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Best of luck Jane! Let us know how everything goes and keep us up to date on all the amazing changes! And Butter, do you always wish everyone a "good lick".....

I will be 3 years post op in November and I weigh daily in the morning. It helps to keep me accountable and helps with my maintenance. That being said, you have to learn to deal with the ups and down. My weight can swing 2-3 pounds from one day to the next. You are newly sleeved, you will see large drops, stalls, and maybe even some temporary gains in the numbers on the scale. The more you learn to roll with it rather than obsess with it, the happier you will be. If you can't, I would suggest in the beginning to weigh less often.

You look amazing!! You don't have to be a size S to be beautiful. You have done fantastic, I cannot believe the difference in the size of shirts.

You look amazing!! You don't have to be a size S to be beautiful. You have done fantastic, I cannot believe the difference in the size of shirts.

HA!! But I thought you had a pair of stars and stripes to show us!

What a transformation! You should pat yourself on the back. It is totally normal for weight loss to slow down, usually just past the 6 month mark. It doesn't mean it has to stop, but it does take more work. I didn't reach goal until 18 months, and I know many others that are still slowly losing 2 and 3 years out. There is no expiration date on the sleeve. If you are struggling, try tracking for a little while and see what you are really eating. Sometimes we tell ourselves that we aren't really eating that much, but when you write it all down, it adds up quickly! Congratulations on your success!

OMG!! Unbelievable!! Those don't even look like real coveralls.

Thanks!

Laura, your body is smokin'! I know you probably hate hearing this, but you really do not look like you need to lose anything!

My scale is suppose to take body fat percentage with the little currents. It says my body fat is 29.1% Oh well, I choose not to believe it!

Awe, you should have kept just 1 pair. I kept my one biggest pair for when I am feeling like I have not accomplished much. Definitely go buy a pair!

I got rid of all my clothes except my biggest pair of pants, a size 22. I hang onto them to remind myself where I have come from when there are days I still see a fat girl in the mirror.

That is amazing, and you look amazing!! And I agree, put on your biggest pair of pants pictures. I can fit into 1 leg of mine, and have my 4 year old with me, and still have room!!

When I was deciding on a goal, what I originally did was just pick a just within normal BMI (which was 140lbs for me and put me at a BMI of 24.9). In the back of my head, I never really thought I would ever make it there. I had never weight that amount in my entire teenage to adult life (maybe when I was 10, or something like that!). I just decided that I would make changes that I could live with for the rest of my life and go from there. When I reached my goal weight and even dropped a few pounds below, I did a happy dance that is for sure!! Setting a goal is a very personal thing. For everyone it is going to be different. The only thing that I wanted to do for myself was to make it attainable and realistic. I did not want to set myself up for failure by saying I want to weight 115lbs (still within normal for my height). I knew that it was something that I could never manage and would drive myself crazy trying to. Could I lose a few more pounds, well, probably, but I wouldn't be happy if it took everything in me just to get there and attempt to maintain. I had surgery so I could live a relatively normal life. I eat healthy, I am active, but I sometimes have an ice cream.

M2G Stay Safe! Been thinking of you when watching the news.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/articles/6-things-i-wish-id-known-about-weight-loss-surgery/

That was great Georgia! I was always told (and told others) that drinking with meals makes you either a) hungrier sooner or can make you throw up....now I know why I was told that and why it makes sense!

Most of us have a lifetime of habits that we are dealing with. I will be 3 years post op in November and still have habits rear their ugly head, including binging behaviors. Many times it is either related to my emotions or my hormones. There are 2 difference now: 1) I know it is happening when it is happening...sometimes I stop it, sometimes I don't 2) I don't let one bad day or one bad moment send me on a downward spiral. I have fallen off the wagon more than once in this journey, but it never lasts long and I always have climbed right back on. I think it is something that many of us will battle for a long time, maybe even a lifetime. Many times it is not only old habits we are dealing with, but just plain old human nature. I have seen my husband (who has NEVER had a weight problem) engage in the same behavior on occasion. I think the key for him is that is exactly it, on occasion, not all the time. Just like Georgia said about her friend that still thinks about a cigarette every once in a while, even after 20 years, I don't think our habits will disappear after a year or 2 years. They might not ever disappear. But knowing ourselves, our habits, and our triggers is what will help us be successful in the long run!

