3 month update - 61 lbs.

[CBL 3]

I am three months out today, and am down 61 lbs since surgery. I was a high of 322 on the initial consult in May of last year, so total I am down 113 lbs.

I have done it all by following the low carb rules, portion rules, and drinking over 100oz of Water a day. I still drink two Celebrate Vitamins ENS shakes per day to get 50g of Protein. These also have all my Vitamins in them as well (I still have to take one 500mg Calcium supplement though). I haven't had follow up bloodwork yet, but soon. I would say my average day has 900-1000 cals and 100g of protein.

I also take 4g of Coromega-3 gel Omega-3 supplement. This really helped my mental sharpness come back around month 2 when I was cleared to take it.

I am down to 36 pants, and L shirts.

Its not all sunshine and bubble gum... even with Benefiber I have significant Constipation issues. I have a bottle of Miralax, just haven't gotten around to using it. I also have developed some trigger point pain in my rhomboid muscles due to the rapid change in posture. I have always had a small amount of pain from years of power lifting, but it has really flared for the last three months. I am just now getting it under control.

I have the batwing arms since I am an ex-football player, and have recently started going to the gym in an effort to tone them up some. I also have a good amount of skin / fat on my belly still as well.

My easy goal is 200#, but I would like to get down to 185. Weight loss has slowed significantly in the last month or so, with multi-day stalls or very slight losses becoming the norm.

Overall, I am still happy with the surgery despite the minor issues. I have no idea what size my bougie is, and have no desire to know. I have never wanted that to be an excuse for failure.

[To Be Thin 2011 80]

Congratulations Chris!!! WOW... 113 lb loss! I want that someday! Congrats to you!!!

[Beadingnurse 116]

Congratulations on your success! You have lost a lot of weight in 3 short months and definitely a lot of weight if you start with your beginning weight loss! Whoohoo!

You may have answered a question for me in that in the past week or so I too have been having a lot of pain in the rhomboid muscle area but I wasn't sure what is causing it. I've never really had back pain before so this was a total surprise to me. What are you doing to relieve it? I started doing some exercises last night to strengthen my back but I am not sure if what I am doing will help. I also took an anti inflammatory med this morning and it is not as painful today.

Congratulations again!

[sunnyd 32]

WOW! You are doing FABULOUS!!! 113 lbs- great job! I bet you are feeling better each day! Keep up the wonderful work!

[CBL 3]

The most helpful thing for the rhomboid pain is a tennis ball in a sock... drape it over your back till you find the spot, then work it out up against a wall. I have also been doing 50 upright rows a night with a green theraband.

At first, I was getting weekly adjustments at a chiropractor, but now I am down to once every two weeks, as it is becoming clear to both he and I that it is not so much an alignment issue as a muscle issue.

I am going to give it another couple weeks, and if it is still bugging me I am going to get a trigger point injection.

[KellyL 173]

Congrats too your success!!! You are doing an amazing job. Sorry to hear about the back pain, I hope that gets better for you soon. You are an inspiration!

:cheer2:

[Beadingnurse 116]

The most helpful thing for the rhomboid pain is a tennis ball in a sock... drape it over your back till you find the spot, then work it out up against a wall. I have also been doing 50 upright rows a night with a green theraband.

At first, I was getting weekly adjustments at a chiropractor, but now I am down to once every two weeks, as it is becoming clear to both he and I that it is not so much an alignment issue as a muscle issue.

I am going to give it another couple weeks, and if it is still bugging me I am going to get a trigger point injection.

Thanks! I will try the tennis ball exercise and my husband has some of the elastic bands (not sure if they are theraband) so I will try that too. Might not hurt to have a massage too. I think 2 months out is long enough for a massage to be safe. I'd rather not do the trigger point injections unless I have too. Thanks again and I hope that both are backs start feeling better soon.

[wishes 125]

Wow, that's awesome. Congrats on your amazing weight loss!