Welcome back, Deidrah, Glad you had a great time on your vacation and are feeling renewed. Why did you leave off your diuretic - not wanting to have to pee every 5 minutes at Disney World? I'm sure once you go back on it you will lose pounds within a day but I'll bet your doctor would fuss at you for stopping it!!! I can't seem to go extremely low carb either so try what you've mentioned for a couple of weeks and see how your body reacts. Do drink plenty of fluids though to make it easier on your kidneys! Keep reporting in so we can hear how it's working! CeCe

Deb, I don't know how you are built but PS can take off a good amount of weight if you have a lot of loose skin. I, too, am scared of the inner thigh lift. I have only a little (compared to other parts!) at the tops of my thighs. They aren't bad and my PS doesn't do that crescent cut which pulls up toward the groin. The arm incisions are enough to hide. I don't know if I can take the long thigh incisions! And, be very sure about the arms because those are LONG incisions! CeCe

Hello Girls, I am back from my Disney World vacation (I may have seen you there, Britt!!) and feel so wonderful and refreshed and ready to get back to my life!! It has given me a new outlook and I am now ready to start on a low-carb plan. I'm not sure I can do the South Beach or Atkins (tried those before) but I think if I stick to 25% carbs, 25% fat, and 50% protein (on a 1200-calorie plan), I may be able to handle that. Is that too much protein (is there such a thing for us as "too much protein"????)? I haven't taken my diuretics the entire time I was gone, and my legs are paying for it now. My eating was not too bad - actually got to eat at Planet Hollywood! - and I walked 16,000 miles (well, not really). My weight this morning was 200!!!! But I know it's only fluid, so back on my fluid pills I went this morning. Within a week it should be back to the 180s-190s. Seems everyone is having the same ups and downs as me, that makes me feel that I am not the only one fighting this battle. I want to stick to what I've done for the past 18 months but somehow it just seems to fly out the window! But now I am determined!! So look out!! Here are my current stats: Weight day of surgery: 312.4 Weight today: 200.4 Total weight loss: 112.4 Current BMI: 33.2 It's OK cause I'm gonna be working on it this week!! Hope everyone has a great week, Deidrah

Wanda, You ARE the most beautiful woman around!! You're the one who gets free oil changes! What did Randy think of that story?! I'm sure Randy has been full of compliments the whole time you've known him but Hank is just not like that and I've known him almost 37 years, literally through my being thick or thin!!! He's never given me the compliments he's given me in the last months so I know he is thrilled with my results! He says all the time that the PS investment is the best money we've ever spent! Yeah, it's GREAT, Wanda!!! What's also great is that you are back at the gym! You go, Wanda! I know you enjoy working out so I'm glad you are back there. Is the hand totally back to normal or are there lingering results? I think Britt's idea of a 5 pound leeway for the weight is a good one. I've set an arbitrary number for my "high" weight and I'm trying to stay within a few pounds of that. Wanda, your weight seems to bounce around like mine. One day I might be up almost 2 pounds and then fall 3 the next. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason in it either. Yesterday I felt like I ate a lot. I succumbed to a bagel (with butter) at the coffee shop yesterday. I was sitting happily drinking my Cafe Au Lait with skim milk and reading the Wall Street Journal after going to 2 gyms yesterday and some women at a near by table were talking about the bagels. Instead of putting on my iPod and reading away, I went up to the counter and ordered my own bagel! And, just like 99% of the time, the THOUGHT of the bagel was much better than the bagel itself. But, did I stop eating and throw the rest away? NO! Last night we grilled out again. I even ate 1 whole hamburger bun (not at one time) and was scared to get on the scale this morning but I was DOWN. Shocked! Today I am determined to stay on track and have done very well so far but mornings are no problem for me. We'll see how I'm doing at 10 pm. Tonight we are going out to a dinner meeting but I'm determined to eat lightly because I go see my WLS surgeon tomorrow for my 18 month check up. CeCe

Wanda, I'm so glad that you are finally loving your boobs! That gives me hope for my face! Hopefully, Christine will sail through with very little problem! CeCe