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PSSssst.... Brenda's ticker...

I don't I think I have seen anyone in this group reach their weight loss goal. our support group has always functioned as a place where people come to ask questions before and after, but not necessarily to accompany them on their Journey as they reach their destination. That's one reason why this is so special. We have all been with you and we have all wondered if you would make it or when you would make it. So it is really exciting to me to be part of this.

That's one reason why this is so special. We have all been with you and we have all wondered if you would make it or when you would make it. So it is really exciting to me to be part of your success.
 
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Thanks Diane, this group has been such a huge tool for me. Being able to ask questions and also feeling useful and being able to offer advise or even just an ear to others is priceless.

And there are so many others who have after me who are hyper-focused and who WILL reach their goals too! I can't wait to celebrate with you all!

Someone in particular that I'd like to shout out is missdarmitage. Not only is she crushing her weight loss, she's completely immersed herself in the healthy lifestyle, even cooking healthy Thanksgiving dishes for her family this year! Definitely nothing I could have done! ;) She's also embraced the role of mentor in this group, paying it forward in every way. :) Super proud of you girlie!

I have my 9 month post-op appointment on Friday so I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for being here to celebrate with me. Everyone else in my life seems to be "over-it" haha... Only those of us who have lived life as an obese person knows what concurring these last few pounds means. I love you all!!!
 
Brenda and Missdarmitage and many other have encouraged and inspired me. It’s really hard if you don’t have some kind of support. We all have different things going on in our life’s that can throw us off the path. We just need to remember why we are on the journey and who we are doing if for.
 
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Brenda2010 said:
Thanks Diane, this group has been such a huge tool for me. Being able to ask questions and also feeling useful and being able to offer advise or even just an ear to others is priceless.

And there are so many others who have after me who are hyper-focused and who WILL reach their goals too! I can't wait to celebrate with you all!

Someone in particular that I'd like to shout out is missdarmitage. Not only is she crushing her weight loss, she's completely immersed herself in the healthy lifestyle, even cooking healthy Thanksgiving dishes for her family this year! Definitely nothing I could have done! ;) She's also embraced the role of mentor in this group, paying it forward in every way. :) Super proud of you girlie!

I have my 9 month post-op appointment on Friday so I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for being here to celebrate with me. Everyone else in my life seems to be "over-it" haha... Only those of us who have lived life as an obese person knows what concurring these last few pounds means. I love you all!!!
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First, congratulations Brenda!!!! You have been an inspiration to me through this journey and it is amazing to see that all of the hard work pays off :). Second, thank you for your kind words! I am just trying to do for others what you, Diane, and so many others have done for me. "Paying it forward" is exactly what I am trying to do. I really appreciate all of your sage advice and wisdom that you have shared with us all. Congrats on being "almost there" and I can't wait to celebrate once you are at your goal ;)
 
So Brenda, are you going to weigh yourself tomorrow or the next day or are you going to wait until your strict weekly weighing day arrives?

I never had a goal that included a weight-loss number, so after surgery I just weighed myself whenever I felt like it. And until I had dropped 115 pounds, didn't think anything about the number I should be at. Actuarial tables always listed my height/weight ratio as overweight even when I was a skinny young woman.

My way of keeping track was based on what clothes I could wear. If I fit well into my clothes or if I looked good at some outfit, that was good enough for me. I was actually pretty surprised when I had lost 115 pounds when I had been told I was only a hundred pounds overweight. Hah! "only..."

So, I continue excitedly to await Your Moment! And I too am excited, impressed by and grateful for Miss D, and so many others here. If I tried to name them (as I did in a long-ago post to this forum), I would sound like someone winning the Best Actress Oscar, who wrote her acceptance speech in the limo!

But when you reach your goal, it will be unprecedented. Everyone who was on that journey with you will want to celebrate, and will soon follow you in reaching their goals.

And every newcomer will be inspired and know they can do it, too. Win/win/win!
 
dianeseattle said:
So Brenda, are you going to weigh yourself tomorrow or the next day or are you going to wait until your strict weekly weighing day arrives?

I never had a goal that included a weight-loss number, so after surgery I just weighed myself whenever I felt like it. And until I had dropped 115 pounds, didn't think anything about the number I should be at. Actuarial tables always listed my height/weight ratio as overweight even when I was a skinny young woman.

My way of keeping track was based on what clothes I could wear. If I fit well into my clothes or if I looked good at some outfit, that was good enough for me. I was actually pretty surprised when I had lost 115 pounds when I had been told I was only a hundred pounds overweight. Hah! "only..."

So, I continue excitedly to await Your Moment! And I too am excited, impressed by and grateful for Miss D, and so many others here. If I tried to name them (as I did in a long-ago post to this forum), I would sound like someone winning the Best Actress Oscar, who wrote her acceptance speech in the limo!

