Lumbeeprincess

No one should feel like they have failed. 40 plus pounds in 5 months is a lot. We would never have lost that much on our own. Be happy it's 40 plus pounds gone and not 40 plus pounds added. Even if you only lose 2lbs in a month be happy that is 2 lbs closer to where you want to be.

Im in the UNCC area, surgery is scheduled for March 4th! Started the liquid diet this morning! Bring it on! I'm so ready for this, it's not even funny.

All I'm going to say is, do your thang girl!!!
A bit of "gagging" isn't a bad thing. If you are willing to go that far for him, great. And for you ladies that don't have a gag reflex, make the noise every once in a while. I know it sounds bad, but it kind of strokes our ego a bit.

I always liked seeing photos pre op...hell I still like to see them now. So here you go!
I just under 9 months out and down 172 lbs (about 20ish pre op). I follow the 600 -800 calories/+60 protein/+64 oz fluid/-40 carbs. I haven't really exercised and maybe walk a couple of miles a week. I am overall more active and I do plan on starting regular exercise soon. I have had off plan days but I can count the number of "cheats" on both hands. I wanted to get to a normal bmi quickly and this is what has worked for me. I am a few pounds away from "normal" and want to lose about another 20. Enjoy!
Before/Size 24


9 Months/Size 10

Feeling great at 15 months post op. Almost feels like I have always been a thin person; I think differently, exercise differently, don't obsess about food or calories or points. I eat anything I want, just eat small quantities like a thin person and I always feel satisfied. I eat healthy but I eat treats too. I drink coffee, wine. I exercise regularly and I weight myself every day. I've been at goal weight since about 11 months out (85 lb loss). I am 59 but feel 35.
Need a boob job (probably will happen in May) but other than that, life if good! For those who say there are negative people on this site; I personally rarely see that. The people here have cheered me on, answered my questions, followed my weekly blog and have been a huge resource. Thanks every one!
Queen of Crop

Lately I've seen a TON of posts about lucky sleevers that drop 100 pounds in six months.
Congrats to them and to their loss. And I would never, ever begrudge anyone the right to crow about a fantastic success. It's part of why we're all here, to share the ups and downs of this surgery!
But frequently, these posts are followed by folks that feel frustrated because they aren't losing at the same pace. All too often, we forget that everyone loses at a different pace. It's easy to lose sight of the real goal (long term maintenance) in the face of the scale goals we set for ourselves. And it's also easy to forget that this isn't a race and that there's no special prize waiting at the end for reaching goal more quickly.
I would like to contribute my loss pattern so that people can see that there is more than one way to achieve a goal. Being successful is about reaching your personal goals, overcoming your personal food demons and maintaining your weight loss for life. It's not about hitting goal in nine months.
I encourage everyone else with a slow loss story to contribute their successes here as well. It's hard to research this surgery and find only the stories about extremes - people completely thrilled with surgery or people that regret every minute of life post op. The same goes for loss. When people search out stories on this, it's too easy to only find rapid loss or stall posts but nothing showing the more realistic and moderate journey many of us take. The sleeve is a permanent tool that does not have a special window of easy weight loss. There is no reason to feel discouraged when you haven't reached goal at one year out, or even two. There is nothing preventing you (short of your own body's natural stopping point) from achieving or re-achieving goal at any point post op.
I lost 60 pounds in the first five months after my surgery.
And I slowly lost 32 pounds over the next seven months.
It took me another five months to shed the final 15 pounds to my goal.
I lost 107 pounds over the course of 17 months. I stalled twice for nine weeks each time. I had months where I only lost one pound. I regularly experienced a gain of three pounds around my cycle, and often only lost weight in the last week to ten days of the month, after sitting at the same weight for nearly three weeks.
I am a success, and at 2.5 years out (and currently pregnant) I still have good, healthy eating habits and maintained my weight loss quite easily. Even 30 weeks pregnant, I am still wearing a size 6/small (in maternity clothes, of course) regardless of how I feel about my expanding body!
I learned what was important on this journey and am in better health today (not just physically, but mentally and emotionally), than I have ever experienced as an adult.
Good luck to those currently on their journey, and I encourage everyone to share their stories here so that newly sleeved folks can see that slow vs. fast loss doesn't really matter in the end.
~Cheri

Does it help that I'm 19+ months out and STILL losing? I DID lose 100 pounds in my first six months, but that was less than half of my excess weight.
Folks, it's not a race. Learn your stuff and get it done. Stalls are normal, frustrations are normal. We keep saying "it's not about the finish line, but about the journey" and it's annoying, but VERY true. At this point, I'm losing 1 pound per week, on average (it comes in big spurts... I'll lose 2 pounds in a week and then nothing for two weeks). BUT it's been that way all along, just the amounts have gone down as I get closer to goal.
I've lost over 200 pounds. Heck, I've lost more than some of the STARTING weights I've seen from the really short folks. If I can do this, you can do this. There's no time limit or expiration date on your sleeve. Treat it well and it will be good to you for many years to come.

I'm getting sleeved by Dr. Villanueva on 12/17, I love their office!

