Andrea F.

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Over 6 months out at this point and down 118 lbs as of this morning! 

The hardest thing about the surgery that I've found so far is that the doc can fix your body, but YOU have to fix your mind.  Now that it's been awhile, I've noticed that some of my old habits have started creeping back up (mindless snacking, grazing), especially since I am one of the "lucky" ones - I do not have any issues with eating any foods to date. Going to the support group has been very helpful...they are such a nice group of loving, caring people who will tell you how good you are looking (even when you are not feeling it so much!) and are there as just a sounding board because most of them have been where you are now. 

I started getting into a slump when I realized about the snacking (hence "mindless") but then read through some of my pre-surgery entries in the journal I started when I began my journey.  Looking back at myself - desperate and depressed but full of grand plans for when I was "normal" gave me a lot of hope and the kick-start I needed to get back on track.  I was surprised and amazed at how I've already checked some things off of my list from the simplest...I can hook my bra around my back without hooking it in the front and turning it around!....to being able to almost fit my calves in the leg machine at Curves...to doing Zumba and making it all the way through (tired and sweaty, but I did it!).  I did a 5-mile walk this past Saturday and was sore afterwards (and the next day), but I DID it!  I don't think I've walked 5 miles straight in my entire life before this.

This is NOT like all the other times I've dieted where my head can sabotage me and derail me.  This is truly a lifestyle change!  I totally deserve it and am worth the effort!!  

Hope everyone is doing well! :)

2 1/2 months out now...feeling great, doing great!  Just weighed myself this morning and I am below 300 for the first time in 15 years!!!!  I have to take a new pic to post on my profile.  This surgery has been the best thing that has ever happened to me!!   Hope you all have an awesome day!!!

Hi - Just wanted to check in to see how everyone was doing!  Hope you all are well! 

As for me, I'm 8 weeks out as of Tuesday.  As of yesterday I am down 69 lbs since I started the process (pre-op diet) and 52.5 since the surgery!  I need to change my avatar photo.  :)  I have transitioned pretty well to eating "normally" - the last stage of the post-op food plan.  I know we are all still in our honeymoon stage after surgery (not feeling hungry, losing weight without exercising, etc.), but I really feel that I am starting to learn the good behaviors that I will need for when it is not so easy in a few months and especially down the road when I'm trying to maintain the weight loss.  Went to the local fair yesterday and really felt in control!  Was not tempted at all by the ice cream, fudge, apple fritters, fried dough, tempura, blooming onion, fried snickers bars, etc. that I would have been in a losing battle to avoid just a few months ago (not wanting to dump at the fair is a great motivator!!).  I had half a steamed hamburger and later on a bite of my husband's gyro.  Also brought some peanut butter crackers from home to pick on and had a protein shake in the  morning to make sure I got my proteins in.  I just wish I could have found some place that had veggies (that weren't fried) and fruits (that weren't sugar-laden)...note for next year to bring those things with me in my backpack.

Please feel free to share your sucesses as well as your failures and struggles these past few weeks!  :)

Doing really well at almost 7 weeks post-op!!  I've been transitioned to a normal eating plan...no more than 1200 calories and I can eat all the food groups (except the stuff you're not supposed to eat anyways - junk food and fried foods, etc.).  The only thing I'm still getting used to at this point is layering - protein first, then if there's room, veggies, then if there's room, fruits, and then if there's room, starches.  I'm down 57.5 lbs total since I went on the pre-op diet, 41 lbs since the surgery.  No complications with the surgery or with healing!  At this point, I'm feeling pretty "normal" - I can go out to eat (although depending on the restaurant, it's sometimes hard to find something "good" to eat) and to picnics, fairs, etc...just have to remember to pack my own food (plus an emergency protein shake), since those are also places where it can be hard to find something that I should be eating. 

Unfortunately, I have had some occurances of dumping - the first time, I honestly thought I was going to die.  I had full-blown textbook dumping - heart racing, vomiting, cramping, feeling like food was at the top of my throat, and I was pale and flushed at the same time...and it went on for 6 HOURS...granted, many of the problems I had at that point were my own fault...I knew better to have a piece of the battered, fried chicken with mandarin orange sauce in the first place!  But I thought that just one little tiny piece...less than 1/2 inch across!!...wouldn't be such a big deal (hence one of the problems I've had with all of the other weight-loss diets/solutions I've tried...I have a tendancy to push the boundaries and cheat "just a little").  I should have just gone to bed without taking my night multivitamin...but I thought I "had" to....I should have not had that Saltine cracker when I was feeling a little better...should not have swallowed the sip of water that I took to rinse out my mouth.  Lesson learned!!

Not to say that I haven't had other times where I've dumped.  Lessons aren't always fully learned the first time!  Other than the first one, one of the worst ones was at the Renaissance Faire.  I had been doing great all day - had brought some of my own food and water, and even tried a bite of my husband's smoked turkey leg with no ill effects.  Unfortunately, I thought that the feta, mozzarella and spinach quesadilla would be a good choice for dinner.  From all appearances, it was all stuff I could eat. However, not a good idea! I had to keep runninng to the port-a-potties to vomit, and one time did it behind the bleachers at the tournament because I couldn't make it to the restrooms.  My husband wanted to go home right then and there, but I wanted to see if I could wait it out...we stayed probably another hour or so, but it was still going on.  There is NOTHING fun about puking in a used McDonald's cup as you are going down the highway!

