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Surgery was Sept 24. Wish I cxould say it had been an easy road and the weight had just fallen off but that isn't the case. My first post-op visit I was down 14 lbs in 17 days and I was think wooo-hoo--but I didn't lose anything the next one and started to have to fight for every lbs. I can eat anything, except potatoes, but I do still feel restricition and will get full quicker--it's like I can feel the food from my gut all the way to the back of my throat. My sister had the surgery and has had trouble eating and her weight has just "fallen off"--at 6 months she is less than 10 lbs from goal and I am 16 months out and still have about 130 to go to reach goal. I even put back on about 15 lbs--I will admit that I go discouraged and just quit working it so I have no one to lay the responsiblity out but myself. I am now back in the game and working hard to follow the plan--need to exercise more but can always find excuses not to do it--I keep telling my self that as long as I am losing that it doesn't matter how long it takes but that's hard to deal with sometimes. My sister was never heavy and got heavy (not as heavy as me but heavy) but I have been heavy all my life--I am coming to believe that old fat just is harder to get rid of then new fat-lol but as Dora said in Finding Nemo---Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. Anyone else in same boat? Sure would love some company.

Zoumommy, I am so surprised that you had such a bad experience. I found Dr Hawver to be a very straight-forward and had a great experience will my surgery- Her office was good also--I got right in and they were knowledgeable and very friendly.--She spent a good bit of time with me and went over everything. I hope it was just an off day for them. Regardless of whom you chose I wish you great success on your journey. Being in healthcare I know how important it is to feel comfortable with your doctor and their staff. Best of luck. Please keep in touch and left me know how you do on your journey. Gina

Need help to figure out how to deal with this issue. I have always been the heavy sister. I had gastric sleeve Sept 23, 2012 and have lost 70 lbs from my highest. I know that's not the greatest loss but for me to have taken it off and kept it off is a big achievement. I am able to eat anything and didn't have any issues post-op. I am continuing to work on getting more weight off but it's harder now although I do still feel full sooner and will get sick if I go above my limit. I started at 345 lbs at my heavist and am hovering around 280-275. I feel alot better and have more energy and my clothes feel much looser and I can tell I have lost a lot of inches. My sister had the surgery in April. She is down to a size 10 and still loosing. She probably only had to lose about 60 lbs and is almost there. She still can't eat hardly anything and gets sick very easily. She can't tolerate meat or salad and her diet is mostly protein drinks 3 x day and little nibbles. My mother keeps talking about how her weight is just "melting away" and how thin she is getting. I want to be glad for her and part of me is but I am also very resentful. I did this to make me feel better and to improve my health and I know this is petty but I feel like she took it away from me. Plus the weight is coming off so much easier for her and I am stuck. I know I have more to loose and it will be slower but I am just so frustrated and don't really have anyone I can express these feelings to without sounding like a jealous witch. Which to be truthful is what I feel like sometimes. Any suggestions, comments etc that might help me I would really appreciate. Thanks

thanks for the help. I guess I just needed to vent and put it out there and out of me. I need to remember that this is a marathon and not a sprint and the only ones time I need to worry about it mine. Thanks again.

I think we have to cut ourselves some slack sometimes. Sometimes a cookie is just a cookie. I know we are all trying to be so good and not fall from the path but sometimes we just have to eat a cookie. The important thing is that we get back on the path. A slip is not the end of our journey just a bump. Sometimes I think we are so hard on ourselves that in the long run it does us more harm than good. We have to look at food as food and not the enemy. A cookie is just a cookie unless you eat the WHOLE pack, then it's a problem. I say enjoy it, savor it, make that the best cookie you have ever eaten then put it behind you and move on.

I can eat pretty much anything that I want. I have found that my taste has changed. I have always had a problem with sweets but now it's more salty foods. I don't drink alcohol or smoke so cant help you there but I do know that alcohol is just empty calories and smoking isn't good for you anyway(sorry the nurse in me coming out). I do take sips now with meals but the idea is that you need to fill up with good food (Protein/healthy carbs and a little fat) as opposed to filling up with fluids. I have never had a good tolerance for fried foods but I have eaten a few french fries with no effect. I don't do real well with baked potatoes but that's just because I seem to fill up really fast with them. I do go out to eat and usually get a couple of meals out of anything I order. I do "slip" if you want to call it that and have something "non healthy" once in awhile but hey I am human and I don't overdo it. The important thing to remember it that you are in this for the long haul and that it takes time to break all of our bad eating habits. I just take it one day at a time and if I slid I realize that tomorrow is another day and get back on the plan. Some days I do great and some not so good. As Scarlett would say, "Tomorrow is another day" lol. Good luck on your journey and remember it's a marathon not a sprint and hang in there.

