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I was really split prior to surgery but yeah, a lot of it WAS vanity. I was tired of being the biggest girl in the group, I was tired of not being able to zip even wide calf boots over my chunky legs and I was tired of feeling self conscious about my appearance no matter how nice the clothes I was wearing. I did tell myself going in that I'd be happy as a 10/12 and I really think I would have been if that's all my body would lose. But I AM a size six now and I love being a small and sometimes extra small. I love knowing that after plastic surgery I'm going to be a size four. Nobody is ever going to look at me and consider me fat again. The social thing is very real. I know that I act differently and have more confidence and that impacts how I'm treated to an extent, but there is no denying that people treat me very differently these days. Go for it! I don't know that I'll ever get down to a size two - my body just doesn't want to be that small, I think. But being a small and a size 4/6 is fantastic. I never expected to get here. Now if only I didn't have so much loose skin, it'd be perfect! ~Cheri

I'd start taking it as early as possible. I was told that the one really important thing that you need in your system BEFORE conception is folic acid. A great way to get that is a prenatal Vitamin. I take the Bellybar chewable prenatal Vitamins and I love them. They don't make me queasy even though they're just as unpleasant to chew as any other vitamin. I love that they have folic acid and Iron in them so I don't need an extra supplement. ~Cheri

Good luck! Every now and again there's one hiding that they don't see, so here's hoping you have a good chance this month. ~Cheri

Yep, you'll need your glasses. I left contacts and home and wore glasses the entire time. ~Cheri

YES! Try this and see if it helps. You may not have such an issue that you're feeling reflux but that hunger feeling could definitely be acid. Try the over the counter generic omeprazole and take one daily for a week and see how you feel. I just had a recurrence of that hungry all day feeling around two years out and had to pop back on my PPI for a few weeks and I feel much better. ~Cheri

Yep, I used a "freckle" plastic retainer during surgery and had no problems. ~Cheri

I just want to chime in on food and entertaining. In the beginning this would be tough. But somewhere around six months out this is no big deal. I bake, I cook, I entertain large and small groups on a weekly basis and I would NEVER give it up. It's fun and fulfilling for me. I've adapted a lot to suit my surgery but not as much as you might think. I eat less than my guests but so what? It is definitely something you will be able to do once you're healed. The time without food is hard but the more inventive you are in the kitchen the easier it can be for you. I didn't want to eat at all but having something nice and spicy instead of bland old chicken broth was really nice. I didn't want to eat but by the end of my liquids phase I was ready to chew anything, so yes, it's a tough spell while you heal. But once it's done, it's done. You never go back to that kind of dietary restriction again. I've learned to make my food count. I choose better ingredients and lots of flavor over quantity now and I enjoy food more than I ever did before. I might only eat a bite or two of each thing I prepare, but this is my new normal and I feel no deprivation whatsoever. This CAN be you. I never thought my life would change as much as it has, but once you start losing the weight and shedding the emotional baggage your life will improve tremendously. ~Cheri

Waiting for my period to show before I move onto the next step. Doesn't it figure that when I actually WANT to start I'm a little late? Is anyone else actively trying to conceive right now? Coops, you rock. Thank you for the reassurance. The couple-a pounds fell off already but I'm sure they'll be back once I start the estrogen next week. ~Cheri

Keep going. The weight will come off if you continue to do the right things. Unfortunately, we don't get to control the rate of loss! I was definitely frustrated at different points along my journey to goal but the reality is that you won't care how long it took once you get there. So keep doing the right things and don't worry as much about the calendar or how quickly the scale moves. ~Cheri

I never gave up spices! Reintroduce them now and see how they treat you. I never would have made it through that extended liquids phase without spicy chicken broth or hot and sour soup! ~Cheri

It's a challenge. You'll learn the balance between eating quickly enough for your time limit and eating slowly enough for your sleeve. It's a learning experience for a lot of us. The most important thing is to rest between bites, if only for 30 seconds. You should not be scooping up your next bite while still chewing one. The reason for this is so that you have a second to gauge your fullness. A lot of time the difference is made with just one small bite and certain foods are real offenders for this: eggs, bread, tortillas and Pasta all do it to me. Talk to the people around you while eating or flip through a magazine (so long as you won't eat mindlessly if you read while eating!) and take a short break between bites. You're going to eat such a small portion for a while that it's not likely you'd need more than 15-20 minutes to eat, anyway! ~Cheri

