Globetrotter

The Science of Sleep. (I'm really tired)

I am 18 months out and honestly eggs are still a gamble.. The first few months out I couldn't handle more than a teaspoon of any kind of egg, ugh they made me want to hurl and filled me up like expanding concrete. Now I can handle scrambled eggs TOO well, almost a slider food, but over-easy or omlette can bring on the slimes. And sometimes a few small bites of egg, regardless of preparation, is more than I can handle and I'm off my feed for the rest of the day, and other times I can eat 3 jumbo eggs scrambled with cheese and ham without blinking. Go figure.

I am currently in my longet stall, I have not lost weight in 60 days. I take in between 800-1100 cals a day, exercise an hour + a day, 5 days a week. This is quite frustrating. I am a year and a half out.

So my trainer was horrified to learn yesterday that I only take in between 800-1000 cals. She doesn't know about my VSG (it's group training I didn't feel like group sharing) but she pinpointed the low cals as the reason I am always dragging ass exhausted. Same goes for a friend of mine who is a former body builder, she said I can't expect to have much energy on an "anorexic's caloric intake". So how much should a 168 pound 5'3" moderately active woman take in in order to drop 40 pounds in, say, 3 months?

@Kelly - thank you! That such awesome advice! I'm going to give myself a facial tonight. @Thin - since 33?!?!???! That's so young! I made some pepperoni chips in the microwave and that seemed to help some and am now sucking down a lot of tea.

Nope.

Today I seem to be a bottomless pit and nothing satisfies, I just want ... I don't know what I want. I even picture various pure evil junk foods, trying to determine what I want, and none of them ring my bell. Then I think, do I want to exercise, am I actually dehydrated and need water, do I want to shop. Then I dig deeper and try to suss out what deeper needs might be going unmet, or anxieties, and I only find my usual worries and frets, nothing new or out of the ordinary. I've eaten chicken garam masala and a snickers bar and it isn't even 10:30 am yet!!!! I could just eat and eat I feel, but what do I want? Salt sounds good, grilled cheese, a massage, kissing, sleeping.

Yes, I ate the entire doughnut =(

Tiffykins! Give us an update girl!!!! When did you have the baby? What is sleeve post-partum weightloss like?? I'm 18 months out and have lost 130 lbs, I am a slow-a$$ loser though, I should have lost 150 by 10 months out and should have been at personal goal of 165 lbs lost by 1 year.

I ate a doughnut. I feel like I rolled in lard. =(

The weight loss giveth, and the weight loss taketh away! We are all familiar with the deflation process, the loss of substance, the skin baggage left behind. But the single worst example of this, for me, has to be the uh ... bay window effect. You know, the uh, front butt, the kangaroo pouch? Barf. I look backwards, like that scene in Spaceballs, flat in the back, round in the front! =( This is most evident when I try to wear pants and specifically, jeans. Shopping for and wearing jeans has become a grim undertaking, at least when I was super heavy I could fantasize about how easy it would be if I were small. Now the appalling truth is unavoidable, that if you have a pouchy lower gut clothes are just as humiliating as they ever where!! =( =( To accomodate my appetite for clothes and the way we change sizes I have become a devotee of thrift shops. I'm totally addicted now to the thrill of scoring a luxury brand for next to nothing. J Crew cashmere for 5 bucks? Holla! Banana Republic pencil skirt for $2? I'm on it! So I squared my shoulders and dove into the jeans section. I emerged with 2 possible candidates, one a 12P pair of at the waist straight legs of some no name brand, I canNOT do low rise, on my short frame they just stumpify me and create monster muffin top. The other was a "yeah right I'm dreaming" pair of Levi's 515's in a SIZE 10. I tried them on. The at the waists fit nicely, with minimal emphasis on the pouch, decent fit, looks good. The second pair ... I inched my way into them, shocked that I could even get that far, exhaled and sucked in, had to make the pockets lie flat because I needed every milimeter, but I got them on and zipped and buttoned. From behind they were GLORIOUS - everything you ever fantasize about your jeans doing for you - turned my butt into a firm heart shaped curvy jean-clad thing of hotness, meeeyow! They giveth ... But they taketh away ... the price for the rear end glory was that the snugness wasn't only in the tush, but in the pouch as well, every worst nightmare of front crotch biforcation, come to life =( =( =( Oh, the horror. And now I am crestfallen, as I realize that until I have corrective surgery, this will continue to be a problem, no matter what my size. I could be a size 6 and this will still be an issue, every time pants make my tush look good, the price is up front! >=[

So true, M2G, so true! My body is what it is and my genetics are what they are, the only person in my family who isn't soft and chubby is a cousin who is a professional yogi! I definitely have a lot of heavy loose skin and once I hit south of 140 I will start researching total body reconstruction in earnest. For me, being light on my feet so that I can dance better and longer is why I want to weigh less, not just for vanity. It sure would be great though if I could talk to a professional who could guide me through the vaguaries intrinsic to finishing a weight loss and those last 15 lbs.

