walkinggirl

Following the lead of others and using this thread to post my story and subsequent updates. First appt: 10/22/15 Surgeon appt: 11/11/15 Insurance approval: 11/23/15 Pre-op appt: 12/31/15 - all clear for surgery! Surgery scheduled for 1/26/16 My stats (I still need to do measurements) SW: 290 HW: 315 Height: 5'5" Liquid/pre-op diet starts 1/12/16! Exactly one week to go! My husband is going to have VSG done as well, and has already started the process. He has to have a sleep study though due to his neck circumference, and they cannot get him in for an appt until March. Was hoping we could have surgeries closer together, but we will make it work.

Check in time! Not a whole lot to report. My weight is down to 210 finally. I was in a stall for quite a while where I kept going from 213-215 no matter what I did. Let's hope I've broken through it now! My hair is still coming out in bunches and I am hoping there is an end in sight because it is getting quite thin. I don't think anyone but me can tell, but still. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I started off with a very thick head of hair! I am coming up on my 5 month surgiversary and am down 7 lbs for the month so far. As you can tell from my signature, the rate of weight loss has slowed quite a bit. But I will still take it! I am sitting at 80lbs down (105 lbs since my highest weight!!) and am 35 lbs from my goal weight. I've got this!

One more thing that I forgot to mention...HOLY hair LOSS!! My hair is (err...was) very thick. Now it feels so thin! I literally pull hand fulls of hair out at a time. I have faithfully taken all of my Vitamins, so I don't think that could be causing it. Hoping this is short-lived!

I count actual carbs as well.

Today is my 4 month surgiversary! As of today, I am down a total of 73 lbs. Amazing!! This past month the weight loss has really slowed down. I can't really pinpoint the exact reason, probably a combination of many things. But overall, 8 lbs still means 2 lbs a week, so I will take it! I will be honest and say that I have a fear that I am close to hitting my "max weight loss" and that for some reason my body will just stop losing weight. I know that will happen eventually, but I fear it happening too soon. My initial goal was to be in "one-derland", but isn't too far off. But now my goal is 175, which I think would be perfect for me. A little news about my husband having the surgery...he has decided to hold off for a while. We discovered that our insurance coverage is not as great as we thought it was. And to have us both have the surgery back to back and owe so much out of pocket is just not feasible right now. So a little bummed about that. But honestly I'm doing great on my own and he's been beyond supportive, so I can't ask for a better situation.

Repeat after me: "EMBRACE THE STALL, EMBRACE THE STALL." That is going to become my new mantra Only 10 days left to go til my 4 month surgiversary and I am only down 6 lbs so far this month. I am just trying to keep in mind that the weight loss will slow as I get smaller. I can't deny the frustration that I feel when my weight has stayed the same for over a week, or even gone up a pound. And yes, I know I really should stop weighing myself daily. I emailed my NUT because I wasn't sure where I should be now calorie wise. She said I should be between 1000-1200 calories per day. I was a little shocked, because I had been keeping myself at 800. So I guess I am happy to add more calories? Not really sure how I feel about this. But I do know that whatever I add, needs to come from healthier/cleaner foods. I feel like I am eating way too much cheese and dairy right now. With all that said, I am happy to report that I picked back up on the C25K program and am in week 3. This is crazy to say, but I don't think I have ever run for 3 minutes straight before in my life until yesterday. And honestly, it wasn't that bad! It definitely felt good and I look forward to pushing my body more. I felt like I had fallen off the wagon on strength training, so I found some good 10-15 min videos that I saved and can do quickly on busy weeknights, etc. So I will keep plugging away...

Time for a quick check in! I seem to have hit the 3 month stall. scale does not seem to be budging much from the mid to upper 220s. I'm going to try to change things up and run more than walk, do more weights, and some HIIT. Also trying to add variety to my diet, and add some healthy fats like avocado, coconut oil, etc. But overall, I am still pleased with where I am. In other news, turkey neck is in full effect. I am moisturizing the heck out of it, but man, it is making me self conscious. Small price to pay though, I know Life is good. Having this surgery is one of the best decisions that I've ever made!

Way to go!!!

I had my surgery on a Tuesday and was back to work on the following Monday, no problem. (I have a desk job as well). That said, everyone is so, so different. I can tell you that even though I felt well enough to go back to work, no way would I have felt well enough to fly for a business trip that soon after. Good luck with your surgery!