But when you reach your goal, it will be unprecedented. Everyone who was on that journey with you will want to celebrate, and will soon follow you in reaching their goals.

And every newcomer will be inspired and know they can do it, too. Win/win/win!
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Hey Diane - I'm sticking to my Friday morning schedule. I don't know if it will be this week (2.6 for me at this stage would be a LOT for a week) but it will be before the end of 2019. My 9 month post-op just happens to fall on this Friday too. :)

Hehe, so true about the many people we could name who are doing so great!

My surgeon's goal for me was to loose 100 pounds but I set a goal of at least 121. I chose that number because it will bring me to a weight I felt good at in my 30s. I was only there for a couple months back then and hadn't gotten that low since... until now? ;)
 
That's wonderful. But believe it or not, all of this has been the easy part. Now the hard part is keeping it off. And that's what you're gonna have to do every single day, for the rest of your life. But that's where the surgery really comes into play. Yes, it helped you reach this goal, but that was 90% willpower and dedication. So hopefully you have been able to train yourself, specifically your brain, what the right foods are to eat, and to exercise. And the surgery should prevent you from overeating, so that you won't gain the weight back. And whatever you're doing now, keep it up. And keep it up for the rest of your life.
 
Reptar Kay said:
That's wonderful. But believe it or not, all of this has been the easy part. Now the hard part is keeping it off. And that's what you're gonna have to do every single day, for the rest of your life. But that's where the surgery really comes into play. Yes, it helped you reach this goal, but that was 90% willpower and dedication. So hopefully you have been able to train yourself, specifically your brain, what the right foods are to eat, and to exercise. And the surgery should prevent you from overeating, so that you won't gain the weight back. And whatever you're doing now, keep it up. And keep it up for the rest of your life.
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Oh yes, I know this to be true. I've lost close to this amount of weight multiple times over the years only to regain it, plus. I chose this path because I knew I needed a tool that would assist me in keeping it off.
 
Kay, if you had been around when Brenda joined this group you would know that she has evolved from being a post-op specimen to being a brilliant, informed leader in this group. She has never faltered and she has made her goals plain. In addition to the bariatric surgery, she has also scheduled surgeries for skin removal. To me that is the most serious thing you can do.

Like me, Brenda will never go back. I haven't gained a pound in 12 years because I had such motivation to have my life back. And just look at Brenda's picture. What a gorgeous woman! She is going to knock their eyeballs out when she strolls out in her first slinky evening gown.

Weight gain following surgery is a serious consideration. You can tell which people are going to fail or struggle just by the things that they say and by the number of times they cheat or fail on a daily basis . People who won't exercise or walk or who complain excessively about what they have to eat and how much water they have to drink are the people who are at the greatest risk of failing.

Brenda and several others come to this group as if they were going to church. They embrace the principles they learn here and their values ARE changed forever. Maybe after a year or two they take a bite of a hot fudge sundae. But the people who fail are the ones who crave the hot fudge sundae every single minute of every single day until they go mad and eat one, even though they have not come close to their weight loss goal.

But in Brenda's case, just following her story for the last 8 months, I would bet the farm on her success. Just look at her weight loss sticker and how steadily she has worked toward her goal. It took me 14 months to get where she is right now. She is going to be a poster child for RYGB surgery.

Other, less visible members of our group currently have also racked up large weight loss numbers. They may have struggled a little bit more and they may have a rough road ahead of them. But I believe the fact that they are part of this support group means that they give the advice they also take. And they listened to advice in order to perfect their own real ideals.

And I have lost 6 lb since I rejoined this group a month or so ago. I was here for 6 months straight, making hundreds of posts, and then I resigned, thinking that I should pay more attention to my actual life. Unfortunately my real life turned into a nightmare, with my son involved in a horrible mental collapse, followed by a bad fall that caused four broken bones in my left arm. After that I couldn't do a whole lot, and I was terribly lonely, in physical and psychic pain, and really needed this group. These people here are the only ones who understand the holistic pain I feel. And because of their support I didn't turn to food or 24-hour sleep binges, but stayed the course.

So while I'm thinking of it, I want to thank everyone in this group for all the support you have given me, even when you didn't know your words were getting into my psyche. Whether you are new or old, you are part of my journey and I am part of yours.
 
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dianeseattle said:
Kay, if you had been around when Brenda joined this group you would know that she has evolved from being a post-op specimen to being a brilliant, informed leader in this group. She has never faltered and she has made her goals plain. In addition to the bariatric surgery, she has also scheduled surgeries for skin removal. To me that is the most serious thing you can do.

