Forensikchic

I just thought I would pop on here and give you guys an update. I know that a lot of people stop posting once they reach goal or get about a year out, etc. but newbies and others what to know how it is to be sleeved this far out and what is going on at that point, so I thought I would continue to post monthly at least. I started out at 234 in August of 2011. Its been 14 months today and I am under my goal by 2 pounds. I have lost 101 pounds so far. I had been maintaining for five weeks but dropped another two pounds this weekend. I am going to have plastic surgery in 6 short weeks- so excited. I am having my arms done, my thighs done and a lower body lift that includes a tummy tuck. I have some lose skin issues and I want my body to be as good as it can be for 44 years old! I have worked hard to achieve this and it saddens me that I have lose skin. Admittedly, I didn't exercise as much as I could have and I am not sure how much good it would have done anyway. I am very happy with my results and I hope to maintain this loss for the rest of my life. I can eat more now, that is for sure, but not a whole lot more. I was eating about 6 to 8 bites of things for most of the year, at a meal but now I am up to about 12 bites. Translation....about a half cup during the year and now about a cup at a meal. If its meat, not even that much. I still dont eat rice, Pasta, bread. Its too hard on my sleeve. I do eat potatoes occasionally but only a few small bites. I mostly eat meat and cheese, a bite or two of veggies. I eat whole wheat crackers with my cheese but only two of them. I also eat Peanut Butter on mini vanilla wafers for snack. I cant hold many so that is good. Potato chips are sliders for me so I only eat them occasionally. I am pretty set in my routine and I love it! I eat what I like and it works for me. Good luck everyone with their own personal journeys! Please feel free to message me or respond to this thread if you have questions or you think I might be able to help you in any way. I want to be present for those behind me, just as the veterans helped me with my journey. I am including a new comparison pic in this post.

I reached my Halloween goal a few weeks back so I have not been commenting on this thread lately. I am in maintenance now. I was 133.2 last Monday but fluctuate at least two pounds during the week and usually go back down on the weekends. This morning I was back up to 135. I just don't want to gain above that! I am happy as long as I am maintaining between 133 and 135. Maybe I will be on the low end when the challenge is over...lol. Good luck everyone!

My starting weight was 234. My goal weight was 135. So I had 99 pounds of excess body weight to lose to get to my goal. I think the question is what percent of the weight you needed to lose, have you lost? I have lost 102 pounds and now weigh 133 pounds. Thats 101% of my excess body weight. I lost it ALL 100%+. It is doable. They told me the stats were about 70% but I was determined to prove I could lose ALL the weight I wanted to lose with the help of the sleeve. I love my sleeve! PS.. I dont think it matters what percent of your total body weight is lost. Everyone wants to lose all their excess or as close to 100 percent as they can get. If you calculate your total body weight loss that way, you will never get to 100%. You cant weigh zero pounds to that is a worthless statistic. What we all really want to know is how successful have you been at losing the weight you needed to lose, (your excess body weight). So if you are 100 pounds over weight, you need to lose 100 and if you have lost 75 so far, thats 75%. etc... I think that is what we are all interested in knowing. All you do is divide your pounds lost up to know by the total pounds you wanted to lose. HTH

Im 14 months today from my VSG and have been at goal for a month. I actually lost another pound this weekend. I dont know if it will stay off or not but I am 2 pounds under goal now. I have just been eating whatever I wanted since maintenance just to see what happens. I still eat my protein, muscle milk, cheese, etc. but I have had some cookies at night with milk, a few deserts, etc. I am still losing apparently but its much slower now. I want to keep losing really slowly another 5-8 pounds so that when I get the bounce back, I will still weigh 135 pounds. I am having plastics in 6 weeks so I dont want anymore drastic loss and I dont think I will have that happen. I have only lost about 5 pounds in two months now. I feel I am pretty stable.. its keeping it off that I am worried about because i have a helluva sweet tooth!

You are looking great! Congrats!

I drink the banana muscle milk exclusively.. I love the cake batter too but the banana RTD is awesome. Its lower in carbs too. I have had no trouble with my loss and I have used it in the mornings for about a year now. Quick, convenient and sold in GNC and HEB if they have that store where you are! Good luck and you are doing great! Dont get discouraged!

Weight before surgery: 234 Date of surgery: 8/11/2011 Current Weight: 133.8 Goal weight for oct 31st: 134 I made my goal for the first time ever! I have been doing these challenges since last Halloween. I had never made one yet and one full year later I did it! I have lost 100 pounds now belong in the century club now. I am a size 4 in most things. I am so happy to have done it. Now to see if I can maintain it!

I started this journey at 234 pounds in my Surgeons office July 31, 2011. I had surgery August 8th at 225 pounds. I had a setback in September and started over really after a kidney stone and kidney surgery September 15, 2011 at 236 pounds (yes even higher than my original weight). I have lost 100 pounds in a year. I decided I would get a makeover and do a photoshoot. Here are a few of those pictures.. I will post the pic of me the day of surgery for reference. I would not have made it except for the support I have found on this board. All you guys are great! I appreciate you all being there during the journey and the ups and downs. I am going into maintenance now and I will still need help and support during that but I am hoping to continue to pay it forward for anyone who is new to this and just needs encouragement that it CAN be You. I know I said that to myself a million times.. "could this be me " when I saw others how made it to goal. YES it can and it WILL be you. Love you all. Hope you like the new pics. Tammi

I am having a lower body lift, an arm lift and a thigh lift in November. The girl that took these pics is a coworker/friend of mine. She does photography on the side. Her website is http://kimberlylander.zenfolio.com . She does great work!

