SleeveGirl-TX

Finally finding my way back to this forum, it's been a LONG time. I'm about 16 or so pounds from my new goal weight. Ha! 175 seemed so unobtainable that I never thought I'd actually hit that number, much less pass it and keep going. I'm still losing - in month 19, I'm at 5 pounds lost. I weigh 166 and am 5'6".
Best decision I've ever made, but it's also a LOT of hard work. There's no easy way out. I make decisions every single day and I live with the consequences of those choices. I still only eat around 800 calories a day. I can get up to 1200 if I try really hard, but I still have amazing restriction and I seem to lose best at 800, so I just keep it there. I get around 30-50 carbs per day, a LOT of Water and 70-100 Protein. I use MyFitnessPal to keep myself in check.
There's a LOT of skin. I held most of my weight for 30 years in my stomach. It's really bad. There will be eventual plastic surgery to deal with it. But I'd much rather have that than all the fat that was hanging around.
My life is so much different now. I'm a totally different person, yet completely the same. I'm able to do more and live life how I'm supposed to be living it. I have been married to the most amazing man in the world for nearly 20 years and we have two (nearly) perfect children and life is pretty darn good.
To those of you struggling, stalling, wondering if you can do it... you can. You just have to want it bad enough. And by that I mean... BAD. Stalls are normal. I lose some, stall, gain some back, stall, lose that and then a little more, stall again. My longest stall was 20 days at 3 weeks out. I routinely stall for about 2 weeks at a time nowadays. It's all good, as long as the overall trend is down.
I'll attach a photo of me at 200 lost, I've lost 8 more since then, but the difference is pretty amazing.

Hang in there... those first few months are tough sometimes. I'm a big proponet of counseling if you need it (I really did, I didn't get to 375 because I was hungry). Take it one day at a time. It's a great ride once you let go of those old behaviors. I still struggle sometimes with the "woe is me" when I'm out with friends. But I remind myself... it's not about the food. It's about the social interaction.
HUGS... every day will be better if you let it... you can do this!

Just wanted to update my photo. I took this tonight in celebration of reaching a mini-goal. My FACE is what gets me... holy crikes!

Just wanted to update my photo. I took this tonight in celebration of reaching a mini-goal. My FACE is what gets me... holy crikes!

Finally finding my way back to this forum, it's been a LONG time. I'm about 16 or so pounds from my new goal weight. Ha! 175 seemed so unobtainable that I never thought I'd actually hit that number, much less pass it and keep going. I'm still losing - in month 19, I'm at 5 pounds lost. I weigh 166 and am 5'6".
Best decision I've ever made, but it's also a LOT of hard work. There's no easy way out. I make decisions every single day and I live with the consequences of those choices. I still only eat around 800 calories a day. I can get up to 1200 if I try really hard, but I still have amazing restriction and I seem to lose best at 800, so I just keep it there. I get around 30-50 carbs per day, a LOT of Water and 70-100 Protein. I use MyFitnessPal to keep myself in check.
There's a LOT of skin. I held most of my weight for 30 years in my stomach. It's really bad. There will be eventual plastic surgery to deal with it. But I'd much rather have that than all the fat that was hanging around.
My life is so much different now. I'm a totally different person, yet completely the same. I'm able to do more and live life how I'm supposed to be living it. I have been married to the most amazing man in the world for nearly 20 years and we have two (nearly) perfect children and life is pretty darn good.
To those of you struggling, stalling, wondering if you can do it... you can. You just have to want it bad enough. And by that I mean... BAD. Stalls are normal. I lose some, stall, gain some back, stall, lose that and then a little more, stall again. My longest stall was 20 days at 3 weeks out. I routinely stall for about 2 weeks at a time nowadays. It's all good, as long as the overall trend is down.
I'll attach a photo of me at 200 lost, I've lost 8 more since then, but the difference is pretty amazing.

I haven't read all the responses, but for me... no. The bread doesn't sit well with me. Bread, Pasta, rice... it doesn't feel good and, frankly, it's empty calories. I won't even order a burger from a restaurant because they are just crap. Hubby makes really lean, healthy ones and I'll take 2 oz of one of those, put some nice cheese on top and eat it with some tomatoes or whatever I want.
We don't do fast food anymore. I've been in a pinch a few times and either did Chipolte or chicken breast from a sandwich. Still junk, but...