You should be fine. I had my passports made before surgery and currently live overseas and use them frequently. I have not yet encountered a problem despite the fact that I have three chins in the passport photo and could now pass for my younger sister! They're trained to look for identifiers in the face, not only your weight. If it comes up, simply explain and it should be no problem. Once you reach goal and have time, get new documents made. The only thing I've updated so far is my drivers license because I had lost enough that I was having trouble when the supermarket clerk checked my ID so I could buy beer or wine. ~Cheri

Yeah, ditto again on Lissa. I really wanted 125 pounds as my goal. It simply isn't going to happen. We really do hit a point where that's all there is. And yeah, my waist is 27" and my hips are 37" so we're pretty similar, though you must be taller than my 5'1" and some change. It took six months to shed the last twenty to get me to goal in the first place. So evaluate your diet and if that's not a problem, you might shed a few more pounds by just hanging in there. Oh, and loose skin does account for a lot. I was told anywhere from 12-18 pounds were on my body when I had a plastics consult, so keep that in mind if plastics are in your future. I'll be right at my ideal goal once I have them done, so I try not to get discouraged in the meantime. ~Cheri

Do a search here for "leak" and see what you find. It's been discussed at length. Liquids in = liquids out. So I would try to mix your shake with Water or warm tea and see if it causes the same reaction. A lot of shakes are already lactose free. I did develop lactose intolerance post op and it wasn't just diarrhea, it was extreme discomfort and gas, along with all day nausea if I ate any dairy. Yes, stay with liquids and warm liquids are best. You aren't going to get anywhere near your nutritional goals for a little while so don't push your sleeve when you can't eat. Rest and try to heal. If your pain is interfering with your daily function you need to talk to your doctor. This is not normal. You should feel uncomfortable but outright pain at this point should not be happening. ~Cheri

I started at 242 with goal at 135 pounds. It took me 17 months to get to goal. Rate of loss is absolutely an individual thing and you will not have any idea about what to expect until you're in it. I thought I'd be at goal in nine months but I was a slow and fairly steady loser (I had a pattern my body followed, anyway) with two nine week stalls along the way. I refused to do Atkins for life and consume 500 calories a day and 40 grams of carbs or less. I had surgery to break the diet mindset, not continue it. So I ate a more balanced diet and surprisingly, I found it didn't impact my weight loss either way. I did not exercise and still hate to do it, though I'm working on my arms. I do move around way more than before surgery, though, and I aim for 12,000 steps a day even though I don't do an organized workout routine. Skin is also completely individual. I had bad skin from the get-go - a growth spurt at eleven put stretch marks all over my body and my twin pregnancy in 2007 stretched me out like crazy. So even with a smaller amount of weight to lose, the loose skin is more than a nuisance. I have to wear shapewear all the time. So you really can't know how the skin thing will work out for you. Some people say that strength training helps prevent some of the sagging. I think we tend to lose a bit slower the closer we are to goal in any case, but again, rate of loss is up to your body. There are only a few things we can do to help things along and they may or may not work, anyway! ~Cheri

I had problems with forgetfulness, staying focused and fatigue that started around one year post op but starting on B12 shots and taking a new Iron supplement has me feeling better than I have since I had my twins four and a half years ago. I can remember things, stay on task, stay focused, spell again, etc. I'm not sure about long term effects, though, as I'm only 23 months out. ~Cheri

Everyone is different, so do not count on no hunger post op - make your choice to be sleeved well informed. You should search these forums for threads about this issue as it's discussed quite frequently. For most people, YES it goes away. For some it does not, and if you will not be happy with a tool that simply limits your intake with restriction this is not the surgery for you. I didn't only lose my hunger, I lost all desire to eat and started to hate food for a while post op. I didn't have my first "oh wow, that's good" meal until nearly a year out. What that allowed me to do is work on my food issues (the mental ones) while food was easily avoided. Once my appetite returned (to some extent..it's nothing like it used to be) I was able to approach my relationship with food from a much better place. In my experience, a number of people that post about hunger post op are usually struggling with acid and need a PPI OR are dealing with head hunger and the emotional issues surrounding food. But make no mistake, there are people that never lose the hunger, so again, I urge you to research this more thoroughly and make an informed decision before surgery. ~Cheri

Yep, I drink normally, too. I can't really remember when it started but you'll eventually heal enough. Wait it out, though. Big gulps of a drink early on are painful! ~Cheri

