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Hi all, All, On my recent trip to Silicon Valley, I had an opportunity to catch up with an old acquaintance of mine, Joseph Rosenfeld. I know Joseph because during the period I lived in Silicon valley, I was working in some intense environments (technically speaking) and while running a couple large teams, I felt my image was not living up to what I wanted to project. However, as we all know, that image we feel inside was clouded/obscured by obesity, which at that time, I was at my heaviest weight of 421. Talking with Joseph then I think started me on the path to WLS, because as an expert in clothing/style/body image, he was aware the change I needed could not be helped by clothes alone. When I met Joseph this past Saturday for Breakfast (because I am considering working with him now that I have the WLS changes in process) he didnt recognize me, even though I had alluded to that issue when we discussed getting together over email. It was great to see him and he was quite surprised at where I was in my journey and success I've had. We talked at length about the challenges Obese and WLS patients face in overcoming body dysmorphia and the mental challenges that seems so much more difficult and insidious than the pure physical surgery, etc. I hope I represented our community well, and we discussed many things, but apologies in advance if you dont feel this is applicable to you. Well, Joseph felt my pain I think and since he does a weekly blog, decided to do this weeks post about many of the issues I brought up to him. You can find it here http://www.josephrosenfeld.com/category/blog/. Joseph's a great guy and has faced many of his own challenges and demons and I really felt comfortable in sharing my journey thus far and I hope starting to open the eyes of professionals in the fashion/personal image consulting area to the issues we are facing. Feel free to have a read and leave any comments for him. Or share them directly with our group here and I will pass them along. yours truly, Craig Cumberland

@@chilepeppr4 welcome to the boards. You'll learn lots here. You have a beautiful family! Your post really jumped out at me...maybe because I see myself 15-20 years ago. My highest weight was 325 at 5'4" tall. I spent my children's youth alternately dieting and indulging. A few times I got down below 290, and once I even got down to 230. The older I got, though, the less success I had. By the time I hit 50, I wasn't able to lose weight at all. I had so much to lose, and it came off so slowly (maybe a pound or 2, or nothing a month) that I just was in despair. I hated being fat, I hated that I had spent my youth and my child rearing years morbidly obese. I can never get those years back. While I was fortunate regarding health, obesity was starting to threaten my health with blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol rising. I was becoming more and more sedentary. I had prided myself on my ability to move easily and partake in all life's activities. I had really made an effort not to let obesity hold me back, but the truth is, it did. So, I decided to have WLS three years ago, and was sleeved in December 2012. I lost 145 pounds in 14 months, and I'm maintaining that loss. Honestly, losing the 145 pounds was pretty easy with the sleeve. I was willing to do what it took - have a painful surgery, go a couple of months without eating (2 week liquid before surgery and about a month of full liquids after), commit to a lifestyle change of ALWAYS watching what I eat, and exercising. I was ready for a change, so I wasn't one of those who mourned food as a coping mechanism. I was glad to be free of it. Hunger was gone for the first year or so. Fast forward to today - I can eat enough to be like a normal person. I can eat whatever I want, though the quantity is less than before surgery. I consciously watch what I eat - every bite. I log it all. I do get hungry now, but it is reasonable hunger. I also know that I could be right back up to 325 pounds if I stop doing that. I didn't know that before I had surgery, and in the early days, I thought I was "cured" of obesity. Turns out, the sleeve gave me a fighting chance at a healthy weight, but these days, it's mostly me. I'm worth it, so I keep doing all the things I need to do, even when I really don't feel like it. That's a super long response, but I just wanted to share my experience with you. Even with a lot of weight to lose, if you put the work in, you can lose it. It's not a miracle, but sometimes it still feels like one to me! The quality of my life is greatly improved. My adult children always marvel at how fun I am now. I didn't know I wasn't before, but glad I am now. That is a direct result of losing the weight. Congratulations on your decision to take control of your life!

Hey guys- So, like I said, I'm scheduled for my pre-op, in oh, 2 hours. And I'm thinking that I'm not ready for this- I want to do the lapband but I think I want some more time to get ready. Like January. I realize that I haven't really tried to lose weight for awhile and feel that I need to do that first. Am I just being a whimp or what? AGGGH Thanks

I had the sleeve surgery in Mexico on 11/3/14, one week before my 29th birthday. I'm 5'7, my highest weight is 290 and my weight when I decided to get surgery was 261. I have PCOS and have always fought for every single pound I lost. It seemed like I could follow my diet perfectly 95% of the time and workout but that 5% would set me back every single time. I used to joke that I could look at a potato and gain 5 pounds. It's kinda true. Since I decided to get surgery I'm down over 50 pounds and over 80 since my heaviest weight. The biggest piece of advice I have for you is to follow a low carb diet as much as possible after surgery. This can make you or break you with PCOS and insulin resistance. Also, my periods have started back, although I forgot how bad cramps can be and now I miss not having one! I work at a bank so I just told my boss I needed a loan and I was approved on the spot. I didn't go through A Lighter Me or Dr. Kelly so no advice there.

