MoreganK

Its been 8 months since my surgery (June 27th). I have been struggling this whole time to see my weight loss, and I've struggled with some pretty obnoxious plateaus that has me battling my mental demons that would cave and fall on old habits of defeat. I've started feeling really remotivated. I looked around at before and after pictures of folks here. I looked around on Pinterest as various weight loss blogs, and fitness sites, and woke myself back up. I got a wrangle in on my eating habits again, and cleaned that up, and am back to my hard core workouts after a 3 week hiatus. I was feeling pretty good this morning. I still can't weigh myself at home, because I've yet to buy a scale. I think I will this week. So, instead of weighing myself, I took a progress picture. And for the first time placed it side by side with my starting photo. I was so floored. I got tears in my eyes.

I had no idea.

For the first time, I SAW MY WEIGHT LOSS.

I'm flying again, and so remotivated to remember who I am and who I am proud to be. I am proud to be healthy. I am proud to love to workout! I love myself, and I am worth it to keep fighting this fight. I made the best decision of my life when I deceided to get sleeved. I am no longer pre-diabetic. I am no longer on bloodpressure medication. I am starting to return regular blood tests on my PCOS. And these pictures this morning.... how can you go back now after coming this far???

My before taken the morning of surgery. My current "during" taken this morning.

Have you considered a lift instead? This may be the route I go in a couple years. I'm not quite to goal yet, and I'm looking to have kids... so, before I do any rearranging of saggy bits, I want to be done with the kiddo thing.

Gonna follow this thread for sure, since I'm in research mode myself.

Thanks a lot for everyone that tried to help me sorry for not replying a lot sooner and that's because the time difference I am from the Middle East I've done my surgery in the Middle East 16 months ago it was a reversion from gastric band to VSG my doctor have seen me twice after my surgery he said" my job is to do your surgery and your job is to loose the weight" we here do not have any nutritionist that deal with WLS surgery I have no information on how to eat or what to do my doctor told me I can eat what ever I want he asked only not to eat and drink at the same time I'm 5 feet tall my starting weight was 193 I lost 23 pounds I'm a single mom and I work a full time job if anyone needs any more information about me please let me know

Hello - Since you are in the Middle East, I am not sure culturally how different our diets are. But, try to avoid breads, pastas, and even rice. Focus on meats, fruit, and vegtables for your meals. Make sure you chew reallly well, and if you have an area to take a walk, get your kid and go for a walk together.

Since we don't really know what you've been doing for these 16 months that has not worked well for you, it is hard to offer advice. But, I hope that maybe these things will help you. Also, as the person above said, you might lose weight a little slower if you have less weight to lose. What is your goal?

I admit it, I do eat sweets. I don't call it cheating though. I sadly do not have any negative reaction, so long as I keep portions in check. If I don't, I get that "sugar high". I've only done this once, and it wasn't even worth it. I have not had a negative reaction to anything at all, I can eat everything... in someways this is kinda sad. I wish I had negative reactions to some things. I do find now though, that I whereas in the past (pre-op) I could have easily eatten a huge piece of cake and not had the sugar phase me at all, now I'm good with eating 3-4 bites and usually then I'm putting the fork down thinking, "Man, that was really sugary. Bleck." My palette for sure has a lower tolerance for sugar now. I might have a treat like this once a month or so, then I remember I'm really past it and end up throwing it away after one bite.

How can we help?

What sort of support are you looking for?

Have you found any with a discount? They are pretty expensive from what I see on the unjury website.

Unfortunetly, no. I buy it from Unjury. Sometimes you can find it sold on Amazon for a little less, but not much. But, since being sleeved, I've taken a point of view on what I eat that is along the lines of, my body is the most important thing to invest in, without my health I have nothing. So, I'm okay spending the money on it. A tub lasts me a month to 6 weeks depending on how many days I have a shake.

Those are gorgeous...

A lot of surgeons inflate your abdomen with gas during surgery so that they can get around easier during the surgery. It takes awhile for the gas to go away, because it isn't in your digestive tract. It is actually in your torso cavity. It is really uncomfortable.

That is awesome that you are down 5 lbs. Good for you!!!

Regarding Protein...I have had challenges with it. The Protein shakes make me feel weird...shaky and weak. I saw someone else describe it as hypoglycemic. The one that makes me feel the least bad is Atkin's. the ones that are pre-made. I get them at Wal-Mart. 4 of them are around $5. The mocha chocolate one is pretty good. They have 15 grams of protein in them and only 2 carbs. My doctor didn't let me have protein until I was 1 week out. So if you have issues, don't be discouraged. I need to find some that is higher in protein. I have been reading a lot about the different options, but haven't made it past that.

I can't say enough about how yummy, and great powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury protein poweders have been for me. I still drink them now every couple of days... the fact that I still am willing to drink them now is surprising to me. I'm not fond of the Protein powder taste. If you drink it with skim milk, you get 28 grams of protien. It mixes thin, so its easy to drink.

