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Making a shopping list for the grocery store can help you make sure you get the healthy foods you need to stick to your weight loss diet. It also keeps you from wandering around the store and being tempted by the unhealthy foods that are there. Do you make a shopping list? Yes. I use an app to keep everything organized. Yes. I keep pen and paper in the kitchen and write items down when I notice I need them. Yes. I look around the kitchen and make a list just before I go to the store. Sometimes. It depends if I’m buying the usual foods or if I need something special. No. I know what I need and don’t forget while I’m in the store. Other (explain in the conversation below). Mark your answer and tell us about it in the conversation below. We’d also love to learn any of your tips for making a shopping list and going grocery shopping!

Hey everyone. I'm still waiting on insurance approval for my sleeve but hoping I'll get it soon and be scheduled for early next year. I was wondering if anyone had the sleeve done at Columbia Presbyterian/New York Presbyterian in NYC? This is where I'm having mine done. So far the surgeons and the nurses seem great. My biggest frustration has been on the administrative side of things with this hospital. Between people messing up appointments, scheduling issues and submitting incorrect information to insurance I want to pull my hair out. I'm wondering if its just me and if other people have had similar experiences?

Hello everyone, I know this is a forum for weight loss, but I already hit my goal and I'm looking for plastic surgeons in Mexico, I need a full body makeover!!! HELP!!

First please accept my condolences for your loss. Suicide is an awful thing, and it leaves much sorrow in its wake. I hope you find the strength to make peace with it in time. Truly that's all we can do when faced with how powerless it reveals us to be. As a fellow science nerd I just have to reply to the low T idea. Very interesting indeed! I hope you'll get some help from the endocrinologist. It may be a subtle change, but do keep us posted. Hugs... Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

A WOMAN'S WEEK AT THE GYM This is dedicated to everyone who ever attempted to get into a regular workout routine. Dear Diary, For my birthday this year, my daughter (the dear) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me.Although I am still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try. I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Belinda, who identified herself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear. My daughter seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress. MONDAY: Started my day at 6:00 a.m. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Belinda waiting for me. She is something of a Greek goddess - with blonde hair,dancing eyes and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!! Belinda gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which she conducted her aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring! Belinda was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time she was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week-!! TUESDAY: I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Belinda made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then she put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. Belinda's rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT-!! It's a whole new life for me! WEDNESDAY: The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot! Belinda was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. Her voice is a little too perky for early in the morning, and when she scolds, she gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying. My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Belinda put me on the stair monster. Why the Hell would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Belinda told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. She said some other s**t, too. THURSDAY : Belinda was waiting for me with her vampire-like teeth exposed as her thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late, it took me that long to tie my shoes. Belinda took me to work out with dumbbells. When she was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom!! She sent another little skinny thing to find me. Then, as punishment, she put me on the rowing machine -- which I sank. FRIDAY : I hate that Belinda more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic little cheerleader. If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat her with it. Belinda wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the darned barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director? SATURDAY : Belinda left a message on my answering machine in her grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing her made me want to smash the machine with my planner. However, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel. SUNDAY : I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my daughter (the little s**t) will choose a gift for me that is fun -- like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!

I really like seeing someone switch doctors and take control of their healthcare. Medicine in America is a for profit business. If they can drag you through 6 months of visits and then do surgery when medical weight loss fails and they know it will fail. They get to double dio and milk your insurance. It is more cost effective for your insurance to get you to surgery as soon as possible. Congrats on the adoption. My grandparents adopted my mom in their 50s and I am so grateful they did. They had so much love to share. Older parents make wonderful parents. Thank you for adopting.

