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First off, WOW!!! 30 pounds is so awesome!!! As far as your weight gain... Your body is in starvation mode. Your switch in higher calorie foods has caused your body to hold on to every calorie BECAUSE it's in starvation mode. Your body is adjusting. If you're following your doctors orders, your are doing nothing wrong. It is normal to see fluctuations from time to time, including stalls. You're fine. Keep doing what you're doing. dde09

It's healthy to want the things you want. What you desire is healthy. The problem is when we are unhealthy for whatever reason emotionally, we choose unhealthy partners. I'm going to go out on a little limb here and may be way off base. What I think from all you say is that early on you both had issues. I suspect he was really the charmer when you initially met as young adults. I also suspect that the mask fell off very fast, and you've been dealing with a lot. I also suspect he's a bit Narcissistic. I don't like labels but the comment regarding you being crazy as you implore him to not treat you as he does by asking WHY he does, kind of stood out like a huge red flag. Whatever is happening with him is bad. There is a poster on here who suggested a book for you and described her own abuse. She hit the nail on the head. And you did too when you talked about the fat you gained being so tied to your childhood issues once you were married and realized the status quo of your bad marriage. The weight gain is like insulation, comfort when hurt. I think your best recourse is to get counseling on your own. I even suggest a therapist, because if he is a Narcissist, or has some other mental issue, he's probably nearly broken your spirit. I can almost imagine the emotional roller coaster you've been on. The label doesn't even matter, what matters is he's being utterly selfish and cruel. And I'll tell you something, I was with an abusive guy too. Spent 14 years trying to get away, once I did, wow. I felt better. I learned a lot. What we don't know is how stumped our own self growth is when we stay in relationships that negate us from who we really are. I think counseling as you break away will help you, this way if things get ugly you're not completely without someone to lean on. Also one last piece of unwarranted advice, please. Don't engage him about the weight issue. Don't bring it up. If he brings up your weight, just listen and say you understand his views and let it go. Be kind and pleasant but don't engage arguments or rude comments. Be like a strong object, feel little, react even less. Otherwise he just takes more pot shots and you give him more fuel to fire. You'll be in my prayers and thoughts. If you feel you need to message for any reason, please do.

Awww I wouldn’t stress out too much! That little amount of gain could be hormonal, retaining water, or just a bit of constipation. My weight fluctuates about a pound throughout the week. I weigh myself every morning. After strength training, I’ll see a small weight gain the next day. Then it will go back down. Then after a cardio day, it’ll go down a bit more. But it is not consistently going down every single day. Just stick to your plan and it’ll come off!

