The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Lauren]

Yay, Grayson, so happy to hear from you! Don't keep disappearing like that, the folks here (especially me, of course) love post-surgery updates, and even more importantly, we ALL love maintenance stories!

I wouldn't call this my surgery thread, it's more of my "I don't have a journal, so I'll just keep adding to this maintenance thread" thread. :-)
But, yes, there are definitely some points about the surgery, and others have PM'd me directly for more details, I am happy to provide both - publicly and privately!

I am doing fantastic, hope you are too! I am pretty close to being back to my old running and exercise routine, just a mile or two shy of my longest runs prior to surgery, and a few pounds shy on my strength training - but just about there, and I'm about 11 weeks post surgery. So, I'm pleased!

I haven't been on the site as much in the last couple weeks because it was painfully slow AND I was wrapping up a very busy and intense 1st quarter of the year, but I am here and happy and thriving and maintaining!

Grayson, I would love to hear the good, bad, and everything in bw, we can certainly swap some war stories (your experience with the drains helped me in being more patient and conservative with mine, btw).

So, that's where we are. Look forward to hearing more from you!

Cheers,

Lauren

[Sojourner]

Hola, Lauren!
Just thought I'd stop by your "journal" and shout you out a howdy.
How did I miss all this surgery stuff?? Oh yeah, I was MIA (again)
at the time. So, how's everything now? You are quite the inspiration.
You know that, right? Oh and you are also:



Ciao Bella!

[Lauren]

Hey, Sojo! Thanks for stopping by my home away from home! :-)

I don't know that I'm an inspiration, but I can say I've truly lived through the whole weight loss experience, from morbid obesity to extreme weightloss to post weightloss surgery and, of course, ongoing maintenance. Maintenance is an every day project, I can't ever get complacent, and the folks here should know that, and keep it in their brains that this process doesn't have an "end date."

Do you all hear that out there? :-) THIS IS A LIFE-LONG JOURNEY!

I don't say that to scare anyone, but rather, to prepare them. To help everyone wrap their head around the idea that I wake up every day to and exercise and plan and watch my food intake, the same way that I wake up every day and brush my teeth and take a shower. This is part of what it means to be me, and what it takes to be the best, happiest, and healthiest me. I don't resent it (not usually, at least), it is what I have to do to thrive. Others have other obstacles or struggles, and I feel lucky to have established a lifestyle that works for me.

Anyway, I'll gently step down from my soapbox now. Haha. But all is great, exercise is awesome, I've incorporated pilates into my schedule now, but my primary exercise still remains running, strength training, and cross training with the stepper or elliptical as well. Running has been feeling really good this week (it goes through phases), I've been working on speed intervals lately, as opposed to increasing distance - as I found that running any more than 9 miles is just taking up too much time, and requires me to wake up too damn early! :-) So, on weekdays I've been doing more like 6.5 - 7.5 miles, and just increasing the pace. It's fun, constantly giving myself new challenges. Keeps things interesting.

I do get lazy on my ab workouts sometimes, so I need to step that up - even though the abs are always tight from running and other exercises, I am not doing enough targeted abs work, so I'll push that side of things in the coming days.

That's my scene. Miss all you folks who haven't dropped by.

XOXO

Lauren

[Diana]

ok, this is funny -- I WAS looking for your journal, Lauren!! lol

Glad to hear all's well.

I had the same epiphany about walking -- in order to get the workout that I need, it takes too long. My sister LOVES pilates. So far, I'm enjoying Jazzercise. Dayna couldn't believe Jazzercise is still around! I told her you don't see as many leg warmers and headbands, and the routines are much more purposeful, I think, but, yeah, retro as it is, Jazzercise is still here!

Cheers!
Di

[Lauren]

Ha! Didn't you get the memo, Di, this IS my journal! :-)

Yeah, I don't think I realized they still did Jazzercize either, but it's probably a really good time, and I'm all for anything that gets people moving - even if it's Richard Simmons' Sweatin' to the Oldies! hahah

Thanks for dropping by! It would be wonderful if we had tons and tons of maintainers hanging out here, but we all know how difficult keeping weight off can be, and we have had some success stories drop off recently, so we need to keep the activity live and well, and show these newbies it is possible to lose the weight AND keep it off!

