Taels2013

Talk about changing mindset! This is embarrassing but I'll tell you anyway...one of the things that I used to do a lot was stop at McDonald's when I had to drive more than 30 minutes...my commute was 50 minutes each way so it was mcDs sometimes twice a day. No wonder I gained 60 lbs in 3 years. Anyway, I'd get a double cheeseburger and coffee. Two weeks after surgery, I had to make a two hour drive. I found myself at a mcDonalds drive through with the coffee and the cheeseburger. Here's the thing, I did not wake up to what I was doing until after I paid and drove away. I opened the burger, it smelled so rank and disgusting, and I couldn't eat it even if I wanted to! I pulled over and tossed it in the trash. The coffee went too. The point of my story is that habits are hard to break, especially the ones that were comforting. Eating, then feeling like crap about it, is also a bad habit that needs to be broken. I ate a tablespoon of Peanut Butter the other day and enjoyed the hell out of it...and got the guilties so bad! Then I acknowledged that with the peanut butter, I had only 300 calories the whole day. I decided that it is ok for me to enjoy the food I eat now, because I should enjoy nourishing my body. It's pretty hard and painful to overindulge with the sleeve, right? Hope this helps.

So this is my first time posting. Im 5'10 and my surgery was 8/26/13. My weight at surgery was 376 As of today im down 48lbs! Other ppl say they see it, I really cant. However my face is significantly smaller. Its soooo hard. Not the not eating part, but the way I feel. At times I wonder if this was the right thing to do. The numbers mske me snsp out of it lol. But my energy is sooo low its terrible. Im having problems with Protein. The shakes make me gag... but hey it'll get better n i cant be mad at 48lbs in 26 days!

Weird. Are you letting food sit in your stomach for a while or washing it through with Water? In other words, are you drinking while or right after you eat? I would call the doctor in any case. That seems unusual.

I dont know...I think the nutritionist is being realistic and honest. this surgery will help with learning moderation. It sort of forces you to be happy with a little bit of things we enjoy. Like dark chocolate. Or a slice of pizza. Its the not being able to stop that is the problem. I know I will avoid the scary foods, those things that I could not stop eating once I started...I'll only be able to have a little because of my sleeve and the cravings and wanting will be horrible. I plan to very much enjoy going out with my friends for coffee and sharing a nice dessert, or really enjoying two chicken wings instead of two dozen. I am learning moderation already...by not letting myself feel guilty or paranoid over a spoon of Peanut Butter. Those days are over. I want to remake my relationship with food. That means, for me, that I should be able to nourish myself with good healthy meals and enjoy an occasional treat without beating myself up about it.

I think many people blow it a couple of times on the pre-op diet. I know I did. I had McDonald's one time and a whole package of cheese sticks dunked in ranch dressing the next day. For me, i think I was tripping out because my good friend food and I were parting company. Just stop now since you have so few days left before surgery. Trust me, you will not care about any of those foods soon enough. I used to love a gyro...now the thought of one makes me queasy. I'm one month out. I've lost 25 pounds from preop til now. I mourned food for the first week. Feel much better in my head now. I'm all thrilled if I can eat a whole cup of yogurt. It's nice to not have to worry about food constantly.

