Kris

Crosswinds, I will do that. I haven't emailed them at all for about two months, just have been going by the guidelines and instructions Dr. Aceves gave at time of surgery. Maybe the 3 meals guidance was only for the first few months after surgery ... or maybe Dr. A knew I am a grazer by nature and wanted to scare me into changing my ways (LOL)! Anyway, that is great advice and I will email them right away. Coops & cwalker, thanks for your posts, and support! Now I am hoping the 3 meals a day guidance is meant for the lucky sleevers who lose their hunger pains after surgery and don't feel the need to eat more than 3 times a day (wish I was one, but not to be!).

Hi MeMeMeee (love that screen name btw!) I think I am going to just start planning to have a snack during the afternoon and maybe that will make me feel less bad about cheating! It is weird how different surgeons have different guidelines! I was just in a support group meeting with mostly RNY patients and their surgeons said to eat every 2 hours ... that seems way too much to me, but on the other hand only eating three times a day is obviously not enough for me and my hungry sleeve!

I've been thinking a lot and decided to change my goal weight from 125 to 132. At 132 lbs. I will still be with the "normal" BMI range but to me the 7 lb. difference is major. I have not been in the 120s since I was in jr. high school, like age 14 or something. I did get down into and maintained my weight in the low-mid 130s for several years in my 20s, so I know what it's like to be in the low 130s. In my 20s I would jog 3 miles a day and do exercise videos and followed a strict <1500 calorie/day diet, and never could get much below 130 ... now that I am older and not as active, I figure it will be a great achievement to get back into the 130s and stay there so that is my new goal. As a result of this goal change, I am suddenly a bit closer to goal -- nearly mid-point as a matter of fact. That is a great feeling! The first few months have gone by quickly and for the most part easily (except for bad snack cravings, something I will blog about more this weekend).

Coops, you are a lovely lady and it is totally OK to vent! Honestly, I think low calories (under 1000 a day) is not good for anyone in the long term. Your body needs a certain amount of calories just to survive and maybe your body needs more fuel than you have been giving it? Have you experimented with increasing your calories or doing interval calories (some days normal, some days higher, some days lower) to see how that goes? And you DO look really good ... your hubby isn't lying!!!!

Oh dear, lately I have been having a raging case of snack fever. I'm one of those folks that never lost their hunger pains after surgery, but because my sleeve was so small the first few months after surgery, a little food would take me a long way. Now I find if I am not eating dense protein numerous times throughout the day, the carb monster starts calling my name in a major way. I don't have too much of a problem avoiding sweets -- my major downfall is salty/crunchy carbs. I no longer eat potato chips but do love me some rice chips. My weakest times are afternoon (3 - 5 pm) and evening (8 pm). And frankly I have caved a lot and had salty/crunchy snacks even though I know I shouldn't. My surgeon said no snacking between meals and only 3 meals a day but honestly that is just not working for me at all! Has anyone else experienced this and if so what do you do about it? Have a protein snack or just suffer through the snack cravings until the next mealtime? When I do cave to snack cravings I will try to have the lowest calorie snacks possible (like pickles) but that seems to be the best coping strategy I can come up with. Any suggestions, my fellow sleevers???

I didn't make the Easter Challenge goal I had set for myself, but I did make good progress and I am nearly 20 lbs. lighter now than I was in February. SN...................Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal Kris...................... 202.2 ........... 184.6.........180.......... 4.6 Now, onto the July 4th Challenge, where my goal is to get to 169. I can't wait for the summer! Happy Easter, everyone!

