I try not to weigh in more than once a month. Water retention generally causes a 1-3lbs fluctuation on a daily basis. I try to go off of how my clothes are fitting me. Also, you mentioned you do not drink a lot of water. Your body needs water for many reasons, but two reasons that are very important to you. You need water to purge water. If you don't drink a lot, your body will try to hold onto it (hence, water weight gain). Also, we need water to lose weight. Excess burned fat gets 'ported' out of our bodies with water. (for lack of a more scientific way to put it). Make sure you aren't eating too many calories but also make sure you are eating enough...our bodies will hold onto calories if we're not getting enough by lowering our metabolic rate. I post my daily food intake into www.fitday.com. Its very enlightening. Also, exercise is key to a healthy lifestyle. Remember, a toned muscle burns calories at rest! Doesn't get any better than that. Also, the formula, even post op, is the same...weight loss depends on calories consumed vs. calories burned. Have you had your blood work done...how are your protiens looking. We don't process protien well and that's why we need a diet high in protien. There are a lot of products out there, what have you tried? Wishing you well, Rachel

Hi Tracy...Wow, What a journey thus far. Congrats on your successes (they weight loss and overcoming your challenges!) Good on you for sharing your journey through a support group. I think it is so important for our continued success, and it is also important to give back. In health, Rachel

I am planning a torso lift and breast lift/enhancement (nothing large). Early February 2006. My skin is very bad in the middle - i carried most of my weight around the middle so i expected it. Toni Bowen Open DS - 20 April 2004 285/141/132

Help! I am having difficulty losing. I weigh myself daily. I have lost 113 pounds which is great but I still need to lose about 40 more pounds. Why when we weigh does it go up a pound or two between days. I know I do not eat that much food. Will exercise help kick in the loss again. I also do not drink water alot. I am also having trouble eating protein foods. Please give me suggestions to start the process again to lose. I do not want to stop at this time. Thansk!

Hey Everyone, I was just reading through all the recent posts and am so incredibly impressed at how great most of us are doing. My surgery was on 4/30/04 and I have gone from 335lbs down to 180lbs and i'm plateaued. My clothing change has been soooooo great. I went from size 28 pants to a size 10-12 pants and from 42DD to 34D. This means I finally get to shop in the regular section! That's been a dream of mine for a long time. I still feel like I weigh 335, but i'm told that it will be a while yet before my mind catches up with my body. I started drinking Diet soda a month after my surgery and i've never had an issue from the soda. I know I can tolerate some sugar, but I choose not to do it. If I get myself back into a sugar addiction, then i'll start gaining my weight back and the whole surgery (including life-threatening complications) will have been pointless. People mention dumping, but i've yet to have my first dumping episode. I feel like I have more health issues now than before when I weighed 335. I developed post-surgical ulcers, a panic disorder, insomnia, Fibro-Myalgia, and I shattered my knee back in April. It's funny to think that taking all that weight off actually made me less healthy. I don't regret the surgery by any means, it has changed my life in more ways than I can even mention. A family friend decided to have this surgery after having several long and in-depth conversations with me about my surgery and life since. It feels good to help my friend through this. She came out of surgery great and she has turned in to a great workout partner. In the beginning, I was really scared and didn't know if the surgery was truly the right choice. Some people even tried to tell me I was taking the easy way out (what a crock!). Then, after surgery, I had to be hospitalized for a month due to some serious complications. I was hating life at that point and really regretting the surgery. Now that I look back on that time, I understand why I felt the way I did but I am also so happy that I didn't let my fear get the better of me. I co-run a local WLS support group and am constantly telling the members to vocalize their fears pre- and post-op. You'll never know what you'll be missing if you don't take time to really think about what you're afraid of and talk to someone who has been in your shoes. Anyway, enough of my rambling....CONGRATULATIONS to everyone for their amazing successes!!! Tracy 335 / 180