Izuri

I don't understand why you wouldn't suggest getting some help to some of the issues people deal with on here. I don't see why getting help with anything would ever be a bad idea. Especially when many of us have had trouble in the past with issues eating.
Not everyone has considered counseling or had an experience like you before. I've talked to friends about my experience with counseling and have had more than one of them surprised that I had seen a counselor. Some people get this idea that counseling is only something crazy people go to, but every time I've suggested/talked about it is because I think a number of people could use it, even if it's just to get some things off their chest, get another view point, get help with coping strategies. Is it for everyone? No. Does it work for everyone? No. Is it worth a try if you're doing something like cutting out a large portion of your stomach just as an added measure to stay on track and help you through issues? I think so, but that's just me.
Any time I've said anything about counseling it's only because I think that if I was in their shoes it might help me. It's never meant as condescending or insulting or you're a crackhead get some help please.
Also, not everyone is as clear or as eloquent at getting the true meaning of what they're trying to say across. Sometimes it sounds different when other people read it online than it was originally typed, if that makes sense. I doubt the people who said you needed professional help were trying to be offensive in any way, but rather that they were trying to highlight the fact that the sleeve is a tool, and that you may still have issues that need to continue to be addressed post surgery. Could they have said it better? Sure. Did they mean for it to be offensive/frustrating to you? Probably not.

I started at 325, was 321 immediately pre-surgery on July 26th, and am now 288 =)

I don't know that I dislike other fat people - but I sure as heck compare myself to them in my head. I think I have a hard time understanding how I look like to other people so I wonder to myself "Do I look that big too?" or something like that. I think I'm more likely to feel embarrassed for them, mostly because of my own embarrassment about my weight. But I have some fat friends too.
I could see where this would be common though, probably exactly what you were saying, disliking them because you dislike yourself.

I reached 269 today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3xCcOoPhLQ
Carry on.

I'm a bit over 6 weeks out and my recovery was good. If I push myself my side hurts, but as long as I stay within my body's limits I feel good. Still have some issues with low energy. Surgeon says it will probably be about the 3 month point where I see a marked increase in my energy. I took 4 weeks off work (I'm a pharmacy technician) and I'm glad that I took that long. Toward the end of week 3/4 I was getting very bored at home, I probably could have gone back the beginning of week 3 if I absolutely needed to. At work I have to bend over a lot to get meds from low shelves and even once in a while now it is sore when I go too quick - so 4 weeks was a good call from that standpoint. I would get sleeved again 100% no doubt about it. It has been a great experience. I'm 38 pounds down (including 10 pre-op) and I feel much healthier.

I'm sorry to hear your daughter's ill. I hope she has a swift recovery! October will be here before you know it =)

Deep breaths! I had my surgery a day before you and I went through a 3 week long stall. It felt like FOREVER. But, it wasn't. Eventually the scale started moving again and when it did, it ran! I have been going well since then. Your body is adjusting. It's normal. During my stall I freaked - is this all I'm going to lose? Did I fail this weight loss too? Was this small of weight even worth it? Hormones were going crazy.
The bottom line is I tried just about everything. Switching up calories, working out more, eating more, eating less, increasing Protein, decreasing carbs, increasing Water. Nothing worked because what my body really needed was just time. It's probably what yours needs too. You're rebuilding your glycogen stores, holding water, and whatever other reorganizing it feels like doing.
This is what helped me get through it:
1. Put the scale away for as long as possible. The days I brought myself to not peek, I felt much better.
2. Try not to stress. There is some research that says stress increases cortisol, which can cause weight retention.
3. Rant, rave, etc in your blog/journal/to your friends whenever you need to get it out. Sometimes just getting the frustration off your chest helps...at least it helps me
4. Read through every stall post on here - You are not alone! Most of us stall and freak at some point. 100% normal
5. Log your eating on MFP or a similar website - Helps keep you accountable so that you don't slip up because of frustration
6. Keep yourself busy. The more you're doing other things, the more calories you burn, the less you think about the scale
7. Assume that you are still on the stall. If you're pretty sure you're still on it, it will cause less frustration/loss of expectation if you step on the scale and you are. If you step on and you're not, what an excited surprise
8. Measure yourself. You are probably still losing inches.
9. Take pictures. Do you look any thinner than pre-op? Yes? Something to feel good about
10. Write down all your NSVs. You are kicking butt! The scale is not the only way to show progress
Hang in there. It's hard. It sucks. But it ends eventually!