I had my 15th week surgiversary on Friday; my four month surgiversary is coming soon (May 7th ... I think there's an extra week since January and March were long months). Today I weighed in at 184.6. I had set an Easter Challenge goal to get to 180 by today, but missed that by, well, a lot ... I got about 80% to goal, though, so that is still OK with me. My July 4th challenge is to get below 170 ... to 169 to be exact. That's a total loss of 15.6 lbs. in 10 weeks. That is much more in line with what I have been losing. I definitely lose more weight when I am physically active so I know if I could just bump up the exercise I would easily make that goal with room to spare. Now that it is springtime, and the weather isn't quite as dreadful as it has been the first few months of the year, I am going to try to at least get out and walk 30 minutes a day, plus have some heavy duty gardening chores on the weekends (and maybe I can sneak in some gardening after work a few nights). On July 5th I will be going to Maui w/DH to celebrate our 15th anniversary so I am totally excited to get to this goal. I really NEED to get to this goal because right now my bod is in bad, bad shape. I still have horrible thunder thighs, big fat arms, and just overall am still quite obese (though, I am happy to note, I finally have a BMI of under 35 ... woo hoo! ... only 5 more BMI points to lose and I will no longer be considered obese!). Fifteen pounds isn't going to make that dramatic of a difference, I fully realize, but every little bit helps. I'm definitely going to have to buy swim apparel with good coverage! So, the only other thing I think worth mentioning for this week is I am definitely starting to see some hair loss ... not gobs of hair, but definitely more shedding than I used to have. I know it will get worse before it gets better. I've been letting my hair grow out since surgery, and I don't know if that's good or bad for disguising hair loss. I am getting a little peeved at the extra attention I have to use to take care of longer hair, but I figure I will just keep going and in a few months my hair should be long enough to pull into a pony tail, and that should help. I read that some of the saggy neck skin problem may be due to slight dehydration, and lack of moisture in the skin. I had stopped using Bio-Oil for a while but am back onto that because it definitely moisturizes more than the Olay Regenerist products I use on my face. Part of why I haven't chopped my hair short is because the longer hair does distract a little from my turkey neck. I wore my size 16 jeans around town yesterday afternoon .... they are comfortable in the butt and legs, but around the waist still a little too snug for comfort. As soon as I got home I took off those jeans and put on my nice and comfy (loose) size 18 jeans ... that was kind of a reminder, too, that I've still got a long way to go on this weight loss journey. Just because I can pack my gut into a pair of size 16s doesn't mean it's going to feel good! I am really amazed, though, when I pick up those size 16s that I can wear them ... they seem SO SMALL compared to what I am used to! It's hard to get my head around that. Well ... that's about all for today. DH and I are going to my mom's house for Easter ... she has made way too much food, so I will have to be extra cautious about what I try to eat. Mostly I'll be eating ham, with a few bites of other stuff. Dessert is angel food cake with sweetened strawberries and whipped cream .... not too high calorie, though i will have to take it easy with the cake! It's exciting to think that this will be my last Easter as an obese person. Next Easter, if all goes well, I should be back into normal sizes (hopefully size 8P or, dare I even say it, size 6P ... I really can't imagine ever being that small, though!)

I have to support everything that has been said by my fellow sleevers. Dr. Aceves and his team have the process so streamlined and efficient it is amazing. They are pros, and yet they are also very nice and caring. Last year my sister had a mastectomy in a "best in class" hospital in the US and her treatment was nothing near as good as what I experienced with Dr. Aceves and his team (I was with her through it all so saw first hand how US hospitals operate -- even though her surgeon was wonderful, the nurses were lacking, and they booted her out of the hospital the next day even though she was in a lot of pain). With Dr. Aceves you get 3 full days in the hospital and get excellent care the entire time. Plus, he's done more VSG procedures than many US bariatric surgeons, and for him to have the reputation he does with all those surgeries (and very, very rare complaints) I think is very indicative of his expertise. And I saved at least $5K by going to Dr. Aceves than if I had self-paid at my local Bariatric Center of Excellence. I was a bit worried about something going wrong in a foreign country and went with the best surgeon I could find in Mexico. And honestly, I know my husband would never have been on board with me having surgery with the lowest bidder, so to speak. The extra cost for Dr. Aceves was worth the peace of mind to me and my hubby. If I had to have this surgery all over again, I would go with Dr. Aceves again in a heartbeat. The only other doctor I seriously considered for my surgery was Dr. Alvarez. I went with Dr. Aceves because I live closer to CA than TX, and am very glad I went with Dr. Aceves. Best of luck to you in your journey!

