Shanny

I'm 4 months out and I still can't eat pizza. I just eat the cheese and sauce off the crust. I think my issue is more with bread, I can't seem to digest it. But man do I miss it!

The scale finally moved! It's about damn time! I think this may be a promising start what is shaping up to be a craptastic week. SN........................Starting WT......................Current..................Goal................lbs to Goal Shanny.................191....................................174..........................165......................9

Thanks for the love and support everyone. I just wish this stall would pass. I usually lose about 3-4 pounds a week, and I've only been losing inches and ounces for the last three weeks. I'm beyond frustrated. It really helped though to see pictures of me a year ago and now. I'm not giving up. I have to look at it this way, I've lost 71 pounds in 4 months. That would have NEVER happened before. I love my sleeve, even when it's being tempermental!

Okay, so I'm pissed because I'm stalled, so I decided to take some pictures of me today to get myself back on track. I got a mani/pedi and I was feeling cute, so here it goes. Before: Aruba - April 2010 Myrtle Beach - August 2010 50 Pounds lost Beginning of March 2011 End of March 2011 71 Pounds lost - Today As you can see I'm still working on my stomach, but I'm a work in progress! Still have 41 pounds to go. Not bad for only 4 months post op!

This is hopeless! In the past 3 weeks I've only lost 3 pounds. I don't know what else to do. I'm exercising 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. Drinking plenty of water, and eating my protein. For some reason my body likes it in the 170s. I'm so frustrated. In the grand scheme of things I shouldn't be complaining. 4 months and 71 pounds. Although my measurements are steadily going down...38-36-42 ( ) the scale is refusing to move. I'm not giving up, but this is the worst. Since I've been sleeved I've only had 1 stall and that was for a week. I lose weight pretty rapidly, about 3-4 pounds a week. This couple of ounces here and there sucks! SN....................Starting wt.....................current wt..........................goal....................lbs to goal Shanny............191................................176...................................165...........................11

I waited a week. In the beginning you don't have a lot of energy but as you start eating more the energy comes back and all is well!

Congratulations! Keep up the great work. Who cares if it's slow? We're not in a race. Do it slow and healthy and then you'll be more inclined to maintain it. You're doing a bang up job. When are you posting picks?

This has been 1 crazy week! I only lost .2 pounds, but my measurements have changed. My waist went down 2 inches, and my hips an inch. I'm not complaining! SN........................starting wt..........current......................goal..............lbs to goal Shanny.................191...................177............................165................12

I'm addicted to the Special K strawberry meal replacement bars. 10 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber. 140 calories. It's pretty darn good and keeps me full for a few hours.

SN..................starting wt..................current......... goal...............lbs to goal Shanny..............191........................177.2.............165................12.2

It took me about 2 months to get up to 700 calories. Quite honestly, most days I'm around 650. I started doing things to increase my calories. For example, with my Protein shake I use the unflavored unjury, 1 cup of lactose free 2% milk, 1 tbsp of low fat Hershey's chocolate syrup, 1 tbps of reduced fat Peanut Butter, and about 10 almonds. That in itself is around 400 calories and 33 grams of Protein. Granted, I can't drink the whole thing - it takes about 2 hours. The more stuff I put in it the harder it is for me to finish it. But, since I can drink more calories than eat, I make sure my protein shake really counts. I usually have a shake for breakfast. It takes time, but eventually you will be able to get a little more in. Right now I'm up to 4.5 oz of food at a time, which is better than the 1 oz I was at after surgery. I still measure everything too. I noticed when I s tarted increasing my calories I s tarted losing more weight, plus I had more energy to exercise!

You look awesome!!!! Keep up the good work! I'm so proud of you!

One of my friends told me that she has to start working out because I can't "beat" her. I'm only 4 pounds more than she is. Um, I didn't know we were competing!

I guess it's true, haters will hate. That's their job. At first it was a shock, now there's no shock to it, they just feel the need to be rude, bossy, intrusive and all up in my business. I mind my buisness. I do my job, and work out at lunch. I've invited plenty of people to work out with me in the weight room, no one does. But everyone wants to tell me that I'm doing too much or I should do this or that. They're not down there with me, they have no idea what I'm doing. Everyone's a trainer now. I just wish that people thought before they spoke. If you have to say something say I look nice today and keep it moving. There's no need to be all up in my relationship, bedroom, and pants size - yes, I had someone ask me what my pants size was now I said 14, and she said "really, because you look bigger than that. I mean you're not as big as you were before, I would have guessed you were at least an 18 now." The nerve of people!

