Neuanfang

Hi, Why are you so hard on yourself. I was sleeved on the 29th of May and still experience pain. When I notice that my tummy hurts and it does the same yours does I just figure I need more rest and everybody is different in their healing process. I can promise you that it gets a little better every day and if I look back from where I was last week at this time I have already seen great improvement. Just snuggle up with a good book and let your body have the time it needs. It'll thank your for it later. Good luck...

Hi, Why are you so hard on yourself. I was sleeved on the 29th of May and still experience pain. When I notice that my tummy hurts and it does the same yours does I just figure I need more rest and everybody is different in their healing process. I can promise you that it gets a little better every day and if I look back from where I was last week at this time I have already seen great improvement. Just snuggle up with a good book and let your body have the time it needs. It'll thank your for it later. Good luck...

I was sleeved the day after you and you're on pureed already?! My surgeon still has me on full liquids for another few days until two weeks are up.
Are all foods causing you pain or just certain ones?

Hello there, You are really going to have to do some soul searching and make a list of pros and cons. It's probably not a good idea doing it for the wrong reasons or because other people want you to do it. I do understand what you are going through and you have to find some quiet time to find what you person inside is telling you. Are you fed up with the way you feel? Have you exhausted all other options? What is the relationship to food in your environment ? And do you have a great support network? All these are things you should consider. For me it was a hard decision as well but when I looked at the list of options I had tried and the results I had gotten and all the risks involved of staying the way I am, I had to do it. For myself..... nobody... and nothing else.... because you know.... you are the one that is going to have to life with that decision forever! Good luck!

Hi there, I did go through something similar and let's face it the reason why most of us are doing this is that we have found comfort in food too often and is has become our friend and foe. Something that helped me was a friend saying.... it's not that I can never have food again after the surgery, it's just that when I treat myself it will be small bites of amazing instead of many bites of junk. Maybe this helps....

Hi there, I did go through something similar and let's face it the reason why most of us are doing this is that we have found comfort in food too often and is has become our friend and foe. Something that helped me was a friend saying.... it's not that I can never have food again after the surgery, it's just that when I treat myself it will be small bites of amazing instead of many bites of junk. Maybe this helps....

Hello there, I know exactly how you feel and my surgery is coming up this Wednesday. This emotional roller coaster is something we all go through I hear but you know every time I think of turning back something happens , like I see myself in a picture unexpectedly, and I am right back on track. So know that what you are experiencing is NORMAL.

That's right! I met the 100 pound mark AND I'm only four pounds to my mid point. I was so excited about this that I went to the NewBalance store to treat myself to a new pair of walking shoes... and I allowed the awesome cute young sales rep encourage this 260 pound, 41 year old woman into a pair of RUNNING shoes and he pointed me in the right direction to study up on proper form to avoid injury (www.goodformrunning.com)... I downloaded the couch 2 5K app and tried day one today.... LOL, I only made it 1/3 of the way through... which represents a grand total of just three minutes running but it felt GREAT (once I could breathe again)... I'll keep trying it three or four days a week until I can complete the entire session, then move on to the next level. My goal is to run albeit very, very slowly, the Halloween 5K fun run this year. What a difference a hundred pounds makes!

Hello there, I know exactly how you feel and my surgery is coming up this Wednesday. This emotional roller coaster is something we all go through I hear but you know every time I think of turning back something happens , like I see myself in a picture unexpectedly, and I am right back on track. So know that what you are experiencing is NORMAL.

Today is the day my life changes for the better. Surgery is at 7:30AM and I am feeling mostly OK. I am a little nervous and apprehensive about the surgery and the next few days, but I know it's only a speed bump along my path to better health and a longer life! Good luck to all of my fellow soon-to-be sleevers out there. You are in my prayers!

WELCOME! I am almost 8 months out. I had a lap band for a year prior to it slipping. I was sleeved a little less than 3 months later. It is the best thing that I have ever done for myself. I do not regret it at all. I am a fairly slow loser as my bmi was lower when I started. I have lost just shy of 50 pounds since my sleeve and 70 pounds since I began my weight loss surgery process. I feel great, and I am slowly starting to see myself as others see me. I am so glad for this tool! Keeping a positive attitude and always looking forward is one of the best things you can do for yourself. I have also found it important to have some sort of support system. Besides my family and my Bariatric team, I come here for support of my fellow slevers, and I am in Weight Watchers for the weekly support of people who are in this weight loss journey too. Good luck and let us know if we can help in any way.