Thanks everyone for the input! From what my surgeon said, you don't lose as much as with the Sleeve (70% compared to 80-85%), and you don't get the dumping syndrome. I kinda want the dumping, so I won't eat the wrong things. I'm so afraid of gaining the weight back! Also, I would think weight loss with the sleeve would be harder, since more of it is under your control (what you eat), since you can eat anything (even sugar and fat). That really worries me, too. :crying:

I'm not banded yet so I can't say that I know lap band does work but look all the people on this forum and how successful they have been whether they lost 40 pounds or 100+ pounds, that's something. My surgeon told me out of the three surgeries, lap band would not help me lose as much weight as say, gastric bypass or the sleeve. However, after floating around these boards I know that is up to ME. If I want to lose 100 pounds+ with the band, it can be done if I'm willing to do the work. I am also young (22) and my surgeon said nothing to me about being so young and probably being unsuccessful. He actually was more optimistic that I was so young, after all we have all the time in the world to make this work for us! If you're that concerned that it can't be done, check newtoy4kt on YouTube. (check out bandedwendy's channel also!) They were what pushed me to my final decision of lap band. Whatever you choose, good luck!

I am in the same boat...have not told my PCP....I am from a small town and although at one point my PCP prescribed Meridia to me for weight loss. I think that he might find what I am doing a little extreme. I have about 75lbs to lose and I have been unsuccessful on my own. Yo-Yo should be my middle name. Have any of you gotten your PCP to do your fills for you. I live about a 4hour plane ride from the clinic where I am getting the procedure done and I am self pay.

I would have to say that if my PCP didn't support me I'd go find another one. It might be fun to flaunt in front of her in a few months once you've dropped some weight!

I plan to drink Dieter's Tea after I get my band. It has senna which is a natural herbal laxative, but it's very important not to drink more than the recommended dosage. It can be harmful for you if abused. I was on Phentermine for weight loss, and this caused me to have problems with constipation. My doctor recommended Dieter's Tea and it worked like a charm. Our local grocery stores and Walmart carry it.

Thanks everyone for your replies. Hmmm i really like the idea of flaunting in front of her once I drop some real weight! LOL! I dont really have many health challenges, so I basically only see her once a year for my annual PAP. So I guess I really dont care what she says and dont have the time or energy to find a new PCP. Now if she starts pissing me off that's a whole nother story!! Wait is nother a real word? LMAO! Thanks for the replies guys! I love this site!!!!!

I am going for my initial consult on Tuesday, 4/8, with Dr. Rosen in Downers Grove. I can't wait to get this show on the road. :biggrin: I can't wait to get contol of my life again. I can't wait to be able to wear clothing without an XX on the size tag. I have always had a struggle with my weight, since puberty. Age 13 or so. But, now that the hormones are really weird, with menapause, I can't control the weight at all. I am up 40# in the last 5 years. I am uncomfortable at this weight and need to do something about it.

I used to have similar pain in my right hip down to my knee from a pinched nerve. The entire side of my leg would go numb and they sent me for an EMG. They stick tiny pins in my foot/ankle/leg/hip/back that gave tiny little shocks or something crazy. Then used some other big pronged thing jabbed into my hip area to shock the nerve and it hurt ridiculously awful! End results and how to relieve the issue...Lose weight to reduce pressure on the nerve. I wanted to slap the Dr doing EMG, bc that made me hurt more than I already did. *this was cpl years prior to my band surgery*

Well done! My first mini goal was to get under 100 kilos (220 pounds) and I thought I might get there this week. Unfortunately, I gained some weight yesterday, and today I'm still somewhat heavier than I was two days ago, so I don't think it's going to happen this week. It's great to be able to see progress. I too, have a long way to go, and sometimes I'm afraid I will never get there.

