NY Lou

hi everyone! its been awhile since ive posted. im actually going to be running the boston marathon in a few months and im so excited about this! ill be doing it again for charity, the jimmy v foundation for cancer research. ive committed to raising $6000 to fight this terrible illness and If anyone here has been affected in some way by cancer and you would like to donate to the jimmy v foundation for cancer research and support my run as well as a worthy cause, feel free to click the link that follows this post. your donation is 100% tax deductible. thank you and look for another post from me in the forums with my 4.5 year update (for the last 2 years or so ive steadily stayed in the mid 190's and that's where I am today). thank you and everyone have a great day! http://jimmyv.convio.net/site/TR/Endurance/General?px=1409952&pg=personal&fr_id=1370

jess9395, congrats on running a marathon! ive only run 2 full marathons and that's probably going to be it for me. it takes too much to train and prepare for that distance and I think ill just be sticking to half marathons from this point forward. being that im from nyc I wanted to run the nyc marathon once to just run my hometown race. it was an incredible experience as there was so many people cheering us all on and I don't think any other race ever can compare to that one. I didn't get in through the lottery so I ran for charity, the jimmy v foundation for cancer research. if you do ever decide to run another marathon definitely try and make it the nyc one! and again I say great job on your weight loss, you look awesome!

yes jess9395 it is an older post but I did just run the 26.2 mile nyc marathon on nov. 1 which was 2 months ago. I try to run 3-4 times a week for exercise and schedule a few races a year to have a race to look forward to. thanks for the kind words and best of luck to you as well and I can see you too have done very well regarding your weight, so congrats to you too!

if I had to pay for the full tummy tuck it would of cost about $14,000. because the insurance paid for the panniculectomy part of the procedure, I only had to pay the difference which was $8500. also remember im in New York City and prices here may be more expensive than other areas. it was the best money ive ever spent! take care.

I haven't posted for a while and just wanted to send this update. I was sleeved in march 2013 at about 300 lbs and reached my goal in jan 2014 at around the low 180's. today, Aug. 20, 2014, I still weigh 182, so since jan I have basically maintained my weight in between 180-185 so I think this is the weight I will permanently stay at. I exercise 3-4 times a week. over the last 1.5 years ive become a runner and do about 15-20 miles per week. i started out by just walking but now ive also completed a few 13.1 mile half marathons and earlier this year I finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine and completed a 26.2 mile full marathon. I can definitely eat a lot more now that I did when I was first sleeved, but I do make the right food choices of what I put in my mouth. I can see that if I made bad food choices I could easily gain back 15-20 lbs or even more because like I said, I can eat a lot more now than I could a year ago. so making a lifestyle change is critical for long term success with the sleeve. if you don't make the correct lifestyle changes, eventually you will stop losing weight and as your ability to eat more increases, you could actually start gaining weight again. thankfully ive been one of the lucky ones and ive had no complications or trouble eating. I never hit any serious plateaus as I went from around 300 to the low 180's very steadily. but I did work the program and I always ate right and I always made time for exercise. I think these last 2 steps is what truly made me successful and made my journey an easy one. heres a few current pics from this month. life is good, the sleeve is the best thing that's ever happened to me and at the age of 51 im in the best shape of my life! if any of you have any questions for a 1.5 year out sleever, ask away and ill gladly answer.

reply to olronir: hi and thanks for your message. i see your numbers are very similar to mine. you started about the same weight as my high weight and your goal is what my goal was, which is 180. unfortunately I had a lot of loose skin and I just got a tummy tuck 2.5 months ago. I got my insurance to pay for a panniculectomy which i had to prove was medically necessary, but the panniculectomy only covers the hanging loose skin from your belly button down that overhangs your waist and basically only in the front of your body, it does not cover anything above the belly button or really any part of your sides/hips. I had to pay out of pocket to get a full tummy tuck which then added in the area above my belly button up to the chest bone, some of the side/hip area and I also got my stomach muscles tightened to create a flatter look. as far as clothes size, before I wore a size 50 pants and a 3xl shirt. now I wear a size 34 pants and a size large shirt. hope this info helps and best of luck to you on your journey.

