Re-Introduction and a Hello to all my old friends!

I’m Lauren.  33, turning 34 in January.  I had surgery in Dec ‘07 and will be celebrating two years post op before you know it.  I started at 369lbs and lost 222lbs.  I wore a tight size 34 pant (I was in denial and WOULD NOT buy the larger size 36), and a size 5X shirt.  I now wear a size 8 jeans and size M top.  I have been maintaining for most of this year and my weight fluxgates between 147 and 151lbs lately.  I’m celebrating a happy and healthy lifestyle and am so thankful for my RNY and to my surgeon Dr. Maher with MCV/VCU Hospital in Richmond, VA.

Life post op has been wonderful.  Not only the physical transformation but the health I have found.  The only co-morbity I had prior to surgery was severe sleep apnea.  I used a cpap for approximately a year prior to having surgery.  I was able to be taken off the cpap earlier this year I believe, my memory fails me.  But it was a defining moment.  I went in for a followup sleep study because I was again not sleeping well and felt my pressure probably needed to be adjusted.  The doctor reported that I no longer had sleep apnea.  He was a trip.  Called me up “Hey sexy! You no longer have sleep apnea and you did it all by yourself in losing the weight".  He was so proud of me.  I thankfully retired the machine, but TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DOUBTS - a cpap machine is the best damn thing known to man.  I seriously suggest it to all those who need it.  It REALLY helped me.  The results were not instant and I was disappointed at first, expecting to feel better immediately but over the course of maybe 3-4 months I started feeling better and more refreshed.  I was committed to wearing it every night.  Even my doctor *****viewed my machine’s data told me I was very good about wearing it as compared to his other patients.  I really believe in the cpap.  Get one if you need it and prepare for your surgery and one day you too will be able to take it off and rejoice in a job well done.

So, what changes in life can you expect?  Being able to walk and not need to take breaks and feel like you need a breathing treatment.  I like to tell this story in my hospital support group…  MCV has a parking deck that is a ways from the hospital, and the walk from there to the main hospital entrance to the support group meeting room was quite a trek for a 369lb chick.  Let me tell you.  I swear by the time I got there I felt like they had to administer oxygen.  But time went by, the weight started dropping and one day I got to the meeting and was fine.  WOW.  It really was eye opening.  I didn’t feel like I was going to pass out and die and didn’t need a gallon of water over the next hour to rehydrate.  I was SOOOOO happy!

Another change?  Your changing body and rediscovering shopping!  WOOHOO!  I HATED shopping before.  Nothing like only being able to walk into Catherines (the only store that carried my size 34 jeans in stock, not mail order) and walking out with elastic waist jeans and a potato sack top with some sequins on it.  NOTE:  WHY do plus size clothes designers think that adding embellishments will take away from the enormity of our clothes?  UGG.  I remember my last time in Catherines.  I walked in, looked around a bit and realized that I no longer needed to buy clothes there.  Kohls has been a blessing.  I love the clothes there.  I also shop at Marshalls and Target mostly.  It’s a great feeling to pick out a shirt, eyeball it thinking it’s the right size and then having to go back and get a smaller size.  :)

Other things that change…people.  I’m not going to lie.  People don’t know how to react to your weight loss.  I’ve had many a hateful comment from family members and friends who tell me I’m losing too much weight or I look too skinny.  My common response is that I am not losing anymore weight, that my body chose the weight it’s at and it likes it.  My personal goal going into all of this was to be 175lbs.  I felt that was a realistic and reachable goal.  Surpassing that goal has been great and I have a normal BMI and and overjoyed at the results and my choice of having this surgery.  I would like to stress reachable goals.  I see a lot of people who concentrate so much on the number - “I want to be 120lbs", etc.  Talk to your surgeon, consider your body type, consider how much excess skin you have to contend with and factor that in, I really think it is better to set a sensible goal for yourself with your surgeons help and should you surpass that goal, then wonderful.  You will be surprised where your body adjusts itself to.  Gone are the days of saying you are “big boned", when you see the changes in your body you really are surprised what’s under there!  :)

