KayleeC14

@@KayleeC14 beautiful photos

When I started this journey I weighed in at 397 then the day before surgery I weighed in at 362. So overall I have lost 103 pounds but since surgery I have lose 68 so I am now 294. I cried as well when I saw 297 on the scale. Lately its been emotional for me. It really didn't hit me until I broke under 300. I haven't been under 300 since my freshman year in high school. I have always been a big girl and this is my second weight loss surgery. I had the lap band put in place in 2008 and failed it. So, I am bound and determined to achieve every goal I have with this surgery and use this tool to its full potential. I hated as well stating my weight but when became public with my surgery and weight loss I gained the confidence to actually say it. I am rooting for you too! Hopefully this summer I will come spend some time at the lake

This got me to think, I would say my root cause to my obesity is both genetic and that I am addicted to food. Ever since I was little I have been the big kid. I come from a family who was obese. My grandpa was 500 pound man, my mom was overweight, and multiple other family members as well. Also addiction runs in my family, so the whole addiction part is what gets me today. I love food like an alcoholic loves liquor. It has always been that way up till now. Addiction runs in my family as well with many different vices. My vice and my downfall is food. It is a comfort in all of its glory. I saw my grandpa with the same addiction tragically lost his battle back when I was a sophomore in high school because of his obesity. I thought I was ready to change my life outa high school and had the lap band put in place. Then life happened and that addiction came back stronger than ever. It took me five years of soul searching to finally tell myself "hey, its time" and get healthy. I fight this addiction and the obesity factor everyday. What keeps me going on this path of my new healthy self is knowing that in the future when I have kids I will be around for them, I will be able to live longer than my grandfather, also I am finally happier than I was 100 pounds ago.

Well I am still in transition of becoming the new me...but I do not miss weighing in at 397 pounds. I have no regrets at all. The only thing I wished that stayed were my boobies lol

I currently do not own any animals for my own, but here are my families fur babies that I do take some ownership for. This one is the newest addition her name is Peanut. She is a teacup chihuahua she is only 5 months old but the sweetest little thing ever. Not afraid of people, and loves to play. Can't get enough of her little kisses when I visit my parents.
This is Shadow (aka Bear) and she is a full black lab. She is your typical lab, loving life and everybody in it. Shadow is my sidekick when I visit. Her and I go every where together and loves car rides. Always looking to cuddle when I come over. Hugest lap dog but I wouldn't ask for anything different.
This is Cinder-Ella. She is lab/whippet mix. She is the oldest and most prissy thing I have ever seen. She has a heart of gold and the protector of the house. But her bark is bigger than her bite. And if I have a blanket I can tell you she is right next to you looking for cuddles. And awesome runner, to watch her stretch out and have her whippet come out of her is beautiful.

I am a huge dog lover! Hopefully when I am done with apartment living I will finally own a pup of my own. They are most defiantly a humans best friend!
**All photo credits go to me, I am a photographer outside of my day job. You can see my work at www.facebook.com/Kaylee.Marie.Photo . Sorry for the little add**

Well I am still in transition of becoming the new me...but I do not miss weighing in at 397 pounds. I have no regrets at all. The only thing I wished that stayed were my boobies lol

I currently do not own any animals for my own, but here are my families fur babies that I do take some ownership for. This one is the newest addition her name is Peanut. She is a teacup chihuahua she is only 5 months old but the sweetest little thing ever. Not afraid of people, and loves to play. Can't get enough of her little kisses when I visit my parents.
This is Shadow (aka Bear) and she is a full black lab. She is your typical lab, loving life and everybody in it. Shadow is my sidekick when I visit. Her and I go every where together and loves car rides. Always looking to cuddle when I come over. Hugest lap dog but I wouldn't ask for anything different.
This is Cinder-Ella. She is lab/whippet mix. She is the oldest and most prissy thing I have ever seen. She has a heart of gold and the protector of the house. But her bark is bigger than her bite. And if I have a blanket I can tell you she is right next to you looking for cuddles. And awesome runner, to watch her stretch out and have her whippet come out of her is beautiful.

