Finally hit my mini goal this morning. 100 lbs lost. TMI alert! Posted a new body pic to profile. I want documentation these days, lol! I took a lot of photos to finally get one where you can see my excess skin on upper arm abdomen and thighs. We always try to describe excess skin but photos help more. Now for some of you who are looking into WLS this may be crashing reality. No one goes from obesity BMI 40ish to supermodel. I had the volume of 2 people under my skin. Expecting only minor stretch marks is frankly, silly. I love my tiger stripes. They are a map of my life. All the good, bad and ugly that make a rich full life. I have no plans for surgical removal at this point. 1-it is excruciatingly painful, 2-ins provided surgical removal is not $250,000 plastic surgery, 3-mother, aunt and sis with breast CA and boobs may be leaving anyway. Next goal 149, normal BMI for ht. After that, stabilize at maintenance. I took me exactly 6 months to lose this last 48lbs. Averaging 1.9 lbs per wk. every day and every meal making decisions and choices. 1 cup of Greek yogurt instead of 1 quart of buttered grits, 4 strips of bacon and a protein latte instead of the chick fil a spicy burrito breakfast. Small moo goo gai pan to-go, no rice no egg roll instead of the sit down buffet. Skinny cow ice cream bar instead of a sleeve of saltines with half a block of cream cheese and a whole can of smoked oysters. Choosing to be bored,sad,mad,grieving,tired and happy without eating. Choosing to love and care for me so I can love and care for my family. I love my sleeve. Being able to do all this without the constant grinding physical hunger pains is a marvelous gift. 100 lbs lost in 9 months! And it flew by I think because I focused on the nutrition of my food instead of my wt. I thank all of my MFP mentors who gave such great advice about loving you 100%, measuring your intake and sticking to your calories, maintaining hydration and protein levels and deeply understanding that this is your permanent lifestyle. Not a quick fix diet. At the end of the day you have to eat and act like a normal wt healthy person to be a normal wt healthy person. The sleeve won't do that for you.