MichelleInCA

What a wonderful time in your lives, a precious baby! I am so happy for both of you!
I had surgery April 30, 2014 and still have about 70 more lbs. to lose. I too have carb struggles. Wish me well; I have been at a stall for weeks.

So I still got a little more to go but all and all I'm down 125 LBS since 2/12/14

Hello everyone. Hope everyone is doing great. I have reached my goal of 145 pounds. Yeah!!!! I had an arm lift and breast lift with implants last Thursday. I am a bit overwhelmed with all the scars and cuts but again my arms and boobs look so much better. I am praying that with time my scars will look a lot better. My weight loss has slowed down a lot. If you hit a stall just keep pushing on. Eventually your body will do its thing. I will keep everyone posted with the results of my surgery.

I'm a slow loser too. I'm about 6 months out and have lost 51 lbs. According to the realize site (great calculator!) I had a 50% chance of losing 64 lbs, so I'm a bit behind on that one. I've stalled multiple times, including the entire month of September! I think I've been 95% compliant with the plan in food and exercise. Ironically it's usually when I go off plan a bit (eg while traveling) that the stalls tend to break. Anyway you're not the only one who's losing slowly. I don't plan to give up until I'm at my goal even if it takes 2 yrs!

My NUT suggested I only eat toasted bread. Not sure why the difference. I have had Pasta, rice, and bread since my surgery but honestly rarely, and in very very small portions. I am of the belief that simple carbs are an addiction for me and lead to me over eating. I know at 4 months out I really can't overeat as my tummy forbids it, but later on down the road that won't be the case and I just as well get used to a life with limited carbs now while my "tool" is helping me to make those choices. Habits, both good and bad form over time, and I personally think low carb diet is a habit I want to get used to. Carbs of choice for me will me more likely the complex versions. Those are much better for you and have better nutritional value.

With the exception of Fiber, all carbohydrates turn into glucose eventually. When glucose disperses into your blood, your pancreas automatically excretes the hormone insulin -- unless you’re diabetic and have to inject it yourself. Insulin helps glucose get turned into glycogen, but you only have room to store so much. Once your glycogen stores are full, the extra converted carbs get stored as fat, making you gain weight over time.

I've finally reached 6 months today (10/15/14) and am down 61 pounds! I thought I'd be farther along, but I'm happy and it's only been 6 months.
Hw: 274
Today: 213
Onederland, I'm coming for you!

Went for my 1 year appointment yesterday. Good news is that I actually lost 19lbs since my 6 month appointment. And all 19lbs were fat and I have maintained my lean body mass Encouragement to keep exercising as it is actually coming off in a haelthy manner!