Couple of things! Thank God I found a cooker! My BF loves to cook, (now if only I could train him on healthy things!). Sometimes we fight about who gets to cook dinner. One of the many things that I will miss when he goes to night shift. However, there are certainly a few qualities that I am not going to miss!! I eat pizza every once in a while, but just 1 piece. It is funny (though not a license to eat pizza daily) but every single time I have eaten pizza I have dropped at least 1/2 pound the next day. I will get to the suspected reasoning behind that later in the post. Stay tuned for a science lesson. As for your lunch. The reason you may be starving is that all of that food is on the mushie side. For me the only way that I can stay full is to eat very solid food. I had a chicken burger for lunch with some peas and that kept me from 10:30 until 2:30 before I was starving again. Now I just had some of my chicken and three bean chili and it will last me until dinner around 6. I have given up yogurt and cottage cheese because 20 minutes later I am hungry (no matter how tight my fill!) Yep and I finally have a mom that I can honor! So how do I get up. Shear determination. I needed to get my lists together for my students so they know if they are failing or not and I was motivated because if they have not met the standard then I get to make them have lunch detention. It was a good reason to get up! And yes I am crazy. I don't usually have a problem getting up early, as long as I can go to bed early. Alright here is my best impression of a biochemist! WARNING THIS IS HIGHLY SCIENTIFIC:thumbup:, BUT YOU MIGHT GET SOMETHING OUT OF IT! I got some help from a biology teacher. For anyone reading that has a degree in biochemistry and can add to this please feel free. This is just what we came up with in the 20 minutes we were talking! 1. There are 3600 calories in 1 pound of fat. Calories are not something that you can touch. It is the energy stored in the food. To be more specific it is stored in the bonds that hold the chemicals in the food together (carbohydrates, fats, proteins). 2. When you eat the food the body has special chemicals (called enzymes) that exist in your cells that can break apart the different nutrients that we eat. Those enzymes are like little kids playing with legos. They take apart one structure and build something else. In the process of breaking down the nutrients that we eat, energy is released. That energy helps fuel other chemicals whose job it is to transfer then energy to where it is needed. One of the places that it can take it is to the storage chemicals. There job is to take the energy and some of the parts of the nutrients that we eat and make fat molecules to store for future energy needs. 3. When we exercise our body has three places that it can pull the energy from to keep our muscles going. The first two places run out of stored energy VERY quickly (like in just a few seconds). Then our body starts burning the fat stored in our bodies. Just like those enzymes we talked about earlier break down the fat in our food, they can break down the fat in our bodies. Only this time the energy goes to help repair our muscles or to heat up our bodies or to make sweat! The biggest part however goes to fixing our muscles. 4. When we exercise we cause little tears in our muscles (its a good thing) and our body needs to use some of the broken down nutrients to fix them. So here is why I think that we hold onto weight a when we exercise so hard for several days in a row. First, our body feels the need to replenish some of the fat that it burned that allowed us to workout. Just like everything in biology the system (our body) likes to stay the same. So our bodies think that they have lost something that is necessary and keeps trying to replenish it (our fat molecules do not look at the number on the scale and do not look in the mirror:lol:). Also, when we keep exercising so hard our muscles keep getting torn (very small tears) and so the body is not as efficient at keeping up with fixing them. When we take a day or two off, the body goes into full fledged repair mode and it takes a lot of calories to completly repair those muscle tissues. Therefore during the days that we stop exercising our bodies are still working and using up those excess nutrients at the same time that the body has STOPPED storing the fat. Hence we see a weight loss. 5. Okay are you going to gain 1 pound if you eat a pound of food? Yes and no. If you were to drink a gallong of water and not go to the bathroom but step on the scale you would see an 8 pound weight gain. But that would be the same if you just held the water in your hand and stepped on the scale. But that weight would NOT be fat weight which is what we are concerned about. Once you go potty the extra weight of the water would go away. However, if you did eat 3600 calories worth of food you would gain 1 pound of fat, because your ezymes (the little lego building chemicals) would have enough energy to build 1 pound worth of fat. :mad: 6. Now if you don't eat enough calories your body does think that it is going to starve (not get enough energy to make more nutrients). You will not lose fat because it will take the energy to build them in case for some reason you have to stop eating all together. This is why you could live for 3 weeks without food, but only 3 days without water. But did you know this? If you did not eat for 2 weeks, your body would not break down as much fat as it would muscle. Protein (what your muscle is made of) is easier to break apart than fat is. Plus your body is trained to STORE fat for future energy use, so why would it take it apart, when it worked so hard to put it there in the first place! Alright my head is going to explode and I need to get to the gym, so I had best sign off. I hope I didn't overload anyone. I am not responsible for painful memories of school, science class, or any other adolescent memories!

All this talk about clothing sizes...does anyone else have THIS problem: my legs are probably a size 16, but 16s won't go around this ball of fat/skin that hangs down in front of me! I have to buy 18s (and they're TIGHT, but keep me from eating crap) and then they're loose on the legs! Same thing with dresses...have to buy the bigger size for my damn tummy, but it's loose everywhere else! Now I blame this pannis (technical term) on my 12 1/2 lbs. baby (and subsequent large babies) and just a little on my weight gain so sometimes I think I DESERVE to have this "badge of honor", but I'd sure like to have some pants/jeans that fit properly! I'm not having trouble with holiday treats...but I do make fudge for Christmas and ALWAYS have too much of that...maybe I'll do something different this year? ...... nah, I'll just work out more! :-)