Excess skin.  A lot of people ask me about this because my starting weight was high.  Yes, you will have excess skin.  There are so many factors to what you will look like when your transformation is completed.  Starting weight, where you carried the majority of your weight, your age, your skins elasticity, how you tone your body during the weight loss process.  For me, my skin reached a point of no return.  Sorry Charlie, but there is just so much the skin can take and sometimes you will need plastic surgery to completely restore things back to their original order.  There are masters out there who can help you!  If you are in a financial place down the road, I encourage you to explore this option and see what ways plastic surgery can help you.  I am a candidate for a brachioplasty, breast lift (and possible augmentation), and lower body lift.  Yep, I need it all.  BUT, I’ll tell you, clothes are wonderful and strategic dressing really can hide a lot of the flaws that you see in the mirror that others don’t even realize!  For me, I got fitted in a proper bra and make do with what I like to call my “tragic boobs"  (HA HA) by nestling them in a nice fitting bra that is supportive and comfortable.  I personally don’t like how shape wear feels and don’t wear it often, but you can do that to help support your panni.  I’m usually pleased with how I look in clothes.  About the only thing I am overly self conscious about is my arms aka bat wings, during the summer it took me quite some time to say screw it and don a tank top.  It just comes down to this.  No matter what is left over, I accomplished a lot and am proud.  One day I may be able to afford plastic surgery.

The biggest piece of maintentance to me is continuing to stick to the plan.  I still watch my portion control.  I eyeball measure most things these days, and do admit to eating a larger portion than say a year ago, but everything in moderation.  From day one, I continued to eat things I enjoyed, just in much smaller portions.  I did not have this surgery to deprive myself.  I (PERSONALLY) don’t feel that you have this surgery to eat like a rabbit and do carrot sticks the rest of your life.  Oh well, to each his own.  I am extremely strict about eating no sugar.  I still to this day have not put one piece of candy or dessert or anything like that in my mouth.  My reason is simple.  Yes, I know I could eat one or two Hershey kisses and not die, but I just don’t know if I can stop myself, so I eliminate it from my diet until I am sure I can handle it.  Honestly, there are so many SF options out there for the occasional treat that I don’t feel deprived.  Yes, I miss Swedish fish and a honking piece of cake.  But I wait for the occasional event that offers SF cake or get myself SF Dove chocolates.  Don’t forget though, SF doesn’t mean no calories.  You are still taking in calories.  So endulge when you get a craving, but be mindful.

In staying on the food piece, I still focus religiously on protein.  A typical meal out for me will include a petite steak, potato and salad.  I am thankful that I have no aversion to meats, which some patients find after surgery.  I focus on 70% steak, a few bites of potato and a few bites of salad as a starter.  Bread…I’m a bread eater.  I am also thankful that I can eat it.  I was told that I might not be able to tolerate it after surgery but was willing to give it up.  Bread for me consists of a biscuit, an English muffin, half a bagel (beware…these are heavy and should be tried at home just in case, if you know what I mean…), and most of the time I do a sandwich on one slice of bread to make a half sandwich or use half of a wheat wrap to make a sammie with.

Food fear…I admit, the strict no sugar rule that I abide by has limited my choices.  My surgeons plan is to not eat anything that has sugar in the first three ingrediants.  The nutritional label is my friend.  I always check it and many a time had to put something back.  But slowly I have tried a few things here and there to add something back into my diet.  For instance.  Cereal.  I swear I could never find anything tasty except tree bark in a bowl.  LOL.  But finally upon the suggestion of a fellow WLS friend she just told me to focus on a low sugar variety and stick to the portion size or smaller.  I planned a time I could be at home and tried Honey Nut Cheerios.  NO PROBLEM!  NO DUMPING!  YEAY!  I also have tried those honey oat flakes cereal and even found a fruity cereal (Fruity Cheerios) that to me tastes like the “sugary cereal" that I so missed.  I do the suggested serving size of ¾ cup and put just enough milk in to wet it.  I am still mindful of the not eating and drinking at the same time and cereal and soups always confused me in that way.  I figure don’t tempt fate, so I just wet it down a bit and toss any remaining milk when I’m done.  Soups, I usually strain and just eat the goodies out.  I do creamy soups every now and again but find they don’t make me feel well, perhaps the consistency or even they have sugar in them?