OK, I too am going to fail my Easter Goal, so I am going to be a little less ambitious with this next goal: SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal Kris...............186......................186...........169............17 I will be going on vacation to Hawaii on July 5th and will be SO thrilled to hit this goal!

Hey there Ms. Hottie! You look FAB! You have given me much inspiration -- I will be going to Maui on my 6th month post VSG anniversary. There is absolutely no way I will be ready to wear a bikini by then, but I'll be pleased to just wear a full piece and not want to die of embarrassment. Keep up the great work and keep sharing progress pics!

Sigh -- I knew it had to happen at some point, and it did. After a nice 3 month hiatus of no periods, Auntie Flo made a return visit this weekend. And she is back with a VENGEANCE. I don't think I've had a cycle this bad in quite a long while. But, OTOH, and I a bit reassured that my body is really recovered from the surgery, and all systems are back on track. So this week I've lost a bit more than 1 lb. (1.2 lb to be precise). Considering Auntie F's visit, I take that as a good sign. Today it was a splendid spring day, and I spent hours at my community garden plot, doing a lot of physical labor (hauling many wheelbarrows full of compost, steer manure, and leaf mold, and filling several raised beds; planting potatoes and strawberries, and shoveling compost from one pile to another. I never realize how much work I've done until I get home, get showered, and get dressed, and then the aches and pains really make themselves known. I am really glad it's spring because most of the exercise I get is relating to gardening, and during the winter I don't do much in the way of physical activity. So I hope the scale is kind to me next week when I weigh in. Next week is Easter and I definitely will not make my Easter challenge goal of 180 lbs. I am hoping to get below 186. 185 would be awesome. I am pretty much in the slow loser camp, but as long as the lbs. keep coming off I am OK with that. Let's see, what else? The size 18 jeans and size 1X tops I've been wearing the past couple of months are slowly but surely getting looser. I think once I get into the 170s I should be comfortably wearing size 16. That should happen sometime in May ... mid to late May. I really can't wait to see a a number in the 170s on the scale! I have a dr. appointment for May 6th and will be getting a checkup and a blood test as part of my follow up from surgery. I never told my primary care physician that I was having surgery (I had asked her about weight loss surgery a couple of years ago and she basically blew me off, so I figured she wouldn't care or might even be actively against me having surgery). I am hoping when she sees the difference in my weight, blood pressure, etc., she will be fine with it, and really if she isn't fine with it I'm going to find another physician (I belong to an *** so it's actually kind of rare to keep a long term relationship with the same doctor). Oh, and I had to have a mammogram on Friday. Very, very embarrassing. My girls are like giant sloshy half filled water balloons. The only good thing was the discomfort in having the actual mammogram was far less than last year. I did tell the dr. I had weight loss surgery and had lost over 40 lbs. since my previous mammogram, and she seemed very pleased about that and noted it in the file, since I am sure there will be changes in how my breasts look from last year. I know it's a long deflation process with my ta-tas, and I am 99.9% sure I will need to be getting a breast reduction/lift once I am done losing weight, because I don't want to look like a cow with huge udders when this is all over! Let's see, what else. I have *horrible* turkey neck, it's getting worse instead of better. I know it's because I am losing weight, but still, it's awful. I slather expensive lotions on my neck but so far no joy. I also am getting nasty loose skin in my upper arms, near my armpits. I am beginning to look like a human shar-pei, as a matter of fact. But -- my energy level is good, and I am still so happy with my sleeve and the fairly effortless weight loss I am experiencing. I am going to have a great year this year!

