ROGER

good luck to all getting sleeved soon i had mine done nov 1 2010 my top weight was 440 i am down to 268 28 pounds from goal very excited for all of you i know the surgery has changed my health and quality of life drastically i to used dr kim. i saw him twice my initial consultation and the day of the surgery he has an excellent staff david his pa ecellent physicians assistant given me great support as well as his staff dr kim does so many surgeries he isnt the best for after surgery follow up but as far as surgeons go he is excellent i dont need a new friend i want dr who is proficient at the procedure just my two cents

lets see its may first i was sleeved nov 1st 2010 i am down from 438 to 269 for total of 169 pounds original goal was 240 i want get 238 so i can say i lost 200 pounds i feel like i have already won being under three hundred pounds again my health fantastic no bad side effects i excersise every day weights are cardio the sleeve has changed my life.ive gone from a 52 waist to a 38 waist 4x to a 2x living life again and i love it

i switched from bike and elyptical to that it really gets your heart rate up fast because of incline but without the pounding on joints of jogging and i burn more calories with that then same time on a bike

way go keep up good work

i use to do 4 hrs cardio a week 2 days bike 2 days treadmill on steep incline speed walking ive cut down to 2 half hours of cardio i lift weights 6 days week i work each body part twice a week at very fast pace i usually do 5 sets of 10 20 reps of each excersise doing 6 to 7 different excersise for each body part i can get 2 body parts in at a very high pace usually 30 minutes each body part 30 seconds 1 minute between sets some times i will do one excersise for one body part do another excersise for another supersetting with no rest just different parts i do thirty minutes of stretching also twice a week

how much cardio do you do i use to do 4 hrs a week but i lift weights an hr a day 6 times a week and have cut my cardio back to 3 half hour sessions of treadmill at highest incline at 3.7 miles hour i burn over 500 calories a session i do one hr ride on bike on sundays doing intervals going as fast as i can for 1 minute cruising around 2o mph the next 3 im up to about 22.5 mph on hr bike ride

i would like to say that loseing weight has drastically improved my health but the excersise cardio weight training have made me feel more energetic excited and optimistic about my future health .

your more than half way there youd be suprised how much energy and how much better you will feel if you start excersiseing

thanks mg2 hopefully i can get this last 34 pounds of in the next three months my main goal is to reach my 245 weight the second is to get my body fat percentage below 20 percent to be in the teens but reaching my weight goal by nov 1st would be acceptable

LETS SEE I HAD MY SURGERY NOV 1 2010 I AM 1 YEAR AND 5 MONTHS OUT MY ORIGINAL GOAL WAS TO HAVE ALL WEIGHT OFF IN 2 YEARS SO ITS NOT COME OFF INSTANTLY ALOT OF HARD WORK I LOST ALOT THE FIRST 6 MONTHS ITS BEEN SLOW AND STEADY SINCE THEN I HAD ONE MAJOR STALL THAT WAS NOV THRU JAN 1 OF THIS YEAR MY FAULT I ATE HORRIBLY LOTS CARBS BAD CARBS SWEETS THROUGH HOLIDAYS I WAS 319 ON JAN 3 THATS WHEN I GOT REFOCUSED ON GETTING REST WEIGHT OFF I GAINED ONE POUND OVER BAD EATING PERIOD BUT THATS DO TO ALL THE EXCERSISE I DO IM AT 279 NOW SO IVE LOST 4O POUNDS THE LAST THREE MONTHS ACTUALLY I DIDNT REALLY GET SERIOUS TILL THE 7TH OF JANUARY SO A LITTLE LESS THAN THREE MONTHS THATS ABOUT 14 POUNDS A MONTH IM HOPEING BE AT GOAL BY END OF JUNE

im 34 pounds from goal 245 i will have lost 193 pounds once i reach it hopeing be there by end of june   

awesome good for you

man dont get down on your self its good set high goals but every one loses differently i was 438 pre op 418 day of surgery i basically lost 120 in thirteen months i got really down on my self for not being at my first goal of being under 300 pounds after a year. i ate horribly thru holidays though i kept up my excersise routine and got refocused after the first of year i actually gained 1 pound over those two months not bad for as bad as i ate. three months later im down forty more pounds to 279 my goal is 245 my highschool football weigth i should do that easily by my two year anniversary actually im glad ive lost the weight a little slower as ive had none of the negatives of loseing weight to fast my muscle has actually increased because of the weightlifting my skin has stayed pretty tight for the amount of weight ive lost im down 159 34 to go hang in there bro just stay the course excesise get your Protein Water in stay away from starchy carbs you will get there

my nsv moment would be how i feel i was 46 felt like 76 would get out breath walking up couple flights of stairs my health and how i feel is night day i actually look forward to lifting weights going to the gym dropping 12 inches of my waist and 152 pounds is great too. and oh id have say i feel like im 29 again and that feeling is better than any pizza are double cheeseburger and fries lol

