LilMissDiva Irene

Outstanding!! Thanks for sharing, this is very good and hopeful information. I hope the same for myself. Congrats on getting back on track! Hang in there!! Nothing tastes as good as HEALHTY FEELS!!

Always glad to help!

Hey girl!! Well our stats are a bit similar. I'm 5'7 and I weigh 170 Lbs. I'm very athletically built, both naturally and because I workout a lot to maintain this. I just thought I'd let you know that having stretch marks has not kept me from having my skin retract back nicely. I have stretch marks and my skin bounced back rather good, and I'm barely at goal for about 5 months now. It can take up to 2 years to see final skin retraction results. Just thought I'd make your day!!!

I'm glad to hear, sounds like the case. Feel better!! Though I know you will now.

Today I am living the THIN dream. I completely and whole heartedly accept this. I will maintain positivity constantly to keep it. I will not allow my addiction to food to take this away from me. I will continuously work hard every day to stay fit and maintain my good health. This is my promise to myself for the rest of my life!!

Being nervous and getting cold feet is probably the most common response once it becomes a reality and time draws closer to the surgery date. Do not worry!! You are NOT alone here. Please note, yes complications are possible. But what is also possible if you don't have the surgery and get healthy? Well, your chances of diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, heart disease, cancer, high cholesterol, arthritis, strokes, heart attacks... etc... you get the idea.. are far higher. All of these afflictions I've witnessed first hand and I've seen what they can do to you. They absolutely will kill you. So, on one hand you have surgery, on the other you have all those other diseases that you are very highly going to get. Put those on a weight scale and see which one I chose. You are taking the right path, do not stray! I do have a suggestion, find some people here who have experienced a leak. Ask them point blank if they regret their decision to have the sleeve. I have not seen one yet that wishes they didn't have it done. Hugs and Blessings!!! Xoxo - Change your life for the better!!

EXCELLENT NEWS!!! I'm so glad to hear your cleared for your surgery! I'm glad your medical team waited though, really but here you are now. Life's going to change but for the better. Thanks for checking in. Whoooo!!!

All you ladies ROCK!!! Whoohooo!! Thanks for sharing your photos with us. Ms Coops, I'm looking forward to your up to dates.

Being very early out, I felt fatigue A LOT! It's quite normal. I do agree with mentioned above, I think the elliptical might be a little too agressive right now. Stick with walking, and little spurts at a time. Try 3, 10 minute walks per day if that might be better. Good luck!!

I did start with week one. I could've started at 3 or 4 probably, my first sessions were really easy. But, no rush - I've got nothing but time, so I just decided not to skip ahead.

I'm so glad to hear the leak has been cleared!!! Healing prayers to you regarding your fistula as well. Better days are ahead for you it seems, thats great!

I can wear sizes XS or S in tops and anywhere from 0 - 6 in pants. @Meg - GREAT PROGRESS!! whooohooo!! @T - Look at you!! Love that smile, and I can see a difference already!! I'm glad you shared with us!! @SS - girlie you look smokin'!!! OMG I luvvv youre sweater

I'm made differently than you or others... that's why I wear the size I do at my weight.

HAPPY FEEL GOOD FRIDAY!!! I will make it easy on ya this week! Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Post up a photo of you at your heaviest, then post a photo of you today!! Whooottt!!! C'mon y'all - show us that hard work pays off!!! At my heaviest I weighed 330 Lbs. Today I am 170 Lbs. YAYYYY!!!

I think we all agree it's probably not the best idea to take our information from everyday folk and use it for gospel on an internet forum. Suggestions yes, but to medicate us, probably not the best idea.

@circa: I'm very glad I could help!! Hang in there! Just imagine that cupcake as a big ball of fat sitting in your fridge... LOL @christinaw: Headaches are a huge side effect from getting off the sugar. It does pass, hang in there! It is also caused from getting off caffeine too, so if you're getting off both, you have a double whammy! Try to flush with plenty of Water. Also, I drank some Propel or Gatorade (regular) at times and that seemed to help with the edge. Of course please take your surgeons advice though!