I went to Orlando this week on a business trip and while I was on my trip I hit my 3 month surgiversary. I actually lost 1 lb. this week, which is awesome, considering I was eating out every meal (but on the other hand, I was doing a lot of walking around in the evenings, which I think helped offset the extra calories). I was really, really happy to be walking around with other people who are not obese and able to keep up with them pretty well -- something I could never do pre-surgery! As of today I am 188.8 lbs. I had set an ambitious Easter goal to be at 180 by Easter and I am sure I won't make it ... I am thinking I will be lucky to be below 185 by that date. But heck, that is still great! DH just went out for breakfast ... he is going to our local, amazing donut shop called Legendary Donuts (and they are incredibly great donuts). I passed on the trip (yay for me, little NSV right there!) -- I am having crackers with sunflower seed butter instead (not exactly the best breakfast, but way way better than a donut!). Fortunately, the idea of a donut is not nearly as tempting to me now as it used to be. My appetite for sweets still is nowhere near what it used to be prior to surgery. I do enjoy a bite or two of dessert on a periodic basis, but usually 2 bites is totally fine and I don't want or need any more. I saw a friend yesterday whom I hadn't seen since before surgery. The first thing she said to me was, "You've lost weight, haven't you? I can really notice! You look great!" That made me feel really great. I told her I had been sleeved and she surprised me and said her mom had the same procedure, and she was very supportive. I have been very open about telling people about getting sleeved and so far I have not had one negative comment. I know my friends and family were truly concerned about my weight before surgery, and they are really happy that I am losing weight. I figured if I ever get a snide comment about having surgery, I'll know that person really doesn't have my best interests at heart and I should be wary of them going forward. Other than that, there's not much to tell this week. Oh, one last thing ... I did splurge and spend $60 at Sephora yesterday and bought replacement Bare Escentuals makeup kit (the last time I bought some was at least 2 years ago and I was thinking it needed to be replaced). I do wear makeup now most days, and I have to admit it does make me feel like I look better. I don't mess with eye shadow but do use foundation, blush, and lipstick, and if I'm feeling very into it I'll put on eyeliner and a little mascara. I've been shopping a few times and am already coveting some of the really pretty spring dresses that are for sale. I think I may end up being a real girly-girl once I get into regular sizes again!

Hi Can'tweight, OK, this is not the VSC-PC answer, but to be honest I *do* have some chips and salsa when I go out to Mexican. But I limit myself to 2-3 chips, max, and I chew the heck out of those chips and salsa, and when they are chewed down they don't take up a lot of space in the sleeve. So, I get to enjoy the chips but still have room for Protein, and feel like I haven't deprived myself. Bread is another matter. I really never eat bread as an appetizer because it does fill me up a lot and interferes with getting enough protein. I admit my weight loss is not as fast as it could be, because I do indulge in little treats like chips and salsa when I go out to eat, but I feel like I am losing fine and am very happy doing so because I don't feel like I am on a super-strict diet. I still definitely do try to eat the majority of my calories in protein and I try to stay around 800 calories total each day, and I rarely eat sweets. And I am not eating out every day. It's really all about how you want your weight loss experience to be. If you want to lose fast and hard, skip the chips and salsa until you get to a progress goal that you're really happy with. If you are willing to have a slower weight loss, but want to "enjoy" the weight loss process more, you can allow yourself strategic indulgences. It's your body, and your life -- do what is best for you!

Eloquentblue, thanks for sharing your success story! It is very inspirational! I bet you look fantastic!

