Weight Loss Surgery Success Stories

10,189 topics in this forum

I'm 10 weeks out and I finally decided to resume my zumba exercise class. I hadn't been there in about 3 months. In the middle of the class, the instructor catches my eye and mouths, "Wow! You look great". After the class she stopped to talk to me to tell me she couldn't believe how different I looked and it was amazing how much a person could transform in just a few months. I felt great when she said that because the scale hasn't moved in a while and I was getting frustrated. Today, I'm happy knowing the weight loss is starting to really be noticeable. YEAH!

Last week was week 4 for me...other than the l-b's dropping, I was sure to TAKE MEASUREMENTS! So, here's my stats: I'm 5'6", 33, Female, starting weight and measurements taken at 2-week pre-op date. I took a TON of measurements...everything that I wanted to see a change in, but here are the highlights: 3.11.11 5.1.11 weight 255 221 neck 15 14 bust 50 46 underbust 44.5 39 waist 45 40 belly button 50 45 panni (ugh) 53.5 48 hips 51 47 thigh 30 28 calf …

I had my VSG surgery on 21 March with Dr. Alberto Aceves. Though it's been tough it has definitely been a journey worth taking. I know it's only been a month and a half, but I just had a moment of success this morning that I just had to share. Well, actually, I had two! I've lost and gained weight many times over the years; as have most of us here on the forums I imagine. But, it has been almost 8 years since I have been able to break the 250 barrier. It's been one of those things that I just couldn't get passed. I think I weighed around 250 in high school and, frankly, most of my life. In 2003/4 I did the Atkins diet and had some great success. But after I had …

I need to start keeping track of all my NSV's because I am having so many, and loving it!!! Last week I was at the grocery store at the end of my street, the one I have gone to for about 7 years now, and a woman that works there came up to me, and said, "WOW, you have lost so much weight!" That felt so awesome to have someone notice outside of friends/family. Then, I was at the pet store yesterday, and a lady who works there, that I haven't seen for a while, said the same thing as the lady at the grocery!!! At the pet store, I said, yah, I have lost SOME weight (LOL), 119 pounds. I went on to get my cat food, and the woman that was walking to the check out, I could …

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I just wanted to share in my joy today. I made it to the gym (go me!) which is no easy feat. I have 2 little ones so the gym means daycare for the littler-little and it also means transporting us there, etc. Not exactly enticing. BUT>.... I swear, since having the sleeve and losing the weight I have WANTED to work out. WANTED to take walks, be outside, be active. Never before could I say "Gee I feel like going to the gym"... in fact I would create reasons why I couldn't make it there. Also, I think that me knowing that a simple 30 minute workout results in for SURE weightloss is a very inspriring thing! Before I would work out super hard, blow my "diet" and no…

juice, and well, I'm not being as "strict" with my intake as I was a few months ago. They wanted me to gain about 10lbs this first trimester, and it's not going to happen. I'm still keeping things in check, but I'm not totally freaking over the gain either. It's more the physical changes that are a little difficult to manage mentally, but it's getting better. My belly finally popped this last week, and it took a lot for me to agree to being photographed. This was taken yesterday for an early Easter celebration with some of our friends and their families. I knew I wouldn't be able to wear this dress again in the near future so I decided to go ahead and overdr…

What are you thankful for after having WLS? · The first thing I am so thankful for is Dr. Aceves. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe this wonderful gifted doctor who did my surgery. :first: · I still am shocked when someone calls me skinny—I thought who me skinny no way? But, it was me they were calling skinny. · I am so thankful for my great healthy.:hand: · The best part of about this weight loss surgery is that I NEVER feel hungry. I have to remind myself to eat. · Hold on to your hats because this is going to be the ride of your life. · I know I will never be fat again i…

For those of you wanting motivation and to see MANY before and after photos I spent a few hours one day sitting on my butt and googling weight loss photos. I stumbled onto two great discussion forums with a bunch of before and after pics. Two resources are - a Dr Atkins forum and the other is a generic weight loss forum . These are direct links to only the before and after picture forum threads. Hover over the links, you'll see the link address, this is not spam links, I assure you. These do not pertain to the lapband so I wouldnt read any diet advice, but great b and a pics! Enjoy!

Jan 1 I was 396, I was sleeved on March 1 at 379... Today I'm 328 and going strong. I feel great, and I've lost very little muscle mass. My last doctor's appointment he said "you ever see those commercials where they say results not typical?" I said "yeah." He replies "you are the results not typical guy you should be proud." I'm not eating near as healthy as I want to be either because I'm having to spend so much time traveling for work.

