Where are you on your journey?

oops time flys when your having fun I am really 7 months out about to be 8 months out on the 14th of this month.My math skills are no good...Dawn

Hi, I am 3 months post off and down 51 pds. I really love this board. I try but dont always get it done to answer everyones post on the this message board. I also frequent the main message board and the Feb. board. But I sometimes just lurk on the main board as I dont always have time to answer so many posts there. I love everyone on the SMO board though. You all have been so good to me. I take my vitamins everyday. I had back surgery a little over a year ago. So I dont want to get osteroporis. I dont think that would be good for me. Well it isnt good for anyone. I try to walk at least two miles everyday. but dont always get it done either. I am an active person, especially since my surgery. I have so much energy since the WLS. If you aint there You will be and it is great to finally have energy to do stuff. I am in the process of getting married so I have been posting my plans every so often driving everyone nuts I am sure. This too shall pass. I am just so excited!!! Another thing along with energy comes mind energy. You just wouldnt beleive everything you can think of to do.I have two children an 18 yr old boy, who has an attitude right now that is out of this world(imagine that) and a 17 yr old daughter that is just trying to stay out of his line of attack. She is adorable ( I wouldnt be prejudice either) lol. I am so proud of her. She is in a program where the school pays her 100 a month to go to school. And sends her to the college once a month to learn about how to get a good education. And yeah she enjoys the money. And I am not a good speller so excuse me when I misspell something. I havent figure out how to do spellcheck on a message board yet. Well sorry so long bye. love marie

greetings ginger and all i'm 16 months out - having had an open rny with a starting weight of 463 and bmi of 66.4. i'm 49 yrs old and have been waaaayyyyy overweight all my life. i actually had a primitive version of WLS in 1980...it was called stomach stapling then, and didn't involve bypassing any intestine. i lost 100+ lbs., but they were back in no time - plus more, of course. my current surgeon told me most of those early surgeries failed...the way they stapled then just came "unzipped" -- surgeon's word for it. then a few years ago, i tried optifast. lost 195 lbs...and totally flipped out when i saw the skin! felt like such a freak...my ins. wouldn't cover plastics. i got it into my head that if i was gonna be so freaky...i might as well be eating! so i then regained that 195 and maybe another 50 or so. well, at 463 lbs., life was really sucking, so i decided to try the current version of surgery. again, ins. wouldn't pay, so i took the money out of my 401k acct. and did it. and it's just wonderful. i've lost 255 lbs. in 16 months. yes, the skin is unbelieveable, but this time i KNEW it was gonna happen and was so much more prepared for it. and having found this website, i no longer feel like i'm the ONLY one that has these issues. it's really wonderful to not feel all alone in this struggle. i really don't remember a time in my life that i've felt this happy! deb

ok I am 11 months out on the 14th of this month and 33 on the 24th I have lost 165lbs you talking about life changing this is something that I never in my life would have belived but I take full Karate 2 nights a week for 4hrs a night I could not even move with out a chair with in reach before now I am doing jump kicks and sparring with others and not doing to bad I have been breaking boards for the last month and love it going for my yellow belt at the end of this month I have not had really any thing I would call bad with this WLS the depression is the wrost thing but getting over that not going to have that much skin I hope working really hard to make that go away with hard work and a lot of love this can be a trip for a life time shelley

Hi Ginger! I haven't been on this board for awhile, so I thought I would pop in today. Well, I read your post and wanted to share my journey thus far. I will be 8 months post-op on June 17th and have been blessed with loosing 189 pounds. I am looking soooo forward to hitting the 200 pound loss mark, in only 11 more pounds! Thank You, Jesus! I never, ever, ever, dreamt that the weight would come off this fast! I remember thinking in the hospital that I would be thrilled if I had lost 100 pounds at my first year anniversary! Now, I still have a ways to go to get to goal. I started out at 465 pounds (you'll have to read my profile to know what life was like for me then, but most of you here were living in that kind of bondage too), this morning I weighed 276 and my goal weight is 150. So, I still have 126 pounds to loose! I feel so very blessed. I have my life back and am enjoying it emmensly! Thanks for your post! I am so glad to read all the encouraging posts here! Good for all of you & may God continue to bless you all! Love, Cindy 465/276/150

Hi all!!! My name is Rachel and I am 515 lbs and I am in the middle of doing my pre-op testing! I have a tentative surgery date for 09-15-06 and I am hoping that it wont be extended. I am on somewhat of a pre-op diet. I have given up sugar almost completely and I am getting in at least 65 oz on water a day. I have decided to not try and do everything at once. I am just trying to make a couple changes at a time and work it into my diet. I have been on the pre-op Diet Scince may 16 and so far I am doing ok. I am hopefull for the future and really cant wait to be the smallest one in my family. They are all pretty big but I have never been the small one. Anyway I am on here alot and I hope to talk with all of you folks soon!! Check out my profile if you want to know more!

Hello Everyone, My name is Diana and I have lost 206 pounds since my WLS. I am 17 months post-op. I started out wearing tight tight 30/32's and now I am wearing 12's. I am so happy and loving life and being able to do so much. I actually roller skated this year. woohoo!!! I don't let a day go by that I don't get my fluids and protein in. I have really been trying to exercise more (thanks to Lori's posts). I wished that I had done more exercising during my first year. I would like to have plastic surgery one day but if never happens I am ok with that. (((hugs)))) Diana 379/173/? starting bmi 62

I'm pre-op. My starting weight was 530, and my current weight is 437, which means I have lost 93 lbs so far on my pre-op diet. My surgeon asked me to lose 10% prior to surgery, and I'm doing so well on the pre-op diet that I plan to stay on it until I have surgery on 8/14. I haven't weighed under 450 in at least ten years! I have already become a bit more physicially active than before, but at a price. I carry a lot of weight in my thighs, and I seem to have a real knack for tearing or injuring the skin on my thighs, which results in cellulitis flare-ups. I was more active than usual on Wednesday and Thursday, and today I woke up with another flare-up. Oh boy, ten days of oral antibiotics again. My PCP says we will probably have to battle this off and on until I lose more weight and can have surgery to get rid of my thigh skin. My goals for the future? Well, in addition to getting a normal life back, I would also like to quit getting cellulitis! My other health issues are starting to resolve, so I'm confident I can overcome this one, too. Kix

Ginger I love your post, it is so inspiring reading everyones progress. I will be 6 months post op on june 5th. since surgery I've loss 106lbs. Before surgury I loss 56lbs. It just doesn't seem real. I began at 473 and this morning I weighed in at 311. I can hardly wait until I break into the 200's. Like many of you stated before I could hardly walk out to my car in the morning, now I am walking 2 miles everyday. I wanna thank all of you for all the support you have given me. I am addicted to the boards. There is so much valuable information here. My dream is to be able to go back to Disneyland and ride all the rides. I haven't been there since I was a teenager. I know it sounds silly but it is something that I always wanted to do. thanks for listening.. Lynn

Lynn, So good to hear from you! You are the inspiration! You should be truly proud of the strides that you have taken before and after your wls. You will be breaking the 200's in no time. Do you ever walk by a mirror, and not recognoise the person staring back at you?? It's a wild ride for sure! I think Disneyland is a wonderful goal! I think I promised myself a new hair style when I loose my first 100 lbs..now, the closer I get..the more chicken I feel. I'm in a huge hurry for the first 100 to leave this bod. HugsGinger