minniekitty

I also recommend MyFitnessPal. It's a great tool- I log everything I eat. If you have a smartphone (or an iPod touch like I have), you can download their app and log your calories when you're on the go and away from a computer. If you want to add me, my username is kalars88. We can compare food diaries and see each others weight losses. It's a lot of fun :smile1:

Everyone loses weight at different speeds, so don't be discouraged. You may be in a stall- I get those all the time. I drop weight quickly the week before and during my period, and then during the other 2 weeks of the month I stall. It's frustrating, but as long as the scale keeps moving it's all good :smile1:

I'm almost 3 months post-op, and my fine/thin hair is starting to fall out faster also. Sleeve4Me- your hair clips look beautiful!

If it gets to the point where you can see bald spots or it's too thin, I may look into getting a weave or extensions. I'm curious to see what others are doing in this same predicament.

edit: Also, would cutting my hair shorter help with volume?

To add to what everyone else said, the opposite of a slider food would be dense Protein foods like meat. Those sit in your stomach and don't slide through your stomach- they make you feel full for longer. Slider foods don't give you the level of satiety that a high protein food would, and you are more likely to eat more or sooner.

Sometimes scratching right next to or around the incision helps, too. If you still have bandages on it, they may be irritating your skin. I still have have a faint red mark on my skin from the bandage around my large incision at almost 3 months out because it irritated my skin so much.

I set my goal weight at 145 lbs, the same weight my doctor recommended to me. I'm 5'4" (almost 5'5"), and 145 lbs would place me at the highest weight for a "healthy BMI". I didn't go lower because I have a large body frame AND I wanted to be realistic in my goal. There's a chance I'll keep on losing weight and go lower, but 145 is a nice goal for me.

I have a "goal weight range" of 135-155 lbs. I'll be content anywhere in between those weights. I know a lot of sleevers aim for a lower BMI, but 145 sounds ideal and healthy for me personally. In the end, what matters most is if you're healthy and happy with your body and appearance.

You're an inspiration . You got to a normal BMI in just 5.5 months! Damn girl!!

Congrats! You'll make it to goal, no doubt.

You look beautiful, and you're really rocking those size 4's. Congrats!

Congrats She is really cute.

Congrats!

Ok, I missed my Halloween goal of 185 lbs (and 50% of my excess weight) by 2 lbs. Time to step it up for the Christmas Challenge! I hope to weigh 174 lbs and be OVERWEIGHT instead of Obese! I haven't been "just overweight" since I was 7 or 8! I think that 13 lbs is doable, and I probably might even pass this goal before Christmas :smile1:

SN - Kala

SW - 187

CW - 187

GW - 174

lbs to goal - 13

I'd like to report a loss of 3.8 lbs this week! I really dropped the pounds . Now I'm down to 183.2 lbs. The last time I weighed this little was in high school!

SN - Kala

SW - 187

CW - 183.2

GW - 174

lbs to goal - 9.2

I struggled with "head hunger" while I was on the clear (and later full) liquids diet after surgery. But, I felt no physical hunger at all. I mourned food and mentally wanted to eat, but I didn't have any extreme headaches or hunger pangs that come with real physical hunger.

It's only for a few weeks, though. It's worth it

I feel cold all the time too. I'd rather be cold and wearing cute layers, than sweating like a pig because I'm so damn hot. I used to hate the summer and hot weather because of my fat. I would sweat excessively, and I felt stinky and gross (on top of being fat). Now I look forward to next summer- I hope I'll be near or past goal by then :smile1:

Being cold is uncomfortable, though. I suppose it's a trade-off. I haven't had the butt-bone issue yet, but I'm sure it will come .

I've read on the forums that the closer you get to goal, the faster your clothes size will shrink. Usually the women you see on weight loss TV commercials were smaller and only 10-40 lbs overweight to begin with.

The dreaded 3-5 week stall strikes again!!

It is very comon to stall in the 3-5 weeks after surgery. Try not to weigh yourself for 2 weeks and keep following doctor's diet program. It will start again. I have never seen anyone go through the early stall and stay that way.

You may want to do a search on the board for "stall" and you will see tons of people with the same complaint. I had it too :-)

It will pass---

Listen to Rev Me Up. It's the 3-5 week stall, and it will pass. Don't worry :smile1: I hit that stall too during weeks 2-5 and stayed around 200-202 lbs that whole time. The scale started moving again (not as quickly as I'd like). Now I'm at 185 lbs, and pretty happy with where I am so far.

You'll lose weight. You're eating so little calories now; it's impossible NOT to lose weight.

