peteyrulz

I have had a rough time making the numbers I wanted after surgery. During the all liquids phase I did excellent with my weightloss but it slowed drasticly after I started foods again. I had trouble making it to 64 ounces of Water and meeting the protien recomendations. a little overa week ago I was desperate when I gained 4 lbs in my fourth month so I decided to consume 120+ ounces of water and go over my daily recomended Protein requirments. I lost 11lbs this week!!! I was really affraid I wouldn't lose any more weight but my hope is renewed =) Just wanted to share and encourage anyone who isn't drinking enough water or getting enough protein!

I am happy to report that by employing this strategy (upping Protein and water) I still can't manage to get to 120 oz. of Water, but I am getting to between 90-100 and it's working! As far as protien, I make it a point to never consume less than 100 gm /day. With these changes I am now losing about .5 lb/day. From what I understand this is great for a person that is nearly 1-1/2 yrs. out. I am so excited about this renewed progress. I can't thank you enough for sharing this Tamara S! It has literally turned my world around. My new aim is to be at goal by my birthday (May 17th). If I keep going at this rate, this is totally feasible.

Hi Stephi. Sorry you're having a hard time. When I was about 5 months out I hit my first and only "stall" or "plateau" or whatever you'd like to call it. I noticed my restriction wasn't as strong suddenly and my appetite for bad foods had increased, and I was giving in to the cravings more than I should. This lasted about a month for me. I was sure it was over, that I was done losing weight and I would be one of those people who failed. I simply decided that wasn't going to be the case. I didn't pay to have my stomach surgically removed to half ass this, and neither did you. So you just have to find a way to recommit yourself. You're gonna have to go within yourself, however corny that sounds, and find some new strength to finish the job you've started. For me, I went right back to liquids only for two weeks. Protein Shakes. It was HARD. But I detoxed off of those bad foods, and I got familiar with what my new "looser" restriction was, and I carried on. I finished losing every single bit of my weight because I somehow was strong enough to go back to shakes for two weeks to restart the process. Now I drink zero shakes, but it was crucial for me at that crossroad. Best of luck!

A couple months shy of my 1 year banded, I have officially met my goal weight! 110 pounds down and feeling amazing!

I was sleeved on April 25th & as of today I have lost 20 lbs!!! My knees hurt less & my lower back isn't in excruciating pain. HANDS DOWN BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE FOR MYSELF!

This is a huge reason why I chose not to tell people about my WLS.
I am a mom, a wife, a successful business owner and a friend. I am a women's self defense instructor and a martial artist. I am a promotions director and an events organizer. I volunteer at a women's shelter, two PTAs, and in classrooms for autistic children. I am a theater mom and a kickboxing teacher. I could bore you to tears with all the things I am that are so much more interesting than the staples in my stomach.
I love the compliments but I hate the intense focus on my weight loss. No one introduced me before as the big fat cow, why am I now introduced as the one who lost a fifth grader?
I'm happy I did what I did and I wouldn't take it back for the world, but I am ready for this to no longer be the definition of me.

I'll give you two. First you said you've been overweight since you were 10. And that you don't know if you ever considered yourself miserable being overweight. Miserable?? How about ecstatic? Energetic, Self confident, Happiest time in your life.......I could go on and on. You're entire adult life and a whole side of living yet to experience.
Second, you might never get to experience that whole other side of life. I had a heat attack and it woke me up. It's time for you to wake up too. Good luck with your decision.

It is a bit unsettling especially when you go unnoticed for so long (at least thats my experience).
I think that was my initial dilemma…at 280 pounds no one was commenting on how I looked EVER and now that i've lost 92 pounds it runs the range of wow, you're skinny…you're not losing anymore are you….you look like a different person (that one always gets me)…do I really look that different!
Today, I was picking up my son at our elementary school and another mom who i've spoken to a few times actually stopped to walk with me and commented on my weight loss….and was very chatty. I thanked her for the nice compliment and the conversation was nice but a little piece of me thought….she never stopped to chat when I was 280 pounds.
Its just different now that I am thinner…its good just different.
I work in an elementary school and everyone wants to know the secret to my success and are very complimentary with the comments. Very few people know of my WLS and the rest I tell them just like you did….getting healthy--high Protein, low carbs, lots of walking.
Its hard to take the compliments easily…but its coming easier and easier these days.
Some days its nice to hear and others I just wish everyone would go about their OWN business!
You will learn to just answer with ease and move on with your day. As your weight loss becomes greater and greater and the results are even more visible they ail come in fast and furious…having a little bag of responses will make it easier.
I've learned to smile, say thank you, feel how nice the compliment was and move on…you will too!

