BenisaMartim4

I'm laughing. Here's mine

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Well I am at goal (175# lost), but waiting on my plastic surgery. When I have that done I want to have boudoir photos made for my husband.

Yay! Best wishes :-)

I am so going to love getting a new DL. When I show the one I have now people look at me like I'm crazy. They don't believe its me. I am less than half the weight I was when it was made.

I am 18 months out and I still weigh almost every day. I have always been fixated on the pounds. At surgical goal I was a size 10. (5'9) but the scale still said I was overweight so I lost another 20#. Now I'm as small as a 4/6 and you can see every bone I have. According to the scale I could lose another 25# and still be "normal weight"; according to the mirror I'd be a walking corpse. The scale really shouldn't play such a large roll in our lives, but we all know it always will. Success to our doctors and society will always be based on the number of pounds lost/number on the scale and not by how we feel.

Remarkable! Happy birthday. So you did lose after a year? I am worried about this because I have strayed big time and have stopped losing. At least not gaining. I was hoping that I could get back on the wagon and lose the last 24 lbs. Please tell how this worked for you.

By 10 months I was down 140#. From 10-12 I lost 15# and from 12-18 another 20#. Make sure you are eating ENOUGH. continuing on the extremely restrictive calorie diet will cause you to stop losing. It can damage your metabolism permanently to stay too low too long. I shoot for 1200. Sometimes I'm way under, sometimes way over; but the majority of the time that's where I'm at. I will probably be upping mine a bit before long because I don't need to lose any more. I am starting to look poor.

You have done wonderful. Congrats!

Congrats! I am still waiting on mine. The insurance company is dragging their feet (as usual.) It has been close to 3 months.

I am busy. I know we all are' date=' but I have enough trouble getting six hours of sleep in a night (and that was before the most recent addition to our brood) and have never felt that exercise was worth the investment. I'm losing weight without it and I got to goal and maintained without real structured exercise.

Just because I don't enjoy formal exercise does not mean I'm a slug. I move all day long every day.

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Girl, I know what you mean! I had 4 kids in 6 years (and 3 of mine are special needs) so I am busy too. I always considered myself sedentary because I didn't formally exercise and I did take time out to Facebook and such. Well that theory go blown out of the Water when I bought a new smart phone that had an awesome pedometer in it. I log between 4-6 miles a day just taking care of my kids. May sound stupid, but it did make me feel better having a little validation that I do actually work.

Please no one take this with any offense..but every time I see I have lost XX pounds without exercising I want to seriously like punch kittens!

/rant off

*Meow*

LOL... sorry sweet. Don't hurt them too bad o.k.

I am 16 months out and I reached my final goal last month (I am 15# under my surgical goal.) I have lost 170# and I am now a normal BMI. I have never "exercised." I do my regular daily activities of housework\childcare and on special occasions something extra, but to say I exercised no. I have fibromyalgia, degenerative disc and joint and need a knee replacement. I have been doing good to walk at all. I have been doing excellent comparatively since my surgery though. I used to be on a cane/walker/wheelchair. Now I get around very well unassisted.

Your post reminded me of an article I read online about the actress' date=' Mayim Bialik (she played the lead role on "Blossom" in the 90's and is now Amy Farrah-Fowler on "Big Bang Theory"). Mayim wrote a blog about wanting to wear modest swimwear to honor her Jewish beliefs, and she included a website link to a page called Hydrochic. Their stuff looks awfully cute to me, and would probably cover most loose skin issues.

Here's the link if you're interested:

http://hydrochic.com...-swimsuits.html

Oh my goodness! Thank you so much! I am apostolic Pentecostal and like the Jewish ladies we do not uncover ourselves in public either.

We are taking our children to a resort in the Smokey Mountains this fall and they have a huge indoor Water park. I have been worrying about what I was going to wear (my children are autistic/ blind/can't swim so they can't be left alone). I will definitely be shopping this site!

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I also notice that they cover the left over food with their napkin so they don't see it and nibble on it. I like these practices.