CONGRATS LIKE YOU I HAD TWO POUNDS LOSE STARTED AT 438 IM DOWN TO 288 FEEL LIKE A NEW MAN AT MY COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEIGHT TRYING GET 24O MY HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL WEIGHT 48 GO GREAT START BY WAY I WAS SHOOTING FOR YEAR AND HALF TO LOSE WEIGHT HOPE MAKE IT CONGRATS GOOD LUCK

arlington texas here im 15 months post op down 146 pounds 52 go

HEY CIRCA SOUNDS LIKE WE WERE ABOUT THE SAME WEIGHT WHEN I STARTED I WAS 438 WHEN I STARTED 15 MONTHS AGO ACTUALLY 16 MONTHS WITH PREOP liquid diet I AM DOWN TWO 292 FROM A 52 WAIST 66 COAT TO 40 INCH WAIST AND 56 COAT HAVE FIFTY MORE POUNDS GO I CAN TELL YA ITS BEST THING I EVER DID I HAD HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE OUT OF CONTROL DIABETES ON INSULIN AND THREE DIFFERENT pills METPHORMIN AVANDIA AND JANUVIA HIGH CHOLESTROL TRYGLYCERIDES. ALL THATS GONE AWAY NO MORE INSULIN PERFECT BLOOD PRESSURE 117 OVER 78 GREAT CHOLESTROL AND TRYGLECRIDES CAN DO HR CARDIO AT TIME LIFT WEIGHTS 4 TO FIVE TIMES A WEEK IM BETTER SHAPE KNOW AT 47 THEN WHEN I WAS 37

IM VERY MOTIVATED TO GET TO MY GOAL THIS YEAR

IM FIFTEEN MONTHS OUT IVE LOST 146 I HAVE A LITTLE MORE GO 52 LEFT TRYING HIT BY MY 2YR ANNIVERSARY NOV 1 THAT GIVES ME 9 MONTHS I LIFT WEIGHT 4 TIMES A WEEK AND DO CARDIO 4 HRS A WEEK I WORK OUT ON MY lunch BRAKES 3 DAYS A WEEK AND ALSO LIFT ON MY DAYS OFF AND DO HOUR OF CARDIO ON DAYS OFF I GO AND DO 45 TO 30 MINUTES NIGHTS I LIFT AT WORK THEN WHEN I GET OFF I DO CARDIO

IVE BEEN WALKING ON TREADMILL AT LEVEL13 INCLINE AND BURN 120 CALORIES EVERY 10 MINUTES AT ABOUT 3.6 MILE HR PACE VERY FAST WALK ARE SLOW JOG

I WORK OUT AT 24 HOUR FITNESS IN ARLINGTON BY PARKS MALL HAD MY SURGERY 15 MONTHS AGO DOWN 146 POUNDS 52 GO

ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT SURGERY ARE MY JOURNEY WOULD BE GLAD TO HELP HAD MY SURGERY NOV 1ST 2010 WAS 438 DOWN TO 292 IN 15 MONTHS TOTAL LOSS OF 146 POUNDS 52 POUNDS TO MY GOAL OF 240 HOPE REACH IT BY NOV 1 2012 . I CAN TELL YOU THIS HAVEING SLEEVE WAS BEST DECISION IVE EVER MAD TO IMPROVE MY HEALTH AND ENERGY LEVEL

I HAD MY SURGERY ON NOV 1 2010 LOST TWENTY POUNDS PRE OP HIGH WEIGHT 438 WEIGHT AS OF FEBUARY 16 2012 292 TOTAL OF 146 IN FIFTEEN MONTHS 52 POUNDS TO GO TO REACH MY GOAL WEIGHT FOR TOTAL LOSS OF 198

I TOOK TWO WEEKS OFF CAUSE I HAD VACATION TIME I COULD OF GONE BACK PROBALY AFTER 4 I HAD NO PAIN AFTER A WEEK BUT IT WAS NICE HAVE THE XTRA WEEK I WOULD THINK 2 WEEKS WOULD GIVE YOU PLENTY OF TIME TO HEAL WITH NO COMPLICATIONS I WAS WALKING AROUND THENEIGHBORHOOD FROM FIRST DAY I GOT HOME

One year (minus 21 days)

I am doing my one year sleevaversary post a couple weeks early because I am going to be very busy with travel and projects over the next month. So, here’s what the last 344 days have been like…

If you have followed my posts, you know I was a band to sleeve revision. I was a low BMI (31) and my original goal was to lose about 60 pounds. At this point, I have surpassed my goal and lost 67 pounds. In all honesty, it is probably even a little more because I didn’t weigh myself the week I went in for surgery. But, who’s counting? :-) Weight progress to-date: 195 (probably closer to 200 in reality) to 128.

The first 2 months, I was so exhausted I could barely hold my head up. It was bad. No real pain after the pesky drain area healed up. However, I have never had a Protein drink through this whole process. Just couldn’t do it. And I probably suffered for it. Energy didn’t get back to normal levels for several months, but the first 8-10 weeks was seriously bad. It was depressing on a lot of levels. I ate a lot of mashed sweet potato, yogurt, ricotta cheese with mashed chicken in it, runny oatmeal, cream cheese with deli meat, mini-brie bites from Trader Joes, and TONS of cottage cheese.

