mlkthomas

Thanks here is a fairly recent photo comparison

Happy Anniversary September Sleevers!! Keep your head held high because we did it!! Continue our journey and we will be fine as wine!!

Congrats & Happy Surgiversary to all of you who have celebrated their one year post op (myself included). I lost a total of 63 pounds and have maintained that weight loss. I am happy to post a before & after pic (hope this works).

Thanks! we all look fabulous inside and out!!

You look fabulous!!!!

I am 4 pounds away from my goal weight. I'm so excited and a little scared all at the same time.
I know it sounds crazy. I've found myself eating a little more than I normally eat. One side of me says its ok because I need to start stabilizing my calorie intake. I normally have a daily calorie count at about 800-900. Recently it's been alot more.
I've got to find a happy medium to get to goal and to stay there.

LADIES!!! Hello!
Green, thank you for the shout out! I have been going thru the divorce, sold my house and moved all this last few weeks. I have been swamped and I know I have been MIA!
Well, I am 4 pounds till goal and have my Tummy Tuck and breast augmentation scheduled for July 2nd!! So excited.Dr said that after the tummy tuck I will probably be 10-15 pounds lighter even. This is the best thing that I have ever done and do not regret a single second of it. I am a little flabby on my inner thighs and arms but all in all I dont care about it that much.
I can eat a little more- Sometimes. Other times I still have tons of restriction. Its weird. I still puke every so often but I am used to it and am learning my limit. You all look amazing!!! Have you posted before and afters??

Looking fabulous post op Setember sleevers! It's been awhile since I've been on here but I keep up with the post on my phone. The updates keep me encouraged and strong because I'm a slow loser with many stalls. But I can tell more and more in the inches.
Remember this...Be grateful for the stuff you go through --- it's all working together for YOUR good! My daily prayer!!

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

Happy Mothers Day all you beautiful Moms!!!

cant wait for a 12 thats my goal size

So i fit into size 12s!!!....im a 12 and sometimes 14...only 10 lbs ago i was a 16. Goes to show how the smaller you are the more weight you lose the sizes go down faster.
I leave for Japan in a week so im hoping i am 200 or 199 by then...either way I am so happy to go shopping. Its crazy!!! :wub:
I eat tons of veggies too and i honestly dont count Protein etc. I just make sure that i eat some at every meal.

Oh Lord, it's girl scout cookie time! They are out everywhere. Give me the strength to just say NO!

Oh Lord, it's girl scout cookie time! They are out everywhere. Give me the strength to just say NO!

Oh Lord, it's girl scout cookie time! They are out everywhere. Give me the strength to just say NO!

green thanks, man i have been hit on so much omg, just today the bus driver on the shuttle to the courthouse asked for my number. and the sheriff flirted with me. im singing from west side story I FEEL PRETTY OH SO PRETTY. it feels good.
becca dang girl check you out. imgoing to post an updated pic myself.
momof i feel your pain i feel your pain

All this talk about snacking makes me think we should list great Protein Snacks that we can all enjoy.
Currently, my favorite is Turkey Jerky. 1 oz has 13 grams if protein and it helps with my salty cravings.
2nd not a snack but today I tried the new Atkins frozen meals. Picked it up at Walmart. 23 grams of protein and it was delicious!!!!
Last, Kroger's Carb Smart yogurt!!!
What's your favorite??

Happy Holday's to All!! It's amazing how well we all are doing! Feels good to see that our hard work is paying off. I've been doing good just trying to get my Protein in and exercise when I can. Feels so good to be off majority of my medicines and return to the workplace. My journey started off with congestive heart failure and cardiac arrythmia which had me on at least 9 different medicines which caused me to be put on long disability. So, we decided that the sleeve will help me and it has changed my life! Only on 4 meds, all the Vitamins and released off disability Jan 2013!! THANK GOD for the sleeve and my September Sleevers!! Reading your blogs and status has lifted my spirits and gave me so much encouragement!!

Happy Holday's to All!! It's amazing how well we all are doing! Feels good to see that our hard work is paying off. I've been doing good just trying to get my Protein in and exercise when I can. Feels so good to be off majority of my medicines and return to the workplace. My journey started off with congestive heart failure and cardiac arrythmia which had me on at least 9 different medicines which caused me to be put on long disability. So, we decided that the sleeve will help me and it has changed my life! Only on 4 meds, all the Vitamins and released off disability Jan 2013!! THANK GOD for the sleeve and my September Sleevers!! Reading your blogs and status has lifted my spirits and gave me so much encouragement!!