Tomorrow I will have my first appointment with my surgeon. To say that I am excited is an understatement. I made my decision 9 years ago to have the surgery done. I have been over weight my whole life except once when I was going through a very messy divorce. During the 9 years a lot has happened. I became a first time mom at the young age of 53 to not one but 2. No I did not give birth we are adopting. I had a complete hysterectomy at the age of 25 so being a mom was never on my list but I did pray for a child of my own. I know that my age may play a factor, but I want a better quality of life and I want to see my children graduate. My husband is very supportive and wants what is best for my health. I have dealt with fibromyalgia for the last 20 years plus I am watching my fasting blood sugar go up. Diabetes is huge in my family history and it scares me to see it go up. I had an appointment with another clinic and was informed that I would only qualify for their medical weight loss and not the surgical. I informed them of my choice (my BMI was 39.9) I went back 6 weeks later, I had quit smoking (I smoked for 45 years) and I gained 12 pounds in 5 weeks. The nurse practitioner Add to dictionary informed my that there was people that gained weight just to have surgery. My BMI was now 41.2 and again I stated I was wanting the surgery and she informed me that the surgeon would not do the surgery and I would have to wait another six months to even be considered. I was very upset when I left so I called my insurance company (my benefits had already been confirmed that this was a covered procedure). Did I ever get a surprise, not only did I have someone that would listen, they called the clinic asked if they had a problem explained what had happened and recommended that I look for another clinic and found one for me. Tomorrow is that appointment along with appointments with the physiologist and dietician. By the way the other clinic called this week to inform me of the different surgeries that are now available to me. Yes I feel like this is a long post but there is a lot on my mind today.

Its so wonderful to hear from everyone and their great weight loss. I have lost a total of 53, 30 since the band. Its going slower than I expected, but at least its going.

It’s always best to follow the diet you were given as it will be to follow their post surgical plan. As @liveaboard15 said different surgeons require different diets. My surgeon would put different patients on different diets based on the amount of weight they had to lose, their weight loss history & their medical history. So my friend was on all shakes, her friend was on two shakes & a meal & I was on keto. You can always ask your surgeon why he requires you to follow the all shake diet. The first five or so days are the hardest as you break some addictions & dependencies. You may headaches, low energy, etc. almost like withdrawal symptoms but better to get past this before surgery than after. Some people slip on their pre surgical diet. A slip is okay but regularly going off plan isn’t. The diet is required so you lose some weight to improve your health, reduce fat around your liver so your tummy can be seen more easily during surgery &, as above, break some habits & food dependencies. You can do it. It’s only two weeks. Some have to do it for three or more weeks.

Awesome job. Great weight loss thus far!

Yes you did ruin everything!! If you are into drama this is true otherwise; get a grip and move on. Do not continue on this path. Stick to your weight loss eating plan and trudge forward!! You can do this!!

The chances of having gall bladder issues after WLS are quite high. Obese women are at higher risk to begin with as estrogen appears to influence the development of stones and obesity is thought to cause reduced bile salts in bile, leading to the formation of stones. Add rapid weight loss (when cholesterol is concentrated in the bile due to weight loss) and the risk increases again. Older people tend to have more gallbladder problems, as well, simply because there is more time for stones to develop, and a diet low in Fiber and high in fat also can lead to stones. About 1/3 of WLS patients will end up having gallbladder surgery. If you're experiencing pain in your abdomal area or it you notice yellowish tint to your eyes that could be a sign of gall bladder issues. Having said all that I did end up having my gall bladder removed after I had my WLS it happened to me the day of my release appt with the surgeon post op. I was having trouble staying hydrated and I was very weak and had a yellowish tint in my eyes so when I went to see my surgeon for follow up they ended sending me to the ER for fluids, X Rays and observation. To make a long story short I was admitted and ended up staying eight (8) days in the hospital. I had two (2) GI that were unsuccessful in removing the stones (which turned out to be more sand like then stones which made removing harder) so they decided to remove my gall bladder all together. In my opinion it should be removed during WLS. Just my opinion..

I was the same way, took 18 months before I could consistently get my daily Protein. My NUT instructed me to eat ONLY protein foods and take my Vitamins. NO salad, veggies, fruits and of course no bread, potatoes, Pasta, rice, flour, sugar or starchy veggies, but those things will rarely be included in my diet anyway. Eat very slowly, chew very well and stop at the FIRST sign of full. If that doesn't help with the pain, you may want to contact the surgeon. CONGRATS on the great weight loss, though!

Did anyone loose there hair after LB? And what was the out come?

No required weight loss for surgery, just a six month supervised diet. And my surgeons office documented that by dr appts and nutritionist appts once a month.