I posted in 'my story' but realize that pre-ops looking for information would more likely look here. My goal is probably overstated (to weigh what I weighed in high school) and I’m now over halfway there so I’m writing to share with those who may be interested in what I’m experiencing after the first half of my journey. I’ve lost about 70 lbs in three months. Approximately 25 lbs a month is amazing! Especially considering I rarely get to the gym and I’m not at all obsessive about what I eat. I just passed my three month surgiversary and I’ve yet to begin full on exercise. I work out about once a week but I am more active on a regular basis than before. However, I N…

Well, I am down into the 180s amazingly enough and I feel wonderful! Yesterday was Easter and I wore a dress that I bought about a month or so ago. It was snug then, but fits perfectly now : ) My grandma wouldn't stop telling me how amazing I looked, which was so sweet but kinda made me uncomfortable. I am not usually shy about accepting compliments but yesterday I had my aunt tell me that she didn't recognize me when I walked into church, my grandma oohing and ahhing, and my uncle told me I look like a model (ok, laying it on thick, but God bless him! lol). So I have never postd pics here and I'd like to share some from yesterday, 56 lbs down, and about 50 more to …

This was originally posted in another section but no one replied, so I'm hoping it will do better here...I've seen lots of posts for up to 1 year out, and some for 2 years out, but what about 3 or more years out? This is a lot of money to spend for it to only work for a couple years. What is the long term success?

I will be 9 weeks out in two days and havee lost 60lbs already! So hard to believe because that is such a huge number for me but this is really happening! And working!! My goal is to hit 100lbs down by 4th of july and I think I'm definitly on track to make that happen! My husband and I will be going back to texas the end of july to see all of our family and friends and none of them have seen me since before xmas and I want to blow them all away....and rub it in a few faces lol.....

As of this morning I have lost 101 pounds! I was going to make the 100 pound announcement but the scale unstuck and blew by it! I am so FREAKIN happy I can't tell you! I am going to go shopping! :Banane30:

Hi, Where do you want to be in 1 year from now? When I had weight loss surgery, I had no idea how long it was going to take me to lose weight; I was older than most of you and everyone l drops their weight at different speeds. Most all of us ladies know that men lose much faster than we do. For me it took me about 14 months to lose 105 pounds. I was thrilled it only took me that long. I know when I started this journey like the rest of you I wanted it to just melt off of me. As first it felt like it was, but I knew that would slow down and it did. What I want you to do it take it in small steps. Set you goals by weeks or by a month, and DO NOT put yourself down …

Hi-- I'm going to a family wedding over Memorial Day weekend. Of course, there will be a rehearsal dinner and my partner is in the wedding so I have to dress nicely because I will probably be in the couple's pictures. I was really in a quandry about where to shop. I haven't had a big fancy affair to go to in a long time. I still have a little anxiety about size. Also, like a lot of WLS patients, I am losing all my weight above the belt. I am down to a 12/14 on top (except for my boobs) and I am still an 18 on the bottom. Not a great combo for a dress, right? So I go to Nordstroms (I figured I would spend some $$ if I could find something that looks good). I fo…

We'll I'll be eight weeks out this coming Wednesday and I've lost 50lbs. My clothes are hanging so I've been sewing what I can but ended up running out to Target to see if they had anything... Tried on a bunch of stuff from the plus section but ended up taking home some XXL's from the regular section. Loving life!

Yo it's Crosswind of the 30 day weight loss diary marathon. I have not been weighing myself but today I went to the POOL ( yay) and swam around ( yay) and then weighed myself (...) scale says: 254. That's a 35 pound loss in roughly a month. I don't feel that much thinner but physically, I do feel better. I can just maneuver around much more easily, bend over, swim better and faster than I did a few weeks ago. My blood pressure is down about ten points and my plantar fascitis/achilles heel thingy is improving. I'm posting this because before, when I had a stomach, I would sift through these boards looking for weight loss updates. I wanted to know: how much we…

Well it has been a great year. I am down almost 120 pounds total from when this journey started. Wearing Large or Medium shirts instead of 3-4XL. 34 inch waist pants instead of 48. I am loving everything about the sleeve! I feel normal for the most part and can eat anything I want in limited quantity. Stil have good restriction and not much hunger. I do get empty feeling now and then or need energy, and I do crave bad foods sometimes as well--just not real strong hunger. Either way even when I do indulge it is a very small amount and I don't worry much about it. I am very active and don't do any sort of calorie counting or "diet" anymore other than just making s…

7th month sleeve anniversary today. Made the best decision to follow my surgeons advice and get the sleeve rather than the band, which is what I went in looking for initially. Found this wonderful support site after decision to get sleeved. My after picture was taken late February - 1 1/2 months ago. Hit my personal goal in February. Down now to a size 4 or 6 depending upon clothing maker. I love my sleeve. No regrets.

