MWilliams42

My turn! SD: July 22, 2013 DOS weight: 227 CW: 203.8

Surgery date-July 31, 2013
SW-265
CW-214
GW-135
Stalled for 3 weeks but the scale is finally moving in the right direction! I was hoping to be under 200 lbs by my next follow-up on December 2, but I think if I am under 210 by then I will be happy!

Slap some band aids on those and get your Spanx on!!!! Best undergarment EVER!!!!

Just checking in. I'm about 9? weeks out now (July 23 surgery). From weeks 5-8, I really struggled with nausea - some due to a kink, some due to swelling, so I was eating extremely few calories. I finally got that worked out last Monday and am on stronger anti-nausea meds and have been able to get much closer to Fluid goal and make my Protein goal. I've also been able to eat at the top range of what my nutritionist wants (just below 1400 cal/day). I have gained weight every day since last Monday, so I'm 8 pounds up from what my ticker says, but today was the first day that I didn't gain. Not too worried about it because I know I was an unwilling anorexic and my body is kind of freaking out. My body is increasing Fluid, since I'm able to consume more, this is my pms week, so I'm retaining, and I've been eating higher carb than I have since I started my preop diet, so I'm guessing I might even be replacing glycogen stores, so the gain is pretty easily explainable without fearing that I'm having some kind of fat gain. Should start dropping again in the next few days. Ready to keep progressing!
I'm pretty pleased with my results so far and am learning my new signals as time goes on. It was a bit of a struggle trying to work through the nausea, but all in all, not a big deal. The only thing that I'm really not happy about is the fatigue and weakness the starvation has left me with. Shopping wears me out and after just a couple hours at the mall, my back will hurt, my head will ache, and I'll be limping because I feel like I can barely pick up my feet to keep propelling myself forward. This one thing has been the most demoralizing of this whole process. After having completed triathlons weighing over 300 pounds, to be less than 250 and struggle to shop really sucks. I am still recovering, though. I try to keep my calories consumed as high as possible and try to keep a healthy proportion of carbohydrate so that I can keep my energy up. Every day I have just a tiny bit more energy, and it is getting better, it just feels slow. I think in the next couple weeks, I'll probably feel capable of getting in some light exercise at the gym. Right now, I'm just stopping by the mall on my way home and window shopping for a bit, just to build a little stamina.
Anyway, onward and upward! (Or downward in this case!)
To the rest of you that are having some struggles, just keep at it. Talk to your doc. Try to figure out the cause and how to manage whatever challenge you might be having. There is no need for you to endure or muscle it out. This is a process with an enormous learning curve, and it's different for everyone. But most of all, whatever challenge you might be experiencing, you are not the only one, I guarantee you.
Best of luck to you all!

Putting the utensil down after each bite was suggested to me as I was one who would scarf down any meal. Large bites, not chewing enough and going for the next bite ASAP was my old routine.
I put the utensil down, now, and chew way more than I used to. It made such a difference. I can also better feel when I am full and need to stop before I take that one bite too many.
It was hard to learn, but it has been working for me.

Congrats on your success! I am also ~ two months out. My success is less impressive than yours. I am 32 pounds down but have not dropped on ounce in over two weeks. Very frustrating. I have tried to bolster myself by finding non-scale victories. I have been excercising much more recently and am now walk faster and further than just a few weeks back. I feel physically better on all fronts. My knees are less painful, my feet and ankles are not as sore. I never took "before" photos but did take lots of "just post" measurements. I have lost lots of inches. Yippee! My watch is so loose I need to take it in - again. My wedding ring is falling off. I need to use the 4th hole on my belt to hold up my pants...the same belt which barely fastened on the loosest hole pre-surgery. My pants are falling off. Woo, woo. This is fun. I'd be delighted if the scale would budge but I am still very happy that I had the surgery.

HW: 269
DOS: 259
SD: July 16, 2013
CW: 225
Hmm...not as good as some of you, but I'm happy with it!

Hi everyone! SD:7/11/13 SW:222lbs. CW:188lbs. scale is not moving but I'm happy

Sleeved July 29th
SW:235
CW:212
Guess I'm the slow loser of the bunch

Sleeved July 19th
Start:235
Today: 197
Still have a long way to go..

My turn! SD: July 22, 2013 DOS weight: 227 CW: 203.8

Hello All,
SD: July 26, 2013
HW: 268
DOS: 259
CW: 219

My turn! SD: July 22, 2013 DOS weight: 227 CW: 203.8

July 18, 2013 down 35 lbs since day after surgery!!! I was 321 lbs the day after surgery which is when I began to track my weight loss & friday @ 7 weeks & 1 day after surgery I am now @ 286 lbs!!! I am very proud of the 35 lbs I have lost so far

Perked my interest ... I will be trying

Slap some band aids on those and get your Spanx on!!!! Best undergarment EVER!!!!