Oh hey, I found a sticky topic in the general weight loss forum that links to a surgery checklist. You might find it helpful! The Official What You Will Need For Your Upcoming Weightloss Surgery Thread! http://BariatricPal.com/index.php?/topic/181994-The-Official-What-You-Will-Need-For-Your-Upcoming-Weightloss-Surgery-Thread%21 Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Ok, im scared now!! I'm done with my 6 months and waiting for approval! ! Your the first person I have heard talk about memory??? That's really scary!! ! After my grandma had open heart surgery it was very noticeable she had memory loss and in her late 70's she went into dementia really quick;( it's the length of open heart and being under anesthesia that long. So how bad has it been? Has it come back??? Is it noticeable to family and friends???? I will be 47 next week!

It has been 4 1/2 years since I was banded and I have had a variety of ups and downs with my weight. I have remained the same weight now for the pat two years and that is 87 pounds lost since I started this journey. I do miss eating a lot of things I could before being banded but I definitely don't miss the weight, the way I used to feel and all the medications I used to take, so I guess it is a good trade off. I still find myself falling into old eating habits at times and hopefully some day I won't do that any longer. I am no longer diabetic, I don't have high blood pressure, I can walk without my ankles and back killing me and have more energy than I know what to do with. Some have asked if I regret my decision to take this course of weight loss, my answer.....I miss some things but I definitely do not regret for one minute my decision. I keep a picture of the "old me" on the fridge as a reminder that I never want to go back there again.

