M2G

Wow, great picture of what happens! Your new size looks pretty perky tho...something to be happy about!

Wow, I can't believe it's been 8 months already. You are rocking your sleeve and you look amazing...congrats! PS - You need to get back to blogging!

Oh and for his height he *should* weigh less than 215, but he never wanted to be SKINNY, just healthy and he looks great at this weight. I think in a perfect world he would like to weigh around 200-205 but the last lbs are the hardest to lose.

I think your concerns are what most people are concerned about pre-op. What is life like post-op and how much will I have to change? My husband was about your size (prob. 5'10" on a good day and about 280) and he was sleeved about 2.5 years ago and has maintained a weight of 215 now since about 9 months post-op fairly easily. He does not count calories (except when I give him a hard time...lol) and for the most part he was much like you, no big eating issues, just ate too much and not giving much thought to his diet. Now that he is off BP meds, (he got off them 10 days post-op) and a healthier weight, he exercises regularly, and basically is healthier and happier. I'm in the same boat (though I exercised before having surgery, he did not) and while I'm battling a +15lb regain I would have NEVER been able to keep the weight off before. I'm almost 3 years post-op and would NOT have been this successful without surgery. Keep asking the questions and doing the research to decide if this is something you can live with. I'm sure you will find the right answer for you.

Congrats Cathy! I'm finding even trying to stay low-cal while up visiting family is JUST not working. I failed to even count/track calories yesterday. Good news is we head home on Wed. so I can hopefully get back to "normal" soon!

Hahaha. Butter, you with 3 cats? LOL! I have one and he would NOT be okay with more (he's also 16 years old and pretty "set" in his ways.) NtvTxn, I applaude your honesty. And you are right, no one can argue with your results and it sounds as if you make a concscious effort to move physically. My exercise has become ingrained in me. It does take a lot of effort to make it to the gym, or the treadmill on a consistent basis, but I love the way it makes me feel. And I hope in 40 years the payoff will be that when I'm 80 I can still use this body to walk on my own. I big-puffy-heart those 80 year olds who are still out there exercising and hope to be so lucky in my late years...

Thanks for your reply (and Coops and Laura-Ven too!) I mention this mostly because my 12 yo has been feeling "fat" and she is mostly taller and larger than other girls her age. She is very athletic and she is the kind of kid who eats enough at one sitting (like a full 'adult' size meal) and then totally forgets about food for hours! My 11 yo is quite a bit shorter (not quite 5' yet, in fact I think she is about 4'9") and she is my grazer. She has horrible eating habits and we definitely have to remind her about sugar intake, etc. But she eats a tiny little amount (still can't finish a kid size meal in one sitting) and then an hour later she is looking for food again. Sigh. So I just don't want them thinking that 500 cals a day is NORMAL. They know all about my surgery (they were 8 and 9 when I had it) and my youngest even gives me a hard time sometimes because I can be the "food police" and she calls my stomach my bananna or my "squirrel" stomach. Hahah. I think you can go to your profile and edit it there. There is a black button on the right and you can click it to "edit" your profile info. FYE- ME too! LOL! Coops you are awesome! I also knew it was broken but not how. Sorry OD. That sucks. The only upside to paying your ded. is all the rest of your bills from now until Dec. will seem small. Time to go get any refills, have blood drawn, have a checkup, get it all in before Jan. when everything resets. Sorry about the wrist. Well, checking in from vacation. Yesterday was a "travel day" so 4+ hours in the car to get to my mom's house. And there were pretzels and popcorn in the car. And dinner with my mom. And I tried to log everything (including the small scoop of ice cream after dinner) and clocked in well over 1800 cals. Sigh. Today is a new day.

P.S. - Cheri I saw what you changed your name to! LOVE IT, JUST LOVE IT!!! :wub: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Thanks! Unfortunately I figured out this wouldn't work today. I have leftovers from lunch yesterday with my girlfriend, and even though it's 2pm, I just heated them up and ate them. So now I'm at 622 cals at 2:25pm. And I suppose my family will expect me to feed them dinner...gah!! We don't always eat meals as a fam, but usually for dinner we try to. Does anyone else try to hide their "dieting" habits from young to pre-teen to teen girls living in their house? I have two girls (ages 11 and 12.5) and I do not tell them "oh gee, today I'm eating 500 cals and I'm fasting" I worry about what that does to them and their own eating habits and behaviors. My 12 yo is already over 5'4" and probably 125-130lbs (I don't see her weight except at the dr. visits each year) so there is NO WAY IN HE)) that I need her thinking she should fast. I talked to hubby about it (he is sleeved also) so it's not like it a big ole secret (he is supportive but not partaking...yet), but I do find that most people's reaction to eating 500 cals a day is not very "understanding" shall we say? So the short vers. of the story is I will probably need to eat dinner with my family tonight, otherwise I could call it a day and not eat again until tomorrow. Pfffttt!