I would agree with everyone, it's when YOU feel comfortable in them. I wore my girdles about 2 weeks out. Granted I don't do Spanx. I Love the concept, dont' get me wrong..but umm a small hole at the bottom to attempt to pee out of? no thanks:)
I have found some amazing alternatives at Walmart & Ross where I can wear my own bra and still get the full effects of spanx i'm somewhat addicted to girdles!! Almost have as many as i do shirts! haha..but it boosts confidence and keeps my skin in control!

Slap some band aids on those and get your Spanx on!!!! Best undergarment EVER!!!!

I had a 6 ( July 29) week post-op today. I feel better than I have in the past and have even started my daily walking a couple weeks ago. I am currently able to eat chicken, fish, hard cheeses, cottage cheese, applesauce, SF puddings/jello and yogurt. My favorite so far is, Oscar Meyer Deli Turkey and that's pretty much where I get most of my Protein, along with a nectar Fuzzy Navel mixed with CL Sunrise Orange or an Unjury chocolate shake mixed with a little peppermint extract.. My weight loss has been slow and I was concerned, so I asked about it. My caloric intake is not enough is what I was told and then when I add exercise on top of that, I am deinitely not getting enough calories to boost my matabolism. I am curently comsuming anywhere from 600-850 calories/day and then burning around 200-250 calories with walking. My current Fluid intake is around 50-70oz/day and protein is around 55-65 g/day. So my point here is, for those of you that think your weight loss has been slow, try incresing calores.

I had my surgery one month ago yesterday. 5 weeks ago, I began my one week liquid diet at 338 lbs, my highest weight. I weighed 330 the day I got home from the hospital. Today, the scale read 296. That's 42 lbs total in 5 weeks.
It definitely comes off in waves. I had a week and a half stall at two weeks where I was at 306 forever. Then I dropped to 300 in a couple of days and stayed there for almost a week. Finally broke through that yesterday. It seems like I'll go about a week and then suddenly the scale will move dramatically.
I know some people will say that you shouldn't weigh yourself every day, but it kind of becomes an addiction.

My belly is the first to gain and the last to lose. I agree with mwilliams42, do what works for you. We all lose differently, and we all will gain muscle differently as well. When I did a boot camp I measured my belly before, and after and I had lost 3 inches off of my belly in 6 weeks, and the main exercises that we did for stomach was crunches, sit-ups, and planks. That obviously worked for me! Good luck to you!

Everyone has "advice", those who have been where we have, and mostly those that haven't! Do what you know is working...we were just talking about planking at work this morning, I personally don't like it, but will start since this does work the core...I know that because many moons ago I had this trainer that swore by those...and they hurt, but are effective! I've heard that if you want to really strengthen the core, and can afford it, Pilates is GREAT...It's a little pricy for me at the moment, since I MADE the hubs get me that gym membership! So I do what I can with what's in front of me... I even did Zumba! SO FUN!!! You get to dance as exercise but you can REALLY feel that you worked yourself out! LOVED IT. Never mind what "jiggly" said to you...do what you are doing and you will look FABULOUS!!!

It's hard to believe that one month has flown by. I'm feeling better than I have in years, and I'm so happy I went through with the surgery. Officially, I've lost 25 pounds since the day of surgery. I've been in a stall for the past week and a half, but this morning I woke up and finally lost another pound and a half which got me to 25. For some reason, I set this goal that I would lose 30 pounds in the first month. I didn't reach that goal, but I will take a 25 pound loss. Other victories, I'm exercising every day (aerobic as I'm on lift restriction until 6 weeks out). I just received clearance to begin yoga, so I'm looking forward to stretching it out. I've gone down a full pant size, and two shirt sizes. I can wear my wedding ring again. Most importantly, I'm not letting food control my life. I tell myself with every bite that food is fuel. It doesn't matter what tastes good and tastes bad, only how it affects my body. I'm really pushing this "belief" as I'm definitely a food addict and I want to stay away from those demons.
All in all, this has been a very positive experience. Fortunately, I haven't had any major complications. I'm getting my life back and I encourage anyone on the fence to take the plunge. It is totally worth it!

Hmm interesting to see all the different experiences. I definitely plan on being in close contact with my doc and endocrynologist the whole time but I was just curious about others experiences. Didn't even expect this many answers! This is my first post so it's cool to see that this group is so active love it!!!!!