@ Meg - that is EXACTLY perfect advice, and everything I needed to hear. @ Swizzly - how wrong you are, you are HUGE help! All my sleeve siblings, you are the support I can't do without! I had a bad cold last week, am still a bit sniffly around the edges, and chose to jut forget about calories in and exercise output and the whole shebang. I ate bean dip for dinner, had some cocktails, and slept for 3 days and you know what? I feel great! It is Monday and I am excited to get to the gym after work and prance away on that treadmill before the awesome punishment of TRX, followed by some jacuzzi time and a little tango madness. It also helps that I got quite a bit of attention from a new person in my life who CLEARLY had no problems with the size of my behind . So, chin up! Boobs out! It's show time!

Ohh it's so bad! I'm still 40 lbs from goal, down 124, and My best fitting bra currently is a 34 DDD down from an overflowing 44 G. My cup size is still so big because the skin is all still there, just empty =/ blechhh, it is so gross - wrinkled pudding skin! If I dare try to wear a demi cup bra or low cut neckline, sadsadsad, wrinkled bubbles of skin blechh!

I'm not feeling very NSVish lately, the scale hasn't moved in 55 days, but I thought if I listed some of my changes over the last 18 months that it might make me more hopeful and positive: I started out in tight 24's and am currently in 14's (or 6's, or 10's dendending on the nuttiness of the sizing). I recently bought some dedicated running shoes, and I am capable of actually using them. I got hit on by a 21 yr old (Im 33) I can wear high heels all night and just be tired from being tired, as opposed to exhausted from existing. I can suck in my stomach and have there be a difference. I stayed over at a friends house and she lent me some yoga pants to sleep in and they fit. She is a former competitive body builder and very lean and shapely and time was when no amount of stretch wouldve allowed for those pants to fit but they fit just fine and weren't even straining. Getting down on the dance floor at a club a few weekends ago and the guy I was *ahem* grinding with, our bodies were fully against each others, there wasn't an ocean of flesh between us. In bed I can sleep on my stomach or can bring my knees up to my chest. I'm still very frustrated at my slow pace, frustrated that after 18 months I'm "only" a 14 and still can't do some yoga positions because my fat gut is still in my way but, I guess I've made some progress =)

I've become a mirror-ho and there's no use denying it! =P I gaze at myself every chance I get, mirrors, windows, you name it. I wore a shirt the other day that I hadn't worn since I was in high school, and I was a Varsity swimmer and cheerleader in high school! I am 33 yrs old and I got hit on by a 21 yr old kid the other day when out with friends at a pub watching a game, and when I'm feelin' my oats, boy I strut! Picture the Saturday Night Fever strut of John Travolta, but a chick =P =P I'm making up for losing my 20's and I like it!

Starting Monday (I'm battling a cold right now) I am going to do a variation on the 5 Day Pouch and up my cardio, see what happens.

At three months out, with Dr's permission, I would think you could exercise more than 2x a week, even a gentle daily 30 mi walk will make a difference.

I ate a snickers bar for breakfast, I'm so ashamed.

At the time of my VSG I was a 44H. 18 months later I am a 34 DDD. I have lost 125 lbs but even though I've lost volume, the breasts are still there, just deflated =(. That DDD cup still isn't adequate to properly contain all the empty skin and I'm not even at goal yet. I'm afraid that when I am at goal, in another 40 lbs, that I will be a 32DD, and it will all be empty shriveled skin! =( =( I intend to get total body reconstruction after achieving goal, I think a mid C cup would be just fine.

I've bought some real running shoes, some Nike minimalist shoes that provide arch support and encourage my foot to have a mid-foot strike rather than the heavy heel strike I did have. I'm excited to go to the gym today, I'm going to walk for 5 minutes and then run as long as I can at a gentle pace and repeat this twice. =)

I ate some kettlecorn today. I feel gross =(

Hi all; I track everything that goes in my mouth, have since surgery, on fatsecret.com. My sleeve is in great condition and was made tightly with a 32F bougie. As of a few months ago all labs came back normal, maybe a tad low on the B. I have lost 127 pounds, with 40 more to go to goal. I have not lost an ounce in 55 days. I take in between 800-1000 cals on any given day, with carbs <50 and protein >70. I run, bike, elliptical, yoga, TRX, pilates, and dance tango for hours at a time, 5 days a week. I have lived like this for 18 months, still not even close to goal.

I'm so angry I could spit nails. I had surgery a year and a half ago and I am nowhere near goal. I am and have been a model sleever, high protein, low carb, low calorie, regular exercise, water, YADDA YADDA YADDA. I read, frustratedly, all of my cohort here on the forum, chirping happily about reaching goal in 6, 9, and 12 months. At only 5'3" and 167 lbs, I am still genuinely fat. My fat thighs and belly are still in the way and restrictive, I'm still at the very top of "normal" sizes in 14R bottoms. IT'S JUST NOT FAIR. And I have no genuine data to guide me on whether I should still be super low cal (<800) or what. I am upping my cardio, since my exercise has all been of the yoga/TRX variety, and I am getting back on the bandwagon of high water intake but, WTF. I should be at goal already, I want to be 125 pounds and I don't think at my stature that this is asking the moon!!!! Grr, sigh. =(

I'm just really tired of <still> being fat, over a year and a half out.