stellabug321

My sister ways helping me out with encouragement, so I can see the difference, as I still see myself as the " big girl" it can be done and feeling pretty grateful for my sleeve! Haven't posted for awhile but always checking in

More pictures from the beginning

My sister ways helping me out with encouragement, so I can see the difference, as I still see myself as the " big girl" it can be done and feeling pretty grateful for my sleeve! Haven't posted for awhile but always checking in

...I am a little over a month out from surgery. I joined this site a couple of weeks prior to my surgery. I've seen lots of positive; I've seen lots of negative. I'd be the first one to admit that when typing a text, an email, or a post on a site such as this...miscommunication happens. However, words are very powerful - words need to be chosen carefully especially when you don't even truly know a person..I was slammed a couple of weeks ago about regret...I am still here. I am NOT going anywhere...I am more determined than everto share my story...whether you are in the majority here who love their sleeve, or you are in the minority who regret their sleeve - you are important, your journey is yours, and this should be a place where you should be able to feel comfortable....but I just read a very mean reply to someone's post...it was totally uncalled for...it was simply rude....cold, callous, in my personal opinion. I am MAD!
I strongly feel that many on this site need to ask themselves after reading a post...can I say anything supportive to this person? If your answer is no, or you have so much disagreement with the poster's thoughts/questions ... that you just want to beat someone down with your words...don't post a reply to the person, period.
I think most would agree we are here for support, to gain knowledge, to gain confidence in our journey, to hear from kindred spirits in this journey...this should be a safe place to ask questions, to express our thoughts, to share stories...so, please, please from the bottom of my heart...I am asking people to remember what I tell middle school kids every day ..."Manners matter! If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!"
...can I get an Amen???

They call the first year the 'honeymoon period'. It is when you can lose the most....but you must stick to the program. No cheating. They told us at the seminar, this is not a diet, it's a new way of life. That is fine, BUT until I reached goal, I treated this as the most important diet of my life. NOTHING sweet, nothing fried.....touched my lips!!! Carbonated drinks....NEVER. Alcohol, every so often AFTER reaching goal. I didn't touch a thing until after I'd been at goal for a good six months. I reached goal quickly, but I was, as my nurse said 'rigid'. It worked for me. I weighted or measured everything I ate when we were at home, I still do most of the time. I still keep an on line food log. Now at almost 3 years out, I feel like I live like a naturally thin person. Life is good, and I never feel deprived. Sometimes I have something sweet more than I should......but with little or no hunger, it is easy to lose a few lbs after vacation or Christmas!!! (still no hunger but my 'new' hunger is more of an empty feeling!!) Good luck!!

I believe it is true, but only if you continue to let the sleeve do the heavy lifting. If you dedicate yourself to a solid exercise plan and continue to eat healthy, I think you can probably keep up the weight loss to your end goal.
The problem that occurs at six months is generally people can eat like they did pre sleeve albeit smaller portions. A lot of folks relax their eating and, if they are not careful, will significantly slow down their weight loss. This is only from my reading so I do not have any actual anecdotal or empirical evidence to back up these statements. And of course everyone is different in terms of metabolism, etc.
If you wish to keep losing at a significant clip, my advice is to get or stay active and watch your nutritional diet as your sleeve may not help you as much.

I really don't like Spanx. They're too tight in certain areas. I don't exactly want all areas to look smaller.

Yes it's always a good day when hair grows back! I was just at the hair dressers today and she said its coming in fuller and thicker!
Thank you sleeve, so many things, to be thankful for!

Hurray. Always a good day when hair grows back. Keep up the great work.

I have noticed the same too! Love it! I love being able to use a regular sized towel to cover my body and not have to use a beach towel that barely fit! I also like that I dont fill up the whole bathtub too! SOOOO many good things about having this sleeve! Best thing I have done for myself! (and my husband is benefiting from my new self confidence)

I was have a shower today and when I was shaving my legs I noticed that I had a back and a butt.
I wasn't moving parts around, I wasn't kinking my neck and I surely wasn't fighting my rolls to shave my legs...
I found it, lol I found that when I look behind me I don't have move folds and rolls, now I can see behind me straight down to my feet!
I love it, still have some roll but not as much as before! Love love my sleeve:)
Oh and I found that my hair no longer falls out at 7 months but find little pieces sticking up every where like I have static cling, and those are my little hairs growing back:)
Just wanted to share my happiness:)

I was have a shower today and when I was shaving my legs I noticed that I had a back and a butt.
I wasn't moving parts around, I wasn't kinking my neck and I surely wasn't fighting my rolls to shave my legs...
I found it, lol I found that when I look behind me I don't have move folds and rolls, now I can see behind me straight down to my feet!
I love it, still have some roll but not as much as before! Love love my sleeve:)
Oh and I found that my hair no longer falls out at 7 months but find little pieces sticking up every where like I have static cling, and those are my little hairs growing back:)
Just wanted to share my happiness:)

I was have a shower today and when I was shaving my legs I noticed that I had a back and a butt.
I wasn't moving parts around, I wasn't kinking my neck and I surely wasn't fighting my rolls to shave my legs...
I found it, lol I found that when I look behind me I don't have move folds and rolls, now I can see behind me straight down to my feet!
I love it, still have some roll but not as much as before! Love love my sleeve:)
Oh and I found that my hair no longer falls out at 7 months but find little pieces sticking up every where like I have static cling, and those are my little hairs growing back:)
Just wanted to share my happiness:)

