diedie

I'd like to thank you all for your great responses. I posted this question while I was in a room with over 30 Bariatric professionals. It was really great to receive almost immediate feedback from our awesome members. Thanks!

You can make capsules using readily available empty Gelatin capsules and healthy coconut oil. Google is your friend.

Yeah I don't know if your friend is "Thick Madame" or not but have you ever heard the old saying misery loves company? Sometimes people like to sabotage you because they want you to be like you were. Lots of people don't understand why we would do such a thing to our bodies they think it's insane what we have gone through and say things like "girl I never would have did that to myself"! But you know what that's thet problem and they need to get over it you did what you did because you wanted change. And if she take it so personal because she bought you the food - girl I would give her the money back and tell I got it don't buy my food next time!
This is a touch subject for me because I've been there but - it usually my friends who are still obese and trying to do it as they say the "natural" way! Whateva more power too you but why you still going up and down and in and out of weight loss I have arrived and loving life!
Girl don't trip! Do you and do what you need to do to stay on your journey!

I'm with you about the stall thing, Dana. I only lose weight one or two days out of the month. I'll be the same weight forever then one morning I weigh myself and I'm down 2-5 pounds. It seems I'm always in a "stall"

Ice, trust me during my 7 months follow up I had a breakdown in the office I thought I was losing too slow also... But the doc really gave me a great pep talk, she basically said even if I stopped and never lost another pound and stayed at 220 she would never tell me I didn't do enough, she just said look at what I've gained, years on life, no diabetes and what could have been if I stayed 313 or more.. So she said really stop focusing in the number... But once in awhile I jump on the scale and yell at myself for not being down more... But then I look in the mirror and see the difference and think yeah if I stay at 205 I'd be pretty happy... It's so all mental I hate it I think it's really all plateau but tell my brain that...
Even with surgery if its not hard work psychically it sure is mentally.

I do too...i work so hard for one year,nite shifts,24 hrs,cleaning,everything ok wait not everything lol but u know what, it worth it!!!...i save 15,000 dlrs i used all it doesnt matter what paople said i used it me for my health for my my own family and im happy!! u r doing good, just keep on going!!!

My first LBD since surgery June 2012. I've lost 150 total, 85 since surgery. I started at a size 28 (probably a 30 but I wouldn't let myself admit it). I bought this dress yesterday... size 14/16!!! It's just a generous fit because the jeans I bought yesterday are an 18. I still have a long way to go but I felt hot last night!
And my LBD from NYE last year.

So glad im not the only one . Girl scout Cookies are totally my down fall. Luckily my skinny husband had no problem polishing them off for me

For me, it's not being a size 2 or 4... I would be happy to be an 8. BUT - I want BOOTS, tall boots that zip up and fit my calf, boots that I can tuck my jeans into. The day that happens I will be jumping up and down in the shoe store!

Word vomit?! Give me strength. Leave the poor girl alone, she said nothing wrong. People on this public forum take offence at the drop of a hat, I don't get it.

