jhansen71

Ladies that are 2 years out, thank you for sharing your stories. Do you have any before and after photos you want to share? We'll take all the motivation we can get. awesome job!!!

This is so encouraging to hear your story. I started close to your same weight. Can I ask how tall you are? Just trying to figure out if I could ever be that small. Thanks!

Sandi, great idea. I can see it in my clothes more than on the scale so I try to go just by that rather than the scale when stalled out.

I had extremely low blood pressure right after surgery. It was 83 over 52. A number of things can cause it such as dehydration, anemia, etc. I wasn't getting enough liquids in and I had also lost a lot of blood in surgery and had low iron. I felt so weak and run down. As soon as I focused on my liquids, my BP went up and I felt so much better. It is still much lower than it was before surgery (I'm 11 weeks out) 112 over 61. Prior to surgery is was about 130 over 70. I'm blessed with low blood pressure in general, but this is low. My doctor does not seem concerned about it so I guess I won't. Good luck to you!

Great point Sandi. I haven't made it to spin yet, but I did start running this week. So far, I've run 4 miles this week and will head back into the gym tomorrow. Congrats on all of your success! I hope to be in your shoes some day soon.

I've lost another pound, just 1. At least it's a loss. SW: 243.6 CW: 202.6 41 lbs lost since pre-op started on March 1st. An average of 3.73 lbs per week. Not too shabby considering I've had two large stalls. I am dying to get to Onederland and my body is making me work for every ounce off the scale. Geez! I'm so close, maybe next week???

I ditto what Sandy said: Thank you soldiers and veterans for protecting our freedom. Without you we may not have freedoms like this message board and life saving surges such as VSG, not to mention feel safe and protected on American soil. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!! It's not looking good for my Memorial Day challenge. I have lost an additional pound which takes me to 14 lbs lost. My goal was 20 lbs. With only 2 days left I think it's unlikely I will lose 6 lbs, but maybe we can start a July 4th challenge???

I was sleeved March 13 by the same surgeon as PixieJoy. Hi Joy! I've stalled twice and have lost a total of 41.6 lbs since pre-op and 29.6 since surgery. I wish it were more, but I'm okay with it.

I was sleeved on March 13th (2012) and here are my stats: Height: 5'5" Pre-Op: 243.6 Surgery: 231.6 Current: 203 So I've lost 40.6 overall and 28.6 since surgery. I have also experienced 2 big stalls (at 3 weeks each-in one now). I pretty much stick to Protein first and then I'm usually too full for anything else. I still struggle with getting in all my Water because I stay so full from all the protein. I usually get around 50 grams of protein, but aim for 60-80. My doctor is fine with this and said it will increase over time. I get about 600-900 calories in a day. I know if I could physically up my calories and my protein my weight loss would be better, but I atomically cannot fit anything else in at the moment. I've had a few NSVs including going from a tight size 18 and sometimes 20 to a tight 14 and fitting nicely into an airplane seat (with someone who actually wanted to sit next to me). I just started an exercise program this week so hopefully this will accelerate my weight loss. Maybe I'll be able to report higher numbers next time. We'll see.... March on team Marchers!

This might be a dumb question, but if I eat 800 calories a day and burn an additional 500 through exercise (not including my resting calorie burn), then aren't I considered to be in starvation mode? I do not understand the calories in vs. the calories out. Can someone help me understand this? I have yet to start working out and want to be sure that I am not sabotaging my weight loss by adding in exercise. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I have had some pretty big stalls due to low calorie intake (when I previously ate lower than 800 calories), but I really am aching to get back to spin class. Any guidance is appreciated.

Let me start off by saying sorry this might be long, but I hope some of you find something you can relate to. I had surgery mid March and have lost 40lbs total (including the 2 week pre-op). I have hit 3 big stalls already and I guess you could say in the VSG world I'm a slow loser. However, in my prior VSG life I could lose about 10lbs per month with diet pills (I know, so bad). This averages out to be 2.5lbs per week. So 11.5 weeks out from the time I started pre-op I have averaged 3.47lbs per week. Why am I so down on myself for not losing more? This is a victory, but I have to be mental to be disappointed. Then why am I? If I get all my Protein in, my Water suffers (once I eat all my protein I'm full for a few hours and cannot drink anything for a while). If I get all my water in, my protein suffers (because my tummy stays full from the water). The only way to solve this is to drink the Protein shakes because they offer the protein and water intake together. Unfortunately, I can no longer stomach them. It's funny to think that prior to VSG I thought about food all the time like what was for lunch, snack or dinner and now all I think about is protein, water and Vitamins. Every day is a battle to get everything in and I know this is why I'm not losing as quickly as I could be. It's a true struggle, but also a mental game I repeat like Groundhog Day (the movie) every day, but in my movie I know it will never stop. I just hope that one day I can figure out how to make it all work like Bill Murray does in the movie. Other struggles that are making me crazy... I travel a lot for work and would always get on a plane early enough to grab the window seat. Prior to my 40lb weight loss I would notice people trying to avoid the middle seat next to me because of the tight fit. I would find the bright side of having a vacant seat next to me. Last week, I got on the plane early as usual and grabbed the window seat. I watched as people climbed in the plane and took every isle and window seat. Then as people came on the plane they filled middle seats in order and I was sure I would get the same reaction of people passing me by, but my middle seat was filled up in order with everyone else. I don't view myself right now as being thin enough to sit next to. Will this ever change? I still have 50lbs to lose so maybe this is why I feel like this, who knows? I have gone from a tight 18 to a tight 14 and have found the Plus Size Department too big for me now. Today I go into the Misses Department and I am embarrassed the whole time thinking people are looking at me and passing judgement on me that I really shouldn't be there shopping. Like I was an alien from a different planet and I invaded the Misses Department. Will I ever feel worthy of skinny clothes or is my fate left in the hands of the internet? In conclusion I would like to say that I never dreamed of the mental struggles I would go through after surgery. How do I put my mind on the same diet? Will my brain ever get skinny thoughts or will I always be the big girl not deserving of the neighbor in the middle seat? Don't get me wrong, all of this is mental stuff is tolerable when the end result means feeling healthier. I am just curious to hear if others out there have gotten to goal mentally too? Do I need professional help or will my mind eventually catch up?

