TV show Tight Skin, in other words) but I do want to have plastic surgery to remove excess skin from my arms and legs (my stomach is okay). I also need a breast lift! I'm much happier now, excess skin and all, than I was when I weighted 300 lbs.

I'm almost 1 year out of surgery and I went from a 26 to a small (top) and 8 (pants and dresses). I'm still hoping to lose about 20 lbs and go down to a 4 size for pants and dresses. The picture attached was taken this past February at 173 lbs and 9 months out of surgery. I went back to Texas for a vacation and posed in the exact same spot I posed for a picture at my highest weight (345 lbs) years ago.

Congratulations! You look wonderful... like a new person!

You look amazing!! Congratulations!! I'm always inspired by your posts and it's great to finally put a face (and a knockout body ) to your words.

My doctor and nutritionist told me that the first 6 months are the phase of "rapid weight loss" and that I should try to maximize my efforts to get the best out of this time. They didn't tell me that I would stop losing after 6 months though... that is the voice of my own fear. I'm glad to see so many people here who are still losing after 6 and more months; it gives me the hope and confidence I need to keep going.

Thanks everyone!!

Thank you!

I'm celebrating my 6th month anniversary today! I lost 91 lbs and have had no complications so far (fingers crossing this trend will continue). Prior to surgery, my medical team stressed that most of the weight loss happens in the first 6 months, so part of me now is thinking, "Oh shut, what if I don't lose anymore?" I still have at least 30 lbs to go... so this better not be it. I don't mind losing more slowly as long as I can continue to lose. I have loose skin, of course, and I guess I'll just have to live with it for now. But I'm happy, healthier and this is still the best decision I've ever made. I walk at least 2 miles (and sometimes more) every day and I go to Zumba whenever I can. Sometimes I get sad/angry and wish I had done this 5 years ago, instead of having that stupid lapband placed. But then I remind myself that I did the best I knew back then... and when I knew better, I did better. Here are my celebratory B&A pictures.

I take 2 Ursodiol (to prevent gallstones), 1 Multivitamin, 1 Vitamin D, 2 calcium, and 1 Iron pill per day. I take b12 vitamin every other day because at my last check up I had too much of it in my system so they switched it from every day to every other day. I take my 1st ursodiol and calcium first thing in the morning. I take the multivitamin, vitamin D and b12 together with food (usually lunch time) and than I take my 2nd ursodiol and calcium in the late afternoon and finally the iron before going to sleep (paying attention to have at least a 2 hours gab in between calcium and iron). The calcium is my favorite supplement because it tastes like a miniature chocolate brownie: https://www.celebratevitamins.com/calcet-creamy-bites-chocolate-fudge-90-count.html

Thanks everyone for the kind (and wise) words!

Thank you both for the kind words! I do feel good, but I still can only see the difference if I look at the side-by-side pictures. If I look in the mirror, I see myself just a little bit smaller than before (even though intellectually I know that 65 lbs is not "just a little bit," and plus it's 66 lbs as of this morning ). I don't know why the mirror reflects a different image to me than the pictures do, but I trust the process. I still have many steps to this journey and maybe I need to still give a proper goodbye to the person whom I have seen in the mirror for so many years before I can see what other people see. Thank you for the encouragement! It helps tremendously!!

I'll be 4 months out of surgery tomorrow (well today, since it's 3:00 am) and so far I lost 65 lbs. I'm thrilled about the number, but in all honesty I struggle to see what other people see. I look in the mirror and I see the same huge person. When friends and coworkers approach me and tell me, "You look small!" my first thought is that they are making fun of me. I usually answer, "Thank you, but I think what you meant is that I look smaller, not small." I still have a lot of weight to lose to be at a healthy place so when people use words like "small" I struggle to believe that they are sincere. In an effort to cultivate positive thinking, however, I went shopping today and took pictures of myself for the first time since surgery. I then put old and new pictures side by side to remind me that I am getting smaller and that I'm slowly but surely walking away from the old me (at least on the outside). When did you start to see yourself the way other people did?

Thanks for the latest replies to my thread. Just to update you, I did end up getting gastric bypass and the band was removed at the same time on May 13. I stayed with the same surgeon who originally suggested keeping the band in place. I simply told her I wanted the band out and she agreed to remove it. I'm glad I stayed with her because everything went well, and 3 months out of surgery I'm 60 lbs down. Not an easy journey, but very well worth it. I'm glad the band is gone. Good riddance!

I'm really sorry to hear about your experience. My medical team found specimens that they labeled "suspicious for Barrett" in my esophagus. I work in the same hospital where I had my surgery and all pre-op tests so I had access to my files. When I read it, I freaked out. They did a biopsy though and thankfully, I had not developed the disease (but I was very close). I googled Barrett esophagus and lap-band because no one had told me about this potentially serious consequence and I was scared. I remember finding a couple of academic articles, like this one: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19997783 From what I read, having Barret does not mean that you will develop cancer but it does elevate the risks and therefore requires you to have an upper endoscopy more frequently than people who don't have Barret (every 2 years, I think). I wish you the best of luck with safely taking care of this condition.

You are already look amazing after 3 weeks! I can definitely see the difference; keep up the good work and thank you for the inspiration!!