I learned to NEVER give up hope. There are things in life you may not even know exist that can help you. Recall I had come to the conclusion about a year before that I could never lose weight on my own cuz My body was in so much pain that excersize was out and life was just too hard. I couldnt do it when it was alot easier. I had NEVEr admitted defeat about anything before. I had to. Once I did it became alot easier to live with myself. So.. It happened by acident: I had been givin some ULTRAM (non narcotic pain pills) for my menstral pains (obgyn) and soon found my self able to be more physically mobile. I realized I was being all mobile cuz my body didnt hurt. It was a magical day. I was sorting laundry, washing it, drying it.. as if I hadnt just spent the last year Sitting on top of it for three hours, sorting as I sat. And having the kids put the loads in. I discovered PAIN pills, and how if your body hurts and you releive that body of hurt, it functions better.. (I swear it was like finding the meaning to life) I could clean the house, feed the animals, park myself, check the mail, wash my hair...etc etc. I COULD ALSO get some excersize in and focus on my health not on my exhastion and blinding pain. I HAD HOPE AGAIN.. I was alive again. I was SAVED! NOt so fast: My doctor was a fucking cunt from hell who I wish I could confront and humiliate to this day. (all the reasons why will NOT be covered in here) I told her a million times in the past I had constant pain mostly in my back. NOw, I told her how the pills (prescribed by a gyno) had releived that pain and that I would like to have some more for every day please. She laughed in my face. (OH god if you could see the faces she made!) She said I was too "euphoric" about my new found mobility and ability to LIVE a real life. She said narcotic Pills are not prescribed to make people feel happy about their life. She said "cocain makes people feel good, should they do it?" I told her I didnt feel high at all, I knew what high feels like, I wasnt euphoric, If I ever became euphoric I would report to her.. I was willing to start on a low dose. I tried to get her to understand that I WANTED THE PILLS TO RELEIVE THE PAIN IN MY BACK AND BODY.. and BECAUSE that pain was releived, I was able to be my normal happy self. IT WAS NOT the drug making me happy.. SHEESH Finally she says "there is nothing wrong with you.. your obese and your out of shape and your simply having aches and pains and if you would drink more water, excersize and take care of your self, You will feel alot better." She said the way I referred to it as getting my life back showed that I was overly sinsitive and dramatic and extreemly emotional. She also said this is the cause of my pain. That If I had a more possitive and brighter look out on life, I wouldnt have the pain I THink I have. (the thought of her checking my back or doing any kind of research at all to see where my pain was coming from.. was not discussed or thought of by me..I just didnt think of it. If I had I would of asked her to check me out, she should of done that nayway) When she normally said these things, I felt belittled and I shut down. BUT nOW, MY LIFE was at stake. So I tried to show her why I knew those things werent true. I knew what pain was and how to listen to my body. I was NOT stupid! I explained that I had left a crackwhore mom and quit a very bad life of crime and perversion and addictions.. I made a life for myself and my children from age 16, I graduated high school in the top ten, I went on to get my AA and then moved all alone to get my BA.. and I had walked through floods to get the kids to daycare, and worked any shit job i could find, I raised really good kids and I never ever left them, I have lived in my car with my kids for two weeks JUST so we didnt miss any school, and I walked 40 blocks sometimes when my car broke down to college and back rather than risk doing poorly or missing school. I told her how I excelled in every job, I was teachers aid and the next year made a preschool teacher (unheard of for a student) I then taught the incoming students on how to be with the kids and I AM the one who came up with the curriculum after taking a 500 level class..and it was used for the two years I was there. I was trained and became cetified to provide foster care to kids 12 to 21 (though I never took them up on it) The agency pratically begged me to write a proposal so they could open a much needed teen parent home.. I got on at Rape crisis and soon I had the key to the office and the pager for weeks at a time when the rule was no more than 48 hours and it was cuz I outshined and prooved myself to be better than most. Much more. I never had a man taking care of me, and no parents and didnt need friends either. My kids were in every sport, I was room mother. I did special needs child care, I organized city block garage sales, I threw parties for the college housing kids, Those things above were VERY hard for me. I was young, alone, mom of three, poor and obese. I told her that I bust my ass everyday, I have been for a long time. I told her that I dont feel happy unless I am exhausted and feeling my efforts and find it unsettling to lay around and relax. I told her I am not affraid of pain. I kinda thrived on it. I told her that I go 100% almost every day and it barely covers the basics. She snorted at that. Didnt tell her: (I have fallen, passed out and bruised myself at times because its not in me to quit, It makes me feel like shit. So i go too far. I happend to have developed a habit of self abuse. BUT its not abuse if you like it!) I know doctors dont like it when you go on and on (protest too much) BUT I NEEDED her to stop assuming I was some obese lazy loser who didnt know anything. My degree was in psychology. I KNEW plenty. Still she refused.. asking me "what are you doing now" "I HAD TO QUIT SCHOOL cuz of the pain.. I can hardly manage my day" Scoffed.. I tried one more thing.. That IF my pain wasnt really real, that the pain pills wouldnt have that affect.. and if I was depressed and lazy and unmotivated ... HOW and WHY would I suddenly start doing all the things I always did before I got the pain. I would still choose to sit around and be lazy and whine if that was true. She said that narcotics are very powerful drugs that fool the brain and give you a high that can make you do all kinds of things.. I told her I think If that was happeneing I would like do stupid things like druggies do.. BUt I happen to do the things I did before like laundry and the yard and wash the car (things I had stopped doin) She never really heard me and just said what she thought anyway. This was not one appointment. This was many over several months .... I refused to give up. I got the ultram for my cramps once a month and thus I had some to experiment with.. I found out that I never got euphoric, that I only needed like two pills and That they did indeed make me whole again. I saved some to take to camping and BAM, I was doing ALL the camp things I used to love but had to stop cuz of pain. I prooved it to myself over and over that I was NOT lazy and depressed. I made the mistake and told her this and she said I was misusing the pills and she was going to talk to my gyno about that. So here is some back story on the gyno.. this doctor (the cunt) had dicked me around for almost two years.. I had extreme menstral pain and begged for help. Somehow she held me off for that long. I was never gave a pap and she was giving me depo and said I was lucky to get that cuz it did help alittle. ONE day after expelling a ruber chunk the size of a deck of cards, I refused to let her dissmiss me. She threw her hands up and said "GO TO A specialist, THATS all I can tell yOU" She was mocking me.. BUT I DID GO The obgyn specialist, listened to me for half an hour, told me I had some problems to take care of and look into and gave me the ultram for pain. (I have had two ablations and soon to have a hysterectomy) NOW my doctor is threatning to call the obgyn. BUT, I had a nice conversation with the gyno about how my doctor said there were NO pills for menstral releif but anitinflamitories.. The gyno said ultram is used all the time. That I had symptoms of menstral diseases and would need a pap. She realizes I never had one in the two years and she asks me why and I said I didint know.. she explained it was highly irregular and she was shocked. I said my doctor never brought it up until she told me to see a specialist. She was nice to me and wanted to help me. Well the obgyn left practice and I had to turn to my doctor for the pills for my period and she refused, calling them narcotics and NOT for mentral pain. I told her that the obgyn said ultram IS for cramps (used all the time) and that she should doube check. And NOT a narcotic She wasnt saying that she didnt want to give them to me. She was saying that THEY WERE NOT prescribed for cramps. Ummm.. Can she proove it. One of them is wrong. So she faxed the file.. and came in laughing at me that there was NO history of me ever having ultram and that the obgyn had said I was a basket case and needed therapy to get over my fear of a pap smear. I told her I needed to schedule a pap.... and she said she didnt do them. I learned later that basetcase was mY words, and that my doctor had told the obgyn that I had refused paps.. NO I never! I wouldnt refuse, I wasnt that bold. had she told be about them I would of had one. SHe didnt tell me. Plus I found out she DID do paps all along. Well all I had to do is calll the obgyn offices and ask for another obgyn to look in my file and see what I was prescribed and please call it in.. It was done in 10 mimutes.. (she had lied again about not seeing it in the file, he had seen it jut fine) She wasnt happy once I prooved it to her and she had no excuse to deny me.. It was only 15 pills. like 5 aday for 3 days.. I needed them every day.