Hi! I am new here and I just got approved for surgery Feb 12, 2013! I wanted to introduce myself and am so appreciative to find this forum. about me: I have been struggling with weight since about the age of 8. I remember going to weight watchers at the age of 12. After college, I gained 40lbs in one year. I have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) which doesn't help with the weight. I love to eat- I eat for all occasions- happy, sad, stress, etc.... BUT I am tired of food ruling my life! I have always lived to eat and I want to change that. I want to eat to live! I gained more weight after two kids and have been quite miserable. I have done many different diets and lifestyle changes but it is typical...lose weight, gain it back plus some. I looked into surgery a couple years ago but my insurance did not cover it. In November, we switched insurance companies and they cover it! Here is my timeline of events: 11-10-12- Information session 11-12-12- Verify benefits 11-12-12- complete and return questionnaires to doctor 11-16-12- view on line EMMI presentation 11-29-12- Bariatric screening with nurse and dietitian 12-10-12- psychological evaluation 1-3-13- Consult with surgeon- Dr. Amir Heydari 1-21-13- Request for authorization for surgery sent 1-24-13- Approved! wow that was fast (though they did not call and tell me until 1-28-13) 1-24-13- 1st pre-op class 1-31-13- 2nd pre-op class 1-31-13- pre-op appointment with surgeon 2-2-13- Begin pre-op diet 2-12-13- Surgery scheduled! I am so excited and nervous all at once. I have prayed for this and God has heard my cry. I know it will NOT be easy but I am so ready for this. Today is my "last supper" before pre-op diet. I am going to the Melting Pot! Good luck to all!

Hi Cheri - first of all, congrats on the new addition to your family. Second, congratulations on the weight loss. I reached goal quickly, five months to reach my doctor's goal and a month later to reach MY personal goal, five pounds less. 145 give me that 5 pound pad! I THINK more like Lynda though. MY goal is 145, but I don't wait until I hit 150 to cut back a little, if I weigh 147 in the morning, I know I need to 'adjust' my calories, just for a day or two. I've been maintaining for 2.5 years now and although like you, it's been easy for me......I'm like Lynda, I am vigilant. The fear of regaining keeps me a "little" obsessive. I weigh every morning, and I know that I should weigh between 144 and 146. I also weigh again at night, it's kind of a game I play, then I guess what I will weigh in the morning! I do not let the scale dictate my mood though, it's more like a "dashboard" for me, it lets me know if things are 'running' right, kind of like the dashboard in my truck!! lol At night, I will weigh between 146.5 and 148. I am not a exercise guru, but I have made 'life style' changes that are second nature to me now. Like I said, I weigh every morning. I weigh or measure my food when I'm home. I log it all on line. (MFP) This is not what I just do, it isn't a chore, it isn't a choice. It just is.....it's how I stay in check. I am accountable to ME and after 30 years of dieting, I know how quickly eight or ten pounds can sneak up on us. Losing weight has never been a problem for me, keeping it off has been. Not this time and now I'm equipped with the knowledge of what works for me, I really can't imagine this 'routine' wouldn't work for everyone. I am missing 85% of my tummy, self control is much easier now, at least it is in my case. I don't feel like I have sacrificed anything. I make choices. I do not skip extra cups of coffee, there are line to draw Cheri!!! About two months ago, since fear of weight gain seems to never leave us, and I personally think that is a good thing.....I just wanted to 'test' and see if I could still lose weight if need be. I need 1300 to maintain, give or take 50 calories. I cut that back by 100 calories and in 2.5 weeks, with just one hundred less calories, I lost 2 pounds. I was happy, I know I can do it. I don't get hungry, so cutting back and/or resisting when I should or when I want to....is not difficult. You and I are lucky. I don't do what Lynda does, but I am soooooo glad to see how SHE is. I thought I might be the only one who is a bit on the obsessive side, I love it!!!! I do not have everything planned down to how much protein, veggies etc per meal. I track and plan ahead, but not quite like that. I get in between 65 and 100 grams of protein a day. During the losing phase, I had NO bread, but now, if I want my tuna fish on a piece of bread, nothing but cokes are off limits, although there are thngs I choose to avoid most times. When I did my "test" a while back, I did make sure I was getting at least 85 grams of protein a day, I know that helped. You will do fine, don't stress out, just be diligent with tracking your food, that is something I personally believe we have to do forever, track and weigh/measure. The things I do, are MY keys to success. I don't ever want to forget what it was like to shop for size 20's in the ladies dept. Been there, done that and I don't want an encore!!! It keeps me humble, and keeps me motivated. Good luck, I predict you are going to do just fine!!