Other than the few setbacks with dumping (which the surgeon says is pretty normal when you are first post-op), I'm doing well on the weight-loss front and with my clothes getting looser.  I'm now wearing 2X shirts comfortably (I was bursting out of 3X at the beginning of all of this), and just yesterday I tried on a pair of jeans I haven't been able to wear in over a year and they are already a little loose!  :)  That's one of the "good" things I guess about being so heavy to begin with - I don't have to buy new clothes at this point, just "going through the boxes" like my girlfriend says (I think all women, and probably some men too have the boxes of clothes that they pack away when they get too small in the hopes that one day they will fit back into them).  And even though almost 60 lbs is a large amount of weight to have lost in relatively such a short amount of time, I haven't really noticed that people "notice" so far, which is understandable.  The heavier you are, the more time it takes to really "look" like you've lost a lot of weight.  Next week should be interesting, since I will be seeing a co-worker (who works in another location) that I haven't seen since before I went on my pre-op diet.  He knows about the surgery (heck, practically everyone I know and everyone I meet know I had the surgery - I am on a cruisade to spread good word of mouth about it!), so it won't be a surprise...but I can't wait to see what he says versus my co-workers/family members who see me all the time.

I'm currently just below the lowest point I have been in at least over 7 years, so I'm excited about what the next few weeks will bring...only 18 lbs until I break the 300 threshold!  That will be an AWESOME day!!!   :)

Went to my post-op visit yesterday, I am 41 pounds down from when I started the process, having lost about 15 since the surgery 13 days ago...almost a pound per day is not too shabby!  I know it won't always be this way, but I'm liking it as long as it lasts!

Cleared to go back to work mid-week next week (boo!) because I'm doing so well with no complications (yay!), got to take off those compression stockings (yay!), and I don't have to wear the abdominal band any more (yay!).  Can't swim for another week (boo!) - my wound is healing but the surgeon wants it to be fully sealed up...can't blame him, better safe than sorry and with an infection!  In addition, I have graduated to "mushy" foods!!!  Was getting SOOO sick of the protein shakes.  Still had one for breakfast, because I still need to get in my 60 oz of protein and with only being able to eat 2 oz of "real protein food" at a meal, I will be eating all day to try to get that in...and since I'm still not hungry ***at all***, that would be a little tough.

Feeling good, feeling strong, feeling energetic - can hardly wait to see what the next few months bring! 

Had my surgery on Tuesday, no complications (yay!!)...home since yesterday and learned my first lesson tonight - do not drink protein shakes just before bed time!  I think I drank it too fast also - woke up with a tummy ache and burping with my heart pounding from a freaky nightmare.  I am thinking it was the protein shake, but it could have been the 1 oz of chicken broth that I tried for the first time tonight, maybe it didn't sit right.  Hoping that this will go away soon, because up to this point I have been doing really well...but right now I am miserable  :(

Happy August everyone!  It is the month of our surgeries!!  Mine is tomorrow...I am a big ol' messed up ball of emotions right now - excited, nervous, happy, scared, worried.  Although one of the emotions I am NOT feeling is sad!  I am not sad that I will be saying goodbye forever to all of these unwanted pounds!  I am not sad that I will no longer feel like I have to "prove" to the world that I am just as worthy and capable as any thin person. I am not sad that once I'm thinner I will no longer shop at Avenue, Lane Bryant or through a mail order catalog because the store sizes don't go high enough.  I am starting a new life tomorrow...my life is going from good to GREAT and I can hardly wait!!  :)  Have a wonderful day!!

Tomorrow's my surgery day - so happy and excited!!  I haven't really been thinking about it coming up, just trying to stay focused on getting all the pre-op stuff done (tests, dr. visits, buying protein powders, etc.) and staying on my pre-op diet.  I have allowed myself "treats" here and there of things that I may never have again - had 6 Joe-Joe's last night (Trader Joe's version of Oreos...soo yummy), and the other day had a Sonic Chocolate Peanut Butter shake.  I've lost between 24 - 26 lbs, depending on which scale you look at (can't yet look at the one at home, have to lose more before it will say anything other than "E").  I did have one kind of big panic attack yesterday afternoon - I went to bring a garbage bag out to the shed and was overwhelmed with the urge to pull the weeds from the garden I've neglected all year (never got around to planting veggies like I usually do) and plant the flower seeds that my daughter asked to plant a few days ago.  I was pulling weeds with a fervor and then called my 6-year-old daughter outside to help me plant the flower seeds.  !  I was consumed with this not-quite-rational urge to plant these seeds...just in case.  Just in case the surgery didn't go well...just in case my daughter has to grow up without me...if she lost me, then she would at least have these flowers that we planted together...flowers that in all actuality might not even fully grow because it is already August and I live in the Northeast.  But that didn't matter.  Afterwards, I was overwhelmed with emotion - had to go up and take a shower to hide from her the tears that were flowing - that are flowing again as I write this.  I have full faith in my surgeon -- I do!! -- but this is a life-changing event for me, that is now just one day away.  Scary?  Of course!  But exciting at the same time.  And next year, we're going to have a huge garden and a little Mommy, instead of a little garden and a huge Mommy!  :)

Sooo excited that I was approved by the insurance company yesterday and today was able to schedule my surgery for August 3!  All of the doubts and fears that I was letting creep in during the wait have vanished (at least for now!)...I know I'm pretty lucky that I was only waiting for the insurance approval for about a week, but that was long enough for me!  I've been telling more people about what's going to be happening...some people  have been advising that I don't need to tell anyone else because it is none of their business, but I kind of feel like a bariatric surgery crusader - there is so much misinformation and ignorance out there which leads to fear wrapped in concern, which were some of the reactions I was getting.  I really want to spread the word that this is not something you just go into a doctor's office and "order up" or that having the surgery is the "easy way out" - those of us who are going through the process know firsthand that one, it is not quick and two, it is not going to be easy!  But it certainly will be worth it.  Nothing worth having ever comes easy!

Stay strong, stay focused and remember to love yourself!  :)