OK, so I'm just about 3 months out, and LOVING my sleeve! I'm down into the 180s now (189.8 to be exact) and it's hard to believe ... I had a big slow patch in March but the past two weeks I've had good weight loss. I am going to Orlando on a business trip this week and am so excited to be wearing size 16/18 WP vs. the 22/24 size I was wearing pre-surgery. I know I still have quite a long ways to go to hit goal but I am now loving my weight loss journey. I am finally pretty much used to my new portion sizes and am getting good at pushing the plate away when I've had enough. I am good at chewing my food, very good about not eating and drinking at the same time, and good about getting protein in first before anything else. I am starting to work with light weights (do sets of arm exercises when I watch TV). DH and I are having our 15th wedding anniversary this July. I am so excited about this because for the first time in nearly the entire 15 years we've been married, by July I should be getting relatively close to my wedding weight (I never weighed myself then but am guesstimating I was in the high 130s or low 140s when we got married; I was wearing a size 10). To celebrate this milestone anniversary, we are going to Maui for five nights. I am so, so excited about this trip -- not only because I will be able to do things I absolutely love to do (swim, relax by water) but because I won't have to be terribly self conscious about my weight. By early July I am hoping to be in the low 170s and hopefully comfortably wearing a size 14, which is by no means a bikini body, but I hopefully won't be totally mortified to wear a bathing suit like I have been for at least a decade. I've been looking at the Lands End catalogs and they have a great selection of bathing suits that have good coverage (especially upper thighs, a nightmare zone for me), so I'm going to buy a couple of bathing suits from them as I get closer to the big date. So tomorrow I have to fly to Orlando, and I used to hate flying because I was so self conscious about how much space I took in a seat (basically overflowed the seat into the poor passenger's seat next to me). I still hate flying and am still self conscious, but hopefully I won't be overflowing too much into the seat next to me. My challenge this week will be to not cheat badly and stay disciplined with the food choices. I know I will be walking around a lot so that should help counterbalance any splurge meals or treats I have. I will be so, so happy to be in a sunny, warm place ... it's been a dreadful spring here in the Seattle area. This weekend I've been sprucing myself up a bit. I got a pedicure yesterday, colored my hair this morning, and am going shopping to buy a couple of new t-shirts to wear in the evening after our conference ends (going to Magic Kingdom one night, which should be lots of fun, and I want to be comfortable). I am going to be meeting some head honchos in our organization and don't want to make a bad impression. It is SUCH a relief to not have the same level of embarrassment about my weight that I used to have! I am still well aware I'm very big for my height, but I don't feel quite as self-conscious about it that I used to. I am so, so glad I got sleeved and already the changes in my life are fantastic, only three short months out from surgery!

OK, the truth is the entire first month after surgery SUCKS! No doubt about it. You are probably going to have some kind of funky emotional meltdown around the two week mark, you are probably going to hit your first stall by the third or fourth week, and you are going to be cranky and on edge for weeks. You will have vile mood swings and want to bite the heads off small animals. (OK, just kidding about that last one!) But ... the scale will be kind to you this month, very very kind, and that will help some of the misery. If you don't have to work or go back to work soon, don't rush going back to work. I went to work after not quite 2 weeks off and was totally wiped out that first week back. Honestly, the only thing that really helped me the first few weeks was doing as little as possible, watching lots of TV (for distraction), and obsessively reading VST posts to find out whether my post op weirdness was normal (it was). I wish I could tell you a secret to make the first month bearable, but bottom line is it is going to be bad, and you are going to be unhappy for a few weeks. And I hope this brings you a small amount of comfort to know that what you are going through is what almost everyone who has this surgery goes through. It WILL get better ... much, much better ... in just a few weeks. And by summer you will be fitting into much smaller size clothes than your preop size, and you will have great energy and feel good about yourself, and the first icky month will be an unpleasant memory. I promise you. I don't know if this helps but just wanted to let you know you're really having a normal recovery so far!

