Shells_Almost_There

I notice it as well, and feel a bit guilty because I would probably still be eating like that if I could. What I also notice is really heavy people - I used to notice them before and wonder if their weight and physical issues were my future. Now I notice them with a lot of sympathy (which also makes me feel a little guilty!) and wish I could lead them toward this journey. It is so strange how our lives change...

I notice it as well, and feel a bit guilty because I would probably still be eating like that if I could. What I also notice is really heavy people - I used to notice them before and wonder if their weight and physical issues were my future. Now I notice them with a lot of sympathy (which also makes me feel a little guilty!) and wish I could lead them toward this journey. It is so strange how our lives change...

GG, so happy to see your update and the amazing pictures of you and your hubby. I really appreciate the insights of your journey because it's such a great reality check of what life is like after 6 months to a year. Surgery only takes us so far, then it's up to us again!

GG, so happy to see your update and the amazing pictures of you and your hubby. I really appreciate the insights of your journey because it's such a great reality check of what life is like after 6 months to a year. Surgery only takes us so far, then it's up to us again!

For me, it's too easy to NOT do anything if I stay home. I will sit on the couch and think about exercising but never actually do it. I started using my treadmill to hang dry my clothes instead of using it to work out. So, a monetary commitment was what I needed to stay motivated at first. Now, I have habits and it's great. To meet my hectic schedule, I get up at 4:00 a.m. and arrive at the gym by 4:30. Weekdays this is the only schedule that works so that I get to my office on time. It was painful at first, but the 4:30 a.m. group at the gym are a bunch of great people (who sadly only see me when I look like crap LOL) - and they help motivate me everyday. This is a personal, decision, of course, and I truly think that you can make it work at home - I just learned that I can't. Plus the gym has neat machines and personal trainers to help out when I need it.
Good luck with your decision!

WOW - very inspirational and amazing. What a transformation!

Wow! 2 years out! I can't beleive how much has happened and how much has changed in these past 2 years! I'm still slowly losing a pound or two here and there, I've gone up a bit and then keep going down a bit. It doesn't get easier, that's for sure! I still have to watch what I eat, I still have to be mindful to go to the gym. This surgery has been a lot of things for me, it certainly hasn't been what I started thinking it would be. Everyone always talked about it being a 'tool' and it really is. There is no easy way out, there is no easy path. I can easily see myself regaining and being big again, but the love I have for my new body is incredible so everyday I wake up and keep on keeping on. Being a Mexico sleever, my Dr. never set a 'goal' for me, so I set myself at 115. I'm not sure that's realistic as I'm pretty comfortable bouncing around the low 130's, but we'll see if I get there. I'm not 'fighting' to lose anymore, I feel happy where I'm at. My real goal I kept in the back of my head is that I wanted to weigh 1/2 of my starting weight, and I do, so if I don't kick these remaining 17 lbs, I'm okay. I'm AMAZED at how relatively little loose skin I have. I have a little turkey chin, and saggy arms, legs and ladies, I have a sad flappy belly pooch and no butt to speak of, but all in all I think I'm VERY lucky as far as loose skin goes. Now that I'm more or less stable, I think I'll wait at least another year or so before doing any plastics, but really it would be for vanity purposes. I think I look amazing in clothes, and my husband doesn't mind me without All this being said, I've always been into Fairies and of course the ultimate fairy being Tinkerbell, this year I decided to go for it! The before pictures are from a plus size fashion show I did 2 weeks before my surgery, and the Tinkerbell pics are from a party I went to last night. I'm still self concious about my legs so I designed and sewed my own costume to keep them still hidden a little. I designed the wings and made them too, THAT was a chore! After losing 1/2 myself, I feel I can do anything now and haven't stopped yet! I hope this inspires some of you to keep going!!

For me, it's too easy to NOT do anything if I stay home. I will sit on the couch and think about exercising but never actually do it. I started using my treadmill to hang dry my clothes instead of using it to work out. So, a monetary commitment was what I needed to stay motivated at first. Now, I have habits and it's great. To meet my hectic schedule, I get up at 4:00 a.m. and arrive at the gym by 4:30. Weekdays this is the only schedule that works so that I get to my office on time. It was painful at first, but the 4:30 a.m. group at the gym are a bunch of great people (who sadly only see me when I look like crap LOL) - and they help motivate me everyday. This is a personal, decision, of course, and I truly think that you can make it work at home - I just learned that I can't. Plus the gym has neat machines and personal trainers to help out when I need it.
Good luck with your decision!