I just had one of the best workouts of my life today. During the black Friday sale, I picked up a Dance Dance Revolution game for our Playstation at Best Buy. It's the videogame where you have a dance pad and you follow the arrows with your feet. I have always thought it looked like fun. If any of you have Playstations and like to dance, I suggest that you go out and buy this. It's a ton of fun. I finally stopped playing after about 1 1/2 hours (only because I no longer had energy to move my legs!) It also has a workout mode where you can track your workouts and it tells you how many calories you are burning, etc. It's kinda hard to explain,but here is a description that I found online: Dance Dance Revolution, or DDR (known as Dancing Stage in Europe), is a music video game series produced by Konami. It was introduced to Japanese video arcades in 1998, after being shown at the Tokyo Game Show earlier that year. Since then, the game has gained significant popularity elsewhere in the world, including large portions of North America and Europe. As of 2005, over 90 official versions have been produced, including those for home video game consoles. The Dance Dance Revolution series is a subset of the larger Bemani series of music games. The game is typically played on a dance pad with four arrow panels: up, down, left, and right. These panels are pressed using the player's feet, in response to arrows that appear on the screen in front of the player. The arrows are synchronized to the general rhythm or beat of a chosen song, and success is dependent on the player's ability to time his or her steps accordingly.

She had lap band with him around 5 years ago. She had complications and had to have it out in December. I think she's going to have a revision and get the sleeve. I hope so. She lost a lot of weight but she didn't follow the rules.

Well u have lots of time! I had a 4 week liquid diet and lost 22 lbs. I weigh 260 now and surgery is tomorrow. Until u have a pre op liquid diet, focus on ur Protein and Water. Boycott bad carbs, sugars, soda and I'm sure u will drop lots of weight before ur actual pre op starts

Hi there. I'm exactly 5 weeks post-op today yaaay! I had a very difficult first 2-3 weeks healing process but at 4 weeks I started to feel much better and now I feel pretty good. Im 5'2" and started my journey at 248 lbs on April 1st. I lost 10 lbs during the pre-op diet period and I was sleeved on May 1st. By June 1st I had lost 11 more lbs. I have lost a total of 21 lbs in two months. I can't say I'm not disappointed especially reading how so many people are losing so so so much faster :-( I try to remain positive and keep in mind that I'm losing and not gaining! Unfortunately Ive become hungry..not head hunger which I was prepared for tnx to this forum..but real hunger! I can eat quite a lot..a lot more than I expected or wanted in fact =-O I haven't tried to push the limit and get as full as I can. I follow the protein first, no water 15 mins before and 30 mins after rules. I'm still figuring it out i guess. I'm going to see my surgeon and have my follow up tomorrow and with my nutritionist on Thursday. Hopefully they will shed some light and help me get on a faster roll :-) tnx to everyone who has given advice and good luck to all of us!

I haven't been on here in a very long time. I thought I'd stop in and share my progress. I am a shortie at 5'2". My highest weight was around 210. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but I had been struggling with my weight for 20+ years. My surgery weight was 181. I have lost slowly and consistently for the past 14 months. I started really working on my weight loss several months prior to surgery. Today I weigh 114. I am past my original goal. I do not want to lose anymore. Typically I wear a size 2. I don't feel like a thin person, though. It is so hard mentally, because I still feel like I think like a fat person. Unfortunately, I have reintroduced some bad habits. I am drinking diet soda again. I am not getting the Water I should. I also don't always make the healthiest food choices. I just don't eat as much as I used to. I do get hungry and I do have cravings. I do exercise, but I go in phases with it. I love being able to wear fashionable clothes. I feel so much better in my own skin. I am really glad I made the decision I did. I couldn't have even have come close to getting this far without surgery.

I wonder what that person took that she reacted to? I have to agree with SpartanMaker that its related to an ingredient in the medicine, it may be the dextromethorphan, but it could also be that the medicine has alcohol. The problem with NSAIDS/Advil type medicines, is not that you'd react wierdly, its that NSAIDs are a lot of work for your liver to break down and since you're tummy is already stressed and small, the liver takes on MORE of the breakdown work. So taking Advil/NSAIDs after weight loss surgery is very damaging to your liver. Smaller tummy = much lower tolerance and slower breakdown - so yup, you can get drunk really fast and stay that way for longer, you could have an adverse reaction to things with sugar (even lactose in dairy products), that you never had before, etc. I found this article which was kinda helpful: Cold and Flu Season after Weight Loss Surgery (utahbariatrics.com)

