minniekitty

Don't feel like a chicken for not telling. Weight loss surgery is a very personal experience. It's your business and you are not required to tell anyone else. I've only told some of my family and friends. If you don't want to tell people, then don't.

I've lost another 3.1 lbs SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal Kala.................200.2.............193.3...........185.............8.3

The dreaded "3 week stall" will end- don't worry, it does for pretty much everyone! I also hit that stall pretty early at 2 weeks post op and stayed around 200-202 for 3 weeks. Just recently has the scale dropped. I finally dropped to 198.6 and broke into Onederland on 9/17. I weighed myself today and I'm down to 193.3! The slowed weight loss can be discouraging- I had dropped 20 lbs in less than 2 weeks and then, BAM! - no weight loss. I realistically couldn't expect to lose 2 lbs a day for the rest of my weight loss journey. I lost over 30 lbs in less than 2 months, so I try to keep in mind that I would have NEVER lost that completely on my own. Especially in such a short period of time! I've lost over a third of my EWL. Stalls are terrible, but they happen. I don't want to stay at 193.3, but I am so much happier with my body now. My self image has improved greatly. At 7 weeks post-op, this is a great accomplishment for me. My clothes are baggier, and I can wear my old shirts that I had gotten too fat to wear comfortably. People have noticed I've lost weight- including all the people who didn't know I had surgery. Everyone's experience is different, and with the sleeve our weight loss will be slower than people who had the DS or RNY. Comparing our weight loss to other people is a double-edged sword; it's inspiring, but can also cause us to doubt ourselves and our own achievements.

What a transformation Congrats! Are you going to do anything special when you reach the 100 lb mark?

I'm curious- how long did you take to eat/drink the soup? I can take in a lot of liquids/solids if I do so over an extended period of time.

Congrats on your new sleeve It's great to hear that you've recovered well!!! It's always exciting to start a new chapter in our lives!

I picked 145 lbs as my goal weight. It's right at a 24.9 BMI, so I would be "almost overweight" at 145. That doesn't bother me, though. I, like you, just want to be healthy. I don't care to be a skinny minny, but instead want to be average sized for once in my life. I have a large body frame, too, so my goal weight should fall in the higher range of a normal BMI for my height. My aunt, who has the same body frame and height as me, went down to 139 lbs and looked sickly and frail. It of course may be different for me, so I'd like to keep an open mind. So, while I picked 145 as my goal weight, I really have a "goal weight range" of 135-155 lbs. I also agree with Rootman about BMI- it's not a perfect indicator of health.

I think it's swelling. I had the same problem at first, but after a couple of weeks I can swallow with no problem. Just make sure you're making tiny baby sips; our new stomachs can't handle gulps anymore, and can't handle normal sips until our swelling has gone down from surgery.

I think I've reached the other end of my 3 week stall, but my weight loss definitely has slowed down. It makes me want to strangle the people who say it's all "calories in - calories out". Well, if that were the case I'd have lost A LOT more weight by eating only 600-800 calories a day.

http://fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/olive-garden/zuppa-toscana I hope that helps Overall, it doesn't look too bad. It's a bit high in carbs, but it's also high in Protein. And at 170 calories per bowl, I don't think you necessarily doomed yourself.

My doctor told me to eat 600-800 calories a day until I reach my goal weight, and then I can increase it to 1200 calories a day to maintain my weight. You may want to consult your doctor or nutritionist, though, because it varies for everyone.

I know what you mean. I ate 2 Oreos last night (granted, much less than I used to eat) and had no problems. I still am having issues with protein-dense foods, though. I don't feel terrible for eating the 2 Oreos, but it probably is something I should avoid in the future. Unfortunately, my family loves the junk food so temptation surrounds me! As long as we make wise choices most of the time, an occasional slip-up isn't worth the anguish.

I'm 6 weeks post op and I don't do any high impact exercises yet. I swim laps almost daily and take my dogs out for walks as much as I can. Just today I took my dogs out for an 80 minute walk down the bike trail In a couple weeks I'd like to step up my workouts to include the elliptical and weight lifting!

I've been sleeved for almost 6 weeks, and I eat on average 500-800 calories a day.

I think it's definitely possible. I lost over 20lbs my first month with the sleeve, and I started at the same weight you are now.

I'm changing my goal weight from 180 to 185, so my goal will be 15 lbs lost. I don't want to set myself up for disappointment. My weight loss has slowed (still lingering from that dreaded 3 week stall), but I of course will be thrilled to reach 180 lbs . I haven't been in the 180's in 4 years, and I'd be sooo happy regardless. So, here's my modified Halloween goal... SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal Kala.................200.2.............196.8...........185.............11.8