Admit this may be a long one so I apologize upfront for that!
I was ridiculously out of control in my eating habits therefore I was also crazy worried about my ability to make the change. I did begin changing my habits before surgery. I began walking short distances as the 8 stairs up from my basement had me huffing and puffing. Initially I dreaded having to walk the 3 blocks to pick up my children from school. For almost 2 decades I never really dealt with hunger because I often ate so consistently I don't think I ever allowed myself to get hungry. I woke up and thought about what I would eat for Breakfast, after Breakfast i focused on lunch but had Snacks, etc... I literally ate from wakeup, to my head hitting the pillow and often got up to eat more before I actually fell asleep. I remember eating 2 footlong subway subs in a sitting, and this wasn't a one time marathon thing; driving to 7-11 at midnight for junk food and then eating most of what I thought I would eat over 2-3 days. So I get it completely. Frankly I was scared sh**less that I would fail, or sabatoge myself along the way. Shortly before my first meeting with my center I had gestational diabetes but it went away immediately after my pregnancy. I admit when I am pregnant I am completely in control and anal about what I put in my mouth so lose weight throughout them. Of course post nursing forget about it! So after finding out I had no choice but to switch to formula I actually managed to become a full blown diabetic in about 5 months. It was a flurry of chocolate, fries and slurpees! My point being you and I are very much alike in being obsessed with food 24/7. So if I can do it anyone can do it!
I found out I had become a diabetic at my first appointment at my bariatric center, March 12, 2013. That was the day the light went on for me, even if it was dim when it started. I walked 15 minutes that first day and I hated it lol. That night I completely lost all control of my sanity as every emotion under the sun came out over every little thing. For a second I thought OMG I am pregnant!! But no, apparently I am an emotional eater so now instead of eating, all of a sudden I was feeling everything and it was completely overwhelming. For this reason I strongly recommend trying to get at least 2-3 days of healthier eating out of the way prior to your liquid pre-op. The mental part of this is by far the hardest, so getting a small advantage before really does help. So expect to be very hormonal when you start out.
Tricks of the trade pre-op.. I chewed a lot of stride gum especially during my liquid diet (3 weeks), lifesaver, that is my biggest thing to this day, although no I don't promote it post op as we all know it is a no no and I was 6 months out before I tried it. I drank a lot of low calorie fluids and I planned ahead for meals (before liquid pre-op). For the first little while I kept junk out of the house. I have kids so that's hard, so I chose to buy things they like but I don't, like all dressed chips, or cotton candy ice cream.. My fave thing being a large cup of lite hot chocolate with fat free hazelnut Creamer in the evening as a treat and it kept me pretty full.. so I would do it at my peak struggle time. I started keeping fruit that I really liked around, cherries and raspberries and I would go to town. Not ideal but it was certainly better than the alternatives.. smart pop was another fave pre-op.
No I was not perfect I had bad days, still do, but I started to convince myself that it didn't have to be a bad day.. instead it was a bad couple hours and then I let it go, guilt has no place on the road to success. It will not motivate you, it will only make you feel worse!! I made a list of all those things i wanted to be able to do post op... and a list of all those things I never wanted to feel or have happen to me again. That was emotional, then I put them up in a cpl places around the house where I thought they would most benefit me. I also included a list of the consequences of failing to follow my liquid diet. Number one of course being a cancelled surgery!
So I actually made it through all 3 weeks or 22 days as my nutritionist miscalculated lol. A ton of gum, broth to break up the sweetness, I was allowed 2 cups of raw green veggies/day added garlic salt or seasoning salt.. no dressing allowed! It makes you an idiot about a week in, prepare to write things down as you won't remember them. Drink tons of fluids as the day 3 headache is a nightmare and will likely last a cpl days and nothing will touch it but hydration so stay on top of that.
Post-op hunger concerns... I have hunger, boy do I experience real hunger. Now I am not trying to scare you, I didn't experience hunger like this until about 7 months out. So I have had a lot of time to work through better choices and options when I am hungry, the nice thing about being early out is that it won't take much to reel in said hunger if you are one who feels it. Have a cup of broth, some greek yogurt and boom it's gone for another couple hours. Also remember that your intake is soo limited that it is okay to feed it. Sometime just choose to feed it with fluids. That is the biggie, learning to decipher head hunger from actual hunger from thirst!! Once you get that straight your life will quickly become much easier. So pay attention to what each of them feel like, not as hard as it sounds I promise. Further out you can eat more, and I fall off the wagon the last time I was off for almost 4 weeks, stopped exercising too. I gained 5 pounds. The difference is that this time the weight gain actually scared me, having been a 'normal' size for a bit now I got comfortable and this was a well needed reality check. Now considering how much I was eating 5 pounds was kind, so the surgery really is just a tool. You still need to fight those demons for life but when I think about how much weight I could have gained in that same time period preop.. no comparison. I also dropped those 5 pounds during my 'taking back control' week. But what I didn't do is beat myself up for it, I went on a fabulous food vacation and when I landed back in reality I dealt with it. No guilt, just moved on and smartened up. So being kind to yourself is something that gets easier as you go through this process. It's also one of my favourite NSV's..
Sorry so long I admit I am horribly wordy... hope that helps alleviate some of your fears

Interesting question. I have been stuck for about a month now. I am eating no more than 900 calories per day and the scale just doesn't move. I'm not "stall freaked" I'm just wondering if my age or peri menopause is preventing me from losing like I once did only 4 years ago and maybe I won't lose as much as I am expecting to lose now at an older age. My body is losing inches and I am now in size 18-20 or 1x's instead of size 24/26 - so yay! That scale just doesn't want to budge or give up those pounds.