reply to lexie: theres no reason you cant meet that goal of running a marathon in dec 2015. just remember its small steps forward now that equal those bigger steps later. so start slow, be safe, follow your doctors advice, listen to your body and youll do fine! best of luck. reply to mermaiddreams: there have been a few ah-ha moments for me. looking at myself in pictures and realizing I no longer had to try and hide my stomach any more as that was just the normal thing I did. I would always hide behind someone so only my shoulders and head were visable in the pictures. also, when I completed my first half marathon I actually cried and realized I had become an athlete. I never thought of myself as an athlete as that was never a thought I believed possible. lastly I would say just accepting the mental realization that I wasn't that heavy guy anymore. even when I had lost 60 or 70 lbs I still saw that heavy guy in the mirror. then one day I looked in the mirror and that heavy guy was gone...and hes been gone ever since! best of luck to you in all that you do - stay positive, believe in yourself and you will achieve whatever you dream.

hi unhappysleever. I read some of your posts where you say you have to eat at a snails pace. you are not alone. I know some other people who have had the sleeve and they too have trouble eating. they too must eat very slow or they feel like they will throw up. one particular person is 1 year 2 months out and just now is starting to be able to eat a little more normally. so it does take different people different amounts of time to be able to get back to normal. but eventually most do. don't give up on your sleeve and feel "unhappy" about it because its yours for life. just believe it will get better because it will. now to answer your question. you asked what would a typical day consist of food wise. im not including liquids as i always get in 64oz of liquid (nothing with calories or carbanation, just Water and crystal light and sometimes 1 Protein shake made with water). heres exactly what I ate yesterday: 8 am breakfast: 2 eggs with cheese in an omelette and an apple. 10:30 am snack: a 1oz low calorie cheese stick and a 6oz lowfat double protein greek yogurt 1 pm lunch: 3/4 of a 6 inch subway tuna sandwich with the top bread removed 4 pm snack: a mcdonalds yogurt parfait and an 8oz bowl of watermelon 7 pm dinner: 8oz of baked chicken w/a little bbq sauce on top and 6oz of steamed broccoli w/garlic 10:30 pm snack: the other 1/4 piece of the subway tuna sandwich with the top bread removed so that was yesterday. it probably seems like a lot of food and it actually is. but most of the choices are healthy and I normally make sure I eat my high protein foods first so that if I fill up its on the high protein stuff. I stay away from fried foods and I really don't eat sweets anymore except for yogurt or fresh fruit. those mcdonalds yogurt parfaits w/granola are only about 155 calories but they taste so good! and i always make sure i exercise 3-4 times a week as that too burns calories and allows me to eat more. I still enjoy eating and although I can eat a lot more now than 1 year ago, its still much much less than what I used to eat before I had surgery when i weighed about 300 lbs. I hope this info helps and again you must keep your head up and believe it will get better. best of luck to you, take care.

