AnaA

Forget whatever that destructive monster called PEOPLE says. How do YOU feel? Do you think you've lost too much? I'm looking at your picture, albeit it is from a distance away, (and this is nothing more than another one of THOSE opinions) but you do not look "too thin" to me?? How do YOU feel about your weight? It is your perspective alone that counts. That said, and wiping ENTIRELY away all urges to instruct you to drink a frosting candy bar shake... I imagine all you have to do to gain weight is monitor your calorie intake and then increase it. I'm not going to write too much, because truly, on this website, yours is a high class problem. (not too terrible...) I hope you find a balance with your weight that is right for YOU and makes YOU feel happy.

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY ... (Mmmm) I made a decision that changed my life. I decided to get weight loss surgery at the OCC. The decision was not made lightly. I researched Dr. Ortiz and surgeries in Mexico first I suppose out of curiosity. The lower price certainly led to that curiosity. I suppose somewhere in the fore front of my mind I had no intention of going to Mexico for surgery. (not because of the ignorant stories...) I just wanted to see what people said about the experience. And in the back of my mind, I knew my feelings about surgery in Mexico were just the same as my feelings about surgery in England. It made me uncomfortable to think of surgery in any other country but the US. And then I thought it through. Did I personally think Dr.s were better or worse depending on their country of origin? No. Then what were my concerns? That I have a good Dr. who knows what they are doing and operates in a top notch facility with staff who imbibe that high standard. Certainly I have had my share of uncaring burnt out Dr.'s with sincere medical limitations, alongside burnt out nurses who make big mistakes here, as has my Mom. And I have had good care here as well. So I just concentrated on the Dr., what the Dr. was like, what their facility was like, and what the staff were like and then I made comparisons to others in that field and that country and this one. And standing here, one year out, I am so amazed by Dr. Ortiz. THANK YOU DR. ORTIZ, bless your Mama for making you By the state of the art OCC facility, By the caring nursing staff (Thank you for comforting me), and by not only the amazing plication operation that they performed but also by the unique technique Dr. Ortiz has developed that creates this positive result. I love when I can look back on a decision that I have made one year out and smile with the satisfaction of knowing I done good. It has been an amazing ride. Worth saying twice. And for those of you new to this forum/blog who want to know what the journey has been like I have been blogging the entire year about it. This last week I have come away from my previous three month weight fluctuation (163-167) by returning to the simple clarity of tracking my calories and journaling about my relationship to food each day. And I learned that I was just taking in more than I needed to be. This having been said and altered has resulted in my return to weight loss. This morning I weighed in at 161. But it's not just the number. I feel really trim. My clothes fit fantastically. I am just 12 lbs away from my goal weight. I began Zumba 4 days ago and I have embarked upon a new journey to cook healthy gourmet foods, gourmet being the operative word. One of my dinners this past week consisted of a potato vegetable pancake with a slice of smoky flavored salmon with fresh rosemary and garlic. The entire meal was better than restaurant and under 300 calories. Post eating, I felt entirely satisfied and did not want anything else to eat. That is my goal. To eat that meaningfully all the time. To realize that taking a break from healthy eating is silly because it means eating junk. Why would I want to do that? And I realize that the key to all of this is gourmet. To do this in a way that I am eating more flavor packed sensuous foods than I have ever done before. To eat really well. I feel like this coming year I will be blogging here about my health journey through gourmet cooking, juicing, and dehydrated raw foods. Because I feel like my first year was about becoming healthy in measure to pounds which was necessary. Now, this next year will be about becoming healthy in relation to how I nourish my body, deliver it amazing flavors, and keep it active. I look foward to every post. To Year Two! :) :)

Hi Mom2four By having trouble getting more water down I am going to presume you mean that you're not motivated to drink water and not that you've just had your procedure and can't yet drink too much, so this tip goes under that presumption. ALSO, all the advice I give is from a plication perspective, so having had a different procedure please be sure to clear things through the OCC. That being said, I have a great fool proof tip! I used this trick when I knew that I needed to start drinking more water but wasn't that 'into it' yet AND IT WORKS! Take a vitamin water or whatever flavored beverage you are drinking (coffee works too) and get a 16 oz glass of water. Drink them both simultaneously. Take one drink of coffee and then 2 drinks of water. Make your flavored drink sips a little less intake than the water, it has more flavor so you won't need as much, you are mainly taking it in for the flavor. Make your water drinks bigger. When you finish the 16 oz glass of water fill it up again. This works and you won't even realize that you are getting your water in because you will only remember having drunk the flavored beverage after! The reason that I suggest getting a 16 oz glass of water instead of a 32 oz container is because when you see the 32 oz water, especially being at a point you are not into it yet, you feel inundated by the sight of the thing. With a smaller vessel, you think, ok, I can finish that, all psychosomatic, and you do. That along with flavor in between gets you through it. I bought a 16 oz flavored drink at walgreens for $2.00 that came in a glass bottle then just washed it after and it became my on the go glass. Already comes with a handy no spill lid. And a protein shake is considered liquid so you can drink it right along side those two 16 oz bottles of water! It's perfect! Good Luck

