hi all, i had surgery on April 16th, started at 224 and am down to 142...   the past few months have gone really slow.   in fact i was at a standstill for almost 3 months and then started losing again.   I went from 3xl's and 18-22 to a medium and size 8.   I would love to lose another 15 lbs and get to a comfortable size 6.   HOpe i can do it.  congrats to all. 

Congrats...........

(Copied from a response to another April WLS friend who commented on my Christmas pictures and thought I would share it with my other peeps!")
I need to take full body pics. I noticed in my Christmas pics, I still hid behind the kids like when I was fat!  I too had thunder thighs. I now understand why they say you "melt from the top down." My excess weight is gone from the head to my thighs.  But from the thighs down need some work. Thighs are much smaller but I still see them as big. Think the skin there will be my worst problem. As for plastics. I really dont want to put my body through that. My stomach looks suprisingly good. No panni problems there at all!!!    Sure I have stretch marks from having kids but who doesnt.  Thighs well like I said, they are better than they were. They look good in the size 5 board shorts I bought last summer being really optimistic I would get into them by summer 2009.  They are actually a bit big now!  The size 8 tankini top looks really good with the board shorts. The way I look at it I will take some loose skin verses being a 100 pounds heavier. Yeah, I also never remember being in single digit pants either.  I sure as hell know I have never been a size 4!  Preop I would have been happy to be a 14 from a 22/24. Never in my wildest dreams would have imagined I would become a size 4.  I want to start walking with my daughter (she almost 11) and following in my tracks and that scares me.  I want her to lose some weight and walk with me. Problem is I flat out dont exercise. Never have. Dont now. Guess that needs to change for 2009.  As for the protein. I still do two Nectar shakes a day  and two full meals a day (was doing 3 protein drinks) but with all the holiday eatting I slacked a bit. Scale has been the same for the last two weeks so thats good. But its the first holiday season I havent GAINED weight!!!  Been out of town since day after Christmas and havent been on a scale. Will get back on it on Wednesday AM when I get back home and pray its the same.  We are in Pahrump, Nevada and have been doing the casino buffet thing with the family the last four days. Discovered I dont dump on sugar. at all. But I can feel my blood sugar surge when I eat sugar but no dumping.  Yikes!  Had an omelet with bacon, ham, onions and peppers this morning at the casino cafe.   Have had eggs 4 times since surgery and they seemed to sit like rocks so I haven had eggs in at least 4 months.  Thought it might be better now that I am further out and can tolerate most everything. It was really greasy and I felt my intestines gurgling for hours.  Greasy foods bad!!!  Had a really nice bowel movement within about an hour.    As for more weight loss, I really dont think I will get much lower  (am at 142) but all my WLS friends keep telling me "You are only 8 1/2 months out and most lose up to a 12 months and since you have had steady weight loss you probably will lose more" so I might lose a few more but I honestly am scared to lose more and dont care if I do and really am not trying.   I also dont ever want someone to tell me I look sick.  Soooo many people tell me right now that I look healthy and compared to others who have had WLS I look fantastic.   My weight loss started out really slow but has been steady all the way. I really think that has helped with the skin thing.  I only hit one stall at about 4 weeks out for two weeks. Since then its been steady and since I upped my protein to 100 grams it has literally fell off when others who are going 60 grams and exercising like crazy have not lost what I have lost and I never exercise.   When I get back home I will go back to 3 protein drinks and 3 meals a day.  My push is going to be taking Potasium as its been on the low side since before I had surgery and its still lon the low of the range.  I also havent been taking iron as often as I should since its constipating.  My New Years resolution is more Potasium, more Iron, and starting to walking. 

72 lbs gone....26 to go...down from 221 starting weight.  Here's to more in 2009!

My weight on Christmas of 2007 was 435.5 lbs.

My weight on my day of surgery (4/28/08) was 375 lbs.

My weight today is 261 lbs, for a grand total (so far) of 174.5 lbs! 

Life is great!! Today, my hubby and I went to the mall and I had absolutely no problem walking from one end of the mall to the other... testing out the ellipticals and treadmills in Dick's Sporting Goods... then walking back to the other end of the mall again. No feeling out of breath, no sweating, no back or knee pain!! (Then, I hit 4 or 5 more stores not in the mall!) 

Yesterday, I saw my family doctor for a procedure on my toe. She was just thrilled with my success so far, and told the student interning with her that I was her "poster child" for successful weight loss. She has been amazingly supportive of my decision, and I am so thankful for finding this doctor. I hope to lose at least 65-70 more pounds. I am trusting that my body will know when it's time to stop. But, it made me feel good to have my doctor tell me that she considers this a success already, because I have added many years to my life and I KNOW I am happier than I have ever been in my adult life, so I suppose she's right!!