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Well, I have to say that I was watching the calendar for this day, and then it almost passed me by! Today marks 3 years since I had my sleeve done in Mexico, and I still have no regrets!
Has it been an easy ride?? Not at all. I am still learning and figuring things about. Some days I struggle with bad choices, but the good days mostly outweigh the bad days. It took me 18 months to reach my goal weight, most likely because I purposely decided not become overly obsessive about it. For many people, tracking everything works the best for them. For me, it did not. It made me extremely anxious. I had been there and done that so many times, I wanted this time to be different. I wanted to make changes that I knew I could sustain for a lifetime. Now I have been happily sitting at my goal for the last 18 months and couldn't be happier. I would do it over in a heartbeat!!
I have attached a few pictures, The First picture is me at my heaviest on my wedding day. The second was the day of surgery, I was about 40 lbs lighter than when I got married. The third picture is from shortly after I reached goal in my biggest pair of jeans (which I kept for reference and I highly recommend!). And the last picture is just take this past summer with my kids in the mountains (where I carried my daughter piggy back style part way up the side of the mountain...never would have done that before!).

Well, I have to say that I was watching the calendar for this day, and then it almost passed me by! Today marks 3 years since I had my sleeve done in Mexico, and I still have no regrets!
Has it been an easy ride?? Not at all. I am still learning and figuring things about. Some days I struggle with bad choices, but the good days mostly outweigh the bad days. It took me 18 months to reach my goal weight, most likely because I purposely decided not become overly obsessive about it. For many people, tracking everything works the best for them. For me, it did not. It made me extremely anxious. I had been there and done that so many times, I wanted this time to be different. I wanted to make changes that I knew I could sustain for a lifetime. Now I have been happily sitting at my goal for the last 18 months and couldn't be happier. I would do it over in a heartbeat!!
I have attached a few pictures, The First picture is me at my heaviest on my wedding day. The second was the day of surgery, I was about 40 lbs lighter than when I got married. The third picture is from shortly after I reached goal in my biggest pair of jeans (which I kept for reference and I highly recommend!). And the last picture is just take this past summer with my kids in the mountains (where I carried my daughter piggy back style part way up the side of the mountain...never would have done that before!).

Thanks M2G, that is really sweet that you remembered that he travels a lot. He has been gone a lot up until now, but it should slow down and he is taking 3 weeks off at Christmas.
Like I said, I have been far from perfect, but my body seems to really like being the weight I am and what I am doing is working, so I will take it. Could I be another 5 or 10 lbs lighter, sure. But I decided it is not worth beating myself up over. I picked my goal thinking I would never get to it, and when I reached it, I almost couldn't believe it. Now I am working on just being happy at my goal instead of always thinking its not good enough. Not easy that is for sure! Our brains are the biggest battle in this journey!

Thanks M2G, that is really sweet that you remembered that he travels a lot. He has been gone a lot up until now, but it should slow down and he is taking 3 weeks off at Christmas.
Like I said, I have been far from perfect, but my body seems to really like being the weight I am and what I am doing is working, so I will take it. Could I be another 5 or 10 lbs lighter, sure. But I decided it is not worth beating myself up over. I picked my goal thinking I would never get to it, and when I reached it, I almost couldn't believe it. Now I am working on just being happy at my goal instead of always thinking its not good enough. Not easy that is for sure! Our brains are the biggest battle in this journey!

Nope, I actually thought about going and trying on wedding dresses just for the fun of it! When you have to wear a size 22 wedding dress, the pickings are slim! I loved my wedding and even some of my photos I don't mind, but it is not were I wanted to be weight wise when I got married and didn't get my dream dress.

Nope, I actually thought about going and trying on wedding dresses just for the fun of it! When you have to wear a size 22 wedding dress, the pickings are slim! I loved my wedding and even some of my photos I don't mind, but it is not were I wanted to be weight wise when I got married and didn't get my dream dress.

Well, I have to say that I was watching the calendar for this day, and then it almost passed me by! Today marks 3 years since I had my sleeve done in Mexico, and I still have no regrets!
Has it been an easy ride?? Not at all. I am still learning and figuring things about. Some days I struggle with bad choices, but the good days mostly outweigh the bad days. It took me 18 months to reach my goal weight, most likely because I purposely decided not become overly obsessive about it. For many people, tracking everything works the best for them. For me, it did not. It made me extremely anxious. I had been there and done that so many times, I wanted this time to be different. I wanted to make changes that I knew I could sustain for a lifetime. Now I have been happily sitting at my goal for the last 18 months and couldn't be happier. I would do it over in a heartbeat!!
I have attached a few pictures, The First picture is me at my heaviest on my wedding day. The second was the day of surgery, I was about 40 lbs lighter than when I got married. The third picture is from shortly after I reached goal in my biggest pair of jeans (which I kept for reference and I highly recommend!). And the last picture is just take this past summer with my kids in the mountains (where I carried my daughter piggy back style part way up the side of the mountain...never would have done that before!).