I never thought I would have WLS. Even a year ago, I would have scoffed at the idea of it. But what I did know was that a year ago, I decided that this year would be the last year in the body I had. I wasn't sure how I would get to the next leg in this journey, however I made a mental and verbal commitment that the body that I had been in for the last 15 years, would no longer serve me moving forward. She(my 335lb body) had served me well for the 15 years that she sustained me through marriage, work, masters degree, promotions, and having 3 kids in 5 years. However I realized that she had served her purpose, and in order for me to move forward as a person, wife, mother and professional, I needed to break up with her and move own. I realized that "she" had no place in the future that I envisioned for myself. So when I discovered VSG, and after researching it, I decided that this would be the tool that I would use to help me meet my goal. Like so many others on this forum, there were specific moments, incidents and pains that led me to this decision. My kids are now a few years away from finishing high school, and I realized that they have never known me prior to my weight gain. I had never been able to ride with them on an amusement park ride or travel with them to foreign lands (as I did before my weight gain). I want to not only watch my daughter play volleyball, but actually be able to play with her. I want to go salsa dancing with my husband for hours on end, like we used to and not get winded after one song. I guess in short, the goal is to reclaim my life and LIVE!!!!!!

It’s been great. Not a single complication. Very minimal loose skin. No weight gains.

I gained 30+ pounds in 2018; 1. because I stopped taking diet pills after 20 years of taking them off and on, 2. I was in an accident and sustained a pretty bad back injury and mild head injury - couldn't walk at first so exercise was limited; 3. My mom got critically ill with ovarian cancer, I was her caretaker - she died in December; and if you want to add more stress - 4. My husband and I were both unemployed for about 5 months last year, after moving to Florida for his new job (which didn't work out because the project he was relocated for got put on hold and they no longer could afford to keep him). So - by the time all of that was said and done, I was already 25 pounds heavier. I decided for my back pain, depression and general health I wanted to explore this surgery. So I did gain about 5 pounds just to hit the BMI mark because I knew once I stopped those diet pills my weight gain was really just starting. I did have to be self-pay, but overall I'm sooooooo much better now than I was a year ago in pretty much every aspect. I start a new job this month (well, my old company is hiring me back - very generous), which I'm so happy about having quit my job last year to care for my Mom. There is so much more to this whole background/story, but anyway, sometimes you have to do what you have to do! I know now I made the right decision. We are also buying a new house so I'm out house shopping pretty much all day these days after being renters for almost a decade. Things are good in my life, no complaints. Sounds like you made the right decision too... So happy your sleep apnea has improved! On another note - I love salads and have no problems with lettuce. Spicy food seems to be a problem for me.

A couple of things: weight gain should have been a sign that something was wrong. In the hospital, no doctor, nurse, nutritionist or food service would give that much intake to anyone that had abdominal surgery of any kind. It's an immediate red flag. I have no clue if this is a case of an inept group of medical "professionals" or someone pissed that a doc wouldn't sleeve her and is now seeking retribution. We have seen both here - We have seen doctors give less than zero followup and dietary guidelines and we have seen people throw away their guidelines on the way to get a cheeseburger and a shake 5 days after surgery. Lets not feed into the drama. Sent from my iPhone using VST

I got sleeve on the 8 A day after you and I was thinking I am always hungry but I can only sip 3 oz of soup. And I am not able to eat anything solid until 9 week after surgery that is 2 months I was on clear liquid for 2 week before surgery, 3 week after surgery, now on full liquid. What I am trying to say everyone is different while here you can eat egg and 1 slide of turkey ham I had not been able to do none of that. None of the Lessing was recover fast I went back to work on the Monday after my surgery and was walking two mile on that same day. You had loss more weight I had, I had 267 surgery day, I am 255 3 week after surgery. I don't think gaining is possible though but everyone loss weight different. I was losing more weigh before the surgery from 315 on oct 11,2012 to 267 on surgery day. But I agree with you on the protein I had seen some that had lots of calories so maybe that can be the weight gain. Also before surgery I did lot of researches from doctor all over the US and Mexico and see every doc is different and had different way. While some give you the liquid diet before surgery other don't. Some of the Mexican doc don't even tell u you need to drink protein. I called several doc before I chooses mine and I ask lot of questions.

At least maybe the weight loss will help with depression stemming from self image? I'm looking forward to relief from that... I'm also bipolar. I know some meds CAUSE weight gain, others are weight neutral. I just saw my psych a week ago and surgery is Wednesday. He said some adjustments may be necessary. I think it wld be due to side effects increasing bc of weight loss.