I just had the sleeve done...waking up in recovery was the worst unbearable painful feeling in the world...I woke up screaming & vomiting sorry.... Today is day 5 & I'm still suffering so much.. This is the pain that nobody talks about.. Being uncomfortable no matter what I do.. I can't stand up for to long i cant lay on my back only on my side which is so annoying.. I toss & turn about 10times within the hour..& Everytime I finally fall asleep Im awoke by nightmares... I been having headaches everyday backaches & a whole lot of bloating... I try my best to walk around as much as i can..im trying to keep myself hydrated by drinking 3-4 ounces of liquid every couple of hours.. in the beginning it took me about 1hour just to finish 1 ounce of liquid...how can something so small be so hard to swallow... I honestly can't recommend the sleeve to you rite now because I'm still fresh out of surgery but I had to share these feelings that no one else does... Good luck to you hope your experience is not as bad...

I don't think everyone has pain. I had no pain after surgery from the surgery itself, and my nurses and doctor made sure I had plenty of access to pain medicine. I was even sent home with vicodin if I needed it, and I never did. If you're still in pain, I would totally reach out and ask for some pain meds!

Just one of the shoes tell me if you can see the pi c of the shoe.

Nope... don't see a shoe.

My doctor put me on 40 mg of omperazole, and that relived any and all acid issue for me.

I also discovered sometimes, I was eating too fast, not chewing enough, and maybe eating a tad more than I needed. Not sure if those are your issues too, but I try really hard now to pay attention to those three things when I eat.

Not sure if anyone else mentioned this yet, but try drinking some Water, that can help too.

Sounds good! I'm trying to find a home for my size 182/202/22s... I think I owe some pictures and information to people too!

I don't even remember recovery at all! I apparently super responded to my anesthsia and really didn't come out of until I was in my actual hospital room. Wooo.... nice. :ph34r:

I don't think I can say enough about how happy I am now, that I got the sleeve. I will totally say, that there was a point of regret about 3 months after where I thought I made a mistake, but that was only because I was just starting to get the hang of life after being sleeved. I also had some minor complications in the hospital that made me feel like I was going to die, but after a day I was over it.

I can now proudly say that I am medicaion free. My bloodpressure is normal, and I am not longer pre-diabetic. I am close to being one of the rare ladies who successfully puts her PCOS in remission state. I can not put in words what this means to me. It brings tears of joy! I am 40 pounds from my goal weight. I went from a size 20/22 to a size 14 (and counting down to my goal of size 10).

Things to keep in mind when making your decision.... it is not the easy way out. It still requires you to make all the correct mental decisions (in fact in some ways, its more important post-op). When you eat, you need to eat with nutrition in mind, and not just taste. Tattoo the basics of post-sleeve life on your arm or something, they need to be a part of your daily life forever (Protien, Vitamins, & Hydration). Remember that you are having a surgery that is a big life change, that means forever. It will happen fast, but it won't happen over night... also, the less weight you have to lose, the less you'll see some of the huge numbers other's see (I had to realize this myself).

Would I recommend the sleeve, if everything else has falled you... if you have health concerns you're worried over...if you mentally are ready to change your eating habits for good... heck yes, I would recommend the sleeve.

I have dresses and pants size 14.

And shoes size 9

I would be for sure intersted... any picutres? They don't have to be fancy pictures. What would you like for them?

I justed wanted to say that 25 pounds in your first month is awesome! Way to go, hon!!! Woo hooo!!! You should totally be celebrating that victory! Go get your nails or hair done to celebrate!!

And, I agree with everything these folks who've already posted are saying. And I will say that you can see a difference in you based on those two pictures you posted. I struggle sometimes with seeing a change in my appearnace, and I'm down 75 pounds.

Work that sleeve!! Eat clean, eat your protien, drink your liquids, go for a few walks... heck, walk laps at your favorite mall and window shop!! Park farther out.... whatever it takes to get you to add exercise to your day. Best of luck to you! Hang in there!!!

Yep, I love reading stories of you guys who have gone before us.... it helps keep me on track. Eye on the prize!!

I have had a jealous friend moment. Someone who I thought understood a little better what wls patients go through, or at least would not use it to belittle me. We were out having a good time together, when she started talking about her weight. She wanted to lose 30 pounds, so she could go from her size 10s to her size 6s that she fit in when she was 19 (she is 28). She actually said, "I've thought about going the easy way out like you, and having surgery. But decided I'd do it the right way instead." I was so flabbergasted! So many things wrong with what she said. Disrespectful to me, wrong information about who should consider or get wls, just to point out the obvisous two. Since that day, I've placed some distance between us. She is a friend still, but I don't trust her in confidence as I once would have, and I do not see her hardly at all. The sad part is, she probably doesn't even notice or know why.

Good luck, hon!!! Focus on whats ahead of you, and not whats behind you. Welcome to your new life!!

LoL!! When you're done, I'll take them!

You know, there is a ton of humor in that statement to me.

How tall are you? I like your jeans but i am only 5'2.

Let me check. I think at least one pair is petite. I am built weird. I'm 5'8, but have a 30 inseam and end up getting petite pants some times. I'll let you know tomorrow after I'm off work.

I do! How would this work? I was going to take this stuff to Goodwill' date=' it doesn't fit anymore.[/quote']

Woo! Um, I've done some swapping via PayPal to cover shipping. I can toss in a little extra if you want. whatcha got?

Well... I'm not really a store, so doing returns would be kinda hard for me to handle. I can tell you measurements of things and you can measure yourself to see how the fit would be?

Looking for size 14 pants... 12/14 skirts... and XL shirts... anyone got stuff?

Have you sold anything?

No I have not sold anything... what am I doing wrong? I mean... I'm not looking for tons of money... just a little for what I've put out so I can replace my clothes.