Laura, I love all your quotes, I need to print those off and post them all over my house. And on the family front...I, too, have been told not to lose anymore weight. I think part of that comment is it is so drastic to others to see us so differently. If you think about, they are used to seeing us overweight, not normal. When we do get to "normal", we look like shadows of our former selves to them. This has truly been my largest struggle, and I am not surprised. I actually told my husband right before I had my surgery, what happens if it is never enough. And what I thought might happened has happened. I have lost all the weight, I am back down below my initial goal weight, but still unhappy with my body. I need plastics for sure, but even then, will I be happy? Probably not.... I find I envy every thin person I see. I compare myself to every woman I see. Am I bigger than her, am I smaller? Is that how I look?? I really have no sense of what I look like to others. I see pictures of myself and still see a fat person. The size 6 I wear is relative. I have told myself that they have changed sizes so much in the last number of years that in reality I wear a size 12 or 14. I have people comment and say I am tiny and I literally laugh at them. I want to be a supermodel, but I know I never will be.... It sounds harsh, I know it does. I want to be gentler with myself. I have started telling myself everything this body has done for me and some days it helps. I kept an old pair of pants and sometimes will throw them on the remember where I have come from. Will I ever accept where I am as a good place. Maybe?? I do know that is a hell of a lot better than where I came from anyways....

I am closing in on 3 years post op and still have a hard time with just plain water. But I would try your PPI again. I keep trying to quit taking mine, and everything damn time I do, within about a week I notice a lot more nausea, especially in the mornings after I have taken my vitamins. I think it is better to take it and get your fluids in than to become dehydrated.

The worst thing that any of us can do is pretend like everything is hunky dory. That is what I always did in the past, stopped stepping on the scale, ignored my clothes getting tighter, and just being in denial overall. Then, it would be like all of a sudden, I would wake up fat and wonder how it happened!! My best defense against weight gain is routine and keeping trigger foods out of my house. I really do not have any more self control than I had before, but if the food is not there, I can't eat it, plain and simple. I have said if before, and I will say it again, the only time we fail is when we give up. You already know what you have to do, you just need to do it.

Cheri - That has to be tough with your hubby. I thought he wasn't going to be going for a while, when does he go? Laura - I hope that everything goes well with your thyroid. That is a tough one to deal with, our thyroids are so important. I hope your doc is amazing and really helps you through it all. And you will still be as gorgeous as ever, even with a little scar. Georgia, I am glad to hear that you are starting to feel a little better. FYE - I am thinking of you and your parents. My Mom has been ill for many years with MS and it is really difficult to watch a much loved parent go through difficult things. I am glad you had someone you could talk to. For myself, I haven't been following the 5:2 for a about a week or so. I have so much on my plate on the moment, that I couldn't focus on it. I am still watching what I am eating and my weight has actually gone down a little. I just found out that my hubby might have to be out of town again next week and that is my first week back to work after being a SAHM for almost 7 years. We should find out for sure in the next day or 2, but I am not holding my breath that anything is going to change. Anyways, have a great weekend everyone.

Ms. S - I actually stay away from the Quest Bars all together. They trigger a eating response in me and I have seriously eaten 3 in a day. It is something about them that makes me crave more, and they don't seem to really fill me up. Sadly, I had to part ways with them. I rarely ever do shakes either, trying to stick to regular food. I eat a lot of Greek Yogurt (plain and sweeten it myself) and a lot of meat. You would be surprise how quickly your Protein adds up when you have a chicken breast (between 25 and 30 grams of protein). Oregon - I am sorry to hear about your falls. Have you been feeling alright otherwise?? Dizzy for any reason?? I agree with Ms. S, make sure everything else is ok. Cheri - that is the reason I do not read the boards hardly ever and do not usually attend support groups. I don't want to be the one everyone is looking at for answers, I don't have them all. And I can't be positive all the time! But maybe just getting out face to face with others will help. And like I have said for myself even, we really need to learn to be gentler to ourselves. Now don't get me wrong, I am in the same boat with my thinking, but we really are not the numbers on the scale and we need to get away from defining ourselves as such. I am not saying to just let it all go and gain the weight back. Of course not. I am just saying we need to be a little more forgiving. Look at what your body has done in the last 3 years. You had surgery, had massive weight loss, and carried and birthed a beautiful baby. Your body is amazing!

That is good to know! I did not have heart burn in the beginning. I was well over a year before I noticed it was getting worse. So I started a PPI and it really helped. I have tried to quit taking it a few times, but within a week or 2, I notice I have more upset stomach and more heartburn, so then back on it I go!

I did reach goal, but it took me 18 months. Hang in there and don't get discouraged. There is no expiry date on the sleeve and for how long we can lose weight. It just might take a little more work than it did in the beginning.