On my Waaaay

Wonderful you are at home! I wish you good days ahead and you continue to be in my prayers!!!

HopeThruFaith has the right idea. If you take any beverage and freeze it and then mix it up in the blender and make a slushie, the tiny ice pieces can mimic the feeling of carbonation in your mouth. This is what some of us miss the most. But now instead of tiny bubbles filling up our stomachs with air, its just ice melting, no big deal. Just avoid the big brain freeze!

Hey everyone! Sorry my post is a little late, it's been a busy month. Even though I'm not losing any more, I continue to post updates because I know when I was starting out, that's what go me through rough Patches and I loved seeing before and afters. I just got back from Vegas on the 29th and still picking up all my clothes that I got while shopping, lol. I have to say it was the best Vegas trip ever. My mom and I always go and use to just stick to shoes and purses but it was so nice this year to go and be able to clothes shop as well. Wow, I feel like a normal human being for the first time in my life.
As for an update on my weight loss itself, I am now hanging in a range between 150-153. I found that this is where my body wanted to stop. My goal was 160 but my body just kept losing and I guess it's now happy where it is at. I have had quite a few people tell me that your body knows where it is happy and will stop there. I started at 308lbs and am down to 152lbs roughly for a weight loss of 156lbs, so I pretty much lost a me! LOL!
Shopping is my new addiction, an expensive one but I think I have finally gotten a closet of clothes that fits my new body and have given away all my old clothes. I started at a size 26 pants and am now in a 8 and my tops use to be 3x/4x and am now in a medium in most tops.
Like I tell everyone, this is the best thing that I have ever done for myself. If you are just starting on your journey, trust in your sleeve and treat it right and it will be good to you. For those of you that are a few months out, keep going, while you think today is great, tomorrow and the days to come will even be better, especially when you get to goal. Thanks to everyone here for your constant love and support and words of encouragement!

Gastrectomy has been performed for many, many years on cancer patients.
I chose the sleeve because of my desire to compete in triathlons. I was worried that if I had gastric bypass I would not be able to fuel my body correctly and/or take in the additional carbs needed when exercising for long periods of time.
I am soooooo happy with my choice!! Sure, there are times when I wish I could eat more, or eat something that I know won't agree with my sleeve....but, I wouldn't change a thing and I'd do it again in a heart beat!!!! I love the new life I'm living and ill be doing my first triathlon in 4 weeks!!

i have a few non scale victories but i realized today that a nice one is being able to wrap normal sized towels around me! i love it!

great question.
well first let me say that a year ago at this time, i was OBSESSED with this site & OBSESSED with youtube videos and watching the people lose weight with each video. i loved it. i invested 1,000s of hours doing research and reading about everyones journey.
well as far as differences go..
pre-op: i was big. i couldnt stand for long periods of time. my neck, back, legs & feet would always hurt. walking was hard. i NEVER wanted to go out in fear that i would run into someone from my smaller days. fashion wise, i only wore stretchies or sweats. if my boyfriend asked me to wear jeans, it wouldve been equivalent to dressing up to go to a wedding! SERIOUSLY! it was so uncomfortable. sitting was uncomfortable because my fat would be compressed into one big ball. my gut would sit on my lap & it was just bad. i was trapped. i only wore black. i could barely put on my socks (no exaggerating). i couldnt find clothes that fit me. my health was bad. i was being put on all these different meds. i was so limited!!!! i had long, beautiful thick hair but would never get it done because there was no point if i were only wearing sweats
post op: i never wear sweats or stretchies! im in jeans all the time. i wore a dress for the 1st time since my 5th grade graduation. guys are always trying to talk to me and they compliment me while walking down the street. i found confidence that i didnt have for years! i fit regular sized clothes. i no longer feel pain and i could walk if i wanted to! not just because i have to. i barely ever wear black! i take pictures for show, not just to see how bad i look or to save as a "before pic". lol. i take less meds but more Vitamins and stuff which i dont mind since they are to keep me nice and healthy. thanks to surgery, i am no longer addicted to food. i can eat a small amount of something and i am fine! i havent drank soda in over 7 months & i have no desire to. im so much nicer and bubbly now! but as far as cons, i lost 6/8 of my hair & have lost length. its very depressing. my breast are still big but are not as perky which is also depressing.
thats really it. i feel free. i feel like the shackles have been released. i feel like a normal person where as before, i felt judged.
funny thing is, i look in the mirror and see the same person. i never viewed myself as how big i was. i looked in the mirror & saw the figure i have now. its only when i take pictures & put it side by side of a before pic that i see the difference!
but thats really it.