Hi Everyone. I had my post op appt. and everything went well. I found out that I have the 4cc band and I'm scheduled to have my 1st fill in a month. I had a rough weekend but I got through it and I'm now trying to rebuild. I ate almost all the wrong foods and didn't excercise a lick. Potato chips were my downfall but what was nice is that I didn't eat the amount that I would have eaten pre-banding. I just hope it didn't cause a weight gain. Today I got back on track (screw the weekend and all the people who made it suck...whats done is done)! I woke up today and took a 55 minute walk through my neighborhood. I was shocked that all that time past but glad I did it. I ate 1/2 a chicken chimichanga and 1/2 cup of seasoned black beans. I had not problem tolerating the wrap that it was made with so I think I'll have the rest for dinner. I hope everyone is doing well. I'm all caught up on our posts and its nice to see that we have a great community going here. You guys are the best.

Many thanks to all that replied…Here's an update on me. The first thing I did was have an attitude adjustment with myself - I was feeling sorry for myself and discouraged. So, I pulled on my big girl panties and marched on…I changed my mindset from "this sucks", "the weight gain sucks", etc. to looking at this as an opportunity. There are people that have things much worse than I do - I have a great life, full support of family, a great job and a husband, son and dog that love me. I am blessed. I did well yesterday with the two appetite suppressants - I didn't feel weird, maybe a little jacked up (I also woke up this morning at 4:00 am wide awake). I had very little food yesterday compared to a normal day lately - I quickly realized how much I have been grazing. Today - same story. Very little interest in food. I feel like I'm feeling my restriction better - I'm probably more alert and I am going back to mindful eating. I almost feel like I'm at the 6 month post-op mark - remember those days? So, I'm going to keep on keeping' on for the next 6 weeks with the appetite suppressants until I see my doc for follow up. By that time, I will have had my upper GI and ultra sound on the gall bladder and we will see where the road takes me. Thanks again for the advice, kind words, and suggestions. This is an awesome forum with awesome people - I'm glad I came back.

You need to speak to your ins or verify their exact policy on their portal. Some ins can and will deny based on weight gain during the 3/6 month period you are working up to surgery.

Congrats on your weigh in lindaa! :tt1: I'm sorry your vacation didn't go as you hoped. :tt1: My weigh in is tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it. I can feel myself more bloated than usual. Changing my diet to include more good fats is probably part of the problem, but I have other things going on as well. The increase in humidity has changed my allergies. I now have a rash from my perfume so have to stop using that. It's not because it's a new fragrance, the bottle was almost empty and I was about to buy more. My chest and inner forearms have lots of little red spots, similar to heat rash. My hair is still falling out, but I don't expect that to change overnight, only now it's gone curl crazy as well. :thumbup: I look like William Shatner in his bad perm days. :smile: Thank goodness I have an appointment this morning to fix that problem up. I just feel fat today. It's not just in my head. My tummy is bloated and my feet are swelling at night. It's not Aunt Flo because I'm mid-cycle. I'm blaming the weather. :tt2: I'm afraid to get on the scales. I'm afraid not to get on them. If I get on them and I've gained more than 3 lbs I'll be depressed. If I don't get on them I'll continue to live in denial and make more excuses for myself in order to excuse any weight gain. *sigh* I know I've eaten more this week to try and get the good fats in. I need them. I know that. What's scarey is that I shouldn't be afraid to have gained 3+lbs. I know I shouldn't. But I will be. I'll be afraid it's the start of it all unraveling. I know I can't eat like I used to last year. It's just not physically possible. But I'm still afraid of gaining it all back one pound at a time. I've been working really hard on my head health. It's been working well. Up until today I think. :tt2: It's not good for me to beat myself up. I stopped doing that. But today....... *sigh* I wish I could sleep through days like this and only wake up on the days that I have more energy than a 3 year old. :tt2:

Patti, I don't think you're alone when it comes to losing weight and then it stopping and putting it back on. I've heard from several bansters who are in the same situation. I myself found that many factors kept me from losing after being banded and then I put back the 25. Talk to your surgeon about what's going on and see how much is in your band and if adding more should be an option for you or if you're too full. Either one can sabotage your efforts. Everyone is different but some people seem to do better with something more regimented like following Weight Watchers and they can tell you exactly how much food you can consume a day and still lose weight. We all put ourselves through hell by our weight gain and you know what we're better than that. March into that doctor's office and say I have a problem with some weight gain let's get this thing turned around. It's your life not his/hers! Do you think you need a punishment for gaining weight, well too late you're already punishing yourself! Do you think you're the first patient your doctor has seen put on weight, no. If things continue to get worse then say to your doctor what do we do next? Be proactive with your health and good luck, and don't hate yourself, you're not a failure by all means!!!:thumbup:brandyII.