Mine are 12 and almost-10 now. They were 10 and 8 when I had surgery. We told them the basics - I was getting part of my stomach removed to help me lose weight and that we were going to have some changes in the house. We were all going to eat healthier, etc etc. They asked a few questions, my 8 year old did ask "are you going to die" and I told her that I would not die and that most people that would die from something like this were already very sick and I wasn't sick.
They spent 2 nights with my in-laws, we kept the updated on how things were going. No big deal.
And 19 months later, I'm here... we're all eating better, my son dropped 20 pounds just from our changes and we're all healthier, happier and doing well.

Mine are 12 and almost-10 now. They were 10 and 8 when I had surgery. We told them the basics - I was getting part of my stomach removed to help me lose weight and that we were going to have some changes in the house. We were all going to eat healthier, etc etc. They asked a few questions, my 8 year old did ask "are you going to die" and I told her that I would not die and that most people that would die from something like this were already very sick and I wasn't sick.
They spent 2 nights with my in-laws, we kept the updated on how things were going. No big deal.
And 19 months later, I'm here... we're all eating better, my son dropped 20 pounds just from our changes and we're all healthier, happier and doing well.

Well, damn. Someone should have told me that because I lost 5 pounds in month 19. *laughing*
I get what he's saying, but really... no amount of anything is going to stop the skin or hair issues from what I've seen hanging around the various sleeve places online and in real life. I think do what you feel is right for you and your body. My plan is to get where I'm comfortable and then 100-200 calories per week until I'm maintaining. But first I want to get to goal, whatever that ends up being.
Obviously, he's your doctor and you should listen to him... that's my official answer. Unofficially, I'd do what I want. LOL. But I've kind of done that all along anyway.

Well, damn. Someone should have told me that because I lost 5 pounds in month 19. *laughing*
I get what he's saying, but really... no amount of anything is going to stop the skin or hair issues from what I've seen hanging around the various sleeve places online and in real life. I think do what you feel is right for you and your body. My plan is to get where I'm comfortable and then 100-200 calories per week until I'm maintaining. But first I want to get to goal, whatever that ends up being.
Obviously, he's your doctor and you should listen to him... that's my official answer. Unofficially, I'd do what I want. LOL. But I've kind of done that all along anyway.

It doesn't matter what insurance company you have, really. It's about your policy. BCBS has a lot of policies and some employers choose to not include bariatrics. I have BCBS PPO TX and our policy (through the school district that my husband works for) has a very hard exclusion. I ended up paying for it myself as we knew going in they wouldn't approve it - and sure enough... not coverd. No way, no how.
Honestly, I wouldn't change a thing and would do it again even if I had to pay for it again Plus I didn't have to deal with the insurance headaches and stuff you guys did LOL

I'm down another 9 pounds since, but this was my 200 pound loss photo along with some headshot differences.
The headshot was cool because it was the first time she didn't do any photoshop tricks to get rid of chins or shrink my face or anything

Finally finding my way back to this forum, it's been a LONG time. I'm about 16 or so pounds from my new goal weight. Ha! 175 seemed so unobtainable that I never thought I'd actually hit that number, much less pass it and keep going. I'm still losing - in month 19, I'm at 5 pounds lost. I weigh 166 and am 5'6".
Best decision I've ever made, but it's also a LOT of hard work. There's no easy way out. I make decisions every single day and I live with the consequences of those choices. I still only eat around 800 calories a day. I can get up to 1200 if I try really hard, but I still have amazing restriction and I seem to lose best at 800, so I just keep it there. I get around 30-50 carbs per day, a LOT of Water and 70-100 Protein. I use MyFitnessPal to keep myself in check.
There's a LOT of skin. I held most of my weight for 30 years in my stomach. It's really bad. There will be eventual plastic surgery to deal with it. But I'd much rather have that than all the fat that was hanging around.
My life is so much different now. I'm a totally different person, yet completely the same. I'm able to do more and live life how I'm supposed to be living it. I have been married to the most amazing man in the world for nearly 20 years and we have two (nearly) perfect children and life is pretty darn good.
To those of you struggling, stalling, wondering if you can do it... you can. You just have to want it bad enough. And by that I mean... BAD. Stalls are normal. I lose some, stall, gain some back, stall, lose that and then a little more, stall again. My longest stall was 20 days at 3 weeks out. I routinely stall for about 2 weeks at a time nowadays. It's all good, as long as the overall trend is down.
I'll attach a photo of me at 200 lost, I've lost 8 more since then, but the difference is pretty amazing.