It's been a while since I was here... needed a break... I was on the dreadful stall mine lasted about 29 days.. i was freaking out big time! I went in crying to my awesome and incredible doctor and he told me "You're tracking too much STOP"... I use FatSecret.com and have it on my iphone cause I can barcode scan whatever I eat and not have to search... so I'm worried about Fat and Carbs and he said this and maybe it'll help others... Stop worrying about the Fat and the Carbs.. your main concern right now is staying between 800-900 calories and over 80g of Protein a day. If one day a week you go over 900 that is ok its a shock value to your metabolism but stop worrying so much about the fat and carb! I was trying to so hard to stay in the low fat and carb that I wasn't getting enough calories or I was getting too much and I have always done good on my protein that's never an issue for me... so when I stopped trying the fat/carb route and I went to just the calories and protein the stall broke and I started losing. He also suggested I try alternating my foods.. I am only eating the foods that "I" KNOW work for ME and I'm comfortable in those.. so I alternate between scrambled eggs for Breakfast and the day I'll have a Clif Builder Bar chocolate Mint that is so YUMMY and keep alternating... for lunch I'll alternate with the Chunk Swanson 2oz can with some cottage cheese and the next day maybe I'll have the tuna salad ready packet.. dinner is the same one day it'll be shaved mesquite turkey and ritz bits 100 calorie packets and the next might be the spam packet or the chunk chicken again.. In doing this I've lost and he also gave me some really good advise "You WILL lose weight no matter what, you have 1/3 of a stomach, you might NOT lose as fast as others and you might just kick butt.. but if you exercise you'll do better, if you aren't a exercise person you'll go slow, but either way the weight will come off it'll be only in the process you take" Now my biggest thing... is losing my hair.. it's like I went from thick and alot of hair like the width of a cucumber to now it's maybe 3 pencils.. UGH.. I've been on the Biotin 7500mg for 4 months and was using Nioxin shampoo and it still comes out in the brush about 30 strands or if i'm sitting on the couch it'll come out just freaks me the hell out! So I'm using Head & Shoulders with Zinc believe it or not its slowing it down ... amazing... So anyhow.. I've missed everyone.. hope y'all are doing great..

Guys I am a gym rat by obligation. I go and my comfort zone is the treadmill. Run 35 mins at 6.0-7.0 mph and I do 9 min miles. I lift weights as well, but that is when I get anxious. There is this weird anxiety that takes over me and I see everyone around being so pro it bothers me. I tried doing a trainer and spent thousands of dollars with little results. I travel a lot and I am not accustomed to extreme effort. My body shuts down. I lift, but I am afraid I am too comfy on my lifting and it just does not motivate me. After 3 years I am burnt out of spinning and running and the half ass lifting that I do and I am a bit out of hope. I do it and keep doing it. But I hate it. It just seems like the flab doesnt go away ever. I need encouragement, because I am a gym rat. But by mental mandate not by enjoyment.

Woo boo. I lost 20 lbs for mypreop weightloss. I see nurse practioner on Tuesday for final pre op visit. Just need insurance approval and a date!!! So excited today.

Had gbp 2019... over 18 months I was able to lose 100 pounds. Since loosing the initial 100 lbs I still have approximately 30lbs to lose. But it's not budging. I carry all my weight in midsection. I think the last weight i need to met is my stomach. I work out and eat healthy. Any tips on how to loose that last 30lbs? All suggestions are appreciated. Sent from my SM-N960W using BariatricPal mobile app

If you are looking for the best long term results the Gastric Bypass is the way to go. I had my surgery in Brugge in Belgium with Dr. Bruno Dillemans through International Surgery Group. I had a great experience and would strongly recommend them. Cheap too!! Dr Dillemans told me that I can expect to see a loss of between 80 to 100% of my excess weight in about a 12 month period. Oh and the RNY Bypass is reversable the Sleeve isn't. Bear that in mind also. Hope this helps.

Reversals are actually done a lot more often than you would think. I may be doing this by the end of the year. There are Facebook groups for gastric bypass takedowns and support. Lots of people have had mechanical issues and needed reversals. They are definitely high risk, however if they can take you apart, they can put you back together, although I wouldn't go to just anyone that's for sure!. I'm personally experiencing malnutrition, and severe weight loss (and no, none of this is my doing. I did all that I was supposed to over the last 16 years). Had a revision in September, and still having complications. Seeing my doctor again next week to discuss next step, which is most likely the takedown. They also do them on those who continue to get ulcers, or severe dumping (which I also get from everything I eat). In regard to weight gain from the reversal, it's one's choice to eat badly and put the weight back on, just like you can start making bad choices with rny and never expect to stretch your stomach. It happens in most cases. I learned a lot about eating well, healthy/organic, locally grown as often as possible. (wish I knew then what I know now, I regret my surgery a lot) I would actually give anything to eat a salad or a piece of fish right now, instead I am getting tpn through a picc line. So even though you follow the plan, like I did it doesn't mean you wont have issues.