I learned to NEVER give up hope. There are things in life you may not even know exist that can help you. Recall I had come to the conclusion about a year before that I could never lose weight on my own cuz My body was in so much pain that excersize was out and life was just too hard. I couldnt do it when it was alot easier. I had NEVEr admitted defeat about anything before. I had to. Once I did it became alot easier to live with myself. So.. It happened by acident: I had been givin some ULTRAM (non narcotic pain pills) for my menstral pains (obgyn) and soon found my self able to be more physically mobile. I realized I was being all mobile cuz my body didnt hurt. It was a magical day. I was sorting laundry, washing it, drying it.. as if I hadnt just spent the last year Sitting on top of it for three hours, sorting as I sat. And having the kids put the loads in. I discovered PAIN pills, and how if your body hurts and you releive that body of hurt, it functions better.. (I swear it was like finding the meaning to life) I could clean the house, feed the animals, park myself, check the mail, wash my hair...etc etc. I COULD ALSO get some excersize in and focus on my health not on my exhastion and blinding pain. I HAD HOPE AGAIN.. I was alive again. I was SAVED! NOt so fast: My doctor was a fucking cunt from hell who I wish I could confront and humiliate to this day. (all the reasons why will NOT be covered in here) I told her a million times in the past I had constant pain mostly in my back. NOw, I told her how the pills (prescribed by a gyno) had releived that pain and that I would like to have some more for every day please. She laughed in my face. (OH god if you could see the faces she made!) She said I was too "euphoric" about my new found mobility and ability to LIVE a real life. She said narcotic Pills are not prescribed to make people feel happy about their life. She said "cocain makes people feel good, should they do it?" I told her I didnt feel high at all, I knew what high feels like, I wasnt euphoric, If I ever became euphoric I would report to her.. I was willing to start on a low dose. I tried to get her to understand that I WANTED THE PILLS TO RELEIVE THE PAIN IN MY BACK AND BODY.. and BECAUSE that pain was releived, I was able to be my normal happy self. IT WAS NOT the drug making me happy.. SHEESH Finally she says "there is nothing wrong with you.. your obese and your out of shape and your simply having aches and pains and if you would drink more water, excersize and take care of your self, You will feel alot better." She said the way I referred to it as getting my life back showed that I was overly sinsitive and dramatic and extreemly emotional. She also said this is the cause of my pain. That If I had a more possitive and brighter look out on life, I wouldnt have the pain I THink I have. (the thought of her checking my back or doing any kind of research at all to see where my pain was coming from.. was not discussed or thought of by me..I just didnt think of it. If I had I would of asked her to check me out, she should of done that nayway) When she normally said these things, I felt belittled and I shut down. BUT nOW, MY LIFE was at stake. So I tried to show her why I knew those things werent true. I knew what pain was and how to listen to my body. I was NOT stupid! I explained that I had left a crackwhore mom and quit a very bad life of crime and perversion and addictions.. I made a life for myself and my children from age 16, I graduated high school in the top ten, I went on to get my AA and then moved all alone to get my BA.. and I had walked through floods to get the kids to daycare, and worked any shit job i could find, I raised really good kids and I never ever left them, I have lived in my car with my kids for two weeks JUST so we didnt miss any school, and I walked 40 blocks sometimes when my car broke down to college and back rather than risk doing poorly or missing school. I told her how I excelled in every job, I was teachers aid and the next year made a preschool teacher (unheard of for a student) I then taught the incoming students on how to be with the kids and I AM the one who came up with the curriculum after taking a 500 level class..and it was used for the two years I was there. I was trained and became cetified to provide foster care to kids 12 to 21 (though I never took them up on it) The agency pratically begged me to write a proposal so they could open a much needed teen parent home.. I got on at Rape crisis and soon I had the key to the office and the pager for weeks at a time when the rule was no more than 48 hours and it was cuz I outshined and prooved myself to be better than most. Much more. I never had a man taking care of me, and no parents and didnt need friends either. My kids were in every sport, I was room mother. I did special needs child care, I organized city block garage sales, I threw parties for the college housing kids, Those things above were