Are you where you thought you'd be?

Just checking in with all my September buddies to see how you are doing? Any hair loss yet? How much weight have you lost? More energy? Any other life changes? I haven't started losing hair yet but am certain it's coming. I have thyroid disease so I have dealt with hair loss before. I don't feel like my weight is coming off very fast. I can't complain because I have lost 54 pounds. I started at 274 and am now at 220 at almost 4 months out. In the 2nd month, I felt more energized but this month I feel like hell. I am sleepy all the time again. I've been taking all my vitamins. I don't know if I am eating enough. I am struggling because I am sick of the same old crap. I can't eat bread at all but I had a piece of candy and didn't dump. Go figure. I can live without candy but no bread??!! I have noticed other people noticing me more. I've been getting compliments from people at work about how thin I am getting. I weigh 220lb - I can't believe they can be serious so I am having trouble accepting any kind of positive attention. Well, come on, weigh in with your story so far and let's make this board a little more active!

I;m feeling almost back to my usual self this month. Thanks to a new b12 supplement, my energy is back. I finally feel up to joining a gym. My first workout was to day and other than needing a nap, I feel great. I can work an 8hr retail day and not collapse when I get home. I hit 70lbs lost this week. It's a dramatic change now. I keep forgetting that at 5'9 and 198 lbs, I'm not the 'fattest person in the room". I don't look fat, just heavier than average. I've gone from a size 22 to an almost 14 (another 5-7 lbs to go) No hair loss yet. I bought my first ever knee high boots last week. My calves have never been small enough and I didn't like the styles offered in Wide calf. I look pretty darn good too. I haven't dumped at all yet and haven't vomited in weeks. I had one bite too many at dinner and was sure it would come up, but the feeling passed. I can eat pretty much everything I've tried, but I'm only trying WLS friendly foods. I'm not eating enough in general, but I'm working on it. I have skim milk and protein shake for breakfast, 1oz of cheese and 4 whole grain crackers for lunch, and 1/2 cup of whatever my family has for dinner. Overall, I'm thrilled with my journey. I do feel self conscious when people say "Keep up the good work" since I don't feel I'm really working at all.

I had my surgery on 9/17, and have lost 67 pounds, including my preop loss. I feel great. I go to the gym about 4x/week. I try to do some weight training twice a week, but since Christmas, I've only done cardio, but I increased my time from 1/2 hour to a full hour on the exercise bike. I seem to be stuck on a plateau right now as I haven't lost anything in about 3 weeks, but I know I'm doing all that I can, so I can't stress over it. I eat between 800 to 1000 calories a day, and my biggest hurdle is getting the water down. I'm lucky if I can drink 48 ozs. over the course of the day. I have never been able to meet the 64 oz./day goal that the doctors gave me. I am losing my hair, and have been for about a month now. It's worse in the morning in the shower and when I style it. I lose a huge handful every time. This week, I've noticed it falling out throughout the day, even if I don't mess with it. I have a lot, so I hope I can get over this hurdle before I run out of hair! The other downer is all my sagging skin. My upper arms are very saggy as well as my stomach. Now my thighs are starting to sag too. If I feel my muscles, they feel nice and tight - as long as I don't look at them. As for life changes, this surgery has changed my WHOLE life! I have no regrets whatsoever. My latest wow moment came last week when someone in my office building saw me for the first time since early November. I got in the elevator at the same time as he did. I said hi to him, and he just stared at me for about 10 seconds. Then his expression changed when he realized who I was. He said that he didn't recognize me at first because I've lost so much weight. That felt really good. Got into a pair of size 14 jeans this week, too -- from size 22! I could go on and on with wow moments -- they seem to happen almost on a daily basis lately! I've found that there are certain things that I've gotten in the habit of doing that are keys to being successful (besides making the right food choices). They are regular exercise, recording everything that I eat in my journal (www.fitday.com) and attending the support groups at Tufts NEMC (where I had the surgery). I hope that I can continue with these habits because my biggest fear is stretching out my pouch and putting the weight back on.

I had surgery on Sept 17th and I've lost 43 pounds. I wi**** was more and thought it would be more. My hair started falling out about a week ago- badly. I don't drink enough water and I don't eat enough protein. Good-for-you food makes me throw up but I can eat junk food all day long with no problems. I can't eat chicken or steak but pizza rolls are ok. Make sense? No bread at all- it just sticks in my throat. I miss my diet cokes and have tried to drink them but the bubbles make me miserable. I don't exercise like I should. I take care of my 9 month old twin grandchildren every day and by the time their mother gets home I'm too exhausted to do anything else. I am getting more energy now so maybe I can get some situps in soon. I don't really have a support system so I'm pretty much on my own here.