Thanks for the advice ladies, I did NOT fast yesterday and actually ended up eating out twice (impromtu movie with the fam, and then impromtu dinner out after, and yes there was popcorn but I did 2 micro bags before we left for the theater and divided them into 4 baggies for the 4 of us, way better than the theater popcorn!) So today IS a fast day. I'm taking the girls tomorrow for a mini vacation up to visit my family (they live 4 hours away in the mountains) leaving hubby here because of work. But I'm already anticipating it will be hard to try and fast while visiting family. So I'm thinking of just really trying to keep things on the low-cal end and start fasting again next thurs. Sigh. Oh and just wanted to ask how many weeks before the bouncing stopped for you ladies who have been on this since June? I'm so tired of the scale going down when I fast then back up when I feed. (admittedly my feed days have been in the higher range, like 1500-2000 whereas normally I try to not go over 1300-1400). But put me down as "in the bounce zone" because that is what I keep seeing! Aargh!

G- you are so sweet to say that thank you! But just know that I do NOT weigh anywhere near 135lbs...OMG! Don't you worry, there are still come curvy girls around here!

Hope the baby is better today! And just so you know I got a huge laugh out of changing "registered user" to "sarcastic little mean person" hahahaha! I'm still a "registered user" after all these years. Never bothered to get creative, but I love the idea. I'm supposed to have my "fast" day but a girlfriend and I are going out to lunch. Has anyone done a fast day whilst eating out? Not sure what I should do? Move it to Fri or try for today? Thoughts?

BEAUTIFUL GEORGIA!!!

Haha, Coops! That is awesome! Yeah definitely some jealousy there Cheri! I have never been the kind of girl to roll out of bed, throw on some sweatpants and look CUTE. I always worked at it, even when I was at my largest. Makeup, classy jewlery, carried myself well. So I love that you are taking care of yourself and showing your best ...if they are jealous it's on THEM, not you!

Actually I had my usual Splenda in my coffee in the am and the rest of the day was clear water. No other artificial sweeteners. But I did some googling and found this: http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/hormones-oral-health It could be because it is TOM for me. Or could have been a combo of ketosis and TOM...so much fun. At any rate they seem fine today, and my dentist knows that I'm sleeved. Maybe I will ask her about it next time...except that doesn't happen until Dec. lol I will call her if it persists! Thank you Cheri! :wub:

Coops my dear friend! Thank you first and foremost for your friendship. I can honestly say that you are one of the biggest reasons that I have stayed here (VST) because of our friendship. You know we are sleeve sisters not because we share a sleeve date or anything but because of the way we have bonded over our struggles and triumphs! And there will be many many many more triumphs to come!! Congrats on staying the course and not regaining weight. I love your spirit and your diligence, it has served you well. Someday one of us will cross the pond and finally have that cuppa!

Cheri - amazing insight, as per usual. I think most people tend to slink away in shame with regain... sadly. That is when we need the MOST support! Coops - Just doing the happy dance accoss the pond for you! ***Chuffed to beans*** ha ha ha! Love that and I'm sooooooooooooo thrilled for you! UK Cathy - Well, that is sweet (literally) and just goes to show even the best laid plans can go astray. Hope you enjoyed the treats and can get back to it when you are ready! L-V - OMG you are soooooo close, hoping the 150's find you soon! And finally an update...after fasting on Mon. the +2lbs from the weekend are poof gone, so I'm back to -4lbs. And actually I started this whole 5:2 on July 16th but only got in one day of fasting last week, so truly it has been exactly one week since I started and I'm hoping the -4lbs sticks around for a while and takes some friends with it. Yesterday, during fasting, I noticed something odd and wanted to ask if anyone else had this happen. My teeth hurt. WT?? I was grocery shopping (good time to do it when you aren't actually HUNGRY) and my teeth started hurting. I have excellent teeth and generally have zero issues when it comes to good dental health, so why did my teeth hurt? I'm wondering if it was a bit of ketosis related? Anyone? TIA...

