sleeveInSD

I have had three C-sections and each one was very painful for me. The sleeve was a breeze for me compared to the C-sections...also you aren't caring for newborn after the sleeve!

Since when is losing 79 pounds and keeping it off failure?
If you aren't losing at the pace you'd like, but you are active and adhering to a healthy diet, you need to accept that you might just be a slower loser. I thought I'd be down 107 pounds by nine months out...it took me 17 months to hit goal.
If you're not already, you need to track your food. Without changing your current diet, track every single bite you put in your mouth for three days. Then, shave 20% off your calories and return to a healthier balance (I do 40% Protein, 30% carbs and 30% fat) and if you don't lose weight after two weeks of doing that, come back and ask for help again.
Odds are good you've simply fallen into denial or gotten complacent about your diet. It's normal - I think a lot of us that take longer to lose the weight do this at some point. Pick it up and get back to basics. If you've dropped your Protein shake, reconsider. It's a great way to up your protein totals for the day without adding a ton of extra calories. I always aim for 90+ grams a day. And be sure you're drinking Water between meals and not drinking a lot of excess calories (or diet soda, which isn't good for anyone) without realizing it.
Diet alone should help you jump start, but adding in new exercise will certainly help. Consider finding something you can look forward to doing as a daily physical activity. I won't lie, I have trouble with this myself.
There is no reason you can't reach your goal weight in your second year post op. Your sleeve is as big as it's getting. It's the same tool it was a year ago - so if you buckle down and get real with yourself you can reach your goal this year.
~Cheri

Short fat Italian girl here too! lol Right before surgery my 11 year old son was trying to make me feel better and said....'Mommy you are not fat, just a little husky" (bless his heart) but I hear you when you talk about growing up in an Italian family and loving to eat! It is not easy losing weight when life revolves around food! Anyway, I hope everything continues to go well for you, and congrats on the weight loss so far!

I have had three C-sections and each one was very painful for me. The sleeve was a breeze for me compared to the C-sections...also you aren't caring for newborn after the sleeve!

My BIGGEST fear when going out to eat was always making sure they have tables available. I'm never able to fit into a booth. UNTIL NOW!!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
We went to our favorite diner and the waitress seated us, and took us to a booth. My hubby just looked at me, knowing that I always ask for a table. This time I just nodded and said 'this is fine' and I literally just slipped right in!!!! Such a stupid thing but I felt amazing. It was so cozy and my hubby and I giggled the entire dinner how exciting it was that we both fit in a booth! (he never fit either, he's sleeved too!) love my sleeve. Love my nsv's. Love everything now. <3

Do a search for regrets, and you will find people who feel that way the first month or two especially. We are all different, but I was so READY for this surgery that I never had feelings of regret. I knew what to expect and things were not as bad as I had mentally prepared for. Don't get me wrong, I went through about a 2 month period of feeling tired and a little blue.... but I had read enough to know that was very common. And like everyone said, it did get better.
And look at me now, getting fitter, looking better, outstanding bloodwork, no more high blood pressure... etc etc.
I am positively thrilled with my results. You know what, I think I am starting to believe this is going to work - I have given away my bigger clothes! It is real this time.

Short fat Italian girl here too! lol Right before surgery my 11 year old son was trying to make me feel better and said....'Mommy you are not fat, just a little husky" (bless his heart) but I hear you when you talk about growing up in an Italian family and loving to eat! It is not easy losing weight when life revolves around food! Anyway, I hope everything continues to go well for you, and congrats on the weight loss so far!

