livvsmum

Yesterday was my 6 month surgiversary and I cannot be more pleased with this journey. I have so much more energy, have discovered a hidden runner inside me, am more active with my kiddos, and all-around more confident.

This is great! congrats!

I've only been doing cardio - training for a 5k - because I have had a similar concern. I've decided that after my 5K I will start some toning, and hopefully it won't affect weight loss too much.

I do remember you! I hope that everything with the insurance goes quickly and smoothly! I know how hard that can be to wait through all of that. It sounds like you might regret waiting a little bit, but honestly, it was probably a good thing. Now you know with 100% certainty that you are making the absolute best decision for yourself. Good luck!

So happy to hear how well you are doing! Good luck going back to work! I went back after 2 weeks as well. The first week back was really hard mainly because of how exhausting it was (and I have primarily a desk job....lol). Just know if you do feel exhausted, that it will get better!

MOM works like a charm for me. Colace really didn't help me much

Olive Garden has this great tiny plate menu. I think you're supposed to mix & match but I just order 1 chicken skewer and it's perfect. Texas Roadhouse also has a shrimp skewer appetizer that works perfectly. I hate ordering full sized meals for me...it just feels like a waste. I'll try to order appetizers, but healthy ones are rare. One thing we do is my husband will order a chicken Caesar salad & I'll eat the chicken & he eats the salad :-). Be creative!

I tried weighing myself weekly, and it didn't even last one week. lol. I'm a scale addict. I own it. You just have to make sure that you don't let it affect you. I try my hardest not to get discouraged if I don't see a loss that particular day. Sometimes I try and go back through my day and see what might have caused that, or sometimes, I just shake it off and move on. :-)

Everyone's story is so different. I would not make a decision one way or the other based on personal testimonies alone. Read up, read as much as you can - research, statistics, success rates, etc. Participate in a pre-op program - I did one for 9 mos with my surgeons office before my surgery. Take part in support groups, etc. to make sure you are ready for the changes. If through all of that you still feel it's for you, then regardless of what comes, you will know you made the best decision for you. But to answer your question, yes, for me it was totally worth it 100 times over. I'm six months post op, down 98.4 pounds, 35 to go, working out daily, happier, healthier and only regretting not doing it sooner.

I think you definitely have to prepare as much as possible. Read up, go to support group meetings, do a pre-op program with your physician. The more prepared you can be, the better. It definitely IS possible to prepare. HOWEVER, there are somethings that you just won't completely be able to prepare for me. I felt that I was REALLY prepared. I did a 9-month pre-op program, read books, did behavioral change modules, therapy, etc. I knew what to expect and how to behave after. However, I don't think the literature or the programs prepare you adequately for the emotional part of the experience. I literally had to grieve the loss of food because it had been my comforter for so many years. That was tough. But, all the other tools helped me find some healthy coping mechanisms to replace that loss. Emotionally it is tough at the very beginning. Cognitively, though, it's totally possible to prepare.

I've been doing it for a couple weeks now. Just completed week 3 day 3 today. I love it & have discovered an "inner runner" in the process. I'm registered for a 5k in June and I find myself wondering....is this program REALLY going to have me ready by the end? I mean, i hear about tons of people "starting" the program, but I don't know if I've seen anyone who actually went from not running to completing the program & running a 5k. Grated I didn't read all 120 pages of this thread...lol. I guess I'll just trust the process.

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.