Sometimes I just get so tired of managing myself, I am vigiliant about the water, the weighing to make sure I am not gaining, the small portions of food. But then some days I am constipated, then the next day I am in the bathroom-like I have been unplugged. Something that doesn't usually bother me (like soup) makes my pouch irritable. My bones seem achy and I am wearing layers and layers to keep warm. Clothes seem to shift into big mode overnight. My skin is droopy the more inches that go so losing more seems counter productive since I am not ready to pursue PS. Thanksgiving was good for two days then I was sick and weak for two days.............I went to Vegas on business and carried food with me the whole time since most things were so rich I knew I would miss what I needed to do there if I ate what was being served. I had a dumping episode at the Wynn-nice bathrooms! In fact I know where most of the public bathrooms in Vegas are! I wasted #'s of food stuck in front of me. Thanks for reading, any suggestions appreciated! I always learn from the ppl here. B

Hi fellow Marchers It's be a while since I posted,well visit my renal doctor today,I'm off one more of my hypertension meds yipppeeeeeeeeeeee.Now I'm taking one medication.This is so great,what I've been striving since sugery.My B/P 107/58 HR 56 which is good my doctor wants it a little higher he thinks it too low.Still fighting to get in the century club 3-5lbs to go.Well the one till that matters I'm feeling great and can take on the world. Thank for listening to me gloat. Smooches Claire

FIRST OFF OMG YOU HAVE COME SUCH A LONG WAY!! WOW YOU LOOK GREAT!! Keep up the good work! Kathy thank you for saying you can relate to what im going threw. I sometimes think that im alone in this. I am so scared of failing myself. I have seen my mom out eat her gastric bypass. My Mother had WLS about 5years ago and she went from over 300lbs down to 180lbs she had her tummy tuck and now she has streched her tummy (not all the way back to regular) and eats ALL the wrong things! One day about my 8month post op I went out to eat with my Mother and she had a plate full of food and i mean a plate full SHE LOOKS OVER TO ME AND SAYS "DONT WORRY HUNNY YOU WILL BE EATING THIS MUCH AGAIN ONE DAY " !! OMG I CAN NOT GET THAT OUT OF MY HEAD (My Mother is very negative) So i feel so anxius about failing myself. I do stay aware of what i eat and how much but this eating over my 4oz is scary!! I think i am going to do as you do mesure out my 4oz and thats it. I do have a special plate that i do use at home I call it my sunshine plate (its bright yellow!) i put a little of this and that on when its time to eat. I do find shopping comforting when i do want to eat. My new thing is that i get up eat protien bread and peanutbutter and a little cold coffee then out of the house i go and i dont look back. Im out running around from thrift store (cheaper than regular high end stores LOL) to thrift store ! And all the time im running around Im not eating!! Oh i will go to the health club some days too. OH I to dump more now than i did before. I think it is do to being able to eating more. Kathy all i really want to say is thank you for sharing. You take care. I wish you all the best. Keep up the good work and self love. CHER

Hi Cher, First of all congrats - you have done an amazing job! I am noticing that I can eat more food these days for sure, and it does make me anxious. Personally, I am still about 25 lbs from my goal of 170 (started at 351), and really want to get there! So I have made a real effort to keep my meal sizes to about 4oz. even though "technically" my meal size could be larger at this point. I still use protein shakes 1 or 2/day depending on what I've eaten, to keep my total protein up at 80g/day. I have to eat five smaller meals per day because I have developed reactive hypoglycemia recently. I also started dumping recently, which was kind of a surprise! I think it has more to do with the larger quantity of whatever I ate than any changes in me. So I don't do that anymore - back to the 3 bite rule on dessert for me! The thing is, I get so aggravated with myself because sometimes I eat too many carbs. Try to keep to under 50/day, but some days, I cannot choke down the protein, while I feel like I could eat something carby until the cows come home! Meat? Ugh. Potatoes? No problem! I still eat the meat first, then just a couple of bites of potato, but then I am tempted to overeat the potatoes because I feel like my capacity for them is bottomless. I *know* better, and very very rarely actually overindulge, but man, sometimes it takes some work. Congrats also on getting back to the gym! I didn't really commit to a jacked-up exercise program until about 15 months out (I walked all along, but didn't challenge myself physically much at all) and once I did, my weight loss stalled for over two months! I thought I was THROUGH and I wasn't yet under 200 at the time. That was scary, given how far out I am, I thought maybe my ride is OVER. But I have redoubled my efforts in the gym and sticking to my food & water & vitamin plans, and lo and behold, the weight continues to come off. Slowly, but it's coming. I still have some months with 10 lbs loss, even this far out. Sorry this was so long - just my rambly way of saying "I have the same feeling" and it's no fun. But it does pass, and as long as I don't let it determine what I actuallY DO in terms of compliance, things seem to still be working for me. I wish you all the best!! Kathy

Just wanted to relay an experience I had this morning. Yesterday, the chiropractor gave me a sample of a liquid multi vitamin suppliment. Since I know that many surgeons recommend we take liquid forms, I thought I'd give it a try. Well, first of all it tastes horrible, I had to dilute the one ounce sample in an 8 oz glass of water to be able to drink it down. Not two minutes later, my face felt warm and my skin was starting to feel burning and itchy. I looked in the mirror and I was turning red. The lower part of my face, my chest and arms, my hands, my knees and thighs were all bright red. It was 6:30 AM so my Dr's office wasn't even thinking about being open yet. If I had developed breathing difficulty I would have dialed 911 but the reaction seemed to just be the rash and itchiness, but it had me scared for a minute. I checked the label and it is just vitamins and minerals, no herbal anything that might be suspect. As I was waiting for my Dr's office to open, the rash dissapated and went away on it's own. I guess I matabolized whatever it was pretty quickly. I can't help but wonder if it had anything to do with my altered anatomy? Because liquids pass directly into the distal part of our small intestines without any interaction with the normal digestive process, could that be a factor in the reaction? I'm definitely going to ask my surgeon. I will tell the chiropractor about it tomorrow, I would hate for someone to have a worse reaction than I did and him be totally unaware. Not that there's anything he could do about it but I do feel he should be aware.