well peter, I suppose I will chime in here as well, I am now down 92 pounds give or take a few depending on the day. I started at 378 and because I am 6'3 and big bones I never really had any health problems to speak of, not did I actually think of myself as obese well not until passing 350 that is. Now I am down to 287 and I still see a fat much more flabby man than I was before. when I was at my full weight I really had no sag like I do now. I am down about 10 inchs in pants, and ohter than actually intellectually knowing I am smaller I dont feel all that different. People always say dont you feel more energy now? honestly I dont. I figure it is because I had plenty of energy to go around before surgery living as I did on sugar and caffien. when I hd to stop my sugar and caffien intake my energy levels plummeted and are just now getting back to pre surgery levels. but it doesnt seem like I am bursting with more energy , just getting back to a level I was at before. I thnk the hardest and most eye opening thing to do thoughbis to look at my day before surgery pictures and compare them to myself today... it is for sure that losing weight fast makes us seem like we have aged 20 years in 5 months. my only regret is that I did not have this surgery when I was 25 and not 49. All in all the trade off on gettting thinner but giving up enjoying food like I used to is a worthwhile trade off. I have no regrets at all on having had the surgery. have a great day!

I know exactly what you mean by not feeling fat before. I think we feel fat when we gained the first 20-40 #'s and then we felt it all go down hill after that. I think I never looked in the mirror after a while and so I remembered(in a mind set) the way I used to be and didn't put too much attention on my looks. It was a way to survive. But we were aware of our wt., cause we isolated ourselves and stayed out of the public eye. (I did and I think you did too?) So, noone told us different. I put wt. on the back burner and developed other problems to cover the wt., such as, depression, pain.... I too have Degn. Disc Dx. and arthitis... i was depressed and on high blood pressure pills and heart pills. I was a thin person up till I hurt my back the first time and gained from 130-300#'s in 10 years. I feel great!!!!! I can sit and walk and drive and cross my legs and so on!!!!! I don't see the person in the mirror and don't think I will for awhile,cause I trained myself not to look at that person. So I am going on my body fells so good! My fingers don't swell, my feet can take me places and shop!... Feel yourself inside and out and enjoy!!! I think the mirror will look back in time. God Bless you and your sweet whippet, Janee Cain

Melissa, I'm going thru the same thing right now!! I go up and down the same pound - we just have to stick to it, and all the advice points to the same way - water, water, protein, protein..... hopefully we can both jump out of this and jumpstart the weight loss again! wishing u the best..... maggie

HA! I posted the same topic 3/22 - had stalled out for several weeks. HOWEVER, weighed again today and lost 6 pounds. But that is a total for FIVE WEEKS! I was relieved to see a drop though. It had been 3 weeks without any loss before that. I am beginning to think that I'll be one of those that doesn't get down to goal. Waiting for that dang health club to open up it's doors for business and hopefully that will make a BIG difference. 370/280/??? -90

B scrambled egg w/ cheese S 2 oz beef jerkey L 1/4 c cashews D 1/2 c chicken S 3 SF mint milano cookies S 1 c popcorn 1/2 hour on the eliptical machine at the gym water and vitamins in should of eaten a protein bar to get alll my protein but today will be a better day