For me, it's too easy to NOT do anything if I stay home. I will sit on the couch and think about exercising but never actually do it. I started using my treadmill to hang dry my clothes instead of using it to work out. So, a monetary commitment was what I needed to stay motivated at first. Now, I have habits and it's great. To meet my hectic schedule, I get up at 4:00 a.m. and arrive at the gym by 4:30. Weekdays this is the only schedule that works so that I get to my office on time. It was painful at first, but the 4:30 a.m. group at the gym are a bunch of great people (who sadly only see me when I look like crap LOL) - and they help motivate me everyday. This is a personal, decision, of course, and I truly think that you can make it work at home - I just learned that I can't. Plus the gym has neat machines and personal trainers to help out when I need it.
Good luck with your decision!

For me, it's too easy to NOT do anything if I stay home. I will sit on the couch and think about exercising but never actually do it. I started using my treadmill to hang dry my clothes instead of using it to work out. So, a monetary commitment was what I needed to stay motivated at first. Now, I have habits and it's great. To meet my hectic schedule, I get up at 4:00 a.m. and arrive at the gym by 4:30. Weekdays this is the only schedule that works so that I get to my office on time. It was painful at first, but the 4:30 a.m. group at the gym are a bunch of great people (who sadly only see me when I look like crap LOL) - and they help motivate me everyday. This is a personal, decision, of course, and I truly think that you can make it work at home - I just learned that I can't. Plus the gym has neat machines and personal trainers to help out when I need it.
Good luck with your decision!

it's basically what you prefer to do. I know for me, going to the gym is a better option because he makes me accountable. I know if I pay the $40 for the gym membership, that I will go because I just cant afford to throw away the money. And plus, the gym offers more equipment than most people have at home.

I have an elliptical at home that I paid $3 thousand for, used....it is the exact same models they use at the gym....
However,
I prefer to go to the gym, and I perform better there. Being around other people sets a pace, an example or something that makes me want to do good....
When I am on the treadmill running, and there are people on my right and left 1/2 my age, I am motivated to keep up with them, and in some cases I will not end until after they do...going way beyond my usual time/distance.....

I'm a year out and am still experiencing dry, chapped lips from the dehydration. I always carry Carmex or Burt's Bees because of the chapped lips - and whenever I put some on, it reminds me to keep drinking my water!

My Darlings,
I haven't been here for a while and whilst I won't make apologies for this -had a lot going on in life (my dearest mother has been, well, not well at all- and my friend who put false nails on me one day ago, has a lot to answer for in this immediate typing nightmare) it would be churlish and remiss to not acknowledge this milestone. A milestone I'm hugely proud of.
So, Fother, Muckers, what have we learnt?
1) Your friends or family (if that's who you choose to tell) are everything. Fact. Real and internet based. If you're blessed - you make friends on here that stay with you forever. I have that. I am blessed. For the newbies.. hold tight... life is good if you make friend(s) like I have. Put yourself out there. Lets share this journey together... (yes, I used the vomit-worthy term 'journey'). I told none of my family.... but I have gained a lifelong friend off of here... and she is a true blessing in my life. If you're dancing in corners. Stop it. Dance in the lights and meet wonderful people. I know you've been shy... or the diametric opposite as a cover...seriously.... open your hearts. We're all scared...But when you're open and vulnerable - that's when the best things happen. Go on. Surprise yourself x
2) It all feels like shite at the start.... 8 months out and you're rocking it. You find your groove. Don't lie to yourself. Stop trying to ram your old favourites down your neck. You're lying to yourself if you are. Just f*****ig stop it. No one will listen to you griping and well, you're just lying to yourself. If you're sat there thinking 'who the f**** is this biatch'...It's someone who lied to herself.. and then realised she felt shit if she didn't eat the right foods. As good as carbs taste? You'll feel sated (and hugely over -bloated) and then feel empty. There's a reason why the old guard on here tell you to eat right. Just choose Protein... Fact.
3) Don't sit in judgement. You don't know everything. If you do? Become a researcher for Steven Hawking/Pinker. I am a judgemental SOAB - but every day on here - someone taught me something new. I'm contrite. But f**** me... if people don't stretch the intellectual conditions of the positions to which we've found ourselves...this site will become an 8 month cyclical repository of predictable shite. Push the boundaries, folks. Keep asking those questions and keep supporting others. To the 'old guard' be very grateful....... To the newbies, be patient (something I'm trying to learn)
4) Okay, I could go on forever and ever.. about HUGE subjects that impact upon us all after the surgery. If it clarifies things for people.. I split up with my fiance.. I realised me siblings had left my mother in a position of destitution...But I look f******* hot now.. and thats come from a strength from within that I never realised I had and was not all about the looks. I have changed the world around me. A world I wasn't happy with. A world around me that the people i most cared about weren't happy with. I am FULLY representing. Big deep breaths... What you want.. what you need.... what the people you need desire of you, is seriously within your grasp.
In short, my loves..
Don't BS yourselves and others. You want it? Go get it. Its out there. (Oh, for the metric heads, i'm 5-odd stone down..)
If anyone would like to stay in touch? Please.I'm always here.. (Just be prepared for the sarcastic Revs, if you're not taking real x)
Love you all. You're all very very special. Part of a club of balsy people that the naturally skinny will NEVER understand.
x Revs x
( A little bit drunk, too!) x

