Ava324

I haven't noticed a change in my nose specifically, but my face in general looks slimmer. Everything slims. I've had to take out links in my watch three times. I've gone from a 8.5/9 Wide shoe to 7.5 regular. Just Saturday I dropped off my wedding rings to get re-sized. I went from a 8.5 to a very comfortable 6! The jeweler said he'd even feel comfortable cutting them down to a 5.5, but they'd get a bit snug during crawfish season.

I'd never heard of post-race gain, but that's actually making a lot of sense! Thanks for the info, and it sounds like I could have a similar response. Good to know, because I'm going to do another 5K this evening. I won't get discouraged if it goes up again.

I wish.... I measured before starting pre-op diet. I was sleeved 12/10/13 and didn't record my measurements until April. I had started working out sooner. Happily, I've been kicking serious butt for months, but it's hard not to long for where I could be at this point. I had known that on a very basic level, the sleeve just allows you to crash diet without feeling much hunger and filling up quickly. You crash diet, and you feel those consequences. Bouts of weakness and dizziness. The hair loss. Possibly needing your gallbladder removed on an emergency basis. There are a bunch of physiological changes too that separate it from a regular crash diet, but still. I knew how real the "window of opportunity" is. Lose as much as you can as fast as you can, because hunger can return with a vengeance and losing gets much harder. I would have a sleeve of steal and I would need a will of steal. I had expected the sleeve to force behavioral changes on me through negative reinforcement and conditioning, but that hasn't really been the case. I have not thrown up once. I have not been nauseous once. I haven't and will not have bread, pasta or rice, but I've tolerated everything so far (eating too fast is painful though). Happily again, the decision to get the sleeve was a commitment to my health across the board, and I've overhauled my lifestyle and choices completely. I didn't know how big of a role choices would be in my success. I thought the sleeve would largely take bad choices off the table. Not the case. I knew that obesity is an incurable and chronic disease. I'm 8lbs from my goal, and I can't express how badly my body wants to pack back on the weight and how hard I'm having to work to get these last few off.. Fat cells don't go away. They shrink. They lie in wait, ready to plump back up and store store store. My body's "set point" is 289lbs, my highest ever weight. That's its default. In order not to get back to that, I will forever have to actively treat my disease.

If only there was a pumpkin diet! Can't get enough of the stuff. I make a skinny pumpkin frapuccinos, pumpkin Protein smoothies, pumpkin overnight oatmeal, and a coconut flour charob chip pumpkin mug cookie.. I've also made a pumpkin face mask and body sugar scrub. Did I mention I can't get enough? Lol. Oh, and pumpkin spice oil diffusers all around the house.

Today: 148 Last Friday: 147, so I'm up a pound. But! On Tuesday I was 1-freaking-54 (up 7 in 4 days, even with a 5K Saturday!). If I let up just a little bit, my body is ready to pack it on. I have to kick constant butt to keep it down, and getting to my goal is nonnegotiable.

Whoa! You are smokin'. My goal is around 135-140, and I hope I look that good. My body wants so badly to be above 150. ><

147. Only 2 lbs from hitting my challenge goal, but the real goal will be to stay there. My body really likes 150+.

Ugly sweater holiday run sounds like a blast! And congrats on the good time.

Third 5K coming up this Saturday morning. It starts at 9AM, and it's going to be warm and muggy. This will be my first day time 5K, so I'm a little anxious. Then next Saturday evening we're doing an Oktoberfest 5K. That one's pretty cool. Registration includes passes to all three weekends of the local Oktoberfest and two beer vouchers each on race day. Which means 4 for the hubby. Lol. Not signed up for any others until the mini marathon (4 miles) 11/23. We'll see if I can go a month without. I've got the bug!