I'm sorry to hear your daughter's ill. I hope she has a swift recovery! October will be here before you know it =)

Congrats!! I had an NSV last night that is probable trivial for most but I was able to stand up from sitting on the ground without rolling over on all 4's first! YAY for NSV's!!

So my new NSV that I would have never thought would change... Being at 474 I used THREE pillows to sleep comfortably... All underneath my head... Well at 84 lbs lost, I realized my neck was killing me, removed a pillow and I've now slept two nights in a row with only two pillows and I'm so happy and comfortable! It's the random little things! Happy Friday

Deep breaths! I had my surgery a day before you and I went through a 3 week long stall. It felt like FOREVER. But, it wasn't. Eventually the scale started moving again and when it did, it ran! I have been going well since then. Your body is adjusting. It's normal. During my stall I freaked - is this all I'm going to lose? Did I fail this weight loss too? Was this small of weight even worth it? Hormones were going crazy.
The bottom line is I tried just about everything. Switching up calories, working out more, eating more, eating less, increasing Protein, decreasing carbs, increasing Water. Nothing worked because what my body really needed was just time. It's probably what yours needs too. You're rebuilding your glycogen stores, holding water, and whatever other reorganizing it feels like doing.
This is what helped me get through it:
1. Put the scale away for as long as possible. The days I brought myself to not peek, I felt much better.
2. Try not to stress. There is some research that says stress increases cortisol, which can cause weight retention.
3. Rant, rave, etc in your blog/journal/to your friends whenever you need to get it out. Sometimes just getting the frustration off your chest helps...at least it helps me
4. Read through every stall post on here - You are not alone! Most of us stall and freak at some point. 100% normal
5. Log your eating on MFP or a similar website - Helps keep you accountable so that you don't slip up because of frustration
6. Keep yourself busy. The more you're doing other things, the more calories you burn, the less you think about the scale
7. Assume that you are still on the stall. If you're pretty sure you're still on it, it will cause less frustration/loss of expectation if you step on the scale and you are. If you step on and you're not, what an excited surprise
8. Measure yourself. You are probably still losing inches.
9. Take pictures. Do you look any thinner than pre-op? Yes? Something to feel good about
10. Write down all your NSVs. You are kicking butt! The scale is not the only way to show progress
Hang in there. It's hard. It sucks. But it ends eventually!

It doesnt have to do with one's weight. The pre-op diet which is always high protein/low carbs is specifically to shrink as well as firm up the liver. When the liver is large with fatty liver syndrome - it is also spongy and weak, my surgeon told us prior to surgery that it is so soft and spongy that a retractor can rip it apart if it is lifted - which would be a complication so severe one would not even want to contemplate the consequenses.
The high Protein very low carb pre-op diet works quickly - in 7-10 days remarkable changes occur.
My surgeon said that if he went in laprascopically and saw a fat liver he will either convert to an open surgery (yikes) or sew us back up until we make it smaller. Scared me enough to follow that pre-op diet religiously.
I am so sorry that you could not have your vsg as scheduled, but things could have gone very wrong if your liver was compromised in any way. Drop those carbs to below 20 a day - up the protein, drink oceans of hydrating non-caloric beverages and your liver will shrink to a tiny little thing very quickly - and that 20 lbs will be history. Best of luck!