I stalled for a while around six months (for nine weeks) and lost in fits in starts the entire time. So it might just be your normal. Weight also comes off much more slowly the closer you are to goal. Everyone's dietary needs are different and I'm not trying to sound harsh. I ate over 2,500 calories a day before surgery, too...and I was gaining at a rate of a few pounds a month. That doesn't mean it was normal or good for me! If you're male and quite active your diet sounds right. If you're female, I'd say you're already eating like you're in maintenance. One thing we need to shed is all of our old "dieting" info that's stashed in our brains from years of struggling with our weight. No, we aren't going to starve to death or destroy our metabolism with a lower calorie diet, even though doctors have beaten the "1,200 calories" into our heads for years. For some of us, even the 1,200 was too much. If it wasn't too much for some of us, and if dieting really were one-size-fits-all, Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem would make every American skinny on the first go-round. So, if you feel your diet needs work, change it and be more strict with yourself. I don't advocate paring carbs to nothing and eating 500 calories a day, though it undoubtedly gets results. Track your food religiously and see where the line is. If you trim your calories by 20% do you lose at the same rate or does it pick up? If it stays the same, it's just that you're a slower loser and you can eat as you are now. But if it picks up, you know the answer lies in your diet. I was slow and steady the whole way with two nine-week stalls. It took me 17 months to lose 107 pounds. I've kept within four pounds of goal with very little effort. I eat like a person in maintenance and consume 1,400 or so calories a day of whatever I really want, but I aim for 90 grams of Protein each day. Only you really know how you're doing. If you're unhappy with your rate of loss and your diet or exercise can improve things for you, you're silly to waste the opportunity. If you're just a slow loser, join the club. Make sensible choices and keep moving and you'll get to goal. ~Cheri

Yep. I was really bad about taking my sublingual B12 post op - it just didn't seem important. After one year out I felt really run down, kinda depressed and was very forgetful. I had a panel run and was very deficient on B12 and Iron. Now I'm on B12 injections and a new iron supplement. It's been a few months and I feel a million times better. So yes, it's possible. I'd say that if you're concerned about this, be certain to get your panels done at six months, one year and beyond. I put the second panel off until I had an issue, when it could have been resolved sooner. ~Cheri

I have the feeling of pressure in my chest. Another way that I know I'm reaching my limit is when I get a runny nose or the hiccups. If I go beyond that I'll feel discomfort. You're very early out, so take it slow and steady and listen to your body even when you feel like you should eat more. I'd watch it with eggs, too, because for many people they cause a problem after just a bite or so. For the longest time I could only half a scrambled egg. I didn't start being able to eat two scrambled eggs (for an entire meal) until around twenty months post op. Everyone is different so the best thing you can do is pay attention, eat slowly and take small bites. ~Cheri

Congrats for having the courage to step forward and "own" your behavior. You definitely aren't a failure. You're coping with stress and bad feelings the way you used to do. And you're learning a hard lesson about 1) what makes us overweight in the first place (our brains, not our stomachs) and 2) how easy it is to eat around the sleeve if you're determined. The good news is while your behavior isn't healthy on any level, you did avoid putting on a significant amount of weight. Thank goodness for the sleeve, right? And you're also aware of what you need to do, instead of hiding in denial until you gain ten pounds. This is good. The first step is to stop every time you go to eat something. Start evaluating why you eat and when. This can help you curb emotional eating, a habit you must break to remain successful long term. Get that junk out of your house if possible. Go back to basics and you can do this. Atkins induction is a great way, and any diet BlackBerryJuice is following will be great, too. Having a "buddy" to do it with might help you stick with it, too. Keep your chin up during the last twenty pounds, too. It took me six whole months to shed the last twenty pounds. They go slowly. Hopefully not as slowly for you as they did for me! But hang in there. You are definitely not a failure. You've simply reverted to ingrained habits as a way to cope with a stressful situation. A lot of us stumble along our journey but as long as you learn something from this it's not a wasted experience. Best, ~Cheri

Not only will you look better but you'll burn what fat you've left more efficiently if you add more muscle to your frame. It's almost impossible NOT to shed some muscle, especially in the very beginning when we can hardly eat. You're doing great so far! ~Cheri

Little sips! Plain Water made me ill and cold water made the spasms worse. If you've only just been sleeved, you might also be experiencing spasms. Take it slow, SLOW and listen to your body. Warm liquids were my best friend right after surgery. Very soothing and impossible to sip quickly. ~Cheri

I've been trying since goal to shed a few more - my idea was to initially set goal at the highest weight I could be with a normal BMI and revise lower later. It took 17 months to get to that goal, though, and nothing I've done since then has done anything to drop more pounds. All my efforts have done is redistribute the same weight. I'm maintaining easily but I will not lose anything else, I think. I'm VERY thin under my excess skin with bones jutting out everywhere. There simply isn't much left to lose. And at this point, I'm already IN the cycle. No losing now! I'm on the hormones and trying to keep more active than usual to counteract them. They really do pack on the pounds if you aren't careful! ~Cheri