star21nd

My surgery is on June 18th...been on 2 week liquid pre-op diet for 3 days now and doing a lot better than expected. Im so excited to open a new chapter in my life book!!

I am scheduled to be sleeved on June 18th. You can not thinking about failing...if you want to succeed you will!!! My sister was sleeved about 1 1/2 years ago and she failed. She went back to eating all all the same foods that got her FAT in the first place. WLS is only a TOOL and we need to make that tool work for us. I pray everyday as my date gets closer that I don't fail. But Ive already started changing all my diet and moving more. I use her failure and negativity as fuel for me to succeed. Good luck

I've read on this forum that may take weeks or months to feeling normal again after surgery. Can anyone offer advice what that's like with a toddler at home begging to be played with?

I am scheduled for June 18. I have my pre-op appt. on May 30th and that is when I will start my pre-op diet but I have already been doing a modified diet to try to get used to they way we will be eating Im super excited and nervous at the same time.

I am scheduled to be sleeved on June 18th. You can not thinking about failing...if you want to succeed you will!!! My sister was sleeved about 1 1/2 years ago and she failed. She went back to eating all all the same foods that got her FAT in the first place. WLS is only a TOOL and we need to make that tool work for us. I pray everyday as my date gets closer that I don't fail. But Ive already started changing all my diet and moving more. I use her failure and negativity as fuel for me to succeed. Good luck

Yes I agree! My appointment is on the tenth and I was going to ask if they know of any clothing swap or donations for other patients who may want or need the clothing I'm going to get rid of.

University of Missouri - where I had my surgery done- called me today to ask if they could interview me!! They want to do a spotlight on the bariatric section of MU Hospital and my surgeon told them to call me because I am a success story!! Me!!! A success story!! And I'm not even at my goal weight!
So I'm going to do an interview on June 12th, then they are going to take some footage of me running etc.
The Bariatric center wants to do a new commercial and they are going to use some of the footage in the commercial!
I'm so excited!! It is just so surreal that I am success story!! I just never thought I would be here. I know I have putting in the work but to be considered a success is an amazing feeling!!
When it is final I will post a link here if I can

Well, it took me 31 years to get this big (I'm 37, but started putting on the weight when I was 6), what is one year working on myself mentally in preparation to lose the weight? It was helpful and necessary!

7 months out and I still haven't tried one. Can't think of one good reason to go there!

Just did my 8 month post op comparison pics & seeing the drastic change has given me the encouragement I need to push through & lose the last 12.6 pounds. It seems like the closer I get to goal the harder it is!
Anyhow here are my numbers...
Starting weight - 8/5/13- 278.4
Surgery weight - 8/12/13- 270.6
Weight @ 8 mos- 8/12/14- 157.6
120.6 pounds lost & 90.55% of excess weight lost.
Hopefully this can encourage someone who is struggling! :-)

Not to sound harsh, but damn it, you know what to do, now that you've undergone this major/life-changing surgery...quit whining and just do it!

The first two months were the most challenging for me, as well as almost everyone else!

You will get through this, however you have to want it, nobody can do it for you...and trust me, you do want it!

This has been a blessing for me and my wife (she was sleeved exactly 2 months after me)...and you will see, the transformation will be friggin' incredible! You cannot fathom how much the weight loss is going to change your life...you just gotta get through the gettin' through!

Good luck and Godspeed for a quick recovery! (Tough love rant over! )

I am scheduled to be sleeved on June 18th. You can not thinking about failing...if you want to succeed you will!!! My sister was sleeved about 1 1/2 years ago and she failed. She went back to eating all all the same foods that got her FAT in the first place. WLS is only a TOOL and we need to make that tool work for us. I pray everyday as my date gets closer that I don't fail. But Ive already started changing all my diet and moving more. I use her failure and negativity as fuel for me to succeed. Good luck

I think Michiganchic got it right. We are all individuals and there are many different factors contributing to obesity. Whether it's genetics, bad eating habits, or mental issues, each factor has varying degrees of influence on each individual. They even think GI flora plays a roll. Look how different people react to stress...my work partner can't eat and she exercises like crazy when she's sad or stressed. Meanwhile, I stuff my face. (And these are "normal" day to day stresses, not major "need to be in therapy" stresses.)
Even look how each of us handle the experience post op....there are individuals that are thrilled with their sleeve maybe even despite complications. They adapt to the required life changes with little drama. There are others that get depressed and feel like failures when they hit a stall. And still others that regret the decision simply because they miss food. Even the success stories are different..some track everything, some train for marathons, some simply eat healthy and never bother to count or weigh anything. Some people can eat an occasional dessert while others must avoid carbs at all costs. The reactions to getting thinner and healthier are at least as diverse as the ways we got obese in the first place.

August 26th is my surgery date... been really watching what I eat and exercising since the end of February.

Awesome job girl!!! looking good!!

I look at the surgery as an extra tool in the long journey to my goals. It is only a fraction of the solution. I still have to make the right food choices, get fit thru exercise and deal with the why of my eating.
You might want to consider "the Beck Diet Solution" by Judith Beck. It is not a diet but a way of re-training your brain and it's relationship to food. My surgeons office recommends it and uses it in the support meeting.
No matter what you choose, it will be your "work" to get you to where you want to be.
I too have a friend who has lost about 60 but has stalled for 6 months and still has more to loose. From the start mere weeks after surgery she was making horrible food choices and continues to do so. If we don't fix the what we eat and the why our success will be affected.