I have been a bit down in the dumps lately because the past few weeks' weight loss has been really slow. But this week was great -- over 3.5 lbs. lost! I am now down to 192.2, very close to being in the 180s and so excited about that! I had a NSV today, too. About a month ago I went shopping for some new jeans, since my size 22's were getting pretty loose. I was really happy to find out I could fit into size 18WP jeans, even though they were a little snug. I bought two pairs of jeans. I am very short and the jeans were still a couple of inches too long, so I needed to get them hemmed (I can't sew at all!). I had a lot going on the past few weekends, so kept putting off taking the jeans to get hemmed, but today I finally did it, because the size 22s are so loose they are going to fall off any day now, and just *have* to go. So I went to the seamstress to get the jeans hemmed, and put on the size 18s for the seamstress to measure, and I was quite gratified to notice that they were looser than I remembered when I bought them. The seamstress made me stand on a little dias so she could get the length right and I was facing a large full-length mirror. At that point I noticed the new size 18's were actually already pretty darn loose in the legs, and comfortably loose around the torso. I started wondering if maybe I was getting close to fitting into a size 16WP. So, after I finished with the seamstress, I headed on over to Macy's and decided to try on some new jeans. I picked up a pair of Levi's size 16 short, the Macy's house brand of jeans, and a pair of size 16 capris. When I got to the fitting room, I picked up the Levi's first and was aghast because the size 16s looked really, really small. I didn't think I could even get them up over my thighs ... but I did. I even got them buttoned and zipped up, to my amazement. OK, I have to admit, they were tight, and I wouldn't have felt really comfortable wearing them, so off they went. I nearly bought them just to measure my weight loss progress, but decided to hold off for a few weeks and come back and try again in a month or so. The Macy's jeans, however, fit perfectly and so did the capris. I took my new size 16 jeans to the seamstress and had her swap out one of the size 18 jeans (which I will hem using that magic hem stuff I bought from Walgreens). So, I am officially able to wear size 16! Woo hoo! I ended up buying a couple of new bras this weekend too -- the balconette style from Lane Bryant, size 42DDD. I was pleasantly surprised at the nice shaping they provide. My girls are hangin' low, so to speak, so they need a strong support and shaping bra! Now I will be brutally honest -- I look like total crap with clothes off. I have horrendous cottage cheese thighs right now -- not just the normal cellulite area, but everywhere down to my knees, front and back -- ick. And as I mentioned, I pretty much have the breasts of an 80 year old woman. And I still have a big old gut and butt. And, I am sporting a rather nasty wattle on my chin, making me look years older. Every day I put bio-oil on my chin hoping to moisturize and firm the loose skin, but it doesn't seem to be working that great. My body is definitely smaller than it was, but by no means is it a body I would be willing to parade a bathing suit around in! But, all in all, I am totally thrilled with my sleeve and feeling better and more confident every day. I am really looking forward to the summer, when hopefully I will be down in the normal size clothes range, and will look and feel even better. I talked to my husband and we are going to try the couch to 5K program this spring, and sign up for a local 5K race this summer. That will be a HUGE NSV for me, to finish a 5K! I am really excited about the future!

The first month after surgery TOTALLY sucks! Once I got onto solid foods things got much better, but then you have to learn how to eat with your sleeve. I'm nearly 3 months out and am really happy with my sleeve, but it took the better part of this time post op to get used to the changes. Hang in there, the worst part is nearly behind you! And it's fine to vent, everyone who has been sleeved can relate to what you are experiencing!

I guess I'm the opposite -- I used to be very regular with my periods before surgery. My last period started the day I was released from the hospital -- jan. 10 th. I'm going on 3 months without a period. I'm too young to be in menopause and definitely not pregnant. I am actually really happy to not have periods and hope this lasts a while!

Congrats on surpassing your goal -- you look fantastic! Thanks for sharing the pictures!