WOW! I am three days away from my 1 year anniversary! I had my plication procedure at the OCC on July 20, 2012. It has been the most amazing journey. I can not say enough positive things about the beautiful OCC (YOU changed my life! I changed MY LIFE!) and I am looking forward to going back for my 1 year post op follow up. I am going to prance, uh huh I said it, PRANCE in that door. (I will post when I schedule that, thinking mid Aug. and about the process.) SO from my last 2 posts you know that I have been trying since March (4 months ago..) to get some sort of exercise program going. (I did not exercise one lick through my entire post plication time, up to and including yesterday. NO, that's NOT bragging). I kept hearing it said over and over again, when you're thinking about incorporating activity, make sure it's something you ENJOY doing and you are over half way there. Truer words NEVER said. To that end, I bought my much sought after highly anticipated Zumba work out DVD's! And I could NOT wait to try them! Back in March. Only I did wait. There was so much in the way. I had some serious family crisis and my energy levels were just zapped and I was in a bit of a funk there for a bit too. WELL, this is where the power of friendship comes riding in on a beautiful brown horse to save the day! I had lunch with a good friend of mine yesterday. She started telling me about how she was really into and loved doing Zumba. Wow. I told her my story, and also confessed to her that after 1 year of utter inertia, I was afraid that I just no longer had what it took to be active. I'm 42. It was a concern. (Hubby and I used to jog 3-5 miles three times a week). She said that just wasn't the case. She was so beautifully matter of fact about it too! She said, look, you were active before and your body remembers that, so just start again and trust it to remember that. I felt really hopeful! Didn't realize Just. How. Much. This morning, I got up. I got dressed. I went to my zumba dvd's. I popped in the 60 minute zumba fitness basics and did that. I liked it. Then I did the zumba fitness 20 minute express because I was having SO MUCH FUN shaking it and dancing that I didn't want it to end. I popped in the Zumba Fitness Cardio Party after.. Aye! I did HALF of it! 25 minutes of bomb shaking booty and the biggest hip swiveling, shoulder shaking moooooves. WoW! WHHHHEWWW! After that 25 I knew it was time for me to stop. But wow, I honestly did not even realize that I had actually just worked out for 1 hour and 45 minutes because it was fuuuuuuunnnnnn! It's the first time in my life that I haven't had the usual post workout thoughts that go like this: "ok, I did it. there. job done. when should i go again? ok. day after tomorrow?" And then feeling like i'm rolling a boulder uphill when the day after comes... LOL Nope. With THIS, I'm going to hit THAT ritmo again tomorrow because I loooooove to dance cumbia's!!!! I've been dancing them with my Mom and Tia’s at house parties since I was little and I had no idea it was so intensive in the way they roll it out with Zumba. Those, the salsas, merengues, sambas. (I'm still uhm, ah, working out Reggaeton, I'd never done that before and it kicks my butt! lol but I love it). And I have to let those of you out there suffering with constipation bouts (like me!) in on a little something something. After my workout, I had some serious results in that arena as well. Movement is a great addition to the almonds and prunes and prune juice. I did not know. So there. I did it. I got over my hump in hip swaying shoulder shaking style. And I honor that it took me 3 days short of a year to get to the point that I honestly wanted to move my body. And now? I weighed in at 164.5 today. And I KNOW that this last 20 lbs I need to shed is as good as gone. It is a fore drawn conclusion. I'm not even bothered to know WHEN. It's as good as done because I am loving what I’ve just begun doing. Fun really is the key. And I can NOT wait to see how my body tones as a result. :) :) I'll be going to a wedding this weekend, and I can't wait to bust my moves!

