MichiganChic

I use it daily. I'm one of those people who has to think about every bite, weigh, measure, and track in writing. I often go back in time to analyze correlation between intake and loss, trying to see if I can reproduce periods of high loss. It just keeps me accountable to myself and my goal. Without it, I could easily graze my way back to 305 pounds.

People used to say how much they loved my hair, lol, for the first 40 pounds.I think people knew something was different and couldn't out their finger on it. I also think some knew but didn't know if they should say anything. (I didn't tell anyone I had surgery). After about 60 pounds someone said something every day. I recently went to a new job, and no one there knows I was ever so heavy, so I don't have to tell anyone the "secret to success" anymore, which I love! Honestly, the compliments are nice but it's nice not to have to discuss my weight on a daily basis with my co-workers.

Mine feels uncomfortable if I push on it a little, or out any kind of pressure on it. I can alos feel hot coffee hitting my duodenum!

The nice thing about it is that's it's never too late to do the right thing for yourself. But to answer your question, yes, there are times it just doesn't work, and those times are when we don't make the right choices. They didn't operate on our brains, and the reality is that we have some very hard work to do. We have to conquer our habits and stressors and head hunger in order for the surgery to really work. For me, it's a lifelong battle, one that I will have to fight every day. Someone on the boards once said to me, just because you CAN eat it does not mean you SHOULD eat it. Simple but wise words. So, just know that you are in charge, the sleeve can help you, and you can do this! Good luck as you work to figure out what your secret to success is

I can't lose eating 1200 calories a day. You might want to try to decrease the calories and skip the coffee for a while. Just leaving that off would be enough to decrease your calories significantly.

You need to get that impaction removed first and foremost. Adding laxatives and stool softeners will help get things moving after, but may not move a true impaction. It can cause diarrhea around the impaction, making you more miserable. Impacted people usually need an enema. Start with a fleets, and I agree with another poster, mineral oil might do the trick. Usually a digital removal is needed, too. Increased fluid intake will also help.You probably should consult your doc.

It's a little soon to know how your skin will do. You do have youth on your side. Even at 51, I find my skin tightening more than I thought it would. At 8 months out, its a little better than a month or two ago. Just give it a little time and see how it goes. And exercise is your friend - toning muscles will improve your look.

Beautiful! Congratulations!

I have a desk job, but I took about 4 weeks off, and I needed every bit of it. just depends on the person and job.

It is a great feeling. I spend a lot of time shopping now. It's pretty fun to buy clothes in regular people sizes! But it's time consuming because I had nothing and had to start from scratch, including shoes. Also I'm in perpetual search of sales because I just don't want to spend a lot of money. I have to admit.... I've had worse problems lol. I need a coat, too. Living in Michigan, there is no way to avoid that!

I did the same thing. Once I made up my mind, I systematically used that 2 months to enjoy everything I wanted. I was mourning the loss of my way of life I'm advance, I think. Wrong or right, I'm glad I did it. I didn't mourn the loss of food or that lifestyle after surgery, and still don't. Now at 8 months out, I have to be vigilant not to slip back into old habits.

There was a plastic surgeon at the last support group I went to. He said that often people who have lost a lot of weight don't really need face lifts, they need "contouring", meaning use of fillers. He mentioned the lines around the mouth and eyes, and said that you can use fillers to plump and lift. He showed pics that really looked great. However, I don't want my neck/chin filled back in, lol. Pretty sure that's going to require a knife.

My doc said statistically the greatest risk is in the first two to three weeks. After about 6-8 weeks, the risk is pretty low. I was super paranoid about that, too. I still worry a little at 8 months, lol! I've read a couple of stories on here where people had leaks as long as a year out - but I think that's pretty rare and I'm not sure if there were other factors involved.

Yeah, I'm 51, and I have a crepey gobble neck. I hate it. I'm getting mine fixed. I know of one person in the support group at my surgeons office who had it done, she is young (about 35) and she looks great. I need a lot of work done, and I'm thinking I'm going to start with that. It's the thing you can't hide with clothes...even turtles necks or scarves are not high enough!

