LeahG

cottage cheese yogurt chicken salad (pretty much chicken and mayo in the beginning) Unjury protein chicken soup

I am 6.8 pounds away from goal (!!!!) and I have been getting a few comments lately that "i'm skinny enough" or "i look sickly" (I take everything that woman says with a few grains of salt). The thing is, my goal is 150 (I'm 5'6") and that puts me just barely below the "overweight" category. I think 154 and below is normal. As of right now, I'm in a size 8 pants which is NORMAL! Sheesh! I think people are just used to seeing you bigger and they'll just have to get used to the new you! As for the fact of not being able to stop the weight loss, I think your body will stop where it is comfortable.

I was a year out July 20th and I'm consuming about 800 calories a day, but I need to up them because I find myself getting hungrier between my "meals" (5 a day). I have been maintaining since about April...not by choice. haha. I will say I haven't been as strict as I was the first 8 months or so. I'm about 10 pounds from my original goal, but I'm definitely happy where I am today. (103 pounds lost, from 264 to 161)

I'm 9 months out today! Hurray! I am down 97.4 pounds and have about 20 to go. My typical day: 8:00 - Breakfast: I always drink a Protein shake on the way to work. I will usually use Body Fortress with Water which is 26g protein or my favorite Premier Protein which is 30g protein but more expensive. 10:00 - Morning snack: Kroger Carbmaster Yogurt (8g protein), or cheddar cheese cubes or a cheese stick. 12:00 - Lunch: Usually I'll have some low sodium turkey breast, leftovers from the night before, or a Morningstar Farms Grillers Prime burger with a slice of cheese on top (22g protein). I always eat lunch at my desk so it's relatively a simple fast meal. 2:00 - Afternoon snack: Yogurt, cheese, or Peanut Butter. I keep a jar in my desk and eat a couple of tablespoon with a spoon. Yes, my co-workers think I'm weird lol. I like the peanut butter because I am finding at 9 months out I need to increase my calories to continue to lose weight. 2:30 - Gym: I use the elliptical for 30 minutes and burn about 350-375 calories. Sometimes I mess around with the weight machines. The past few days I started using the c25k program. 5:00 - Dinner: whatever my family feels like having. This is usually my downfall for the day because a lot of times my boyfriend and I go out to eat or we order pizza. I know, bad. A standby favorite is Sloppy Joes without the bun...tons of protein! Or tacos. I usually get about 7 cups (56oz) of water in a day including the cup from my morning Protein Drink. I aim for 70g protein, below 40g carbs (I had to increase them because I felt like crap), and about 800 calories. It is a struggle to get that many calories in and I feel like I'm constantly eating, but hey, it's working. Sorry this post is so incredibly long!

I had my consultation June 6 of last year and had surgery July 20. The only thing my doc required was a psych eval which I had done the same week of the consult. I have BCBS of MI and the insurance department of the hospital just had to "call to confirm my benefits" and I was approved. I think everyone's journey is so different...its hard to know what to expect. Good luck with everything!

I too have been toying with the question of an ideal goal weight. What about going by your body fat percentage? I originally picked my goal weight based on the middle of my BMI range but since the chart is known for its inaccuracies, I looked into the BF%. The body fat percentage takes into consideration your lean body mass (muscle, bones, organ tissue, blood) and pounds of fat. I think it's healthier to try and decrease body fat percentage rather than just "lose weight" because that may include our muscle mass. I am by no means an expert on the subject...I just do a lot of googling... haha. Anyways, here's a good website to explain it. http://www.healthchecksystems.com/bodyfat.htm

My mom is an extreme couponer too and she has a huge binder going with all her coupons! Anyways, we did that same vitamin deal at target a couple of weeks ago and I ended up getting three boxes of Flintstones Vitamins for $.32 a piece! Love couponing!

I agree with the Blender Bottle! I use mine every day for my breakfast protein shake on my way to work. Just be sure to not put hot liquids in it because the lid will blow off from the pressure. (There's a warning that comes with the cup.)

It definitely depends on what your insurance requires. I had my first consultation on June 6th and was sleeved July 20th. I have BCBS and they only required a psych eval. I also took one nutrition class as a part of my pre-op testing day.

1. 27 weeks and 2 days or six months-ish 2. 183.4 / 5'6" / BMI 29.6 3. Average 600-800 calories a day, I am trying to up them because of low energy lately 4. Carbs stay below 30-40 g 5. 56-70 oz average Water daily 6. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week doing 30 mins on the elliptical and circuit machines. 7. I am still losing. I have about 33-38 pounds to go depending on my goal (which is undecided) I think it'd be interesting to see how far everyone has come too. I'm down 80.6 pounds.

I'm glad I was able to help some of you out The support on this board is AMAZING! Thanks everyone

Thank you! Isn't it great to notice all of the differences? The funny thing is though that I pulled in the extra shirt and clipped it on the side you couldn't see so it wasn't a potato sack on me...hahaha

Last Friday, January 20th marked my six month post-op from my surgery on July 20th, 2011. This has been such an amazing journey...nothing like I could have ever expected. My surgery weight was 264 pounds and today I am weighing in at 185.4 pounds. That is a total loss of 78.6 pounds. (about 80 is what I tell everyone, lol). My ultimate goal this whole journey has been to get to 145, but now after doing some researching, that would be too low for my body fat %. So now I'm just not sure where goal will be for me. I have gone from a size 18W/20 pant to a size 10 and I have lost 9.75" off of my hips alone, 9.5" from my waist, 8" from the girls :Banane20:, 4" off of each arm and 2.5" from my neck. It may be hard for me to see the changes every day but when I look at those numbers and my before pictures, I think there's definitely a difference. I have learned so much about myself in the past six months and my entire view on food and nutrition has changed for the better. I realized that I don't have to gorge myself at every meal and I don't feel like I failed if I make some wrong decisions in my journey...that there is always my next meal to do right again. I also learned that this is in NO WAY the easy way out and I wish people around me would realize that too. I do my best to eat my six small meals a day with 70 grams of Protein, less than 30-40 grams of carbs, and keep my Water intake above 64 oz. I also go to the gym 3-4 times a week. Anyways, I was very hesitant on posting these before pictures because they are horrendous, :blushing: but I figure if I inspire even one person on here to keep on their journey, then it's worth it. Plus I don't know any of y'all in person...haha.

I'm also a member of Planet Fitness and I think it's a lot easier to go by myself and just focus on what I'm doing. I'd agree with going at a less busy time if you can, I know my PF gave me a chart of their busy times when I signed up. Most of the people there are either thinking about their workout or worrying the same way you are. You can do it!!

I started drinking at about 4 1/2 months out and its definitely a different experience than before surgery. I get drunk fast, but sober even faster. A couple weeks ago I went a little overboard on vodka/diet cranberries and kept drinking because I kept sobering up. Anywhos, long story short... I ended up with my head in the toilet for the rest of the night.. but to make it even worse, my stomach was completely empty! (Dry heaving is not fun). I figured I would share my story to caution people to drink SLOWLY because you never know when it will hit you like a ton of bricks!