sarahcc

So maybe I'm a terrible role model, I'm not sure. But I don't track any of that stuff in any formal way. I go based on how I'm feeling and what I know I've eaten during the day. When I don't get enough protein, I can FEEL it. I also don't keep track of carbs, but I do try to limit myself to fruit/vegetable carbs and a small amount of "dry" carbs as I call them, or things like crackers/tortilla chips, etc... (edited to add: I don't cut out carbs such as rice/pasta/bread etc.. because of any diet plan, per se, but because I just don't like how my stomach and body feel after I eat a lot of those foods. It just doesn't sit well like it used to. Very uncomfortable as opposed to pre-surgery when it felt soooo good to eat a big bowl of pasta!!) As far as calories go, I'm at about 900-1100 per day. I work in an large call center as a supervisor so I'm not in a role people would consider "active" but I do get plenty of walking in, and when the weather permits I do at least a mile walk each day during my lunch hour. I also do regular cardio in the gym, probably 4x weekly on average. Nothing crazy though, which is probably why I haven't toned as well as I'd like to. The weight is gone but the lack of muscle and loose skin serves as a reminder My best advice is to take it easy and be forgiving. If you stress you will only delay the process of letting your body do what it wants to do. Live and learn from days when you mess up. Also, don't compare yourself to me or anyone else. That was one huge mistake I made in the beginning, having unrealistic expectations. Now, I lost 113 pounds in 10 months and I didn't start out as high as some. I think I am in the minority, though. I'm young(ish) and other than being fat, I had no other health issues. When I look at myself now, and before I had kids, it was clear to me that my body never wanted to carry the excess weight. For some, it just hangs on. Maybe due to age, genetics, other health concerns, etc... but for me, it was just the right combination of things to get the weight off SO quickly. BUT - I digress. I give most of the credit to taking a no-stress approach. There were weeks when I gained 4lbs and I was on the brink of breaking down -- how do you gain with what we've had done? In one week? But then it came back off just as quickly, and I realized that it did me no good to worry about it. I can only control so much, and if that is what I do, consistently, then there's nothing else to it. I also don't deprive myself of what I want. Some nights all I want before bed are a couple girl scout Cookies. At 10 pm. With a glass of milk. And you know what? That's exactly what I have. And I don't spend a single minute after that worrying about what the scale is going to say. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I know that I make the right choices 80-85% of the time. I'm not going to apologize to myself or anyone else for caving every once in a while. It does me no good and only will make me resentful of the process. I went into this promising myself that I would never diet again - I always failed and ALWAYS felt awful about myself. Now I feel great and so so so much more confident in myself. I guess that's all we can really hope for! Sorry, I know that's probably not any answer you were looking for, but I hope it gives some direction and insight nonetheless

Thank you everyone!!! I will reply to the individual questions shortly, I just fell off the grid for a bit with life drama! I appreciate all the compliments and support. It's also worth mentioning that I went down an entire shoe size, from 8 to 7. Apparently even my feet were overweight

Look how far you've already come!! Great job - one huge milestone for me was getting out of the "obese" BMI category and get into the "overweight" one, as weird as that sounds hehe. And it looks like you're almost there with that too, according to your ticker! Congrats on all the success so far

How exciting for you!! I hope it all goes quickly but look at it this way - you've waited this long, and you're on the fast track now! I feel really proud to be an inspiration to anyone - it hasn't always been easy and I've had those fleeting moments of, "Ugh, what did I get myself into?" But never regret, not even for a second. And then to have it come off as fast and consistently as it has been, I've been really lucky. I would go back and do it again without a second thought!

Thank you! It is such a great feeling to meet your goals and feel so much healthier at the same time! Win-win :-) I appreciate the compliments too lol, I am surprisingly now more self-conscious than ever. How does that happen??

Thank you!! It's amazing how much more you want to take care of yourself when you have all that extra energy left over from carrying around 100lbs less

I can eat things like chili/soup with almost no restriction, I'll just get caught up if I eat too fast.

Hi! I do have a little loose skin but not as much as I was expecting. The worst is under my upper arms, and my thighs. My stomach is actually flattening out nicely, but I do have more weight to lose there. My breasts actually still look pretty good too, lol. However, I hear those will go at the very end, so I won't make any promises on that. I'm going to wait a year or two on the skin before considering surgery, as I know the skin will need some extra time to bounce back, and I am young so I remain hopeful, hehe. Good question! Thanks for the support!! Good luck to you!

Thank you for the replies everyone!! As of today I weigh 161, so I have officially lost 80 pounds! That also means that I have 21 pounds to get to my first major goal of 140. I am in size 10 bottoms and M/L tops. I bought several tops yesterday for a business trip and all were M, but there are some that are still a little too tight in the chest and need an L. I have a size 10 pair of American Eagle jeans that I am absolutely in love with. Here are some more pictures (in the jeans!)... they were from when I was at 163-164. Please excuse the weird stance and lighting in both pics, I was on a step stool in the one because I don't have a full-length mirror. Someone said I look a little drawn in the close-up. I think I look fine/good, but it could just be because that person, a co-worker, was so used to seeing me with such a round face. So there you have it! So far, my no-stress approach seems to be paying off. I am hoping to be at my goal by the end of the year THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the kind words and support!!!