Hey it happens to all of us. No need to apologize. It's so easy to slip back into old patterns because for us that was our "normal". You know what you did that you shouldn't have done and you know what you need to do so DO IT! We all need to cut ourselves some slack sometimes. It's hard to be good all the time and we are in this for the long haul. Good luck and stay the course. If you slip then just grab hold of yourself and get back on track. Take Care.

I am 50 and I have never: been sweeped off my feet (carried) by a man worn a 2 piece in public (have in my backyard but only there) been comfortable having a family picture done with my children worn less than a 16 that I can remember been up in a hot air balloon not have the inner thigh wear out first on my pants What I have done: went to Russia by myself and adopted two wonderful children had great friendships realized that I am a dang good person and I deserve to be loved--learned to love myself first has someone who wouldn't let me hide my body from them and made me feel sexy even though I was heavy bought a house on my own have been on a cruise, snorkled, swam in the ocean moved to Idaho to go to college not knowing anyone moved to Missouri, from Georgia, and built a new life for myself with my children I see weight loss as a way to be healthier and more confident and to try and be the BEST Me I Can Be!

Garden burger makes a vegetarian hamburger that is to die for--the chiken dishes are okay but the hamburger is fabulous!---also eating alot of Greek yogurt and cottage cheese--90 calories for 13 gms of protein

Please don't feel bad about posting a popular topic again. I was in an 11 week stall. I did everything I could think of: increased water, increased protein, increased exercise. I lost 14 lbs on pre diet and lost 10 lb is 17 days post op. I thought this is great! Then I hit the wall and didn't lose a pound my next visit or my next visit. I was almost 3 months out and had only lost 24 lbs. To say I was depressed and upset is putting in mildly especially when you read on here about "pounds melting off" or people losing and "not exercising yet". I read all about stalls and wondered "will I be the one that this doesn't work for"? I think we all feel that sometimes. I reevaluated my diet and dropped my carbs and most importantly RELAXED. Then I stepped back and looked at what I have accomplished. All total I have lost 45 lbs and havent gained it back. I went thru Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years and didn't gain. I have more energy, I feel better, some of my clothes feel looser, I am in a pair of pants with no stretch a size down from a pair that had stretch, I am eating healthy and exercising which will extend my life, and I see changes in my body-definition, less fat when pinched, my wrist is smaller and I can feel my collar bones. Sometimes we get so caught up in reaching the finish line that we miss the changes along the way. It will happen! It has to if you are eating less and moving more. All bodies are different and sometimes we are rabbits and sometimes we are turtles but we will all win the race. Best of luck and Relax. Stressing about it can and will cause your body to hold onto the weight.

Sweets were always my problem--My mother craved banana splits so I was cursed in the womb--since surgery I don't want sweets and if I try they taste wayyyyyyy to sweet--now I crave nuts and salt--I wonder sometimes if the salt is because I drink soooooooooo much water. I also love celery and the fresh taste of cumcumbers. It's great!

I saw my NUT yesterday. She siad about 1000 cals but didn't say anything about carbs--she did say it is important to get your carbs from good sources like veggies, nuts, fruits etc and not junk foods--I am very carb sensitive so I try to keep mine at 50 or below.. Hope this helps.

Hi, My name is Gina and welcome aboard. My surgery was September 24th and I am down a total of 45 lbs from heavyest. I use to be a sweet eater but since surgery I am now more of a salt/bread craver. Very strange but I am not complaining. This is a great way to connect and to work thru any problems (stalls, worries, questions) that you may have. Congrats on your surgery and on chosing to get healthy. As a single mom of two also I understand the desire to be healthy for our children. Best of luck to you.

Hello fellow nurses! I am a nurse of 25 years (oh my) this June. Have been in the field since 1980, starting as NA and then tech in L&D. I have worked Med/Surg, ICU, ER, IV team, Travel Nurse, Medical-Cost Analysis, Oncology and now Radiation Oncology. Whew....what a ride. I worked most of my career in Georgia but for last 13 have been in St Louis, MO. I was sleeved on 9/24 by Dr Hawver. I was 345 at highest and now am down to 301. Have been in 11 week stall. Very hard to deal with. Have dropped carbs and increased water and exercise so hoping to see improvement. Glad to find this site.

thanks for posting this. it is very discouraging sometimes to read of the large losses and to be one of tghe slow losers. It helps to remember that losing is the key not how fast or how slow. Thanks again.