I was so excited to start this whole thing that I actually started my 2 week preop diet two days early. (Excited and fearful that I wouldn't lose the 12 pounds I was supposed to). I had purchased a bunch of different RTD shakes and Protein powders, PB2 and unjury cheese Protein powder. I also added Mio and Dasani Water flavor drops to my shakes for even more variety. I bought several broth Soups and unflavored Protein Powder to add to them. Basically, variety helped the two weeks fly by. I made it a challenge to see what yummy thing I could make each day.
Physically, I had wicked headaches the first 3 days and I was hungry the whole time. But I knew it was all for a good cause and I was so mentally and emotionally prepared and committed, that cheating never crossed my mind. Until day 14. This was 2 days before my surgery and I had a little nervous breakdown thinking WTF was I doing?! I cried in my car sitting in the grocery store parking lot. But it passed and I went on with my day without cheating.
Yes, It mostly sucked, but it also gave me a sense of empowerment because I kicked my preop diet's ass. And I lost 22 pounds in that 16 days so it was more than worth it.

Actually for 5 days of it. My husband is working out of town so we brought him the stuff for the five days he will be gone. Lots of shakes, Soups, Popsicles and sugar free Jello. This makes our journey so much more real!! I'm terrified. He's my strong man and I am so scared to see him in a hospital bed. In all our 12 years together, he has never been sick. Never been to the hospital. Very healthy. It's quiet terrifying. I know he will be healthier and I am behind him. Luckily I am able to hide the terror from him right now. He's such an amazing man. I'm prepared for anything. I'm going all liquids in support so if we are going to be crabby, it will be crabby together!!!

JacobsMommy, did you ever hear anything?? I just got the call from my surgeons office that I have been APPROVED and I have a surgery date of June 18th so I guess those fools at cigna lied to me about it being denied again after peer to peer. If you get denied I would ask for a peer to peer! Best of luck to all still fighting and waiting for their surgeries to get approved..continued prayers!

Hi! Before I got sleeved May 1, 2014 I thought the idea of using babyspoons was crazy but I honestly think it's been so helpful for me. It insures that I take small bites reminds me to eat slowly. I noticed that when I have eaten out at a resturant I am overwhelmed when they bring me my big bowl of Soup so I often ask for a smaller bowl and spoon to make me feel more comfortable. I like to finish what is in front of me so I portion out what I want to eat and have the rest packaged up for later. I continue to not be hungry - thought I get cranky and then I know I should eat. Really I love being sleeved, down 21 pounds so far and feeling great! I love reading people's posted and get inspired everyday.

Thanks guy I going to go back to basic and give it all I got t thanks

My weight loss stalled and crawled for months, started moving again, then stalled and crawled again for months... I found that it was pretty easy to adapt and give in to the mindset of "I can eat anything I want now since I can eat so little" and that's an absolute disaster in the making. Choices are still choices and even with the stomach capacity of a small bird, poor choices are still poor choices. When I stuck to proper (ie. healthy) food choices my weight started moving again, albeit very slowly the majority of the time. I have been, and still am, a very slow loser even making good food choices (I'm not perfect either ) . The quantity of dense Protein I am able to consume is still less than 2 ounces per meal and eating is a chore most of the time. My hair is very slowly, but finally, starting to grow back (more than half of it fell out...) , and the saggy skin just is what it is. The road certainly hasn't been easy, and it will continue on, but never once did the thought of "failing" even enter my mind. I chose the sleeve because it simply cannot fail; by it's own very unique and very permanent design. You must make yourself stick to your guns and make smart, healthy choices about what you put in your mouth. Yes, there are many things I miss about food (I'm a foodie and a pretty decent chef) and even with all the nausea, fatigue, near baldness, etc., I wouldn't go back for all the prime rib and chocolate truffles in the world. Not one bite of it tastes as good or is worth the way I feel now. I've gone from a 26W to a 14 Petite and for the first time in 20 years, I demanded to go out for New Year's Eve this year so I could STRUT, and that's exactly what I told my stick in the mud partner of 16 years who never wants to go anywhere. He threw every excuse in the book at me he could think of. But in the end, he couldn't deny me my well earned strut and the feeling was beyond anything I ever imagined...
So... Get back to the basics of healthy eating, get your head back into the game, get some walking in, quit wasting energy feeling sorry for yourself because there has been no failure, and get things moving again. The sleeve is a very proven and reliable tool, but even proven reliability can be sabotaged by poor choices. Attitude is everything. Hang in there because it will happen !!!

I have no idea what your journey has been but most of the time our sleeve doesn't fail us, we fail it. That being said, you STILL have your sleeve so it's not to late to get back to basics. Start working it and remember it's a tool not a cure. Im only 11 weeks out so I don't know much about it but a lot of successful vets on here do 5:2. Maybe you could search it and get some help from some experienced vets. They probably won't be easy on you but it just might be the kick in the pants that you need. I know for me a good kick and some tough love always make me mad enough to help me help myself. Good luck

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
Thomas A. Edison

So, to make sure I understand this correctly: There are 9 calories per 1 gram of fat. If I limit my fat to 20% of my total daily calories of 800, that means 160 calories can come from fat (800 x .2 = 160). 160 calories / 9 calories = 18 grams of fat.
So 18 grams of fat for an 800 calorie diet.
Thanks for the info! My nutritionist tells us not to worry about the carb-protein-fat ratio and instead, to just concentrate on getting all of our Protein in and to "limit carbs and fat," whatever that means. I can't work that way. I have to have numbers, not relative terms like "limit" or "reduce".