Yayyyyyy!!!!!! I am so excited! I started looking in my closet for more clothes to wear. I don't need to go shopping. I have plenty of clothes I've never even worn!

I know it sounds so cliche, but I got up this morning really thinking (and believing) that this is the first day of the rest of my life. I was sleeved on Tuesday and got home from the hospital around 5:30 last night. As I sit here musing (because there's not a whole heck of a lot I can do just yet) it struck me that my new life is truly underway. I prayed and believed that I would have a successful surgery, a miraculous recovery and a complete restoration to perfect health. The surgery was a success, the recovery is going as well as can be expected -- I surprised the nurses with my mutliple trips around the hallways Wednesday and Thursday, and by the amount of air I c…

So yesterday was supposed to be my first ever 5K race but a few weeks back I decided to do the Scope it Out with my friends but I was still signed up for todays and it was AWESOME! First I made a goal for myself to weight 175 by race day! Because of course I could run a race at 175lbs! LOL Well earlier this week I didn't think I would make it as I was doing not so great Well I DID! YAY!! The scale was 175.6 this morning! WOOHOO!! Go to the 5K and found out there were hills UGH I was not looking forward to this! It was downhill at the start so that meant uphill at the end! SUCKY SUCK SUCK!!! BUT, I did pretty good. Could have done better but am VERY happy wit…

Hi Everyone, Listed below is the meaning of Attitude. Attitude: A position of the body or manner of carrying oneself. A state of mind or feeling with regard to some matters. I realized that during my weight loss my entire ATTITUDE changed about how I thought and what I was feeling. I always had confidence in myself, but my confidence really started to increase as I lost weight. My new ATTITUDE was that I could for the first time in a long time start to believe that I was going to achieve my weight loss goal. The closer I got to my goal my weight loss seemed to slow down—now what. But, with my new and improved ATTITUDE I knew what I needed to do to m…

Hi everyone! I'm a little over 6 months out and down 75lbs so I thought I'd post some pictures I'm really happy with my VSG. My weight loss has been creeping along the last few months so I have been doing low carb and it's going great. I feel much better on it! Just last week I started rowing! I have NEVER EVER done a sport. I even wear spandex <choke>. I went to Dollywood two weeks ago and rode the rides. Sex is great, life is great, I look great (in my opinion)! I'm loving my VSG!!! I'm in the first seat there from your left!

Hi, It's my 5 month surgiversarry today. I won't say everything has been perfect but I am very happy with my sleeve. My surgery was NOV16 2010, it went great. About 10 days later all the excitement began.. long story short I was put back into the hospital diagnosed with pancreatitus and 3 blood clots in the Mesentaric, Splenic and Portal veins. So I was in for 10 days. I'm now on coumindin, probably for the rest of my life. After a TON of bloodwork I got my results back and found out that I hve a rare blood disorder called Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome. Anyone know anything about this? I've googled everything I can about it.. Anyway, yes I'm happy I h…

I had my surgery on 3/2/11 with BMI of Texas in San Antonio. I went into surgery at 322 lbs and as of this morning I am 257 lbs. I have had one stall a week after surgery that lasted nine days and another this past week of 7 days. The two stalls really bothered me, but just as I read on this forum, they were temporary. I also had a three week battle royale with the gout in both knees and ankles, so my exercise has been limited until last week. This surgery is a great tool and I am still getting my 'sea legs' as far as broadening my food choices. I got overly ambitious on two occasions with poor outcomes... Hang in there and you will be successful. With the roa…

I just wanted to share that I have reached my first major goal---I'm under 300 lbs! I was sleeved on April 13 -just 2 weeks ago, and have lost 36 pounds (including 21 on post op liquid diet). Can't hardly believe that I am 36 pounds lighter than I was one month ago!!! Ya Hoo!!! I have a long way to go, but I actually believe I will get there. I was really nervous about having the surgery, but it was a breeze and I am feeling stronger everyday. Thank you all for your support. Renee