I'm down another 9 pounds since, but this was my 200 pound loss photo along with some headshot differences.
The headshot was cool because it was the first time she didn't do any photoshop tricks to get rid of chins or shrink my face or anything

I started the morning I went in and it was heavy. I've had period issues for a LONG time. I'm done with kids so I ended up having an ablation several months ago. BEST THING EVER. I had a little spotting for a few months after (panty liner stuff) and haven't had anything in a few months now. Woot! Hubby is fixed too so we knew we were done with the kid thing.

I'm down another 9 pounds since, but this was my 200 pound loss photo along with some headshot differences.
The headshot was cool because it was the first time she didn't do any photoshop tricks to get rid of chins or shrink my face or anything

I'm down another 9 pounds since, but this was my 200 pound loss photo along with some headshot differences.
The headshot was cool because it was the first time she didn't do any photoshop tricks to get rid of chins or shrink my face or anything

I'm down another 9 pounds since, but this was my 200 pound loss photo along with some headshot differences.
The headshot was cool because it was the first time she didn't do any photoshop tricks to get rid of chins or shrink my face or anything

Gosh, when I first started looking into WLS, RNY and the band were the only things out there. That was 12 years ago or more, I think. I never was comfortable with the idea of either. I didn't like the intestinal rerouting and I'd seen family members struggle hard with dumping (and regain). Research is also starting to show that the malabsorption stops sometimes after the first couple of years - your body learns to adapt. I saw the sleeve a few years before I had surgery and I was like "Now THAT is it". I just knew it was the one I wanted. My doctor agreed. Obviously, I've done very well with it. But it's still hard work. There's no magic. It's all about you - no matter WHAT procedure you choose. Just be sure you choose the one you're willing to work.

I'm down another 9 pounds since, but this was my 200 pound loss photo along with some headshot differences.
The headshot was cool because it was the first time she didn't do any photoshop tricks to get rid of chins or shrink my face or anything

Gosh, when I first started looking into WLS, RNY and the band were the only things out there. That was 12 years ago or more, I think. I never was comfortable with the idea of either. I didn't like the intestinal rerouting and I'd seen family members struggle hard with dumping (and regain). Research is also starting to show that the malabsorption stops sometimes after the first couple of years - your body learns to adapt. I saw the sleeve a few years before I had surgery and I was like "Now THAT is it". I just knew it was the one I wanted. My doctor agreed. Obviously, I've done very well with it. But it's still hard work. There's no magic. It's all about you - no matter WHAT procedure you choose. Just be sure you choose the one you're willing to work.

Finally finding my way back to this forum, it's been a LONG time. I'm about 16 or so pounds from my new goal weight. Ha! 175 seemed so unobtainable that I never thought I'd actually hit that number, much less pass it and keep going. I'm still losing - in month 19, I'm at 5 pounds lost. I weigh 166 and am 5'6".
Best decision I've ever made, but it's also a LOT of hard work. There's no easy way out. I make decisions every single day and I live with the consequences of those choices. I still only eat around 800 calories a day. I can get up to 1200 if I try really hard, but I still have amazing restriction and I seem to lose best at 800, so I just keep it there. I get around 30-50 carbs per day, a LOT of Water and 70-100 Protein. I use MyFitnessPal to keep myself in check.
There's a LOT of skin. I held most of my weight for 30 years in my stomach. It's really bad. There will be eventual plastic surgery to deal with it. But I'd much rather have that than all the fat that was hanging around.
My life is so much different now. I'm a totally different person, yet completely the same. I'm able to do more and live life how I'm supposed to be living it. I have been married to the most amazing man in the world for nearly 20 years and we have two (nearly) perfect children and life is pretty darn good.
To those of you struggling, stalling, wondering if you can do it... you can. You just have to want it bad enough. And by that I mean... BAD. Stalls are normal. I lose some, stall, gain some back, stall, lose that and then a little more, stall again. My longest stall was 20 days at 3 weeks out. I routinely stall for about 2 weeks at a time nowadays. It's all good, as long as the overall trend is down.
I'll attach a photo of me at 200 lost, I've lost 8 more since then, but the difference is pretty amazing.