So my last weight was 208.6 two weeks ago. I forgot to post last week, but did weigh and it was exactly the same on the nose last week at 208.6-no loss. This morning I weighed in at 203.6, yay me 5 lbs gone!!! This is exactly 40lbs since I started this journey at the beginning of March. I'll take it. Happy Mother's Day to any mom's out there.

I posted this on another thread... I had band to sleeve revision on 3/13. Here is what can tell you: food always got stuck on my band even when it was all the way open and even after I would chew, chew, chew. I would throw up at least 3 times per week from the feeling of food getting stuck. Since revised, I've only thrown up once and not because food got stuck, but because I took Vitamins that did not sit well with me. I've never had a stuck feeling since the revision and in fact can eat anything now, just very small amounts. The reason people throw up with a sleeve is from eating too much and/or too fast in one sitting, drink when they eat or too soon after they eat and/or something didn't sit well with their new tummy. Your tastes definitely change. If you just listen to your body and follow the Protein guidelines and liquid rules you will lose the weight pretty easily. I'm rarely hungry and actually struggle to get all of my calories in. Way different than the band when I always still felt hungry. My weight loss would be much higher if I could eat more each day (35lbs to date). For the actual surgery, I took off two weeks from work and should have gone 1/2 days on the 3rd. After the 1st week I had no pain, but the extreme weakness I felt week 2 made me feel as though I might had made a big mistake getting the surgery. I was worried it was going to last forever. It carried over into the 3rd week, though not as bad. It gradually improved every week and today I feel better than I have in a long time (prior to surgery even). One more thing to add...I wish I had chosen the sleeve over the band in 2009 because today I would be sitting at goal. I feel it works much better than the band. No complications and soooooo happy I had it done. I feel great!

I still struggle with this. I have yet to find one that tastes good. I'm not sure one exists. If you happen to find one, please let me know. Good luck!

I had band to sleeve revision on 3/13. Here is what can tell you: food always got stuck on my band even when it was all the way open and even after I would chew, chew, chew. I would throw up at least 3 times per week from the feeling of food getting stuck. Since revised, I've only thrown up once and not because food got stuck, but because I took Vitamins that did not sit well with me. I've never had a stuck feeling since the revision and in fact can eat anything now, just very small amounts. The reason people throw up with a sleeve is from eating too much and/or too fast in one sitting, drink when they eat or too soon after they eat and/or something didn't sit well with their new tummy. Your tastes definitely change. If you just listen to your body and follow the Protein guidelines and liquid rules you will lose the weight pretty easily. I'm rarely hungry and actually struggle to get all of my calories in. Way different than the band when I always still felt hungry. My weight loss would be much higher if I could eat more each day (35lbs to date). For the actual surgery, I took off two weeks from work and should have gone 1/2 days on the 3rd. After the 1st week I had no pain, but the extreme weakness I felt week 2 made me feel as though I might had made a big mistake getting the surgery. I was worried it was going to last forever. It carried over into the 3rd week, though not as bad. It gradually improved every week and today I feel better than I have in a long time (prior to surgery even). One more thing to add...I wish I had chosen the sleeve over the band in 2009 because today I would be sitting at goal. I feel it works much better than the band. I hope this helps. Good luck with your decision.

I lost another pound this week, so 8 lbs lost and 12 to go for this Memorial day challenge. I need to crack down if I'm going to make it.

I lost 1lb. 209.6 to 208.6 on the nose. I wish it were more, but thankful I'm not stalled out. Need to work on getting my calories up this week so I can start losing more each week. Congrats to all us losers this week!

I was sleeve March 13th by Dr Scarborough in Houston (and I live in League City-25 miles south of Houston toward Galveston).