BlackBerryJuice

That sucks! I seem to be losing a bit more lately, as well. No clumps or anything dramatic like that, but I definitely have to clean my hairbrush more often and when I'm washing my hair, it seems that strands keep coming out no matter how many times I run my fingers through it.

Haha, you got me! I was like, "Did they leave an instrument behind or something?"

It's weird, I don't feel HUGE, but sometimes I still feel like I'm pushing 200 lbs and realizing I'm much smaller than I think is a surprise. Just recently, I was sitting next to someone who is definitely not overweight and suddenly realized my hips took up as much space in the chair as hers. I was like, "Wait, is that what my current size is? Holy crap!" Even funnier....the other day I complained to my boyfriend that he had adjusted the rearview mirror in the car, but he said he didn't. Then later that day I was at the theater next to my friend who's about 230 lbs and realized she's like a foot taller than me when she's seated, even though we're the same height when we are standing. Then it hit me - no one adjusted the rearview mirror, my ass shrank so much that I'm like 6" shorter when I'm sitting! LOL!

Today was the 2nd day that I weighed in at less than he did, so it's official! He's at 164 and I'm at 160. He immediately brought up the fact that he still has a lower BMI than me (he's at 23.5)...maybe I can beat him at the BMI one day, too!

Stretchy clothes, belts, and dresses/skirts (esp. skirts with elastic waists!) are great. Thrift stores are great for jeans and the like.

Scary! But it sounds like it's minor and was caught early, so everything will probably be just fine. You did the right thing by contacting your doctor ASAP when you noticed something wasn't right. Hopefully you're back to being healthy soon!

My healthy range is from 110 lbs to 155 lbs. I'm pretty big-boned and have lots of muscle mass, so I knew my ideal weight would be closer to the upper end of that range. I weighed 145 like a decade ago, before I started lifting weights, and was about size 8-10, so I think I'd end up in the 6-8 range if I weighed that now. I don't find excessive thinness attractive, so I definitely don't want to ever drop below the 130s. You just kind of play it by ear and take your bodytype and esthetic preference into consideration. I'm 160 now and let me tell you, there's definitely going to be more than enough left of me at 150...haha.

I'm into my 4th month post-op and haven't really had any issues so far. I'm seeing a counsellor once every 3 weeks or so, and I've mentioned this fear to him, as well, but so far there hasn't been anything to discuss on that subject. I was also worried about shopping, but it hasn't been a concern. I curb the oral fixation by drinking flavored teas and when I'm bored, I browse these forums or play a computer game.

Well, my original goal for Dec. 31st was 160, but I hit that today, so I guess it's up for review! I'm going out of the country for the holidays, so my last weigh-in will be on the 19th. I guess I'll be conservative and set my Dec. 19th goal at 155. SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal Chilo1.............216...................169..............154................15 Dansha...........220..................220...............195................25;) DJackson........246.................246...............220................26 Filosophia Scandinavia...205...205.............187...............17 (Will be sleeved on the 30th November) Fit ..................290.................250.8..............235.8............15 GayleSBennett ....232.................201................189...............11 Good Luck everyone! =) Juliarh............303.6.................247..............225................22 Kgremmy........225..................221..............199................22 (being sleeved 12/14/10) Labrys............238..................208.................193...............15 Laylasmojo......242.................200.6.............185.............15.6 LilMissDiva........247...............245.2.............226..............19.2 Lisalu..............210..................137..............130.................7 Maddie............257.................167................147................20 merieri............240..................206...............190................16 Mini-Me...........203...................131.4..............125.................6.4 (Down 1.6 - This challenge is working!) Mommy2Girls....275..................256.............240...............16 mp8btpc.........199...................160...............145...............15 pattimomof3NJ.....203.4..........183.4............170...............13.4 (start NY on an even number!) Sleeve 4 me ...204...................176..............164...............12 Stacy160.........258..................174...............148...............16 StaySea........299...................299.................275.............24 twoboysandagirl..226..........212................199..............13(being sleeved 12/6) val28...............254..................153................145................8 Secret Surgery.......204..............204..............185..............19 (Sleeved 11/25/10) Nikkeystar............292.............292................275.........18 Avilda .................270.............196..............184............12 BlackBerryJuice...........208...........160...........155..............5 (Dec. 19 goal)

Yeah, you could definitely "beat" the sleeve if you really wanted to. My surgeon, during his pre-op "this is a tool and it's up to you to use it right" speech to us, said that he had a pt who lost all her excess weight, then like a year later, suddenly started packing on the pounds at an alarming rate. They went over her diet, and she was drinking 3 frappuccinos a day! These things are like 800 cals each! So take 3 of those, add the solid food she'd be eating on top, and couple it with a sedentary lifestyle, and packing on 2-3 pounds a week doesn't sound that unrealistic anymore. P.S. I love your avatar...haha.

