MelMac72

As soon as it's loose or a size too small, its out of my wardrobe and off to Goodwill. I have a 'next size down' selection in there and it replaced the 'will keep in case I put on weight' section.

As soon as it's loose or a size too small, its out of my wardrobe and off to Goodwill. I have a 'next size down' selection in there and it replaced the 'will keep in case I put on weight' section.

As soon as it's loose or a size too small, its out of my wardrobe and off to Goodwill. I have a 'next size down' selection in there and it replaced the 'will keep in case I put on weight' section.

Hi everyone!
I came home Tuesday and it has been really rough. I've had a lot of gas pain and a terrible headache. I ended back in the ER the same night I got home because I needed better pain relief. I'm having such a heard time not wanting to eat. I physically couldn't if I even tried to but I wish that switch in my brain would turn off like it does for some and just not crave food.
I can't eat really anything that is approved except Water and green Jello. I tried the sugar free popsicles and immediately threw up. That was the worst pain of my life. I'm hoping these next few weeks go by quickly and I start to heal.

Are you drinking plain Water or Protein water. I can't drink plain water but can drink protein water by the litre. I got the Protein Powder recommended by my dietician because you can use it to keep your protein levels up and your hydration levels ok. Make sure you take small sips regularly, no normal sips or gulps as this causes the discomfort. Also try it with a dash of diet cordial, the protein powder and cordial break the surface tension of the water making it easier to drink. If this doesn't work its best to see your gp as you may need an iv drip to rehydrate you.

I trash or donate my clothes as soon as I drop a size. No going back. I also pretty much only wear fitted clothes. Stretchy clothes are for fat people (because they help you become and stay fat).

As soon as it's loose or a size too small, its out of my wardrobe and off to Goodwill. I have a 'next size down' selection in there and it replaced the 'will keep in case I put on weight' section.

As soon as it's loose or a size too small, its out of my wardrobe and off to Goodwill. I have a 'next size down' selection in there and it replaced the 'will keep in case I put on weight' section.

Are you drinking plain Water or Protein water. I can't drink plain water but can drink protein water by the litre. I got the Protein Powder recommended by my dietician because you can use it to keep your protein levels up and your hydration levels ok. Make sure you take small sips regularly, no normal sips or gulps as this causes the discomfort. Also try it with a dash of diet cordial, the protein powder and cordial break the surface tension of the water making it easier to drink. If this doesn't work its best to see your gp as you may need an iv drip to rehydrate you.

So, I went shopping yesterday for the first time in a couple of months. And I am proud to say that NOTHING was "plus sized". It was my first non big girl store shopping trip in more time than I can remember. And on top of that, I was buying Large shirts and size 10 jeans. I never thought that I would feel this good so soon. I am so happy! As many others say, wish I had only done this sooner!
If I feel this great at 5 months post op, I cant wait what the future holds!!

I'm pretty excited today, I'm officially half way to my goal weight (120lbs/5'2"). I'm down 50lbs (CW 170lbs) and have 50 more to go to reach my goal. The first 50 went so fast, it had been slowing down a lot, but still seeing results. My old clothes are fitting and my pains are gone. Even my Gerd went away, I was nervous that it would get worse with the surgery, but I have no more issues with acid reflux. I can finally have coffee now, but don't need it for energy anymore. It was hard adjusting to these changes at first, but I'm finally at a point where I can say this is the best decision I've ever made (or at least one of them lol).

Down 35.9 lbs!!

My wardrobe over the past many years has been varying shades of black or gray (see last pic). I have been shopping thrift stores mainly until I get to a place where my weight stabilizes, but decided I could use a couple of new items, so I decided to splurge. I bought WHITE pants!!! LOL. I know it may not seem like a big deal, but let me tell you, it really is. I've always carried so much of my weight in my butt and thighs and always chose dark colors for skirts and pants. It felt so good to buy a nice pair of white pants for spring, lol. In a size 10 no less. Squeeee!!!! 5 months out and gone from a size 18/20 in pants to a size 10!!! I am doing a celebration dance over here! No regrets!

i am 5'4 and currently 200.0 lbs (can't wait for the weigh in tomorrow) the day of surgery 11/18/16 i was 243 (my highest)....
this is the first time i post pics...pic on the left was on my b-day 3 days before my surgery, right pic was yesterday

Call the surgery and let them decide if its something to worry about. Sent from my SM-T350 using the BariatricPal App