VERY hard for me. I was young, alone, mom of three, poor and obese. I told her that I bust my ass everyday, I have been for a long time. I told her that I dont feel happy unless I am exhausted and feeling my efforts and find it unsettling to lay around and relax. I told her I am not affraid of pain. I kinda thrived on it. I told her that I go 100% almost every day and it barely covers the basics. She snorted at that. Didnt tell her: (I have fallen, passed out and bruised myself at times because its not in me to quit, It makes me feel like shit. So i go too far. I happend to have developed a habit of self abuse. BUT its not abuse if you like it!) I know doctors dont like it when you go on and on (protest too much) BUT I NEEDED her to stop assuming I was some obese lazy loser who didnt know anything. My degree was in psychology. I KNEW plenty. Still she refused.. asking me "what are you doing now" "I HAD TO QUIT SCHOOL cuz of the pain.. I can hardly manage my day" Scoffed.. I tried one more thing.. That IF my pain wasnt really real, that the pain pills wouldnt have that affect.. and if I was depressed and lazy and unmotivated ... HOW and WHY would I suddenly start doing all the things I always did before I got the pain. I would still choose to sit around and be lazy and whine if that was true. She said that narcotics are very powerful drugs that fool the brain and give you a high that can make you do all kinds of things.. I told her I think If that was happeneing I would like do stupid things like druggies do.. BUt I happen to do the things I did before like laundry and the yard and wash the car (things I had stopped doin) She never really heard me and just said what she thought anyway. This was not one appointment. This was many over several months .... I refused to give up. I got the ultram for my cramps once a month and thus I had some to experiment with.. I found out that I never got euphoric, that I only needed like two pills and That they did indeed make me whole again. I saved some to take to camping and BAM, I was doing ALL the camp things I used to love but had to stop cuz of pain. I prooved it to myself over and over that I was NOT lazy and depressed. I made the mistake and told her this and she said I was misusing the pills and she was going to talk to my gyno about that. So here is some back story on the gyno.. this doctor (the cunt) had dicked me around for almost two years.. I had extreme menstral pain and begged for help. Somehow she held me off for that long. I was never gave a pap and she was giving me depo and said I was lucky to get that cuz it did help alittle. ONE day after expelling a ruber chunk the size of a deck of cards, I refused to let her dissmiss me. She threw her hands up and said "GO TO A specialist, THATS all I can tell yOU" She was mocking me.. BUT I DID GO The obgyn specialist, listened to me for half an hour, told me I had some problems to take care of and look into and gave me the ultram for pain. (I have had two ablations and soon to have a hysterectomy) NOW my doctor is threatning to call the obgyn. BUT, I had a nice conversation with the gyno about how my doctor said there were NO pills for menstral releif but anitinflamitories.. The gyno said ultram is used all the time. That I had symptoms of menstral diseases and would need a pap. She realizes I never had one in the two years and she asks me why and I said I didint know.. she explained it was highly irregular and she was shocked. I said my doctor never brought it up until she told me to see a specialist. She was nice to me and wanted to help me. Well the obgyn left practice and I had to turn to my doctor for the pills for my period and she refused, calling them narcotics and NOT for mentral pain. I told her that the obgyn said ultram IS for cramps (used all the time) and that she should doube check. And NOT a narcotic She wasnt saying that she didnt want to give them to me. She was saying that THEY WERE NOT prescribed for cramps. Ummm.. Can she proove it. One of them is wrong. So she faxed the file.. and came in laughing at me that there was NO history of me ever having ultram and that the obgyn had said I was a basket case and needed therapy to get over my fear of a pap smear. I told her I needed to schedule a pap.... and she said she didnt do them. I learned later that basetcase was mY words, and that my doctor had told the obgyn that I had refused paps.. NO I never! I wouldnt refuse, I wasnt that bold. had she told be about them I would of had one. SHe didnt tell me. Plus I found out she DID do paps all along. Well all I had to do is calll the obgyn offices and ask for another obgyn to look in my file and see what I was prescribed and please call it in.. It was done in 10 mimutes.. (she had lied again about not seeing it in the file, he had seen it jut fine) She wasnt happy once I prooved it to her and she had no excuse to deny me.. It was only 15 pills. like 5 aday for 3 days.. I needed them every day.

