livvsmum

180 today, which makes -3 for the week

I would say for the most part yes. Once you have something that doesn't agree with your sleeve, you'll realize it doesn't "feel good" to eat that anymore. I'll give an example. I used to love grilled cheese sandwiches. I would eat several at a time. Post sleeve -like many others- I realized bread is not something I can do; I had a 1/2 of a grilled cheese once & it made me so uncomfortable. I haven't wanted one since. Lol

You know what, I hadn't thought about "why" but since surgery I've been craving salty things like chips & fries, etc, whereas before sweets, cookies, etc were my demise. Interesting....

Thank you so much for your post!!! And congrats on your maintained success! I am 6 months post op & about 2.5 pounds shy of 100 pounds lost. Things are going great, but I do worry about long term maintaining. You've proven that it's totally possible. I'm going to try to increase my water to 100 oz. to see if your 40/60/100 plan works for me. I do try to stay between 30-40 carbs & get at least 60 of protein.

Your relationship with food will likely completely change. You will have that moment (or two) where you eat one or two bites too much, and it just doesn't "feel good" anymore. It becomes uncomfortable to overindulge and you just stop wanting to do that. Are there moments when my mouth wants more? Yes! Absolutely, but I learned to distinguish between an empty stomach and head hunger very early on. And to answer your earlier question, yes. The first 2 weeks for me was very difficult emotionally. I felt like I had to grieve the loss of the enjoyment of food. What I've found though, 6 months out, is that I haven't lost the enjoyment of food. I can still enjoy food....it's just a much more healthy relationship now. :-)

I didn't start working out until about 4 months post op, and I wish I would have started sooner! It helps me focus and I feel way better when I do it. I've found that I really love running. At first I signed up for a 5K with my girls to motivate me towards a goal, then once I started training for it I found that I really, really love it. I'll probably need to start adding some weight training to try and tone up a bit....

You look great

I was obsessed with sweets before surgery. chocolate, cake, candy, Cookies were my downfall. I can honestly say since surgery almost 6 months ago, I have not had one bite of one of those things. They just don't sound good anymore. I think the longer you go without them the less you want them. I'm not saying that everyone is like me and completely stays away. I'm sure you could eat them in moderation and be ok. BUT for me - I know myself - and I know the slippery slope of "just one bite" for me, so I've played it safe and avoided them altogether.

I managed to keep it from him for the first 16 years of our marriage, then on the day of my surgery, the nurse checking me in outed me in front of him. Now he knows, and it's kind of a relief not to have to hide it anymore. lol

I never really had a stall at that point. I've stalled one time so far at about 3.5 months and it was for about 2.5 weeks.

I wasn't really worried about hair loss. I figured it would be like after you have a baby and you shed some hair. I was wrong...lol. I lost a TON of hair, and I have extremely thick hair, so for me to notice and care is a big deal. :-) I can tell you that right at about 5 months it slowed down. Now I'm not really losing any at all and I'm close to 6 months. I hear that it can take a good while to re-grow though. :-/

Ok, here are my stats. I just turned 35, have lost 96 pounds as of today and have about 30 more pounds to go. I'm almost 6 months post op. I've attached a pic that I took after a work out just this past weekend. Just looking at me, I don't think anyone would thing, "oh wow".... she needs skin removal, but for ME, I think that I will probably need my "bat wings" worked on underside of my arms - and definitely the lower part of my stomach. That one is covered by my insurance. I'm still working and hoping the work outs might take care of the arms, but there is no amount of working out in my opinion that is going to take care of all that extra hangy skin on the lower half of my stomach. We will see I guess. Oh yes, and I've also had 4 kiddos so that may affect the bounce-back-potential of my stomach

It would probably be good to have a consistent day. I didn't realize the weigh in day for this challenge wasn't Friday lol. Sorry about that.

Starting challenge- 187 Current - 183 -4 pounds

I've been using get-to-goal from the beginning. It does help to see averages.

Same here. Gain a pound or stay the same. SO frustrating to feel like you lose a whole week every month!

I thought I would share my progress pics at the 5-month post op mark. I'm so completely happy with my decision to have the sleeve, and - while it was the hardest thing I've ever done - I would do it 50 times over again. So, my stats are that at 5 months post op, I'm down 90.6 pounds and my BMI went from 43.6 down to 29.4. The best thing so far for me has been discovering that I had a runner hidden inside of me. I've found that I really love it, I feel so much more stress-free, and I'm a happier mommy when I get to run. Anyway, I thought I would share, not to brag, but to encourage anyone who just recently had the surgery and is going through that really difficult first couple of weeks, or also anyone who is considering the surgery. Sorry in advance for the not so great pic quality. :-)

I'm 5 months post op and down 90.6 pounds. It feels.....well pretty amazing! Honestly I feel like a new person. It did take a while for my mind to catch up with my body, and some days I'm not quite there. However, I just think it's completely changed my life. I have more confidence, I feel more empowered, I feel proud of myself that I've taken back control. I also discovered that running is a great way to deal with the stress in my life instead of eating, which was a huge turning point for me emotionally. Just because you have the surgery doesn't necessarily mean all the reasons you are overweight will disappear. For me, finding a new, healthy way to deal with life was key. Good luck!!

Doing my first weigh in. Current weight: 187.8 Challenge goal weight: 177 It seem like a random number, but that would put me at 100 pounds lost!! So it's a super meaningful goal. Plus the challenge end date is my 6 month post op point, and I would love to hit 100 lost by then!

Starting challenge weight : 205 Goal weight: 190 Current weight: 188.6 I passed my goal by 1.4 pounds!!! It was a tough one though!!

It's interesting. What works for some does not work for others. It was a long time before I could eat beef (like a meatball or meatloaf) without a lot of discomfort. And for whatever reason, eggs never did and still don't work for me. Also at the beginning chili gave me terrible heartburn. So I guess my point is that I can tell you what worked for me at that stage, but it's trial and error. :-) At the soft foods stage I ate a lot of greek yogurt, low-fat cheese stick, broccoli cheddar Soup (a treat!!), homemade applesauce, fish worked well as a soft food because it basically fell apart in your mouth (not tough seafood like shrimp though), etc.

I agree with Bufflehead. I track every single thing through myfitnesspal. It's also helpful to see the other food logs of sleevers on there as well. I would be lost without it. For me the calories and carbs would be too high too. I'm 5 months post op and range from 500-600 calories and try to limit to 30 carbs. The Protein looks great though!

Yep. totally. Never had that problem before the surgery. Colace and Milk of Magnesia works like a charm for me.

I finally went from "obese" to "overweight" on the BMI! I remember doing the math right after surgery to see what weight I would have to be to be "overweight" instead of "obese" and it seemed SO far away. Now not quite 5 months later, I'm there. I'm so thankful every day for the health and life that my sleeve & I working together have been able to bring back! Best thing I've ever done for myself!!!

Happy anniversary! It will be my 6 month sleeve anniversary too!