Aussiegirl

I hear ya!!
It sucks being single and having all this "stuff" going on.
Atleast there is my battery operated friend TMI lol

I don't mind. I run a foundation that does work all over the world. I travel over 300,000 miles a year (10-12) times around the world. Sometimes I find myself in Bali, other times in Beruit or a conflict zone in South Sudan. I make Anthony Bourdain look like a lightweight. It seems glamorous, and has its wonderful moments, but it is a brutal lifestyle that would have killed me if I had not gotten the sleeve. There's zero time to pamper yourself and you eat what you can when you can. A sleeve was a big gamble since I could not afford to make the focus of my life the 6-inch tube that used to be my stomach.
I am fortunate to have had a tolerant sleeve and a fast recovery. I think it also helps that I have steadfastly refused to make this operation the center of the universe. You can create your own reality by choosing not to make this a big deal ( or you can do the opposite).
Over the next 3 months I am traveling to .Montreal, Mallorca, London, Jordan, Santiago, Taiwan and Panama. If this information helps reassure people, or helps them better manage their own journeys, I will drop the occasional post. Now I have to get ready for another 16-hour day on 4 hours sleep (again).
Thanks to all for the support.
Sent from my iPad using VST

I saw a thread of all the things that we think we won't miss pre-surgery or early on the surgery. Thought I would put together a list of things that I dont miss and which keep me motivated to keep working harder.
1. Not being able to cross my legs comfortably
2. Waking up in the night with my arms numb
3. Legs rubbing together
4. Going into a store and not being able to find anything to buy
5. Not being able to run, jump, skip and feel fit enough to keep up with others around me
6. Feeling lost in my own body and life
7. Sucking my body into airline seats, and asking for the extension belt
8. Having no one want to sit near me on public transport (ok I do kinda miss that one, as I would much rather no one sits next to me, but you get the point)
9. Not being able to keep up with my 3 yo nephew

Coming just past the 10 month mark and 150 pounds gone, only about another 10-12 to go to my goal (surgeon never made a goal for me).
Life is better, easier, shopping is way more fun.
Still have alot of work I want to do to my body around toning up and getting rid of the extra rolls, but will see where my body lands on weight and then assess the excess skin situation.
Exercise is part of my daily routine and something I enjoy and helps reduce the stress in my life...life really is a whole new adventure
Also I am no longer Obese, i am purely overweight and I am ok with that.

I am going to try this, hopefully it works! I had my sleeve surgery November 29th, 2010. The first pictures are at my highest when I got married (I love my husband, he has loved me no matter what size!), around 260ish lbs. The second are the day of my surgery, 220ish lbs. The last pictures are at my current weight, 135-137lbs (I LOVE my hormones, I LOVE my hormones). There are 2 standing in my old jeans and I fit in 1 leg (1 is me AND my daughter in my jeans). There is also a picture of my biggest jeans (size 22), and my new jeans (size 4..I wear a size 4-6). I never dreamed I would ever be this size or weigh in the 130's. I honestly never thought I would even reach goal because I had tried and failed so many times in my life. I hope these pictures are inspiration that, if you let it, the sleeve is an amazing tool! And I hope it inspires the slower losers too! It took me 18 months to reach my goal weight of 140lbs, and I have even lost a few more pounds in the last couple of months. So don't get discouraged if you don't lose all your weight in the first 6 months. If you make the changes you need to make to have a healthy life, it will happen!

Sleeved 22nd Sept 2011 and so far 150 pounds goooooone!

Sleeved 22nd Sept 2011 and so far 150 pounds goooooone!

Sleeved 22nd Sept 2011 and so far 150 pounds goooooone!

Well today is 1 year since my surgery- It has been the hardest year of my life!!! I have lost about 125lbs and went from a size 24/26 to a size 10/12. I offically know what it is like to feel comfortable in my skin, to have people look at me like "you've never had a weight problem", to have people (family) not recognize me, to go shopping and just buy things or actually have fun trying things on, it has made my relationship better with my husband, it has showed me who were really my friends, and all of that because I made a choice to do something for ME and not anyone else. It has had it's down side, hair loss, Vitamin deficiency problems and going in for shots monthly, throwing up, wishing I could eat (I am an emotional eater), throwing up, (I know I said that twice- but I woke up from surgery throwing up and have had issues with it ever since). THIS IS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE AND I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO REGRETS EXCEPT THAT I DIDN"T DO IT SOONER!!!!!
TINA

Hey everyone. Im still around, mostly read your post and havent posted much. Lets see I am 1 yr and almost 3 months out. Loving life and doing great. My Dr told me a couple weeks ago i am the picture of health and in better shape than most of his 20 yr old patients. :-)
Hang in there and work hard for goal. Yiu can do this!!!
Thats me on saturday with friends at the end of the muddy buddy in Chicago. 4.5 miles of fun and dirt. Then us on sunday running the Rock and Roll half marathon. Or marathin as i like to call it. :-).