I know agility training can be gruesome. But, as you said in your post, everyone starts somewhere. When I first started I could barley get 4 lounges at a time in, 2 up downs, or complete things like plié jacks and mountain climbers...I could barely even complete 1 modified push-up! However, despite despising those workouts, I kept trying and pushing myself 2-3 times a week. Now, they are a part of my weekly cardio sessions. I had already been lifting and doing cardio, like you, but let me share with you that it definitely transformed my physique even more. It took it to the next level. In June of this year I couldn't complete the above mentioned exercises, but today I can not only do them, but I can do them fast. And modified push-ups? Pssshhh. I do full, regular push-ups!
You can do this! One day at a time, one session at a time, one exercise at a time. You'll get there, I promise, if you stick with it! Good luck!!!!

Hello there and welcome! I think there are folks from all over the world here, and a good few from NZ as well!
I did the revision from band to sleeve in April. The band wasn't working for me and I had some complications. In any case, this is a great forum for questions, support, and tough love as well.

Hello there and welcome! I think there are folks from all over the world here, and a good few from NZ as well!
I did the revision from band to sleeve in April. The band wasn't working for me and I had some complications. In any case, this is a great forum for questions, support, and tough love as well.

First, the dreaded 3 week stall happens to everybody. I know that wasn't your question but thought I'd put that out there. ????
Secondly, walking an hour that soon out seems like a LOT. While walking is awesome and we all need to do it, I think you should start off a little less ambitious and work yourself up to doing more. For me, that would be too much and I wouldn't be motivated to go out there and do it again. Try just walking for 30 minutes and then build from there.
Lastly, I'm almost 2 years out and I started working with a personal trainer at around 6 weeks out. I still work with him today. I needed that accountability. Someone who I knew was depending on me to show up. I also had that financial accountability that I was paying for a service. I do not think everyone should get a trainer, it's just what works for me. I also update my social media when I workout and it helps hold me accountable because my friends and family notice when I don't. It's also been helpful for them and a lot of friends have jumped on the fitness bandwagon...most have no idea I had surgery.
Hope this helps.
Good luck...you're going to do great!

My surgeon did the exact same for me, and I'm also able to eat anything now. White meat chicken, broccoli, all kinds of stuff I couldn't eat with the band. I also can eat more than the 1 cup the nutritionists promised. Mentally l have feared a bigger bougie will hurt my weight loss. It is slow, but I've always been a slow weight loser. It's all about the choices anyway. And I sure do get full a lot faster than when my band was unfilled. Thanks for posting -- made me feel much better!

I'm so sorry to hear of your diagnosis, coming right after surgery. That's just unbelievable. But maybe if you hadn't had the surgery, they wouldn't have found the cancer until much later? I hope that turns out to make a huge difference in your treatment and outcome. You're in my prayers for sure!

I'm so sorry to hear of your diagnosis, coming right after surgery. That's just unbelievable. But maybe if you hadn't had the surgery, they wouldn't have found the cancer until much later? I hope that turns out to make a huge difference in your treatment and outcome. You're in my prayers for sure!

I made it thru my endoscopy! That was pretty simple. They dilated the opening to my new stomach a little. The doctor said he just did it a small amount because I'm so fresh out of surgery. He said it may need done a few more times. While doing my scope they found some abnormal cells on my esophagus they took 2 biopsies. So now I play the waiting game. Thanks for all the prayers and positive comments

That's amazing! You lost it so quickly, wow! Wish my scale would move that fast Awesome job, and I'm sure you're glad you took pics along the way!

I used to go to Curves. A lot of people love it, but it wasn't for me. Because of the timed interval nature of it, by the time I'd get my flubber off of one machine and settled onto another, it seemed like it was time to switch again so I never really got to do anything long enough to see or feel any progress. None of the equipment was adjustable either, and as a short / oddly proportioned person, some of the exercises just hurt. Plus - and this is just me, most people aren't this neurotic - there was no time to wipe the equipment off before getting on it.