Hello!! My name is Katie. I am 33 years old and on April 8, 2013 I was sleeved at JourneyLIte of Cincinnati by Dr. Trace Curry. But that was not the start of my journey. My journey began two years earlier. When I realized that if I didn't do something, make some changes I was not going to make it to 40. Something, most likely my heart would give out on me. Changes needed to be made.
I have been heavy since I was around 10 years old. The combination of puberty, and eating way too much added up. By the time I was 13 I was well over 200 lbs. So my weight is something that I have struggled with for a very long time. Things just got worse as I got older. I moved from the city where I walked every where, to the country where walking to your local store, or library was not doable. I became lazy even more so.
About a year ago I started to notice that the things that use to be easy for me to do was no longer easy. Walking was a pain literally, both on my knees, ankles and back, along with struggling to breath. Walking from the couch to the bathroom wiped me out. At one point in my life I loved going out. I would go to local band shows, and concerts. I went to fairs, and festivals. But I was starting to tread those things I once loved to do. I started saying "no" when people invited me out because I knew there would be walking that needed to be done, and I just couldn't do it. I mean walking from my door to the car was hard. There was NO way I could walk three blocks to a concert hall! I found myself sitting down. Giving up. And gaining more and more. I even found things like swimming which I love to do dreadful because of the walk from the chair to the pool! Two summers ago I found myself sitting down and watching the world go around me. That's when I decided something needed to be done.
Then my cousin had lap band surgery through the the same surgeon. I started to talk to her, and start my research on the different types of weight loss surgery. At the time I was really looking into by pass, simply because I had never heard of the sleeve. I did a lot of research, but eventually gave up. Mainly because I knew I could not afford the surgery. I didn't have a job, I couldn't work because physically stand to work. And I'm not going to get a job in an office! I knew that. So I gave up. Stopped researching. In my mind it was just a dream of mine that would never happen. I just decided to live the way I had been. I didn't even try dieting.
Then on New Years Eve of 2011 I found myself sitting alone. All because I couldn't go anywhere. I was sad, I was depressed and I was tired of missing out on my life. So I decided to sit down and talk to my mom about it. I know she had seen me start to fall, and seen that I was getting pretty. At this time I didn't even know how much I weighed, I only knew that I had to weigh at least 450 if not more! There was no scale that would read my weight, I was too heavy. She supported my Quest for WLS. And thought it was a wonderful idea! I was so happy that she was supportive that I quickly made a post on Facebook vaguely announcing my happiness. About 5 mins later my friend Cat called me wanting to know about the update. So I told her. Turns out that she herself was doing the same thing. However, she was looking into the sleeve, which I had never heard of. So she explained it to me, and gave me some websites to visit After visiting these websites and doing my research I then decided that the sleeve was probably a better option for me.
I tried everything to raise money. Online fundraisers (got 5 dollars) I tried and tried but it never went anywhere. I even tried to get on disability. Which I was denied, of course. Of course I found out that I had type two diabetes, and VERY high blood pressure, and started my wonderful drug therapy for both. All this time I couldn't find out how much I really weighed because no scales would register my weight. Finally my aunt had an idea. She works in a factory that makes big paper felts. I had to go to where she works to weigh myself on the scales that weigh 1000 lb felts. This was in Feb. of 2012. I weighed 450 lbs. I decided then that I had to make changes before surgery. That's a lot of weight to carry around on a 5'4 frame!
The next few months nothing was really done. I would try, cry, pray. But nothing. I had no way to pay. And with every day that passed the more and more it seemed as though it wasn't going to happen. Then in October I had an accident in the bath tub. We do not have a shower, so I have to take a bath. I wasn't able to get out of the bath tub, because I could not pull myself up. I was too heavy! There was no home to help me either. I ended up having to basically flop myself out of the tub onto the floor, and in doing this, I slipped and hit my head. I didn't get knocked out, thank God. But once I was out of the tub, I still couldn't stand up. I had to crawl to my couch and take the cushion off and sit myself on the couch to get up. This was embarrassing even though no one was home, no one seen me. It still happened, it still hurt. I told my mom what happened the next morning. She then told my dad. That broke my dad's heart. He then decided that yeah something needs to be done. So he made the decision to take a loan from his 401K to pay for my surgery. This delighted my heart! Many think it's crazy that I would be happy to have surgery, but those of us whose had it knows why.
I quickly made the phone call and set up an appointment with Dr. Curry. I knew I wanted to go to him, I had done my research on him too. My first appointment was Nov. 8, 2012. I was so excited. The appointment went pretty well. Not as scary as I thought it would be. But I did find out that since my BMI was over 60 (Mine was 72 I believe) I HAD to lose 75 lbs before he would do the surgery. I HAD to lose 60 before he would even schedule my surgery. But his team is awesome, and I was a assigned a nutritionist who put me on a low carb, high Protein diet. At the office I weighed 422 lbs, so I had lost .28 lbs since Feb. I left the office feeling happy because I knew the surgery would get done, but discouraged because I had to lose close to 100 lbs before having surgery and I just knew it would take forever.
I was wrong. I lost 30 lbs the first month of my new diet, and met my 60 lbs loss by March of this year. They scheduled my appointment for April 8 (5 months after my first Dr. visit to the day). And I started my 4 week pre-opt diet. Now I didn't lose like everyone else. I lost a total of 4 lbs during my pre-opt diet. I was so scared that he wouldn't do the surgery. But he did.
So on April 8th, I was sleeved. Amazingly I was rather calm, and at peace before surgery. I guess I was REALLY calm and at ease after I got my meds for surgery. Singing, dancing, acting a fool. I don't remember. I don't remember much about that day. I got to go home the same day as well. But recovery wasn't what I expected it to be. I guess I thought I would bounce right back, have all this energy. lol. Crazy girl. I was very blessed on the fact that I didn't have any pain afterward, and I had no throwing up or anything like that. My second day was the worse for me. That's because I was so sleepy, and tired I didn't want to be bothered and my mom was constantly waking me up and telling me to drink drink drink walk walk walk. I just wanted to be left alone. But my energy levels were really zapped and remained that way until about three weeks ago. I didn't feel like doing anything but sit around.
Things have gotten MUCH better. I have stalled in my weight loss. I lost 30 lbs the first month, and maybe 10 the second and nothing since. However I am losing inches. I work out daily (swim for an hour, and do weights for an hour). I was able to buy bathing suits this year, and not have to wear my regular clothes swimming. I actually bought two swimming suits in two different sizes. The bigger suit is too big for me! I can walk and not get out of breath, and or feel pain!! I have may days of discouragement when I see the scale isn't doing anything, but I'm trying to get away from that thought and believe that my success lays in those numbers! There has been times I thought maybe I should have gotten the bypass, but that's only because so far I have been able to tolerate anything I have eaten. There are some things I haven't tried such as chocolate, or anything with process sugar, and gluten. I haven't had either in months and really don't want. I have tired pizza I am guilty. However, I didn't like the way it tastes, I also don't like Breakfast foods anymore?? Not even the thought of breakfast makes me happy. It use to be my favorite meal. I'm really trying to eat clean.
So..so far so good! I am only three months out, well will be on July 8th. I'm praying my scale starts to move again, but either way I am so happy with what I have been giving so far!! Here are some pics of my progress. I started taking pictures in Dec. before my surgery. So the first pictures are from then, after I lost 30 lbs. And the last was taken about a week ago. In total, since Feb. 2012 I have lost around 120 lbs I believe! I wish I had pictures from back then!