I cover mine with a napkin so I don't throw up looking at it 0.o

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I am interested in this, but currently I am not able to participate. I just got some bad reports from a couple of MRIs and I am getting ready for a couple courses of treatment and possibly a surgery or two. I will have to have some PT is get things back in order. I wanted to comment so I could mark this so I could find it a little later on. Best wishes to everyone participating. I want to see those before and afters in 12 weeks :0)

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I spent months puking and my restriction is still very tight (15 months.) I had stopped losing weight and my nut said it was because I was not eating enough. I eat 6 times a day (at least.) my goal is 1200 cals. My nut said for me to get my cals any way I could. I have never completely low carved it. They have had me drinking sweet tea and/or regular Gatorade from the beginning. There have been times that those were the only calories I had. I currently get as many as 200 calories a day from that and they told me not to stop. Staying at that calorie level WILL damage your BMR...possibly permanently. You have to get in more calories. If you have to start drinking Protein shakes or milk several times a day, do it. I throw up every time I drink milk, but I can now stomach the shakes and have as many as 3 a day. If I have been able to eat well, I drink the 100 cal EAS. if I need the extra, I drink the Atkins 140-160. I have lots of cheese, Peanut Butter and bacon. They are higher calorie and take up very little room. My go to since being sleeved has been a slice of American cheese with 1/2-1 tbsp of PB (110-160 cals.) If you will add one Atkins shake and 2 tbsp. of PB to your diet a day you will have an extra 340 cals. That is going to take your metabolism and energy a long way. If you are not diabetic or have metabolic syndrome you might want to try some Gatorade too. 50 cals per 8oz. The sugar has not effected my weight loss at all. It is the only thing that had kept me going much of the time. I have lost 164#. It is going to be worth you experimenting. You don't want to start damaging your BMR...or even worse start burning your internal organs for fuel.

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I will post some pics in the near future... once the swelling is better and I feel a little more confident! Believe it or not' date=' I am quite shy...lol![/quote']

Don't feel bad, I am too; but I promise that when I get mine done I will share before and afters here too. I have been through too much to not be able to share it. I can't share something like that on my regular Facebook page though (for more reasons than I can count.) I do have a great bunch of fellow sleeve ladies that I am able to share pics and such with though. We are each others cheer squad. I don't know what I would have done during this journey without fellow travel partners. Sharing NSVs and hearing others victories is the most awesome feeling ever :0)

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I am 15 months out and I track everything. I do not have a problem of over eating, mine is under eating. My sleeve is still VERY restrictive. Many times I'm lucky to get in 2oz. I was living on a very low calorie consumption but I stopped losing weight. I called my NUT and she said no one over 12 months out should ever drop below 1200 calories. She said continuing with the extremely low caloric intake will damage the BMR, sometimes permanently. I immediately increased my calories through any means necessary (extra shakes, Gatorade, condiments.) I had been in a 6 week stall and within a week of increasing my intake I had lost 5#. I have to track to make sure I eat. Without the accountability I literally would not take a bite all day. food is at the bottom of my priority list. I have to eat every 2-3 hours to be able to get my calories in. I am below my surgical goal, but I am 2# from my end goal of half my body weight gone and normal BMI. I still plan to track long term. I just think it is the best for me.

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Woohoo!! You have done wonderful girl. So glad you were able to get your TT and everything is healing well. It will make such a huge difference in the way you feel.

Question: When they say that the average skin removal is only about a pound, do you believe they are speaking of us (WLS folks) or just the general public? That sounds like such a small amount. I have 3 friends that have already had it done. Their removals were 7#, 8# and 10#. Mine is in review right now and I am expecting 5#. That will be the best 5# I have ever lost too! I can't wait to have it done. I want to have a belly button again!

I agree with everyone else; you are going to have to share pics ASAP :0)

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I stand up and shout it from the mountain top. I want everyone to know what it did for me. I hope my testimony helps others take back their lives. Only positive feedback here. 15 months out, 165# down and maintaining. Awesome!

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Cute!! Congrats on your progress!!

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The point of us having this surgery was to live like normal healthy skinny people, not to stay on a diet the rest of our lives. I eat whatever I want and always have, but in very tiny quantities. I am almost 15 months out. I have lost 165#. I have pretty much been in maintenance for 3 months. Not really on purpose; the nut told me that my calories were too low and that is why I stopped. I upped my calories and carbs and lost 5# in 5 days. I am 10# below goal. You will find that the majority of people that will all four you are pre-surgery or newbie sleevers. That is why you will find very few veterans here. We have learned to live life like normal people with tiny stomaches and we try to steer clear of pettiness. You have to find your own way in this journey. If you were living on nothing but cokes and Cookies I would tell you to get a hold of yourself. If you have a cupcake now and then or a cookie with your milk sometimes, I say enjoy. You are going to have a sleeve the rest of your life. You have not been sentenced to food prison. You have been given the liberating to enjoy life and food and have control of it instead of it controlling you. Best wishes!