its sooo funny you mentioned the colors!!! its so true! sooo soo sooo true! i barely ever wear black now! it even goes with the decor in my bedroom. i redecorated my room & painted & all. the walls are a caramel/peanut butter color with brown decor. i never felt confident enough to be the girly girl that i am. im DESPERATELY dying to paint my room hot pink now! i felt so trapped in my body & my insecurities! now i feel alive & sexy & happy!
thank you for your comment
i cant wait for you to join the losers bench as well.

Oops, hit send too quick! She also suggested putting my belly band on over that and WOW did that work!! I was so much better the next day! I think the adhesive pads lasted about 8 hours! I hope you are feeling better!

Just read your story and my heart goes out to you! You are one strong person, I will be saying many prayers for you and sending many good thoughts your way!!! I hope you are feeling better really soon and thank you for sharing your journey with us!

My drs nurse suggested taking milk of magnesia to see if it helped the pain. The theory is that I introduced raw vegetables this past week and they were most likely not digesting well... Ok so I took her advice and did two days of MOM and wow my pain is gone. Thank you so much for the help,prayers, and concern.

So very happy for you...WOW!!!

We had a Redbox movie to return, so I stopped by the CVS on my way to the library. The Redbox kiosk was out of order so I went to the library and picked up my books that were reserved. When I got back in the car I remembered the movie. The nearest Redbox was at McDonald's. I walked in and had the weirdest feeling. I realized I hadn't been inside a McDonald's since before my surgery in late April. It smelled greasy and kind of made me a little queasy. This from a girl who lived on bacon egg and cheese biscuits, sweet tea, cheeseburger Happy Meals, and more Diet Coke than you can imagine. Amazing, strange and wonderful!

MilkD,
Many prayers to you and your family! My daughter started having seizures at four days old and with proper care and meds she is great! She has been off meds for awhile now and is almost 8 yrs. old! So wonderful to hear how supportive your husband is, you will do great with such a great support system around you! All my best to you! I look forward to hearing of all your wonderful success!!!

MoreganK,
Yes! My sense of smell did change also, I thought I was imagining it. Good to know I am not alone, some things don't taste as well any more either like crystal light drinks. I was sleeved on 6/19, down 29 pounds since preop diet but I have weighed the same for ten days now!!! When will this scale move again?!? I wish you the best!

Yay! I got my surgery date today! I have to go in for my pre-op appointment next Monday and my surgery is scheduled for Thursday, July 19. I am so happy that they were able to schedule a date so soon. I want to be off of my modified liquids diet before I go back to school (work). I will be 4 weeks post-op by then, and 12 weeks post-op by my brother-in-law's wedding. I can't wait for my body on the outside to match my personality on the inside. I am so excited! I am motivated to get as much weight as I can off before the wedding. Wahoo!