You know what I noticed? When I weighed 247 no one said anything about my weight. Now everyone has a freakin' opinion. I didn't get a sleeve to be sexy, or to flaunt everything I have. I did it to be healthy and to be around for my son. So, now that I'm almost 70 pounds lighter everyone feels the need to comment on it. I used to be invisible and really it had it's perks. Now, everyone notices me and feels the need to tell me what they think. Today, we had an event at work and I wore a dress. One of the teachers said to me, "You look 10 times better now than you did last year." I'm still trying to figure out WTF she meant by that. Why do people have to give you back handed compliments? My boss told me, "I'm glad you decided to get active because you really needed to do something about it before." Really? At my highest weight I still did my job like a pro. My weight has NEVER effected my job performance. Friends are telling me that I should dress sexier so everyone can see how sexy I am now. I was sexy when I was 247! Someone else at work told me that I need to slow down because I'm losing too much weight and my girl won't like it if I lose my shape. That I should just lift weights and stop doing so much cardio because I'm getting too skinny. Excuse me why are you all in my relationship? How do you know what she'll like? Oh, the one that took the cake was the woman that said that I shouldn't have had the surgery because now I can't eat anything - I should have researched more and picked something different that would allow me to eat more. Right now I'm not really comfortable with how I look. I see everything that I still need to fix and I don't recognize myself sometimes when I look in the mirror. I'm trying to figure out who this version of me is. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how fast my body is changing. I really don't need everyone's opinions. I'm sure people mean well, but I feel vulnerable as it is. At first it was you look great which was embarassing enough (I don't like a lot of attention), now the comments are getting a little too personal. I don't need the Peanut Gallery's 2 cents!

Thanks everyone. My therapist said that it's not that big of a deal but I need to cut myself some slack. I can have a snack every now and again. I'm 3 months post op and I think I know what I'm supposed to do and I don't have to be so strict. I've found a substitution for my sweet tooth - that dessert flavored sugar free gum does the trick. But for the salt, I just want Sun chips. The problem is I want to eat ALL the Sunchips. It's better if I don't have any. But, I made a deal with a woman I work with. If I get a bag of Sunchips, I'll take a few out and give the bag to her to hold for me for the next day. I don't deal well with temptation and usually I end up making myself sick trying to eat things that I can't digest (for example the other day my son had Popeyes chicken. I don't even like Popeyes but I couldn't have any. Well the next day I tried to eat a wing. I got so sick. I can't eat fried/greasy or spicy food. I foamed, threw up and felt like crap for an hour). It's better for me if the temptation isn't there at all. So, I'll give the bag to her and she'll keep it until the next day or whenever I need a fix. Sounds doable to me. I don't like the fact that I'm now having cravings 3 months out. For the 6 months preop and for the 3 months post op I was really good, no cheating, no acting like a junkie. I guess I'm afraid to undo all the progress I've made. Or maybe it was the depression (I had a horrible week). Either way, I'm going to try to make sure that I do what I'm supposed to and if I want a snack, a little one won't hurt me!

Thanks. I went to my therapist today and we talked about it. I don't plan on doing that again!

SN...............Starting Wt..........Current..............Goal...........lbs to goal Shanny............191...................178.6..................165............13.4

Today I acted like a food junkie - not an addict, a freakin' junkie. So, I've been a little down the last few days, and on top of it, I've been craving carbs. Today, I finally gave in and decided to buy some the $.99 bag of Sun chips from the school store. Only, I didn't want to eat the chips because of the calories. So, I chewed them up and then spit them out in a napkin. I did that for 1/2 the bag, then I threw the rest away. I know it's completely gross, but the truth is I feel satied. I'm not full because I didn't swallow it and my chewing and salty/carb craving has passed. The problem is that's a junkie move. Man I wish there was some ultra rapid detox for food additction!

So, I'm super excited about having lost close to 70 pounds, but I've noticed that the more weight I lose the more disproportionate I'm becoming. When I work out, I usually work out my core, and legs however it seems that I lose the most weight in my upper body. Right now I'm a 8/10 in shirts, but a 14/16 in pants. Weird huh? Has that happened to anyone else? Am I just destined to be bottom heavy? Any workout suggestions?

I had egg foo yung. I know not the smartest choice, but man I had been craving it. I figured it was just like an omlete, plus it had gravy which was still liquid. I could only eat about 3 bites of it, and I haven't wanted it again for 3 months. Those were the best 3 bites I've ever tasted!

According to my doctor during the first 6-12 months, while losing weight is still really easy, you want to ingest a little bit of calories, and burn as many as you can. That's the same problem I had. Once your body gets to the stable point and you remain at your weight then it'll taper off and to maintain the desired weight.

Not a bad Wednesday afterall! Goodbye 180s! SN.............Starting wt........Current WT..................Goal.............Lbs to Goal Shanny............191.................179.8.........................165.....................14.8

Not a bad thing at all! As long as you feel sexy, do you!!!! We've all got to do what makes us feel our best. God knows we spent too many years feeling like crap. We deserve this!

The only one I liked was the Twisted Cherry and that's only when I added Calypso Black Cherry Lemonade to it. I don't really care for fruit flavored protein drinks I don't think. They taste too thick, or milky or something. It's just something off about it. But, it was a nice break from the choclate ones I was drinking every day.