scarlet333

In your first post you asked if you followed the same portions, ate Protein first, exercised wouldn't you loose weight so what is diifferent with the sleeve. The difference to me is that although I did these things on other diets and did loose weight eventually i would get frustrated because the weight loss seemed so minuscule in comparision to the changes I had made. If a week or two went by with little loss I would give up because to me it would take forever to get to a point that I was happy with my body. With the sleeve you see results very quickly and usually they keep up at least for the first 6 months or so. Once you see and feel how much better you feel about yourself and how your health and life has improved, this becomes more important to you than indulging in junk food.

Years ago I had a great friend who was so amazingly fit. She looked great after having her kids. She exercised every day and ate very small portions. I on the other hand was obese. I used to tease her and say "if I could only have your body I would take such good care of it and I would never let it get to my size". This to me is part of the key. Once you experience the difference of being physically fit you will never want to go back to your old self.

I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide.

They are also not thinking about the fact that their staple line and stomach are healing and even if they think they "feel" fine and that they didn't puke so it was ok for them to eat. The fear of bursting my stomach staples kept me totally on track.

I eat a plain non fat greek yogurt with a piece of fruit in the morning. Danon makes an 80 calorie and about 12 g of Protein. lunch is either turkey or chicken slices rolled with either sliced avocado, laughing cow cheese, dinner can be salmon, shrimp, chicken, beef (usually the Protein from whatever the family is eating). Snacks are 1 percent cottage cheese, lowfat cheese sticks, low fat Peanut Butter, a Morningstar veggie burger. Nightime I usually have a 100 cal. 17 g of protein EAS Protein Drink.< /p>

My surgeon also said to not pay attention to the little notes my fitness pal about "you are eating too few calories" and the amount of calories it says you have extra to eat because of exercise. He says this is not applicable to people with weight loss surgery. He is very strict and says basically under 1000 calories for weight loss. So far he has been right on the mark. Keep doing what you are doing you are doing amazing. Also pay attention to your grams of Protein and carbs, these are the key numbers. Good luck and keep up the great work.

Tracking is key because it not only shows you your calories but your Protein, carbs and fat. All of which is important. How can you possibly know if you are meeting your goals for Protein if you are not tracking from the start. If you want to be successful you have to make these changes. Don't waste this precious time to take off the weight. And remember even if you exercise every day its not going to make any difference if you eat more calories than your body is burning. Good luck to you and keep visiting this site. It is a wealth of knowledge and support.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You look like a new person in your pics. One thing I noticed is people holding/opening doors for me more often too. You don't realize how people are always judging even when they are not conscious of it.

Greetings and welcome. Your success is amazing and you should be so proud of yourself. I am about a month behind you as to when I had surgery and found weight loss has slowed down so much. One thing that helped me was I read about the c25k app. There is a whole thread on it in the Fitness and Exercise forum. It is a free app that trains you from a couch potato running a 5k in 8 weeks. I recently finished the app and couldn't believe I was able to do it. I had never run before in my life. I think this change in exercise shook up my body to loose again. The other suggestion is that there is a thread called the Valentines day challenge. There is a new challenge every 6 weeks or so and a wonderful woman who started the thread keeps a spreadsheet on everyones weekly weight loss. This reporting in and accountability caused me to tighten my diet. Third thought was to watch the carbs. I know for me when my carb number creeps up the weight loss stops. I track this on myfitness pal. Hope some of these help.

^{_{Are you tracking what you are eating in myfitness pal or another method? If so do you know how many carbs and Protein and fat you are eating daily? I know for me if I am not careful the carb number really creeps up and weight loss slows.}}

I started to feel better around the 2 week mark but still took it easy on myself with very limited physical exertion. I remember my surgeon advising me that the first few weeks many struggle with meeting Protein and Water goals and at this stage it is just that a goal. I had 4 oz of Protein Drink 3 times per day and that was the main source of my Protein at this stage. In addition I would have 2-3oz of unjury chicken Soup or cream of chicken Soup and that was basically it and then sipped crystal light all day. When your swelling of your stomach subsides you will be able to eat more or drink more and then it will be easier to meet those goals. At this point it is probably just ok to do the best you can with protein and to sip all day. Of course check this with your surgeon.

It might also make you feel better to get out and get a little fresh air (if you haven't already). I promise it will get better.

Good Morning All

Todays weight is 144.6 (down .6) but at least its in the right direction. Lets all have a great week.

Congratulations you look fabulous. One of the changes I made that has had an impact on my family is I went cold turkey and stopped buying any kinds of cookies/cake/soda. My 14 year old son had been starting to gain weight a little too fast. Since I made this change he has lost 14 pounds and is looking like an athlete. Lots of complaints at first from the kids about not having "treats" in the house but they are now used to it. They can still indulge in these things when at friends house, parties, school, its just not readily available at home.

You don't have to drink the Protein shakes to meet your Protein requirement but at 4 weeks, I also wouldn't be eating protein bars and potatoes. Even if you think you are tolerating them well your stomach and staple line is healing. High protein soft foods are 1% cottage cheese, plain non fat greek yogurt, eggs, tuna fish, tilapia, cream of chicken and split pea Soup, injury chicken soup, turkey chili. These items were my main foods for the first 7/8 weeks. I did have protein drinks for the first few weeks but you don't have to rely on them if you can't stand them.