Hi all. I thought I'd share my story.
I'm a guy, 38, 5'7", and I was up to about 255 (I stopped weighing myself at that point, so I was probably heavier). I come from a long line of short, fat Italians, so I knew early on that I'd struggle with my weight all my life. This turned out to be quite true. My only saving grace was that I had a "large" frame for my height (according to the doctors' charts). And I was able to gain muscle quite easily as well, which is a trait I share with most of my family.
I was skinny until puberty, which is when I became "husky", or "stocky", or as my evil sister would say, "fleshy". If I dieted, I would lose weight, but I found dieting extraordinarily difficult because I loved to eat.
Went I went to college, I discovered weightlifting. I was able to put on muscle rather easily, so I concentrated on doing that rather than "dieting". I followed the bodybuilding diet as close as I could, but that too was unthinkably difficult: tons of lean Protein (mostly chicken), sweet potatoes, and broccoli for just about every meal. Sure, I started to look really good, but I'd injure myself somehow (not always gym-related), and I would have to stop working out for long periods of time. This happened several times over the years. And whenever I stopped working out, my body was used to taking in tons of calories and it would still want them even though I wasn't weightlifting. So I'd end up gaining weight.
Finally, I injured my shoulder very badly and I had to take nearly a year off from the gym. By the time I could go back, I was so burnt out on the gym that the idea of returning literally made my stomach turn. i'd been working out for over 15 years and I was tired of it.
The other reason I was hesitant to return to the gym was because my doctor put me on Effexor. The one really bad side effect that I experienced on that drug was constantly feeling hot and sweating profusely with even the slightest amount of physical activity. I'd go to the gym and would finish looking like I had jumped in a pool. It was embarrassing and impracticable.
However, Effexor is the only antidepressant that has worked for me, and trust me, I've tried them all. I didn't want to go off it since it worked so well, but I knew going to the gym would mean leaving puddles of myself everywhere and needing at least two or three showers a day. Oh, and I dehydrated easily because of that.
Then my doctor put me on Elavil to help me sleep. The bad side effect with that drug is that it made my appetite skyrocket. I ended up eating all day long. No, literally, I was eating ALL DAY LONG. I couldn't stop myself. I ended up gaining about 75 pounds. My doctor took me off it, but I just wasn't able to lose the weight. I just wasn't strong enough to do it on my own anymore and I was still on Effexor.
My doctor is going to reduce the amount of Effexor I'm taking, but I'm still wary of working out heavily again.
So, I met a guy at a party who bragged that he had lost 100 pounds or some ridiculous number like that. I asked him how, and he said he had had a lap band put in. Now, I was only peripherally aware of such a thing, and I had heard of gastric bypass, but I thought those were only for morbidly obese people. I knew about gastric bypass because a famous opera singer had had it done and she went from scary obese to quite svelte (the great soprano Deborah Voigt, if anyone cares).
I had never thought I'd do something as drastic as surgery, but a friend of mine took a picture of me recently and I just about died when I saw myself. I just didn't see how big I'd gotten. I couldn't see it. I guess I fooled myself into thinking I wasn't that fat.
So the party guy gave me the name of his surgeon, Dr. Manish Parikh at Bellevue Hospital, NYC. He explained to me what was involved in all procedures. But I vacillated back and forth between the different procedures--I couldn't decide at first. But then I decided to go with the sleeve.
It was clear that I was on the lower end of the body mass index for the procedure (39 or somewhere around there, <40), but since I had sleep apnea, my insurance ended up approving it. My insurance did make me wait six months, which I found unbearable, but I was patient. I finally had it done on July 9, 2012. I'm at my 7 day mark and I've already lost quite a bit of weight.
I just never want to be fat, "husky", "stocky", or god forbid, "fleshy" ever again!

The outfit looks nice...congratulations!

33 lbs is 1/3 of 100!!! That is huge I loved losing my first 33! Congrats!

It's not a huge amount yet, but just 33 pounds off and I'm feeling so much better. I have a lot more energy and losing some in my neck has helped my snoring issues so much! I had fun shopping with my daughter and bought a new outfit for her graduation ceremony

I feel exactly like you described here and I'm praying it shuts off at two months. I am six weeks out now. I also have to get too bed early enough so I can fall asleep before the hunger hits. I'm taking PPI's twice a day. It is a real physical crazy hunger feeling. I'm just hoping that the hunger hormone goes away like it did for you.

Before - Somewhere above 241
Last week - 205'ish (pink shirt)
Today - 199 (all 5'1 of me, heh)
I'm SO excited!!

When it seems like I am not losing, or losing too slow. I know why, however, and I know now, understand now more than I ever did - why this surgery is so invaluable.
I have issues with my metabolism that is quickly regulates to whatever calories I am putting in...and it gets very hard to trick it...My sis ter was the same but instead of the furnace banking itself, hers burned red-hot. At one point she ate 4800 callories a day and was still a size 0. We both caught a very bad flu once, I lost 15 lbs and was getting "you gos!", she lost 15 and was in the hospital. I need not trick it anymore - there is no feeling of being desperate to lose before I fail on my diet. I ma waiting out my metabolism, and winning.
I finally decided on the surgery because I had lost just enough weight (from 1/2011 till 10/2011) that they could see the cause of my issues with my stomach – I had a tumor growing in/through/ and progressing out into my abdomen from my stomach. So since I was going to have to have so much removed anyway, and I HAD been looking into one WLS or another for a decade (lol), I decided it was time.
Sleeved 1/2012 – will never go back to what I was, ever.
The fat lady syndrome doesn’t help slow losing, I just have to remember to not let it get me. – I still am not “seeing” myself at the size I was (almost) not the size I am. That isn’t helpful at all!
But I look at my NSV’s – and they are real. Squeezing into a size 12 recently made me dizzy and nauseous…not because I squeezed into the jeans, it occurred to me I could button size 12’s.
I asked a lady I know (as politely as I could, but she is so nice I hope she understood) what size she was, because I was asked by a friend to “find” someone I thought I was the same size as myself, near my height. She is a size 20-22. I am a size 14, squeezing into a 12, and I see myself as a size 20-22.
It's all good, however - I now have the equipment to play this game, and I win.

