princesstia

wow!!!

you look awesome!

For me i went for consultation back in September... had my psych evaluation done... did 3 months with a nutritionist... everything was submitted to my insurance for approval early December.. was approved within a week and was in surgery December 20, 2012. The process was rather quick for me.

For me personally, when first coming out of surgery, smaller gel encapsulated pills were pretty easy for me to get down. By 3 months post op, I was able to swallow any sized pill. Now I take even the huge fish oil pills with no problem. I know it varies from person to person, because many people are over 1 year post op and still have a hard time swallowing pills. I got easier for me however, the more i tried to get them down. Hope this helps!

So excited this morning. I have been working out daily as well as really watching my diet. However, for 4 weeks straight i only lost a total of 1 pound, and last week gained 7 pounds. Of course I assumed TOM was here and this was probably due to that.. but i knew i wasnt due. So I continued to work out, upping my cardio an additional 15minutes pass the hour i usually do but instead of my normal diet, began a full liquid (sorta like the preop diet) on Sunday. I was reading up on the 5 day pouch test and figured I'd give it a try. I stepped on the scale Sunday and was 192.5.... Yesterday evening after my workout i was 188.5... This morning I was a flat out 186 pounds. All i kept saying is that i have 3 more days of this and tho i do get the cravings (and will snack on about 10 cheez its), the benefits of it are definitely worth it and my pouch definitely still works. hopefully I can get to 180 by this Sunday. *Fingers crossed*... If anyone is dealing with a stall, I highly recommend the 5 day pouch test. it has re-motivated me!!!!

i take a multi vitamin, biotin, hairfinity, vitamin d, fish oil, calcium, and msm. I know thats a lot.. but i also get about 80-100g of protein per day!

this is normal. try being six months out and have almost a regular appetite. the cravings are sooooo strong. but remember, your early in the game. train yourself with new habits now so that later down the line, making better choices is second nature. because i find myself struggling at this point!

and skin does hold up better when you are younger! I finally got myself into a bikini

Im 24 years old and was sleeved 12/20/2012, just over 6 months out. I am down 71 pounds. It does get harder the further out you get and i find myself having to seriously workout and watch what i eat just for a 1 pound per week loss. But i am 50 pounds from goal. So i will keep on pushing until i get there!

You've exceeded your goal tho! I am jealous of that! Job well done to you as well!!!!

hey just checking in to see if you were still losing. Ive started my liquid diet back up today and could really use the inspiration!

congrats! wait til you get out of the 190s... it was a struggle for me but maaaan.. it felt good!

dont feel bad. i know exactly how you feel! Im six months post op and have lost 70 pounds but have seen the scale move up a total 7 pounds and am like is this really it?! super frustrating especially when you go into the surgery have high expectations. but just so you know.. you are doing fine. my doctor actually told me i was losing too fast and to try and intake more. 8-10 pounds a month is more than enough. Gives your body a chance to catch up to itself. dont worry. just know, as long as the scale is moving down, no matter how slow, its moving in the right direction!

Your in prayers!!! You will do awesome!

Thank you and congrats on getting on that treadmill last night! Let me tell you, when i first started working out, 30 minutes on the treadmill was really pushing it for me. I got on the elliptical one day, found a rhythm, noticed it was low intensity so i was burning a bunch of calories without feeling the pressure on my knees like i did on the treadmill, and became accustomed to the elliptical for at least an hour at a time. Then started splitting my cardio time between the treadmill and elliptical. I say all that to say, as you become consistent with cardio, your body will feel it and it will become easier. When that happens, make the workout more intense, or push yourself a little harder. Once breathing is under control and endurance builds a little, add some weight training. Everyone is so quick to wanna hurry up and start weight training regimen not realizing that when properly done, is more of an energy expenditure than flat out cardio. You need to build the endurance to be able to exhaust your muscles in that way. So the treadmill is a great start and just keep at it. Your body will tell you when your ready to progress. And as you get lighter and not carrying so much weight around, it becomes easier and you can do waaaay more!

I am 5'7 and 3/4 so pretty much 5'8. But I will admit, in the beginning my diet was horrible. Because i struggled so much in the beginning, I pretty much ate whatever felt good going down. I rationalized saying "i cant eat that much anyway".. Then as i started to get a real appetitie and started to notice that I was able to intake more and more.. I had to buckle down and am on a pretty strict high Protein diet. Here's my menu daily: 6am - Protein shake (with 1 scoop of collagen) 7am - 10oz of Water 8am - 3oz chicken breast and 1/4 cup of string Beans 9am - 10oz of water 10am - juice i made fresh from juicer: 1beet, 1 apple, 2 carrots (gets my bowels moving without having to use Fiber supplements) 11am - 10oz of water 12pm - protein shake 1pm - 10oz of water 2pm - 3oz grilled tilapia and 1/4 cup of broccoli 3pm - 10oz water 4pm - juice i made fresh from juicer: 1 cucumber, 1/2 bag of spinach, 3 full length celery sticks (gives me a quick energy boosts for my workout) 5pm - cup of herbalife tea (enery tea for workout) 5-7pm - gym workout 8pm - 8oz recovery drink keep in mind tho all of this is about 700 calories a day and 100g of protein. plus because i can't eat so much but have an appetite, I am eating every hour. Not necessarily food, but water or something has to go into my body to keep me from snacking. It also takes me close to 2hours to eat a 4oz meal (3oz chicken and 1/4 veggie etc). I am full after 3 bites. I wait about 20 minutes and can have another 3 bites. I play this game until my plate is gone. When i need junk i will have a bad of funyons and some watermelon. I marinate my chicken and fish in this baja citrus marinade, cook the entire bag on Sunday nights and have a piece of each every day until they are gone. I really try hard not to waste food as well because that is very easy to do with such limited intake so i only make what i can eat and save the rest for later. Hope this helps!