I recommend my surgeon, Dr. Roc W. Bauman, he's excellent!!!! He's very serious about my care & his patients!
He's the Doctor of Carolinas Weight Loss Surgery in Concord, NC. He practices as Medical Director of Bariatric Surgery @ CMC Northeast.
He is accredited & his practice is considered a "Center of Excellence". Over 2500 surgeries with positive results. He personally offers free info sessions at his office...it's on the website when they're having a session. I think it's worth the time & they're very informative!!! Worth taking a listen to, especially if your in search of a surgeon or information!!! There's no obligation, it's just to educate YOU!
WEBSITE: www.carolinasweightlosssurgery.com
Hopeful this is helpful to those in NC area. I honestly wouldn't have considered a doctor without a rating like his.
***BE SAFE & REMEMBER TO DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!
CWLS Office # 704-403-7580
His staff are awesome too!
TAKE CARE
Ms.DLH

Got my date! 1/10/2013. WOOHOOO!

I got my approval today! YIPEE ~ so happy! Looks like surgery the first of the year for me. Now the task of figuring out where the $4000 up front out of pocket's going to come from. Might just have to wait till tax time. :-( But, at least I know I'm approved and almost there!

We have the same doc!

Well, I found out the PCP finally faxed over the final paperwork to Dr. Bauman's office. I was told they should be sending it over to Cigna in the next couple of days. (She said usually takes one or two to get it to them). Then we'll start the waiting game on insurance. But, if you had to wait 31 - my wait is probably going to be super long with the holidays and all. :-( Thanks for letting me know at least what I can possibly be expecting to wait. Now if it happens any earlier I'll be pleasantly suprised!

So I have my final 6 month PCP appt tomorrow! Hoping to get her to finalize all the paperwork showing the clearance for surgery. Last step before Dr. Bauman's office will turn it all into ins! Then the waiting game really starts. I am hoping that somehow it works out so that I can get sleeved by the end of the year since I've already met my deductible this year. We'll just have to wait and see. Got my fingers crossed though! Anyone else with Cigna? How long was your wait after the Dr. filed?

I recommend my surgeon, Dr. Roc W. Bauman, he's excellent!!!! He's very serious about my care & his patients!
He's the Doctor of Carolinas Weight Loss Surgery in Concord, NC. He practices as bariatric surgeon @ CMC Northeast.
He is accredited & his practice is considered a "Center of Excellence". Over 2500 surgeries with positive results. He personally offers free info sessions at his office...it's on the website when they're having a session. I think it's worth the time & they're very informative!!! Worth taking a listen to, especially if your in search of a surgeon or information!!! There's no obligation, it's just to educate YOU!
WEBSITE: www.carolinasweightlosssurgery.com
Hopeful this is helpful to those in NC area. I honestly wouldn't have considered a doctor without a rating like his.
***BE SAFE & REMEMBER TO DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!
CWLS Office # 704-403-7580
His staff are awesome too!
TAKE CARE
Ms.DLH

Dr. Bauman did my surgery on Aug 23rd. GREAT surgeon no complications that all. 9 weeks & 2 days post op and down 69lbs!!

Today when I got home from work I was catching up on some things and my husband walks in the room flipping through the Soma catalog that had come in the mail today. For those not familiar, Soma is a lingerie/intimates store. Very classy, practical, yet sexy - and they have THE MOST comfy (yet cute) undies you'll ever find in your life! Of course I haven't been able to fit into their stuff for at least 6-9 months. Sigh...
Anyway, he hasn't talked much about my upcoming surgery other than the fact that he's very nervous about it. So today he comes and sits down next to me with the Soma catalog and tells me he can't wait for me to get back into wearing stuff like that again. Then I thought about it and realized he's right. I'm 34 years old and I've been wearing nothing but high waisted cotton granny panties and sports bras (because that's all that fit me now) for close to a year. Ugh. I lost about 40lbs last year (with at least another 60-75 left to go) , but gained it all back plus 30lbs this year, sizing me out of pretty much all of my undergarments and 85% of my clothes. Double ugh.
For me it was an interesting little peek into how my confidence issues due to my weight affect the people I love the most. We've been together 11.5 years, started dating when I was overweight, and I've yo-yo'd up and down ever since. He has never made a negative comment about my weight/appearance, but on the contrary has reaffirmed over and over again how beautiful and sexy he thinks I am - no matter how much I weigh. This past year brought me to a weight I've never seen before and it's squashed every bit of confidence (albeit small) that I could ever manage to muster. I don't even bother trying to look decent anymore. I wear whatever I can fit on my body (which isn't much anymore, and it's definitely not anything cute), throw my hair up so it's out of my face, and go about my day. Sometimes I forget that I'm not the only person who looks at me every day.
His comment made me feel very hopeful and excited. Excited to get back into wearing things that make me feel sexy and confident again. Hopeful to know that even though my husband has loved me and found me completely and equally hot at 162lbs and 280lbs (not necessarily in that order!), that I can finally believe it when he says that I'm mind-blowingly gorgeous to him.
My surgery day can't come quick enough!

OK I'm learning how to take these side by side photos. I need to do full body, hopefully this weekend. I've always hated taking pictures so willingly remembering to take photos of myself hasn't got into my brain yet Anyways this is me...6 weeks out and down 38 lbs!

It's been 3 1/2 years since I've been under 200 lbs so it's finally my turn to post, "I'm in ONEderland!'
That is all

I'm now in onederland. It's been a long time since I've been One hundred and something......ha ha ha yayyyyyyyyyy me.

Lumbeeprincess
Congratulations
wonderful feeling arriving to onederland - its great isn't it
continued success through your journey

Great job! Keep it up!

what a great milestone!!! YIPEE!!!

Congratulations!!