about a year ago I posted my story in the hopes it would give some of you hope to never quit and never give up on your dream. my dream was to lost weight and have surgery. after 3 unsuccessful times being in the operating room in 2004 at 323 lbs and then an insurance rejection of the sleeve in 2010 at 300 lbs, I was finally sleeved in march 2013. now its august 2014 and im 1.5 years post op with the sleeve. before and current after pics are below the story. below is my original story from June 2010 along with updates from August 2013 and today August 2014. if youre reading this, stay motivated and believe that it can happen to you the way it happened to me. best of luck to you all. -------------------------- ORIGINALLY POSTED JUNE 16, 2010: hi everyone! i have read so much in this forum and want to say thank you to every single poster! ive learned so much and sincerely appreciate verticalsleevetalk.com. im a 47 year old male living in brooklyn, new york. i currently weigh 305 lbs and have been overweight all my life. ive been hovering around the 300-315 mark for about 10 years. before that i hoovered around 280-300 for the prior 10 years. my high weight was 323, which was in 2004. the most ive lost dieting and exercising was about 40lbs on a few occasions, but i always put it back on. in 2004 i decided to have wls and was going to have the gastric bypass done. after going through all the steps and being approved by my insurance, i went to the hospital and was put in scrubs for the operation. then i was told by the nurse that the doctor had a family emergency as his daughter was in a car accident and he had to leave the hospital immediately. so my surgery was rescheduled for 4 weeks later. during these 4 weeks i ate plenty and went on a "goodbye to food" tour! this tour took me to all my favorite buffets and i ate like it was my last meal, even though i knew i shouldnt be doing that. 4 weeks later i again went to the hosptial and was put in scrubs and before my surgery the doctor said he couldnt operate because my sugar level was unexpectedly through the roof. i begged him to go through with it, but he said he couldnt and i needed to lose some weight and not do what i did by gaining weight and eating everything before surgery. so it was again cancelled. now i was determined to lose weight before i went back in 6 weeks for the eventual operation. in those 6 weeks i ate perfectly and lost 30 lbs. the day came and i went in a 3rd time to the hospital. again i was put in scrubs and this time all the tests, including my sugar were normal. but the doctor was surprised that i was able to lose 30lbs in 6 weeks. he sat me down and said the operation was a serious one and if i was able to lose 30lbs in 6 weeks, maybe i should give losing weight on my own another try. he convinced me to not have the operation. so i actually went on to lose a total of 89lbs in 7 months and got my weight down to 234 and felt great. i was actually running on a treadmill for a few miles non-stop and was in the best shape of my life. one year later i was again at 310lbs. i never considered wls surgery again because i honestly in my heart didnt want the bypass portion done. and im thankful that even though i was in the operating room 3 different times, i never had the bypass done. later in life i researched the lapband as it became popular, but again i didnt want the lapband either due to all the complications of it. only a few months ago i discovered the option of the sleeve, and it seemed like exactly what ive been waiting for. a tool to limit my intake, with no bypass and nothing permanently inside of me that needed followup adjustments. so im now in the process of going through everything i need to do before my dr. submits for approval to my insurance. the only thing left is the psych evaluation, which im in the process of completing and ill have it done shortly. then ill meet with my dr. again on june 30th for the final time and he will submit everything to the insurance company and ill hopefully get approved. so thats my story. its seems that bypass just wasnt for me. and ironically back in 2004 i was all for it. now today in 2010, i wouldnt do a bypass ever. im thankful it never got done and i believe it wasnt meant to be. especially being in the operating room in scrubs 3x! again, thank you to everyone who has ever posted in this forum. you do not know how much it helps, even the people like me who only read and never posted before. best of luck to everyone on their journey. ----------------------------------------- UPDATE AUGUST 6, 2013: back in 2010 after completing all the steps and requirements with dr. mcginty, I was denied by my insurance as the sleeve was considered experimental by them. they did offer me the gastric bypass or the lap band, but I refused both as I was only willing to have the sleeve done. so dr. mcginty said he believed that in a few years all insurance companies would be approving the sleeve as readily as they were approving the gastric bypass and lap band. and he was right! in jan 2013 I found out that my insurance now did cover the sleeve and I went back to dr. mcginty. I went through all the steps again and in march 2013 I finally got sleeved! today, august 5, 2013 I have been sleeved 4.5 months. in jan I weighed 291.5 lbs. today I weight 210 lbs. I lost 18 lbs before surgery and 63.5 lbs since surgery. this is the lightest ive been in 25 years and my goal is to reach 180. im finally on my way after waiting 9 years! so don't ever give up! the sleeve was meant to be for me...it just took me 9 years to get it done! --------------------------------------- TODAYS UPDATE AUGUST 20, 2014: I was sleeved in march 2013 at about 300 lbs and reached my goal in jan 2014 at around the low 180's. today, Aug. 20, 2014, I still weigh 182, so since jan I have basically maintained my weight for the last 7 months in between 180-185 so I think this is the weight I will permanently stay at. I exercise 3-4 times a week. over the last 1.5 years ive become a runner and do about 15-20 miles per week. i started out by just walking but now ive also completed a few 13.1 mile half marathons and earlier this year I finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine and completed a 26.2 mile full marathon. I can definitely eat a lot more now that I did when I was first sleeved, but I do make the right food choices of what I put in my mouth. I can see that if I made bad food choices I could easily gain back 15-20 lbs or even more because like I said, I can eat a lot more now than I could a year ago. so making a lifestyle change is critical for long term success with the sleeve. if you don't make the correct lifestyle changes, eventually you will stop losing weight and as your ability to eat more increases, you could actually start gaining weight again. thankfully ive been one of the lucky ones and ive had no complications or trouble eating. I never hit any serious plateaus as I went from around 300 to the low 180's very steadily. but I did work the program and I always ate right and I always made time for exercise. I think these last 2 steps is what truly made me successful and made my journey an easy one. life is good, the sleeve is the best thing that's ever happened to me and at the age of 51 im in the best shape of my life! NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER STOP BELIEVING THAT YOU CAN DO IT! I HAD 9 YEARS TO QUIT AND STOP BELIEVING BUT I NEVER DID! IF I CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU! BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ALL, BOTH PRE-SURGERY AND POST OP READERS. below are some before and current after pics. if anyone has any questions for a 1.5 year post op sleever, feel free to ask.

