Swampdoggie

I'm the opposite. I have gone down 6 pants sizes but my belly and arms are almost the same as it was when I started. I'm still wearing the same tops as I was before. My legs look like sticks but my arms look like your "millposts". Plus they're long - I look like a gorilla - all my weight on top (including moon face) and incongruous little pixie legs.

Good luck Ladies. It is exciting and you'll feel so great. The couple of weeks after surgery aren't easy but will go fast and are completely worth it. Enjoy the journey!

Have you considered endometrial ablation?

I was banded in 2008. Didn't lose much and then gained it all back anyway. Was sleeved in January. Love it. So glad I did it. Completely worth it for me. This feels like what I'd hoped the band would feel like.

@@sarahbeth3569 holy smokes how great is that! And what willpower to stay off the scale all that time. Good for you.

I'm just past 3 months out and have a premier protein shake in the morning on work days. I know it's not the recommended process but i do drink slowly over the course of the morning. Sometimes I still have a bit left at lunchtime. I don't love them, don't hate them. They're just an easy way to get a big protein influx first thing.

@@619Raf thanks for your nice words. I'm feeling better. Got some anti nausea meds. My tailbone has been hurting too. I fractured it in November 2013 and it took forever to heal, but it did. However lately it's been bugging me a lot more. I'm using a donut again. Argh. It is hard to be human. @@txprincess holy crap girl! Well thankfully benign and you know what it is. Prayers for some a safe surgery and easy recovery.

I totally understand the impulse. But I couldn't get rid of my hair if it were long and gorgeous. Every time I've cut my hair I've been mad at myself. Probably because its so fine I can't do anything with it. There are some short styles I love but could never get away with. My changes have included whitening my teeth, wearing makeup for the first time in ages, dressing nicely and having my colors done. Make yourself happy. But I'd kill for awesome hair :-)

I am so happy to have had this surgery. Absolutely no regrets. I have ups and downs like everyone, but I've never had a down bad enough that I've regretted this procedure. Mine was mostly covered (a revision from unsuccessful lap band), but if I knew then how I'd feel now, I would have found a way to pay had it not been. Its changed my life for the better. Good luck with your decision.

Wow, les filles. My heart goes out to both of you. I don't have any advice. Just sending good energy and support from the field.

@@JamieLogical, I think that's a really great question and I've been pondering a bit myself (preparatory pondering I guess, since I'm nowhere close yet). Backstory - I was always the "biggest" cousin at 5'8" and a wingspan of 6 feet. I spent my whole "normal" life trying to be size 6 and 125 lbs like my pretty cousins, but I was athletic and hungry and my body wanted to be at 155. I got down to 135 (for about an hour) one summer when I broke it off with my fiance and was so miserable I rarely ate and worked out like crazy. Everyone told me how great I looked, even though I was utterly miserable. When I "recovered", I could maintain 145 but it was a lot of effort and I had to count every flippin calorie. At 155, I maintained with little effort, just regular working out and eating pretty healthy. That was my life for about 12 years. Then I had a kiddo at 35, then ruptured a disk in my back, was sick with this and that, blah blah blah, gain gain gain. So now that I'm approaching the 200 mark for the first time in this millennium I am wondering how far I can go without having battle for it every day. I want to feel good, strong, healthy, fit but I don't want to have to measure every bite of food for the rest of my life or run a mile to justify a tortilla chip. My goal of 155 was set by me; my surgeon hasn't wanted to set anything yet. I'm not sure if I can get there, of how hard it will be to maintain. My own point of view, which is also influenced by my age as I'm not in a self imposed competition any more (as an aside, come to find out my pretty cousins always felt they had to try to measure up to me in smarts. There's just no way to win, is there? We have to teach our kids strive for what they want but to love themselves for whatever gifts they're given!); I don't feel like I have anything to prove to anyone other than myself, and my goals are different from what they were 15 years ago. I DO like this way of eating and I DO feel different (I no longer want to eat the first thing I see when I'm hungry even it its carpet). I have to believe you do too, with as much success as you've had. So maybe keep going but don't go crazy with it. In any case, isn't it you who is always saying this is not a sprint? Maybe your loss slows a bit - maybe you "only" lose a 1 pound a month for the next 12 months. You feel good now and will continue. 1 or 2 lbs is probably doable even with a bit of ice cream here and there. You'll still get there, if a little slower. (plus, I think the body can sense guilt.) Just my 2 cents.

