Success2013

thanks for sharing! My sister was sleeved a year ago and lost around 80 pounds in 12 months. She is 5'8" and started at 255 and looks great at 170.

Its been a year since anyone has posted but I just have to say I loved reading this thread and all of you are such an inspiration! I really hate that the thread died out!!

I see your laugh and raise you a laugh.

Sorry I've been missing in action! I got pneumonia and it derailed me. But I've got to get this party started again!

I didn't have a good day yesterday. Let an argument with my hubby derail me and I gained a pound this morning! But I will not let it continue. Back on track today!

Day 1 went good. I got in 82 grams Protein and 18 carbs, and 1340 calories. Drank 6 glasses of Water (which is huge for me, I usually drink none). Lost 1 pound.

Sorry I've been missing in action! I got pneumonia and it derailed me. But I've got to get this party started again!

Hi everyone!
Thought I should log in an update. I am now 11 months post-op. I've gotten through all the challenging transitioning and healing which takes place for a good nine months or so after surgery.
Before/After Stats: (Surgery was performed on June 9th, 2014)
Height: 5'6
Before Weight: 210 lbs (highest weight was 240)
Current Weight: 127
Before BMI: 34
Current BMI: 20
Surgery Day Pant Size: 16
Current Pant Size: 2 or 0
Things went like this:
I had my surgery. I followed my doctors orders. I didn't pay attention to stalls. I focused on Protein and hydration. I weighted myself daily but honestly didn't pay too much attention to the number, just checked to see that the pounds were still dropping. I never obsessed over anything, just enjoyed my journey into this new lifestyle, even the tough days.
My biggest challenges:
Definitely drinking enough fluids. I still struggle with getting 64 oz in!! Also I should do better about tracking my food consumption every day. (If I don't track, I don't eat enough)
The hardest time for me:
Even months after I added solid food it seemed like eating would never "feel" normal again. Always too full, always slightly queasy after eating, always getting things stuck in my esophagus, always dealing with heartburn. There were nights when I would just be so tired of feeling sick from eating food....but I always kept in mind that this was a temporary stage and that it would pass. It did. Now I can eat anything including Pasta, bread, red meat, chicken, and lettuce. Just very little amounts.
What I wished I had done differently:
Added strength training as soon as I was cleared for exercise. After loosing all of this fat I also lost a lot of muscle mass which led to that gaunt post-wls sickly look for a few weeks. Now I do yoga nearly 7 days per week. It would have been waaaaay better to have started earlier when I still had muscles to work with.
Here is the most important thing I did:
I worked very hard in the beginning to reset my entire relationship with food. I had to find new ways of coping with stress and new ways of rewarding myself. I did a lot of personal detective work to understand the why's and how's of my food addiction. Food to me now is just a tasty fuel for my body. Do I add good or bad fuel to my machine? Without having so many emotions interwoven with the act of chewing, swallowing, and stuffing food inside my stomach, it is now easy to choose the healthy fuel.
The coolest thing so far:
Honestly, it's the knowledge that I have just increased my life expectancy and long-term quality of life. That's a huge deal. I can see myself as an active, engaged, healthy, and youthful senior citizen. I'm only 37 but I feel like I've given myself the most loving gift possible...a healthy future.
Other totally awesome things:
I take up sooo much less space in the bathtub. I spend much less money when eating out. I am oftentimes the thinnest person in the room, which is so so weird. I no longer want to hide myself inside baggy sweaters. I am wearing tank tops without an added cover-up. I look 10 years younger!! I have beautiful cheekbones which were formerly hidden underneath a plump and chubby face. There is such a thing as a clavicle bone and I LOVE running my fingers along the ridge! Getting up off the floor is so much easier. Walking though a parking lot or up the steps is much easier. I CAN LEAVE FOOD ON MY PLATE which is something I could never do before and is now one of the most empowering choices I make on a daily basis.
The downside:
This cost a lot of money, $14,000 out-of-pocket. I went from a C breast cup to an A. I lost all my butt. Seriously, it's a sad situation about my ass...there is none. I lost all the excess fat, but also my womanly curves. I have a very loose wrinkly stomach and a saggy place where my butt used to be. I've spent a fortune in clothes and Protein drinks. It's been tough having to explain myself to family members. The downside in no way compares to the positive things that happened as a result of my wls.
My current goal:
Is to consume between 1500-1800 calories per day. My nut said to change gears and fatten up my diet. I am supposed to add carbs, calories, and fat. If I don't track I am only hitting about 900-1200 calories per day. I can only eat about 1 cup of food at the most. Now when I'm stressed I find it difficult to eat as opposed to binge eating my stress away like I used to. So believe it or not, my biggest goal at the moment is to stop the weight loss and maintain my current weight.
I hope this can be helpful to those out there who are considering getting a wls, are struggling thorough those early days when all you can focus on is sipping broth and forcing down Protein shakes, and those who are scared to take the plunge. I feel this is the best decision I could have made for my current happiness, future health and quality of life, and to model healthy eating habits/behaviors/relationship with food for my two daughters.
Good Luck to all of you beautiful and brave people!