Ciao,

Lauren

[Lauren]

Good morning, gang! How's everyone doing on this fine day? Don't know about the rest of you but it is HOT HOT HOT here in NYC these last few days!

Wanna hear something AMAZING, though? I am totally not suffering or sweating from the heat! Years ago, when I was morbidly obese, this kind of heat was absolutely the death of me, I just basically existed as a sweaty hot mess, uncomfortable, unhappy, and can we just have a moment to mention the chafing that can occur between the legs? Yes, I said it. :-)

Well, you all may be experiencing this too, but during the heart of the weight loss period, I was actually cold - really cold - all the time, which often happens due to low caloric intake. But finally my body seems to have regulated itself to being pretty much normal, but leaning on the getting chilly side (just from not really having too much body fat at all). All of this said, I have been going about my days here, wandering the city streets, walking through street fairs, walking to and from work, all of it - and not a stitch of sweat! Yes, of course I'm still dripping after my exercise, but during normal daily activity, I am totally fine.

Folks, these little moments go a LOOONG way to reinforcing the joy that is weight loss and maintenance. Just being able to be comfortable on a hot day is JOYFUL.

Life. Is. Good.

Cheers,

Lauren

[LAwoman]

Hi Lauren,

Thank you for continuing to share your maintenance success.
I know MF works, I did it before. But maintenance is the hard part
that your journey shows is definitely possible.
I'm so glad to read how well you continue to do, and your life
you are living to the fullest.

Keep going girl. The boards seem quiet these days,
but I know people are lurking about, reading your
success story and getting/staying motivated.

I would love to see your latest photos of the
post surgery/on-going maintenance athlete
you've become. Your last ones were such
an inspiration. Look forward to seeing those.

Be well, continued success!

[Lauren]

Hey, folks!

LAWoman, thanks so much for the kind words, and I am thrilled that I can in any way be an inspiration to anyone. There were those before me who motivated and inspired me, and to play that role for others is truly fantastic!

Regarding your request for post surgery pics - you (the general viewer) won't be able to see any difference from before and after. I always wore underpinnings/garments beneath my clothes pre-surgery to smooth out the excess skin and lift the "TaTas" to their, um, desired position, so post surgery I look the same to the world, but I don't have to wear all that junk to make it happen! The good news, however, is that I don't look the same to ME, when it's just me and the mirror, I know that the surgery was worth it in every way.

That said, today was a great day because I went in for some post-surgery scar revision "touch-ups." It's very common when you have such extensive surgery (i.e. getting so dang much skin removed!), that not every scar will heal perfectly, especially on the ends where they can get "dog-ears," which is a bit of extra skin bunched up. Additionally, for anyone who was following, my biggest healing obstacle post-surgery was draining, and I had to have drains reinserted, which caused some less than perfect scars. So, today I got some less invasive "surgery" done to remedy those few areas. There may be more down the road, but this is it for now. This is all part of the process, folks, so if anyone here is considering surgery, please do make sure you do all your research and understand that it usually is not a "one-stop shop." You have to be prepared for the reality that we're not machines, that our skin and our tissue is unique, and the way we heal is truly an individual experience. My surgeon and I went through all this prior to the surgery, and I did a ton of reading and educating myself beforehand, so I went in with a very realistic understanding of what the end results could be. What I wanted was a better quality of life - not requiring undergarments, or not being able to function without a bra - and I got it much more. But it comes with scars, folks, which are well worth it for me, but may not be for you. Just be aware of all the pros and cons before you jump!

So anyway, I am doing great. I just had a great night the other night being invited to be a "patron diner" on a kitchen/cooking reality show airing in the fall. This was a true maintenance test as I had very little control over food selection since we had to eat what the contestants were serving us. But it was great fun, I didn't stress too much, and I even tasted a dessert (dipped my spoon into something, not allowed to say what, we had to sign our life over in non-disclosures). But I feel really good about having had the experience and not flipping out about the food choices - another maintenance success under the belt!

Just a funny thing, I still write down my weight every Thursday morning, as I have every single week for - get this - 136 weeks! I always write the week number, but for some reason it just looked insance to me this week! 136 weeks of writing down my weight every Thursday morning. Wow, I can say there are few things in life I've stuck to for 136 weeks (for all you folks slow in math, I started MF in November 2005, haha)!

