debraeve

We'd be fun at a dinner party!

I am 5 weeks post op I eat chicken all the time no problem at all !!! I am down 34 pounds

Omg so good great treat instead of mash potatoes ,Great for the purée stage

Sept 10 2013----261
Oct 12---228

you have NO Idea how hard it was to not get the dog to photo-bomb every session!

Just a quick update. I had surgery January 23, 2013. I weighed 274 and am 5 ft tall. Now, a little over 8 months out, I've lost 131 pounds and have 18 pounds to go to my goal! I weigh 143 right now. I'm really excited! I'm still not used to being smaller and I really don't see myself as being as small as I am until I see pictures! I feel great and have no health issues anymore! Love my sleeve!
Here's a before/now pic
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I am so happy. I am nine weeks post op. I have lost 65 pounds. I am a new person, people always tell me how good I lookI so happy, no more bp meds, chlosterol meds, no more insulin pump (I still use a little Insulin) but that should to away soon. I am so happy and feel so good. I just wanted to tell the group and thank you all for your support.
Mark Thomas

The left is the new me and the right is the old me.

Lately I've seen a TON of posts about lucky sleevers that drop 100 pounds in six months.
Congrats to them and to their loss. And I would never, ever begrudge anyone the right to crow about a fantastic success. It's part of why we're all here, to share the ups and downs of this surgery!
But frequently, these posts are followed by folks that feel frustrated because they aren't losing at the same pace. All too often, we forget that everyone loses at a different pace. It's easy to lose sight of the real goal (long term maintenance) in the face of the scale goals we set for ourselves. And it's also easy to forget that this isn't a race and that there's no special prize waiting at the end for reaching goal more quickly.
I would like to contribute my loss pattern so that people can see that there is more than one way to achieve a goal. Being successful is about reaching your personal goals, overcoming your personal food demons and maintaining your weight loss for life. It's not about hitting goal in nine months.
I encourage everyone else with a slow loss story to contribute their successes here as well. It's hard to research this surgery and find only the stories about extremes - people completely thrilled with surgery or people that regret every minute of life post op. The same goes for loss. When people search out stories on this, it's too easy to only find rapid loss or stall posts but nothing showing the more realistic and moderate journey many of us take. The sleeve is a permanent tool that does not have a special window of easy weight loss. There is no reason to feel discouraged when you haven't reached goal at one year out, or even two. There is nothing preventing you (short of your own body's natural stopping point) from achieving or re-achieving goal at any point post op.
I lost 60 pounds in the first five months after my surgery.
And I slowly lost 32 pounds over the next seven months.
It took me another five months to shed the final 15 pounds to my goal.
I lost 107 pounds over the course of 17 months. I stalled twice for nine weeks each time. I had months where I only lost one pound. I regularly experienced a gain of three pounds around my cycle, and often only lost weight in the last week to ten days of the month, after sitting at the same weight for nearly three weeks.
I am a success, and at 2.5 years out (and currently pregnant) I still have good, healthy eating habits and maintained my weight loss quite easily. Even 30 weeks pregnant, I am still wearing a size 6/small (in maternity clothes, of course) regardless of how I feel about my expanding body!
I learned what was important on this journey and am in better health today (not just physically, but mentally and emotionally), than I have ever experienced as an adult.
Good luck to those currently on their journey, and I encourage everyone to share their stories here so that newly sleeved folks can see that slow vs. fast loss doesn't really matter in the end.
~Cheri

10-10-2013...My date what should I began to buy?

Your pillow soft blanket toothbrush

Omg so good great treat instead of mash potatoes ,Great for the purée stage

Had to go through everything to find pictures of me before post op since I hated taking body pictures, but this is the closest I found. This is Halloween before surgery (6 months pre op) and today, 1 day shy of my 5 month surgiversery. Wore a shirt I couldn't fit in for years so I am a happy camper  

My husband took me out on a date tonight and wanted to try a new place so he chose The Black Bear Diner.. We are setting there and I realized they put us in a booth and I was like wow I'm setting in a booth and not sideways woohoo then I look down and my legs are crossed!!!! It's the little things !!!!!

I wish I could help you ladies. I had diarrhea the whole time I was on liquids. Someone mentioned though that over three days without pooping and you should see a doctor. Good luck to you all

Had my surgery on Sep 17
Initial weight two weeks before surgery 276
Surgery weight 261
Todays weight 253
So far 26 pounds lost.

are you truly hungry or are you mind hungry??
10 days post op, I was still on a liquid diet about to enter the pureed stage. You might be tired of liquids.< /p>

Coconut creek sleeve great here almost 2 weeks post op

I actualy had some last night... of just the broth? Wasnt sure if I could eat the egg? Im not hungry just tired of the same liquids

oooo, i loved strained egg drop Soup at that point.

Here was my program...
Hospital stay: clear liquid diet
Week 1 & 2: liquid diet
Week 3: pureed phase
Week 4 & 5: soft food phase
Week 6 & beyond: 3 small meals with 2 Snacks - low calorie intake.
Very important to get at least 60 ounces of Water and hit your Protein intake daily.
Hope this helps!! Good luck.

Just posted a recipe on my blog for thai-style peanut chicken with a picture of the finished product. http://sleevers.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/thai-style-chicken-in-peanut-sauce-high-protein/
Very simple recipe goes together in 15 minutes for a delicious dinner. Serve on top of fresh cucumber “noodles” for a wonderful blend of tastes.
Ingredients
2 tsp ghee or coconut oil
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
1 lb. ground chicken or turkey
For the Sauce
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup hot Water to emulsify the peanut butter
1 tbsp Sriracha sauce (adjust for your spice needs)
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sweet chile sauce (I used Target’s Asian inspired sweet chili marinade, use any sweet-hot sauce)
Juice of one fresh lime
Salt to taste
For the garnish
5-6 tsp cilantro chopped fine
2-3 tbsp crushed peanuts
Method
Heat ghee or coconut oil in saucepan
When lightly smoking, add garlic and ginger to fragrance the oil. Cook for 30 seconds while stirring. Do not let it burn.
Add ground chicken, or turkey. Break lumps and saute until you no longer have raw lumps.
Meanwhile, mix together all ingredients for the sauce. Add hot water last, and mix well with a spoon until you have a smooth mixture.
Pour it over the chicken, turn heat to low. Mix the sauce & the chicken well.
Cover with a lid and let it simmer together, and let the sauce thicken.
Remove cover in 5 mins and garnish with cilantro and peanuts if desired. The cilantro does lend a nice fresh taste.
Serve over cucumber juliennes or noodles for a fresh taste or enjoy with sprouted mung Beans for crunch.

Your going to do amazing !!! Go into this positive and your kids are going to be so blessed to have a healthy mom after this God Bless

For those of you suffering through the pre op diet or just out of surgery, I want to share some of the things I heard when I got to work this morning, 98 lbs lighter than I was 9 months ago!!!
"How much more do you need to lose? you look great!"
"You just look cuter and cuter everyday"
"Love the dress"
You can do this and it will all be worth it, I was one who thought I had made a mistake for the first 4 weeks or so. At this point,, I could not be happier!!!