It sounds like you're kicking butt following the plan, but your body just doesn't wanna cooperate! Weight loss wise sounds like you're doing well - You're averaging about 3.8 pounds a week lost, which seems like more than if you just put it in a whole number lost (At least imo - I wanna pay attention to the biggest number to keep me going =p). That sounds like a really good pace to me.
As far as stalling, I wish I could offer you concrete advice, but nothing seemed to make a difference for mine except sheer determination. My hormones went wack and I ranted a bit on my blog, which helped with the crazies. Now that I'm finally seeing a little movement, I feel much better about having survived the 3 weeks of stall. Anyway, because during this time I read hundreds of posts on stalls I will give you the advice I tried that worked for other people:
- Increasing calories by a few hundred for a few days to a week and then coming back down on calories (I found this easier by adding some calorie rich foods rather than adding more volume because I couldn't eat a lot either)
- Decreasing carbs - I try and keep mine below 40 because that's what my PCP said would help put me in ketosis
- Increasing Water - Many blogs I read talk about how you should divide your weight in half and that's how many ounces you should get. That makes like 150 ounces for me which is not realistically happening so I aimed for an extra 16oz glass per day
- Increasing exercise - it sounds like you're already doing this, but maybe doing a different type of exercise or at a different time of day - I know from other diets I've done that my body loves to get in a set routine and stop dropping weight, I gotta keep it guessing to keep losing
- Decreasing processed foods
- Increasing Protein - I got up to around 100g/day for a few days but nothing seemed to happen and I had a hard time getting that much in so I started just aiming for my target of 70 again
- Adding interval training and strength training - I did this by adding 5 1 minute jogging intervals to my walks, not allowed to lift weights yet so did a few isometric things and some wall push-ups
- Having a rich high fat/calorie sweet - I didn't end up really trying this. I wanted to, because it sounded tasty, but I was too worried about ending up binging on something, my self control has yet to be really tested and I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible! A lot of people seemed to swear by this though
- Going back to basics - liquid diet for a few days and working back up (not fun!)
None of these worked for me, but they worked for a lot of other people! I hope that helps any =) Feel free to rant if you're feeling stressed though, keeping stress in and being upset raises your cortisol and can help lead to weight gain/retention. Every time I vented I feel like I got it off my chest and could worry about other stuff for the day.
Hang in there, it will break eventually.

So....I stopped by the hospital this morning, to have my 3-month post-op labs drawn. When I started this process, my fasting glucose was slightly elevated (111)...in the "pre-diabetic" range. My HgbA1c was also slightly elevated (6.5)...also marking me as "pre-diabetic).
Today's results?? Fasting glucose - 78!!
HgbA1c - 5.6!!
Both perfectly NORMAL (as were all the other tests performed)!!!
I'm SO thrilled with this!! One of the major reasons I decided to have surgery was to avoid being diagnosed with diabetes...its truly a vicious disease, and I wanted nothing to do with it. NOW...just 11 weeks after having my surgery done...I am exactly where I wanted to be.....NORMAL!!!
To be honest, this feels better than being able to say I've lost 100 pounds...because these numbers matter, in a real health sense, ya know??
WooHOO!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE your profile picture. Zelda is my absolutel favorite!!! The triforce tattoo is one of my gifts to myself once I hit goal.

Yup, I put 6 pounds back on.
Am I upset?
Nope.
I know what I've been doing: squats, push-ups, bodyblade: http://www.bodyblade.com/en/, 1 hour walking a day. No change in diet.
My exercise routine had been put off long enough.
I knew that I lost some muscle mass during my rapid loss and that getting it back would tip the scales.
I anticipated gaining; muscles weigh more than fat but take up less space.
I look good...actually better.
Health and energy are the primary goals. Looking good sneaks in there too.
I will not allow myself to be oppressed by the slandering, digital indicator under my feet!

Welcome Carisa! Congratulations on your decision =) Keep us updated on how things go!

Welcome Carisa! Congratulations on your decision =) Keep us updated on how things go!

Im doing good...supposed to be discharged friday. No real pain but sore.thanks for all the good lucks

Are we talking weight or mass you want a lbf or just lb. You really need to get a life everyone else knows what is implied by the statement that muscle weighs more than fat. But to make it correct we need to call it lbf/volumn^3.

So far smoke free today- don't even want it. Yay!

I'm am sorry to hear this But like the others have said you're better off without him (even though it may not feel like that now). Just focus on you, and getting your life healthy! Someday he'll look back and regret what he has done, not just because you've lost the weight but because of WHO you are and what a wonderful person he gave up! You on the other hand will probably be looking back and thanking God for this bf leaving you. Who knows you may meet the perfect guy for you and be with him instead!

My boyfriend who doesn't understand struggling with weight your whole life and finally getting an opportunity to live a healthier life.
He thinks I am taking unnessicary measures.
Because he doesn't understand what I am dealing with he has left me. I partly believe that it's for the best. Maybe I need to focus on me become a healthier, stronger me and move on.
I feel so scared; I will be doing this all alone without a support system.

Thanks everyone! And my dog is adorable, though she could probably use a VSG!
Just wait until I start putting up the pics of my cat in his motorcycle jacket.