Cheri,
Firstly, wow... you look so beautiful! I love your recent picture ,,, makes me want to give you a big baby cwtch (welsh fir hug)!
You always speak so much sense... and over the last 2 1/2 years you have been beside me every step of the way, Between you and a few other old timers on here, you really have made a difference to me... encouraged me, cheered me on and cheered me up!
You know my story... but I will share it again for the newbies.
My sleeve is now 2 1/2 years old... it has great restriction and does a lot of good work. My head is now in line with my sleeve, but this has taken longer. Not with respect to the food side of it... that is a physical thing that I was quickly acquainted with, but emotionally it took me longer to realise that I was doing well. I am, and have always been a slow loser... on any given 'diet' I would never lose more that 7lbs and that would take me 2 -3 months to do.
I have lost a total of 74 lbs and this happened in the first 16 mths. For over a year, I have not lost a single pound... regardless of what I do or don't eat and the way I move or don't move. It would appear that my body is happy here at this weight and doesn't want to lose any more - even though my mind wants to see smaller numbers and my doc would like to see me out of the obese range on the BMI chart. However, in that time I have gone down a whole dress size. I started off in a UK 22-24 and I am now a UK 14 and have been for a year - this was my original size goal.
I have had a few health worries over the last year that might have impacted my weight loss... but I can't use those as an excuse. (On set of early menopause and trying out HRT - didn't suit me; I don't take any thing now and I had a nasty back problem that made me stop my training/gym. I am finding it hard to get back to hard exercise now - something I need to work on.)
Not reaching goal does have an upside too... I have never gained! I have read some sleevers, who dipped to goal super quick and then had a dramatic regain... I have been sat at this weight comfortably for over a year and I am happy with my 2-4lb bounce range. If I go over that... I get focused and it goes away.
I am currently upping the anti again, in another effort to get to my surgeon's goal... I am just 10-12lbs away. My hubby is on board now too... he wants to lose about 24lbs ... it is easier to do it with someone else at this stage. There is a part of me that just doesn't want to give up... I would love to post a goal thread but I am also realistic that this might never be the case.
If it happens I will be happy... if it doesn't I will remain healthy.
So with that in mind I am looking into getting the skin from my middle removed - I am looking at a TT and possible uplift. Once this is done, I guess I will be done! I don't want to be perfect but I do want my body to look like my face...lol
I have started to realise that just because I am not at my weight goal that I am still successful. I think that the over emphasis on the numbers at the beginning of this process for me, took away each successful pound lost. That was not a good move! Looking back I should have also focused on how I FELT and how I looked.
Just today, someone asked me if I had lost more weight... the body is a wonderful thing!!
For all slower losers and newbies... remember, this is about YOU... not about someone else who farted and lost 14 lbs! Ok, that is a little over the top, but you know what I mean. The whole reason for the sleeve is to get fit and healthy... if that is how you feel, regardless of your weight... then, in my eyes, you are a winner.
The sleeve has no expiry date - it is with us for life.

Oh and for the month of dec i lost 1 pound lol but at least it wasent a gain

Im.8 months out and have lost total including preop 71.5 pounds im.finally in.wonder land and the pattern seems to be a3-5 pound loss at the end of the month the rest of the month a stand still. Im not to goal but i feel good and look good.

Oh and for the month of dec i lost 1 pound lol but at least it wasent a gain

Thank you for this thread!! Sometimes I have to avoid the boards, I feel very defeated when I read huge numbers, especially from people who were sleeved around the same time as me. I KNOW we're all different but it's disheartening nonetheless!
My surg was 10/25... Sw 300....CW 245 . I can't hold much food, and everything tastes weird, except crap, of course!! Ice-cream and cookies...no problem. I have to watch grazing, and tasting food before serving it because then i'm too full to eat. I still drink 1-2 prot shakes per day. hair is starting to shed, so i'm determined to get in all my Vitamins, etc. I've done ok, but far from perfect. My age is 50/F, not exercising other than little walking because I have a lot of back problems (still).

Lately I've seen a TON of posts about lucky sleevers that drop 100 pounds in six months.
Congrats to them and to their loss. And I would never, ever begrudge anyone the right to crow about a fantastic success. It's part of why we're all here, to share the ups and downs of this surgery!
But frequently, these posts are followed by folks that feel frustrated because they aren't losing at the same pace. All too often, we forget that everyone loses at a different pace. It's easy to lose sight of the real goal (long term maintenance) in the face of the scale goals we set for ourselves. And it's also easy to forget that this isn't a race and that there's no special prize waiting at the end for reaching goal more quickly.
I would like to contribute my loss pattern so that people can see that there is more than one way to achieve a goal. Being successful is about reaching your personal goals, overcoming your personal food demons and maintaining your weight loss for life. It's not about hitting goal in nine months.
I encourage everyone else with a slow loss story to contribute their successes here as well. It's hard to research this surgery and find only the stories about extremes - people completely thrilled with surgery or people that regret every minute of life post op. The same goes for loss. When people search out stories on this, it's too easy to only find rapid loss or stall posts but nothing showing the more realistic and moderate journey many of us take. The sleeve is a permanent tool that does not have a special window of easy weight loss. There is no reason to feel discouraged when you haven't reached goal at one year out, or even two. There is nothing preventing you (short of your own body's natural stopping point) from achieving or re-achieving goal at any point post op.
I lost 60 pounds in the first five months after my surgery.
And I slowly lost 32 pounds over the next seven months.
It took me another five months to shed the final 15 pounds to my goal.
I lost 107 pounds over the course of 17 months. I stalled twice for nine weeks each time. I had months where I only lost one pound. I regularly experienced a gain of three pounds around my cycle, and often only lost weight in the last week to ten days of the month, after sitting at the same weight for nearly three weeks.
I am a success, and at 2.5 years out (and currently pregnant) I still have good, healthy eating habits and maintained my weight loss quite easily. Even 30 weeks pregnant, I am still wearing a size 6/small (in maternity clothes, of course) regardless of how I feel about my expanding body!
I learned what was important on this journey and am in better health today (not just physically, but mentally and emotionally), than I have ever experienced as an adult.
Good luck to those currently on their journey, and I encourage everyone to share their stories here so that newly sleeved folks can see that slow vs. fast loss doesn't really matter in the end.
~Cheri