I'm down about 70 pounds. And I just realized not only was I abusing my body, but damn my poor clothes took a beating. Trying to squeeze into something that is tight as he!!, stretching shirts out, trying not to dry my jeans so they wouldn't shrink, and forget about the chub rub on my pants. I'm just now going down a size, it's not because I haven't lost enough weight, it's because I was always in denial trying to wear clothes that didn't fit properly.
Needless to say I am enjoying wearing my clothes, especially now that they fit appropriately.

Wow - good for you!!! Congratulations!!!

Hi Aussiegirl,
I love your post. Wow you have done amazing and look fabulous. What an exciting time ahead for you to Celebrate your 12 months, that is awesome.
Best of luck

Congrats on your weight loss- you look fantastic!

Congratulations on your success! You look GREAT!! Now I can't wait to get mine over with, Aug 6th hurry up...

Just wanted to take a moment to share my journey so far with those of you thinking of this surgery or starting out...
10 months ago, i weighed 150 kgs ( 330 pounds) and waited anxiously to be admitted to hospital, managed to work myself up into a right mess before surgery, much of which I now dont remember. However do remember a really cute male nurse holding my hand and trying to calm me. Next thing I know I am waking up in the ICU (protocol for my doctor) and throwing up blood (not so standard) but otherwise Ok. Spent the night in the ICU and in the morning they moved me out to another room, and got me up and walking.,
After that everything progressed relatively issue free, thankfully, however I had mentally prepared myself for the worst.
My approach was slightly different to others, I wanted to start the way i want to continue my life. That is live my life like I was already in maintenance. I watch what I eat, mainly low fat Protein, lo GI carbs, veggies and fruit. I never have a Protein shake or protein supplements.I have not denied myself any food at any point, as long as my sleeve could handle it. I still dont handle too much sugary things too well, even tho chocolate was one of my favourite things pre-surgery now I really cant handle more than a bite size peice, and now honestly dont even want it now. My body generally craves things that are good for it in the traditional sense. Nowadays my drinking and eatting feel normal to me. Eatting is now a thing I do to fuel myself, and i do need to make a concious effort to make sure I remember to eat. Pre-surgery I enjoyed tasting new things, was a bit of a foodie, still am, just at a smaller capacity.
I started a work out routine as soon as I was cleared to do it, before that i would walk as much as I could. Initially I had alot of fatigue and it was a struggle. Now I run and able to keep up with some of the fittest people I know. I did start doing 2 sessions a day for 5 days a week, I have tempered this back some and work harder while I am there and incorporate exercise in most parts of my life.
I have PCOS, so loosing weight has always been difficult. But most of my symptoms have tapered off, not completely gone but diminished. I am only now dealing with post op reflux which I did not have before, apparently this should not go on this far out, so working my doctor on this.
At the moment I am 84 kgs (185 pounds) and still loosing...now it is a very different experience. The weight loss isnt constant like it was initially, now I will not loose anything for a few weeks and then all of a suddden drop a few more kgs. I am 9 kgs away from where I was wanted to end up in weight. However I am relatively happy with my body, working more on toning that anything. I have alot of excess skin now, that i may eventually try and do something about. I have put some pictures as of this morning and pre-surgery below, please dont be too judgemental, I know that there is still work to be done, i still have the rolls in my middle and i am sure they will be the last to go, but this is where I am today.
The last 10 months hasnt always been easy, I have needed to face many of my issues, with eatting, stress, people expectations and learning to live a healthier life.
My advise to anyone who is considering the surgery is be ready to face missing food, changing your relationship eatting, ready to not eat like you did before. You need to be ready for change.
I am now planning my celebration of the hard work, and a culmination of things have lead to the right timing. Next month I am taking 2.5 months off and am planning a roadtrip around parts of the US, where I plan on doing everything I was previously limited doing cause of weight limits, horse riding, ziplining, hiking, rafiting, riding rollercoasters. I plan a real celebration of life, driving round in my convertible mustang....
Life really is exciting now..
Sorry it was a long post.