No problem at all and you're not being too nosy My excess skin is not as bad as I thought it would be, but it's not NOTHING, either. My stomach is surprisingly flat (no apron or anything like that), and my thighs are holding up pretty well. My breasts are ok, but I do notice some loose skin there. I have a slight pouch of skin in my pelvic area, but nothing like I thought it would be. The worst is, as many will tell you, in my arms. I always had chubby arms, even when I was in great shape and 125/130lbs, I thought my arms were thick. So they are not looking too great, and that would be the only area I would ever consider getting plastic surgery to fix. I want to give it a couple years to try and bounce back on it's own. But there are no other areas I think are bad enough to consider surgery. Overall I'm pretty happy with it!

5'1, started at 241, no-pre op weight loss either. Now at 4.25 months out, I am at 172. Nearly 70 lbs lost

Hi All, I know how much I enjoy photo updates of others so I try to oblige as well. Unfortunately I'm a little late... sorry about that! Here's my info: Starting/surgery weight: 241 (I was probably higher in the attached before pictures... I had lost a bit before I started the WLS journey... so I would guess at least 250) Starting sizes: 18-20 pants, XXL tops, 40D bra. Current weight: 181-183 (It's that time of the month so I'm not sure where I'm gonna land, heh.) Current sizes: 12-14 pants, L tops, 36C/D bra. 1st Goal: Get to under 200 2nd Goal: Weigh less than my husband (about 190) 3rd Goal: Get to single digit pant size (8-9) 4th Goal: Weigh 140lbs, the weight I was when I got pregnant with my first child. Final Goal: Not sure... probably 120-130. Height: 5'1 Surgery Date: 4/19/12 Things have been going great. I've started bike riding again, which felt amazing. When I was in high school (about 8 years ago) I used to bike a 13 mile trail 5x weekly. I have SO much more energy at work and at home. My increased confidence has made me more aware of what I want and what I deserve out of life. People treat me differently, which offended me at first but I think it's my personality that has really inspired the different behaviors, not my weight loss. At least that's what I choose to believe. And I've said in other posts that if I can do this, anyone can. That is the truth without question. I had no pre-op diet save a 24 hour fasting before surgery. I have a very, very loose post-op diet compared to some. I started soft solids 8 days post-op, and today I can eat anything in very small portions. I stall when I don't get enough calories in. I also just stall sometimes, no matter what I do. It's ok, I've learned to accept it. I got into the unfortunate habit of weighing myself daily and I need to get out of that, because when I see the occasional 1-2lb gain I flip out. Even though I know it will come off within the next day or two, usually plus some. The weight WILL come off. It's a matter of patience and healthy choices, not dieting. I'm a firm believer. I'll also add for anyone pre-op that, at least in my experience, now that my intake is very limited, my body CRAVES healthy food more than any other time in my life, even when I was very athletic. My restriction is also, oddly enough, much more forgiving with fruits and vegetables. I can eat as much as anyone else with regard to those as long as I pace myself. I ate an entire plate of raw broccoli, cauliflower, celery and carrots last week at work. I know some surgeons caution away from fibrous veggies like that but mine was accepting and encouraging of it from about month 2 so I incorporate it as often as possible. I haven't craved a cheeseburger since I had surgery, and I was a Five Guys fanatic pre-op. My one guilty pleasure is pizza, but even that is very rare. Food like that just doesn't sit well anymore and when eating like that is so much of a chore, you just choose something else instead, most of the time. Seriously, when I eat crap, I can FEEL the energy my body spends processing it. It is literally exhausting for me. Anyway, I hope that helps and gives everyone some hope if you are new to the experience or are recently post-op and feeling hopeless. Here are some pics! (obviously you can see which two are Before pics... the side:side in the grey sweatshirt is my 40lbs gone comparison. The purple hoodie is about 60lbs gone, or where I'm at today!) Have an amazing day everyone, thanks for all the continued support!! Sarah

Thank you so much!! Yes it's pretty exciting. He is one of those guys who has a hard time (well, HAD a hard time until he turned 30, hehe) keeping weight on and could easily drop 10lbs in a week if he wanted to, so we had a *cough*notso*cough* friendly competition with losses and he kept me within a pound of him for quite some time, but I've taken quite a lead now and I doubt he has the willpower to catch up I've spent a lot of time looking at My Body Gallery and I realize goals 3 & 4 may end up being transposed, so we'll see. I've dropped a lot of weight but my backside is still rather huge :-P

My surgeon warned me away from caffeine, but I have it anyway :-x I get why they discourage it (it's a diuretic and dehydrates you when it's hard enough getting liquids in anyway) but I don't have a problem staying hydrated and without coffee I would have to be committed!

That is SO awesome, I am jealous of your will power!! I was doing really good in the beginning at not weighing myself all the time. Then at about 205lbs I started weighing daily because I wanted to see myself hit 199, and now I've formed this terrible habit!! I'm totally going to just make my husband hide it somewhere I can't reach (back to being so short, heh) I'm also a size 16 right now, started out as a tight 18 (should have been 20 but I just refused), and they are getting loose. I tried on a pair of 14 jeans and they are TIGHT, but they button and zip so I was pretty excited. I think in about 2 weeks they'll fit the way they are supposed to, LOL. I can't wait to hear what progress you've made!!