M2G

Coops, I am soooooo proud of you and the Cookies...you are just awesome!!! WTG!!! We baked a cake for Easter and I got loud complaints when I wanted to swap applesauce for the oil (it was a box cake, throw in some eggs, Water and OIL, but you can always swap applesauce...except the girls didn't know I do that until Easter and then my 9 year old complained enough that I just did the friggen oil!!! SHEESH!) And GT glad to hear that you are doing better on not being so harsh on yourself. I agree with everyone else that we are own worst enemies when it comes to the negative talk. And yet we would never dare chastise someone else the way we do ourselves. Also I giggled at the pointy lips...gah who has THAT? Eeeewww! You are doing good fooling your dates into thinking you are eating...lol! The tricks of a true sleever. :-) I went today and had blood drawn for my upcoming 18 months post-op check later this month. My PCP is an awesome guy and was genuinely happy for me. He asked me if exercising was easier now (I've been going to Curves for 8 solid years now....RELIGIOUSLY not occasionally) and my answer? "EVERYTHING IS EASIER WHEN YOU WEIGH -100LBS LESS!!!" So true, so true!!! I will compose a big ole 18 month post-op update later this month after I see my surgeon.

Hang in there Cheri! All stalls are from hell! I know for me personally the honeymoon was over by the 4th month. Ever since then it really has been very slow going. But the key is to never give up. I'm almost 18 months post-op and it has taken me this long to lose -101 lbs, AND -8 of that was pre-op. SO I hear ya for sure. There is one big difference for me when I stall (which is a LOT, I'm more the same weight all the time with the rare movement downwards) now post-sleeve as opposed to just dieting. I DON'T GIVE UP and throw in the towel and call it a day and dive headfirst into the ice cream. So having the sleeve gives me confidence that I can keep going, even if it is at a snails pace!

Roger, that is truly fantastic! I'm so happy for you!!! I'm even more impressed that even with stalling, you were able to refocus and lost about -14lbs each month...WOW!!! It's taken me about 6 months to lose -10lbs and I'm fairly focused. I have learned a LOT of patience on this journey, more than I thought I would need (but it's all good!) Just happy that you are getting close to your own goal...that is GREAT!!! Keep up the good work!

That is amazing!!! Congratulations on how far you have come!!! Can I ask how far out you are? Men always lose so quickly!! Congrats!

Just thought I would do an update over here. I looked back through this thread and at one point I had -27lbs to get to goal. Well, I've whittled away at that and now need -17lbs to get to goal. WOW! So even though progress is verrrrry slow, I'm working on it. I did really great at the beginning of Jan. when I really buckled down and lost some weight. Then sometime in Feb I sort of lost my momentum, and now it's April and definitely time to buckle down again. I see my surgeon for my 18 month checkup later this month and of course would love to be at my all-time personal low. Starting tomorrow, I'm restricting calories and carbs. I may have to supplement with some Protein Shakes but I'm going to give things a good solid week and see if I can shake lose a lb or two on the old scale. Also, as I read back through this thread I noticed at some point I said that 12's felt tight. I am happy to report that I can wear any size 12 on any brand and none of them are tight. I put on a pair of capri's from last summer that were 14's and they were literally falling off. I can wear some 10's but it's more hit-and-miss depending on the style/brand, etc. Also that damn stomach skin, well, let's just say that 10's usually push the skin around and make it not as attractive. But at least I know that I can actually go into a store, grab a 12 and KNOW that it will fit! Woo hoo for that!!!

My hubby is sleeved but has neither the time nor the desire to join a message board! I've tried, but it's not his thing. So I just wanted to tell you that there ARE men sleevers out there, but typically the men just are NOT as chatty as the women.

I lost -8lbs pre-op, so technically I haven't yet hit my -100 since being sleeved (-93 since being sleeved). I'm 17+ months post-op and have felt like a slow loser, but that is ok. It's been an exercise in patience, and everyone IS truly different!

YAY!!! So glad that the measurements are 'shifting'...hang in there Coops!

Congrats Lynda!!! Look at your BMI!!! OMG!!! Do we get some photos???

S~You look amazing!!! You have that "glow" of accomplishment on your face (and nope it's not sweat!) ***LOVE THIS POST***

You lost -10 years at least! BEAUTIFUL!

Thanks Coops! You are my awesome sleeve sista through and through!!! Thanks, glad you got to "see" the shoes that I've been blabbing about! Now I can see them and you look fantastic! Curves in ALL the right places! Woo hoo!

Wonderful job and congrats on being more committed to the exercise. That will carry you far. You look so cute in your Tee and shorts, you look ready for anything! LOVE THAT!

OMG that is AWESOME NEWS! I am soooooooooo happy for you! At this point I would say that the bounce back gain is worth the effort to quit the smoking. You can always buckle down later and lose the weight, but you can't repair your lungs whilst smoking. GREAT JOB SS!!!