about a year ago I posted my story in the hopes it would give some of you hope to never quit and never give up on your dream. my dream was to lost weight and have surgery. after 3 unsuccessful times being in the operating room in 2004 at 323 lbs and then an insurance rejection of the sleeve in 2010 at 300 lbs, I was finally sleeved in march 2013. now its august 2014 and im 1.5 years post op with the sleeve. before and current after pics are below the story. below is my original story from June 2010 along with updates from August 2013 and today August 2014. if youre reading this, stay motivated and believe that it can happen to you the way it happened to me. best of luck to you all. -------------------------- ORIGINALLY POSTED JUNE 16, 2010: hi everyone! i have read so much in this forum and want to say thank you to every single poster! ive learned so much and sincerely appreciate verticalsleevetalk.com. im a 47 year old male living in brooklyn, new york. i currently weigh 305 lbs and have been overweight all my life. ive been hovering around the 300-315 mark for about 10 years. before that i hoovered around 280-300 for the prior 10 years. my high weight was 323, which was in 2004. the most ive lost dieting and exercising was about 40lbs on a few occasions, but i always put it back on. in 2004 i decided to have wls and was going to have the gastric bypass done. after going through all the steps and being approved by my insurance, i went to the hospital and was put in scrubs for the operation. then i was told by the nurse that the doctor had a family emergency as his daughter was in a car accident and he had to leave the hospital immediately. so my surgery was rescheduled for 4 weeks later. during these 4 weeks i ate plenty and went on a "goodbye to food" tour! this tour took me to all my favorite buffets and i ate like it was my last meal, even though i knew i shouldnt be doing that. 4 weeks later i again went to the hosptial and was put in scrubs and before my surgery the doctor said he couldnt operate because my sugar level was unexpectedly through the roof. i begged him to go through with it, but he said he couldnt and i needed to lose some weight and not do what i did by gaining weight and eating everything before surgery. so it was again cancelled. now i was determined to lose weight before i went back in 6 weeks for the eventual operation. in those 6 weeks i ate perfectly and lost 30 lbs. the day came and i went in a 3rd time to the hospital. again i was put in scrubs and this time all the tests, including my sugar were normal. but the doctor was surprised that i was able to lose 30lbs in 6 weeks. he sat me down and said the operation was a serious one and if i was able to lose 30lbs in 6 weeks, maybe i should give losing weight on my own another try. he convinced me to not have the operation. so i actually went on to lose a total of 89lbs in 7 months and got my weight down to 234 and felt great. i was actually running on a treadmill for a few miles non-stop and was in the best shape of my life. one year later i was again at 310lbs. i never considered wls surgery again because i honestly in my heart didnt want the bypass portion done. and im thankful that even though i was in the operating room 3 different times, i never had the bypass done. later in life i researched the lapband as it became popular, but again i didnt want the lapband either due to all the complications of it. only a few months ago i discovered the option of the sleeve, and it seemed like exactly what ive been waiting for. a tool to limit my intake, with no bypass and nothing permanently inside of me that needed followup adjustments. so im now in the process of going through everything i need to do before my dr. submits for approval to my insurance. the only thing left is the psych evaluation, which im in the process of completing and ill have it