Well, I am coming up on my one year plic-anniversary. It has been an amazing year. All told so far I have lost 56 lbs. I keep hovering around 165. I am still 16 lbs away from the ideal set for me at the clinic of 149. I had planned to begin zumba fitness and have yet to start! It has been a C H A O T I C time since I wrote in March. My family has gone through some huge crisis and that has enveloped much of my 'should have been productive' time. I am left feeling sort of physically drained, so no zumba yet. But every cloud has a silver lining and I can honestly say that I am amazed that I have not piled on 20 lbs during this time, which would HAVE been the outcome before plication. I have fluctuated from 163-167 during this time and am now at 165. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel from this fam.-fiasco and now have to figure out how to realistically become active. A thing in motion stays in motion and all that. I think I need an excercise buddy. That would help. My restriction still feels pretty good. I have been having major issues with constipation again. This is pretty significant considering I eat a daily regiment of almonds and prunes which helps with that. I called my advice nurse and she said that I should drink warm prune juice, warm is the key apparently. I drink about 4-6 ozs. warmed in the microwave for a minute and then can get results within 20 - 30 minutes or so. I wish I could get on without having to do this while simultaneously being grateful at least there is something that works for me. I notice that my body seems to work better when I juice. I do ths every other week and it feels really good. I had previously juiced 5 days in a row, lost 5 lbs then put it back on right after, so I changed it up some. Now I juice twice a day for 3 days, eat a sensible meal (like lean and green but the juicing replaces the protein shakes and soup) and then for the next 4 days I juice for breakfast, have a protein shake for lunch and sensible dinner. This results in lasting weight loss which is the key here. I think that I need to start counting my calories again. Having gotten away from that for a time was nice, and I will at some point go without it again, but for now, I really need to track myself because of all the weight fluctuating and constipation. Ok. I will report back at one year! I will also be making my 1 year follow up appointment at the OCC soon, but likely it will be on or around mid-August because I have to save up for the follow up and the travel etc. etc. Happy Losing All

Hi Magpie Congratulations on having your plication on March 28th!! So you're now on day 13. First the precursor, everything I say here is from personal experience and in no way meant to replace the medical advice the OCC can give you. If you feel like something is wrong, please please contact the OCC. I know I did when I just felt like something seemed too intense. Don't feel like you're bothering them (I did at first...) that is what they are there for and they are good at responding. Ok, so what I experienced. The bloating, it was the worst! I could not believe how painful GAS could be! Wow. Walking as much as I could helped to bring up the gas. Also I relied quite a bit on papaya enzyme. I still do take it when I feel gassy or bloated (like I do if I eat too much cheese) and it helps to productively get rid of the gas. Please call the OCC though about feeling the pressure is so great you feel you could burst. Just the language makes me feel like you should call just to have them ask you questions they know to ask to make sure nothing else is going on. Better safe than sorry always. The constipation is the worst too. No fun in addition to gas. When I was still on liquids, drank milk of magnesia (that helped me) or more naturally 2 glasses of prune juice a day. That with water may help you to have a bm. The problem I had my first couple of days was that the gas was so bad that I felt like something was wrong. As it turned out for me, it was the gas, I just could not believe that something that painful could be gas. As for bowel movements, I think it took me a couple of days to have one, but not over a week. And constipation was something I battled on and off until I found prunes and almonds once I was on regular solid foods. I would ask the OCC though if it has been over 10 days since you've had a bm, that seems long. The constant thirst you are feeling may be dehydration?? How much liquid (in ounces) are you taking in a day? The way my restriction dictated I do it, was I would have water with me all day long and then I would sip it every, at first 5 minutes or until I felt the drink go into my stomach and settle enough for me to drink more. It's really the time that I began the relationship of listening to my new body and what it needed, so if you get bloated too fast with the drinking, it could be to fast. Also, one thing I learned was that at first, when I was drinking, my sips were too small. I was afraid to drink too fast with my new little banana stomach! Dr. SO told me that I needed to take a bigger drink because taking sips that were as small as I was taking in were going to make me gassier. I guess if I could describe the sips I was taking, it would be like 1/4th of a tablespoon at a time... yep.. I was that concerned to drink too much! I went through a period of 3 weeks or so where I started to get dehydrated. I drank pedialyte for that and then found other drinks with electrolytes that specifically addressed hydration. After 3 -4 weeks I was able to finally drink steadily all day long (with breaks in between of course) so my hydration was much better. My friend though, that I met at the OCC who is a nurse ended up getting a hydration drip (I-V) at her hospital (work) because her dehydration was more severe than mine, so again, I would call the OCC. For the mental hunger, what I did, was when I would get that, I would outside and get fresh air. Writing what your triggers are helps too. For me, mental hunger was a way to distance myself from uncomfortable feelings, so, once I started to understand that I could say things to myself like, "you don't have to eat to feel good inside..." that kind of thing, it really helped to minimize it. Protein is also great at taking away the hunger pangs for me. It's all a learning process about ourselves. Keep in touch Magpie, and please please do call the OCC. I"ll check back here for your reply. Take Care, *HUGS*