I had surgery on 9/10 and on December 21st, I was down 80lbs. I have alot to lose so I hoped in the beginning I would lose alot. I go to the doctor on the 31st and hope to have lost 100lbs by then. People say I walk faster now. I had deveolped a sore that tested positive for MRSA, so I have not been able to do the aquarobics that I wanted. I am hoping by next week the sore will be closed over and I can swim. I hope the weight loss will increase then. I try to push myself to walk by parking the car a little bit further away then where I'm going. I'm feeling so much better than where I was at the time of my surgery and in pictures I can see the difference, but looking in a mirror, I see the old me, just a little bit saggier now. I am really getting saggy skin on my chin. My hair started to fall out, so I cut it off. I got tired of leaving my long strands of hair all over the place, in my tub, my brush, my shower drain, my chair at work. I still struggle with my fluid intake. I just can't drink the require amount. I get in about 40 ozs. I am doing good on my foods. I just can't eat beef. I really follow the rules about what I'm allowed to eat. I haven't gotten sick in a few weeks now. I look at food now as nutrition. I have not had the urge for chinese food, pizza, sweets and it hasn't bothered me to see someone else eat it. Although I do look at it and think about how sick I would be if I even thought about taking a bite. I don't want to try it, because I dont want to know if I dum*****t. I'd rather just avoid it and fear it. The person I was previous to surgery would continue to eat it knowing it was making me more unhealthy. I have posted my newest pics on my profile. I hope everyone is keeping a photo journal of your journey. I wish everyone continue success. Remember to not compare your weight loss numbers to others. As long as its coming off, that's what is important.

I had a LapBand done on 9-21-07 and to date have lost 45 pounds. I am pretty happy with that; but, honestly who of us would not want more and want it faster. I feel good. There are things I love I cannot eat but all this was about life change. I am oh so greatful I have had NO hair loss problems. In one of my many many weight losses in the past I had that problem. The human side of me is a little disappointed this amount of weight loss has not been noticed by people who have not seen me in a while. Those who see me all the time all supportive of my numbers...but they see me every day!!! Anyway, I did this for me....and ME likes the changes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like I am losing really slow, I haven't lost anything in about a month! I just don't understand why. But I am down to 215 and on surgery day I was at 270, (55lbs). I started at our local "gym" this week so hopefully if I keep moving i will start losing again. Hair seems to be starting to fall out some, too.

Hi, chiming in with my 2 cents. I had RNY on Sept 10th. I've lost 93 lbs, since starting my pre-op diet prior to the surgery. I'm losing my hair. I can tell it's thinning, but my family and friends tell me it's not noticeable. (Yeah right, just like they told me I wasn't as big as I thought). I just keep telling myself that my hair loss is temporary. Also my nails are really brittle and weak. Anyone else notice that happening?. Aside from thinning hair and bad nails, those are my only gripes. I feel FANTASTIC. I have so much energy. I can go to the gym, come home and continue with my daily activities without being exhausted. I noticed that I had a bicep the other day! WOW, muscles! Of course I have the sagging skin on my belly arms and thighs, but I'm not bothered by that too much. My husband is so happy that I did this. He says he has the happy girl he married back. We noticed that in photo's I'm not hiding in the background or behind one of my kids. Since the surgery when a camera comes out, I'm front and center smiling. I'm in between size 18 & 16's. The other day I tried on a pair of hip hugging size 16 jeans just for fun. Anyone ever hear the expression muffin top? That was me, the fat got pushed up and over the jeans. I was cracking up in the dressing room. I think the salesladies thought I was mental. Shopping is fun for me now.

I had my surgery 9/10/07 as of 12/27/07 I was down 81 lbs including pre op. My hair is thinning but not sure it is that noticeable. I have an enormous amount of energy. My life is great. I stay busy. Love livin'. I get compliments all the time I just say Thank You and go on. I only weigh myself at the Dr so I won't know how much I weigh until March 13th. I would drive myslef crazy if I had a scale at home. Congrats to everyone!

I am losing a lot of hair. The dietician told me to begin taking the vitamin Biotin which I just began taking about a week ago. Hopefully this will help. I had RNY on 9/17/07 and have lost 81 lbs. I am still a little tired but overall feel better. I am also having problems with the compliments. Everyone keeps saying things like, "You are so pretty" I keep thinking so you think that I was sooooooooo ugly 80lbs ago. I know that people are trying to be supportive but I just want to say, I am still the same person that I was before the surgery. I used to dream of someone calling me skinny, now that they do I can't accept it. I look in the mirror and see the same person that I've always been. I still go to the biggest sizes in the clothing stores. I can now understand what anorexia is all about. I am working on the mental part of the weight loss, the eating part is easy compared to this. Still having problems with protein. Tried all different types of protein drinks...........YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!