@@stephh Good morning -- 217 today

When I fall off the wagon I like to go back and read the science of why this way of living is healthier. It helps put me back on track.

I feel crappy today. I have been on strong antibiotics for almost a year and some days they nauseate the hell out of me. Happened yesterday and I had such ferocious dry heaves that today all my chest and back muscles hurt. I'm afraid to drink water because that exacerbates the nausea and I'm afraid to take my meds today and that's making it worse too. I try to stay positive but some days I feel like this friking lyme disease is totally sucking the life out of me. Sorry for the whine.

Having fouled up with the band, I was determined that I wasn't going to make the same mistakes with the sleeve. I considered the pre op part of my habit forming process so I was pretty careful to stick to the plan. I started 3 weeks before I needed to - one high Protein meal per day and the rest liquid, then onto full liquid at 2 weeks before surgery. That said, my 50th birthday was in the middle of the 2 week liquid pre op and we went out to Celebrate. However, we went to a place where I could eat healthy and not feel guilty, which I believe is probably more damaging than the actual food. Yes, I ate food, but I also chose wisely and didn't overdo. The next day I was back on the wagon and at surgery my dr said my liver was nice and small (which was NOT the case with my band surgery). So, I really didn't have any food funerals and I didn't feel like I needed to. I guess I had read enough on this site that I knew I'd be able to have things I like down the road. Which brings me to post surgery, which has been better than I'd hoped even. Maybe because I do feel more freedom (now into my 4th month) because one can only eat so much, and maybe the habits I'd been working on took hold, and maybe because my food cravings have really changed, I don't feel deprived at all and I don't regret not getting in one last this or that. I NEVER ever expect to have a "normal" relationship with food, but I think I'm on my way, and honest to God, I think the biggest hurdle and most positive change has been letting go of the guilt. So, what am I saying. I'm saying, do what you need to do but whatever you do, do it deliberately, own it, embrace it and don't feel guilt. If you do feel guilt, perhaps you do need to do something different.

@@rdy4chng Great work!

@@619Raf good news!

So frustrating. I hope you feel better and all goes well.

The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz is a really interesting analysis of fat and how the US came to view it as evil. My dr's office is touting low fat (and low carb) but I personally have had more success with plenty of healthy fat and low carb. Though it did feel a little scary and plenty naughty at first.

@@619Raf I'm so sorry for your loss! You are doing great. I hope you do catch break soon and that your bambina gets over the flu.

Starting weight 221 Challenge weight 199

At three months out, one thing I 've happily discovered is that I'm much more open now to trying excellently prepared foods I wouldn't have considered before when I wanted to eat pizza or whatever. It's actually been freeing; I feel like there's a whole new world out there. The other day I ordered broiled scallops with garlic spinach, mushrooms and fresh creamed corn. It was expensive and the creamed corn was a little high in carbs but I've gotten four delicious meals out of it and I NEVER would have ordered that before. The pureed stage was tough, but there's a lot of delicious healthy stuff waiting around the corner that may have you rethinking old habits. Best of luck!

Hahaha! That's both funny and awesome. Good for you!

I agree with the posts in this thread that ALL our losses are bringing us to healthier and there's no single pace we should be comparing ourselves to. I think the pressure some of us feel to meet our drs' expectations is counterproductive. You should be congratulating yourself for the awesome work so far. For me, going back to reading the science about what healthy food gives me and what crap food subtracts restokes the commitment.

I'm visiting my mom in a few weeks. The last time I was home was in October for my dad's funeral and I was sick, fat and miserable. As a surprise for my mom, who has been a courageous inspiration to me, and a reward for me for the weight loss and other health related progress, I've engaged someone to do our colors. I've always wanted to do this and now that I have more choice in size and style, and dont look like an ashen pumpkin, it seems like a great time. My DH weighed in with my second favorite sentence of "knock yourself out, da baby". I'm excited and looking forward to some shopping with my mom and SIL following. Woot woot!