Hi TJones, You look great! I am 8 months out and just wanted to add my 2 pence to it. I also have gained and lost the same 4 lbs (not 2) since month 6. I go from 158-162 lbs. However, it must be said that I have not exercised a bit. I am just about to start that journey now (ZUM BAAA!). I wanted to lose the weight before tightening up versus going all the way through it. Also, I am about to start leaning and greening it again just to kick start the metabolism. Continued success, you do look great

Hello Fellow OCC'ers, Here I am 3 days into week 36 which for me ends this Friday 3/29. My last entry was at the end of my 6 month anniversary on week 26 January 18, 2013. After that, I decided to go off of my regimental OCC blogging, personal journaling, calorie tracking, way of being and merge myself back into a 'new regular' routine. I wanted to see what that would be like. What I found is much like what I saw posted in the forum. After 6 months I find myself losing and gaining the same 4 lbs. I fluctuate from 158 - 162 (In my after picture I am at 164). This is without counting calories, eating pretty much what I want (sans sugary stuff), having alcohol occasionally, etc. Overall, I feel really great. I have no complaints! I love being at this weight. I was at 221 and I have lost 60 lbs. It is amazing, this difference! I can wear really nice clothes, and feel great being out and about. I feel sexy. My restriction is fantastic, so portion control is STILL fabulous. I realize this has EVERYTHING to do with strictly adhering to the no eating or drinking within 1 hour of the other. I do. On 3 occasions I have lessened it to 40 minutes. So I guess what I’m saying is I’m discovering how to be flexible, what to allow and when, and how not to take advantage of that and stay in control. I have set an emergency weight for myself. It is 165. What that means is that while I am fluxing between 158-162 if for some reason I get up to 165, I will do a two week lean and green cleanse, or a juice cleanse, or a liquids cleanse. Hey, two weeks out of my life is WORTH not ballooning up to 221 which I will NEVER again do. I just love that going through this procedure with the OCC has taught me to control my weight, given me this thin life and given me fantastic tools like lean and green that thanks to fantastic restriction work for me and give me tools to fight possibly going in the other direction. I feel really happy that I have found this balance. My health is really good. I am good. Now that I have given myself this time to figure out how to ease back into life without journaling, etcetera, I am ready to enter a new phase. I will keep blogging for up to my first year so others can see if they want what the first year is like. But I will blog monthly instead of weekly. Also, I am just 13 little ole pounds away from my OCC set goal weight of 149 lbs. And while I'm totally happy here at 162, I am going to get down to 149 just to see what that looks like, and so that when I do my one year check up at the OCC I can go in there at goal or a tad lower. All this weight that I have lost so far has been without one single stitch of exercise. I know... terrible for me to admit that.. lol and I’m definitely not saying you should follow my lead. But I have just purchased ZUM BA!!!! And I am going to start working out and tightening up, sooooo, I will give myself until my 1 year anniversary, 4 more months, in July, to lose those additional 13 lbs. I got this. Because I'm only 13 lbs. away from goal, I have just posted a before and after picture of myself in the gallery. I figured i'm close enough to goal for all to see the huge difference the OCC has made in my life. Continued Success Everyone!

