ROLL CALL!! Oct 22, 2007

Just 11 more days till our final roll call.... How is everyone doing? We are still not seeing the level of participation we hoped for on the what-did-you-eat threads. Come on over and join us on those! We did, however, have an awesome week with 80% of our participants reporting in with their current weights and we only lost 6 due to not reporting in these past two weeks. With 96 currently active participants, we've lost 963 pounds since Labor Day! WOOHOO!! I have bad news... My scale died! I have no idea if I've lost or not this week! LOL I may pick one up at Wally World while I'm on my trip this weekend... We'll see. So, I'm sticking to my 220 weight that I've been at for about 3 weeks now. At least that is my Halloween goal, so I know I've met that! This week's Question of the Week: Why did YOU decide to have weight loss surgery? What was your breaking point or deciding moment to go ahead and pursue this journey? And, would you do it again? I know that for me the breaking point was the diagnosis of degenerative disc disease in my lumbar spine and all the pain I'd been in due to this. The pain management docs told me that it was all because of my weight. The pain and damage to my back was caused, quite literally, by my "front" or my pannus pulling on my lower back. He told me that the ONLY thing that would truly make a difference was getting the weight off. This was, of course, on top of my PCP and orthopedic specialist already telling me on a somewhat regular basis how much of my health issues were caused simply by my weight. Now that I've done it, I wish I'd done it 15 or 20 years ago and lived life more in those years! Lea

223 lbs today. I have 3 more to reach my goal! I will work really hard these next 11 days! Why did I have this surgery? *sigh* I'm 28 and I thought I was going to die in my sleep. I'd wake up practically gasping for air. I knew I had to do something. I'm so glad I did this. I'm down 151 lbs and I can sleep through the night with no problem and I do so much more. I love the life I'm living right now. I would do it again in a heart beat!

Hi Lea, I know it's early but I'll report in anyways...lol. I made my halloweenie goal!!! 216 as of a couple of days ago. I really upped my protein and it sooo worked!! This tool just amazes me day after day. Just when I think "ok this is it I'm probably not gonna lose much more, boom goes 3 lbs. at once!" Ok for the question of the week: I decided to have this surgery (lap rny) because first off I have lymphedema in both legs and my left arm. Also, I had sleep apnea, my joints hurt soo badly I couldn't even walk 100 feet. I get blood clots very easily so I'm on coumadin (a blood thinner) for the rest of my life. And, my mom is a really bad diabetic...she is a double amputee and her sight is now leaving her. My dad died when I was only five years old from heart disease. I researched for five years all the different kinds of surgeries and surgeons. I would do it again but alot sooner than I did. I think probably everyone will say that! New Years Goal: dare I say........199!!

Well, I am ready to throw in the towel. I can't seem to get things moving for me. I'm trying to eat better, I'm exercising, but my weight simply yo-yo's around 185. I only wanted 10 pounds on this challenge...so frustrating.

I weigh 260 I have 2 more pounds for my Halloween Goal. I had surgery becasue I had High Blood pressure , High Cholesterol, Pre-diabeties, Asthma, and I hurt all of the time. I have medications for all those problems, I am now off of my high blood pressure meds and hope to come off the others.

283 lost a pound or two Answer to Question: Turned 42 and was diagnose with highblood pressure & diabetes. Was not sleeping and barely able to drag myself to work and home then crash into bed.

I have had a great week!! Lost 7 pounds this week for a grand total of 104....almost half way to my final goal. this week I weighed in at 293, still not my Halloween goal, but under 300 pounds for the first time in forever! I decided to have the surgery as nothing else was working, I had to literally starve myself to lose any weight, and then when I would start to incorporate real foods back into my life I would gain the weight again. I knew that high blood pressure and diabetis ran in my family so was very worried that one or both may have been in my future and felt like I had been passed up for a couple of jobs due to my size, so that being said, a very dear friend said to me, have you ever considered WLS....I had but did not want to tell anyone, but with her support (my mom is so far away) I began the journey. It was the best thing I ever did for myself!!! Gayle

Highest weight: 350+ DOS: 322 Last week: 203 This week: 194 Under goal of 205 and still goin' 6'4" 9 lbs lost this week. This is the biggest loss I've had in a very long time. I wasn't feeling very well this week, which I think propelled the loss. For me, the breaking point of deciding to have the surgery was looking at the actuarial tables which said that even though I was only 30 years old, I had an estimated 25% mortality rate within 4-5 years, and that rate increased beyond that point if I didn't lose my weight. My wife and 4 children are too important to live a life in that type of risk. That was my realizing reality point. Would I do it again? Yes I would. I am in a very different place than I was before this surgery. --Dave

Hi Lea , Not much to report . Start = 319 Today = 175 144 total pounds lost , so far . Goal = 169 No change this week . As for this weeks question . My breaking point was that my blood sugars were inching up . My injuries were increasing . My Arthritis was getting worse . I didn't want the side effects of diabetes or be crippled at such a young age . I know too many people already there , which is tragic . Kathy

I lost 2 lbs this week so I am at 232.6. That means I have 2.6 lbs to go to reach my goal. I am going to try very hard to get there. The reason I had surgery is because I was sick of feeling sick all the time. I woke up one morning and realized I was 45 years old and was not going to live very long if I continued the way I was going. I didn't want to live the rest of my life on diabetic medication and taking diuretics just to get the fluid out of my legs. I just wanted to get healthy so I could enjoy life. I figured if I got thin in the process that would be a bonus and if getting thin helps me meet someone so I don't have to spend the rest of my life alone that is an even bigger bonus. Who knows, maybe I am not meant to ever get remarried, I will leave that up to the Lord, but I do know that I am suppose to keep myself healthy. This surgery has helped me accomplish that. I would do the whole thing again in a heartbeat. Only wish I would have done it a year ago, but must be I wasn't at a place in my life a year ago to make that happen. Just glad that this time was the right time for me. Sally