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I will definitely do it again, there is another one in August that we are already signing up for! I despise running, always have and I was athletic and in the military when I was younger (20 years ago), but this was fun! It definitely didn't feel like a 5k because it is broken up with the obstacles.... I have a torn ACL, virtually no cartilage, and arthritis all in my left knee from a sports injury (and a failed ACL repair), so doing a normal 5k on the hard pavement doesnt feel good. But, with these being off road and generally in mud, it takes a lot of the shock to the knee out of it. So much fun, and the party afterwards is a good time!

No, I am in Ohio. I wish the whole thing was like the ending mud pit! The one we just ran was at a ski resort but during the summer it is an ATV harescramble track. I am guessing it was 90% up the ski hills through the woods with only a couple quick downhill sections that turned and went back into the woods to go uphill again. It was nothing but slick clay mud and rocks. I was GLAD to see the obstacles because at least you knew what you were going through then! My wife has run a few of these types of races and she said this one was far and above much tougher than any of the other ones becasue of the amount of steep hills and slick mud. If we had gone earlier in the morning it would not have been as bad but by mid afternoon, the whole course was a slick mess with large loose rocks. Now, that said, we are doing it again in August!

I would say you are doing fine and dont force anyhitng too early. I ate less than 800 calories for a looooong time and although I am almost 1 year out, when I eat solid foods like chicken or beef, I can eat very little becasue the solids fill you up so fast. I probably still only consume 1000 calories a day but I am not sure, I dont keep track. One thing I didnt want to do was to box myself in to where I was constantly calorie counting, it is no way to live. Instead, focus on the right foods and eat what you can w/o forcing it. There for a while after my surgery I was not noticing weight coming off but I was definitely noticing my clothes fitting differently. Don't know how to explain it becasue for the clothes to fit different you would think the weight would need to come off, right?? There were time when I felt like if I kept losing as fast as I was I was going to wither away to nothing, but then times where I felt like I was going to be that low percentage failure becasue I was stuck. To be honest, I tried to just stick with what I was doing and trusted it to work....sure enough, it has been a piece of cake once I stopped worrying about it. I was actually stuck for nearly 3 months until the last few weeks and then lost a few pounds, I changed NOTHING in my daily habits or diet..... If you can only get in 600-700 calories, that is fine, just make sure you are getting your Protein in! And, do your best to stay hydrated...... I dont know how any other sleevers who are a year or more feel about it but I feel like I can't fail with it now unless I go out of my way to derail myself. I really think I would need to replace all of my meals with candy bars and Cookies in order for this to not work. You will be fine, trust it, eat and drink what you can and it will happen for you.

I am the same way, I think it depends a lot on what you are taking in and if it causes Water retention. I actually went from month 7-9 with about a 5 lbs gain but have since lost all of the gains plus an additional 3-4 lbs over the last 3 weeks. So, I think it is normal for fluctuation and extended stalls the further you get out and the closer you get to goal.

You might be surprised, I am down over 125 lbs and I dont need anything done. Give it time to shrink up a little, I look much better at 10 months out than at 6 months out. You may not have any extra skin worth going under the knife for!

Holy crap, why so much? I am just curious since I take my Centrum chewable and maybe some vitamin D (Ohio winter = No sun) and my levels are all normal. I dont even take the Centrum all the time... I'm not saying you are doing anything wrong, not by any means, it just seems like a lot of work if you dont need that many supplements. How far out of surgery are you?

So I am a couple days past my 4 month mark and so far so good, although, as expected, the losses are slowing. Down to about 2 lbs per week. I started at 317, was 205 lbs this morning. Thats 50 lbs pre-op from the beginning of March through the end of July, including the 2 week pre-op diet that shed 20 of thos 50, then another 62 lbs so far post-op. I feel good and have had a lot of people tell me not to lose more but I still want to get to my goal of 185 by the 6 month mark. Not sure if I can get there with the slow pace but close is good enough for me!!! The first pic is a picture of me at my sister in law's wedding in the last week of February and this is me just a few min ago in my office. I actually had a full head of Fabio hair when I started the program....haha, obviously I am kidding! This is me currently (as of about 15 min ago)

So I am about 9-10 days out and I have a golf outing at my 3 week mark. I spoke to the nurse practitioner and they all want 4 weeks before starting any real exercise but I feel extremely good, never did have muscle pain, just annoyance form the drain which went away 1 week post op. The nurse said that I should listen to my body and to stop if it hurts if I wanted to play after a few weeks. I also have a little tenderness right now at my incision sites but nothing big. With well over a week of more healing, I want to play. How soon has anyone tried to play (if anyone) after their surgery and what was your experience?

It is funny, I was felling the same way ad then read your post. I dont think about it if I do indulge in any of these (although I try not to) but sitting here reading all of them, it makes me sick to my stomach to think abou it. That being said, the one thing I can eat endlessly are goldfish crackers. Fortunately, they are not TERRIBLE for you and a serving is like 60 goldfish for about 150 calories. I have never been a big chip eater and I HATE doritos and cheetos anyway, so those are not an issue. I do love ice cream but forutnately my body doesn't respond well to high doses of dairy, except for string cheese, so it limits my intake on milk based products for me.