@@katesuccess, @@MissMac, @@Success2013, @@loseitsoon, @@longtimecoming7, @@CowgirlJane , @[humanmerelybeing"], & everyone else (cuz I know I haven't remembered everyone:/!): Good thoughts & congrats to all on getting on track/ recommitment / whatever you choose to call it. I am the 18- month veteran who gained a scary 14 pounds in December and January. I need to lose 1.5 more pounds and then I will have it off and will also be where I need to be to win the Dietbet ( dietbet.com) that I'm currently entered in (& need to weigh out of by 5/11). I have been working to get this off for 2 1/2 months. In essence, I have not had anything fun to eat in that whole 2 1/2 months – yikes! It was really hard the first couple of weeks, but once I was detoxed from carbs and eating sensibly (with steady-but-minor weekly weight loss) I was so encouraged that I would eventually make it back to my lowest weight (and that I thankfully hadn't ruined my sleeve results permanently!) that I got very inspired & committed to give myself that do-over /re-set (no matter WHAT it took!).
The elements of my success this round have been two 2- mile walks each day, eating few carbs to try to remain in very light key ketosis, taking Gummy Fiber and lots of Water daily. I've also been taking three or four coconut oil tablets each day along with cinnamon and chromium (in a Quest for balanced blood sugar & craving control).
If I can keep losing 2-3 lbs/month with this no-recreational-eating-whatsoever approach, I MIGHT just get down to that elusive 150/loose size 10 after all!
(PS - Longtime, I sent you a private message thru this site last week, but I don't think you opened it?)

I will join you!!! I'm 15 months past surgery and just holding steady, but not feeling in control of my food, Water, exercise. Today's the day - thanks for the inspiration. I'll post tomorrow and report how I did jumping on your "Band" Wagon. heh heh

Too funny! I'll bet a pretty high percentage of us have food triggers with our mums. I know I do too. Maybe it's because they're usually the ones who give us our first food, and often thereafter are the ones feeding us or monitoring our food until we're older - who knows. Hey, nuts and cheese aren't so bad - and sounds like you contained the damage to one day. Good job!

I have been doing very well, however, I spent yesterday with my mom.
What is it about my mother that makes me want to eat? Seriously, I just look at her and think about food!
Lol.
Sooo, yesterday I ate more cheese than I should have and more peanuts than I should have and,well I even had gelato.
But, today, back at it!
Keep going all!

Sorry to have slipped offline and off this challenge for the past 6 days - thanks for keeping up @@longtimecoming7 !t looks like you're doing really well staying on track, and really since i'm now a year out i'm finding that is isn't as quickly gratifying in the weight loss, so makes it harder to stay motivated to keep strong.
So I'm on day 7 of the challenge and finally losing weight again. Not fast, but steady. Checking in on my plan:
+ Get all my Water in today -- Yup, well on my way!
+ Log my food today - Another 'yes' and i've been doing well with it most days again. Funny how that keeps us honest!
+ Back to the gym - yes, but I missed one of my days last week, and need to be better about this week!
+ Stop any off-plan eating - Yay! I did manage to stop the first day after starting this challenge - still at it!
+ I'll redo my measurements and NOT overreact if the outcome isn't good. - I did them, and not too bad, but not great.
- Continue to pre-make more meals I like - none lately, but I'm planing ahead better with grocery shopping.
+ Celebrate behavioral successes, not just the scale ones - YES! Finally having some to Celebrate helps.
So, today I'm happy I dodged a table full of treats three different times yesterday, chocolate this morning, and remembered my gym bag so I can go after work! --And that i've lost nother 1.5 lbs.

Where is everyone?
I managed another day! It's been hard to say no to some things, but I try to stay mindful of the fact that I was only kidding myself before by allowing myself to give in to certain foods!
I ran errands extra early, 3 mile walk by the canal, then walked 18 holes of golf.
Today is the 2nd day of forcing myself on the scale. It read higher today that yesterday! Weird.
Going to keep this up! All my shorts are a bit too snug!