Today is my 3-month surgiversary, so I took some photos, but there's something wrong with the board and it won't let me upload them to my gallery. So I decided to post here until that issue is resolved. In this post, I have 3 pix of me on the day before the surgery, and in the next post, I'm gonna have 3 pictures from today.

"I was thinking of you, so I grabbed those:" 1) bag of Twizzlers 2) dark chocolate bar 3) Pretzel M'n'M's 4) Shortbread Cookies With friends like these, who needs enemies?

I don't think there's much you can do outside of surgery (lift +/- implants).

Haha, I like it.

I'm in Canada, so our Thanksgiving was about a month ago. We went to my boyfriend's grandparents' place. I bought a cake at the farmer's market and claimed I made it. Yesterday I was pretty mad....we have regular potlucks with a few of my friends, and this time they basically told me my boyfriend and I were hosting it. I'm not a big fan of hosting parties on Fridays because I'm extremely busy in the last few days of the week, so I asked if they'd mind doing it today or Sunday, but they were hell-bent on Friday. 2 out of the 6 people told me they weren't coming a few days prior, so I knew it'd be a small event. I slaved over the stove for 3 hours (at the expense of studying for my weekly Friday exam) and now there's about an hour's worth of dirty dishes in the sink....and the remaining 3 people out of 4 cancelled at the last minute! Literally, the potluck was scheduled at 6, and sharp at 6 I got 2 phone calls and 1 text saying "sorry." My one remaining friend showed up, so we just ordered pizza for the 3 of us, because we just had the cake I made and the appetizer she brought, so there was no main dish. Never hosting anything again!

I've been eating fruits and vegetables since about a month after my surgery - not counting things like watermelon that I could have right away. I can have sandwiches, but I will always take one of the bread layers off, otherwise is too much. I can have half a regular sandwich (like a grilled cheese or something, not a Subway sandwich), without one layer of bread. I haven't tried tortillas, but I've had naan and pita bread and they are both ok in limited quantities. If I'm at school all day, I'll often buy a 9" pita with tons of veggies in the morning and it will feed me until I go to bed. Rice is ok in very small quantities. If I'm eating sashimi, I'll grab maybe 5 grains of rice with every piece.

She might just mean dry skin - very likely if you are not getting much fat. If you have dark skin, dryness can make you look ashen.

My boyfriend and I eat out basically every evening. I order pretty much anything I want, but avoid bready things as they don't sit well with me. The only difference between now and before the surgery is that I take 80% of my meal home with me - provides for lunch the next day. Sashimi is my favorite for eating out -low-cal, tasty, high Protein. Too bad it's pricy and leftovers are only good for 1 day.

Hm, I'm posting this on the IP version. Did you switch to a different browser or something? Everything works fine for me, it seems.

I say, give yourself 2 weeks. I found that even though I was gung-ho to go get stuff done after a week, I'd tire out very quickly. If you start earlier, you may crash after a few hours on the job. Plus who knows how easy of a recovery you're going to have. Mine was relatively uneventful, off painkillers after day 5, but I've seen posts about people who were in quite a bit of pain.

I don't like the super-sweet stuff anymore. I used to love milk chocolate (and various versions of it, e.g. with caramel), but now it's just too much. I'm more of a dark chocolate person now. Same with other sweets. I used to love all those Coldstone/Marble Slab-type ice creams with lots of mix-ins, but a few weeks ago I got one, and it was total overkill. I also find some things to be disgusting, e.g. those cafeteria sandwiches with luncheon meat and butter/mayonnaise on them. I'm a student and my friends and I always scavenge for free food at events. Last time we got some sandwiches and I had to spit them out, because they tasted so nasty to me - before, we'd eat them all the time.