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 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.

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!

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions for ways to spice up rigotta cheese? Looking for ways to get that protein in!!!w

Hi April, I am basically on my own to do things since I had my surgery SOTB. I went and had bloodwork done at 3 mos. All was great except for my iron was a little low, but that has been normal. They weren't concerned. He said it should come up over time and will check again at 6 mo. I think, if you have health insurance and pay monthly, we should be able to get checked when we feel we should. Of course not weekly or anything, but when you feel something is up, go for it! Susan =0)