I was at my all-time high of 385lbs two weeks prior to surgery and lost down to 370lbs by the time I checked into the hospital. My Dr. didn't require it but I thought it would be a good idea from reading all of the posts on this site prior to my WLS. You know we're all pretty good at losing weight, it's just that "keeping it off" part of the plan that typically alludes us. In the past I've lost 50lbs in 48 days only to gain 85lbs of it back over the next year. In this instance I've gone from 370lbs on the day of my surgery 08/22/03 to 214lbs 07/26/04. It's still dropping about a pound a week. My thought is that I'm just 15lbs ahead of schedule due to my pre-op dieting. Dx

At 9-months out I wouldn't worry. It sounds like you're gaining muscle tissue that weighs more than fat. Keep up the excellent exercise. I'm an 11month post-op and I hit a couple of plateaus that lasted for about 3 to 4 weeks along the way. Just keep on keepin' on and the lbs. will start falling again. Dx

Ok Folks, I'm one of those "middle-of-the-roaders" when it comes to politics. I've never been left or right. In the car I switch back and forth from National Public Radio to more conservative "Talk Radio." Yesterday, Twice, two different Talk Radio Hosts, Mike Savage and Bill O'Reilly both made mention of how fat the Democrats looked at their convention. Savage mocked the Over weight and even bashed the idea of insurance paying for WLS. O'Reilly said that if the voting booths had scales and that the votes were calculated by lbs per vote, "the Democrats would win by a landslide for their 'on the Hoof' Vote." Like I've said, I'm usually not at all political, but these folks are just bashing and the people they've decided to bash are the overweight. Grrrrrrwwrr! In an election year, I think it's time we threw our weight around, as it were. Find out where the candidates stand on weight issues. It's clear that the far right radio folks think we're and easy target for slamming. I'm e-mailing those two to let them know that we are not the minority that they think we are. Sorry for the long post and the breach of "don't talk about politics or religion in public" rule that I was brought up with. Just blowing off steam and sharing it with all of us.... What are your thoughts? Dx

Randall, I'm 11months post-op and still have bouts of dry heaves every couple of months. Those first few months I had them all the time, even without any triggering incident such as a new food or eating to quick. My Dr. wrote me a very limited prescription for Phenergren. It's an anti - nausea medicine. They had used it on me in the hospital in IV form, but is available in a number of non-IV forms. Since it seems that some of us just have "fussy" pouches, my Dr. gave me about five doses per prescription. And only told me to call him whenever I needed to take one of them. He didn't want the medicine to "mask" some potentially serious complication that was presenting itself through the dry heaves. It has saved me hours of dry heaves just by having the Phenergren on hand. Perhaps check with your Dr. and see if he'll call you in a perscription. Best of luck, Dx

Heaven, I had my favorite food, Paella, Made with Chicken breasts, shrimp, bay and sea scallops, turkey sausage, roasted red, green and yellow peppers, mushrooms, sugar snap peas, a touch of fresh corn - all in a bed of saffron rice with garlic, onions, and tomatoes. I had a half a cup of it for lunch and dinner. Llow carb Yogurt and "Protien Total" cereal for breakfast and snacks. 1 Promote protien drink between lunch and dinner. As far as Paella, I think of it as "Human Chow." I could eat it for every meal. Dx