<br><br>Hi Ali,<div><br></div><div>Thanks for your comments! You know, I hadn't called my surgeon about the grey under my eyes ... I hadn't thought to do that! Sometimes I totally forget that I could contact the dr. if I needed to. Fortunately, in the two weeks since I posted that blog entry I've noticed that the grey tinge under my eyes has gone away. I am thinking it probably was the travelling I had done and having a very stressful few weeks at work (not getting good sleep at night, for sure). I am planning to get a blood workup next month to make sure everything is OK. I take vitamins almost every day (wish I had a perfect track record, but I end up forgetting to take my vitamins about once a week. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11.8056px; "><img src="http://cdn.verticalsleevetalk.com/public/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif" alt="" class="bbc_emoticon"></span></div><div><br></div><div>Best,</div><div><br></div><div>Kris</div>

I'm now 10 weeks out after surgery and as of my last weigh-in am 195.8 I've lost about 31 lbs. since surgery; a bit over 3 lbs. a week on average, although the average is very misleading since I lost so much weight the first couple weeks after surgery. I have really been slacking lately and am in a funky place emotionally and in my head. I'm not eating as well as I could and not exercising at all. My weight loss has really slowed down the past couple of weeks; I'm not in a stall but this week I didn't even lose 1 lb. I have this weird weight loss entitlement feeling going on ... like I had surgery, so the pounds just should be falling off no matter what I put in my mouth or what I do with my body. I know this is a horrible attitude to have and I've got to work to change it. I think it started a few weeks ago. A dear friend of mine has an aunt who had VSG a bit over a year ago, and she's lost over 90 lbs in a year, and according to my friend she never exercises and she doesn't particularly watch what she eats. When I heard that, I think I used that as an excuse to slack off ... like I will lose weight no matter what I do or don't do. I know, however, that this is the prime weight loss time -- right now -- and if I don't get at least to midway to goal soon I am going to have a really really tough time getting to goal. The flip side to this devil may care attitude is the unspoken and very scary fear that maybe I will fail at this ... I've failed at every other attempt at weight loss I've tried for the past 15 years ... I don't know if I have confidence to succeed. Maybe subconsciously I think I deserve to be fat the rest of my life and am sabotaging myself. I clearly still have food and self esteem issues to work through! OK, to switch to a more positive note, I had to go shopping today. My bras are all way too big now and aren't giving me decent support. I didn't even know what size the girls are now, so I went to Lane Bryant and got a fitting, and the lady told me I was a 40G. My last fitting before surgery I was a 44H (but only had one bra in that size; most of my bras were a 44DDD or a 46DDD, depending on whether my weight was in the 220s or in the 230s. I'm a little suspicious and disbelieving at the fitting, and unfortunately the store didn't have any bras in my size, so I couldn't try on the new size to see if it was right. I am going to order a couple of bras online and hope they fit OK. In the mall near the Lane Bryant store is another plus size store, CJ Banks. I popped in there to see what they had and found several cute tops. I tried on a size 1X and 2X, and definitely the 2X tops were too big ... yay! So, I bought a couple of 1X tops. I am hopeful once I get a new bra I will look a little better too ... I am looking pretty saggy and pathetic in the chest area using the current bras. I still wear my old size 22 clothes a lot (I donated most of the summer clothes to Goodwill already) and they are definitely too big ... I veer between being highly annoyed at how loose everything is to realizing how cool it is that everything is so loose. I hope my next post is going to say I am below 195 ... that will be cool. I am looking forward to being in the 180s -- I hope to get there sometime in April. Because once I am in the 180s, it's not too far to be back in the 170s, a place I am really really wanting to get to again. Back in my late 20's, when I started gaining a lot of weight, I remember being in the 170s and being fairly worried about my weight, but not seeing myself as really huge. I could still squeeze into "normal size" clothes (albeit a tight size 14P). And I remember my health was really good -- normal blood pressure, normal blood tests, everything normal. Even though I was a good 40 lbs. over my lowest maintained weight, I still saw myself as plump rather than fat (actually, I was definitely obese at that weight, but didn't "feel" obese). And so a big part of me really, really wants to be in the 170s again, and sees that as a happy place ... like if only I can get there and stay there, and not gain weight, I will be totally fine. I am still not fully sold on the concept that I will ever actually get to my goal weight of 125. I have always had reservations about that number. According to the BMI charts, 125 lbs. puts me at the top of the normal range for my height. However, I haven't been that low since jr. high school! In my 20s, when I was very active and looked/felt my best, I was always in the low-mid 130s ... I wore a size 8P and felt good about that. I am deeply skeptical that I will ever get to the 130s, not to mention the 120s! Well, I really am rambling on this post ... hope next week brings some good weight loss news!

