SueJH

A little over 8 months out. About 15lbs from my goal. So happy with my decision to do this. Could do without the sagging skin, but I'll work on that!
 

A little over 8 months out. About 15lbs from my goal. So happy with my decision to do this. Could do without the sagging skin, but I'll work on that!
 

My surgery was on 12/17/12.
I want to preface this by saying that everyone’s journey and way of living and eating after surgery is a personal choice, and no way is wrong if you are happy and continuing to lose weight in a healthy manner. This is just my experience in the year since surgery.
Weight loss is not linear. Throughout this first year I lost in a stair-step pattern. It was literally stall 2-3 weeks, lose 1 week. I had to learn that if I was doing everything right (eating at a deficit), it would eventually come off- and it did! LOG YOUR FOOD! I use MyFitnessPal every single day. It is responsible for 99% of my success up to this point. I started at approximately a month after surgery and have not missed a day. I went on vacation for 2 weeks in June and logged the whole time using the app on my phone. Perseverance throughout is key. Most people slip up from time to time and eat something “off plan”. It’s normal. We are human. Life happens. Just don’t let it derail you. Start again the very next meal. Pick yourself up and dust yourself off. Don’t beat yourself up. The only failure is not getting up and trying again. Carbs are not evil. No, not even refined carbs. Yes, really. In fact, no food should be off limits. If you can, have a bit of what you’re craving, or find a “healthified” replacement for it. I can guarantee you won’t have room for a lot of it anyway. I had this surgery to save my life, but I also don’t want to live it miserable. Find your happy medium. This is for the newbies: follow your doctor’s advice, especially in the beginning. There’s more than one reason your doctor wants you to eat in stages (liquids, purees, soft foods, etc.) Sure, it’s safer that way, but he/she wants you to learn HOW to eat. We have to learn how to eat all over again, in a way. Our tummies don’t operate the same in the sense of feeling full. It’s a learning process that I am STILL adjusting to a year out. LOG YOUR FOOD! Restriction at 12 months out is still very much in evidence. If I stick to the Protein first rule, my meals are still very small. Losing weight after the sleeve is not rocket science. Don’t over-complicate it. Having the sleeve makes it easy to lose weight, but only if you work it every day the way it is supposed to be worked. Make healthy choices (including carbs) 90% of the time. Indulge every once in a while if your sleeve can handle it. Have a small piece of a dessert of your choice on special occasions. Just don’t do it every day. Eat out if you want to and don’t stress out or be afraid of it. The sleeve allows you that “buffer zone” of not being ravenous before meals so that you can pause and think before ordering. Plan out what you’re going to eat ahead of time. If anyone is interested in knowing what I eat at certain restaurants, message me. LOG YOUR FOOD! Find exercise that you like to do. I absolutely despise the elliptical and all indoor gym equipment. I do Zumba and C25k, only using the treadmill if the weather is bad. I found things that don’t feel like exercise to me. I think that the word for eating < 1000 calories after 6 months post-op is “anorexia”. You don’t have to go that low. I have been eating more than 1200/day since June and have lost perfectly fine. I refuse to ruin my metabolism. The truth is that the more weight you lose, the more you need to eat. As you move from being obese, there is less energy in the form of fat for your body to turn to in order to supplement your very low calorie diet. Your organs may begin to suffer if you continue eating less than say, 1200 calories/day. It gets harder to adhere to your plan the further out you get. I am fully healed in every sense of the word and feel like I can eat anything. It’s scary. Don’t be afraid to talk to a professional if you need to. There’s no shame. It’s going to take therapy for most of us to cope with this life change. None of us got fat because we were so happy with our lives- it’s the opposite. You will go through periods of depression. It’s normal, since we can no longer turn to food to cope. We are being forced into feeling all of our emotions rather than being able to “stuff them down”. My therapist has helped me immensely by just being an objective ear. LOG YOUR FOOD. I also want to say that I admire you all and am amazed at the bravery you have all displayed by deciding to undergo this miraculous and lifesaving surgery. Your lives are worth it! Everyone have a fabulous holiday season and keep on rocking those sleeves!!!!

I've told just about everyone from family to co-workers. I have had nothing but great support from them all. Were some of them a little worried for me before going into surgery? Sure, but now that it is over and they see that I made it through fine and am healthier, they are even more happy for me.
You need to do what is right for you. I feel that I am very lucky to have such an amazing circle of people around me, but unfortunately not everyone is as lucky as I have been.
Best of luck to you on your journey!