Ok... Here are my "official" 1 year progress pics. I've had my daughter take all of them every month & I handed her the camera tonight & said "last one!!!" And we both had a cry :-) anyway....
 136.2 pounds lost & 52.5% of my original body weight.

What are you doing wrong?
--weighing yourself too frequently
--not being patient
--having unrealistic expectations that you will lose consistently and at incredibly fast rates
Seriously -- follow your program, have faith, be patient, and all will be well. And yes, check out the subforum for stalls -- you will see that first of all, you are not in a stall, and second, you have lots of company in terms of people who don't really know what to expect and get freaked out and impatient in the beginning. Good luck!

Our bodies can only lose so fast, either with or without the sleeve. The math of calories in/calories out can't be calculated on a day to day basis to equate to a specific loss. You WILL find that over time, this will work for you! I used to think that I'd be the one person who did everything right and it still didn't work for...but it wasn't true! I learned that I have to eat way less than most people to lose, which explains how I got so fat. I also learned to just keep doing what I needed to do and that the weight would come off sooner or later. I also lost "only" 8 pounds in month 2 - with no pre-op loss! Talk about disappointing! However, the month after that I lost more, and continued to have some better months, some worse, but always trended down. That's the important thing to watch. Also, I was eating around 600 calories at that time, as recommended by my bariatric team. I have to eat 900 or less to lose - doesn't matter what my resting metabolic rate should be.
My advice - easier for me to say than do when it was me in your shoes! - is to just take a deep breath, and not focus so much on those details, but focus on the details of getting good nutrition, establishing good habits, learning what it takes for you to lose, and increasing your activity level. Time passes either way, and honestly, the less we stress about it, the easier it is.

Your looking like a fool with your pants on the ground. =)

Following up on my earlier comment, I wanted to share what happened yesterday afternoon at work - a perfect example of feeling like a complete idiot - yet the person's intentions were undoubtedly good!
I happened to be wearing this pair of black jeans that seem to make my weight loss more accentuated. I walked into the deli downstairs and a gal I've known casually for a few years stares at me for a couple of heartbeats then yells really loudly "Oh my god you look amazing!" Thank god there were only about 6 people in the deli because I was so embarrassed. The other 3 women at the gal's table all turned to stare and look me up and down. I didn't know any of them, so I bet they were wondering "what the hell is she talking about?" I mean I am still a very large person - they don't know the change I have gone through, even if I'm still so big. It was one of those moments where I wanted to just have the floor open up and swallow me. Instead I just smiled and said "thanks I've been working out a lot." Sheesh.