Well, I have to say that I was watching the calendar for this day, and then it almost passed me by! Today marks 3 years since I had my sleeve done in Mexico, and I still have no regrets!
Has it been an easy ride?? Not at all. I am still learning and figuring things about. Some days I struggle with bad choices, but the good days mostly outweigh the bad days. It took me 18 months to reach my goal weight, most likely because I purposely decided not become overly obsessive about it. For many people, tracking everything works the best for them. For me, it did not. It made me extremely anxious. I had been there and done that so many times, I wanted this time to be different. I wanted to make changes that I knew I could sustain for a lifetime. Now I have been happily sitting at my goal for the last 18 months and couldn't be happier. I would do it over in a heartbeat!!
I have attached a few pictures, The First picture is me at my heaviest on my wedding day. The second was the day of surgery, I was about 40 lbs lighter than when I got married. The third picture is from shortly after I reached goal in my biggest pair of jeans (which I kept for reference and I highly recommend!). And the last picture is just take this past summer with my kids in the mountains (where I carried my daughter piggy back style part way up the side of the mountain...never would have done that before!).

Well, I have to say that I was watching the calendar for this day, and then it almost passed me by! Today marks 3 years since I had my sleeve done in Mexico, and I still have no regrets!
Has it been an easy ride?? Not at all. I am still learning and figuring things about. Some days I struggle with bad choices, but the good days mostly outweigh the bad days. It took me 18 months to reach my goal weight, most likely because I purposely decided not become overly obsessive about it. For many people, tracking everything works the best for them. For me, it did not. It made me extremely anxious. I had been there and done that so many times, I wanted this time to be different. I wanted to make changes that I knew I could sustain for a lifetime. Now I have been happily sitting at my goal for the last 18 months and couldn't be happier. I would do it over in a heartbeat!!
I have attached a few pictures, The First picture is me at my heaviest on my wedding day. The second was the day of surgery, I was about 40 lbs lighter than when I got married. The third picture is from shortly after I reached goal in my biggest pair of jeans (which I kept for reference and I highly recommend!). And the last picture is just take this past summer with my kids in the mountains (where I carried my daughter piggy back style part way up the side of the mountain...never would have done that before!).

Well, I have to say that I was watching the calendar for this day, and then it almost passed me by! Today marks 3 years since I had my sleeve done in Mexico, and I still have no regrets!
Has it been an easy ride?? Not at all. I am still learning and figuring things about. Some days I struggle with bad choices, but the good days mostly outweigh the bad days. It took me 18 months to reach my goal weight, most likely because I purposely decided not become overly obsessive about it. For many people, tracking everything works the best for them. For me, it did not. It made me extremely anxious. I had been there and done that so many times, I wanted this time to be different. I wanted to make changes that I knew I could sustain for a lifetime. Now I have been happily sitting at my goal for the last 18 months and couldn't be happier. I would do it over in a heartbeat!!
I have attached a few pictures, The First picture is me at my heaviest on my wedding day. The second was the day of surgery, I was about 40 lbs lighter than when I got married. The third picture is from shortly after I reached goal in my biggest pair of jeans (which I kept for reference and I highly recommend!). And the last picture is just take this past summer with my kids in the mountains (where I carried my daughter piggy back style part way up the side of the mountain...never would have done that before!).

Well, I have to say that I was watching the calendar for this day, and then it almost passed me by! Today marks 3 years since I had my sleeve done in Mexico, and I still have no regrets!
Has it been an easy ride?? Not at all. I am still learning and figuring things about. Some days I struggle with bad choices, but the good days mostly outweigh the bad days. It took me 18 months to reach my goal weight, most likely because I purposely decided not become overly obsessive about it. For many people, tracking everything works the best for them. For me, it did not. It made me extremely anxious. I had been there and done that so many times, I wanted this time to be different. I wanted to make changes that I knew I could sustain for a lifetime. Now I have been happily sitting at my goal for the last 18 months and couldn't be happier. I would do it over in a heartbeat!!
I have attached a few pictures, The First picture is me at my heaviest on my wedding day. The second was the day of surgery, I was about 40 lbs lighter than when I got married. The third picture is from shortly after I reached goal in my biggest pair of jeans (which I kept for reference and I highly recommend!). And the last picture is just take this past summer with my kids in the mountains (where I carried my daughter piggy back style part way up the side of the mountain...never would have done that before!).

And I just realized that I am wearing the same shirt...I really like that shirt!!

Well, I have to say that I was watching the calendar for this day, and then it almost passed me by! Today marks 3 years since I had my sleeve done in Mexico, and I still have no regrets!
Has it been an easy ride?? Not at all. I am still learning and figuring things about. Some days I struggle with bad choices, but the good days mostly outweigh the bad days. It took me 18 months to reach my goal weight, most likely because I purposely decided not become overly obsessive about it. For many people, tracking everything works the best for them. For me, it did not. It made me extremely anxious. I had been there and done that so many times, I wanted this time to be different. I wanted to make changes that I knew I could sustain for a lifetime. Now I have been happily sitting at my goal for the last 18 months and couldn't be happier. I would do it over in a heartbeat!!
I have attached a few pictures, The First picture is me at my heaviest on my wedding day. The second was the day of surgery, I was about 40 lbs lighter than when I got married. The third picture is from shortly after I reached goal in my biggest pair of jeans (which I kept for reference and I highly recommend!). And the last picture is just take this past summer with my kids in the mountains (where I carried my daughter piggy back style part way up the side of the mountain...never would have done that before!).