Call the surgery and let them decide if its something to worry about. Sent from my SM-T350 using the BariatricPal App

Okay so my first year was phenomenal! I did so good! And this past year? Well... not so much. My loss slowed around the end of last year and continued to be slow/creeping for the first couple of months. Chalk it up to holidays, the stress after a move, poor planning, it wasn't a great time. And I should have followed that up with renewed vigor, but instead I re-introduced two things into my life that has made this year, frankly?, a complete waste!
1. Carbs! I started re-introducing them back in February. Just a little at first. But what was an occasional thing turned into an every day thing, turned into an (almost) every meal thing, turned into an (almost) every meal/every snack thing. It's a slippery slope. And the worst part about this is that I don't even enjoy them that much! They're just convenient and EVERYWHERE.
2. Snacking. Before I was mostly doing the strict 5-6 meals/snacks per day. It would occasionally deviate, but for the most part, that was my mainstay. After introducing carbs, the desire to snack became so much stronger. The more carbs I ate, the more I snacked, the more I snacked, the more I ate carbs. It was just a gross gigantic avalanche of snacking/carbing.
3. Facebook! Can I blame the fact that I re-introduced Facebook on this? I recently read (a real article, though I can't remember the name of the publication at the moment! I THINK it was NYT.) that surveys suggest that Facebook takes up more of our time than exercising, reading, and socializing per day COMBINED. COMBINED. That's... INSANE. To know that I've wasted good quality exercising (and reading!) time on Facebook (which I don't even really LIKE, which is why I avoided it for SO LONG.) is mind boggling to me. I haven't deleted the app from my phone yet, but I'm doing it tonight! I'll keep messenger because for some reason people prefer that to texting these days. STILL. This is unacceptable in my world view. How did I allow this to happen?
I have not technically gained weight this year because I looked back and I'm around the same I was this time last year. So that's... something? But with gains and losses, I did gain back about 25 lbs. You could say ALMOST 30, but the only reason I ever dipped that low was because I had mycoplasma pneumonia (the one with gastrointestinal symptoms) for 2 weeks in the middle of the year. Apart from that one week period where I had lost weight because of Illness, I'd been hovering at about 255 for a pretty long time this year. Then, when I stepped on the scale one week ago I was shocked to discover that I was weighing in at 278.5. 23 and half pounds higher than my (non-pnuemonia-induced) lowest weight!
The little progress that I did make this year, just kept being erased by my poor choices! I hadn't stepped on a scale since I'd been sick. I was in deep denial!
I immediately joined a dietbet (which I'm going to lose because I'm losing too quickly!) and started eating right again. No carbs, veggies, Protein (at least 70/day), getting in my fluids, only eating 5/6 times/day. I began losing weight so rapidly that I couldn't believe it. Still can't. That was Dec 1st. When I weighed myself this morning. I'd already lost 12 lbs! This is TWO YEARS out from surgery. I haven't had ANY TIME this week to exercise (though I do babysit after work so I usually get all my steps in.) This tool still works! It still does EXACTLY what it's designed to do! And the REALLY remarkable part of this? Half way into this week, my dentist had to prescribe me an antibiotic AND a steroid. A steroid! Yet I still managed to lose 12 lbs. I feel like I JUST had surgery. These are astonishing numbers even if it's mostly Water weight. Even if I'd just lost 6/5 lbs this week I would have been astounded. 12 is beyond anything I ever expected.
Some things I've noticed this week:
1. I still don't miss carbs (much!)
It's hard to step away. But honestly? I just feel so dissatisfied with what I'm eating when I'm eating carbs. I've always been more of a meat and veggie girl. Carbs are just so abundant, so easily accessible and convenient, and so weirdly addictive even if you don't really love them, that it's just a habit I fall into that is almost exclusively environmental. I just need to REMEMBER that I control my own "food environment" if I make the time to plan!
2. I have to remember to take my Vitamins.
I still have them, I just have lapsed in taking them. Now that I really need them again, it's more important to remember!
3. I am going to the bathroom very infrequently, much like I did the first year post-surgery.
4. My capacity really is not as high as I feared.
When you nibble, stretch out your meals into long social affairs, snack frequently, eat slider foods, it can really be a bit of a mind trick. You start to believe that you can still eat like you used to. But you can't, you're just adapting what you CAN do, to what you WANT to do. If you want to eat more, you'll make it happen. You have to MAKE YOURSELF use your tool the way it was intended.
If I eat good quality veggies and protein, eat from start to finish (no stopping to chat OR BROWSE FACEBOOK for ten minutes in between bites!), I can still only eat ABOUT a solid cup of food before I'm comfortably full. Might take a few extra bites to make me UNCOMFORTABLY full depending on what the food is. I made a double-batch of Skinnytaste's Stuffed Pepper Soup (without rice) last week. Which is not very brothy and more like a stew. Yesterday I had a cup of that for lunch. (my ladle measures exactly one cup). By the time I finished the cup, I was UNCOMFORTABLY full. I actually should have stopped a few bites before I finished. Because it was stew-like, it was way more dense. For dinner today I had about 2 ounces of roasted chicken breast (which doesn't equal a half cup if you cut it up in chunks), about a half a cup of sauteed brussels sprouts, and a little less than a tablespoon full of homemade pimento cheese melted over the top. I was perfectly full by the time I was done. Not too full. Not still hungry. Just right.
5. I'm worried this will not last. I don't mean I'm worried I will fail again. I'm sure I will and I have a plan for that. (Get back on that horse, not 10 months later, but two minutes later!, etc.) I'm worried that I'll somehow do the same thing I did this week and for some reason I won't lose. I think I told myself for a long time this year that it wasn't ME and MY CHOICES that were causing me not to lose. It was something else. So I just have to remember that I am in control and I think these worries will go away. I'm really excited to get back to the gym too. Babysteps!
I'm so thrilled at this NEW START. I wonder if anyone else is in the same boat I am, or is in the same boat I was a week ago? Has anyone had long-term success with a re-start? After a period of not losing or a period of slight re-gain? What are you doing? What's working? What's not? How did you "re-boot?" Did you do the pouch test? What warnings do you have? Etc?
I feel like a newbie. It feels kind of good!