I look forward to: -Actually enjoying getting my picture taken, and not having to "check" the picture right after it's taken to make sure I don't look like a fat blob. To tie into that, also not feeling awful and embarrassed when someone tags my picture on Facebook. -Not feeling like I'm being watched while eating. -Being hit on by guys MY OWN AGE. I get hit on by mostly older guys (I guess they're into fat young chicks?) and it creeps me out -Not worrying about weight limits and fitting into an amusement park ride. I can just *barely* fit into them. -Fitting comfortably in an airplane seat. I am not at the point of seatbelt extenders, but on my plane ride to San Diego for my surgery with Dr. Aceves I was very uncomfortable. I felt guilty for spilling into the other person's seat next to me so I leaned over to the side the whole trip and kept my arms crossed. I want to be able to relax! -Buying ALL my clothes in the Misses department and normal stores! I can fit into XL's in the "normal" section, but am mostly banished to the Plus Size/Women's clothes for my pants. At my heaviest, I fit into the size 14/16 shirts at Lane Bryant without them sagging on me. I didn't like that. -Going out and being the social butterfly I was meant to be! I've been obese since I was 10, and I strongly feel that messed up my adolescence when I was supposed to be learning to be a more independent and social person. I'm shy because of my self consciousness about my size. I want to be carefree and go out and make some friends! I only have one "real friend" (since we were 11- I'm 23 now) and a boyfriend. -Seeing people who knew me when I was fatter, and shocking them! -(This one's really shallow). Showing my exboyfriend how skinny I've become. He was a jerk who gave me a hard time about my weight. He'd call me a fat loser and disgusting, saying I made him nauseous. He always made me feel guilty about eating. I haven't talked to him in forever, so I doubt I'll see him. It would be nice to casually run into him though :devil:. Of course, part of me has a feeling he'd just find something else to make me feel bad about (like sagging skin or bones sticking out). Negative people have no place in my life, so I'm conflicted on this one. -And this isn't something I don't have to worry about for awhile, but not worrying about getting diabetes or heart disease (both run in my family). I'm at HIGH risk for both of them. My paternal grandma and uncle both died from complications of their Type II Diabetes, and my dad has it now. The scary part is that they were/are all at a healthy weight, so I'm at risk no matter what. At least soon I won't have obesity as a contributing risk factor. On my mom's side, most people of have high blood pressure and they're all obese- so I am dodging that bullet at least

I haven't seen the episode, but I'm looking it up online to watch it. There was a woman similar to her whowas famous last year- Donna Simpson. I'm sure a lot of you have heard about her. She weighed 600 lbs and wanted to weigh 1000 lbs, but later backed down from her announcement when she started getting death threats. She had a toddler and a 15 year old son- she actually set the world record for the fattest woman to give birth. She has her own website where people would pay her to eat food- and she uses that money to buy more food. It's a sad and vicious cycles. I guess some people just reach a point where they give up. I know from Donna Simpson's story, she used to struggle with her weight and came to the point where she "realized" her body was simply meant to be fat. I hope these people get the help they need. I guess in theory one can be "fat and healthy", but consciously trying to gain weight when that person's already super morbidly obese!?!? I know the "gainers" are outcasts even in the Size Acceptance movement. It's sick that these people (mainly women) endanger themselves for the sexual entertainment of some fetishists.

I'm 6 weeks post-op and lost 26 lbs. My clothes are baggier, but when I went to TJ Maxx today and tried on smaller clothes they didn't quite fit. Disappointed The day will come... I read on this forum that the smaller you get, the faster the clothes sizes change as you lose weight.

I was scared too. You made a permanent change to your body- it's normal to feel this way. "Buyer's remorse" is common. I felt it for the first few weeks. What helped me is reading the success stories. We had the sleeve done for many reasons- so focus on those. There's no turning back, but we can go forward and conquer our obesity

I was sleeved on August 12, and I've lost 23 lbs (from when last I weighed myself on 9/17). I can eat anything I want now. I know I'm supposed to be watching my carbs, but I'm not doing a good job of limiting them (60g/day on average). I am having difficulty reaching my daily liquid intake, and on most days I can reach my Protein level but it's difficult because Protein drinks make me sick. My weight loss so far has been good, even with my (relatively) high carb intake. 23 lbs lost is almost 30% of my excess weight from the day of my surgery. Each day I tolerate foods better, so I hope there comes a time when I can tolerate a high protein/low carb diet better. I did Atkins for 9 days before my surgery, and I had an easy time with it (also lost 3 lbs). Protein just is difficult for my sleeve to handle. It's annoying that carbs are so concentrated in foods, while "high protein" foods require a larger intake. I can't eat much (well, duh). My friends/family love to go out to eat, and I don't want to be an antisocial hermit so I of course go out with them. I have to really actively think about the food I'm eating, because eating is such a social activity. I'm sitting here nibbling on 2 oz of whatever and I take longer than they do to finish off an entire entree! I still mentally want to eat at the same pace as them, so I am training myself to not feel guilty for eating slower and "wasting" their time. I swim almost daily (while the weather is still OK). It's low impact, but any activity is better than no activity. I plan on stepping up to the elliptical once I am allowed at the 8 weeks post-op point. I still experience nausea from time to time, usually when I drink or eat too fast. My nausea is accompanied by profuse salivating, and I run to the bathroom to spit it all out. It's really uncomfortable. Oh, and I'm at Onederland now!!! Not that I had a long way to reach it, but it still feels good to no longer be in the 200's

I was sleeved by Dr. Aceves on August 12, so It's been over 5 weeks for me. I've lost 22 lbs since the day of surgery, which is 29% of my excess weight. I still have a ways to go (53 lbs), but overall I think I'm going at a good rate. From seeing the success of his other patients, I have no doubt I'll reach my goal weight soon. My aunt had Dr. Aceves for her sleeve in October 2009, and went from 209 to 139 lbs in 6 months.

What the other poster said. Focus on your liquids. The first few weeks I got too hung up on getting my Protein in, and I didn't get adequate hydration. I drank mostly fruit juice for calories before I could drink full liquids. The full Protein drinks are a lot more palatable than the clear ones for me. Fruit juice is high in sugar and carbs and isn't recommended, but I needed to get some calories or I would have nothing. I kind of was curious to see what my stomach looked like after they took it out. I'm glad I didn't ask though, I probably would have fainted if I saw it lol. Congrats on your new sleeve I hope you have a speedy recovery.

The people who know I had surgery could tell I was losing weight 2 weeks post-op. My face was the first place to thin out (pretty common from what I can tell). Today I got my first compliment from someone who didn't know I had surgery. My neighbor noticed I looked smaller. It's been a little over a month post-op and I've lost 25 lbs.

I'm 5'4" and weighed 221.75 lbs on the day of surgery. The first month I lost 21.5 lbs. Now I'm just on the border of Onederland, and I want to cross!!!!