Like me, Brenda will never go back. I haven't gained a pound in 12 years because I had such motivation to have my life back. And just look at Brenda's picture. What a gorgeous woman! She is going to knock their eyeballs out when she strolls out in her first slinky evening gown.

Weight gain following surgery is a serious consideration. You can tell which people are going to fail or struggle just by the things that they say and by the number of times they cheat or fail on a daily basis . People who won't exercise or walk or who complain excessively about what they have to eat and how much water they have to drink are the people who are at the greatest risk of failing.

Brenda and several others come to this group as if they were going to church. They embrace the principles they learn here and their values ARE changed forever. Maybe after a year or two they take a bite of a hot fudge sundae. But the people who fail are the ones who crave the hot fudge sundae every single minute of every single day until they go mad and eat one, even though they have not come close to their weight loss goal.

But in Brenda's case, just following her story for the last 8 months, I would bet the farm on her success. Just look at her weight loss sticker and how steadily she has worked toward her goal. It took me 14 months to get where she is right now. She is going to be a poster child for RYGB surgery.

Other, less visible members of our group currently have also racked up large weight loss numbers. They may have struggled a little bit more and they may have a rough road ahead of them. But I believe the fact that they are part of this support group means that they give the advice they also take. And they listened to advice in order to perfect their own real ideals.

And I have lost 6 lb since I rejoined this group a month or so ago. I was here for 6 months straight, making hundreds of posts, and then I resigned, thinking that I should pay more attention to my actual life. Unfortunately my real life turned into a nightmare, with my son involved in a horrible mental collapse, followed by a bad fall that caused four broken bones in my left arm. After that I couldn't do a whole lot, and I was terribly lonely, in physical and psychic pain, and really needed this group. These people here are the only ones who understand the holistic pain I feel. And because of their support I didn't turn to food or 24-hour sleep binges, but stayed the course.

So while I'm thinking of it, I want to thank everyone in this group for all the support you have given me, even when you didn't know your words were getting into my psyche. Whether you are new or old, you are part of my journey and I am part of yours.
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Thank you so much Diane, for all your kind words in this post. Reading that you'd bet on me made my eyes fill up. :) It really means so much to me.

I'm so happy you came back to us, especially during a hard time. One of the reasons I love this group is because we can vent openly and honestly, and even if no one has walked in our shoes, we always receive sincere encouragement. Congratulations on the 6 pounds too!!!

My upcoming body contouring is the ultimate commitment. I am by no means a wealthy woman so the financial burden is substantial. I will be in debt for years and each month as I write the check, I'll have to remind myself of far I've come and how much healthier and happier I am now. That I was worth it. This in itself is motivation to keep off the weight!
 
Totally. It's a start of a new beginning. It's not often in life we get a reset button, and essentially get to have a "year zero." This is really a whole new life now. But I'm just glad you're aware that it's not all smooth sailing from this point out. Every day will be a struggle. I always say we have it worse that former smokers/addicts/alcoholics because all they have to do is avoid the stuff for the rest of their life. We can't avoid food. We have to eat several times a day.
 
Brenda2010 said:
It feels amazing. Thank you all so much for your support, it's meant the world to me.
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woo hoo! You made it! Now look at your life, your future with body contouring, your puzzle solved (is it?) with the doc who'll be figuring out your intestinal woes, the rest of this holiday season that could include sequins and sparkles and more than anything else, the actual knowledge that you love yourself because this is proof of that.

All those books and talks and consultations, all that learning, all that doing, has paid off and you're back to your happy place.

So how's everything down south of your navel? and what's next for you?

HOW DO YOU FEEL????!!!

Brenda, I am SO PROUD of you, and so honored to be here now, when one of my dear support group members and a friend to all has made it to a huge goal. My wish for you now is that you get everything else taken care of so you live the deliriously happy life you deserve.


:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
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dianeseattle said:
woo hoo! You made it! Now look at your life, your future with body contouring, your puzzle solved (is it?) with the doc who'll be figuring out your intestinal woes, the rest of this holiday season that could include sequins and sparkles and more than anything else, the actual knowledge that you love yourself because this is proof of that.

All those books and talks and consultations, all that learning, all that doing, has paid off and you're back to your happy place.

So how's everything down south of your navel? and what's next for you?

HOW DO YOU FEEL????!!!

Brenda, I am SO PROUD of you, and so honored to be here now, when one of my dear support group members and a friend to all has made it to a huge goal. My wish for you now is that you get everything else taken care of so you live the deliriously happy life you deserve.


:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
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Hehehe, I can't freaking believe it!!! I cried this morning! I swear that the positive thoughts from this group sent me some kind of magic because I haven't had a 4 pound week in over 3 months!!!

Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!!!
 
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