Well, here I am at 5 months out. The first picture was taken at a ladies mountain retreat in October 2012 (6 months before my band-to-sleeve revision.) Pic 2 was taken in early May 2013, about 2 weeks after surgery and pic 3 was taken yesterday. It's happening! I'm feeling good and enjoying my sleeve. I think it works like the band was supposed to work. I have restriction now and I haven't had any food get stuck since surgery, so I'm no longer looking for the nearest restroom in case I have to make a run for it. I tolerate every food that I've tried, except caffeine. I get caffeine jitters after only a few sips now and it just doesn't taste the same, so I don't bother.
I'm proud of how far I've come. It feels so good to sit and bend comfortably. I am excited about losing the rest. There are so many more nsv's to uncover as a I continue on this road to recovery. I'm still working on the emotional eating, reducing my fat intake, and getting in enough Protein and exercise. It's still a lot of work, but it all feels do-able now. I am a work in progress.

i am pretty much 12 weeks out... Sleeved May 17th....
highest weight: 344
Surgery weight: 317
Current Weight: 277
Total weight loss: 67
since surgery: 40
I work out at least 4 times a week.. running the brooklyn bridge back and forth... never would have guessed i would be doing that... so im proud of me... Have hit quite a few stalls and its been rough knowing that im doing sooo much more and eating soooo much less but loosing at a slow pace... But im working through that.... my next post op doctors appointment is September 25th and my goal was originally to be at 260... but im going to smash that goal and go in there at at least 255. ive got 6 weeks to do it.. and thats 22 lbs.. its only about 4lbs a week... I got this...

I was the same way if not worse at 4 weeks I was suppose too return back too work at 4 weeks but I could barley get out of bed then I starting drinking g2 and started B12 pills and by 6 weeks I was back at work and hitting the Gym now IM 8 weeks out and 50pds down and feeling great drinking and eating better I tell u each week it will get better and better

I think many people blow it a couple of times on the pre-op diet. I know I did. I had McDonald's one time and a whole package of cheese sticks dunked in ranch dressing the next day. For me, i think I was tripping out because my good friend food and I were parting company. Just stop now since you have so few days left before surgery. Trust me, you will not care about any of those foods soon enough. I used to love a gyro...now the thought of one makes me queasy. I'm one month out. I've lost 25 pounds from preop til now. I mourned food for the first week. Feel much better in my head now. I'm all thrilled if I can eat a whole cup of yogurt. It's nice to not have to worry about food constantly.