WOW. What a month it's been! *6 Month Anniversary* I really got out of hand. My holiday eating threatened to undue me. It's really quite deceptive. When I look at my weight during this time, I see that i spent 3 weeks having gone up in ounces with the rest of the time not losing more than 1 lb. That's very different from other weeks. But what really did me in was convenience foods. I began to have GF pizza 3 times a week. I think somewhere in my mind I thought, since it's gluten free pizza it's healthier. I was definitely making that connection. It is a false one. Also I was having low calorie chips so that I could grab and go, a concept that's fine as long as you're not making the kind of choices I was. But what really helped do me in I feel was all the holiday alcohol consumption. It really did loosen my inhibitions and make me feel warm and relaxed so I wasn't worrying about how it's not the healthiest way to consume calories. I began to head crave. That is a nasty fiend I was sure i'd seen the back of. At 10pm at night I found myself thinking about what was in the refrigerator and having to fight myself not to get up and eat. THAT'S when I knew I was in trouble. Because that didn't just happen one night. It began to be a theme for weeks 24 and 25. I was in steep trouble. I knew that I had drank hot chocolate twice during those two weeks putting 2 teaspoons of sugar in each cup and I wondered if that was it? Sugar has and always will be my biggest problem. I just didn't think in that amount it could undue me?? I decided that to help myself I needed to educate myself. I went to the library and started to look for books on sugar. I could NOT believe it! That sh1t is in everything! Bread, chips, processed foods, sugary sugar sugar. The food industry has been ruthless about sugaring EVERYTHING! I never realize how prevalent it was. No wonder I lost my mind. I had 2 literal teaspoons of the drug, then was having it in pizza and chips. What an eye opener. And the education did not stop there. I was surfing the documentaries on netflix for something to watch last week. I came across one called Hungry For Change. The documentary exposes the secrets the diet, weight loss and food industries use to keep us addicted to dead food. (dead food is food with no nutritional value) It also defined "food products" which sadly, is not real food and is what most of us eat. The problem with it is that it just does not nurture our bodies. I never even realized until that film that we could simultaneously be over eating AND starving ourselves! WHAT?? Another great thing about this film is the way it draws correlations between eating, overeating, acceptance and inclusion among family and peers. Jeez. After watching that documentary I was really motivated to quit eating dead food and began to look for ways to get back on track. How I got my groove back: I acknowledged that I needed to detoxify my body and cleanse it out. I had heard a lot about chia seeds and found some great online information about the benefits of chia seeds and purchased a quantity. (this is just a sneak preview of chia seed benefits:) http://www.mychiasee...iaBenefits.html Then I remembered juicing. It was something that I had heard about and wanted to try 2 years ago! I had even purchased a juicer back then that remained untouched. Hubby broke the juicer out and I went to the library for some literature. I found a great book called "Detox For the Rest of Us: Safe and Easy Plans to Cleanse Your Body, Boost Your Metabolism, Lose Weight, and Feel Great!" By Carole Jacobs. It has 15 different detox plans that one can try, each different in nature from juice detox, to cholesterol flushes to liver detox, lactose detox, gluten detox etc. so that it is varied in its methods for people who have multi dietary needs/preferences. I know that the way we live, power lines, computers, pesticides in food and fruit, sugar in every freakin thing etc. meant my body needed detoxification. Last Saturday with book in hand hubby and I broke out our grocery bags and went to the local organic farmers market. We picked out enough fruits and vegetables to begin a juicing cleanse. Sunday 1/13 we began our juicing cleanse. Hubby did a 3 day cleanse with me (Sun, Mon, Tues) and I did a 6 day juice cleanse which will end tonight. We each will continue drinking 1 juice a day for breakfast this Saturday - Monday. You know what? I would NOT have believed this had I not done it. The first day I was on juice cleanse only, it STOPPED ALL OF MY HEAD CRAVINGS after the first breakfast juice. That is how bad my body was screaming out for nutrition. I no longer have that worry. It is gone. Each day for the last 6 days I have had juice followed by 20 ozs of water for breakfast, lunch and dinner along with 1/4 cup of almonds and 5 prunes. I sprinkle 2 tablespoons (daily intake serving) of chia seeds on the breakfast juice and I have felt full and satisfied. It has been fantastic being back on liquids again. I love the way it cleans my mind and the fact that I am detoxifying my body. My hair is shinier and my skin is brighter. Whew. Disaster averted. This gal, back on track! It has now been 6 months since I was plicated. This week I am grateful to report I have lost 5.4 lbs. and I am in the 5's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I weigh 156 lbs. I am just 7 lbs away from goal weight! The last time I was in the 5's I was 16 years old! That was 26 years ago. I am not only very happy, I am very healthy.

The post I did for week 24 was just one day before the end of this week 25 post and the change was a negative. I am up 2 ounces at the end of week 25, so that 8 ounces that I lost at the end of week 24 turned out to only be 6 ounces. I feel really bothered by my weight gains. I have now spent 8 whole weeks in the 6's! That is longer than I have spent at any other 10 lb. period. I looked back on my food journal. While I was staying within my caloric intake, holiday alcohol and the lack of quality foods I was ingesting were the total problem. I needed something to take myself out of this danger zone. A detoxifying cleanse. What has been so bad about getting to this point is the mental hunger that it caused. I am eating at 10pm at night and looking for what else there might be and steadily pushing my caloric intake higher and higher. It doesn't matter that I'm still within the occ caloric intake, because the type of foods I am having are bad. I started reintroducing low fat pizza's, pop chips, these types of 'quick' 'convenient' foods for when I was in a rush. Also the holiday alcohol is not a good thing either. I began to have drink a couple of times a week throughout December which is a lot of caloric intake and just overall blah for my body. *sigh* a sad reminder that I just can not afford to think that way. It is a fat way of thought for me. So. I leave this drudge behind me as it is Friday and time for me to post a much more positive entry! To week 26! (again...)

Hi Raalex, sorry for the delay in responding to you! Thank you for your congratulations too I know that you will do well too, it is a great tool. I have not had the lap band or anything else prior to this. The plication is the only weight loss surgery / procedure I have had, but before that I tried every diet there was, and those only resulted in yo yo dieting. Happy New Year!

