BlackBerryJuice

I recently traveled to the US and got fitted at Bloomingdale's. Turns out I'm a 32DD and not 34D as I thought. I tried on like 15 bras, and the two bras I ended up buying fit like a glove! One of them is a strapless bra that I can wear all day long without feeling uncomfortable and it provides great support - I thought the only way I could wear a strapless with my DDs would be if I got a full-on corset with boning. They weren't cheap, but holy, are they worth it! The crap from VS fades in comparison. From now on, I'm trusting my boobs to a professional.

Healthy: boil or grill them and add them to fresh spinach, sliced cucumbers, and avocado, with some salt and lemon as dressing. Less healthy: Stir-fry them in butter with lots of garlic and parsley along with other seafood (I usually buy a mix with clams and scallops), then add them to angel hair Pasta.

Has your hair started falling out? I had some hair loss around the 5-7 month mark, but that was only noticeable to me. I never had so much hair loss that I'd consider a hat or a wig, for sure. Yet other people go 1/2 bald. It seems that there's a lot of variation among individuals. Maybe you are just one of these people who don't lose much hair from stress.

Wow, it's crazy to go away for a month and then realize people are like half their size now! Well done!

Bfast: coffee with half-and-half/splenda, homemade maple oatmeal scone lunch #1: half a tuna/salmon sashimi with some rice, another coffee Lunch #2: other half of the sashimi Snack: banana dinner #1: 1/2 pint blueberries, blue corn chips with salsa, guac, and sour cream Dinner #2: planning on 4-6 grilled chicken wings and a vegetable salad with sour cream dressing

One of the best things for me - no longer having my thighs rub together! I always loved skirts and dresses, but summer was a nightmare and I was stuck wearing jeans or long shorts anytime I had to walk more than half a mile. Now I can walk 10 miles in a skirt and not blink an eye!

I haven't lost any friends over my surgery/weightloss, thankfully. One of my friends did stop working out with me after I invited her out for a cross-country run and completely dominated her. Not that I'm a great runner, but after shedding all that weight, I ended up returning to her like 10 times over our 30-min run, and now she won't answer any of my texts that suggest that we go work out together, haha. But I've lost friends over other things over the years....I had a ridiculous fallout with someone 2 years ago, your post reminded me of it because there was also stupid Facebook drama involved, what with her randomly deleting me and then posting crap about me on a mutual friend's wall. It was very much a one-way relationship and I'm kind of glad it's over, I didn't do anything wrong. I think she was bitter about where her life was going vs. mine. Some people just aren't worth your time, they only want you there while things aren't going well for you. Then the second you become more successful than them in one way or another, their true colors come out. I guess you guys had some good times together at some point, focus on that, but accept the fact that this friendship is done - and this is probably for the best.

I guess I'll join this thread, I've gotten down to as low as 136, but that actually required effort, which I just don't feel like expending, lol. I seem to maintain quite effortlessly in the 139-140 range. Whenever I go up to 141, I just add an extra workout session and cut out a dessert, and that extra pound comes right off. Whenever I get to 138, I feel ravenous and I regain that pound the second I have something delicious. I guess my body has finally settled at its ideal weight! I don't deny myself anything, just try not to eat treats more than once a day, and balance them with exercise. And I make a point of having 3-4 servings of fruits and vegetables/day. My stomach is definitely bigger now - I can eat a whole hot dog. However, I can also be content with half a protein bar for a few hours, or a handful of blueberries, and I still don't have any hardcore cravings or major hunger pangs. And I still eat way less than most - but no longer so little that it looks strange. Oh, and since we're talking bras - my new size is 32DD! I always assumed that size was for super-skinny chicks with giant implants, but I guess I was wrong!

Just an update, as I had my reunion earlier this month - the doucherino was not there. Also, I was the ONLY person who isn't in worse shape than they were back in college. Some people have packed on so much weight, I didn't even recognize them. I feel fortunate to have had the surgery.

Preparation H and diaper cream are not for fissure treatment. Fissures are deep inside the anus, you actually have to stick your finger in there to feel them (so cream meant for buttock rash definitely isn't meant for this area). It's literally a tear in the anus. Fiber is a good suggestion to make sure your stools are soft so that you don't traumatize the area further, but the gold standard is Diltiazem or Nitroglycerine cream - both relax the sphincter muscles so they stop spasming, which reduces the pain.

Quite the opposite here - I developed a taste for coffee post-surgery! And I started drinking beer, which I had always considered revolting!

I never had reflux before surgery. I do get it on occasion now, but I've also developed a coffee habit, so there's a chance that the coffee is playing a big role in that. I took Nexium for 3 months, as instructed by my doctor, but then I stopped. On rare occasions that I get very unpleasant reflux (maybe once a month), I just take an antacid and that takes care of that. I still have some Nexium left over, but I just don't see the need for it.

Well done!

I haven't been given any nicknames, just lots of "you look great!" type of comments. I kind of don't like it when people comment on my weightloss, actually. It makes me wonder what they thought of me 70 lbs ago. I went to a salon a week ago and the esthetician commented on how I look like "a woman who obviously takes care of her health." NO ONE would ever say that to me back in the fat days, but really, my lifestyle's not that different.

Voted. Good luck!