I just wanted to share, not one, but TWO big NSVs I had today! NSV #! When I gained weight, I stopped wearing nice clothes. In fact, I only bought clothes that were absolutely necessary--a few pairs of jeans, some sweaters and Tshirts, and a couple of pairs of shoes--basically, whatever it took to not get arrested . Yet, I love clothes. In fact, I read fashion magazines and go shopping with my fashionista girlfriends; I just didn't want a giant wardrobe in a size I didn't want to be!! But, today, after losing 65 lbs, I decided it was time to get some cute clothes. All my other clothes are too large, and I was just sick of everything falling off of me. So I went to Ol…

For whatever reason I was scared to try on the other clothes sitting in my closet. I have been walking around in these size 20 jeans that were literally falling right off my body. I kept thinking there was NO way the other clothes would fit yet and I didn't want to be disappointed in trying them on and it not working out. So yesterday I looked in the closet and I finally gave in and decided to try on a pair of size 18 jeans that haven't fit me in quite some time, thinking maybe I could finally button them up. Um yeah, they were falling off too! Tried another pair today that were not a true 18, more like a 16 and guess what! THEY FIT! So I went to the thrift store …

I have been on and off here for a bit now, I have crossed the 9 month point and am approaching my one year mark.... For me it's a wild ride especially at the scales I had another great week and lost 10 lbs but the two week previous I gained 5 lbs total and I looked at my weigh in records as I attend weekly meetings with weigh ins on Saturday and since the beginning of December (5 months) I have lost 33 lbs, that's the good news. Out of those months i've weighed in 19 times (8 times I gained, 1 was exactly the same, and 10 times I lost) The reason I decided to post this topic is because if you pay attention to any one weigh in, or set of weigh ins you may get discour…

I can't believe it's been a year already, what a great year too!! I wanted to lose 80 lbs as my original goal and have lost 75. The sleeve has been amazing and for once in my life I feel good about myself. I try to walk everyday and know it is the key( for me anyway) to maintaining. I have revised my goal to 75lbs because I am happy here,knowing I look healthy. My highest weight as 255 and now is 180. My jeans went from 18 to 12's and tops went from 2x to lg. It's so funny I live in a rural area with 3 red lights. I was the first sleever and now there are 4 of us. We outnumber the redlights in town.lol I am battling a kidney stone but I had stones before WLS so I'll j…

Wow! I had my sleeve on 9/24/10 at 227 pounds, now I'm at 164 pounds!!!!! from a size 20 to a size 10! i feel good, so good. I had my 6month post op visit with Dr. Suh in Corona, CA and he said all my labs are good and I will continue to lose for about 6-9 months! Now I'm living not just existing.

I had my lap band surgery yesterday. I am excited to start transforming. The first 24 hours have not been fun. Nausated, sore, nothing sounds good or taste good. So full of gas it hurts, Is this all normal and does it get better? Please help!

The other day I went to Lane Bryant in search of a new pair of shorts for summer. The smallest size I owned previously was a 20, which I've been wearing in my last couple of progress photos, but of course they are much too big now. I grabbed an 18 and a 16 to take into the dressing room with me. I felt optimistic so I tried the 16's first.To my shock and amazement, they were too big. I changed and went to grab a size 14, figuring they would be too tight and I'd be in between the two sizes. To my even greater shock and amazement, they fit perfectly. Size 14. Fit. Perfectly. I cried in the dressing room. After collecting myself I decided to buy some new jeans to…

I wasn't sure where to put this post, but then I tought about it and figured this was a success story and NSV! I am leaving for Hawaii this weekend! I am so excited , :w00t: yet nervous too! I have only been on a plane to FL and back, and that was about 10 yrs ago. I am super nervous to fly, but nothing some medication can't help. I am scared to be in a new place with new food. Also, I have never left my dogs. So, this will be a huge achievment for me to take this trip on so many levels! So, I think this should count as another NSV for me. I can (hopefully) fit in a plane seat. I know at 369 pounds I would not have and would have been very uncomfortable, and probably not…

I keep forgetting that I can do that. For 20 years I always headed to the woman's section or Lane Bryant or Fashion Bug places. I keep forgetting I can go most any where now! As I had stated before I bought a bike and I am pretty darn serious about it so while at the bike shop I was able to buy a pair of biking pants right off the rack,, just blew my mind! Then tonight I went out to get a new pair of tennis shoes and I have lost a shoe size and gone from a wide with to a B width! Blows my mind! I went to Dick's sporting goods, in the past I was intimidated to even walk into a sporting goods place. I got the Reebock easy toner shoes, and I said what the hec…

I have been bouncing between 161.8 and 160.0 for many weeks now.. I did not think I would ever break into the 150's. This morning I was 159.2 yip eeeee! I might bounce back up but just knowing I was there .... I know I can get this last 10 lbs off. Hope everyone else is having a great day too :-)

whoa yea! soooooooooooo happy to say I'm in Onederland! Just barely (198), but I made it, 30 lbs in 30 days. I wasn't trying to lose that much so fast, but it just happened. I'm diggin the sleeve!!! also, just checking my ticker, don't think I did it right, any suggestions?