I'm getting a bit sloppy about posting.. and not just that.. Well at the end of week 24, on Jan. 4 I weighed in at 161.2 lbs. I lost 8 ounces from the week before but it's my sloppy holiday 'nasties' that's bothering me. I'm afraid i'm facing my first weight loss challenge. I let some bad habits creep in during the holiday season and my eating has become mental. My means of combating this is to write it here. I hold myself accountable through my blogging. It's the thing that keeps me on track and it shames me to write how sloppy I've become. I can not let this become a habit. It would just undue all my hard work and i'm worth more than that. My health is worth more than that. So. I have come here to admit to the world that I GOT SLOPPY. And with that, i intend to make an honest start to being back on track first thing tomorrow (Thursday 1/10). I have been in the 6's for the last 7 weeks and i'm sure that I will weigh in in the 6's for this week too, so that will be 8 weeks in the 6's! That is the LONGEST that i'll have taken to get through any number yet. My admission and disgust at this is key to getting past it. I have the will power that it takes to conquer this. Ok. To week26! (because I know weight in day after tomorrow at week 25 won't yet reflect the positive changes that I will undertake to get back on track tomorrow.

Thank you! I also emailed you back on your post. I hope you will keep in touch with us here and keep us posted of your journey! *HUGS*

I will do Lois! Your comments are so helpful, I do this to be a guide for others because there wasn't anything really detailed when I went to do my procedure! Blessings and great healing to your daughter! Keep in touch with us

Ok, this is my last blog entry of 2012! As such I think it merits positive reflection. Last year, I brought in the 2012 New Year weighing 221 lbs. I was wearing size 18/20 clothes. I was fat, the vein in my right thigh was throbbing and numbing up, and I felt sluggish, all around awful and was steadily heading to Diabetes in a pre-diabetic state. My health was bad, my spirits were low, I looked blah. This year, I am grateful for the changes that have occurred in my life since my plication at the OCC on July 20th. I began my pre-op diet at 221 lbs. I lost the 5% of my body weight necessary to do the procedure (a whole 15 lbs!) and entered the surgery room at 206 lbs. In the last 5 months and 8 days post-procedure, I have lost 44 pounds! Add to that the 15 lbs I lost pre-surgery, and I have lost a total of 59 lbs to date! I now wear size 9/10 jeans, HALF the size I was at 6 months ago! I have gone down 6 sizes of clothes and I feel great! I feel thin and feel very happy. I just went in for my physical check up and blood work last week and the Dr. was raving about my results! I am hundreds of miles away from pre-diabetes! My good cholesterol is UP! More than most adults, yessssss, and my bad cholesterol is way down. WOW! Everything was wonderful. I am in tip top shape! It just feels like such a blessing to bring in 2013 in this new healthy way. I feel proud of everything that I have accomplished and could NOT have done this without the plication as the most fantastic weight loss tool ever! I still get fantastic restriction. And if I ever feel that my restriction wasn't as tight at a meal, then I make sure the next meals to eat much lighter and that fantastic restriction returns. For me, I have finally learned that if you stretch something regularly, well, the natural response is stretching. But if you keep it in its current shape it stays that way. There are so many many lessons I have learned throughout this journey. I feel great when I look in the mirror and every single time I put on my skinny clothes! I never take that for granted anymore. This is the last time in my life I will have had to go through this weight loss journey so I give it the highest precedent in my life and honor it daily by eating smart. This week I have lost 1.4 lbs!! Yea! I am just 13 lbs away from my goal weight of 149 as set by the OCC! Under 20 lbs away from goal! And while I enter the new year weighing 162, Three pounds off from the 5's I was hoping for, it doesn't even matter really, because I know in a week or two, i'll be there. Happy 2013 Everyone! :) :)

Hi Raalex, If I had it to do all over again, I would. I had my surgery for my plication in July, just 5 months ago and I have already lost 59lbs! I never dreamed last year, heading into 2012 at 221 lbs that heading in to 2013 I would be weighing 162!! I wear 9/10 jeans now and it feel so fantastic to just wear normal sized clothes, to go in to regular shops, etc. It's far too common, the amount of people out there who have negative mind sets about the phrase, "surgery in Mexico". I truly believe there are good and bad sugeons in Mexico AND the US. That is why it is up to us to look into the Dr.'s we chose to make sure we are getting the best attention and medical care possible and yet how often do we do this with our US Dr.'s? I know I hear the same kind of horror stories about kaiser medical care in the US but personally I have been fine with it. It's up to us to look into our Dr.'s and their medical practices. I know I did my homework on Dr. Ortiz. Not because he was a Dr. operating in Mexico, but because surgery is important and always a risk no matter what. I was impressed and rest assured with his world renown medical reputation. And even at that I was STILL nervous when it was 3 days away! lol I think that's natural for us to feel concerned or worried or anxious as it gets closer. I mean it is surgery. So take time to breathe, fill yourself with positive thoughts, and do your homework. Take Care! *hugs*

I'm super late at posting this. The holidays have been absolutely chaotic true to holiday form. I lost 1.2 pounds this week! Yea! better than the up 2 ozs and up 4 ozs the two previous weeks. I am happy enough with this and still feel like I have the chance at greeting the new year in, in the 5's. We shall see. To next week! (which due to late posting is tomorrow... lol.....)

