Lilee84

I need a little help from all you guys! I love doing the daily discussion topics (Flame Free Confessions are my favorite!) but I'm having a hard time coming up with topics you guys and gals will want to discuss - so here's your chance to put your .02 in! What kind of daily discussion topics would you like to see more of? Less of? Let's hear it! Oh, and just a tiny flame free confession for the day: I bought a tiny snack bag of Gardetto's and have eaten half of it. They're OSM! Also, I refuse to look at the nutritional content because I'm afraid of the carbs.

I wanted to take a moment to share my experience with stalls, because I see a lot of people getting discouraged because of them and that's simply not necessary and really bad for your self esteem. I was sleeved 1/20 - over the first 4 weeks I lost 40-freaking-pounds! Amazing! I was so excited and thought to myself "At this rate I'll be at goal by Easter!" And then, about half way through my 4th week something sad happened. My scale broke! I mean, it must have been broken because it kept saying 237 every-single-time I stepped on it, so SURELY it must have been broken, right? Wrong. I was stalled. I'd read the posts, I'd done my research, I knew it was possible but like most I thought "HA! Not me!" For the next 2 1/2 weeks I analyzed every bite I put in my mouth, I doubled up my sessions with my trainer, I increased my Protein and fluids, to no avail! A week after my stall started, the scale still would not budge! Seriously, it's digital, how could it be broken? Maybe I somehow saved my last weigh in and it was just showing me that # every time I stepped on. Maybe? No. Maybe this was it. Maybe 40lbs was all I was meant to lose? No. Maybe I'm just built differently and the sleeve isn't going to work for me? No! It was a stall! A point at which the weight temporarily stops coming off and the scale stops moving. A time for my body to try and play catch up after the havoc wreaked on it for the previous 4 weeks. Two 1/2 weeks after my stupid stall started, I noticed something - I was getting a LOT of compliments! I mean, sure people had been commenting before my stall but now, now people I NEVER talked to were commenting how good I was looking and what a great job I was doing. Surely they must be mistaken, I haven't lost ANY weight in the last 2 1/2 weeks. They're crazy. To prove it, I took a picture. As I sat at my computer making my little collage so I could show them just how crazy they were, a gasp escaped my mouth when I added the last picture. Could it be? Surely it wasn't possible! I am the EXACT same weight that I was in picture #2, a fact that I was painfully aware of, but something was different. I actually LOOK thinner! Amazing! And to think I spent the previous 2 1/2 weeks silently stressing because the scale wasn't budging! The whole time while my weight wasn't shrinking, my waist was! So to all of you out there stressing over stalls my message is this - Just because your weight isn't shrinking, doesn't mean your waist isn't. Just keep doing what you're doing and you will be successful - don't sabotage your success just because your scale is temporarily broken

Did you have your surgery in HI? Maybe your surgeons office can recommend something?

Tell me what's on your mind! Got a question you need answered? Ask! Got something you want to talk about? Talk! Got an NSV you wanna share? Share! Sleeve related or not, I wanna know what you have to say! What's on my mind today is a tiny NSV from this morning... So, I've decided not to buy clothes until I hit onederland (35lbs to go!) so this morning I put on my size 24 work pants and had to pin them in two separate places! Holy crap batman! Also, the shirt I'm wearing today was too small two months ago. I've gone from a tight 24 in the waist to a comfortable 18, and a 2Xl to an XL in the top Oh, and my stall has finally ended! Halelujah praise the Lord!

What's your go to place for relaxation? Mental or Physical, don't matter. Mine is the nail salon - sans baby. Twice a month I abandon my motherly duties (usually on the weekends my son is with his father) and spend a couple of hours at the salon gossiping with my nail tech friend, getting my nails done, eyebrows waxed, and occasionally a pedicure if my finances allow.

Steve the Sleeve! No real reason behind the name, I just felt Sleevie and variations of were a tad over used for my taste

Were you a big coffee/tea/soda drinker bedore? Probably caffeine withdrawl

I highly recommend getting your Dr to prescribe something. Mine gave me a suppository at first and I never used it, but at my last check up his PA prescribed me Zofran and it is a freaking life saver! If he hadn't given me a suppository I probably would have been taking it from day 1, and now that I've got the Zofran I'm kind of kicking myself. But when I weigh the whole suppository thing VS 7 weeks of almost constant nausea, it's kind of a draw. I can eat and drink and not get that queasy feeling after! No more 2 hour naps after eating! OSM!