I was have a shower today and when I was shaving my legs I noticed that I had a back and a butt.
I wasn't moving parts around, I wasn't kinking my neck and I surely wasn't fighting my rolls to shave my legs...
I found it, lol I found that when I look behind me I don't have move folds and rolls, now I can see behind me straight down to my feet!
I love it, still have some roll but not as much as before! Love love my sleeve:)
Oh and I found that my hair no longer falls out at 7 months but find little pieces sticking up every where like I have static cling, and those are my little hairs growing back:)
Just wanted to share my happiness:)

I was have a shower today and when I was shaving my legs I noticed that I had a back and a butt.
I wasn't moving parts around, I wasn't kinking my neck and I surely wasn't fighting my rolls to shave my legs...
I found it, lol I found that when I look behind me I don't have move folds and rolls, now I can see behind me straight down to my feet!
I love it, still have some roll but not as much as before! Love love my sleeve:)
Oh and I found that my hair no longer falls out at 7 months but find little pieces sticking up every where like I have static cling, and those are my little hairs growing back:)
Just wanted to share my happiness:)

I was have a shower today and when I was shaving my legs I noticed that I had a back and a butt.
I wasn't moving parts around, I wasn't kinking my neck and I surely wasn't fighting my rolls to shave my legs...
I found it, lol I found that when I look behind me I don't have move folds and rolls, now I can see behind me straight down to my feet!
I love it, still have some roll but not as much as before! Love love my sleeve:)
Oh and I found that my hair no longer falls out at 7 months but find little pieces sticking up every where like I have static cling, and those are my little hairs growing back:)
Just wanted to share my happiness:)

My first such stunning revelation was when I could finally paint my own toenails! The heavier I got, the farther away they seemed to move!

Oh I call it the dreaded fast tie... When you take a deep breath hold and tie that shoe as fast as possible!
Pre op weight 246, surgery weight 224, Goal 160, surgery 2/6/13

Well, first of all your capacity for food is going to increase but that doesn't mean you should eat more. You do not need to eat until you are full or in pain. I have a large capacity too....which means I use an accurate scale and weigh my food to the proper serving size, eat that and no more. Surprisingly, while not usually full, I realize I'm also not hungry afterwards. It sounds like you are using the "eyeball" method of food measuring. I doubt any of us are very good at that or we wouldn't be here. After using a good food scale for a few months you will get good at eyeballing it...but since you do have a larger capacity your best bet is to continue to use the scale indefinitely, at least some of the time. I'm 9 months out and I still use mine everyday. Some foods I make often enough I don't need to weigh anymore....but I still do occasionally to make sure I haven't slowly increased my amounts. Our perception of what we are eating rarely matches with reality...especially in those of us who needed WLS.
Don't rely on your feelings of fullness to tell you when to stop eating. For some of us, that is part of the reason we are here...definitely for me. I must have killed mine eating all those pizzas in my former life.

Thanks ladies it is awesome! I love seeing things that I have not seen either ever or for a very long time!
Loosing 91 pounds so far has made me find things are possible and can't wait to experience more! It's kind of like a treasure hunt!
Hope you guys are enjoying your sleeve, and are doing well! I also love the fact I can tie my shoes without wanting to pass out! congrats on the victories so far ^^^^ ladies!

I was have a shower today and when I was shaving my legs I noticed that I had a back and a butt.
I wasn't moving parts around, I wasn't kinking my neck and I surely wasn't fighting my rolls to shave my legs...
I found it, lol I found that when I look behind me I don't have move folds and rolls, now I can see behind me straight down to my feet!
I love it, still have some roll but not as much as before! Love love my sleeve:)
Oh and I found that my hair no longer falls out at 7 months but find little pieces sticking up every where like I have static cling, and those are my little hairs growing back:)
Just wanted to share my happiness:)

I was have a shower today and when I was shaving my legs I noticed that I had a back and a butt.
I wasn't moving parts around, I wasn't kinking my neck and I surely wasn't fighting my rolls to shave my legs...
I found it, lol I found that when I look behind me I don't have move folds and rolls, now I can see behind me straight down to my feet!
I love it, still have some roll but not as much as before! Love love my sleeve:)
Oh and I found that my hair no longer falls out at 7 months but find little pieces sticking up every where like I have static cling, and those are my little hairs growing back:)
Just wanted to share my happiness:)

I was have a shower today and when I was shaving my legs I noticed that I had a back and a butt.
I wasn't moving parts around, I wasn't kinking my neck and I surely wasn't fighting my rolls to shave my legs...
I found it, lol I found that when I look behind me I don't have move folds and rolls, now I can see behind me straight down to my feet!
I love it, still have some roll but not as much as before! Love love my sleeve:)
Oh and I found that my hair no longer falls out at 7 months but find little pieces sticking up every where like I have static cling, and those are my little hairs growing back:)
Just wanted to share my happiness:)

I was have a shower today and when I was shaving my legs I noticed that I had a back and a butt.
I wasn't moving parts around, I wasn't kinking my neck and I surely wasn't fighting my rolls to shave my legs...
I found it, lol I found that when I look behind me I don't have move folds and rolls, now I can see behind me straight down to my feet!
I love it, still have some roll but not as much as before! Love love my sleeve:)
Oh and I found that my hair no longer falls out at 7 months but find little pieces sticking up every where like I have static cling, and those are my little hairs growing back:)
Just wanted to share my happiness:)