By no means am I at goal, but I'd you would have told me on Sept 26th that is be 50lbs lighter before Christmas, I would have told you that you're insane. Yet here i am! I have 60 more to go before I'm at goal, but for the first time in my life, I can see myself getting there. That's a lot to wrap my head around. The lowest weight I ever remember being is 186 in 6th grade.
So pictures are worth 1000 words. The first pic was July 1st, two weeks before my first appt with the surgeon. The second was tonight.  
Sent from my SM-N900T using the BariatricPal App

It's been a year!!! I can't believe how fast this time has passed. I started out low bmi (height 5'8.5", starting weight: 190 lbs.) I was always physically active, but my access weight was really holding me back from excelling at all I wanted to do and be as well as causing me great anxiety. I have three young kids, and the day of surgery I woke up and thought, what am I doing?!!! Once it was done, there was no turning back, so I ate what I was supposed to, walked all the time from the get go, and came to this forum for support!
This year has been one of the most amazing years of my life. As the weight melted off, I was able to be even more active, and the more active I became, the weight continued to come off. It was a cycle of health! My goal weight was 140, which I hit around 5 or 6 months post surgery. I hit my current weight about 8 months post surgery. I am now on the cusp of being underweight (124 lbs, I am guessing because I am so active), but I feel amazing! I have never felt so healthy. I do taekwondo twice a week and run a ton (this week I ran a total of 34 miles). I eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full. I still love food, but it just doesn't have the pull it used to have. It doesn't hold my thoughts hostage anymore! My husband is stoked, clothes are so fun to shop for and wear (I went from a size 14/16 to a size 2/4). I wore a bikini for the first time ever this summer! I am not self conscious to meet new people, and I don't have to pull my shirt out of my belly fat when I sit down anymore. Having gastric sleeve surgery is the greatest gift I ever gave myself!

My 12 weeks is today. These are my victories during that time.
First, the mighty scale... I've dropped 70 pounds! I even went to a Thanksgiving dinner at church last night.


Next, the tale of the tape. Weekly measurements show me down 30.75 inches from my chest, stomach, waist, biceps, thighs and calfs.
Non scale victories.
Surgery in Mexico completely changed my perception of Mexico. I would go back for vacation. I felt comfortable and safe.
I can still cook for a bunch of people and enjoy it without feeling like I'm missing out on anything. I did this the weekend after I was sleeved.

As my stomach size has gone down I can now see more of "Mr Happy".
My wife and I are both enjoying the additional 2.5 inches of manhood and the possibilities that it has opened up. I now feel like a pornstar!
At about 4 weeks out my 38 waist shorts fell off as I got out of my vehicle at a patient's home.
On October 9th I fit in a pair of 34" Wrangler slim fit jeans!


On November 13th I fit in a pair of 32" Wrangler slim fit jeans!


My blood pressure is normal!

My shirts no longer fit! I went from a 4xl loose to a 2xl loose/XL snug.


This is the same shirt.

My wife can put her arms all of the way around me!!!!!!!

My wife has made some changes as well and she has lost some weight. She now fits in clothes that she hasn't been able to wear in years!


As crazy as this sounds, my poop no longer stinks! Sure it still smells like poop but before it was like death coming out of my ass. I even eat chili 4 times per week because the Fiber keeps me regular.
I hurt myself exercising! No way I would have done that before. I won't say that I enjoy exercise but I'm actually doing it.
I weigh less than I have in my entire adult life. I can remember being 225 in the picture of me with this monster backpack. I believe that I was 13 at the time. Check out the cuffed pants because of how short I am. The backpack was 100 pounds!

Drawbacks;
My feet are almost always cold even with thermal socks.
My hands get cold easily.
I've almost lost my wedding ring.
I have a theory on the cold. My heart rate and blood pressure are much lower now. I used to have a resting heart rate of 85-87 now it is 67-69. That is about 20% less blood flowing through my body to keep me warm.
My ass is so boney that it is uncomfortable to sit more than half an hour. I now sit on a thin gel pad...
Some extra pictures.
Hard to believe that I used to fit in this!


This is my favorite picture of my wife and I. We took this before we were married in 2008.

This is the same shirt.

And this is that same shirt now.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w242/skylarkgp/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-11-20%2020.40.29_zpsydq39xbx.jpg
I love/hate this picture. I love that my boy and I are both enjoying being in the garage tearing down this engine. I hate that I look like fat bastards stunt double from Austin Powers.
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w242/skylarkgp/Mobile%20Uploads/20150425_115026_zps6c76pg4d.jpg
Geez!
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w242/skylarkgp/Caseysfirstgaragepics045.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w242/skylarkgp/IMG_0099.jpg

I took 6 weeks off.. today is my first day back.. and almost 40 pounds lost!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I will be 7 months post-op in just a few days! Loving my sleeve. First pic was 2/14/16 before surgery, other was today. Sleeved 3/30/16 

@@rose1504
Definitely get your Thyroid checked, and not just TSH and T4, but T3 as well.
I have Graves Disease (autoimmune thyroid disease), this kept me slim my whole life, till 2014 when it did 180 degree turn, and I was piling on weight at a frightening speed. I went from 60kg to 101kg between 2014 and March 2016.
I also developed astonishing sweet cravings during that time, which made a mess of me. Graves is Hyper-thyroid.
I had every symptom of this disease, except of bulging eyes and goitre.
There is also Hypo-thyroid (under-active), Hashimotos etc which also can really mess with metabolism and general well being.
Good luck @@rose1504
I hope you don't have thyroid disease, as I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy ......
Had my both ear Daiths pierced 3 weeks ago, to see if they would help my thyroid Migraines and severe headaches.
They (the acupressure point piercings) helped me tremendously!
I was living almost daily on very strong pain killers. Now, I don't take them, and so those piercings really helped me.
I have a huge stock of heavy duty pain killers at home, and now I forget all about them.
So, Good Luck with all your tests.
Please let us know how you went.

Sanaa.a keep strong, focused and positive.
The first 2 months were the hardest for me.
Psychologically I couldn't cope with the fact that I couldn't eat solids, but trust me when I say, it does get better.
The shakes in the beginning were the worst for me. I never want to see another shake in my life!!!
Just hang in there. When you start to see your shape change & your weight drop you know it's all worth it!
This is a journey that we will never forget.
Nice to know there's another Sydney sleever on here
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm in Australia too, Qld I use MyFitnessPal and love it for tracking Protein and calories. I'm 5 months out and 17kg or 37.5lbs from my goal. I've noticed that the closer I get to my goal the more my weight loss has slowed. From about 5-10kg or 11-22lbs a month in the first 3 months to about 2-3kg or 4.5-6.5lbs a month now. But it feels like the shape of my body is changing all the time. Did you take measurements when you started? I still take them about once a month.
HW - 140kg or 308lbs
SW - 132.5kg or 291.5lbs
CW - 92kg or 202.5lbs