I have the same issue as both of you. I was doing great, weight was coming off at a nice pace, then I got a new job. It's been stressful to leave what I knew and take on a big project in the corporate healthcare world....and even though I'm still doing fine with diet, I find I have less time to exercise. I've really only lost a pound or two in the last 30 days. I think it has more to do with stress hormones than anything I'm doing, but it is just adding more stress. Vicious circle. Anyway, I think I'm going to need to figure out how to exercise more. I don't think it really has that big of an impact on weight loss (I never worked out excessively even when I was losing really fast) but I do think it will help manage stress and those cortisol levels, which might impact weight loss. And of course, burning those extra calories will help, too Hang in there.....we will all figure out how to manage life as thin people.

Those size 12 are looking great on you! Great job!

I believe that the calories in/out is not exactly true for me either, though to some extent it is. I think we are all unique, and there are other factors that influence how our bodies utilize calories and store fat. I just started a new job a month ago, and my weight loss came to a screeching halt. Nothing else in my life changed, and I'm still at a huge caloric deficit, but still no loss. Our metabolisms are probably super efficient, one of the things that led to obesity. One important observation I've learned is that it's what we do for the long haul, day in and day out, all those little individual food choices we make, that impacts weight loss. Being up five pounds over the weekend is probably all water - you didn't gain actual fat over night, and certainly not 5 pounds. I do weigh every day, but I really watch the trend over the weeks and months. You've done great so far, and obviously know what you need to do to get the weight off, congratulations!

I am in an epic stall. Uggh. I was losing great, but haven't lost much of anything for a month. I'm not losing sizes, either. I am praying this isn't it for me....I still have so far to go. I started a new job at the same time my weight loss slowed/stopped. I am sure it's stress related, though I've not been eating more. I think I need to change something up to get it moving again...but I'm a believer that as long as you are doing the right thing, the weight will come off. However, when the weight stopped coming off, I'm finding it more and more difficult to be motivated and stay on track. On a positive note, I do feel and look so much better, so I love that. I can shop in normal clothes sizes now, and I can move so much better. I no longer have 100 pounds of morbid obesity limiting my life, and I'm so happy about that. Just wish I could get the rest off now!

Great topic, Butter. I'm not at maintenance, but I am beginning to understand why it will be so hard. I used to think Yeah, it's hard because you have to control your eating, but it's bound to be better because you are thin while doing it, so that would be motivating. Now that I've lost a substantial amount of weight and experiencing a pretty long stall (or major slow down in rate of loss), it's dawning on me. When I don't see a pretty frequent drop in the scale, I am losing sight of my ongoing "reward" for hard work. I'm still doing what I need to do, but when you see a steady loss on the scale, that's the motivation that gets me through, even if it's subconscious. As for dieting, if this isn't a diet, nothing is. By definition, diet is restricting what you eat for weight loss. At 8 months out, I could eat whatever I wanted (still in limited quantities, but enough to do damage), but I'm choosing not to. I hope I can continue to make that choice forever, and I plan to, but I know for ME, it's never going to change. I'm not expecting to get to a place where I don't have the constant battle. I envy people who can "listen to their bodies" but I have to track every calorie, every day. I've noticed that if I even let one meal go and track afterwards, I can consume 500 calories in one setting. It's not really the quantity because that's fairly easy to limit, it's the food choices. I'd be able to do that and more 3 or 4 times a day if I let myself....and we all know how that ends. I've found I need to eat around 900 calories a day or less to lose, so imagine if I routinely ate 2000 calories a day.

The only way for you to know is to weigh and measure everything, and track your intake. You should probably have some rules from your docs office. Mine is no more than 3/4 cup of food, and about 600-800 calories at about 8 months out. I am not sure what it should be at a year. The other thing is not grazing - ever. So, if you feel like you are eating too much, you might be, but won't know until you add it all up.

Congratulations, you look wonderful!

Looking good! Congrats, and keep up the great work!

Yeah, you can see it. Congratulations! You look happy.

Each doc seems to have their own rules about this, and the disclaimer is that you should follow your doc's rules. My doc's rules are 4 months. The dietician has sited a study that indicates people who drink coffee in the morning are hungrier in the afternoon (sorry, don't have any references and can't verify if that's true). However, I waited 6 weeks, then started drinking regular coffee. Not a lot, just a cup in the morning. It absolutely interferes with vitamin (particularly calcium and iron) absorption, so you have to work around any supplements you have been prescribed.

I don't see that person anymore, because in my mind, I was just me....and I was thinner person inside, lol. However, there is still an element of surprise when I look in the mirror or shop for clothes. I find myself catching my reflection in windows and mirrors and not losing the thrill of seeing a thinner me....one that matches the image in my head.