Well, I have to say that I was watching the calendar for this day, and then it almost passed me by! Today marks 3 years since I had my sleeve done in Mexico, and I still have no regrets!
Has it been an easy ride?? Not at all. I am still learning and figuring things about. Some days I struggle with bad choices, but the good days mostly outweigh the bad days. It took me 18 months to reach my goal weight, most likely because I purposely decided not become overly obsessive about it. For many people, tracking everything works the best for them. For me, it did not. It made me extremely anxious. I had been there and done that so many times, I wanted this time to be different. I wanted to make changes that I knew I could sustain for a lifetime. Now I have been happily sitting at my goal for the last 18 months and couldn't be happier. I would do it over in a heartbeat!!
I have attached a few pictures, The First picture is me at my heaviest on my wedding day. The second was the day of surgery, I was about 40 lbs lighter than when I got married. The third picture is from shortly after I reached goal in my biggest pair of jeans (which I kept for reference and I highly recommend!). And the last picture is just take this past summer with my kids in the mountains (where I carried my daughter piggy back style part way up the side of the mountain...never would have done that before!).

Congratulations Butter, what an accomplishment you have made in such a short period of time!! You are an inspiration to so many!

I had posted before in a separate topic, but will post here too! I love seeing other pictures and find them inspirational, so I will post mine too!

Good it's happened a lot since the switch I was able to edit one of mine..but another thread I started and put progress pics up has all these random chicks on it now..
My favorite so far though is Jane's swimsuit thread instead of her in a bikini it a dog wearing an bandana

I had posted before in a separate topic, but will post here too! I love seeing other pictures and find them inspirational, so I will post mine too!

I had posted before in a separate topic, but will post here too! I love seeing other pictures and find them inspirational, so I will post mine too!

I would say, by definition, I was a slow loser. I had a total of 80.5 lbs that I wanted to lose to my goal after I had my surgery.
In the first 6 months, I lost 55 lbs. Then, it slowed to a crawl.
In the next 6 months, I lost 21.5 lbs
I stalled at this point for 3 months and I actually thought I might be done losing, then I lost 3 more pounds, now at 15 months post op.
Once again I stalled for about 2 months and thought I was done losing, still about 5 or so pounds from goal, but I was really that worried about those 5lbs.
Then, 18 months post op, I hit my goal weight of 140lbs and 80.5 lbs lost. In the months following, I dropped a few more pounds!
Now I have a 3-4 pound weight fluctuation. My cycle is a major factor in how much I weigh, so I try not to let it bother me. I can go up as much as 2 or 3 lbs during ovulation and 3-4 lbs during TOM. My weight loss near the end only really occurred in the 2 weeks in between Tom and ovulation, so I highly encourage women to really pay attention to their bodies. I also get wicked cravings and have a very hard time not wanting to eat everything in my path. How do I cope with the cravings? I do not keep anything in my house that I know I will eat.
Now I am over 2 years post op and have not had many issues maintaining for the last 8 months. I am still learning as I go and I still make mistakes. But over all I would say I eat healthy 90% of the time, and 10% of the time I don't. If I am going to be truthful, I never counted anything (calories, carbs, protein), I never weighed anything, and I don't exercise by definition regularly. I did follow my post op guidelines. I rarely eat bread (but I will eat garlic bread when out for supper) and I eat very little other "white carbs" like rice, Pasta, flour, sugar (notice that I did not say never). I do not drink with my meals, I still occasionally drink Protein shakes, I eat a lot of greek yogurt sweetened with stevia, drink 2% milk, eat nuts, and enjoy veggies AND fruits. I will still have an ice cream cone once in a while, I will still eat chocolate and I will still have other treats as well. I just do not keep them in my house so they are not tempting because I do not have any more will power now than before surgery if food is sitting in front of me (hence a 4 lbs weight gain over Christmas that I am happy to report is all gone again).
I wanted to make changes that I know I could live with, maintain, and be happy with for the rest of my life. I am happy with the weight I lost, and even though it was slower in the "sleeve" world, it was still faster than any other time I had tried to lose weight in my life. My new habits are firmly entrenched, and even if I stumble now (like Christmas), it is not difficult to get my head back in the game. I would not change what I did and how I did it and I love this tool that I have been given!

I will be 3 years in just over a month and absolutely no regrets!

I had posted before in a separate topic, but will post here too! I love seeing other pictures and find them inspirational, so I will post mine too!

Congratulations! I am right behind you, three years in November. Your dedication is inspiring!

Congratulations! I am right behind you, three years in November. Your dedication is inspiring!

I had posted before in a separate topic, but will post here too! I love seeing other pictures and find them inspirational, so I will post mine too!