I was in stall for 11 weeks. I finally think I may have broken it by decreasing my carbs. I have lost 14 lbs since December by decrease carbs and increasing water. hope it's gone for awhile.

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I had my surgery done by Dr Lisa Hawver. She is based out of Mercy Hospital. The surgery was done at Mercy Hospital in Washington, MO. I went in on a Monday morning and was out Wednesday am. She has an office now in O'Fallon also. She is excellent. She is board certified. There are support groups that meet in Washington and at Mercy in St Louis. I have had no problems and am very happy. Great follow-up and office is very good to work with, they return calls fast. Her phone number is 636-861-7870.

First of all, take a deep breath. You are going to be fine. Any time you have a surgical procedure it's a little scary plus you are starting on a new journey to health and that's scary also. I can tell you my experience and hope it helps... I had little to no pain--I never took any of the pain medication or the nausea medication. They will get you moving the first day and that is very important. You will be a little sore but walk, walk, walk. The walking helps to work out the stiffness and also helps get rid of the IV fluids from surgery. Your mouth will be dry from the anesthesia so take a good lip balm. The chance of dying is very very slim. Anethesia is very safe these days and you will be monitered very closly. You will be very sleepy the first day so ask family to let you rest and come the next day for visits. Take loose fitting clothes. Take you some books or things to do because morning TV will drive you nuts. Let the nurses know if you need anything at all, they are there to help. Most important the more you move the better you will feel.

Yummers! nother great one is take a box of cake mix, any brand any flavor but chocolate or spice works best, add one can of pumpkin and bake according to box. Nothing else! Can make into cake or muffins. Pumpkin really bumps up fiber and tastes sooooooooooooo yummy. About 98 cals per muffin and sooooo moist.

A woman who is considered one of the most beautiful women ever, Marilyn Monroe, had an hour glass shape. We are now going the other way from our idea of beauty as being model thin to recognizing that WOMEN have curves. I am a pear myself and I just tell people with a smile, "Yes, I have a hour-glass shape, just a little too much sand in the bottom half". Look at some of the beautiful women around today, Jennifer Lopez, Sophia Vegaro, Scarlett Johanson, Jennifer Lawrence, they all have curves and lets not forget the classic beauty of Sophia Lorenz. Be proud of your curves! As long as you know you are beautiful you will project that to the world. Confidence is beautiful!

First of all remember this is a marathon and not a sprint. I can say that because I know how you are feeling. I was sleeved on 9/24 and have only lost 43 lbs from my high weight and only 35 from my pre-surgery weight. I did really well at my 2 week follow-up and lost 13 lbs but then haven't lost anything since. I too can eat anything. The most important thing to remember is that as long as you are losing and not gaining you are ahead of the game. If you can't enter your food before you eat it then write it down and do it as soon as possible. Stick with the basics, like you are doing, protein, water then everything else. Try to plan your meals and figure out the calories and everything the night before that way if you are mindlessly reaching you are reaching for the right things. If you slip then you slip and you just get back on track. You will hit stalls thruout the weight loss journey but just keep doing what you are supposed to do and IT WILL COME OFF. We each lose at our own speed and though it's easy to be disheartened when you read about someone else dropping the weight or it just melting off and yours doesn't seem to be doing that just stay strong and know that you are making great changes in your life that will last a lifetime. Good Luck.

low fat cottage cheese 4 oz is 12gms for 90 cals Slim Fast has a great shake for 2 net carbs and 180 cals 20 gms protein tuna pouch 2.6 oz has 18 gms protein for 80 cals I am a vegetarian but I found a fabulous meatless "hamburger" for 130 cals and 15 gms of protein greek yogurt is a great source but you have to watch carbs hope this helps

i feel your pain. It is rough when the scale doesn't move and you know you are doing all that you can do. Just look for changes in your body..a crease where there use to be solid fat, an ease in moving, neck looks tighter, wrist looks smaller, clothes feel loser. Sometimes the body "shifts" things around before dropping weight. At least that has been the case for me. I can now wear a pair of jeans that I couldn't get into for for ever. It WILL happen! Keep the faith.

Go up to a guy I see who I think would be interesting to get to know and not feel awkward because of my weight. Wear shorts and not feel self-conscious and wear a bathing suit without being uncomfortable.