Piggy backing on your thread. I stopped using the app because of annoyances, but I'm seeing weird changes to the regular site as well.. It seems like I can't edit my older posts anymore... in Chrome or Explorer on my PC. So bizarre. And I'm no longer able to paste an image into the body of a post, which I've done before like this: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/314933-funnynerdymeme-workout-shirts/?p=3553841. EDIT: So apparently I can edit a recent post... How long does it take before the posts get locked un-editable? Maybe I just never noticed that before. But not being able to paste a pic is new for sure.

It figures that for my first "challenge", I'd wildly fluctuate like never before. 152 for me. Up 3 since Monday. ><

Thanks, and congrats to you both! Can't wait to see y'all's "afters".

You'll hear a ton of different answers. My doctor doesn't recommend pregnancy for 18 months after surgery. He said that pregnancy under 6 months could be dangerous, and if I were to get pregnant before 6 months, I should consider termination for my safety. Also, he warned that even if the pregnancy was uncomplicated (although miscarriage is common), developmental delays were very possible if under 6 months. I'm happy to be out of that zone, but I'll be waiting at least 18 months before discussing trying with my husband.

Sorry for the delay! I was out of town for the weekend. 149 for me.

I came down with a cold about two weeks after surgery too. Without considering the consequences, I took NyQuil one night. Don't! It burned, and I was staggering drunk when I got up to use the restroom during the night. Watch out for alcohol in the liquid cold meds.

I'm 5'6.5" and hippie. Even at 150, I'm in size 10 pants and 8 dresses. I'm 10 lbs from my goal, and I don't see me ever getting under a size 8 in pants. Started at 26/28.

150, which means just 5 away from my Halloween challenge goal and only 10 lbs away from my ultimate goal. That's down 5 from last week. Note to self: sign up for all 5Ks!!

Hello, fellow Ava! This makes a lot of sense for me. I used to get quite nauseous when I wore Spanx for special events, and earlier in the year I heard a bunch of news about it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/20/spanx-shapewear_n_4616907.html.

For the past month I've had terrible hunger/stomach pains. I've felt ravenously hungry pretty much all day every day. It's been so hard not to snack all day, and it's not satiating even if I do. It's miserable. I brought it up at my 9 month follow-up appointment, and they've put me back on prevacid. It's only been 3 days, and I'd say it's lessened somewhat, but I'm still waiting for it to really work. I'm also trying natural ways to reduce the acid like prebiotic smoothies. Hopefully getting my gut bacteria healthy will help. Anyone else getting constant hunger signals caused by acid? Has anything helped you? Hopefully this will pass and I don't have to battle acid and stomach pains that feel like hunger forever..

Whoa! I did a literal double-take. You look great! Congrats!

Yep! There are how toos and this science heavy explanation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZfMhXsjXeQ. My husband likes it too. Basically you brush your skin (unclothed) with a natural bristle brush in a certain pattern and then shower after. It moves lymphatic Fluid and toxins to your nodes. It's a big part of lymphatic therapy for cancer patients and for prevention. People swear that it boosts their immune system and all sorts of other goodies. Cellulite reduction perk too. I feel better during the day, and it certainly can't hurt.

I have batwings, but they're improving. It may just be that it's reaching the point where it's noticeable, but people close to me recently started commenting on their shrinkage. And I recently started dry brushing every morning. Could be related? Either way, it has tons of benefits and feels great. There are a bunch of tutorials on YouTube.

Even when I'd moved on to yogurt and cottage cheese, I still wasn't feeling full. I couldn't feel my stomach at all. I called my clinic worried that maybe there was nerve damage or something. From what I understand, it takes a while for your stomach to come out of the anesthesia and shock and trauma of surgery. I didn't feel what I recognized as "full" until I was eating flakey fish.

I'm sorry to admit that my cravings for sweets are worse than ever. Raging sweet tooth. My herbal tea can't be sweet enough. I switched to natural zero-calorie sweeteners to be kinder to my gut bacteria, but I crave just as badly. I know there's all sorts of brain chemistry and hormonal stuff going on about it, but I'm just not ready to tackle that beast yet. Soon.

Congrats! You glow.