I've only actually seen one person on this entire website who has come forward and admitted she has lost too much weight. This was a really long time ago, and she said her BMI was in the 17's if I recall correctly. She also admitted that perhaps she now has some type of eating issues. I can't remember what exactly they were but, it wasn't what you would commonly see anywhere. I am at goal and I do continue to lose about 3-5 Lbs per month. Then again, I'm not really trying very hard to stop losing. The only thing IMO I've really done was slow down my workouts from 2 plus hours per day to about 1 hour per day. I think based on my personality it will take me some time to get the hang of letting go of the weight loss mentality. I'll be ok though, I'm far from underweight.

LOL!! No worries, your experience was not uncommon. I took getting into my foods very slowly. I didn't want to push too much, I knew (especially since I was a revision patient) that my risks for leaks would increase if I tried to. In the beginning I really only tried eggs. I don't know why but they worked for me and the Protein made me feel so good. I didn't have any tuna until about 5-6 weeks out. I stuck with pureed chicken a lot too in the beginning. Good luck! You will figure it out. If you have to substitute only one meal a day to break into solids for a few days. Also, what your sleevie doesn't like today may work next week. Just have to keep going back and trying again.

I was all self pay, so I don't want to bore you with my personal story.. But I would like to wish you well on your new journey! Taking that first step is the hardest but you can't go anywhere without it. HUGS!! You will make your way, no doubt.

Great post PDX, as always! I'm never able to fully respond to any of the "what Protein shakes should I use?" posts... I only give them directions on where to get them. Everyone's taste buds are different, and some folks don't like them no matter how much they've tried, that's ok too! Not only that, but lets not forget that I myself hated all foods post op. Everything tasted weird and I pretty much had to force myself to drink/eat anything for the first few months. I certainly don't encourage anyone to take advice over an internet forum over their nutritionists advice! When in doubt, always FIRST speak to your health care providers, which are getting paid the big $$$ and huge education to provide. As long as you're doing your best and following the guidelines given to you by your medical staff, then you are doing fine. For the record, www.vitalady.com does sell individual samples of many different types of Protein Shakes, if anyone might want to check it out. It helped a lot in my many years as a bariatric patient. Best to all.

Good info, thanks! I'm going to go check them out. And yes, I remember the Love Pats... now why don't they make those anymore???

Hahaaaa!! Best thread I've seen in a long time. I do always feel bad when Root MAN has to explain he ain't no chick, but thanks anyway. *sigh* We do appreciate our guys on here, for sure.

You look lovely Julie Keep on smilin and rockin your sleevie!!

Oh girl, when I'm hungry - I can get a real nasty temper... LOL!!! I'm usually very easy going naturally but I can get a lil grouchy when I haven't eaten in awhile. I rarely feel physically hungry so it's hard to tell otherwise, and like Anew, I usually eat on a time schedule. When I'm full, I'll give a little burp (or big one how ever you see it...) and if I go a little too far I will get the hiccups. I have never thrown up my food tho. However food will sometimes come back up with my hiccups so I can tell then I've had too much. I really try to stop before I get to that point, but doesn't always happen.

This will probably be hardest moment for you right now. The first few days of any diet are the hardest. Keep in mind several things, first - you are doing this diet to shrink your liver in preparation for a safe surgery! Your surgeon will need to work his tools around your liver and the smaller and less slippery it is will be better and safer for you. I have even heard of some surgeons sewing the patient back up because the liver was too enlarged. Don't let this be you! Second, any weight you lose doing this diet is a bonus! It will just bring you that much closer to your ultimate weight goal. You will also lose a lot right after surgery too... so say you lose 10 Lbs right now. You have 100 Lbs to lose (just an example) - well now you only need to lose 90 from the moment of your surgery. Likely you will lose 15 off the bat... LOL So that would mean you only have 75 Lbs to goal... WOWW!!! Third, just taking the first step toward weight loss surgery is demonstrating that you are ready to take charge of your life. Stop the insanity! Don't let your addiction convince you that you are not ready, because you just talking to your Dr. tells me that you are and that you realize you have a problem and are ready to fix it. Hugs!! Keep posting here for support! That's what this is all about. We are all here for you, even just to hear you vent. That's ok too.