Wonderful!! Congratulations! I cannot wait to be there with you

Check out my ticker! I am just over 3 months out and halfway to my goal! YAY! I am discovering recently that I *really* do have collar bones. Pretty sure they have never been seen before in my body

2 month update! Man, this is seriously the best thing I've ever done for myself. Weight is currently 235. I finally broke through my stall! I am feeling great now that I am healed from my hysterectomy. I am back to running/walking and lifting weights. I truly feel better than ever! This is a good problem to have, but my smallest jeans are getting too big for me...which means I need to venture into the regular women's sizes. I have tried on probably 30 pair of jeans in the past few days with no success yet on finding the perfect pair, but I'm sure I will find something. Nevertheless, it is so fun shopping in the non-plus size stores again. I am starting to get a lot of comments about my weight loss, too. It's like people are finally noticing now that I am down 50+ pounds

Chickfila grilled nuggets and Wendy's chili, for sure. Also, Skyline chili for my fellow Cincinnatians

I just use a Flat out for my pizza crust. Not worth all the effort it takes with the cauliflower, IMO. I would like to try the chicken crust though. I just use a Flat out for my pizza crust. Not worth all the effort it takes with the cauliflower, IMO. I would like to try the chicken crust though.

Look, I'm under BMI of 40! Super exciting. Gonna be honest, I am struggling a bit. Had surgery 2 weeks ago and it seems to have caused a stall. I haven't been able to exercise until this week because I have been very sore. I've also been off work a lot, which has thrown me off of my eating schedule. I've had a couple of bites of things that I shouldn't have (hello, birthday cake!). But I'm trying to get back on track and get back into my routine. I'm not anywhere near my goal, so I've gotta keep working!

I'm only 1.5 months out, so early in the game. I'm down almost 50 lbs and only 1 person has noticed. It isn't really a huge deal to me, as I only told a handful of people close to me about the surgery to begin with. I'm not one to really talk about my weight openly, so I'm sure more have noticed and just not said anything to me.

I'm only 1.5 months out, so early in the game. I'm down almost 50 lbs and only 1 person has noticed. It isn't really a huge deal to me, as I only told a handful of people close to me about the surgery to begin with. I'm not one to really talk about my weight openly, so I'm sure more have noticed and just not said anything to me.

I am only 1.5 months out from surgery (down 40 lbs), but I have not seen a difference in hair growth. I can't speak to periods because I had a hysterectomy. I can't recall if this was posted on here or I found it elsewhere on the internet, but someone posted a chin pic from before and 1 year after surgery, and there was a huge reduction in the hair growth. So that is promising! Also, I used to pluck and bleach my chin hairs, but I finally resorted to shaving and it has made my life so much better. Not only are they easier to hide, it's just overall easier to deal with! Just throwing that out there

I do have dizziness sometimes when I stand up, and that is when I know i am not drinking enough. Could be something as simple as that. Definitely could be BP meds too.

Coming back to this as I am now post-op both sleeve and hysterectomy. The hysterectomy was WAY easier for me (mainly because of the horrible nausea that I had post-op sleeve). My hyster surgery was Davinci robotic, and outpatient. I am sure the type of surgery makes a huge difference.

Long time, no update! Things are going really well. Weight is down to 248 and still consistently moving. On my one month surgiversary, I was down 20 pounds from my day of surgery weight. I am doing really well with my diet. Have moved into purees and that is pretty heavenly as compared to the liquid diet. I have been able to venture out and go to a few restaurants with my family. I get a small cup of Soup or chili. I still am having some trouble and forgetting to stop drinking while and after eating. But hopefully that will get easier. I have been exercising pretty consistently, and it feels like it is becoming part of my daily life. Mostly walking and jogging on the treadmill. I have also added weights and resistance training a few times a week. I am having a hysterectomy on Tuesday, so I have my fingers crossed that it doesn't throw me off track too terribly much.

I agree with the others - it will get easier! Hang in there!

Everyone has had really good advice, but just wanted to say that it sounds like you are doing great!

I am 2.5 weeks post op and just started C25K. I completed week 1. My question revolves around my speed. I am doing this on my treadmill, so I am very aware of the speeds at which I am running and walking. Currently I am walking 2.5 mph and running at 3.6 mph. I know this is incredibly slow, but my legs feel like tree trunks when I run. So my question is, should I just not worry about speed? Will I get faster as I progress? Or should I maybe repeat week 1, and try to increase my speeds? Thanks in advance!!

I'm long overdue for an update! I saw my surgeon last week and he was pleased with my progress. I am still technically on a liquid diet until 2/26, but I have been adding some purees/smoothies to help get in some fruits and veggies. I am so, so sick of all the sugar free junk and Protein shakes. I started the C25K program and wow, I am slow and out of shape! I finished week 1 and was thinking about going back and doing it over again to try to increase my running and walking speeds a bit. But hey, I am still running! The scale is moving, slowly but surely. I am finally down in the 250s. I was able to move down a size in my jeans too. Yay!