I started eating my protein just as soon as I could.  Protein shakes are the devil to me.  UGG.  LOL.  I am able to keep my suggested protein intake numbers up by doing 16oz of milk per day, two protein bars and what meats I eat for my meals.  I’ve been able to do it this way for probably a year now.  I don’t have any protein powders suggestions because I just don’t like them.  That was always such a challenge to get down for me, so as soon as I could eat my protein I did.  I found a protein bar I adore.  I swear if they ever discontinue it, I’ll go into mourning.  LOL.

Hair - Yep, I got the “as long as you eat your protein you won’t lose your hair".  Um.  No.  I always ate/drank my protein and I still lost my hair.  And A LOT of it.  I look at old pictures and think wow it looks so thick.  My hair is much much thinner now, and many a time I’ve considered cutting it, but have found I just can’t part with my long locks.  I like to believe that my curls create the allusion of fullness and hide the thinness, but alas, my hair is now thin.  I have a lot of regrowth, mainly on the underside and have a bunch of shorter curlies, but am just committed to the fact that perhaps my hair will never be the same.  No worries.  I’m still happy, all of me is thinner, who cares.  LOL.

There are so many cool things that happen and reminders in daily life of what once was vs. what is today.  A great example is the magazine I got in the mail yesterday - Livng XL.  It is a magazine that specializes in large weight capacity items such as camping chairs, scales, office chairs, stools, larger bath towels, etc.  It was a rare find back when for when I was looking for items like these.  Hell, NO JOKE, I weighed myself on a box postage scale bought from Office Max for years because it was the only thing I could find with a weight capacity to 400lbs!  But now there are many products available for the obese.  What’s great is looking through this catalog and realizing that although I could buy anything in it I don’t need to.  Well okay, maybe the larger towels, because who doesn’t love a snuggly huge towel?!?!

So, what else?  I guess I’ve chewed newbies ears enough and hello to all my old friends.  :)

Welcome back Lauren! I can not believe how great you look and when looking at the numbers, I am so thrilled that you have lost that much! It is phenomenal.

Your post was GREAT! Full of information even for those of us that aren't newbies. I am sure the newbies will love reading it.

Againl glad you are back. You are looking more than fantastic. Congratulations on all your success!!!

Hello there!  I adore "closing in on skinnyville"  LOL.  Too funny.  I hope you and Cameron are doing well and look forward to reading more posts soon.  :)

awww Thanks! It's a slow closing in but I'm going to get there. Hopefully with this feeding tube, it will help me get the nutrients that I need to get out of this starvation mode. Eating 500 calories a day is more than unhealthy but it's my mission to get to Skinnyville!

I thought about you one day when I saw Mint Choco Chip No Sugar Added ice cream. I remember us talking about it one day. I sent you a message on facebook but not sure if you ever got it. Hope you did!!

Cam and I are doing good. Better all the time. Thanks for asking! And I look forward to more of your posts too!!!

GIRL!!! I remember that conversation too, and yes, I found the mint choco chip NSA icecream.  HOLY CRIKE.  It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good.  Yet another example of the things that we can have that i adore.  Well, my lactose intolerance doesn't adore it, but I have it once in a while as a special treat.  :)  YUMMO!

Hey Lauren! So glad we've kept up with one another offline as well. Have to step it up in that area in my end. I'm extremely happy for & proud of you! :) Love you lots!

As always....LOVE YOU BABE!

Lauren, that is the best  post I've seen in a long time!!!  What a journey!!  I'm so happy that you're back.  This is becoming old home week with Jackie back & now you.  Welcome home, little sister!!

Edited:  I forgot to mention...CONGRATS on the new job!!  And what's new with the house?  Any bites yet?

Thank you for the warm welcome back!  :)

Welcome back and congrats on your success.  This post was very wonderful and informing. 
Thanks for taking the time to post it!