Good Luck!

I'm with superfatty,

When I went for the sleep apnea test I was told I have severe sleep apnea. This was a shock to me since I don't snore, don't wake up in the middle of the night, don't feel particularly tired during the day. I really thought they made a mistake. I then had to go for a second sleep study to see what level to set the machine. Again they told me severe sleep apnea. Still in shock and think maybe because I had to sleep on my back and i am such a side sleeper? Anyway tried the CPAP for several weeks and couldn't make it through the night with it. Kept waking up with it and would eventually tear it off my face in the middle of the night so I could get some sleep.

Since my weight loss I have not been back to see if I'm "cured" but honestly I sleep so much better without that machine.

Agree with what everyone is saying above. Also just a thought but look at your number of carbs consumed. Have you seen an increase over time? If so you may want to address it. I know for me if I don't pay attention my carb sneak up on me. Good luck and keep on keeping on.

Hi Jackie,

Welcome. If you are at all like me you will find a wealth of information and support on this site. It has been a lifesaver for me. Surgery can never be easy but it has been so worth it. I discovered I had severe sleep apnea during the pre testing and I know I had borderline high cholesterol. I am looking forward to my next annual check-up and hopefully seeing a big cholesterol change. Besides the medical, the healthy weight loss has improved my life in so many ways. I wish you the best of luck.

I know the idea of surgery is always a little scary. All I can say in my own experience is that I had been fortunate enough to be a very healthy obese person for 20 years with no need for any surgery except my 2 c sections. The idea of an "elective" surgery seemed crazy to me and I was a bit judgmental about people who had other elective surgeries such as boob jobs, lyposuction etc. as crazy to "go under the knife" without it being a medical necessity. Then 1 day i heard about the daughter of Caroline Manzo on the Real Housewives of New Jersey having lap band surgery and it was like a light switch went off in my head and I began research. Then I saw a female comedian (can't think of her name) who had gastric sleeve which I never heard of before and she looked amazing and lost so much weight and began researching the sleeve. I went to a weight loss surgery informational meeting and there was a doctor their with her fiancé who was having weight loss surgery and she explained her reasons for recommending the sleeve for her fiancé and thats when I decided on the sleeve. Her reasons had to do with the hunger hormone ghrelin and the issues with fills and slippage and other lap band complications.

I had my surgery march of 2013 and it was a great decision for me. I had exercised like a fiend and watched my diet and would loose some weight but then become discouraged when the scale would barely move and return to old eating habits.

Once I made the decision to have this surgery it was like I was on auto pilot and just kept going through each step without worrying and pondering my decision. I walked into the hospital on my surgery date alone (hubby worked so he could take off when i came home from the hospital) and was frighteningly calm and numb to worry. This was so different from the way I normally act that I just knew I was determined and doing the right thing.

I wish you the best of luck and a fast and easy recovery with whatever decision you make.

I think like everything else you have to think a lot about it in the beginning but then it becomes habit and you don't have to think too much about it. Enjoy this time when you are not hungry and don't necessarily feel like you have to eat because for most of us we do start getting hungry again. For me hunger is not like the old hunger pains but I just start feeling a little empty and no I have to eat. Again just take advantage of the time when you are not battling hunger, stalls and just general slower weight loss.

I just finished the couch to 5k training app and calls for running 3x per week. I also do 1 to 2x per week of strength training with hand weights and 1x per week of elliptical.

I only told my husband and that is it. People did not start noticing my weight loss until about 50 pounds down. Most people then just said you look great, how much have you lost. The few who demanded specifics I didn't feel obligated to tell them about my surgery but just said what everyone knows its expending more calories then eaten. So basically I concentrated on telling them about my exercise regime. Good luck.

Sleeved 3/5/2013. Starting weight 224 and Current Weight 145. I am 5'2". My original goal was 150 and now shooting for 135. Ain't life grand!

I hear you. I feel/felt that way as well. I am a happy and fortunate person with a great family, friends and life but yet would start each day or week with "this time I am going to eat right and loose weight". it never worked. For whatever reason this extra tool has given me the ability to eat right most of the time. i am not planning on wasting any more time wishing and worrying about why I couldn't do it before but am thrilled that I am doing it now.

I found at each stage I could get away with buying just a few basic inexpensive pieces (black dress pants, pair of jeans) at a Walmart or old navy which I could wear for a couple of months then replace with smaller sizes.

Steak is the most filling thing to me. Salmon, shrimp and for some reason hearty Soups, like beef barley.

Another thing to try is to change things up. If you are walking for exercise try a cardio dvd, or strength training. If you eating a lot of the same things day after day try making some changes.

So true about the collar bones and hip bones. i've also noticed cheek bones. The other bone i'm feeling a lot lately is my tail bone and it really hurts when sitting on the floor to do exercises. I guess I always had a lot of cushion there before now it hurts to sit on a hard surface.