I have a good friend who was one of the handful of people who knew about the surgery. She had only met me at my highest weight, and we became close in the months leading up to my surgery. Since then, she talks about how I have changed…when she sees me perform or speak in public, etc. But the funny thing is that I have always done those things, regardless of weight. So, she has this impression that I now have the confidence to do things that I wouldn't have done before, when again, these things have always been a part of my life and she wasn't in my life before to see them. It is true that I have more body confidence, I guess. But I've always had some confidence, however misplaced it may have been!
I think people want/expect the story, you know? People want you to say, "I have lost 70 pounds and now, things are SO MUCH BETTER." I'm not taking away from the people who really come out of their shells or act out; I know they exist too. But I really see things as more, "I really enjoy being able to tuck my shirt in; I felt sharp today." Not, "My entire life has changed!"

You are undoubtedly more confident and that is probably showing in ways that you don't realize. I have funny little things that are showing up that I've had to have pointed out to me because I hadn't noticed. For example, I walk really fast now. Once I had my knee surgery (5 months after my sleeve), 7 years of knee pain has disappeared. I'm unstoppable! I even hiked 5 miles this weekend. Not something I would have done pre-sleeve, due to my weight and my bad knee.
I will say though, I work with someone who I've had to ask to stop greeting me by saying "Good morning, Skinny!" She did it again last week and it really ticked me off. I weigh 260 pounds, and am in no way "skinny." Plus it makes me really uncomfortable. I mean, I walk into my surgeon's office and I'm sure the people in the waiting room assume I'm pre-op because I'm so big. It's just that my weight loss is super noticeable to those I've known for a while, and she can't seem to help herself. She thinks it's a compliment. I've explained to her that it makes me feel uncomfortable, but she just seems to have verbal diarrhea and says it anyway. I should probably clarify that almost no one at work knows about my surgery, so my change is probably a mystery to them (and I really hope to keep it that way!) Anyway, I just go with it and try to control what I can, but I realize I can't control everything. Just another part of this crazy journey!

You are undoubtedly more confident and that is probably showing in ways that you don't realize. I have funny little things that are showing up that I've had to have pointed out to me because I hadn't noticed. For example, I walk really fast now. Once I had my knee surgery (5 months after my sleeve), 7 years of knee pain has disappeared. I'm unstoppable! I even hiked 5 miles this weekend. Not something I would have done pre-sleeve, due to my weight and my bad knee.
I will say though, I work with someone who I've had to ask to stop greeting me by saying "Good morning, Skinny!" She did it again last week and it really ticked me off. I weigh 260 pounds, and am in no way "skinny." Plus it makes me really uncomfortable. I mean, I walk into my surgeon's office and I'm sure the people in the waiting room assume I'm pre-op because I'm so big. It's just that my weight loss is super noticeable to those I've known for a while, and she can't seem to help herself. She thinks it's a compliment. I've explained to her that it makes me feel uncomfortable, but she just seems to have verbal diarrhea and says it anyway. I should probably clarify that almost no one at work knows about my surgery, so my change is probably a mystery to them (and I really hope to keep it that way!) Anyway, I just go with it and try to control what I can, but I realize I can't control everything. Just another part of this crazy journey!

The sleeve is also an art. My surgeon did many repairs on people who had the sleeve somewhere but the way the stomach was sectioned off allowed it to stretch either ok top of the staple line or bottom. The X-rays are interesting. Reading about that was one of many reasons I picked my surgeon (also the average is 60% excess weight off in a year, my surgeons average is 96%).
I also think everyone is different and some will have to work at it more than others.

My arms are a tragedy right now and I've had some issues, but I still would not go back. Despite my frustrations (which make me crave carbs/sugar, of course) I feel so much better! My surgery was 100% worth it, and dang it, this journey isn't over yet. Just don't ever ask me to wear short sleeves! LOL

@@jarodnaaron are you on your way to surgery today? If yes, good luck!
@@Unhappysleever It all depends on the density of the food - but I can probably eat 6 to 8 oz of dense Protein at once. I've noticed that the drier it is, the less I can eat. So really soft meat goes down super easy, but dry chicken breast is hard to eat - and is kind of disgusting. Knowing that, I try to eat soft fish instead of a prime cut of steak - just to keep my calories and fat down. Also, I can eat way too many carbs at once and I am still working to discipline myself against slider foods, which taste awesome but don't fill me up (and they totally cause cravings). It's such a balancing act. I had always heard "this is a tool, not a cure" and other things like that. I guess you could say that I am experiencing the reality of that truth,