Finally finding my way back to this forum, it's been a LONG time. I'm about 16 or so pounds from my new goal weight. Ha! 175 seemed so unobtainable that I never thought I'd actually hit that number, much less pass it and keep going. I'm still losing - in month 19, I'm at 5 pounds lost. I weigh 166 and am 5'6".
Best decision I've ever made, but it's also a LOT of hard work. There's no easy way out. I make decisions every single day and I live with the consequences of those choices. I still only eat around 800 calories a day. I can get up to 1200 if I try really hard, but I still have amazing restriction and I seem to lose best at 800, so I just keep it there. I get around 30-50 carbs per day, a LOT of Water and 70-100 Protein. I use MyFitnessPal to keep myself in check.
There's a LOT of skin. I held most of my weight for 30 years in my stomach. It's really bad. There will be eventual plastic surgery to deal with it. But I'd much rather have that than all the fat that was hanging around.
My life is so much different now. I'm a totally different person, yet completely the same. I'm able to do more and live life how I'm supposed to be living it. I have been married to the most amazing man in the world for nearly 20 years and we have two (nearly) perfect children and life is pretty darn good.
To those of you struggling, stalling, wondering if you can do it... you can. You just have to want it bad enough. And by that I mean... BAD. Stalls are normal. I lose some, stall, gain some back, stall, lose that and then a little more, stall again. My longest stall was 20 days at 3 weeks out. I routinely stall for about 2 weeks at a time nowadays. It's all good, as long as the overall trend is down.
I'll attach a photo of me at 200 lost, I've lost 8 more since then, but the difference is pretty amazing.

Finally finding my way back to this forum, it's been a LONG time. I'm about 16 or so pounds from my new goal weight. Ha! 175 seemed so unobtainable that I never thought I'd actually hit that number, much less pass it and keep going. I'm still losing - in month 19, I'm at 5 pounds lost. I weigh 166 and am 5'6".
Best decision I've ever made, but it's also a LOT of hard work. There's no easy way out. I make decisions every single day and I live with the consequences of those choices. I still only eat around 800 calories a day. I can get up to 1200 if I try really hard, but I still have amazing restriction and I seem to lose best at 800, so I just keep it there. I get around 30-50 carbs per day, a LOT of Water and 70-100 Protein. I use MyFitnessPal to keep myself in check.
There's a LOT of skin. I held most of my weight for 30 years in my stomach. It's really bad. There will be eventual plastic surgery to deal with it. But I'd much rather have that than all the fat that was hanging around.
My life is so much different now. I'm a totally different person, yet completely the same. I'm able to do more and live life how I'm supposed to be living it. I have been married to the most amazing man in the world for nearly 20 years and we have two (nearly) perfect children and life is pretty darn good.
To those of you struggling, stalling, wondering if you can do it... you can. You just have to want it bad enough. And by that I mean... BAD. Stalls are normal. I lose some, stall, gain some back, stall, lose that and then a little more, stall again. My longest stall was 20 days at 3 weeks out. I routinely stall for about 2 weeks at a time nowadays. It's all good, as long as the overall trend is down.
I'll attach a photo of me at 200 lost, I've lost 8 more since then, but the difference is pretty amazing.

Honestly, I didn't even realize how much I had to deal with until I started therapy. I think that's why I'm still losing and becoming more accepting of who I am and who I was. I have a long way to go - both in therapy and weight loss. These last pounds are the hardest and I'm fighting. BUT I'm still fighting and haven't given up. I think that's key in this whole thing.
And yes... plastics fairy... I'll be needing her eventually. I'm just NOT looking forward to more surgery. Ugh.