Roseib

I have severe osteoarthritis in my knees and need knee replacement. Yesterday for the first time in several years I was able to WALK around Wal-Mart and stand in a long line to check out for the first time in several years. That was so great not having to use an electric cart!

Wow Coops and Diva. You both look fantastic!

I have severe osteoarthritis in my knees and need knee replacement. Yesterday for the first time in several years I was able to WALK around Wal-Mart and stand in a long line to check out for the first time in several years. That was so great not having to use an electric cart!

Finally finding my way back to this forum, it's been a LONG time. I'm about 16 or so pounds from my new goal weight. Ha! 175 seemed so unobtainable that I never thought I'd actually hit that number, much less pass it and keep going. I'm still losing - in month 19, I'm at 5 pounds lost. I weigh 166 and am 5'6".
Best decision I've ever made, but it's also a LOT of hard work. There's no easy way out. I make decisions every single day and I live with the consequences of those choices. I still only eat around 800 calories a day. I can get up to 1200 if I try really hard, but I still have amazing restriction and I seem to lose best at 800, so I just keep it there. I get around 30-50 carbs per day, a LOT of Water and 70-100 Protein. I use MyFitnessPal to keep myself in check.
There's a LOT of skin. I held most of my weight for 30 years in my stomach. It's really bad. There will be eventual plastic surgery to deal with it. But I'd much rather have that than all the fat that was hanging around.
My life is so much different now. I'm a totally different person, yet completely the same. I'm able to do more and live life how I'm supposed to be living it. I have been married to the most amazing man in the world for nearly 20 years and we have two (nearly) perfect children and life is pretty darn good.
To those of you struggling, stalling, wondering if you can do it... you can. You just have to want it bad enough. And by that I mean... BAD. Stalls are normal. I lose some, stall, gain some back, stall, lose that and then a little more, stall again. My longest stall was 20 days at 3 weeks out. I routinely stall for about 2 weeks at a time nowadays. It's all good, as long as the overall trend is down.
I'll attach a photo of me at 200 lost, I've lost 8 more since then, but the difference is pretty amazing.

shredded parmesan. Can't stand the fat free and I'm more worried about carbs than fat as long as I stay under 30 grams of fat for the day. If I go a little over on fat I don't worry. Carbs I have to keep low or weight loss slows. Good thing about cheese, no?

These rock. I ate them all the time once I was cleared for chicken . . . I actually have gotten tired of them because I was eating them so much, but they are great Protein and taste wonderful.

No, even though I was supermorbidly obese and a more radical surgery probably would have resulted in quicker weight loss. Because of my age (62 at time of surgery) and increased risk of complications, I decided to go with the sleeve because it has the lowest risk of complications.
No, I won't do the DS. This is it for me. I have to make it work, even though it will probably take another year to get where I want to be.

No, even though I was supermorbidly obese and a more radical surgery probably would have resulted in quicker weight loss. Because of my age (62 at time of surgery) and increased risk of complications, I decided to go with the sleeve because it has the lowest risk of complications.
No, I won't do the DS. This is it for me. I have to make it work, even though it will probably take another year to get where I want to be.

Wondering what you decided Holly. I had the sleeve 6/29/10 and currently have lost almost half of what I want to lose at 8 months. It might take me a total of 20 months but I feel sure I will get there this way.

Hey girls!! I also had PCOS and TTC 7 years before Finally becoming a mommy through adoption!! I had my sleeve 14 months ago and last month decided to stop birth control and leave it in the hands of God. Well.... Sunday (1 month after stopping the pill) I realize I haven't had a visit from Aunt Flow so I take a test and BAM! BFP!! Went to my high risk OB yesterday and am 5 weeks preggo and numbers look good so far. Still cautious of course but very hopeful that my PCOS has resolved as my GYN predicted!! Good luck girls! The sleeve was the best thing I've ever done for myself (besides my sons adoption of course!!)!!

I've been looking as I have the same health issue and vsg is the best surgery for getting pregnant as you get more nutrition as the body has not been alter. My surgeon said it will be more easy to conceive as hormones return to normal, but you have to wait 1 yr (your very fertile so be careful to hold off, but if u get prego before tell your surgeon )so your body is strong. I wish you all luck as I'm on the same path stay intouch.

Someone asked my doctor about ideal weights at support group a while back. He said be careful using ideal weights. Many people who have been overweight for many years have developed sturdy bones and targeting for example a weight from the actuarial charts could be too low. Like way too low 20-30 pounds. Depends on the individual I guess. I will have a lot of loose skin plus I have swelling in one of my legs from lymphedema so I tacked on some pounds to my ideal weight. He said a lot of people will recognize it when they get there not before. Unfortunately I'm not close enough yet to test thst assertion.

