TamaraS

I hit onederland this week!!!!!!!
So happy

I wouldnt either! Life is worth living now This has been the most powerful experience outside of having my son. Congrats on your weightloss!!

Great to hear your doing good and the numbers arn't the important part, how we feel is the real reward here! NSV's are the best!!!

This is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. I am down 68 lbs...not sure why it is so slow as I have not "cheated" at all & I exercise but, hey, it is still better than nothing. I am 7 lbs away from onederland! I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world. What blows me away is I have absolutely NO cravings & I am NEVER hungry. I have to force myself to eat-nothing tastes awesome to me so I eat what I need to get my Protein in. Ummm....not to sound stupid but what is NSV? Anyone have any ideas how to speed up the weight loss? Good luck & congrats to all of you!

omg when i saw this post i was like i forgot all about this one. ive been in post op september. i wondered where did all the sept sleevers went. there is a few of us on the other thread. you guys are doing awesome. im one of the slow losers my numbers arent as high as yours but my NSV are off the chain and my inches are whewwwwwwww. nice hearing from you guys.

I feel you, I also snack way too much at times and not on healthy things. This is really hard but we can do it. Bad habbits are hard to break. Time and effort will get us to where we need to be Best wishes on your journey!

My Doctor used a 40f and I had no problems getting in my liquid but he had me work up to 64 ounces, he didn't require it upfront. I'm almost 10 months out, still have decent restriction and still measure all my food so I don't eat more than 3 ounces of meet and then usually some spinach if I have room. Only a few pounds from goal too!

Great Job!!! I hope you have a speedy recovery with your surgery tomorrow!

Hi! I noticed you posted this a while back and haven't been very active. But, here's to hoping you see my post!!
I am HIV+ and have been for 9 years or so. I recently had the sleeve and do not have any problems. I let my ID and my gastric sleeve surgeon know everything in advance and didn't have any trouble. Also, I crush all of my meds and was never told I shouldn't, even after explicit conversations with my surgeon, my ID, and my pharmacist. So perhaps, getting on the meds which you can crush is the answer without having to go through another surgery.
If you see this and want to talk, let me know.

I'm doing great as well! Best decision of my life! Congrats to you all. I'm going in tomorrow to have my gallbladder removrd now. 100lbs down :-D woohoo

Great job on the 100 pound loss!! I just hit 80 this morning, super happy with my weightloss this far. Cant wait to get the next 75 pounds off!

Hi, September last year people.
How are you? I am doing good. Notice that sometimes I want to eat something but no idea what. very hard time to decide

Doing great so far! Wouldn't go back to the "old me" for anything in the world. This was the best decision I could have made!

OK so today my carb count is 131grams. and its all fruit veggies and whole grains and lentils. here is the menu
breakfast premier Protein
snack 6 oz strawberry chobani
lunch salad made with kale,spinach,arugula, and chard, with steamed lentils,1 egg, 1/4 slice avocado and raspberry vinaigrette.
snack 1/2 cup of black bean Soup with 5 no sodium tortilla chips *note* 5
dinner trader joes spinach pita pizza made with olive oil,garlic, spinach/w a side of steamed kale,and bok choy.
snack 1 tbsp of garlic hummus 1/2 pita bread, 1/4 cup pineapple, 1/4 cup strawberry's, and 1/4 cup soy Beans shelled. total numbers for today.
cal 1127
carbs 131
Protein 76
fat 37
Fiber 30
i just love eating clean
that's correct no meat, I am going vegetarian

Haven't been on in quite awhile. Surgery 9/25 in Mexico with Dr Alvarez. As of 3/25, I have lost 100#. Weight loss has slowed to 8-10# average per month, but have not had any stalls. Did not have any problems with recovery. But it is still difficult to get all my Protein in. Cannot stand the strongly flavored protein products, eggs taste yuck, & sick of chicken. BUT, have lost cravings for Pepsi's & sweets! Yay for that!!
Was working out 2+ times a week until the end of February when I found out I had a hernia. Had it fixed along with my gallbladder removed, 3/20. Can't work out for a couple more weeks! My hair started falling out at 3 month point exactly, lasted for exactly (!) 2 months & now back to normal pattern. So it's still thin, but not too horrible. My skin is not too bad either. Thighs are the worst for sagging, upper arms are flopping, but overall I don't think it's too bad. Maybe because I'm not losing super fast? Still have 50-60# to lose and hope to be at goal by our one year anniversary!

How is everyone doing! Can you believe it's been 6 months?!?!?! Down 96 and ecstatic! Actually looking forward to getting on the doctors scale tomorrow for me six month check up. Would really like to hear how everybody else is doing!