Ah, FYE, you said it perfectly (in both responses!!!) as usual. I still sometime struggle with exactly what your surgeon asst. said, but come hell or high Water, I am a fighter, so I'm usually pretty optimistic. There are days when I just want it to be "easy" without having to count the calories or put in the work at the gym. But then I stop and remember that no one ever said this would be easy (losing weight and keeping it off) and that everything that I value in my life (my faith, marriage, family, work) also takes hard work but the hard work is worth the results.

K, clocked in today at 586. Carry on soldiers!

Here and fasting today. ONE WEEK OF 5:2 = DONE! And while it was a good start, it was really only a 6:1 because I went to my back-to-basics class (which I covered in my blog in case anyone one wants to read more about it http://www.thisonebody.blogspot.com/) I had brought up the 5:2 plan to my NUT (who ran the class) and she had never heard of it but gave me the green light to try it. I'm meeting with her again on Aug. 20th so that will be just slightly over a month. So here is what happened with me last week. I weighed on Mon. and by Fri. after only one day of fasting I had LOST -4lbs!!! We darnit, +2lbs came and found me this weekend. We had a bday celebration for my 11 yo at Maggianos Italian restuarant, holy huge plate of food! I have eaten my 2 chicken breasts for 4 meals now. Had some Sat. Ate them twice on Sun. and finally finished them for Breakfast this am. Had a little of the angel hair Pasta but mostly haven't eaten that, but I did indulge in some chocolate cake on Sat. So my calories for Sat. were slightly over 2,000 and 1,700 on Sun. (and it's also TOM so that might have contributed also...) Anyway, short version of the story is that even though I only did a 6:1 last week and lost 4 but found 2 over the weekend that still nets me a -2lbs loss for the week. Excited to keep this going!!! And I notice when I do the crystal lite I DO CRAVE IT MORE. I do better to just not have it. But I'm an occassional Crystal lite drinker but I also do stevia and splenda daily in my coffee. I'm in the moderation camp on articial sweetners.

I'm sorry to hear this and sorry for your pain. I hope the bypass resolves the issues...you might get better results by posting here: http://www.rnytalk.com/forum/24-band-to-gastric-bypass-revisions/ Even though the technical category is band to bypass, there are some sleeve to bypass revisions in there. Best wishes!

Sheila...that is such a GREAT idea...TY! It would be a great sub for rice. I've made cauliflower pizza before (where you steam the cauliflower, "rice" it by chopping finely and mix with egg to form the pizza "crust" and then top like a pizza.) Here let me find that recipe to share in case anyone wants to try it. I did it once when I was maybe 3 months post-op and it was yummy but my stomach made the strangest sounds after, so I never did it again. I think it was just too many veggies for my little sleeve. I really should try it again... Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe Ingredients for pizza 1 small head of cauliflower, leaves and stems removed 1 teaspoon basil 1 teaspoon oregano 1 teaspoon parsley 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup Manchengo sheep milk cheese (or Mozzarella) 2 eggs cornmeal, to dust the pizza stone 1 jar marinara or pizza sauce 1/2 cup sheep milk cheese 5-8 basil leaves Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop cauliflower florets into chunks. Pulse the cauliflower in a food processor until it resembles a fine grain, like rice or couscous. Pour cauliflower into a large bowl. Add herbs, and salt, then cheese and eggs. Spread a tablespoon or so of cornmeal all over a pizza stone. Place the cauliflower mixture (note- this won't resemble a ball of dough) on the middle of the stone and use your hands to press it into a circle about 1/4 inch thick. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 then an additional 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Crust will be done when it turns golden brown in color. Remove crust from oven. Change oven temperature to 450 degrees. Add pizza sauce, cheese and whatever toppings you would like, then bake again for about 5 minutes or until cheese on top is melted.

Okay as promised here are the stilts my 12 yo and I made last week. I agree with Coops about the feeling on a non-fast of not being hungry and seeking food. Side-effect maybe from fast days? Love it though, it reminds me of being a newbie sleever!

Ok, YOU have a 22 year old and are about to be a grandma? I would have never GUESSED that from your profile pic. Wow! Sorry about the struggle, I think we've all been there. And yep the hunger does come back, but from what I can tell it is mostly fueled by the carb monster. When I avoid the crap that I *shouldn't* be eating, my hunger seems to disappear. Just my own personal experience...

Yes and -2lbs on the scale has me happy! We are trying to finish this project before my birthday girl comes home from sleep-away camp on Sat. am. Her real bday is Sat. (we already had her party tho before sending her to camp.) But I'm excited to see her reaction...I will post pics of them after we paint them. Who would have ever thought that an 11 yo would want such a low-tech thing...stilts. HAHA. I can see her losing interest quickly in them and putting them in a garage sale. LOL