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There are so many things that factor into this. Your sleeve is not a failure. All of us function differently and have had different things going on with our health when we were sleeved. I am in a support group with ladies that all were sleeved within a month of each other. We are all 14 months+ -. Our weight loss ranges from 66# to 170#. I have lost 165#. My start weight was 335#. What was your start weight. Pounds lost is not the best way to look at it. You need to know % of body weight lost. This is how they figure it on the biggest loser. It's not fair to compare the weight loss of a person weighing 350-400# to that of a person weighing 200-250#. The bigger person is pretty much always going to drop big numbers faster. You also may have the opposite problem than what you think. You may not be eating enough. You will lower your BMR if your body presumes starvation. I was doing this to myself. I would ask my doctor to assess my routine. If he/she thinks you are doing everything right (keep up with it on my fitness pal so you can be POSITIVE of your intake) then I would consider going to an endocrinologist to have my BMR tested. If it shows that your metabolism is damaged, then they can tell you ways to help boost it. You did not make the wrong decision choosing the sleeve over the by-pass. It is much better to lose >60# and be healthy than to lose >100# and be malnourished and Vitamin deficient.

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After seeing all my test results and them saying it was degenerative and the only way to alleviate some of the pain and a faster deterioration was to build muscles, he told me that I could go to the gym if I wanted to. We are going to see if they will let me do a trial to see if I can hold up prior to PT. I was standing and looking at myself in the mirror this morning. I have the tiniest little bird legs with piles of loose flesh over the top. I hope building up muscle under there will help their appearance too. My main reason for doing it is my spinal and joint condition, but I'm just as vain as the next girl and want to feel pretty when I look in the mirror too.

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Girls, he's jealous! It is so funny (and its not.) People have picked at him so much about me getting another "feller" until he has taken it to heart. He says he doesn't want other men looking at me while I exercise. He wouldn't care for me to go to the Curves, but they just recently closed ours down. He acts like my body guard now. I think it's cute. Poor guy has always been insecure even though he is super sweet, a hard worker and cute as a button. I humor him not to tear him down; but I really would like to try all those weight machines out. It feel like it would be more beneficial to me that cardio/aerobic activity.

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Does anyone else get this feeling? It's quite irritating to be very honest!

Before I lost weight' date=' I felt really strong and "hearty".. I could lift things and push heavy boxes around. Now, I feel like those silly girls at the grocery store that ask for help to lift a box of Water bottles. I AM that silly girl.

I've been studying for exams these days, and often find my bum hurting from sitting on it too long, and certain positions are no longer comfortable, because I've lost the padding!

I also have this constant irritation around my elbow, where the nerve keeps getting pinched, because I rest it on the table, just so.

It's getting ridiculous! While I like that my boyfriend can lift me, I don't like that a really strong wind can also throw me off balance. I'm wondering if this is because I've lost muscle, and really need to work out more... or if my center of gravity is off, and I need to work on my core strength.. or if this is what normal petite women deal with on a daily basis?[/quote']

Girl, just take your name off of this and put mine in. I have ALL the same problems. I used to be so strong. I never asked for help with anything. I rearranged the furniture in my house all the time. Now when I try to get the door open at the gas station I have to run into it 3 times before it will ding. I feel like such an idiot! You would think it weighted a ton. My boys knock me around all the time now too. I feel like I'm in the cage with bulls.

I had to have some x-rays and a couple of MRIs yesterday for some trouble that I am having. When I saw the x-rays I was like well no wonder my butt hurts so bad. There absolutely was not an ounce of padding on it. I already knew the upper part of my back had no padding because you can see the projections on my spine sticking through. And I stinkin' freeze slap to death all the time!!

I feel like much of mine is due to muscle loss. I have lost #164 and I have never exercised. I so want to go to the gym, but my husband won't hear of it. I'm hoping when he sees the results of these tests that he will reconsider. I know I would benefit in more than one way from it. I know for a fact that if I built thigh muscles it would help my knee. The surgeon told me that the muscle in that leg was completely withered.

Hubby hurt his back at work last week and has really been suffering. I'm hoping it will give him a bit of empathy about the pain I have been in over the last 10+ years. *fingers crossed*

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