done shortly. then ill meet with my dr. again on june 30th for the final time and he will submit everything to the insurance company and ill hopefully get approved. so thats my story. its seems that bypass just wasnt for me. and ironically back in 2004 i was all for it. now today in 2010, i wouldnt do a bypass ever. im thankful it never got done and i believe it wasnt meant to be. especially being in the operating room in scrubs 3x! again, thank you to everyone who has ever posted in this forum. you do not know how much it helps, even the people like me who only read and never posted before. best of luck to everyone on their journey. ----------------------------------------- UPDATE AUGUST 6, 2013: back in 2010 after completing all the steps and requirements with dr. mcginty, I was denied by my insurance as the sleeve was considered experimental by them. they did offer me the gastric bypass or the lap band, but I refused both as I was only willing to have the sleeve done. so dr. mcginty said he believed that in a few years all insurance companies would be approving the sleeve as readily as they were approving the gastric bypass and lap band. and he was right! in jan 2013 I found out that my insurance now did cover the sleeve and I went back to dr. mcginty. I went through all the steps again and in march 2013 I finally got sleeved! today, august 5, 2013 I have been sleeved 4.5 months. in jan I weighed 291.5 lbs. today I weight 210 lbs. I lost 18 lbs before surgery and 63.5 lbs since surgery. this is the lightest ive been in 25 years and my goal is to reach 180. im finally on my way after waiting 9 years! so don't ever give up! the sleeve was meant to be for me...it just took me 9 years to get it done! --------------------------------------- TODAYS UPDATE AUGUST 20, 2014: I was sleeved in march 2013 at about 300 lbs and reached my goal in jan 2014 at around the low 180's. today, Aug. 20, 2014, I still weigh 182, so since jan I have basically maintained my weight for the last 7 months in between 180-185 so I think this is the weight I will permanently stay at. I exercise 3-4 times a week. over the last 1.5 years ive become a runner and do about 15-20 miles per week. i started out by just walking but now ive also completed a few 13.1 mile half marathons and earlier this year I finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine and completed a 26.2 mile full marathon. I can definitely eat a lot more now that I did when I was first sleeved, but I do make the right food choices of what I put in my mouth. I can see that if I made bad food choices I could easily gain back 15-20 lbs or even more because like I said, I can eat a lot more now than I could a year ago. so making a lifestyle change is critical for long term success with the sleeve. if you don't make the correct lifestyle changes, eventually you will stop losing weight and as your ability to eat more increases, you could actually start gaining weight again. thankfully ive been one of the lucky ones and ive had no complications or trouble eating. I never hit any serious plateaus as I went from around 300 to the low 180's very steadily. but I did work the program and I always ate right and I always made time for exercise. I think these last 2 steps is what truly made me successful and made my journey an easy one. life is good, the sleeve is the best thing that's ever happened to me and at the age of 51 im in the best shape of my life! NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER STOP BELIEVING THAT YOU CAN DO IT! I HAD 9 YEARS TO QUIT AND STOP BELIEVING BUT I NEVER DID! IF I CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU! BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ALL, BOTH PRE-SURGERY AND POST OP READERS. below are some before and current after pics. if anyone has any questions for a 1.5 year post op sleever, feel free to ask.