This is the second week in a row that I have gained weight. Last week I was up 2 ozs and this week I am up 4 ozs, so I have gained 6 ozs in 2 weeks which is not a major catastrophe, but means I am not losing. That part is yuck. I have still had the stomach flu this week. It feels like it's on its way out, but I have still had quite a bit of gas and bloat and other stomach nastiness. Also, for my birthday a week or 2 back I didn't get to celebrate so did that this past week. That consisted of going out with friends for drinks, 3 days this past week and i'm sure the alcohol stalled my metabolism. Because it's so easy to get caught up in the alcohol celebrations during the season, I am making sure that I do not drink again until New Years Eve. I would like to drop at least 4 lbs in the next 3 weeks, totally realistic. It would be great to start the year off in the 5's for 2013! I can do it!! And ofcourse, I loved that for my birthday I was over 50 lbs slimmer than last year's birthday, I dressed up and my man took me dancing. It was fantastic. I felt so petite in my little dress. Aahhhh. Here's to breaking 164 next week!

Wow. This week was challenging. I gained 2 ounces and i'm sooo thankful it was not more. I weighed in every day this week, and at one point (Wednesday) the scale was up to 168!! Luckily I only count Friday's, but seeing the scale go up 4 pounds after my lean and green end last Friday of 164 was pretty frustrating. I had my monthly which took its time falling and I know that contributed to weight bloating, I had stomach flu which was terrible. It interfered with my BMs making it sluggish to non existent, despite my beloved prunes. Then suddenly I had diarrhea and severe cramping which was abdominally painful right up until yesterday and I was substantially gassy for 3 days in a row and it was painful too. In the wars. I had to take pepto which stops/slows the BM and papaya enzyme for the gas. That papaya enzyme is awesome! I took them 3 times in one day and it severely reduced that gas. The pepto was rough. It did it's job but slowed me up. Whew! My stomach feels calmer today but not 100% so I hope that this stomach flu will not shadow me into next week. I feel somewhat calmer today and I'm relieved that I only gained 2 ozs but definitely want to see that go down by next Friday. Onward to week 21!

Thanks so much Lori! Oh, you are sooo right about forgetting how sugar can take over. I mean, i've written at least 3 posts talking about how I have to stay away from it and yet I had to re-learn again on another level for Thanksgiving just how real that is. I love your description of it not wanting to let go of us. That is what it feels like. A mean little vicce grip with a chip on its shoulder... lol Thank you so much for being proud of me! *HUGS* That feels so great to hear. It is an important lesson. Sugar is a craving trigger. The surgery has been the most perfect tool and I really truly needed it. But you are absolutely right, it is a great tool, not the solution in and of itself. Thank you thank you sister for acknowledging my werkin it. I love your blog and am continually inspired by your progress too!

Hi Tami, I had the plication procedure with Dr. Ortiz and it was clearly the best decision I have ever made. In 4 months and 10 days I have lost 57 lbs and I look and feel great! The OCC is a state of the art high function facility, professional and caring. I feel really good about my decision and would do it all again. How long were you there? I was there for 4 days. I had to stay over 2 extra days because I thought my severe gas bloating was something else and the OCC does not take chances with your health if you come to them and say you are in pain. It turns out, severe gas is what it was, and I was fine to go home, but they really do take care to check you and make sure you are healthy and safe to leave before releasing you. Does he use a drain? I had the plication, not the sleeve, so no drains for me. Did you need a passort? Bella's information was perfect regarding passports. Though, I flew in from California, and when I did use my Interntional passport, they gave me grief at the border and said that my husband and I should have had a US Passport Card: http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html If self pay when was your final payment due? I put a deposit down and then paid the remainer before arriving at the OCC. I had to get a cashier's check and then fax a copy and bring the actual. Anything else you would like to share Just to reiterate again, I received great care at the OCC and when I was checking Dr.'s and Facilities out before making my decision, no one came close to Dr. Ortiz's qualifications and the reputation of the OCC. Good Luck!