TGIF Bitchezzzzzz! It's time for our Flame Free Friday Confessions, so spill you dirty little secrets and remember, we don't judge ;-> My dirty little secret of the week? I ate a nutty butty ice cream cone the other day and it was - DELICIOUS! I kept waiting for the restriction to hit about half way through but it never did. That tells me that ice cream is a dangerous, dangerous food. From now on I'm sticking to my SF popsicles.

If your life were a movie, what would it be called? Feel free to use a title that's already out there Most of the time I'm convinced that I'm a character in "He's just not that into you."

In photobucket... you upload the pics you want to use, then click "edit photos" and then "create a collage"

Alright here we go! Pic #1 is 278#, and pic #2 and #3 are both 237# - Just goes to show that even though I'm at a stall (I gained 3-4lbs between week 4 and now and then lost it again and stalled) and I'm not losing weight, I'm DEFINITELY losing inches!

Alright ladies and gents, I warned you it was coming! It's time to show of those slimmer figures! It helps to visualize your progress, especially during a stall or other similar discouraging time, so let's see 'em! Whether you're 2 days post op or 2 months post op, post your pre-op and current pics in a comment below. And yes, I will be posting my own as soon as my partner in crime gets back from lunch and takes one for me

I was craving green leafy vegetables so I got a Subway tuna salad. I ate the tuna first and then munched on the salad (all spinach) and it was deeeeelicious! ETA: I was only able to eat about 3 bites of the salad. What's everyone else having??

Haha! Sorry, I tend to go gung-ho when I'm talking about something I'm passionate about. To answer your question, I've always been this active. When I was in eutero my mom experienced a trauma that stopped the flow of Fluid to my thyroid. It caused a cyst that I had removed when I was 4 and after surgery when they checked my thyroid, I was told I would always have an underactive thyroid. So here we are! I'm also Italian and have an unhealthy affection for Pasta

I hope this isn't too personal but what procedure/s did you have and what was the cost? I'm still fresh from getting sleeved but I'm starting to save for plastics now.

For tomorrow's "Where you at?!" Wednesday post! I think it's important to visualize how far you've come, whether you're 2 days out, 2 months out, or 2 years out. To prepare yourself, find your before picture, and if you don't have one just find a pre-op pic you don't mind posting, and either tonight or in the morning take a full body (or as close as possible) shot and prepare to post around noon tomorrow!

At almost 7 weeks I finally hit my 3 week stall! Am I concerned about it? Nope! Because I know that it's normal and temporary and that this is my body's way of catching up with my almost 40lb loss! So while the scale may not be moving, my pants are starting to REALLY sag. That sounds like a kick-ass NSV to me!

The staples and sutures are internal It's now they closed your stomach when they removed 80-85% of it.

I've been using a personal trainer for a year now and I love it. He's great! He gets me, and he knows my limitations and works within them but pushes the envelope juuuuust a little. Honestly, a trainer isn't going to motivate you any more than you motivate yourself, and as far as measuring your progress - you're not going to care if you don't progress because it sounds like you really have no desire to do the work. The main thing a trainer is going to do for you is show you what exercises to do in order to minimize the saggy skin, build muscle, and tone what's already there. But if you don't decide to get your butt in the gym no matter how tired, how long a day it's been, or what's on TV, you may as well just throw your $ out the window, because that's what you'll be doing. Get yourself in the habit of walking every night or riding your bike every night, then once you've got the habit, switch it up and join a gym and THEN get a trainer. Until you have the habit, I wouldn't do it.

For those that have been sleeved: Besides your weight, what's the biggest change you've seen in yourself? It can be physical, habitual, emotional... Whatever. For those waiting to be sleeved: Besides your weight, what change are you most looking forward to?

Aww, poor Dorrie! Want me to Fedex u a #11? Thst's what I had...

For the win! I was only able to eat about 1/4 of it but it was delicious! Oh, and if you try it, make sure they leave the onions off - their onions are notorious for giving people horrible gas. If only Firehouse Subs had the equivalent of an unwich...

I lived on SF popsicles for the first 2, almost 3 weeks... Even while I was supposed to be trying to work in solids and mushies and purees, everything hurt. Listen to your body and when in doubt, call your Dr. Welcome to the losers bench!

These are all GREAT! Anybody else have one???