I can't believe that seven months have already gone by! Seven months ago, I weighed 319 pounds. Today, I stepped on the scale and weighed 193. That's a total loss of 126 pounds. Wow! I've lost my mother!!!

Gone are all signs of my sleep apnea, high blood pressure, edema, GERD, IBS, stress incontinence, even my periods have gotten better. I've got so much more energy and stamina that I sometimes can't keep still.  It's like I have happy feet all the time.

I've hired a personal trainer and joined a gym. While I think my trainer, Braze, is trying to kill me, I won't let him succeed. I've come to far to get taken out now!

I'm wearing Large shirts and am between 16s and 18s in pants, depending on the fit. For the first time I can remember, my legs and butt are smaller than my sister's, although my belly is still bigger. (But not for too much longer!)

I just came back from a road trip to Charleston to see my Dad and Stepmonster. When I got out of my car, Dad's jaw just dropped. He's not seen me in several years - back when I weighed over 400 pounds - and I'm literally half the woman I was. During my trip, I also went out with some old friends and spent the entire Saturday walking around downtown Charleston. I wasn't sweating like a stuck pig, huffing and puffing or needing to sit down every five minutes. After hours and HOURS of walking, an old injury in my hip started acting up and I needed to stop. However, it wasn't because I was too FAT to do this stuff!

In a couple of weeks, we're going to the local amusement park. I'm looking forward to fitting in the rides and having a good time walking around.

I've had stalls, one lasting over a month. I've had food issues. I've made less-than-wise food choices and paid the price.

I can honestly say if I never lost another pound, I'm grateful for my surgery and what it has given back to me; things I never realized I'd lost. Every day, I amaze myself with what I can do.

Hi, y'all! Well, I'm sitting at six months postop and am at 198 lbs. That's a total weight loss of 121 pounds since surgery. Yay me! I'm wearing loose size 18 pants or tight size 16s and my tops are either XL or L, depending on the cut. I'm in ONEderland! Finally!

During most of March and April, I was in a stall. Yep, me, in a dreaded stall. Let me tell y'all, It does end. I went off fluid pills and cut back on my fluid intake and it wreaked havoc on my system. I faithfully kept with the program and my body finally got adjusted to the lack of additional fluid help. Since going off of the fluid pills, I've had two menstrual cycles and haven't gained any water weight AND my daily water retention is almost non-existent. Yay!

LadyLithia's explanations of stalls, an analogy using cheese, is an excellent descriptive of what goes on during those 'dreaded' stalls. I lost two sizes during my stall experience, so I have to agree with Ms. L.

I'm eating between 2-4 oz at a time (roughly 1/4 - 1/2 cup), 5-6 times a day, and getting my vitamins in. This week, I joined a gym and will be seeing some results soon; I really gotta work on my endurance.  I dump - on sugar. At six months out, I found that out the hard way. I can have a bite or three of something sweet, but anymore than that and I'm dumping hard. Needless to say, I don't push my limits on that now.

I'm no longer the fattest person in my family! That's gonna take a while to wrap my head around. My sis and my next oldest cousin are now both bigger than me. Sis doesn't have an issue with it; she's taking it as an impetus to get her own diet back in order. Cousin ACTS like she's happy for me, but I wonder sometimes. Cousin gets her nose out of joint for the least little thing and this isn't little.

As much as I'd like to be dating and have a boyfriend/lover, I really am uncomfortable with the skin issues I have now. My panni hangs lower than ever (below my crotch), my thighs look like twin shar-peis and my arms could give me flight or, at the least, gliding opportunities. Fortunately, I found out that my insurance doesn't really give a hard time about plastics as long as you document problems. I am documenting with my PCP, so I'm hoping insurance will cover most, if not all, of my plastics. 

My family and friends have been soooooo supportive of what I'm doing. I'm not having to deal with food police or people asking if I can eat this or that. My eating habits have so changed, that no one questions my choices. Mom loves taking me shopping and buying me clothes. 

Yesterday, I bought my first piece of clothing from the MISSES section of Dress Barn! Woooo! It's a cute little top that I'm going to wear to work today. I'm so excited! 

My life has stayed the same in many respects. I am the one who is changing. I'm more active, more outgoing, have more energy and more desire to be social. Being as big as I was, I didn't want to be an object of ridicule and that's how I felt when I went out in public. People used to look at me because I was FAT, now they look at me because I'm pretty darned cute. :D

If I never lost another pound, I can honestly say I love my Fobi and have no regrets about having surgery. I don't even regret waiting so long to have it. In my mind, I know that I wasn't ready mentally or physically for surgery until now.