BRAVO!!
Thank you for posting this. It seems we both seen Dr. A around the same time. My Sleeversary is on 9/15 and I had mine in 2010 as well.
ABSOLUTELY we MUST work on our heads. I posted something exactly like this in my status today. This should not be taken so lightly that we all think this is some magical cure. It is NOT!!
We will ALL have to deal with our food demons at some point. I'd go as far to say only a handful of us will be lucky enough to not need to do this. Majority of us will. The hard truth is, most of us became obese because of our unhealthy relationship with food.< /strong>
Many of us will not realize this until at least 2+ years post op. The difference between me today and me one year ago is vast... and I was even STILL over 1 year post op then. I have gained weight too. I do definitely plan to start working on that, because even though some people are telling me that I look better now (as opposed to the various "anorexic" comments I was getting before) I don't FEEL better. I do want to get back to my smallest where I was able to fit my big bubble butt in some size Zero NYDJ. I was tiny, but I felt amazing.
One thing however to keep in mind that myself and YOU are a true fighter. If we weren't, we would not have gone as far as to go to Mexico and have our stomach's cut out. It's so easy to say "Get back on track, you know what to do... etc..." because yes, we know what we are supposed to do. There is a might huge difference between KNOWING and DOING. Like I said, most won't know how this feels until they are far out enough TO KNOW.
Big hugs, and if you'd like, contact me anytime. Together we are stronger.

Hi all!
I want to share my story because I feel like things are "hopeless" again like they did all of those years I had been dieting prior to having my gastric sleeve.
I was sleeved in September of 2010 by Dr. Aceves in Mexicali. I had a wonderful experience there and would do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, I feel like I may need to do it again since the weight gain has started.
I started at 240 lbs and the lowest weight I got to, which was last year at this same time, was 150 lbs. At that time, I stuidly felt like I was losing too much weight, as I wanted to stay curvy, so a friend of mine who has had the lap band, suggested I find something high calorie to substitute my daily intake with so I was getting enough calories to not lose any more weight.
Being an emotional eater, this should have been a huge red flag for me, but here was an excuse for me to overindulge, so I took it. cheese was what worked for me. I ate a lot of cheese.. sometimes, nothing but cheese once I figured out it would go down easy. After that I moved onto processed crackers and Cookies, again, things that go down easily without getting full and without getting the sick feeling.
I weighed myself yesterday and I'm back up to 167 lbs. Two months ago I was at 163 lbs, so i'm rapidly climbing back up the scale.< /p>
I do go to the gym, was twice a week, but in the last two weeks i've bumped it up to 3 times a week. I do strength training with weights and cardio. I am fairly active on the weekends, as I am fortunate enough to live in an area where everything is either walking or biking distance.
The problem is, and i'm suspecting this will be most of our problem here on this site, is that we are emotional eaters. And it was great at first with the sleeve because you literally could not eat anything.. .or you were so afraid to eat anything that you just wouldn't eat it in fear of getting "that feeling" (you all know what i'm talking about).
I can take the literature and read it over and over... my doctor can send me emails and tell me what to do (eat your Protein first, dont snack, etc). In a perfect world, if I could do that, then I wouldn't have needed to have weight loss surgery in the first place. My brain tells me to eat for comfort, eat when you're happy, eat when you're sad, eat to Celebrate.... and the hard part is, now that I've figured out what I can eat with the sleeve, its becoming more and more difficult to overcome this feeling.
I have been in therapy for about 8 years trying to overcome this emotional eating issue, but its so easy to go back to what we know, rather than change it. Not making excuses... i'm just reaching out to others who may have the same feelings and eating disorder as I do... and maybe if we can get rid of that shame we feel by sharing with each other, we can overcome this need to eat to stuff our emotions. Because I do feel very shameful that I paid all of this money, risked my life in Mexico to have this surgery done... and now i'm sabotaging myself and undoing the very thing that I've wanted my entire life... to be thin and "normal". Whatever normal is...
If you haven't had the sleeve yet, please, make sure you get in tune with yourself with regard to the emotional eating, becuase although the first year or so of the weight loss is great! If you dont get your disorder under control, it will all come back, eventually.
I said at the beginning of this post that I feel hopeless, but by letting me share here, I do feel a little more hopeful than I did when I started writing this.
Thank you for listening.
Nikki

We are all doing great! Remember what we looked like and felt like before September 2012...Faith is trusting the process of letting go!! blessed, faith and not giving up!!

Woohooo had to come to ER for a dog bite and I had my blood pressure taken. They could use the regular adult cup on my arm!!!! 10 weeks 58 Pds!!!!! Not one headache since surgery. Had them almost everyday!!! I love this journey!!

Tired of being the size that was genetically giving ready to be the size that I feel i should be
because I know that It better suits me.
Lets make a stand to a healthier you,
I'm in your corner and willing to be buddies with anyone who's ready to take a stand we all can do it!!! :wub: