Ldyvenus

My biggest challenge was deciding what I wanted my diet to look like long term. This surgery gives us the metabolism reset that we need, but we have to find a healthy diet that we can live with for life. This isn't easy. Second was finding an exercise routine that I would look forward to doing 5-6 days a week. I found the solution to both so I feel like I am in a good place to be successful in maintaining my loss.
Only time will tell though.
My biggest success was getting off all of my medications for type 2 diabetes, and a close second was getting into the best shape I have ever been in by starting running.

Nothing is perfect. Perhaps aim for 5 great on -point days a week.... whatever it takes to get on track most of the time!!

I'm about five months post op and I have been horrible this last month. Old habits slipping back in. Not weighing or measuring. I've felt horrible physically and emotionally. What is wrong with me? I fought so hard to get this surgery and was convinced I'd do great.
So, I've started pushing Water and weighing everything.
Ev. Er. Ree. Thing!
Logging and tracking. No estimating.
I'm really disappointed in myself.

I lost slowly and steadily over 17 months. I really dislike the idea that there's this magical year you have to lose your weight in or it's all over. I participate in several groups and see people lose over two years. Your sleeve (in my case) still works. I had a baby at nearly 3 years out and had another loss period after nursing, between 3.5-4.5 years out. Again, slow and steady. But the weight came off.
Even now in maintenance, weight comes off if I'm not careful and it's strictly a calories in vs out game. The restriction is still there.
This tool is for life.
Cheri

Every time you post I feel better about my slow loss. It can get discouraging (although I sabotaged myself last month) and then I remember what a success you are!

1 year, 2 months out and still losing. The trick is to use the surgery for its intended purpose; as a tool to help you learn better habits and ditch the old ones that got you in this situation in the first place. If you just rely on the physical restriction effect, then you will soon reach a point where you can eat at maintenance levels and you stop losing weight.

When that happens, you've gotta fall back on good old fashioned calorie counting to help you maintain a calorie deficit and continue losing.

Congratulations@Introversion. Thanks also for posting that ur monthly losses were slow. My weightloss has been slow (im 1 mo out from bypass) and its been a little unexpected and worrying. So, Im inspired and hopeful to see u lost 100lbs, slow and steady.

I am just over a year out & have been still losing a small amount each month. I think our bodies will stop when it is ready to stop. I just keep doing what I have been doing from the beginning. It is slow & steady. I also have seen other people who are still losing after the one year mark.

I lost 100 pounds over a 17+ month time frame with my sleeve.
With the exception of the first 2 months post-op, all of my monthly losses were single-digit (1 to 7 pounds a month) in spite of dietary adherence and exercise.

Hi my name is Corrissa . I hope I can make this short . I’ll do my best ! April 2014 I weighed 232 and I had quit smoking . I gained 64 pounds . My back was the first thing I noticed that hurt . I really was in bad shape . Other issues started to happen and all I could do is cry . So I looked into gastric bypass. N found a program at Alina . I started there and weighed in at 296 . Never in my life did I think I’d weigh almost 300 pounds . So I was driving over 2 hours away for my appointments dietitian and mental health therapy etc . So I get all the way to the end of the program everyone but the THERAPIST approved me to move on to surgery . I was devastated!! I yelled at that lady so bad lol I know I shouldn’t have but when ur in so much pain u will do just about anything . I mean 41 years old using a cane . So I put my tail between my legs so to speak licked my wounds n started again . So I called mayo in Mankato Minnesota. Thank God I did . I weighed in at 280 something when I started there . So I had a dr appointment for a physical and my dr said u should have a mammogram ur coming up on 42 .. YIKES !! What in the world I thought to myself ?? So I made an appointment and canceled lol I had a bad attitude about it . Did that twice . So the 3rd time I went in . Glad I did because they found a tumor . Caught early but they sent me in for s biopsy on September 22nd 2016 My first dietitian appointment with the mayo program was on the 23rd next day . So while I’m in that appointment I got a phone call I knew I had to answer . It was the results of my biopsy which came back that I had breast cancer . Now not that things weren’t already tough this just added more to the plate . I BURSTED into tears and the dietitian was there and just hugged me . I left her office sobbing n just sat on a bench in the waiting area in the Clinic . A nice nurse sat with me until I was calm enough to drive . OMG what in the heck was I just told ?? Me ?? Cancer ?? I’m gonna die I thought !! A few weeks from that passed by and I had a lumpectomy. My tumor was sent in for testing and came back with a low score meaning it was only stage 1 . I was relieved but still scared . I had decided that not only was I gonna fight this cancer I was gonna fight this weight loss as well . So I went through 28 radiation treatments and went through the bariatric program as well , February 9th 2017 I finished my last cancer treatment! Wahooo cancer free I was so happy ! And I am still cancer free ! So I finally get through the weight loss program had lost some weight on the way . My insurance finally approved it and I had surgery August 9th of this year . Day of surgery I was 261 I’m now 219 . It’s been a heck of a year ! I just want to encourage men and women and inspire them . Because no matter what we go through there’s no such thing is giving up . I wanted to a few times but I got my butt up and kept moving . My dietitian always tells me how brave and amazing I am and it feels great ! So I’ll share some pics . The first ones will be the bigger me and then some new pics as well . God bless you all ! Thanks for reading ! 

It depends on your plan post-op. Each plan is different. Mine was full liquids (yogurts, Soups, shakes) the two weeks, then purees, then soft foods, then full meals all at 2 week intervals. So by 8 weeks out I was eating "normal" food. I have two teen daughters and a husband and I am a planner too. Generally before shopping each week I plan the Protein for each night so I'm not scrambling with the what to cook or make with this issue when I get home. I just kept up my normal routine for them. During my first 2 weeks, I ate lots of greek yogurt and Soup. Sometimes the eggface ricotta bake. I fed my family the usual stuff we would eat. In purees, if I made them meatloaf, I'd just mash mine up more - same with chili. By the third phase - it was lots of chicken and fish.
For work, I don't have access to a fridge, so I pretty much pack the same thing on my office days. (I work from home a few days a week.) Chicken salad, romaine lettuce, yogurt and a cheese snack. Sometimes an apple (but I'm 1+ year out.) I didn't freeze stuff before surgery and I'm glad I didn't - my taste buds were off for a few weeks after surgery.

I have little one too. We eat alot of chicken now. I didn't really freeze much. But I've got cheese sticks, yogurt, shaved black forest ham, Whisps, and vegetarian vegtable Soup on hand all of the time.

I have little one too. We eat alot of chicken now. I didn't really freeze much. But I've got cheese sticks, yogurt, shaved black forest ham, Whisps, and vegetarian vegtable Soup on hand all of the time.

Well in 10 months out and down 210 pounds sw 402 cw 192 more than I wanted to but I will take it. 
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Today is 10 weeks post op....I'm losing slowly and hitting lots of stalls....I know I'm having some progress because my clothes are looser...my coworkers say things complimentary but I feel it's obligatory or just to be nice...I'm down 65#

Ok, I am a couple days short of my third month surgiversary, but it's the weekend so I took the measurements today. I started at 205 lbs, in a tight size 18, low obese BMI for years, couldn't lose anything. (The pituitary tumor prolactinoma does NOT help! They are highly correlated with obesity). I lost about 13 lbs on pre op diet and now I am down 22 lbs since surgery. Total weight loss has been 35 pounds. I'm no longer obese, just overweight. Can almost get into a size 14 but the thunder thighs still won't let me.
So, my measurement losses today after 3 months:
arm: lost 1.75"
under boob, smallest "waist": lost 6 inches
belly button waist: lost 12" (what???? Had to measure three times to check for errors!! Wow)
hips: lost 6.5"
thigh: lost 2.5"

so happy to see progress like this. Hope it continues.

I am 4 months post op. I am very happy with my weight loss, though it feels like it's going slow. I am down 53 lbs. I started back doing cardio after 6 weeks post op and I am addicted to exercise.
   Again, I feel fabulous and all my health indicators are great. I just wonder if others are experiencing slow weight loss. My doctor said all that matters is how I feel. I have to admit that it is really exciting to fit in a size 16 again!

Had the sleeve, January 2012. In less than a year, I went from 275 -115. I now stay, comfortably, at 122 +/- a pound once in a while. Maintenance was scary and hard to find my perfect balance. Was a thin tightrope for a while.
Only regret? That it wasn't an option in my teens so I could've lived my life instead of hiding, sitting on the couch, eating, watching TV and being alone.
I've been working at living my life from now on!
Great advice & insight @monalyssa33

Stick your physician's advice. You may want to ask about full spectrum lighting/light therapy in the meantime.
I am on wellbutrin and don't know what it will be like after surgery, I don't intend to go off of it, you can get IR in 100 dose and take it throughout the day. I have been on another sleeve forum and veterans are managing to take their SR dose after they can eat more solid food and are doing well.
I guess my question would be 'why go off if it is working?' There is nothing wrong with using medication if it works and you need it. I would not use one emotional incident to establish that you don't need it. Wellbutrin is relatively easier to wean off of than many other antidepressants.

Hello All!
For the first time ever, I voluntarily posted a picture of myself on FB. I was sleeved on 3/6/17. Just a couple days after my 49th birthday. My SW was 236, my CW is 163, and GW is 150. Other than my first week being a pure nausea hell, everything else went great.
I do miss eating more than a few bites of food when I'm really enjoying the taste of something. I also miss baking. One of my favorite hobbys. My co workers also miss my baking! Lol
But I feel better than I have in years! I would never have asked for, and gotten there promotion at work, had it not been for the surgery. I knew I wouldn't have been able to do my current job if I didn't lose the weight.
Anyhoooo...my pics
  
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@cantseemytoesI've been finding myself emotionally eating as well. Also, I find that when I'm losing weight...like I deserve to eat bad as a reward and that is terrible...I'm working on it. If I lose weight I tell my boyfriend "let's go out and celebrate" like that's sooo bad. I'm in a similar situation to you. Dealing with stress of work, school and relationships have caused me to want to revert back to eating for coping and it's super tough. I can totally relate to you. Someone told me that I should remind myself how much I spent on this surgery and how I felt before the surgery....why do we want to go back to that? I think mind over matter and we just have to be stronger and not let things that hurt us cause us to hurt ourselves by over indulging and eating bad again.

We have alot of similarities i still struggle with sometimes eating what i shouldnt not even really enjoyinv it after maybe the first couple mouthfuls the voice in my head saying why r u doing this and then the envitable regret after of why do i never learn food addiction and emtional eating is going to be a lifelong challenge that i sometimes have control of and sometimes dont I also struggled with depression a few months after and weirdly enough anger as well angry at the most ridiculous things which i put down to maybe menopause but its interesting to hear u say the same and oh yes the tummy i have also had three cesarean and the stretched skin from being overweight its not a pretty sight lol i do alot of self talk sometimes i need to tell myself to put my big girl pants on and stop whining i got myself this way and i can either change it or give up its up to me of course sometimes i just throw a big old tantrum like a two year old cause that makes everything better haha

Very early days for me but people have started saying there is something different about me! I just smile sweetly. For the first time in my life i can't wait for the days to go by
I remember so well that feeling when you know you are putting on weight and it is such a heavy growing sort of yuck feeling. Now is the opposite a sort of lightening feeling without even looking at the scales.

Uhh...nothing about this process is 'that simple'. That's quite unfair and insensitive of u to say. People are complex and rarely are their issues 'black and white'. I don't think it's ever easy to 'take control of ur mind and the thoughts in it', when ur dealing with an addiction. And I'm going to venture a guess that most people on these message boards, including u, are dealing with/have dealt with an addiction to food, in one way or another, or we wouldn't be on here talking about and having WLS.

A little more empathy and/or words of encouragement out of u would've been nice, instead of shame, judgement, and ego. Besides, we come here for the community of it all, as most of already have people in our lives who think everything dealing with weightloss is 'easy if u just put ur mind to it'. [emoji20]

I'm almost 6mos out and the head hunger is so bad for me. I have found myself in a plateau for the past 4-6wks but as I'm reading through these forums I'm realizing my plateau is probably my fault...giving in to the head hunger. I'm thrilled with the weight I've lost so far...77lbs...but I think I can do better with controlling my intake. Originally I came out to the site to look up ACV experiences post-op. Thanks for the reminders everyone. I've really needed this! And I'm gonna try the ACV and see how it goes.