you look fantastic! great job!

thank you all for the kind words, theyre all sincerely appreciated. let me respond to a few of you below: BKLYNgal87: congrats on training for your first 5k! just put in the time and miles and on race day you will do great! just remember, it doesn't matter what place you come in. youre not racing against the other competitors, youre racing against yourself and trying to finish and finishing is all that matters, not the time you finish in. best of luck to you and keep running! Carlotta1: congrats on finishing a marathon, that is truly a great accomplishment! as you already know, running is a great exercise to stay fit and keep weight off, so theres no reason you cant start up again? you were able to finish a marathon, so you know what it takes to put in the time, effort and miles to be a runner. hit the pavement again, even if just for a bit and get back into it. you don't have to build up to run marathons, but just get out there and get some exercise in and youll feel great and youll see the scale moving down again. best of luck to you. SaraChavaBlingstein: you said from your side (pre-op) its hard to imagine success. before I had my surgery I used to read this forum and a lot of posters inspired me. I never posted in this forum for a long time and was just a person reading the posts. but now that ive had the surgery I wanted to post and hopefully give others the same encouragement that I received when reading these posts pre-surgery. everyone can be successful with this surgery as long as youre willing to make the life style changes along with the surgery. the surgery alone can only take you so far, but a complete life style change including what you eat and exercise is the best formula for long term success and keeping the weight off permanently. just you being here in this forum is the first step. you can be successful too, just believe in yourself and you can achieve great things. like I said before, these success stories always happened to someone else, not me. well now its me and it can be you too! again, thank you to everyone for the kinds words and best of luck to you all!

its been a little over 11 months since my sleeve surgery (march 19, 2013). yesterday I accomplished a goal that ive had since I was a teenager. im 50 years old now and just ran my first full 26.2 mile marathon! my goal was under 5 hours and I did it in 4 hours 51 minutes. ive been running ever since I started exercising after surgery and when I first started I couldn't run for more than 1 minute! after running a few 13.1 mile half marathons i started training 5 months ago for a full 26.2 mile marathon and now I can finally check that off my bucket list. today im at my lowest weight ever at 180.25 pounds. for the last 20 years before surgery I was always around 300 pounds. im so grateful for this surgery, but the truth is that if you don't use the surgery as a tool along with good food choices and exercise, it will be hard to achieve your long term goals. the surgery alone may have lost me 60 pounds, but believe me, the last 60 pounds is because of me using my new sleeve as part of an entire life style change that includes eating healthy, knowing when to say no when my sleeve is satisfied (not bursting) and dedicating myself to exercise 4x a week even when I don't feel like doing it. I never thought I would be a success story as that always happened to someone else, not me....well now its me and it can be you too! best of luck to everyone, post pre-surgery and post-surgery. just remember to stop making excuses and start making the changes to guarantee yourself success.