My wife sent me this video that will be most helpful for you. It not only explains what will happen, but also an actual video of the operation and discussion by the doctors.
http://www.orlive.com/halifaxhealth/videos/weighing-the-options-gastric-sleeve-surgery?view=displayPageNLM

Well hello everyone,
As you read in my earlier post "worst decision I ever made" I have had a really rough time since I had my sleeve surgery on May 3,2012. I am happy to report that I was once again put in the hospital on Tuesday for dehydration. My doctor decided to go back in and do a scope on me to see if he could figure out what all my problems were coming from. When he went inside my tummy with a camera there was a piece of scar tissue that appeared to be causing a little obstruction. He also stretched my esphogas. He also went back into two of my incesions to check the outside of my tummy. The staple line and all else was perfect. He removed the piece of scar tissue and I have actually been able to eat a small amount of food today and was able to drink some fluids and hold them down.
I feel better today than I have in the last month. I actually have been up all day moving around and doing stuff around my house. Before I was so weak and sick I slept most of the day.
I just want to thank everyone who gave me so much support and sent me lots of prayers through this difficult time in my life. I feel like I am finally on the road to recovery : ) Still have a little ways to go but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...
Everyone have a super blessed day : )

I'm able to go shopping in my own closet since I have clothes sizes 8 up to 16!

Thanks everyone! I am so excited and glad I decided to get my sleeve. It seems like we all are losing slowly, but without the sleeve I could never have even lost ten pounds in a month. I am going to continue my Protein intake and increase my exercise and put the scale away.
Thanks Dr.Kim in Big D!!!

Wow! You look great! It looks like you have lost all over and also very noticeable in your neck and collar bones. The top you are wearing in your after pic is my favorite color at the moment I was sleeved April 18, so a few weeks behind you. I feel I'm losing a little slower than others, but I'll take it as long as it keeps going in the right directon. Keep up the great work!

You look fabulous! Congrats!

I don't know what size mine is, but I know I can eat more than most people because I'm taller (6'1) , and have a long chest (which means longer stomach).. I'm a little over 3 months out and can eat 2 hot dogs with buns.
I feel super stuffed afterwards, but that's my limit.
Do I wish I could only eat 1? Somedays... but to contrast, I would have to eat 6 or 7 hotdogs to get the same stuffed feeling pre-op.. (and I've done so many times).. and once I'm at goal, it's going to be nice to be able to enjoy 2 hotdogs on occasion. (2 seems normal to me... neither 1 nor 7 does )
and before I get yelled at for eating hotdogs, they were turkey dogs

Much of my depression was based on a pervasive sense of self-hatred for being so fat. (I was an obese low-carber.) Even after trying everything, including a Lap-band, I was getting fatter every year. My blood pressure was creeping up. Fasting blood glucose readings were creeping up, too. My ankles were swelling. My liver enzymes were not so great, and my kidney function was affected by stone formation. My left knee was going, and my hips were constantly sore. I was clumsy, and was always getting bruises. I needed physical therapy for my left shoulder. Felt 85, not 55. Insurance covered my revision, but based on results over the last 5 months, I would self-pay with no hesitation. The sleeve gave me my life and sanity back. Even if doctors found out that the sleeve resulted in growing a second nose on the side of the face, I would buy extra Kleenex and move on with my life. I weigh less than I have weighed since I was 18, and I feel 20 years younger. Come what may, I made the right decision for me.

Hi all,
I just wanted to share that today marks 3 months since my surgery, and I am down 40.6 lbs and have finally made it into onederland! Never again will I have to look at a '2' as the first number in my weight--yaaay!

The"pig out today for tomorrrow we starve" philosophy was a standard fixture in my former failed dieting attempts. I had to get into the right frame of mind about food. The seriousness of the operation caused me to think hard about my thinking.
I realized that food could be either my servant or my executioner. Pigging out is surrendering to it's power. I saw that I had to quit overeating like I did smoking, develop a hatred for it. Being fat kicked my butt daily for many years like a relentless bully. It robbed my happiness and was working on killing me. It stole time from my family and made me reach far less than my potential. Overeating is my mortal enemy, I most certainly do not want to entertain him "just one more time".
Eating small is the same as eating big only not destructive. Same taste, just less of it. It looks like your mind is setting right on this. Good for you!

I wasn't given carb restrictions (or calorie/fat restrictions, for that matter) - technically my nutritionist's plan was a strict list of OK'd foods and a certain serving size per meal (based upon the number of months I was post-op).
I've deviated somewhat from their guidelines though I still follow the basic premise. I try to get at least 3-4 oz of dense Protein (cheese, meat or egg) each meal - along with a small serving of veggie or fruit, and sometimes a carb (like a tiny Pasta serving, 1/3 of a baked potato, etc.). In general, at almost 9 months out I'm at about 1200 cals/day, I usually stay below 80 carbs/day and below 50-60 grams of fat/day. I'm hitting my 75g protein target regularly - without protein supplementation.
I have continued to lose 1-2 lbs/week so I'm OK with where I'm at. I know a lot of other people are more militant about low-carb but that just doesn't work for me, and I'm fine with my loss being a little slower than some others might experience. Ketosis makes me feel icky, and without carbs I feel like I'm "dieting" instead of eating a normal, healthy diet for life. I'm still on track to likely hit 100 lbs lost (and goal!) by the 1-year mark so I figure if it ain't broke, don't fix it.