You are not alone, atleast from my part.
I now only really loose weight around my time of month, pretty much only loose then nowadays, but loose 4 kgs/8 pounds over a few days.

I think you look great! What an amazing success, your post is very inspirational to those of us who are still waiting for their sleeve (and who have so e doubts about their own capabilities!)
I hope you have a blast on your trip, and that every activity is what you hoped it would be!
Cheers!

Just wanted to take a moment to share my journey so far with those of you thinking of this surgery or starting out...
10 months ago, i weighed 150 kgs ( 330 pounds) and waited anxiously to be admitted to hospital, managed to work myself up into a right mess before surgery, much of which I now dont remember. However do remember a really cute male nurse holding my hand and trying to calm me. Next thing I know I am waking up in the ICU (protocol for my doctor) and throwing up blood (not so standard) but otherwise Ok. Spent the night in the ICU and in the morning they moved me out to another room, and got me up and walking.,
After that everything progressed relatively issue free, thankfully, however I had mentally prepared myself for the worst.
My approach was slightly different to others, I wanted to start the way i want to continue my life. That is live my life like I was already in maintenance. I watch what I eat, mainly low fat Protein, lo GI carbs, veggies and fruit. I never have a Protein shake or protein supplements.I have not denied myself any food at any point, as long as my sleeve could handle it. I still dont handle too much sugary things too well, even tho chocolate was one of my favourite things pre-surgery now I really cant handle more than a bite size peice, and now honestly dont even want it now. My body generally craves things that are good for it in the traditional sense. Nowadays my drinking and eatting feel normal to me. Eatting is now a thing I do to fuel myself, and i do need to make a concious effort to make sure I remember to eat. Pre-surgery I enjoyed tasting new things, was a bit of a foodie, still am, just at a smaller capacity.
I started a work out routine as soon as I was cleared to do it, before that i would walk as much as I could. Initially I had alot of fatigue and it was a struggle. Now I run and able to keep up with some of the fittest people I know. I did start doing 2 sessions a day for 5 days a week, I have tempered this back some and work harder while I am there and incorporate exercise in most parts of my life.
I have PCOS, so loosing weight has always been difficult. But most of my symptoms have tapered off, not completely gone but diminished. I am only now dealing with post op reflux which I did not have before, apparently this should not go on this far out, so working my doctor on this.
At the moment I am 84 kgs (185 pounds) and still loosing...now it is a very different experience. The weight loss isnt constant like it was initially, now I will not loose anything for a few weeks and then all of a suddden drop a few more kgs. I am 9 kgs away from where I was wanted to end up in weight. However I am relatively happy with my body, working more on toning that anything. I have alot of excess skin now, that i may eventually try and do something about. I have put some pictures as of this morning and pre-surgery below, please dont be too judgemental, I know that there is still work to be done, i still have the rolls in my middle and i am sure they will be the last to go, but this is where I am today.
The last 10 months hasnt always been easy, I have needed to face many of my issues, with eatting, stress, people expectations and learning to live a healthier life.
My advise to anyone who is considering the surgery is be ready to face missing food, changing your relationship eatting, ready to not eat like you did before. You need to be ready for change.
I am now planning my celebration of the hard work, and a culmination of things have lead to the right timing. Next month I am taking 2.5 months off and am planning a roadtrip around parts of the US, where I plan on doing everything I was previously limited doing cause of weight limits, horse riding, ziplining, hiking, rafiting, riding rollercoasters. I plan a real celebration of life, driving round in my convertible mustang....
Life really is exciting now..
Sorry it was a long post.

This is so motivating! Thanks!

You look amazing! Congrats on your success...thank you for sharing your inspiring story!!!

Weight loss surgery can be hard at times I'm 10days out and I'm still getting used to not chugging my water. Congrats on Ur life changes, I bet it feels good to be in a size that's comfortable for u. Good luck.

Congrats! You look fabulous!

You look fantastic and I am sure you feel great! Big high five and Congratulations on so much hard work!

Congrats on your positive attitude. And good luck on your continued weight loss.