At the end of the day it's no one biz and that okay if you feel that way but why is it easy for you all dont say that when you come to this forum ; Internet ) and tell all your biz yes we all having the same surgery but yet we all strangers to one another but since we having the same surgery you feel like sharing so why not share with ppl who are genuine about wanting to lose weight now nosey ppl I get if you don't want to be judge by them it all sounds contradicting to me but hey I'm the girl who cut all my hair to go natural when they told me not to I'm the girl told every body that I'm getting sleeved good luck to all the ppl that tell and the ppl that chose to lie just say its non of your biz don't give false hope cause we all kno what it feels Like see someone losing weight and we like girl what you doing tell cause I want to do it .. And you realize you can't get the same results cause this person has a tool

Not trying to start drama here (and Lord knows plenty of THAT has been going on here), but IMO, an omission is a lie. My mother (we're talking pre "quiet time" parenting) beat my tail for "omitting" certain details. I've learned my lesson well because that woman was like Taz with a belt when she went to slinging that thing around. I believe she even had a war cry! I think it usually started off with my full name..."Melinda Susanne, get your ass in here!!!". Yeah, that rings familiar! But, I digress. An omission, if made to deceive, is a lie.
This is just my opinion and I mean to offend no one. I'm only posting what I was taught and believe!!!

When I lived in HI, I had a neighbor who weighed approximately 280 pounds, judging by her appearance. I had not seen her in maybe 4/5 months, but when I did....boy did she look good! She had shredded her fat cocoon and was now rocking a much smaller body..probably size 12/14. Now me, being the lifetime dieter that I am, just had to know what diet she was on that caused her to lose so much weight so fast. Now I was pretty ignorant when it came to the wls, so this was not the first thing that had come to mind. So after complimenting her weight loss and engaging in some petty conversation, I asked her what did she do to get her weight off. Her response....wait for it....wait for it...wait for it...her response was Water AEROBICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What the heck? Was all I was thinking after she responded with that. Did she really believe that I would believe what she had just told me?
Why lie about having weight loss surgery, especially to someone that is going through the same struggle that you once went through? We should not be ashamed to announce to those who want to attain a better health the tools that we have used to achieve that.
Have any of you lied to someone about having surgery, if so, why? I understand that it is your personal decision to share whatever information with whomever you wish.

Haha! Totally hilarious! I never thought that gagging would make a guy feel good! I guess it would...they always over estimate size anyways!

Another thing, I don't gag unless my partner is pushing down on my head like some guys do. Don't let them do that. Don't complain, but push back with your head and don't let them make you go far enough to make you gag. Remember this is something that you are in control of and it is something that men like because they aren't in complete control. Or if you can get them to gently run their fingers through your hair instead of pushing down on your head it will be much more pleasant.

I know its a personal choice to tell or not . But can i say that had a Facebook friend not been open with me about how she lost the weight i wouldnt have looked into the surgery. Because of her honesty it gave me hope. And thats why im so open about it.

I've told anyone who wants to know.
Here is my reason. I met a woman locally who I thought was pretty great. She is smart, funny and of course beautiful. After talking a few times I got to know she had bypass surgery a few years before I met her. I would never had known if it wasn't for her being open and also having a special FB folder dedicated to her journey. I credit me having surgery to her. We have a lot of things in common as far as being military spouses, small kids and a few other things. She was the constant reminder that I could take action and change my life. If it wasn't for her and her honestly I wouldn't have thought twice about surgery. She may never know but by her being open about it, it changed my life. I would love to be able to do the same for someone else.

I know its a personal choice to tell or not . But can i say that had a Facebook friend not been open with me about how she lost the weight i wouldnt have looked into the surgery. Because of her honesty it gave me hope. And thats why im so open about it.