I'm a little over 2 1/2 months post op, and when I eat out I share meals with people. I have ordered off the kid's menu. I also like ordering a cup of Soup as a meal. I never ordered appetizers, because at the restaurants I've gone to they're not that healthy.

It gets easier. At first I would order regular sized meals and then have to take most of the meal home or end up wasting it. After awhile, I stopped feeling self-conscious about ordering smaller meals. My eyes have started to adjust to my itty bitty stomach, too :smile1:

Ok, I missed my Halloween goal of 185 lbs (and 50% of my excess weight) by 2 lbs. Time to step it up for the Christmas Challenge! I hope to weigh 174 lbs and be OVERWEIGHT instead of Obese! I haven't been "just overweight" since I was 7 or 8! I think that 13 lbs is doable, and I probably might even pass this goal before Christmas :smile1:

SN - Kala

SW - 187

CW - 187

GW - 174

lbs to goal - 13

I broke into the 180's! The last time I was in the 180's was for a second 4 years ago before I gained back all the weight I lost, lol. I dropped another 3.3 lbs this week and am down to 187.8 lbs!!!! I have no doubt I'm going to make it to goal

9/9 - 200.2

9/17 - 198.6 (I broke the stall and into Onederland!)

9/24 - 196.8

10/2 - 193.3

10/6 - 192.1

10/7 - 191.1

10/15 - 187.8

SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal

Kala.................200.2...............187.8...........185..............2.8

I've only lost 0.8 lb these past two weeks . I guess that means I've hit another stall *sigh*. 1 day away from the deadline and I'm 2 lbs away from goal. I'll weigh myself tomorrow to see if I've magically lost another 2 lbs in one day lol. Congrats to all of you who've already reached their Halloween goal!

9/9 - 200.2

9/17 - 198.6 (I broke the stall and into Onederland!)

9/24 - 196.8

10/2 - 193.3

10/6 - 192.1

10/7 - 191.1

10/15 - 187.8

10/30- 187

SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal

Kala.................200.2...............187.............185..............2

On the brighter side, I dropped 3 inches off my waist this month! I guess I haven't really failed after all

I'm going to copy Meg and list my goals after my Halloween goal of 185 lbs (also 50% of my excess weight loss).

1. Being "overweight" instead of "obese" - 174 lbs

2. Losing 75% of my excess weight - 165 lbs

3. Breaking into the 150s.

4. GOAL!!! 145 lbs

Way to go! That is amazing

I also am worried about that. I would like to weigh 135-155 lbs; my ultimate goal will be determined by how I look and I feel in my new body. I don't want to be skinny, but would love to be curvy and voluptuous (instead of flabby lol). I agree with Rootman- monitoring your calories should help.

Looking good Congrats!

I've gotten a few compliments, but they're not pouring in quite yet lol. I can't wait until I get to that point

I miss soda and carbonated drinks too! Even though my doctor told me I could never have a carbonated drink for the rest of my life, I have had a couple sips here and there of my mom's Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper.

I may go back to drinking soda in the future, but definitely NOT 3-5 cans a day or with meals. I'll wait a few more months for my sleeve to finish healing. It's just something I miss, and I want to reserve it for something to drink sparingly.

I'm 2 months post-op and I tend to have really bad cravings late at night. Night-time snacking was my problem before surgery, too. I'm not hungry during the day unless I haven't eaten for awhile (and I can't eat that much anyway).

Around my period I want lots of chocolate and starchy comfort food, but I'm trying to ignore those cravings. It's a common saying here that they do surgery on your stomach but not your brain!

But overall, my hunger has decreased dramatically. I don't think about food or my next meal all day anymore. I still like food and tasty things, but it isn't a big part of my life now.

I seem to get more pimples post-op now, especially around my period. I've always had a few pimples here and there, but now they come with vengeance at that TOM. I guess it's all those crazy hormones :/

I was starting my period around the time of surgery, too. I luckily didn't start until the day after surgery, but I had emailed the coordinator the week before and she said it would be no problem. In fact, it's very common for patients to be on their period during surgery. She told me that I could simply wear a tampon or ask the nurses to provide a pad since we can't wear underwear in the operating room.

With a BMI of 29/30, I think your best bet is to look to Mexico and self-pay. There are some fantastic surgeons there (and I'm the patient of one of them). I'm pretty sure for the VSG the minimum BMI is 35 or 40 with most insurance companies here in the United States.

I started with a relatively lower BMI of 38 (not that close to yours, though), and I'm also younger- 23 years old. I was sleeved 2 months ago and I've been very successful! Just look at the ticker on my signature

Overall, it's a personal decision, and only you can know what's best for your body! Good luck with whatever path you choose