My surgeon did the exact same for me, and I'm also able to eat anything now. White meat chicken, broccoli, all kinds of stuff I couldn't eat with the band. I also can eat more than the 1 cup the nutritionists promised. Mentally l have feared a bigger bougie will hurt my weight loss. It is slow, but I've always been a slow weight loser. It's all about the choices anyway. And I sure do get full a lot faster than when my band was unfilled. Thanks for posting -- made me feel much better!

First photo is me at my heaviest back in 2006 at 241. The 2nd with me and my fiancé I was 231 back in 2013. Then the 2 new photos are of me at 179 down 52lbs total and 37 lbs since May 8th.

I have been reading with growing jealousy about women who have lost significant amounts of weight and have now dropped several dress sizes. These are wonderful accomplishments and deserve to be applauded. But mixed in with my congratulations is my feeling that it is unfair that people who weigh 30 - 50 lbs more than I currently weigh, wear 14's and 16's when I can't fit into 18's and 20's. I know it's petty to be jealous, but just today I tried on an XL jacket and found, once again, that it was way too small. I've come so far in pounds lost (more than 70), and I've barely changed size on top. I'm still wearing my size 24 tops and dresses, for gosh sake! And they are only a little bit large on me. And my waist is still so large and flabby, I have to wear slacks with elastic waists. How many more lbs must I lose before I, too can shop in the regular sizes?
Ok. Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. I'll try to return to being a reasonable excuse for an adult now.

Everyone is different. But you will get there too.
I know you will. I have a pity party when I see people losing 40 pounds a month and I stop immediately. My journey, my way, it's not a race against each other

I just want to say that some of you are REALLY judgemental. Everyone has a different journey, everyone has different experiences.
Here is what happened to me: I did surgery at a private hospital in Israel. All my instructions were given out in google-translated English and we did not need 6 months prior counseling, nor did we need a liquid diet, nor did I need to meet with a psychiatrist. I had exactly one meeting with a NUT who barely spoke English. None of these were really a downfall however, and thankfully I have managed to lose a significant amount of weight.
What I did struggle with, however, was that about 4-5 days after coming home (I have three kids) everyone was stuffing their face and having a party. And I ate exactly one tiny pretzel that I chewed into pieces. And you know what? It didn't hurt, it tasted good and I was fine.. What happened next was not OK though- I really was panicked that my sleeve wasn't working, or I had ruined it. I NEEDED support desperately from people who had BTDT, and I made the mistake of posting on here. I got exactly one piece of support and the rest ridiculed/ derided/mocked or basically told me how stupid I was for doing so. Ummmm people f**k up- didn't many of us screw up somewhere to be in need of surgery to begin with? I think this board is great for questions, but you know what? Sometimes people make mistakes. And need support for those mistakes, not to be ridiculed or made fun of or be called out for being stupid.
Had someone said to me back then- "you know, you shouldn't have eaten it, but you haven't ruined your sleeve- PM me if you need to talk in future" that would have done a lot more for my self-esteem and support through the process than all the people who told me I was dumb and I shouldn't have done surgery to begin with etc.. etc..
It is HARD to have little kids who wander round with food and not feel inclined to touch any of it despite having basically been on a fast for at least a week prior. It is HARD to make dinner and smell something yummy and not touch it. Yes, you should realise all thise before you do surgery, but realising something and living it are two very different things. And, quite frankly, if you cannot be in a place to give constructive support to someone who is likely going through a really low point in their lives, look away and move on. Don't mock or deride- keep it in your head or write it on a private chat or FB status. Those of us who feel like we failed at some point need help, not more mocking thrown their way.
To be clear- I am in no way advocating someone to stuff their faces right after surgery - or any point ever after surgery (I am one of the very few who suffers/ed from dumping syndrome after the sleeve) or eat stuff they shouldn't. I am just askign that people on this board be gentle and kind to people who have made a mistake. If you want to be supportive- help them get back on the right track in a kind way.