Another deficiency on my part: never drinking enough Water. I still don’t. It has tasted terrible ever since surgery. At this point I drink Arrowhead sparkling Water almost exclusively. Something about the bite of the bubbles is very refreshing and easy for me to handle. I burp a lot, but it is the only way I get any fluids in. I drink about 30 oz of Fluid a day.

Around the 5^th month, the hair started falling out. I had cut my hair short because I was too exhausted to hold a blow dryer, so no one could notice the difference. I have very thick hair. I only noticed because I had tons of hair coming out in my hand when I washed it. It has stopped without any supplements or change in diet.

I took a PPI for about 6 months and then stopped. Haven’t needed it since

I took Vitamins for about 4 months and then stopped - I am Vitamin D deficient and the MD wants me to take Vit D tabs. I do my best :-) All other bloodwork is consistently good.

Although I moved on to more normal foods over time, I found that I couldn’t eat just anything. Right around the 9 month mark I found I could eat whatever was in front of me (bread, rice, Soup, etc). This has been great for me because I used to have a lot of anxiety about needing food and not being able to find something.

My daily eating habits are a bit different from most of the folks on the board, from what I have read. I still have to eat 6 or more times a day to get in enough calories to function. I do not limit myself on sugar, carbs, or anything – but I do have certain foods that make me feel better. I always have Protein because I feel good when I eat it. I keep myself from getting low blood sugar that way. However, I do eat a dark chocolate covered graham cracker from Starbucks most days as well. I get a tall mocha / no whip with 2 packets of sugar in the raw most days too. The sugar doesn’t seem to bother me, but I do always have Snacks / meals with protein throughout the day.

Things that surprised me after surgery: my taste buds are COMPLETELY different. I used to hate dark chocolate, now I love it. Never drank coffee before, now I have a daily mocha habit. Most sweet things are way too sweet. I can’t really eat spicy food anymore because it makes my tummy feel bad, which sucks because I love spicy food. I used to be a vodka martini gal, now I only drink wheat beer or anything with rum in it. Weird.

Things that I will not eat: ice cream or Peanut Butter. I tried ice cream a few times over the past several months and, boy did I regret it. I got the sweats and felt like I was going to throw up for 30 minutes or so after eating it. I have no idea why. Can’t be the sugar content because I eat sugary stuff every day, in some form. Can’t be the lactose – ½ of my diet was cheese and yogurt for months. Whatever it is, the reaction was so bad that I am not even tempted to eat it again. Peanut Butter (by itself) gives me the worst gas / stomach aches. Like, doubled over, feel like I am being stabbed kind of stomach aches.

I don’t like to eat rice because it expands in my tummy and makes me uncomfortable. I can eat a giant bowl of tortilla chips (major slider), and it doesn’t bother me a bit. I still have to remind myself to wait a minute or two after I take a bite because I don’t really know how a certain food is going to feel in my stomach until it makes the journey. I do still have the “one more bite” compulsion and it is still very uncomfortable.

What else can I think of? I want to be detailed for those of you just starting out…

I haven’t vomited once since surgery, for any reason.

At 5’6” and 128 pounds, I wear size 8 pants and size small / 4 top. Bra size is 32 DD/DDD, but the boobs are pretty sad when I take the bra off. Most of my excess skin is in the pregnancy areas. My stomach is a mess and my boobs are pretty sad. But, I can finally see my c-section scar without assistance, so that is pretty good J

On a more personal note, I can say that this journey has totally been worth it, even though it was difficult mentally. The hardest part for me was feeling like I was fragile. I felt like I was vulnerable about what I could eat. I also was exhausted a lot of the time and I still have a fear of vigorous exercise because of it. I still get anxious if I don’t have food around because I am afraid my body will get “empty” and that feels terrible. I don’t have real hunger pains or rumbles. I just feel empty and if I wait too long, I start to shake and get light headed.

I finally feel like myself again. I am the same weight I was when I was in my early twenties. Looking at my body comp, I could probably lose another 5-10 pounds (I weighed 112 in high school and was perfectly healthy). I am not looking to lose weight. In fact, I was happy at 150. At this point, I don’t think I could gain weight if I tried. I literally eat all day long and stay the same or lose .5 to 1 pound a month. We’ll see how I am holding up in another year…

My advice to fellow sleevers: Don't weigh yourself every day!!!! Seriously, once every week or two will do it. I only weigh once a month now. You will drive yourself crazy with the scale, and you don't have to. Also, keep coming to this forum. There are some great people here that are very supportive.

Good luck to all of you. And, especially for the former lap band folks: keep your chin up. There is hope after that band fails you. I know because I have been there, walked through it, and I am really happy on the other side.

I GUESS THE SAVEING GRACE FOR ME IS THAT I KEPT EXCERSISEING QUITE A BIT LIFTING 4 TIMES A WEEK AND CARDIO 4 HOURS A WEEK THATS PROBALY THE ONLY REASON I DIDNT GAIN 10 OR 15