I know I dropped this into my old 4 month thread, should have just started this instead since it is now 7 months.... Sorry for the double posting and don't mind the crappy pics, I took them at work this morning! As of 3-8-2013, I have noticed a few things.... 1. I have exactly ZERO ass left! 2.The Ohio winter has taken its toll and I desperately need some sun!

vs24, I was 317 at my heaviest when I started seeing the doc to get this procedure done. I should say I have no lost all 124 lbs post sleeve, I started losing as soon as I went and talked to the nutritionist. I listened to her and followed what she told me and it worked to start losing right away. I lost 30 on my own just eating right (over the 3 month waiting period) and then lost another 20 on the 2 week pre-Op Optifast diet, then the other 74-75 lbs have been post sleeve. Losing the weight before defintiely slowed how much I lost with the sleeve but not a lot. Think it just caused me to slow down sooner since I got clost to my goal quickly. To be honest, I have not killed myself trying to lose weight, I just let my body dictate how much and when I can eat and as long as I eat "smartly", I continue to lose weight. Now, I not trying to lose weight now, but it is still slowly coming off.

Great point, this is how I calculated it too.

I've lost 94% of my excess weight over the first 7 months. Actually, probably lost 75% of that in the first 4 months with the remaining 24% over the last 3. Definitely slowed way down as I get closer and closer to my goal!

As of 3-8-2013, I have noticed a few things.... 1. I have exactly ZERO ass left 2. The Ohio winter has taken its toll and I desperately need some sun!

Finally broke 200 as of this morning, havent seen this weight since my first semester of college! I was hoping to be at goal by 6 months but that is not happening unless I can get 14 lbs off in the next three weeks. I had a stall for about 3 weeks or so and then just lost about 10 lbs in the past 2 weeks. Pretty sure I can't sustain that rate of loss through the 23rd though! Anyway, I feel great, and for those of you doubting your decision to have this surgery, give it time and it will work for you!!!! I owe a lot of the inspiration to this site so thanks to everyone for being so positive and for posting progress pics!

Eh, don't worry about the guys wanting/not wanting you. I would take a girl with some substance to her who is happy than a thin girl who is unhappy about herself. Make yourself happy first and the guys will come flocking!

Mike, to be honest, the big thing for me is planning my meals out daily on work days. I pack everything in the morning, including bottles of Water (so i can make sure I get the correct amount of warer in). I pack 5 small meals or Snacks for the 11 hours I am gone during the day and then try to eat every 2-3 hours. I am regimented when it comes to work eating habits and my daily meals would bore the crap out of most people with its repetitive foods. Basically, M-Th or M-F, depending on if I work on Friday or not, I eat the same things every day. I would say I take in about 1000-1200 calories of high Protein foods on any given day. I am not very conscious of my carb intake, dont really pay attention to it. Now, I know what I am packing is not too high in carbs so I just dont pay attention to it anymore. On days off, I would say I eat less because I am busy out doing stuff and I just cant take my food and I dont think about it much. Is that healthy, maybe not the best, but i judge how I feel and by how my blood work levels look. SO far I feel great with plenty of energy and my bloodwork has been perfect. I think there may be a fatigue issue with reducing carbs too much so I dont try to cut them out. I will also admit that I am not always careful with what I eat. If I am really craving something, regardless of what it is, I allow myself to have it, just in very small amounts. Can this lead down a bad path, sure, I guess, but the sleeve has given me the self control to stop myself and it has not been an issue. For exercise, I have a desk job but it is in I.T. and we are in a huge building so I have the opportunity to get up and walk a lot. I also ride my stationary bike for about 20-30 min 3-4 times a week. Oh, and I have a 20 month old and have her by myself most nights during the week while my wife works, that is a lot of excercise in itself, haha. Tis works for me, might work for others, but at this point, I am at 194 lbs (down 123) with 9 lbs to go to goal and I am just 7 months out. I am still losing, without working to lose, so the sleeve is still doing its job. I am fortunate and could not be happier.

Oh, you are doing really well though since your surgery was just in November. Give it time, the stalls will come and go and will become more frequest as you get further out from surgery and you have less and less to lose. I felt like I was stalling for a couple weeks at a time ever since month 3 but now that I look back, it has averaged out to be double digit losses each month when all said and done. I stall constantly now and then will just lose a few lbs out of nowhere. Regardless, the bigger picture shows constant losses. Early on after surgery you can look at it daily and weekly and see good results, but after 3-4 months, you need to step back and maybe start looking at your losses over a month then, otherwise you may be a little disappointed. Like I said, I feel like I stall for 2 weeks at a time now but I eventually lose weight for the month. At my 6 month appointment a few weeks ago, my doc said I am where I should be at 1.5 years out, so trust me it will come off!!! Patience is definitely a virtue with this surgery.

Congrats, you look great! And in such a short time, way to go!

Foxymomma, just be patient.... I have had stalls all the way through my 6+ months but it does come off. The first 2 monts it went like gangbusters but then I would go a week between losses but then 5 lbs would fall off over 1-2 days. I am now 6 monts out and I stall for 2-3 weeks at a time and will actually fluctuate up a pound or two, then all of a sudden, 3-4 lbs drop off.... I just had my 6 month appt and they said to expect losses sporadically all the wat for up to 1.5 years. It is a fast process at first but the body levels it out and will then start to drop off slower, but continues to lose none the less... Basically, just keep up what you are doing and follow the guidelines, and it will start back up again. Besides, having to replace your entire wardrobe multiple times over 6 months is not always fun for the bank account, haha!