I think many people blow it a couple of times on the pre-op diet. I know I did. I had McDonald's one time and a whole package of cheese sticks dunked in ranch dressing the next day. For me, i think I was tripping out because my good friend food and I were parting company. Just stop now since you have so few days left before surgery. Trust me, you will not care about any of those foods soon enough. I used to love a gyro...now the thought of one makes me queasy. I'm one month out. I've lost 25 pounds from preop til now. I mourned food for the first week. Feel much better in my head now. I'm all thrilled if I can eat a whole cup of yogurt. It's nice to not have to worry about food constantly.

When you have a ton of weight to lose there is fat inside of your body that surrounds your organs. You're losing fat there are well and it wont be all that noticable (but much easier on your insides!) For most people who are large I hear the threshold of when people start noticing you're losing weight is around 65-75 pounds.

Jan3. 344. Sept 3. 224. Still a work in process!!

My biggest complaint for a solid 5 weeks post surgery was that I was tired all the time. During this past week, I have noticably been less tired (tomorrow is 6 weeks since surgery). I am not at my normal energy level. but finally it is improving substantially. I am sure yours will too!

My nurse told me they tasted like Jolly Ranchers. So I invested over $50 in a case of them from GNC.com. They taste nasty. Worst thing I've ever put in my mouth. Hubby likened them to bad meat juice.
Just buy 1 and taste it to see if u like it. You can get them at GNC or Vitamin Shoppe. They're expensive.

It has been awhile since I have posted here. So long, that I almost forgot that I was a member. September 15th will make 5 months since I had my surgery. A lot of things have changed for me. First off, the Protein shakes, had to stop. At first they were easy, and great. Except, I could only drink one kind and only one flavor of that kind. Everything else was making me sick. Of course, two of the same flavor, of the same kind, twice a day, every day, after a few months, also started to make me sick. It got to the point where I was getting sick, thinking about drinking the shakes. My meal also changed. After the healing seemed to complete, I noticed I started eating more often. At first this bothered me, because the idea of eating more often, seemed in my mind to defeat the purpose. Yet, I also noticed that I was eating a lot less.... just more frequently. I also noticed I was drinking a lot more fluids then I had ever done. I also, have not had a drink of soda, since my surgery, which I think probably also helped. I noticed that bread, will not be eaten again. That includes cake, Bagels, doughnuts, etc. I have tried almost all of these things, and while it does not make me sick, it hurts. I am not a fan of pain, so I do not try them again. I find that I do not miss any of them. I have noticed that I have a very huge craving for grapes. I now go through grapes, like I used to go through milk. I used to go through a lot of milk (something else I find, I do not miss.)
Well, after almost 5 months, and fearing that my eating was going to become a problem, I have lost 92 pounds. I am very close to the goal that my doctor set for me, and I believe I will pass that goal. Some other things that have changed. I am off all of my medications, except for my thyroid. Since I eat more times a day then I used to, I find foods that are high in Protein for Snacks, such as tuna. For the first 3 months, I could not eat tuna, but my dietitian told me to keep trying. She said that if I am going to cut out the Protein Shakes, I needed to find other sources, and tuna is a great source. So far, now at 5 months, I find I can eat tuna again. In fact, other then the breads, I have found that I can eat just about anything. My sweet weakness is M&Ms. I usually eat a bag of them a week. Which compared to how I used to eat them.....much much different. I also have a weakness for chocolate chip frappachino from Mcdonalds. I had someone tell me, I should not drink those, but I compare it to what I used to get at Mcdonalds. One meal at Mcdonalds for me used to be, a double quarter pounder, large fries, two mcdoubles, and a milkshake. Now a meal for me at Mcdonalds is the frappachino, and thats it. So I felt guilty at first, but not so much in contrast. That and instead of going like 3 times a week, I go like once a month.
I also found out, that I can run. I started running a mile every morning. It was only taking about 7 minutes once I got into it, that I thought that was not enough time. So now, I run for 30 minutes every morning. One day I will try to see how far I am going. I leave my house, and run for 15 minutes, and then turn around and run back. It is amazing, because I would not run before. I used to have a joke at work, that if someone made me chase them, they would get hurt if I caught them for making me run. Now, I have had to chase people, and smile the whole time I am doing it. In my local area, I am signed up for two 5ks.... coming up in October, and another run, called a Mud run in December. That one has an obstacle course, which I think I need some training for. Learned about something called a Zombie run, which I will be doing next year.
As far as more personal things, there was a rumor that I was told about.... size. I am talking about the little guy size....downstairs. Anyway, I was told that for every 30 pounds lost, I would gain an inch. I thought that was complete BS, yet, it was extremely pleasing to one day wake up in the morning, and notice that I could see.... everything. In a way that I had never experienced. Then to top it off, my wife, told me some stuff about things that could not be done before, that was being done now. I do not want to go into detail, but that rumor, seems to have a bit of truth behind it. Something I used to be ashamed of, I am now very proud of.
My kids have noticed a difference with me as well. I am doing all sorts of activities with them. Went to a Water park with them, and they where shocked that I went on the slides with them. Something I would not even think about doing before. I had an amazing time, and I am sure they will remember it for a long time. Something I do not think I would have been doing before I had the surgery.
I also got very luck with loose skin. As, so far, I do not have any, and have been told by the doctor, that I might not have any. He said to make sure, once I lose to the point I feel comfortable, I should start weight training. That building up muscle, would help fill in the skin, that was full of fat. Sounds like a plan to me. Anyway, that is my story so far. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me.