I am a huge dog lover! Hopefully when I am done with apartment living I will finally own a pup of my own. They are most defiantly a humans best friend!
**All photo credits go to me, I am a photographer outside of my day job. You can see my work at www.facebook.com/Kaylee.Marie.Photo . Sorry for the little add**

Hi there! When I first started this whole journey of weight loss I was 397, and before surgery I lost 35 pounds and that put me at 362 right at surgery. I am now 290 and lost total 107 from when I began, and 72 pounds since surgery! The sleeve is a tool, that is something I keep telling myself everyday. The sleeve will work better if you make healthy changes to your diet and exercise. Six months ago I was sleeved and I have zero regrets, even when I go through a stall which will happen I have no regrets. I wouldn't be scared of the bypass, my mom had the bypass and is doing great and she is 5 years post op. One thing to remember every surgeon is different and will suggest what they think is best for you overall to become overall healthy and loose the excess weight. Good luck! With any surgery you have, you will rock at it I have faith.

I currently do not own any animals for my own, but here are my families fur babies that I do take some ownership for. This one is the newest addition her name is Peanut. She is a teacup chihuahua she is only 5 months old but the sweetest little thing ever. Not afraid of people, and loves to play. Can't get enough of her little kisses when I visit my parents.
This is Shadow (aka Bear) and she is a full black lab. She is your typical lab, loving life and everybody in it. Shadow is my sidekick when I visit. Her and I go every where together and loves car rides. Always looking to cuddle when I come over. Hugest lap dog but I wouldn't ask for anything different.
This is Cinder-Ella. She is lab/whippet mix. She is the oldest and most prissy thing I have ever seen. She has a heart of gold and the protector of the house. But her bark is bigger than her bite. And if I have a blanket I can tell you she is right next to you looking for cuddles. And awesome runner, to watch her stretch out and have her whippet come out of her is beautiful.

I am a huge dog lover! Hopefully when I am done with apartment living I will finally own a pup of my own. They are most defiantly a humans best friend!
**All photo credits go to me, I am a photographer outside of my day job. You can see my work at www.facebook.com/Kaylee.Marie.Photo . Sorry for the little add**

I had read several times in the forums here in last few months about PB2. Well, today I finally got a chance to try the stuff out.
For those who don't know, it's basically powdered Peanut Butter made from peanuts. You can add Water to it to make it like real peanut butter or add it to protien shakes, etc... 45 calories and 5g of protien per serving. Good stats right there!
Well let me tell ya, I added 2 tablespoons of it (1 serving) to my chocolate protien shake this morning... whoa nelly! It was like drinking a Reese's peanut butter cup (or something close to it)!
The Verdict: Awesome. Highly recommended by this big fella!!

Which pet is the best?
I like them both! Cats are truly under estimated by us lazy and self centered human creatures. They are brilliant and if you've ever potty trained a cat and a dog you would definitely agree the cat wins that battle hands down.
That said a dogs love is truly amazing! They shadow you and calm your heart like no other animal can do, and they are brilliant in their own way. I have 9 pets and I love them all the same. 6 rescued alley cats from certain doom and fate, and 3 adorable maltese dogs (1 of which is mixed with mini poodle). My eldest is a feline whom I rescued as a very tiny kitten. He was barely over a pound and I had to feed him back to life. He is 15 years old now and though he is slowing down a lot he still always shows his appreciation for me saving him.
Believe it or not they do all get along really well and rarely do they have a bit of a scuffle. It's never anything serious though! It's usually just one of them playing too rough.
They are my little furbuddies! It's never a dull moment in our house! It's fun though and the respect I have for life has grown more impassioned with them in my world. I cherish what they have done for me, and in the darkness of despair they left the light on for me.
        

Well I am happy to have said goodbye to my boobies!

Hi there! When I first started this whole journey of weight loss I was 397, and before surgery I lost 35 pounds and that put me at 362 right at surgery. I am now 290 and lost total 107 from when I began, and 72 pounds since surgery! The sleeve is a tool, that is something I keep telling myself everyday. The sleeve will work better if you make healthy changes to your diet and exercise. Six months ago I was sleeved and I have zero regrets, even when I go through a stall which will happen I have no regrets. I wouldn't be scared of the bypass, my mom had the bypass and is doing great and she is 5 years post op. One thing to remember every surgeon is different and will suggest what they think is best for you overall to become overall healthy and loose the excess weight. Good luck! With any surgery you have, you will rock at it I have faith.

