SarahS

I am so glad you posted this!!! I have been having the same problem. I am about 1 month out.
Thanks everyone for the tips

AWESOME JOB!!!! I can't wait until I am halfway to my goal weight!!! Keep up the awesome work and I can't wait to see pictures

When I was on the liquid phase (yogurt, pudding, Soups, Protein shakes) I cheated once. I had mashed potatoes. I didn't think it would be any harder on my body than yogurt or Soup. WRONG! It HURT! I guess it wasn't that bad of a cheat, and I was a few weeks out, but I should not have done it! And, it didn't taste good anyway. I remember wanting to just chew on something during that phase, but its not worth the risk.

I LOL'ed at your dream I had weird dreams too, that were very vivid right after surgery. But mine were all about food! I had dreams that I ate tacos and brownies and things, and in my dream I would eat really fast and then panic because I remembered I had surgery. I would wake up thinking I really ate all the stuff and it would take me a few mins to realize it was a dream. I would even wake up and my stomach would hurt. Im glad those are over with! Diva is right, it takes a while for all those drugs to get out of your system. I thought my dreams might have also been because I was so hungry, and I was sleeping deeper as I lost more weight and could breathe better.

Today I am 1 year post op. I haven't been on the forums in a while, but will probably be around more. I have a few recent pictures, but need to get some more! I will share those once I get some more pictures with my hair down, and makeup on!
Today has kind of been an emotional day for me. Thinking back this time last year, I was all kinds of nervous. The pain after surgery was pretty bad, I won't lie, but I would do it all over again. This surgery really did save my life!!! I was on 3 blood pressure medications before surgery, today I am on NONE! My blood pressure was PERFECT the other day at the doctor. He said I am doing great. My labs are all perfect except my cholesterol. It was 202, which isn't horrible. I am not even sure what it was before surgery, so it has probably come down. I have a family history of high cholesterol, so it might just be something I have to deal with, no matter what my weight. But I will keep any eye on it, and have it rechecked once I lose more weight.
I am at 236 pounds today. I was hoping for it to be lower, but I can't complain. I have lost 133 pounds!!! I look back on my pictures and can't believe I was that big, and I did not look well. People comment now how great my skin looks and how healthy I look. I get embarassed by the nice comments, but it feels good at the same time, if that makes sense. It's still hard for me to see myself how I really look now. I catch my reflection in the mirror and have to stare sometimes because I don't believe its me. I am guessing I will be that way for a while.
Last year at this time, I could not even walk to my mailbox and back, without getting out of breath. I would shower, and not even be able to get dressed. I would have to lay in bed because I couldn't breath and I was exhuasted. Very, very sad for a woman in her early 30's. My mailbox is maybe 30 feet away. I would walk to get the mail, and back in the house, and have to bend over the kitchen counter to catch my breath. THATS SCARY!!! I have no problem now, and walk as much as 4 miles! I feel great. I wouldn't even grocery shop, because I couldn't make it around the store, even leaning on a cart. I eventually just drove thru drivethru's, which just added more weight. I love shopping now!
The only issue I am having now is my knees. Its weird because they never hurt before, even at 369 pounds. The doctor thinks its arthritis, but I am going to the ortho to make sure. It is probably all the years of being overweight, and playing sports when I was younger, catching up with me. I am sure they would be a lot more painful now if I had that 133 pounds on them.
I am also still losing hair, but I have kinda gotten over it. It will come back eventually!
I still want to lose more weight, maybe get down to 175ish. My original goal was 165, but that may be too thin. I just can't wait to be under 200. The weight loss has slowed way down, but thats okay. I have come to accept that. As long as I am not gaining, I am good!!! I eat pretty much anything now, but try every day to stick to a plan. Its hard! People tell me not to lose any more weight, but I probably do look thin or healthy to them compared to what I was.
I am in a size 18 misses, sometime even a 16!!!! I started at a size 30/32W!!!
I have days where I am still down, mostly about my skin, but its much better to see all the hanging skin, than to see all the fat that was there. I eventually want to have plastic surgery, once I am at goal and have the $$$$
If anyone out there is thinking about VSG, DO IT!!! I can't emphasize how much I LOVE my sleeve! My aunt is a nurse at the hospital where I had the surgery, and she tells all her VSG patients about me
And for those of you out there that think that you are a slow loser, WHO CARES!!! YOU ARE STILL LOSING! DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS! I was caught in that "comparing myself to others who had this surgery" and it gets you no where, except feeling like CRAP about yourself. Just focus on your own weight loss and exercise plan and your sleeve will do what its suppose to do.
Here is a slideshow I made, that shows my journey over this past year, in pictures. I hope you enjoy!!!
http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d6a63774d6a67784f44553d0d0a&blogview=true

I was editing my post for the last 5 minutes or so, lol, so maybe thats why. You have probably seen all the pics before, but you can enjoy them again Love you!