You can do it Laura!
Take a deep breath. Keep calm and carry on. Winston Churchill said that I believe during WWII in the midst of insurmountable odds. You are a strong person.
Maybe you need "we are the champions" or the Rocky theme playing in your ears when you have those scary moments of regain. Seriously, there might be a thought, a visual or an audio that might help you in those burning times of desire to eat.
Regain is something I think a lot about because I too fell off my horse today (maybe it was from getting beat up on a different thread). I may look like my post op is all unicorns and rainbows ( did I just say that?), but controlling my eating when hunger strikes is really hard even though I am already eating Protein every 3 hours.
Your struggle with food is probably different from mine. Some people eat candy, some people eat bread. My habit is to eat 2-3 Protein Bars when 1 or none is better. It is scary when my body screams for another after one. My resolve is to eat max one a day. And if that does not work, get them the hell out of the house.
I already tried moving them to the garage, but that only lasted for a few days. 2 Protein Bars is about 400 calories and 40 carbs. Not the end of the world, but I hate the feeling of losing power over food no matter what it is. This issue got a lot stronger at month 7, especially when I started exercising quite a bit daily.
So what am I saying? We all struggle with hunger and those nagging desires post op. Wish they did not exist, but that is something we need to understand about ourselves and learn to cope with. I do not know the answers, but know they will be found as post op journey carries on.
Keep calm and carry on.

Reading everyone's success stories here on VST always reinflates my tires. And if that doesn't work, reading the "regain" threads certainly does the trick.

... getting on the stupid scales everyday. I get up each morning and it's the same routine. Go pee and get on the scales right before getting in the shower. For the past two weeks now I've been looking at the same 3 pounds go up and down, up and down. It puts me in such a bad mood to start the day and I'm not doing it any more. I was three weeks out this past Monday and I've lost 17 pounds since surgery. I know that is still a great loss in three weeks, never before have I been able to do that, BUT that loss was in a week and a half and now NOTHING for two weeks! It is just so frustrating. I have read the article about why stalls happen when you first start losing and it totally makes sense to me. I was even encouraged by it, but now I'm just irritated. I know I'm doing it to myself because I'm the one who keeps getting on the scale every day. I had surgery on 3/25 which was a Monday. For now I'm going to weigh only on Mondays and we will see how that goes. I'm praying that this stall will break soon. I know it will eventually...

I'm going through the same thing!!! I have been at the same weight for over a month now!!!! I don't get it! And I'm working out more. I feel helpless and I feel like a loser.
Please report back what your dr recommends. Good luck!

Thank you all so much for the comments and the support. I truly know that I need to get over this weakness and be a stronger person...my health is my number one priority in life. I know I can beat this, I am a fighter.

I know just how you feel. I was gaining as well as snacking. I recentley started using my fitness pal.com and that has helped. Also i gave myself permission to eat Atkins Protein Bars when i want something sweet. I eat those in place of "real candy". At least i'm getting some Protein in when i have one, and some of them taste really good and that satisfies my sweet tooth. I'm losing again and confidence is up. Hang in there and never give up!!

As of today, I've lost 100.6 lbs since I first began my gastric surgery program on May 5, 2012. I lost 60 lbs in 9 months pre-surgery. I've lost 40 in the 9 weeks since surgery on my 50th birthday, February 12, 2013.
I feel more restriction now, 9 weeks out, than I did at 3 weeks out. I'm no longer using Protein Shakes regularly, though I do occasionally add unflavored Protein powder to a smoothie when I need to get a little more protein in. I shoot for about 35% protein, 35% carbs, and 30% fats, and under 1000 calories per day.
I still have a long way to go - another 200 lbs to goal - but I feel confident that I will get there. I never used to think I wanted surgery to lose weight, but after losing up to 85 lbs at a stretch at least 3 times before in my life, and then gaining it all back again, plus more each time, I'm glad I made this decision and found a tool that will help me keep this up for the long haul!

Well, here I am, the OP, and I am now at the 7 month mark. I have hit my medical goal loss, even though I had a dreadful 2.5 month stall. Then, amazingly, just dropped 10 lbs being even less vigilant. I will say that I absolutely stand by my original post and it has worked great for ME! I emphasize me, as I also understand where the contrarians were coming from! MANY folk on here, got here in the first place due to a food addiction and crazy unhealthy habits. I was never that bad. Just became fat and lazy.. I knew with the surgery tool that I could adopt a new lifestyle (and at 7 months, I still have years left to prove if that is true, I know).... My NUT was right in that it, of course, gets much harder over time for you to both mentally stay on any diet and also harder for your body to keep losing that weight..... So, my not being on liquid for any period of time but for the pre-diet and then eating mostly anything in small portions but smart choices after 1 week has worked. I still make great choices and cheat when I feel like it. I just track my calories and try to make up for it with some more activity or less food the next choice or day.. I have eaten far more calories than most... THe last 2 months, I am 1700-2000 day and still lost that last 10 pounds. Again, be careful. No yourself and obsession can never be good, regardless, IMO