Thanks everyone! Advise for newbies.....Follow the instructions from your surgeon. You have a certain window of opportunity and you can fall off the wagon (slightly) later...Now is the time to seize the moment. Remeber to keep your carbs low and your protein high! It pays off! When you get to mainenance, you can up your carbs some then so you will settle out. You will always have to keep protein high though so might was well get used to that and find high protein things you LIKE> I dont like some things like yogurt and eggs. I wont eat it and the beauty is I dont have too. I can find things that I like and tailor it to me! You can too! Focus on Protein! That doughnut can wait til maintenance! I do eat a cookie about 5 nights a week with a little milk to satisfy my craving for sweets. It works for me and its a cookie, not a bag of cookies, like before. Thats my secret to being satisfied. If we have cake or doughnuts at work, its rare, so I will partake a little and thats okay because its not weekly or even monthly.. its a rare occasion and sweets are ok as long as its not overboard. I am carb sensitive so I have to build the cookie into my plan for the day, so I dont go over my carbs.. I use the 70/70 rule.. no more than 70 carbs and no less than 70 protein. HTH.

Weight before surgery: 234 Date of surgery: 8/11/2011 Current Weight: 134.6 Goal weight for oct 31st: 134 Lost .2 this week. Its not much but its something! I am .6 lbs away from my halloween goal! I am trying to lose it and then go into maintenance! Not easy!

Well, guys and gals, I finally made it! I say finally.. that is kinda funny really. I was obese for over 20 years and it took me exactly 13 months to.. not only get to a normal weight but my dream weight!!!!! I use the word finally because these last 15 pounds have been S L O W compared to the rest of it. I lost an average of three pounds per month for May and June....then I kicked it up a notch and cut my carbs back and lost a whopping 7 in July.. stall for most of August, then bam! Lost the last 3 pounds this weekend! Lordy, I hope it stays off. Here at the end, I tend to lose 2 or 3 pounds then gain 2 back and it takes me 2 more weeks to lose it again. So I am trying to go into maintenance a little too soon for me. Now that it is okay for me to go into maintenance, I am scared to death of gaining any back. I hope it settles out and I weigh between 130 and 135 for the rest of my life.. I never want to see a number above 135. I am having plastic surgery for my loose skin in November. I am having a lower body lift, a thigh lift and an arm lift. I should lose about another 5 or 6 pounds when the swelling subsides from that. I am hoping after that, to have the best body I can have and not ever weigh over 130... I dont think I would be upset if it went over 130... just not over 135. So, in summary, I am hoping the final weight hangs between 125 and 130. I wear a size 4-6 right now depending on the type of pants and a small shirt.. some xtra small. I would think I will be a solid 4 in everything, not just dress pants. I have one pair of jeans in a 4 that fit perfect. Otherwise in jeans, I wear a 6. In slacks and shorts, a size 4 and some 2's because of the way the slacks are made. I think I will turn out to wear a 4 in most things with the occasional 2 or 6, depending on how its made. Sooo happy to be back into my college size!!!!!!

Girl, I know what you mean! That dang liquid diet liked to have killed me. It got easier as I went along though. I just set up a little routine and followed it. Once I had done it for a few days, it was easier. I tried to stay as busy as possible and it really helped. Start some projects that you have to concentrate to do. It will take your mind off food. If you like sewing, its a good one. You cant eat and sew and you usually are trying to finish the project so you dont think about food. Also, the broth from wonton Soup from a restaurant is really good. I thought it was a nice treat from my other at home stuff. You only have a few more days to go! You can do this. Also, after surgery, the liquid diet part is sooooooo much easier. You have to learn to sip sip sip anyway and you cant hold much liquid because of the swelling.. you will not be hungry like you are now. I just dont want you to worry that you still have the liquid stages after surgery... they are a breeze compared to the preop. If I can help you in any way, let me know. Tammi

I am a little late on this thread. It took me 13 months to make goal but I made it! I have lost 99.2 pounds. My ultimate dream goal weight is WAS 135. I am now 134.8. If I lose that .8, I will be in the century club. I think its worth a little effort to drop one more pound. I hope to go into maintenance for the next few months and then I am having plastics on Nov. 20th. I will have to wait for the swelling to go down and then see where I land as far as weight. I think I have at least 5 pounds of skin. I am ultimately hoping for 125-130 for the rest of my life. I am so proud of all the August Allstars! We made it a year now and then some and everyone is doing great. If you have not made goal yet, it will come! Trust in the process and keep eating your protein first! It took me an extra month to make it and I figured it would. Woohooo! Congrats everyone!

Thanks so much! I have several pounds of hanging skin on my lower tummy, hips and thighs. My arms look fine as long as they are by my side or in this cheerleader stance. If I wave or clap, I see them in my peripheral vision waving back!!! My butt fell down and the skin is just hanging around down there somewhere.. teehee.

I started at 234, I am 5'4" tall and today, 13 months later, I weigh 135. You can do this!

Weight before surgery: 234 Date of surgery: 8/11/2011 Current Weight: 134.8 Goal weight for oct 31st: 134 I lost 4.2 pounds this week! I am hoping for even more in the morning! I made my personal GOAL of 135 in exactly 13 months! I hit this on my surgiversary yesterday! Woohooo! I have one more pound to lose by Halloween to make that goal of losing 100 pounds! Wooohoo! So excited to have finally made my personal goal. Whew!

Are you going to Dr. Sauceda? I am scheduled for November 20th and I am soooo excited!

No, he is in Monterrey Mexico. I live in San Antonio too! Glad to meet you! Did you have surgery at BMI?