Hey everyone ... its been just about 6.5 months since VSG and I wanted to show you ladies that it is possible to wear a bikini loud and proud post VSG!!!! here I am before and after Hope you enjoy .. I know pictures always motivate me especially before and afters.. so Id like to share and do my part <3 I will never regret this decision to have VSG

I had surgery on March 2nd 2011 and yesterday morning I hit 50lbs down!! We celebrated by going on a nice long bike ride! I asked for a bike 2 years ago for Christmas and I got on it on Christmas to ride with our son and half way up the block it broke! I was soooo embarassed! My husband said the store just hadn't tightened everything up so we went and exchanged it but until now haven't even sat on it for fear my fat ass would break another bike!! Lol. And thanks to the sleeve I can now get on it and ride with my husband and our son! I'm so thankful for the sleeve and feel it has given me my life back!! We ended up going on 2 rides yesterday, we even stopped at a par…

Hi there. It's been a while since I've been on this site. My surgery was in early February of 2010. My weight at that time was 227 pounds, and I am 5'9". I paid for my own surgery. One year and a month later, I have passed my initial goal weight of 155 pounds and now weigh 139 pounds. I wear a US size 6. I haven't weighed this little since I was in high school and people can't get over how amazing I look. I wanted to share my story because I remember reading others' success stories right before and after I had my own surgery. Those stories inspired me to keep going when I was scared or when things were tough. People, hang in there - you can do this - and trust me, i…

I was banded Dec 17, 2009 and lost 26lbs on my 2 week pre-op diet. Surgery was smooth sailing and I was heading home only 4 hours later. It was a 3 hour drive. My recovery time went great and was back up and moving around in no time. Quickly started getting fills and losing weight. I also hit the gym and joined our Y's biggest loser competition to get the competitor in me going. By the time the competition was over in April, I was now down a total of 83lbs and pregnant...with twins! I was a little depressed with the thought of my weight going back up, but embrassed it. My band was loosened in July and in August we found out we had lost one of our twins at 20 weeks…

Three months makes a difference! Me, down 49 Him, down 67

FINALLY!!!! I weigh every Thursday, 198 this morning. I haven't been under 200 lbs in... many many years! How exciting!

Hi, Are you lurking out there reading all these posting by everyone trying to absorb as much information as you can about weight loss surgery. I used to be one of you too. I knew I need and wanted to do something about being fat. I had struggled for 25 or more years trying all the kinds of diets there were—yep you too—I knew it. I had my greatest success with Weight Watchers, and to this day I feel for so many people it is the healthiest way to lose weight. I saw over the year too many people including some of the Weight Watchers group leaders gain the weight back—and me too. I became interested more and more in Weight Loss Surgery the more I lurked around on t…

I got in the car today--and noticed that I seemed to be sitting lower in the seat. Sure enough, the rear-view mirror was showing part of the back seat instead of out the back window. I live alone, so I know no one has changed the seat settings, so I was puzzled. Then I realized MY BUTT IS SMALLER! I've lost so much padding in the rear that I'm now sitting lower in the driver's seat. I've kept my boobs but my butt is a pancake!

I got this tattoo about 2 years ago. It has a lot of meaning to me since I lost my dad almost 3 years ago (July 26th). The butterfly has a lot of meaning and there is a story that goes along with it. It's just too long to tell here. I need to write it all down so I don't forget every detail. Anyway, my mom noticed my tattoo looked brighter and smaller, LOL! It is hard to tell from this picture, but it is!!! I got it on my neck because I was afraid when I lost that it would be distorted if I got it anywhere else on my body. So glad it still looks good. And actually I got it on my neck too because I have a birthmark (its red, the tattoo covers some and you can see it into m…

So this morning I got on the scale and I'm 199!!!!! yay!!!!! I have thus far lost 79lbs on this incredible journey and wouldn't change a thing. I've gone from a size 22 to a comfortable 16 and couldn't be happier!!!! I'm gonna try to post some pictures tonight of my progress!!!! I am sooo loving my sleeve!!!! Cheers - Tiffany