Awesome progress @@chevygirl10_24!! I'm excited for you to see what your loss will be by Christmas. My advice as a 3 year vet, take advantage of "honeymoon" period...it definitely gets harder and slower to lose as we get smaller. But, I can almost feel the joy coming out of you while reading your post. I remember those days! Good luck to you and keep us updated.

Hey ladies, I'm just two day post op. Now the nurse in me must step up and in. Remember they pumped you full of gas which your body must slowly get rid of. On top of the bloating and swelling and any number of things going post op with in your body. It is very tempting to think that you are going to have instant wt. loss, but we all know that's not the case. It is very unhealthy for the spirit to weigh yourself prematurely, very unhealthy. Start looking as if you did this for health and not to instantly loss weight. Weighing yourself often or even in these next 2 weeks before your Doctor's visit and true weigh in should not be done. Instead, concentrate on health, staying healthy, getting healthy, eating right and all the the other post op blahs, rather then your immediate weight. This should all be temporary, give your body time to do what it needs to do to heal without added pressure of how much it weighs now.

At 50 I know my skin issues won't totally go away either. My tummy has made some improvements, but other parts that I didn't expect keep nagging me. I now have frown lines in my face and have even developed dimples in my cheeks that I never had when I was thin. My hubby thinks they're cute. I don't. My face sags and I literally developed crows feet overnight. It all happened so fast I didn't have a chance to wrap my head around it. I aged a good ten years in 4 weeks time. It was like being in a time warp. Once I hit the "critical mass" stage of weight loss, it was a rapid change. My hair is only 1/4 of what it used to be. I've lost massive amounts of lovely hair. And like many of the rest of you, my arms are horrifying. I work out several times a week and have very hard muscles underneath, but when I hold my arms out they sway in the wind. Amazingly, my butt looks so much better. My tummy is getting there. My legs have shape instead of looking like stumps, but the arms and the face just blow me away.........

I saw this article by Geneen Roth (who writes some good stuff about weight, dieting and body issues) and it helped to put things into perspective for me. It might help you too. It's entitled: Worrying about weight doesn't help you lose it. Worry About Weight Loss - Stop Worrying About Losing Weight - Goodhousekeeping.com

How tall are you? I'm thinking a few things. 1) My mom was always thin and when she turned 50 she started gaining weight because of menopause. She cannot eat more than 1,000 calories or she gains. She is only 5'3 though. 2) Very good point made above about sodium. Try cutting out as much processed food as possible and see if the swelling subsides. 3) My older coworker exercised with a personal trainer and watched what she ate but never lost any weight until they found the right combination of pills that helped her body with the Water it was retaining. Now she is dropping weight relatively easily. My point is medication can cease or disguise weight loss due to swelling. Keep up the good work! You will get there. Sent from my KFFOWI using the BariatricPal App