I found after surgery I am not coming onto the site nor posting as much as I did before I had surgery. The deed is done and all I can do is live my life day by day. I have lost about 60 pounds since I started this process on February 12. My last uninhibited meal was a pizza from my favorite pizza place here in Chicago. We take our pizza very seriously in this town so giving that up has probably been my biggest challenge. Overall though I have not had many craving since I started. Every now and then, particularly when I am feeling down, I'll want to take on a Man vs food challenge and then I soon realize I couldn't even if I wanted to. This is for the best. The sleeve has been the best tool I have had to curb my old bad habits.
I'm rambling, but a quick summation. I have begun to run again. Slowly by doing a 1:4 run/walk interval this week. That means after a 5 minute brisk warm up walk, I run for 1 minute and then walk for 4 minutes and repeat until I reach my 3 and half mile goal each morning. I will up the interval to 2:3, 3:2 and then to 4:1. I am getting flabby around the middle these days. I can see where I may have to have skin removal surgery but I have been told it may be 50/50 that it may resolve itself due to my age. At 40, everything medical is a crap shoot I have been told.
That's all i got this month. I'll see you next month for an additional update.

Thank you all. I do not feel that you are being mean. I am grateful that I have this forum. I was wondering if there was anyone else who has done this and if so the outcome.
I had a few sips of wine at a fundraiser. I am more concerned with eating food that I shouldn't be. Since I know being obese is a disease of the mind for me, I am very conscious of the changes I need to make for long term success and he fact that I am non-compliant now scares me.
I am in therapy to address these and other issues.
I guess at times I get so hungry or thirsty that I think "oh, what could happen?"
On a positive note, in 20 days I went from 216 to 194.6. Almost 22 pounds!
Thank you again for the support and I hope I could use this forum as a place to help me on my journey.
NMR

I want to clarify my previous post. I wasn't trying to be mean to you. I just don't want anything to hurt your chances at success. Not just that, I don't want you to hurt your sleeve. I am terrified of anything doing more damage to my insides than has already been done. Everyone here is here to provide support.

Try your best to do a real, honest head-check, especially where wine is concerned. I don't know if alcohol is an issue for you (it is for me) but you must be very careful. Especially so early. I drank wine at 5 weeks out and regret it. At only 12 weeks, it continues to be a problem for me and always will be. In addition, it greatly slows the rate of loss for a variety of reasons.
It is very early on for you to be on this slippery slope. But if you are not able to control what you eat, at least chew things to an absolute mush consistency as much as possible and avoid wine. Tell yourself it will still be there, and you can have it down the road.

We are all hungry. I'm on the full liquid phase, too. Except I'm not allowed yogurt, yet. I also cannot stomach the Protein Shakes. I add half a scoop of unflavored protein to my soup (after heating it). That's about the only protein I get besides the soup itself. Your lack of energy is probably bec of the lack of protein. I was like that, too. Once I started adding some to my soup, I had a little more pep in my step. You will also stall if you are dehydrated. Try flavored waters. One girl I know swears by sugar-free sonic slushes to which she adds protein. I'm tempted to try it but scared because I dont know if that will break my NUT plan. Good luck! Get some Water and protein and that 7 (great job on that!) will turn to 17 in no time!

Patience.

Yes. Playing with fire. It's not that you might get sick or your stomach won't digest the food. It's the fact that your stomach is healing. Eating the foods before the staples and stomach wall have healed can cause food to get stuck, GERD, vomiting which can lead to too much acid in the new stomCh, ulcers, holes/leaks in the stomach. Have you read any of the forums of the people who have had to deal with the complications? You are a grown person, so only you can decide how to treat your body. Just be aware of the harm you could do to yourself. Not to mention sabotaging the very expensive new tool you just bought to help you get healthy.

You need to figure out why you're doing this.
Basically, you could seriously harm yourself when you're not healed and eating this way. Your staple line is still healing. You're playing with fire.