Thanks so much for finding this pic. A few people asked me what the stairs were and I tried searching for photos other than what I had which is what I attached.. But maaaan they got the butt right! Every time i leave i can barely sit. It hurts sooooo good. If your from Southern California they have some awesome sites to get a free workout!

Thank you! :wub:

So i dont know whats going on.. I work out everyday.. lots of weight training.. decided to treat myself to a slice of pizza after hitting the 6 month mark and losing 71 pounds. Pizza is my favorite food so the fact that this is my first slice since surgery.. well hell, i saw no shame in it! Anywho, i noticed my feet were really swollen and menstrual cycle has been doing all sorts of tricks on me in the past couple weeks. Today i step on scale, and the **** is reading 192.5.. What the hell??? I thought i was done with the 190s.. a 7.5lb gain? really scale? I'm really hoping this is water weight because of the swollen feet. Got a perscription from my doc for a water pill (furosemide).. Hopefully this does the trick. That was very discouraging

Maaaaan it was freakin brutal. As I've become what's known as a "Gym Rat", I've met a lot of really hot guys and well you know, I mingle with them. Best part about mingling with fit guys is that you receive a lot of information, and well, they wanna be your personal trainer too! So yesterday I decided to work out with one of the fittest guys at the gym and we got on the subject of core training versus plain old ab workouts. And let me tell you, I've officially said goodbye to situps and the whole boring story of an ab workout. Core workouts get you ripped in more than just your tummy, and the strength you build really allows you to complete everyday chores and movements with ease. From planks to pushups to supermans to lat pulldowns, at first I thought "i dont feel this at all", but this morning i woke up and honey let me tell you... I feel it in my back abs shoulders chest and glutes. we began the session with 20 minutes of HIIT cardio on the treadmill and ended the session with 30 minutes of HIIT cardio on the treadmill. Between the core training and cardio, I know that lactic acid was going crazy inside me burning up all that fat. The human body is awesome!

I'm 5'8 so I carry the weight pretty well. Back when I was preop, under clothes, you would've never believed my BMI to be so high. Thank goodness for long legs!

So I like the fact that I got into it but I definitely will not be wearing this in public until i tighten and tone more. The fact that my body is proportional lets me know when i get to my goal weight (which is 40 pounds away) I will look like someone's model!!! So glad my skin is snapping back and my arms arent saggy. I prayed for that when first getting the surgery.

So here's a before pic at preop, 3months, and 6months!

I am 6 months post op today and I have lost 71 pounds thus far!!! woop!!! Photo: me preop, me at 3months post op, and me at 6 months post op

My gym routine is brutal but i take herbal life tea about 30mins before workout and im mad crazy in the gym: Monday: 20 minutes on elliptical at 15 incline 10 intensity - 100 squats - 10 sets of 8 leg curls - 10 sets of 8 calve raises - 50 hyperextensions - ab ripper x p90x routine - 30 minutes on treadmill 10 incline at 4mph Tuesday: Cardio day - 30 minutes on elliptical at 15 incline 10 intensity - 30 minutes on treadmill 10 incline at 4mph - 30 mintues stairmaster Wednesday: 20 minutes on elliptical at 15 incline 10 intensity - 10 sets of 10 bicep curls - 10 sets of 10 tricep kickbacks - 100 squats - 50 hyperextensions - ab ripper x p90x routine - 30 minutes on treadmill 10 incline at 4mph Thursday: Cardio day - 30 minutes on elliptical at 15 incline 10 intensity - 30 minutes on treadmill 10 incline at 4mph - 30 mintues stairmaster Friday: rest day usually go roller skating or ride my bike at Manhattan Beach Saturday: run the culver city stairs - 3 times up 3 times running full speed down - ab ripper x p90x routine Sunday: run the culver city stairs - 3 times up 3 times running full speed down - ab ripper x p90x routine I do see my strength progressing as i am comfortable able to add 5 to 10 pounds to my sets every two weeks however every day my muscles are sore and the collagen with my Protein shakes i feel really help recovery time. I've gotten very comfortable with this routine as i go at my own pace and focus more on form than reps etc. i wouldnt recommend it until you are comfortable and get clearance. i also recommend trying different things out. I used a personal trainer for about 4 weeks just to show me the ropes, work on form, and put together a routine. Once I had that foundation, i've just been doing it on my own.