thank you all for the kind words, theyre all sincerely appreciated. let me respond to a few of you below: scarlet333: you should be very proud that you are attempting up to 3 miles. that shows progress and as more time passes that distance will become easier. stay with it and you will continue to improve and succeed. Bobbie McGhee: congrats on shooting for a 10k run! just take the training seriously and put in the required mileage and youll do the 10k with no problem. its all about building up to the distance by slow training and taking baby steps along the way. good luck! butterfly2014: I think its great you have goals to do marathons and walks. the only thing that I can suggest to you is that you can start walking now. you don't have to wait until after surgery to start. its the starting part that is hardest of all and if you can start walking now, even for 15 minutes, that's a bonus and a good start to getting some exercise into your life. best of luck to you. abarta83: congrats on what youre already doing! you've started and that's the hard part. the best advice I can give you to increase your distance and get that 2nd mile in is to go slower and focus more on the distance first, not the speed or how fast you can do it. even if you have to run much slower, try to complete a longer distance. once your body becomes used to going longer distances, even though youre going slower, then you can try picking up the pace and doing it faster. but by going slower and completing a longer distance youre actually training your body/muscles to handle a longer distance and eventually the speed will catch up and increase as time goes by. good luck! coffeeGrindDR: congrats on signing up for a triathlon! it doesn't matter how long or short it is, any triathlon is a great accomplishment. read my reply to albarta83 above as its good advice to increase your distance/speed. another good piece of advice to increase your distance is to do a mix of running/walking. you can run for a few minutes and then walk til you catch your breath and then run again a bit. by mixing it up this way youre actually conditioning your body to go longer. eventually the running parts will increase and the walking will decrease. you have about 7 months to train for your triathlon, so you've given yourself enough time to be fully prepared and I know you will do it. one last thing, it doesn't matter if you come in first, somewhere in the middle or last. youre not racing against the other competitors, youre racing against yourself and trying to finish and finishing is all that matters, not the time you finish in. again, thank you everyone for the kind words and before I had my surgery I used to read this forum and a lot of posters inspired me. I never posted in this forum for a long time and was just a person reading the posts. but now that ive had the surgery I wanted to post and hopefully give others the same encouragement that I received when reading these posts pre-surgery. everyone can be successful with this surgery as long as youre willing to make the life style changes along with the surgery. the surgery alone can only take you so far, but a complete life style change including what you eat and exercise is the best formula for long term success and keeping the weight off permanently. best of luck to you all!

hi everyone. its been awhile since I last posted, so heres an update. my highest weight ever was 323 lbs. i started this sleeve adventure in jan of 2013 at 292 lbs and my sugery date was march 19, 2013, about 10.5 months ago. today I weigh 184.4 lbs. ive been inbetween 181-185 for the last 2 months and I don't think its a plateau, I think this is the weight my body is going to stay at based on how I now eat and exercise. I can eat about 8oz of food at a meal, but still eat healthy and still put Proteins first. I no longer weigh or measure anything, including how much I drink because its all sort of become second nature to me now. I rarely have a Protein shake, maybe once a week as I get enough protein from the food I eat as well as the Snacks I consume inbetween meals. all my snacks are always high protein such as a Protein Bar, a lowfat greek yogurt with double protein, some beef Jerky or a lowfat cheese stick. I exercise 4x a week, mostly running. I completed a 13.1 mile half marathon in October 2013 in 2 hours and 15 minutes and ive been training since October for a full 26.2 mile marathon that ill be running in central park new York city on Feb 23, 2014, which is only a few weeks away. im ready for it as I just did my last long training run yesterday of 20 miles. in my wildest dreams I never thought I would be running a marathon, but it was one of my goals and I know with the training ive done I will accomplish it. its just amazing to be doing this at the age of 50 and im so proud of this. I used to always read this forum before I had surgery and always thought these great weight loss stories was something I always read about, but it could never happen to me. well I was wrong. it can and it did. it hasn't been easy and ive really followed the program to a tee, eating right, not cheating on what foods I put in my body and finding the time to exercise and not making excuses as to why I cant. the surgery alone will not get you this type of success, it takes a lot of effort to really use the surgery as a tool and as one step in a complete aftercare program. if you don't do all the steps, you may find some moderate success, but it wont be what it could of been and it will be much harder for you down the road to maintain if you don't make these changes permanent. heres some updated pics. feel free to ask any questions. best of luck to you all and remember, each and every one of you can be a success story if you put your mind to it and youre willing to make the changes in your life that are necessary to go along with this surgery.