Colemon70

I'm 4 weeks out and my pain is on the left side. Pulling and ripping feeling when I sit, get up, or bend down. I spoke with my nurse today. She said its very normal and it the inner incisions. Today was a little better. She said by 6 weeks they should be healed up. I hope so!!

You young people are killing me with this. I'm actually dying over here with laughter! Who says 'colored' in this day and age? I had to check to see where you are from because you must be living in some back woods area of NY with that language. From NY...Wow!
Anything except colored or the n-word...PLEASE! I can't even respond to the message because of what you said. I'm completely stumped.

Unless you're colored?? Are we in the 1960's again?

I love this thread, it's the only place I don't feel alone.

Wow, time flies! I am 2 years post op... My story: I started in the 260's..... made my very modest weight loss goal (170lbs) in 9 months and have been maintaining fairly easily since, (a few ups and downs!) At one point I was up 7-8 pounds but I am currently holding within 2 pounds of my low weight. I was eating sliders for sure, I caught myself and got back on track with normal eating. I still have hunger, I only lost it for about 4 months. I still have fair restriction, but sliders are almost as easy to eat as before. I eat anywhere between 1500-2000 calories a day to maintain. I don't eat low carb, but I try to fuel my body healthily. Don't get me wrong, I still eat cheezits and cookie dough for dinner sometimes! I drink 2-3 beers per week, and drink sparkling Water everyday, no troubles with carbonation. I bike or slowly jog/ walk a few days a week. Nothing crazy. I have a fairly active job as a RN. I have ZERO loose skin BUT I am 170 pounds, so if i wanted to see 130 pounds I might run into that problem. I wear as size 12 and mediums and some larges. (pre-op I was 2x and 24 easy) I would like to maintain my weight for another year then try to lose 10 more pounds. I am super happy, best decision I have ever made to get the sleeve. I am 30 years old and weigh less today then I did when I was 12 years old!
I am very grateful for this website, I have been on nearly everyday for the past 2 1/2 years, and I will keep coming back to help keep me in track!

I am coming up on 7 months sleeved. Here's my take on some of your questions:
Reflux: this may depend on the underlying cause of your reflux. Before your surgery, you'll have either an upper GI series or an endoscopy, which should find a hiatal hernia if you have one. Many, many obese people have them and they cause reflux. If you do have one, your surgeon should fix it while doing your sleeve surgery, and the odds are very high your reflux would be cured. That's what happened to me. But it's impossible to know without having either the upper GI series or endoscopy. This is something you would definitely want to discuss with your surgeon. Some surgeons feel like gastric bypass is a better option for people with reflux NOT caused by a hernia. Energy - after the first couple of weeks of recovery, my energy levels have been fantastic, better than ever. I eat less than 800 calories every day. My body has a plentiful supply of energy stores to draw on, aka fat, so it isn't a problem! I don't feel weak at all, I feel stronger than I ever have. Exercise - I started walking immediately after surgery and was released for full workouts four weeks out. My exercise is intermittent - one month I might be doing the 30 Day Shred every day and lifting weights three times a week, and the next month nothing more strenuous than walking the dog for 20 minutes. Interestingly, I find that I lose weight faster when I am not exercising. I don't think it has much to do with muscle being more dense than fat - really those changes are very incremental. But most people can do just fine losing weight without exercise (I know that's not a popular sentiment). However when it comes to maintenance, exercise appears to be very important! I think once you lose some weight you'll be more able to exercise if you choose to. When I exercise, I look at it as good for my cardiovascular health and for bone strength and health, not as something I need to do for weight loss. Nervous about surgery? Not particularly. I was worried I would get a leak and be hospitalized or bedridden for a long time, but other than that I didn't have any particular fears. I think I'm a little abnormal in that respect though. I see a lot of people freaking out about surgery, and I get that that's a completely normal reaction. It is major surgery! I had a lot of faith in the skills of my surgeon and the quality of care at the hospital so I believed everything would be fine. How do you maintain once you hit your goal weight? I can't speak from personal experience, but my dietician says that the smart way to do it is to add some calorie-rich foods, preferably high in healthy fats, or fruit, and keep your portions small and your eating infrequent. She doesn't like to see people drift into grazing patterns or starting to eat bigger meals, both of which can be detrimental in terms of eating habits and maintaining your restriction. So add some sliced avocado to your salad, eat tuna packed in olive oil instead of Water, add a half a banana to your Protein shake - stuff like that. Good luck to you and sorry for the super-long post!