Week 19 has been very positive. But it started out pretty scary. And because of that I had to get disciplined. After Thanksgiving for weigh in I was down 1 lb last week and happy about that. But I had pumpkin pie and cool whip for Thanksgiving on Thursday, 1 slice, then again Friday, 1 slice and Saturday, 1 slice. After having pumpkin pie and cool whip 3 days in a row I began to notice something startling! I started getting mental cravings and Sugar cravings!! I found myself thinking of having pie after I'd eaten it on Friday and counting down the minutes until I could have it on Saturday and then after eating it on Saturday feeling like I really needed to have just 1 more slice. But I did not. And I decided not to eat any on Sunday. Also, instead of my eating 3 times a day, I was snacking into the night, two separate times and I did this on Friday and Saturday. And even though my snack choices were healthy ones, I felt them going toward unhealthy things like salty tortilla chips. All mental cravings. The power of the sugar craving was strong and constantly on my mind, but I denied it. The mental cravings were more alarming in that I recognized eating sugar triggers a need to eat salt which was an old pattern of mine, candy or frosting and then salty chips. *GULP* Sugar cravings!!! *sigh* This is the problem I have with sugar. I was VERY disgusted with feeling like this. I knew that I needed to address this right away and discipline myself and get things under control before they got out of hand, because OOOH how easily they get out of hand. And I am not that woman anymore, the one who let's this get out of hand. The day of my surgery that all changed and I refuse to allow it back in. I wanted to get a handle on this ASAP so that in retrospect I could look back on this time and say, ok, don't eat sweets, even 1 slice 3 days in a row, not even 2 days in a row. Also, I wanted to handle this immediately so that I could look back on the end of week 18, (and Saturday and Sunday of week 19) and say, Ok, it got ugly, but you took charge, contained it, handled it and beat it! And I did. This is what I did to get back in charge. Beginning Monday 11/26, when I was back in my own home, my own kitchen (went away for 4 days during Thanksgiving) I made the conscious decision to cleanse the sugar out of my system. I remembered how FANTASTIC the OCC lean and green diet was for losing that 10% pre operative weight. I pulled out my Spiru-Tein protein powder, chocolate (it does not taste sugary), blender, bought broccoli, minestrone soup, and lean cuisine meals and I did the lean and green diet for 4 days, Monday - yesterday. (Actually, i'm still doing it today too). I lost 5 lbs this week as a result!!!! :) Not only did I lose 5 pounds of fat, but I cleansed all the sugar craving from my body and do not feel any need for it. I put myself in control of my health, I took charge and did not let pie undo me, and I weigh 164 lbs!! Wow! I will be in the 5's in no time! Just 15 lbs until I reach my goal weight. In the 4 months and 10 days since I had my plication, I have lost an astounding 57lbs, 25% of my body weight and I have proven that sugar will NEVER gain control of me again. I feel fabulously victorious! I WIN! ADDENDUM TO LEAN & GREEN: During my 5 days of lean and green (including today) I added prunes for obvious reasons, (I never miss a day of eating them) and from Tuesday - Today added 1/4 c. of almonds. It is delicious and nutritious. I slice 5 prunes into 1/4ths and added in the almonds and had a healthy organic trail mix with fantastic results. HEALTH BENEFIT BONUS OF PRUNES & ALMONDS: Prunes: Stimulating effect on bowel motility, helps to build and preserve bone mass, antioxidants found in prunes help to prevent oxidation of cholesterol in the blood stream which could lead to plaque formation in the arteries, the high potassium content in prunes helps to normalize blood pressure, while the soluble fiber promotes heart health, they are a great source of Vitamin A Almonds: Eating almonds as part of your regular diet helps raise HDL cholesterol, or "good" cholesterol, levels, and also reduces LDL cholesterol, or "bad" cholesterol, levels, they are high in potassium and low in sodium, both are factors that regulate blood pressure, fiber in almonds has a detoxifying effect, the fiber allows food to move through the digestive system more efficiently, cleansing the system and preventing colon cancer, Almonds also have a stabilizing effect on sugar and insulin levels after meals, offering protection from diabetes, they help with weight loss due to their nutrient density and have the effect of making you feel full and nourished, and therefore are less likely to have cravings and over eat, having four to five almonds every day will prevent constipation, they are high in fiber, and a diet that is high in fiber is an effective way to stay regular, they boost energy, reduce the risk of heart disease AND! almonds also contain phenylalanine, a brain-boosting chemical that aids healthy development of our cognitive functions

Hi Newgirl, I haven't personally noticed a difference in absorption of medications, and I wasn't told anything specifically about that, but it's a great question to direct to Lori or Dr. Miranda at the OCC.