Well I am still in transition of becoming the new me...but I do not miss weighing in at 397 pounds. I have no regrets at all. The only thing I wished that stayed were my boobies lol

Well I am still in transition of becoming the new me...but I do not miss weighing in at 397 pounds. I have no regrets at all. The only thing I wished that stayed were my boobies lol

GNC Has it, I just bought a bottle for $8

I have plenty of go to foods I turn too. The one thing I buy the most will have to be Michigan Brand Old Fashion Goodness Small Curd Cottage cheese 4% milk fat minimum. Its 14 grams of Protein, 3 grams of carbs, 120 calories, and 5 grams of fat.
I also eat a lot of chicken as well. Lately I have been on a fruit kick. Love eggs, and chicken sausages. Also when I am craving a burger, i make chicken burgers and eat them naked with mustard, hard cheese, Tomato and avocado. I hardly ever eat bread. Also I LOVE fresh hummus.

So I'm a night shifter. On my days off, I am still awake at night! The only thing on that I find entertaining to watch is the food network. Sometimes it's super torturous but I still don't want to stray away from diet (I'm low carbing and I know how annoying it is to get back into ketosis). Does anyone else have this issue or indulge in the guilty pleasure of watching food network even though it can sometimes be torture!?

I have plenty of go to foods I turn too. The one thing I buy the most will have to be Michigan Brand Old Fashion Goodness Small Curd Cottage cheese 4% milk fat minimum. Its 14 grams of Protein, 3 grams of carbs, 120 calories, and 5 grams of fat.
I also eat a lot of chicken as well. Lately I have been on a fruit kick. Love eggs, and chicken sausages. Also when I am craving a burger, i make chicken burgers and eat them naked with mustard, hard cheese, Tomato and avocado. I hardly ever eat bread. Also I LOVE fresh hummus.

Hello I am also from Michigan I am in the Pierson, Howard City area. I was sleeved on April 16th and have lost 35.6 lbs so far. Its nice to see other michiganders on here.

I'm from west michigan too! Spring lake. I'm 12.5 weeks out, 6 pant sizes smaller, and 67 lbs lighter. And happier than ever before.

Hey KayleeC14 and MIMomaof2. I hope your week was good. Haven't really heard out of ya this week so I though I'd check in. I did my weigh in on thursday and had lost 4lbs last week. That was awesome. So current weight is 263, down 94 now and Sunday is 5 month post. I have having really good gym days this week. Although I didnt want to go today, i got up and went anyway and did a good workout. I am having one of those dont feel like eating days. Got my Protein in but not enough calories. Tried the new dannon light and fit greek yogurt and its quite good. Higher in protein amd lower in calories so i think im gonna eat that for a while intead of my yoplait 100's. I am now at 50% of my goal and today i bought a new pair of Danskin pants. XL 16/18. That makes this last week of hell worth it for me. Well I hope all is good with you. I'll check back in later. Have a great week.

Another Michigander here! I currently live in Carson City (45 minutes north of Lansing). My surgeon was Dr. Gluck in Muskegon. :-) I grew up in Houghton Lake, so I'm familiar with ALL of your areas. I'm almost 3 months post op and down 60 lbs. I haven't done much/any clothing shopping so far. I bought a few things on ebay and have clothing from prior losses. I cannot wait to get my ebay orders for capris. I started selling last summer's capris and shorts because they fall off of me.
My husband and I are signing up for a 5K in June. We're both walking it, but we're still gonna do it. :-)

I don't know about a total percentage. But my doctor told me to try and get in between 40-50 grams of carbs a day and 70-100 grams of Protein a day. I do not eat bread, if I do it is whole grain and in a pita form to make a chicken sandwich. I stick with veggies and some nuts and berries. Also I have slowly started to introduce back in my diet fruits. I am not much of a fruit eater but lately I cannot get enough of them. My biggest thing is getting my calorie intake higher than what it currently runs. Right now it runs between 500-700 and I burn that off quickly with my exercising. I wouldn't swap out your veggies with a Protein shake, those are the good carbs you want. Its all down to choices, if I didnt have my have my carbs up at 40-50 grams then I would be craving the junk food instead of the good food. I have found this out with trial and error. I would press your doctor some more to get a good estimate on where he would like to see you. If he doesnt have an answer for you I would talk to a nutritionist. Good luck!

So... Over 100 lbs down and treated myself to a photo shoot. I'm in LOVE!!
Here's some not-so-naughty shots (before editing/ retouching)