Ignore that idiot. You're doing great! I lost over 140 pounds my first year st age 63 with mobility problems and I thought that was great for me. At my 12 month follow up the person doing my followups after perfunctorily saying hello and this is your 12 month follow up (no congratulations, how do you feel about that, etc.) looked at my weigh-in data and turned to me and said at 12 months we expect patients to be at a BMI of 30 and you are 41 (down from 66.1 btw). Not "wow you've done great". I was so happy I had lost that much weight and that felt like a slap in the face.
She was like that the entire year. I should have asked to switch to someone else after month two when she first did something like that as that type of communication (like the one you got, although I think yours was worse and more ridiculous) is not helpful and not motivating. In fact it is downright discouraging. Is there anyone else doing followups? I suggest you consider asking to switch to someone else if so
Yes, I'm not losing weight as fast as I did that first year, but there is no reason I cannot continue to lose to goal or close to it if I continue following the eating plan. My surgeon said that people could continue to lose indefinitely after those critical first months if you continue to follow the rules. It just won't come off as fast. I'm in it for the long haul.
You've done great! I did not lose that much weight in five months and I weighed close to your starting weight.

Hi, everyone, thanks for your comments. They are helpful to put things in perspective.
I am extremely happy to have had the surgery and was happy to deplete my small nest egg to have it. I think mostly this is an aging issue that is coming out through the weight loss process and am going to do a few sessions with a psychologist to try to work through that. I thought I had worked through this stuff in my mid-40s when I had a mid-life crisis sort of thing when I had to face up to that fact that there wasn't going to be a husband and children. But almost 64 is a whole different ball park than 45. I'm smiling as I write that. 60 is NOT the new 35. It's 60.
Most of the time I feel like the rest of you -- happy to be getting healthier and more mobile/energetic and likely extending my life. But every so often that anger at having to wait until 60s to have it and ending up looking like a walrus comes through.
Thinoneday, you are amazing at juggling the surgery and putting your daughter through college! I teach at a university and am well aware of the great costs involved in putting a child through college these days. Kudos to you!
thanks again everyone.

when I went to conferences my employer paid for travel but I paid for an extra seat. That said I once had to fly on short notice and ticket too expensive so I just went with one seat and airline did not say anything. was well over 300 at the time, I think that was American.

Hi, I agree with what others said above.
Re my own decision. Like you I was initially interested in bypass surgery. I knew I had a lot of weight to lose (although my PCP's scales went to 350, the past two years, I weighed more than 350 so I didn't know exactly how much I needed to lose).
When I went to the orientation session, I learned about the sleeve and that it had fewer complications than the bypass, which interested me because I knew my weight and age (62) put me at greater risk for complications.
When I had my surgeon consultation a few weeks later in May, I learned I weighed 385.5, which shocked me. I told the surgeon I was conflicted about the bypass vs. sleeve. On the one hand concerned about complications, on the other concerned about less weight loss. He told me recent research showed success rates about the same after two years and that he didn't really see any advantage for me with the bypass. If I had diabetes, he said he would have recommended the bypass because he thought it worked better for diabetes (but several people on this board have diabetes and they have done really well!!). He said if I were a member of his family, he'd recommend the sleeve. So I chose the sleeve because of fear of complications and a belief that the outcome would be about the same as the bypass.
Results so far: Starting weight 385.5; goal weight: 150. Preop diet began 6/14 - lost 19 pounds; surgery 6/29. By December 29 I had lost 105 pounds total. Won't weigh again until January 29. My mini-goal was to lose half of my excess weight (117.75 pounds) by end of December but that didn't happen. As you can see I got really close though. I have severe arthritis so I can't execise as vigorously as some others on this board, but I do execise.
My doctor's goal for me is to lose 70% of my excess weight or down to about 200 pounds. However, I firmly believe I can make MY goal of 100% loss of excess weight or down to 150. I figure it will take 18-20 months total, but I am sure I can do it with the sleeve. My doctor says if we use our weapons, we can lose weight indefinitely -- no stopping point until we want to stop. WEPNs = Water, execise, Protein, nutrients.
Btw, our guest speaker this week at surgeon's support group was a woman who had lost well over 200 pounds through bypass (she was in such bad shape she was in assisted living and was in her early 50s I think) and had kept it fof for a number of years. She was talking briefly to me before the meeting began and when I said I had the sleeve, she said that she would have had it had it been available at the time she had surgery.
The sleeve was the right decision for me. Best wishes in deciding which is best for you! Hang around on the board and you'll learn a lot more. People here are so inspiring to me.

I'm 63. Had surgery end of June when I was 62. I weighed (and still do) a lot more than your mom although I don't have diabetes or hypertension. I did fine. Dr told me I did better than many of his younger patients. I agree with the statements above. Its scary to contemplate surgery but its scary to contemplate a life with hypertension and diabetes. I wanted to hsve my life back. 60 isn't that ancient and hopefully those of us having surgeries will have lengthened our lives by 10 or more years. I had considered bypass but did decide at my age the sleeve with fewer complications would be more prudent. Even though I don't feel old. :-)