Yes, there are days it's a struggle, sometimes for a few minutes, others for a few hours, and periodically there are days when I want to eat my own hand off. But there are also times when all I am is just so damn happy and proud that I made that choice in November of 2005, the month and year when everything changed.

My whole life changed.

Lauren

[Lauren]

Yay! Surgeon gave me the okay yesterday to start exercising again, exactly 12 days after the mini-surgery. I was there this morning, and feel fantastic!

It's amazing how quickly the body starts getting all loosey-goosey from 12 days off, and I was eager to get things firmed up again.

Looking forward to a fantastic holiday weekend, hope you all are too!

Cheers,

Lauren

[Diana]

Hiya, Lauren! Just popping by your journal to see what you're up to!

I'm back to exercise this week, too, since I'll be past Day 21 on my restart. Never in my life did I think I'd miss exercise!

Thanks for posting your progress. I'm looking forward to the day I'll join you officially in the Maintenance room!

[Lauren]

Yay, Di, so excited you stopped by "my" journal - that's too funny! Congrats on starting up the exercise program, I know you'll feel excellent!

I can't wait for you to join me here, too, and all the others hanging out and losing weight! I know there are many more maintainers than me, I'd love to have them come join the party! :-)

Best of luck on your new plan of action, kick a--, lady!

Lauren

[Lauren]

All still good in my maintenance world! I have been so busy at work, and just haven't had the time to post much lately. But then I get all worried that the newbies here or even some on the weight loss phase won't see the maintainers successfully maintaining, and the guilt sets in! :-)

So, if anyone's looking (which they don't seem to be anyway, so not sure why I'm worried! ha), I am here, still doing great and going strong!

I am so pleased to see everyone rocking it out, hope you're all having a terrific summer!

Cheers,

Lauren

[SharonR]

I never new this existed at all! LOL

Wow!

You are a true inspiration. So glad you had surgery and all went well. I was looking for pics the whole time and NOTHING! lol

Congrats on all your success!

[Lauren]

Hey, gaggle! Hope all are well on this Friday!

Sharon, you and so many others keep asking for post-surgery pics, but I don't understand what you all want me to post! :-) It's not like I'm going to whip off my clothes and pose and post the scars here. Haha

As I mentioned before, while clothed, I still look the same as I do in the pre-surgery pictures, because I was very careful pre-surgery to wear all necessary undergarments to lift the "girls" up and tuck the skin in (think body-shapers). So, now I have the same look, but without all the undergarments! Of course I look different sans clothing, but you all aren't going to be seeing that! Hehehe

Anyway, I'm doing great. I did have a freaky few days at the start of August that I found somewhat monumental in this maintenance world and understanding myself. Ever since starting MF, I live a VERY routine life, one that I control pretty carefully, from my waking schedule for exercise (really early in the morning. really. early.) to my meals to my bed time. The structure is what has kept me on point, on plan, and feeling like I am the one in control, not the food. Keeping this structure allows me to feel more free and happy in the other areas of my life, because without it I feel some sense of chaos. Even when I've gone on many biz trips and vacations, I've always taken a few moments to figure out how I am going to work my days/meals/exercise - of course I can be flexible, but the overall idea I need to have planned in my head.

Well, something went a little awry at the start of August, as it was my birthday, and then I went to the beach with my friends/family, then we had a ton of people over throughout the weekend, and then I went on a business trip for a couple days that included a lot of travel and very eary starting days, and ending late days, and it just was super chaotic. Across the board. My meal times got weird, and I was stressed, so I couldn't sleep well, and when I can't sleep I can't run/exercise well, and then I get all miserable and "off," and it was just this evil cycle. Let's say that I have never felt more vulnerable of "falling off" then I did over those few days. It included tears, too much eating, and just a really messed up time. I could not wait to get home and start anew.

You know what? That was the most awesome part. The moment I stepped back into my apartment, unpacked my bags, went to the gym, and started fresh. New outlook, stricter eating, the whole thing. And withing a day or two it was like I was back to new. Thank God.

But let me say, it freaked me out, and it was a growth experience. And I don't care who thinks it's weird that I am such a control freak, the experience taught me that's how I need to be to keep in check. Live and learn, eh?

Cheers,

Lauren

[SharonR]

I never thought you would whip off your clothes. Guess I didn't realize you were scared to show your scares. It's understood now! I just thought you might show arms or legs. But that's okay!