This is my view on this (not banded yet). I have a slow metabolism so I worry about not losing weight. If you can't lose weight on 900 cals a day then you absolutely SHOULD be banded because there is no way someone can really sustain that sort of caloric intake forever without the help of a band so to me you are STILL better off. That's what I tell myself .. cuz it can take me a year to lose 20 lbs on maybe 1300 cals a day BUT I can gain it in a flash (like 2 months) if I slip so even if I only lose 20-30 lbs in a year - I WON'T be slipping up to the tune of 25 lbs weight gains anymore.. so i'm still better off.

Janet -- the pizza. I didn't eat the whole thing. I had the little pieces of sausage, ham, hamburger, and the cheese. I chewed and chewed and it took me over a half hour to eat the top of a piece of pizza. I had a little bit of crushed but it didn't sit well so one bite was enough. I guess I've been eating the top of pizza for quite a while and I don't think of what others will imagine when I say I ate pizza. Karri -- I'm so sorry that you were crazy busy today. I would be comatose by now if I had been at work at 4:30. And you went to the gym. Now I really feel like I should have walked tonight. What's a little bump on the head when you've been going for 15 hours. Super super you. Phyl-- I know that if I had weighed in after noon I would have a weight gain. A HUGE weight gain. I would not feel bad about that. Next week if you weigh at the same time you'll be able to see a difference. If you are still seeing the same weight in the morning that you always have, I wouldn't take that weight gain as gospel. I say NO WAY!! Also if it is hotter you may be drinking things with more salt. I know it is a huge craving when I am overheated. On the plus side....I'm freezing so being warm right now sounds pretty good. I'm sitting here watching the biggest loser. I recorded it so now I can skip all the stupid commercial. There were some great things about the mental issues this week. I need to really think about this mental stuff. I need to start really thinking about it and making it a bigger priority. Good night all. See you all tomorrow.

hello! Im confused about where to post for February, is it here or on the monthly forum? I am hopefully getting my surgery date soon, the surgeons office says it will be in about 3 weeks. I am getting excited. I am not telling anyone, just my husband obviously. I do not want any judgement put on me ( which has been my whole problem since I was a child, and has most likely contributed to my weight gain.) I am currently 190lb, and 4ft 11. I may not be as heavy as some of you here, but 190 at my height is very bad! My surgeon would like me to lose 80-90lbs. I have hypertension & sleep apnea. I am a stay at home mom to my amazing 19 month old son, he is our miracle baby, we endured 6 years of infertility, un explained. It was never mentioned that my weight had anything to do with it but I suspected it. After several rounds of ivf, he came along! My main reason for the surgery is so I can be around for him, and hopefully have another baby. Well, that's me, I hope to get to know all of you better, and will post my surgery date soon, I hope!

So the play we went to last night (Defending the Caveman) was absolutely hillarious. We were supposed to go to dessert with some friends afterwards but we were all too tired so we skipped it. However, since I didn't eat much for dinner so I could save up the calories we had to stop something to eat. I got a mushroom and tomato omelette from Denny's and only ate about 1/3 of it. Today I had part for breakfast and part for lunch. Then I decided to check and see how many calories there are. HOLY COW in the entire thing there was 725:scared2:. WHat in the hell do you do you put into an omelette to make it have 725 calories? So I decided that weighing 1 time per month was just not going to work for me. I need to make sure that I am not doing something wrong. I knew that I would be worrying the entire month that I was going to see a weight gain. At least if the scale goes up during 1 week you can quickly catch anything that is going wrong. However if you wait an entire month, that could be a few pounds. So I weighed and I was down another 1.5 pounds to 172.5.:biggrin2: Nothing much else to report here. I need to clean my house. It is terrible right now. The BF doesn't really care, but it is driving me nuts. THat is my task tomorrow!:wink_smile:

also: Aspartame Side Effects The components of aspartame can lead to a number of health problems, as you have read. Side effects can occur gradually, can be immediate, or can be acute reactions. According to Lendon Smith, M.D. there is an enormous population suffering from side effects associated with aspartame, yet have no idea why drugs, supplements and herbs don’t relieve their symptoms. Then, there are users who don’t ‘appear’ to suffer immediate reactions at all. Even these individuals are susceptible to the long-term damage caused by excitatory amino acids, phenylalanine, methanol, and DKP. Adverse reactions and side effects of aspartame include: Eye blindness in one or both eyes decreased vision and/or other eye problems such as: blurring, bright flashes, squiggly lines, tunnel vision, decreased night vision pain in one or both eyes decreased tears trouble with contact lenses bulging eyes Ear tinnitus - ringing or buzzing sound severe intolerance of noise marked hearing impairment Neurologic epileptic seizures headaches, migraines and (some severe) dizziness, unsteadiness, both confusion, memory loss, both severe drowsiness and sleepiness paresthesia or numbness of the limbs severe slurring of speech severe hyperactivity and restless legs atypical facial pain severe tremors Psychological/Psychiatric severe depression irritability aggression anxiety personality changes insomnia phobias Chest palpitations, tachycardia shortness of breath recent high blood pressure Gastrointestinal nausea diarrhea, sometimes with blood in stools abdominal pain pain when swallowing Skin and Allergies itching without a rash lip and mouth reactions hives aggravated respiratory allergies such as asthma Endocrine and Metabolic loss of control of diabetes menstrual changes marked thinning or loss of hair marked weight loss gradual weight gain aggravated low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) severe PMS Other frequency of voiding and burning during urination excessive thirst, Fluid retention, leg swelling, and bloating increased susceptibility to infection Additional Symptoms of Aspartame Toxicity include the most critical symptoms of all death irreversible brain damage birth defects, including mental retardation peptic ulcers aspartame addiction and increased craving for sweets hyperactivity in children severe depression aggressive behavior suicidal tendencies Aspartame may trigger, mimic, or cause the following illnesses: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epstein-Barr Post-Polio Syndrome Lyme Disease Grave’s Disease Meniere’s Disease Alzheimer’s Disease ALS Epilepsy Multiple Sclerosis (MS) EMS Hypothyroidism Mercury sensitivity from Amalgam fillings Fibromyalgia Lupus non-Hodgkins Lymphoma Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) These are not allergies or sensitivities, but diseases and disease syndromes. Aspartame poisoning is commonly misdiagnosed because aspartame symptoms mock textbook ‘disease’ symptoms, such as Grave’s Disease. Aspartame changes the ratio of amino acids in the blood, blocking or lowering the levels of serotonin, tyrosine, dopamine, norepinephrine, and adrenaline. Therefore, it is typical that aspartame symptoms cannot be detected in lab tests and on x-rays. Textbook disorders and diseases may actually be a toxic load as a result of aspartame poisoning. Ever gone to the doctor with real, physical symptoms, but he/she can’t find the cause? Well, it’s probably your diet, your environment, or both. source: http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html

I'm right there with you AudOne! No surgery ever and my only hospitalizations were when I had my babies....BUT...I want it enough to do it. At first, in looking into this last year, it scared me so bad I stopped my research for about 6 weeks. Then I worked through it and decided I would rather be on the sleeve road than the current one of weight gain each year and snowballing medical problems. Am I looking forward to the surgery? Yes and No. Not looking forward to the immediate potential for pain, nausea and possible complications. Yes - looking forward to getting it DONE and getting past it to use it for a permanent change. I'll be rooting for you on the 13th (and all our May sleeve buddies)!!

Lynda, you are TINY! And you don't look 5'6" either! Your goal weight is really low and by the chart I looked at 1 lb below ideal! You go, girl! Makes me wonder if I had "stuck" to losing instead of going to "maintenance" (and I say that tongue in cheeck!) at 150 what I could have gotten down to. ha! Quote: Typically, adults tend to gain weight in their mid-twenties, and this trend further continues with increase in age, due to reduction in the metabolic rate and physical activity. In contrast, the height remains constant during this period. In fact, according to the Gerontology Research Center (National Institutes of Health), some weight gain after 35 years of age is essential for good bone health. Well, I accomplished that! ha!