Here I am at the 6 month mark. I was one who thought I was going to be a "slow loser" from the beginning. My first week after surgery I barely lost 2 lbs. The week after that wasn't much either. I kept reading about people who would say "WOW, I lost 18lbs my first week!" and at first was a little discouraged but soon talked myself away from that reminding myself that I didn't have as much to lose as those who lost such large amounts in the beginning. This is my journey and mine only. I can't compare myself to how others have done. Well, those 2 or 3lbs here and there have certainly added up. At 6 months I am 70lbs down and about 33lbs from my goal. It's been an amazing journey so far!

Here I am at the 6 month mark. I was one who thought I was going to be a "slow loser" from the beginning. My first week after surgery I barely lost 2 lbs. The week after that wasn't much either. I kept reading about people who would say "WOW, I lost 18lbs my first week!" and at first was a little discouraged but soon talked myself away from that reminding myself that I didn't have as much to lose as those who lost such large amounts in the beginning. This is my journey and mine only. I can't compare myself to how others have done. Well, those 2 or 3lbs here and there have certainly added up. At 6 months I am 70lbs down and about 33lbs from my goal. It's been an amazing journey so far!

Here I am at the 6 month mark. I was one who thought I was going to be a "slow loser" from the beginning. My first week after surgery I barely lost 2 lbs. The week after that wasn't much either. I kept reading about people who would say "WOW, I lost 18lbs my first week!" and at first was a little discouraged but soon talked myself away from that reminding myself that I didn't have as much to lose as those who lost such large amounts in the beginning. This is my journey and mine only. I can't compare myself to how others have done. Well, those 2 or 3lbs here and there have certainly added up. At 6 months I am 70lbs down and about 33lbs from my goal. It's been an amazing journey so far!

Slow and steady wins the race! Good job on keeping the end result in mind. Losing slower in my opinion means you learn how the change your habits. And the end prize is worth so much more. Keep up the hard work!

Awesome job!

Looking great! Congrats!!

You look wonderful...congrats!! My 6 months is next week & I'm excited to pass that mark, too.

Congrats on your accomplishments. I agree , our bodies respond differently. That is a good lesson for me. H I go through my journey. I was sleeved on dec 9.

Here I am at the 6 month mark. I was one who thought I was going to be a "slow loser" from the beginning. My first week after surgery I barely lost 2 lbs. The week after that wasn't much either. I kept reading about people who would say "WOW, I lost 18lbs my first week!" and at first was a little discouraged but soon talked myself away from that reminding myself that I didn't have as much to lose as those who lost such large amounts in the beginning. This is my journey and mine only. I can't compare myself to how others have done. Well, those 2 or 3lbs here and there have certainly added up. At 6 months I am 70lbs down and about 33lbs from my goal. It's been an amazing journey so far!

Here I am at the 6 month mark. I was one who thought I was going to be a "slow loser" from the beginning. My first week after surgery I barely lost 2 lbs. The week after that wasn't much either. I kept reading about people who would say "WOW, I lost 18lbs my first week!" and at first was a little discouraged but soon talked myself away from that reminding myself that I didn't have as much to lose as those who lost such large amounts in the beginning. This is my journey and mine only. I can't compare myself to how others have done. Well, those 2 or 3lbs here and there have certainly added up. At 6 months I am 70lbs down and about 33lbs from my goal. It's been an amazing journey so far!

Here I am at the 6 month mark. I was one who thought I was going to be a "slow loser" from the beginning. My first week after surgery I barely lost 2 lbs. The week after that wasn't much either. I kept reading about people who would say "WOW, I lost 18lbs my first week!" and at first was a little discouraged but soon talked myself away from that reminding myself that I didn't have as much to lose as those who lost such large amounts in the beginning. This is my journey and mine only. I can't compare myself to how others have done. Well, those 2 or 3lbs here and there have certainly added up. At 6 months I am 70lbs down and about 33lbs from my goal. It's been an amazing journey so far!

great work hard work sure pays off keep it up

I'm still relatively new here myself, just 6 weeks out today, but there are many of you (several which have posted to this thread) that I truly respect their input. I often see certain names pop up and the responses have been nothing but helpful and truthful!
Thank you to all of you who take the time out to try and help your fellow sleevers! I certainly appreciate every word!

As of today, I am officially out of the "obese" category and am simply "overweight". BMI is 29.8. Another 24lbs to go to be in the "normal" category. Who would have thunk it!

Awesome! !!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
I'm looking forward to that day:)

Yay! That was a big day for me, too. Celebrate!

Well done - it must be a great feeling, and I'm looking forward to it too

Fab, I was equally thrilled to be overweight! Well done, good luck on the homeward straight....

As of today, I am officially out of the "obese" category and am simply "overweight". BMI is 29.8. Another 24lbs to go to be in the "normal" category. Who would have thunk it!