Thank you. Started at 226, now I bounce between 139-142. I'm 5’2.

Well I just stuck to what I was doing, counting cals, carbs, Protein. I uped the gym time and I had a day where I didn't count cals! The next day, I was down 3lbs! I'm now back to counting and tracking but I have hope again! Oh getting in a lot of water!

I'm at Jefferson hospital right now. Sleeved yesterday. Headed down for a leak test. Good luck to you all!

Broke a stall and broke the 100 lb mark today! Thanks to everyone here for the fantastic advice and support! Couldn't have done it without you!!

Stalls are no fun, but with hitting the gym you are probably building muscle and your body stalls to adapt. I always noticed I lost inches, not pounds during a stall. Just stick with it and the stall will pass. Plus the week after a stall I would lose about double what my average was.

I was in a 4wk long stall and tried several things that didn't work for me. What HAS worked is cutting my carbs in half from 100 to less than 50 and No Protein bars!!! Stalls are the worst, but I have lost 4lbs this week after making the changes on Monday!! If I can break it, I feel anybody can!! Best of luck

Surgery March 8, So far 25 pounds down, clothes are too big, never know what size will fit when buying new clothes, people comment on weight loss sometimes, and I feel no different.
Self image is a hard one. I still see the same person in the mirror and others see some change.
I'll be glad to start noticing the change!

I cried when my surgeon came in right before they wheeled me back for surgery. His kind words and reassurance put me at a little more ease. Realizing my journey so far and realizing I trusted myself to make the right decision got me through. I wish you strength in yourself

The scale finally said 199.0 this morning! 49 more lbs to go!
I'm so happy. I joined a gym yesterday and this has given me even more motivation
to continune enjoying this journey.

Wow thank you for sharing. You look wonderful!

Awesome job!

For whoever said whatever about having 80 lbs or less to lose... You must be talking about me!!! This is all I have to say to ya... "They see me rollin'... They hatin'..." Hahahaha love all the support and I didn't even hear you... This is positive and I'm gonna take over the world and WORK HARD all the way there!!

Sleeved on 3-8 -13 as well. I lost 20 lbs right off the bat, then had a horrible stall that lasted nearly 3 weeks. The scales finally moved again and as of today am down 26 pounds. I wanted more but I'll take it anyway. Hang in there ladies - the scales will move again!

Hey,
I haven't posted in QUITE awhile, sometimes I have good days sometimes I don't.. I don't always eat right, but I can't stuff myself like before...
I'm actually thinking of trying out for the Biggest loser, because I could really use some psycho-analysis from Jillian, and some good fitness coaching....
I've recently broken the 500 pound mark. I started at 670, lost 20 pre-op, and 150 post op. If I can get to 470 (currently 495, that will be 200 since I began the Journey last May- - if I can get to 450 by July 2nd, that will also be 200 since my surgery... those are my two goals for now....
Here's some updated pics, showing my progress.

DOWN 126 pounds and absolutely loving life!
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I'm 4 weeks out and my pain is on the left side. Pulling and ripping feeling when I sit, get up, or bend down. I spoke with my nurse today. She said its very normal and it the inner incisions. Today was a little better. She said by 6 weeks they should be healed up. I hope so!!

My sleeve is really working for me ????

Best NSV to date: Walking into my son's house about a year after surgery and hearing him say "Holy F, Mom, where's the rest of you?!"

Debbie and I have spent the last few weeks helping my brother-in-law and dear friend who is in his 80's deal with a blood build up in his brain caused by a fall. I have held him up, picked him up, and generally guided him through his days before he went into surgery. Now we are at the hospital every day helping him and my sister-in-law cope with the ordeal. Debbie is out today doing her sister's job, cleaning houses, so her sister can stay with her husband in the hospital and still have an income. My friend, his wife, daughters and other relatives cannot thank us enough for our love and care for him. We deem it our great privilege.
Over a year ago neither Debbie nor I would have had the strength do any of this. Knowing the limitations of our energy we would not have had the desire to help. But now, after losing over 100 pounds each, we have energy that's aching to be used. We've gone from reluctance to move at all to joyful anticipation of activity. We've both gone back to our 20's and we have forgotten that we are in our 60's in the way we act, dress and think.
This is one of the most rewarding NSV's we have ever had. Power to be helpful is a great treasure.