:ciappa:

I was thinking in the car today, and it hit me, that in about 3 more pounds, I will have lost the combined weight of my 2 grown boxer dogs!!! Izzy is around 60 pounds, and Gus is around 68 pounds. See picture below. It really puts it all in perspective how much I have lost! The second picture is a before and now picture! Its hard to see the difference when you see yourself daily, but seeing the pictures helps so much! For all those pre-op'ers, take lots of pictures!!! And for those thinking about this surgery, do it! I am only 7.5 months out and doing awesome! 79ish more pounds till goal! I guess I will have to get another boxer to equal all the weight I have lost once I am at goal
"

This is going to sound totally rude, not meant to, just some tough love... but since a movie is only about 2 hrs long... Maybe we stop associating food with entertainment There is no rule that says a movie must be accompanied by food.
I would suggest using your new tool to learn that not all functions need to come with food. I know it's hard but it can be done. I had to learn how to go hang out with my husband and friends, at their favorite BBQ place, for several hours at a time, at least once a week. I've managed with total success. I order my iced tea and sip on it while the boys chow down on BBQ and beer. I make sure i'm not hungry when I go (first rule)
We must learn to think skinny...... My Dr. told me that if I want to have an indulgance (for me, it's a glass of wine at nice restaurants) that I need to make sure i've burned the extra calories thru addtitional exercise that day or by cuting calories out of my daily diet. "Make sure it's worth it" he said.
Basically, going to the movies needs to be about the movie and not the food... enjoy the company, the movie, the people watching then go have yourself a healthy snack or meal afterwards (or before).
Movies are just a beginning. It may be a trip to the zoo with the kids, a summer Cruise vacation with the family, a Baseball game, School candy fund raiser, Girl Scout Cookies etc etc etc...... these situations will not go away and we must use our new tool to impower us to make better and wiser choices. IT'S HARD...... I DO UNDERSTAND. I'm learning that myself.
Best wishes at the movies...... you will do fine

Haha, nevermind, I see it

I feel like I am posting a lot, but I just had to share a few more victories! I hope everyone isn't getting sick of all my posts
So, tonight I figured out how much weight I have lost in a percentage. I have lost 20% of my body weight!!!!!!!!! That is so awesome to think of it that way, and I am only a little over 2 months post-op.
Not sure if this is NSV or not, but it shows that I am getting healthier everyday. For probably 2.5 years, I did not have a period. Instead, I would bleed ALL the time. It was horrible!!! I went to a GYN but felt like she blew me off. She put me on meds which made me want to kill someone so I stopped taking them. I just put up with it for tooooooo long! So, after surgery, I stopped bleeding for a while and I was SOOOOO excited. Then, I started to bleed again after a few weeks. It was horrible heavy. I almost went to the ER it was so bad one day. Then, it stopped again after 6-7 days like a normal period. Then, I didn't have any bleeding for 30 days!!!! WOOOOHOOOO. I had a normal period this week that lasted about 6 days, and it wasn't heavy like last time. Sorry if this is TMI, but I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited. I went to a new GYNO before surgery, and she didn't know if I had something going on or if it was just because of my weight. She said sometimes you can bleed because people with more fat produce more estrogen and that makes you bleed non-stop. Not sure what it was, but pretty sure its nothing serious or nothing I need to take any meds for!! I think my body is finally getting back to normal!!!!!!!! :) :)
Oh yah, I guess this is another NSV. I have been off my BP meds since a few weeks post-op, and no more diuretics either! I don't have pitting edema in my legs anymore Gosh, so much is happening so soon after surgery, and I am still very overweight at 296 pounds.... wonder how great it will be when I get to goal!?!?!?!

OMG, I can't imagine being smaller than 160, LOL! I just wanna get out of the 200's right now! It's crazy to think about having a 1 in front of my #!! And a size L on my clothes! LOL, or even a M!

Im glad that you are not going to take any appetite suppresants. I abused anything with ephedra in it years ago, and its now off the market. I lost mass amounts of weight, but once I was off it, I blew up again. Thats what happens. Once you are off it, everything slows way down. Just remember that if you get the idea of taking something in your head again
You mentioned that if you lose 15 more pounds, your BMI will be under the range for your height. So, I was thinking, maybe your body is happy at the weight it is at right now. Sometimes I wonder if everyones body has a set weight it should be at, and maybe you are at that weight. You probably don't want to hear that though. Just a thought

My first goal for myself was to get under 300. I thought it would take awhile, since my highest pre-op weight was 369. Date of surgery I was 356. Today, I stepped on the scale and LOOK!!!!!!! Surgery was about 8.5 weeks ago :)