Hey everyone, I got to the beach on Saturday and have been having a great time. I have been following my eating plan like I should eating my Protein while everyone else eats what is fixed. I have been going down to the beach and the waves just kicked my butt, it was awesome though. Well, today, I decided I was going to splurge a little since I have been doing well and it is mine and my husbands 13th wedding anniversary. We went out to a seafood restaurant and I got broiled fish, clam and shrimp. It was good, but I couldn't eat it all. We then ate ice cream about an hour later and it was good. I felt yucky later, but didn't get sick. After a while I decided to have a few bites of peach cobbler that was made and it was goooood. Well, tomorrow I am going to start anew and will go back to eating the way I should. I am not going to feel guilty about today because I know I can do this. I had fun with the hubby as we ate and did things together.

laceylove it is a combination of feelings. Congrats on decision. this forum has helped me tremendously. keep telling yoursrlf why it is necessary to invest in you. the hardest challenge for me was to stop putting everyone before me. learn to say no. n dont feel guilty, about choosing YOU. this time

I never did the shakes, I have to admit. They made me gag alot and they were sickeningly sweet. I got most of my Protein through my diet and it took alot of effort. Some days I could get it all in while others I did not and I did lose a fair bit of hair doing it this way, but vomiting and gaging everyday was not an option for me. I basically ate my five meals a day and at five meals a day if I had 10 grams of Protein then I was lucky....that gave me 50 grams, not quite enough but better than nothing. I ate things like scrambled eggs with cheese, refried Beans with cheese (all fat free cheese at that point) tuna with fat free/low fat mayo on protein bread. I never did the no carb thing because it just made me feel like I was missing out on something then i would binge later on those things feel guilty and start the cycle. That's why I don't believe in cutting anything out, because this is supposed to be about changing your relationship with food and I'm sorry but the foods i like are not going to be the black sheep in my family. If those things make me gain weight and we can't get along I do with them like I do with relatives I love but can't get on with....I take them in small doses! That being said. I eat like a normal person, I watch my intake, I used to write everything down religiously but don't do it anymore as I am almost a year out. I make sure I'm not over eating and I maintain my tummy by doing the 5 day pouch test every few months to get myself back on track, detox and shrink my tummy down. Here are some food ideas for you
refried Beans with cheese, quac, salsa and plain greek yogurt
meat balls with a quarter of a baby bello cheese placed in the center and baked (not friend) in the oven
beef jerkey (chewed chewed chewed)
look up my recipe for turkey meatloaf and stuffed mushrooms (yum yum yum) it's on the recipe forum.
I ate and still eat tons of hummus, lentils, pistachios, almonds (not the naked kind either the roasted tasty ones) and I eat two tons of sunflower seeds....I should be a bird by now. Instead of potato chips and Snacks high in carbs these items give me my snacky go tos instead of taking in tons of carbs...
I also eat tons of popcorn. I know they say no no no but as far as I can see, popcorn is FULL of Fiber, low in calories and if not loaded with butter low in calories as well. It helps me go to the bathroom because as time goes on and with the amount of protein you will take in moving your bowels becomes a challenge. SO I have to force myself to take in enough liquids that's my BIGGEST challenge. For me Water is not something I reach for so I will usually reach for my diet Decaf ice tea mix by liptons which I swear by....that's how I do it. I try to be realistic about this because living this kind of lifestyle is a big big challenge and for all of us who are living this life KUDOS to us, its very very hard:DDDD
BUT WE ARE DOING IT!!!!!

My new favorite quick snack meal:
Canned chicken mixed with buffalo wing sauce and low fat blue cheese. Zap it in the microwave for 20 seconds-soooo good!

next year I will be 1 year post op for my birthday.....and if I make goal like I plan to I'm planning a trip to Italy...not looking forward to the plane ride, but I've always wanted to go....so me and some friends are planning on the trip...

I had surgery yesterday and I'm recovering now. The surgery went well. I did lots of walking last night and a fair amount today. Today, was harder to walk because I'm very nauseous. But I survived. I'm excited, things are looking up! Thank you to everyone who said a prayer for me. Much love!!

Stephanie I sure know what you mean!!! I am 15 days out from surgery and one of my first nights home from surgery I dreamt about making a sandwich! I know once we figure this new life out it will be great! Wishing you all the best!

Sending prayers that everyone is feeling better.
Every day is better than the day before.