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Well so very much has been happening in my life. I have been going through a divorce, a couple of moves, and a whole lot of stress! There was a lot to work out and agree on in the divorce, but finally at mediation we came to agreements on everything. My divorce will be final on Tuesday, or is supposed to be anyhow. It has all been approved by the judge just waiting for 90 days to pass, and on day 91 (Tuesday) it should be signed by the judge. In the midst of all of this, there has been lots of other stressers, but also lots of good too.

I did get a bit too liberal on my food choices, and am back up about 10 lbs. Time to once again nip that in the bud! I did this when I was in college, and got it back off, and so shall I do this again! I just have to stay focused no matter what is going on, and not allow myself to get distracted. Once you are 2 to 3 years out, if you start to lose focus, the weight comes back so easily and quickly. BUT it doesn't go away again nearly as efficiently! Takes a lot of focus, determination, discipline and hard work.

Things are very busy for me in life right now. I cannot be here as much as I'd like to be, but do know I care about you all. Right now I have to get focused on getting my divorce final, getting back to plan, getting more activity in again, and deciding where I want to go in and with my life and my future.

You all take time to be kind to yourselves and best of luck to all where ever you may be in this journey!
HUGS!

I came home from surgery weighing 10# more than pre-op. it takes our bodies awhile to adjust. Drink more liquids, it helps your body to shift the fluids on out. Our bodies are used to more fluids and calories, thinking the current deficit is permanent, and save every drop that comes by. Increase fluids and activity and the scale will start to move.

I went through many stalls and spruts all through the post op time. Know that you are stronger than the stall. Notice that clothing fits different. Take measurements of your body and pictures for comparison.

This article and several others are located in the blog area on this page.  Check out the information on the other articles when you have time.  Know that post op depression happens for some and there are explainations and fixes for this problem.

Many of us experience some changes in our emotions after weight loss surgery. There are a few things that contribute to this occurance, But, here's one reason you may not have even been aware of.

First, we all have "fat cells" in our bodies. Even thin people. When you are not overweight, these cells are flat, meaning not filled out. As you gain weight these fat cells become more filled out and larger. Your body actually does not create new fat cells. The ones you do have are just no longer flat and basically empty.

So, whats very interesting here is that when you are obese, and begin to lose weight, you are not actually losing fat cells, rather you are losing the "stuff inside" of those fat cells. What I find extremely interesting though, is what exactly some of that "stuff" in our fat cells actually consist of, other than just fat.

When you first began to pack on the pounds, many of your hormones were actually stored in your fat cells. The longer you have been obese, the more hormones are stored in these fat cells. As you begin to lose weight and your fat cells begin to shrink, they excrete hormones that have been stored in these cells for as long as you have been over weight, thus releasing these hormones back into your blood stream.

Once they are back into your blood stream, you begin to feel the effects of these newly released hormones, and it can really get you in a state of upheaval. Did you begin to gain weight during the time of puberty? Remember how hard that time in our lives were? You were going through many hormonal changes then. Now, as your fat cells release these hormones, you begin to feel the effects of them, but more subtly than during puberty.

So it is believed that this is one of the big reasons many wls patients go through mood changes, and emotional changes especially during the rapid loss phase. The good news is, this does not last forever. And as the weight loss slows, so does this release of hormones that have been stored up over the years in the fat cells, as these stored hormones get flushed from our systems.

It can be helpful to enlist the assistance of an antidepressant during you loss time, to help stabilize the emotional effects of this process. If you are currently on antidepressants, you may need the level temporarily increased during this time.

Which, leads me to another point. After wls, you are in a state of malabsorbtion, unless you had the lapband procedure. This being said, any current medications you are taking at the time of your wls procedure, may need to be adjusted by your physician post-operatively. This applies to not only anti-depressants, but all medications. This is something that will be important to discuss with your surgeon, and (s)he may refer you to your pcp after surgery to manage your medication levels.

Welcome to the losing side of surgery Becca. I am from MN too, living up on the iron range, north of Duluth. There are great support groups available in the twin cities area. Keep us up to date on your progress!!!!

I am glad that things are better Diana. Each day brings more improvements. Welcome to the losing side of surgery. Let the next steps of this adventure begin. Hugs