A ramekin is like a little casserole dish, but they are generally small, i.e. one serving. I have a couple of different ones and I use this recipe when my family is having spaghetti, I just do the ricotta and the tomato sauce and sprinkle it with cheese, and then I don't eat the Pasta. And I could eat cheese fairly early out, like 3+ weeks out cheese was okayed for me.

Girl you are rocking that 12!! WOW, you look great!

I have not been on this thread in a while and there are some very cute girls in dresses here! Sophia, I love that color blue on you, it's amazing!!! I finally had a chance to wear a LBD (it's actually navy blue, but it looks black in the photo.) -100lbs and rocking a new dress, what could be better?

I didn't blenderize anything, lol. For the pizza craving though, try taking some ricotta, spices and a touch of plain tomato sauce and top with with a bit of cheese. Put it in a mini-ramekin and heat it in the over and broil the cheese on top. Maybe it will help?

You look wonderful, so radiant and happy! CONGRATS!

Well I used to not believe in the "honeymoon period" but I am a big believer now. Not in a bad way, but here is what happened for me personally. This is *just my* experience, yours maybe different I lost about -46lbs during the first 3 months post-op. Then I hit a wall. Month 4 I lost -2lbs for the whole month and it has been somewhat of a struggle ever since. I say struggle just because you might secretly be thinking that at 4 months post-op I changed something (downed MCD's or ate ice cream or quit working out) but quite the opposite was true. I worked my sleeve diligently every day, ate the right foods, weighed and measured, and tracked my food, and got to the point at about 8 months post-op that I was working out every single day. So it's not like I fell off the wagon and then bellyached about why I couldn't lose weight. I finally accepted that the honeymoon (again for ME) was over and I was just going to have to ride this out with diligence and patience. I'm closing in on 17 months post-op and guess what? I still exercise (not daily anymore...went back to work full-time and found myself with a whole lot less free time) I still weigh my food, still track it, still eat on my surgeon's plan about 90% of the time. I also didn't have any (ZERO, ZIP, NADA) alcohol until I was 1 year post-op (1 year and 1 week to be exact, Halloween party woo hoo, I had some wine...such a boozer, lol!) So I guess you could say I was a rule-follower and it is still taking me a looooooong time to lose the weight. So take it for what it's worth. I think the more you can lose right after surgery the better off you are cuz at some point it's going to slow down. WHEN is really hard to say, because it's obviously different for everyone. As far out as I am, I'm still losing...just very very slowly.

Best of luck to you in your new journey! I have to partially credit this site with my decision to get the VSG (originally I was thinking band) but thanks to my husband (a VSGer as well, he pushed me to research all options) and a couple of real-life people I have met, I knew that the band wasn't right for us and went ahead with the VSG. I'm now 16+ months post-op and my hubby is 1 year post-op and we have lost about 170lbs between the both of us and I can truthfully say that I haven't had any regrets. For us it was the best thing we could have ever done for ourselves. I'm sorry your band has given you so many issues. You will find lots of posters here who have had revisions and they all say that the sleeve does what the band "promised" to do (but failed!) Good luck with everything!

Just updating, I'm down -2 of the 15, so it's going slow but it's going...

Popping in to say hi! Swizzly congrats on goal!!! And Welcome Kris! And Coops you know how wonderful I think you are, and SO happy you made it to the pool and swam laps! Happy Belated Saint (David is it?) Day! I took the last two weeks of Feb off from logging and grazed my way up 1.6lbs from my lowest (what's on my ticker) weight. I tend to keep my ticker at the lowest weight I've seen because the "bouncing" of the scale will make me crazy trying to update that thing everytime the scale reads something different. SO I guess I'm like feedyoureye in that respect, plus I agree with it being a motivational thing...I will see it again. So I'm back on the wagon as far as eating goes but haven't mustered up the ability to get back on the logging wagon. It is time consuming but basically it does help keep me in check. So I probably need to get back on that wagon at some point soon. I went back to work full-time and my exercise has suffered but not as much as I thought, I went from 7-8x a week to 3-4x a week so that has been ok. Just need to get back on the losing train again!

cscake, I am so sorry about the loss of your daughter. So tragic and a good reminder for all of us to listen to our bodies and insist on getting the care we need. I am happy that you have a wonderful son-in-law to look after the children. As for the mirror thing. The short answer is: yes. I steal glances at myself whenever I can. The long answer is that I did this for my health, but you just CANNOT argue that a huge benefit is looking better as we lose weight. I feel so much better after losing weight and I'm sure the way I feel is also reflected in the way I dress, the spring in my step and yes the reflection I see in the mirror.

You definitely are NOT alone, as Coops and I can attest to! Frustrating? YES!!! But I'm done comparing myself to others, and I just will keep working my sleeve. At some point I may change my goal weight, but for now I'm keeping it and I will keep on working towards it. HANG IN THERE, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!