Dr. Aceves did my sleeve and I had zero problems except catching a rotten cold on the way back home, which of course was not his fault. If I had to do it over again I definitely would go back to him. He and his team are fantastic. He actually keeps you at the hospital longer than most surgeons do here in the states, and the hospital staff are excellent. Best of success to you!

Thanks everyone for posting the pics! You all look wonderful and these are so inspirational!

Optasia, I don't have a whole lot of value to add to this conversation, but I do want to acknowledge that your concerns are legitimate, and I think most people have the same concerns pre-surgery. And I can honestly tell you that if you can successfully lose weight on your own without surgery, do it. Pretty much everyone who has this surgery has tried many, many times to lose weight and keep it off and has failed. It's never going to be anyone's first choice to have such a major life changing surgery. However, I can honestly say that for me, the good things that come after being sleeved far outweigh the bad. I'm just over 2 months out and I can eat a lot of different foods, but bread, Pasta, and rice are still pretty much a no-go for me; those foods just don't sit well inside me. I actually consider that a good thing because carbs are my downfall. Since my surgery I have lost nearly all desire for sweets, and I am much more sensitive to sweetness in foods than I was pre-surgery -- also a good thing. I used to eat LOADS of bread and butter pre-surgery, and since my surgery I have not had any butter at all and maybe a total of 4 bites of bread. 99% of the time I am totally fine with not having bread, pasta, and rice. These were foods I would eat with pretty much every meal, so that is a HUGE change for me. Since my surgery, I haven't had any problems at all with sliming, vomiting, or depression (I think everyone has a "WTF did I do to myself" moment the first few weeks after surgery -- I certainly did -- and really the first month after surgery for me was not fun). But once I got a month out and was able to start eating solid foods again, and get my calories up to a better level, I have been feeling great and very happy with my decision. I do still battle head hunger (especially at my traditional daily snack time between 3-4 pm) but I would have that with or without the sleeve. If anything, the sleeve helps me cope much better with head hunger because if I cave and eat something I shouldn't, my sleeve prevents me from eating excessive amounts of it, and so I don't go into a massive downhill binge cycle like I would pre-sleeve. It's no lie that surgery will totally change not only what you eat but how you look at food. Part of it is wanting to do the right and healthy thing for yourself and eat foods that are helpful to weight loss, part of it is you will likely have some food intolerances for at least the first few months, and part of it is knowing you will only have a few bites per meal and you will need to make those bites count so you get decent nutrition. I still have trigger foods that go down way too easy and in a far larger quantity than dense Protein (snacky salty things like chips, crackers, etc.). I really have to watch my intake of those foods and I know I'll have to do that the rest of my life. I still have hunger pains (a lot of people don't, so it's kind of a crap shoot whether you will or won't) but my hunger pains are not as intense as pre-surgery and are easily satisfied with just a few bites. Sometimes I still get bummed that I can't eat much (especially when I'm eating something fantastic and want to eat more than my sleeve can hold) but I am more used to my sleeve's capacity and am dealing with it. I love that I am basically losing weight without effort -- this is BY FAR the easiest weight loss I've ever had in my life. I don't feel deprived at all, my energy is good, and I am optimistic about the future. I used to have a lot of trouble with one of my knees, and even though I've only lost about 35 lbs. that has made a world of difference in how my knee feels. I am really excited about doing physical activities I wasn't able to do pre-sleeve. And it is very exciting and fun to donate clothes that are now too big and buy smaller sizes, sizes I haven't fit in for a LONG time. I know this is a major life decision everyone has to make, but for me it has been one of the best things I have ever done for myself and I have zero regrets. I wish you the best with your decision!