I was sleeved on March 14, 2012 at the age of 59. I am within 10 pounds of goal!
I was so worried that I was too old for all this, but "all this" has made me feel at least 20 years younger, if not more! I was so slow, out of breath, hot, tired and anxious. Now I zip around, never get out of breath, haven't broken a sweat in months and smile all the time! People are always commenting about the change they see in me.
I was so very lucky not to have any complications from the surgery. I was so worried that I would develop a distaste for food, that I would no longer enjoy cooking, that the lifestyle change might affect my wonderful marriage. None of that was true. I am able to eat almost anything I want, just in limited quantities of course, but those quantities are actually greater than I supposed. I only avoid very greasy foods, white soft bread, raw onions and lettuce.
I just put on the biggest Thanksgiving spread ever, for 19, and enjoyed every last minute of it.
And I just spent $3,700 on a complete new wardrobe, including undies, jammies, work clothes, casual clothes, coats, gloves, shoes and jewelry! That hurt the bank account but made quite a few big desposits in my self-esteem account!
My husband, sons, friends and coworkers have been so supportive, I truly love each of them for it.
Be aware that things could possibly go wrong, but be confident that they won't! This is the greatest thing I ever did for myself.
Good luck to all!

Muffin tops, hail-damaged thighs, badonkadonk butts, and chicken wings: we have 'em; we hate 'em. So how do we get rid of them? We diet! We make plans to lose weight. We pick a surgeon, join a gym, and visualize the day we can zip back into those size 6 jeans.
Or so we think.
Weight loss isn’t about diet and exercise. It's not a plan. It's a battle. A battle in the mind. And without the right ammunition you're doomed to lose the Battle of the Bulge.
It is mental just as much as it is physical. Why? Because until you are honest with yourself that you can't just diet, lose weight, and live happily ever after, then you won't be successful at losing weight. Dieting is so much more than eating less and exercising. It's about recognizing your motives for over-eating. It's about accepting the fact that in order to get to and stay at your ideal weight, you need to eat in moderation and consume the right types of foods. And to do that you have to make a lifestyle change - permanently.
If you tell yourself that for a certain period of time you'll eat a high-protein diet, or drink only diet shakes and one meal per day, or eat ready-made foods from a weight loss center, or count points, or eat like a cave man - or any number of other fads which are out there - and then go back to eating how you prefer once you've shed the pounds, then you efforts will be in vain. You simply cannot go back to eating like you have been eating. We've all seen celebrities whose weight yo-yos with every passing year (hello, Ophrah?). Why? Because they stop exercising and eating right – or stop following a fad - and go back to business as usual. I'm betting they didn't internalize the lifestyle change which they appeared to embrace.
"Lifestyle change?" you echo. Yes, lifestyle change. That means your life must change. For life. Period. As in, there's no going back. Now I know most of you just cringed at the thought of chomping on carrots for Breakfast and forsaking your daily soda in favor of asparagus smoothies, doomed to a life of butterless, bland meals with no cheesecake in sight, but hear me out. Before you can successful change the things which go into your mouth, you must successfully change the thoughts which go into your head.
There are three "weapons" you must think to win the weight loss war. They are:
1. I am worthy.
It's not about what you should do for yourself to slim down and be healthier; it's what you can do for yourself. And you can lose this because you are worth it. Even if you are the only person on the planet and have no one to impress, you are still worth it to lose weight. You've got to love yourself to the extent that you want to feed yourself properly and do good things for your body. It's a process, but you'll reach that point of loving yourself. I promise.
2. I am not a fat person.
Okay, so you're tipping the scales and wear a size XXXL, but you are still not a fat person. You are you living inside a prison of your own making and you will be released. You must release yourself in your mind to be slim. Visualization is a powerful tool. Consult any positive thinking self-help book, Zen monk, or successful business person, and they will tell you the same thing: you've got to visualize the success in order to get there. Picture yourself not stopping at the fast food joint. Picture yourself working out – and then go do it. Picture yourself eating salads and drinking plenty of Water and enjoying it. See yourself reacting in horror to preservative-laden, highly processed junk food. See yourself taking the stairs instead of the elevator. See yourself in that slinky little black dress. The more you change your thoughts and think rightly, the more your actions will follow. "I am not a fat person" – think it, believe it, and become it.
3. I am not a failure.
Newsflash: the world isn't going to end if you slip up and eat something that you shouldn't eat. You made a mistake – so what? Forgive yourself and move on. You have the next minute, hour, day, year, decade, life to keeping moving forward, to be a winner. Learn this valuable lesson from your mistake: I don't have to make the same mistake again because I am worth it!
Now you have the ammunition; you know the location of the battlefield. It's time for war. Victory is yours!
About Becky Siame
Becky Siame is the author of The Lighter Side of Large, her debut novel, currently released as a kindle digital download on Amazon and Smashwords. She lives in Nelson with her two children.

It seem that a lot of sleevers are in their 30's and 40's. I'm in my 50's and wanted to hear from our age group on healing and just getting around. I know I feel so much better just taking off 27lbs and haven't been sleeved yet. So if you are over 50 and have some input, please share it.

I'm 58 and my surgery date is December 27.