I think many people blow it a couple of times on the pre-op diet. I know I did. I had McDonald's one time and a whole package of cheese sticks dunked in ranch dressing the next day. For me, i think I was tripping out because my good friend food and I were parting company. Just stop now since you have so few days left before surgery. Trust me, you will not care about any of those foods soon enough. I used to love a gyro...now the thought of one makes me queasy. I'm one month out. I've lost 25 pounds from preop til now. I mourned food for the first week. Feel much better in my head now. I'm all thrilled if I can eat a whole cup of yogurt. It's nice to not have to worry about food constantly.

I agree with Diamond. The son needs to intervene here. His mother. You are his wife, and he should lay down the law. Disrespecting you is disrespecting him. He shouldn't stand for it. Yeah, don't let her find out about this message board. That would suck. Heee.

I think many people blow it a couple of times on the pre-op diet. I know I did. I had McDonald's one time and a whole package of cheese sticks dunked in ranch dressing the next day. For me, i think I was tripping out because my good friend food and I were parting company. Just stop now since you have so few days left before surgery. Trust me, you will not care about any of those foods soon enough. I used to love a gyro...now the thought of one makes me queasy. I'm one month out. I've lost 25 pounds from preop til now. I mourned food for the first week. Feel much better in my head now. I'm all thrilled if I can eat a whole cup of yogurt. It's nice to not have to worry about food constantly.

I had some one say to me the other day, "what did you do to your face? You look different." One of my friends chimed in and said, she's lost some weight! The face questioner responded, "oh." Ha. My good friend then said I look even more beautiful than before...put that jerk right in her place. Loved it.

I had some one say to me the other day, "what did you do to your face? You look different." One of my friends chimed in and said, she's lost some weight! The face questioner responded, "oh." Ha. My good friend then said I look even more beautiful than before...put that jerk right in her place. Loved it.

Drain out today!! Thank God!! I had a shower, no drain.. I feel halfway decent. Gonna check out these Bariatric Advantage shakes. I had no idea how much Protein is in them! Now, on to making this work.. oh, weighed in, lost 4 lbs since surgery thursday. I will take that!

Everyone has to decide for themself, but here is my input. I am 64. In my 30's I lost 76 pounds and reached goal with WW. In my 40's I lost 115 pounds and neared goal with a hospital-supervised liquid diet. Dozens of other times I would lose 30 - 50 pounds on various progras. I was even a WW leader for a number of years. But I am a food addict and every time I gained it all back plus more. When I turned 60 I reached 300 pounds for the first time. I decided I want to live an be healthy and the only way to do this is to get this weight off for good. I was sleeved June 6 and for the first time I am hopeful and encouraged for the future y sleeve is only a tool I know, but it won't allow me to binge, and it makes me only want to eat Protein and other healthy food. My only regret: I waited 30 years to do this (of course it wasn't an option when I was young) But you have the opportunity to change your life forever! Whatever you decide, get the weight off, keep it off, nd start living! Best wishes to you!

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Im 9 mths out and down 97lbs!
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