LiveFreeOrDie

So creeping up on the 3 months post - op milestone and whilst I love being this weight instead of my old weight I am not sure I ever got this quick and rapid weight loss that I was warned about that would be all too obvious to people. I just went into my office nearly 70 lbs lighter then when they last saw me over 6 months over .. not a word was mentioned !!! So instead I like to concentrate on some of the NSV's I set myself before surgery which makes my happy. What makes you happy about where you are on your journey ?
The #'s My date 4/3/2017
HW - 275
SW - 245
CW - 208
Dress size was 20 or 2/3X now 14 or XL/L
Shopping all the fab choices of flattering clothing in the regular sizes (bank account does not love this) right at the front of the shop rather than in a department tucked away out of sight sometimes behind the homewares ! Flying, I FITTED I FITTED !!! into the airline seat, I didn't spill out over or under the armrest, the belt did up with room to spare, the tray table came all the way down and didn't rest of my stomach and I didn't feel nervous sitting down next to the person in the seat next to me. I even had a business class seat for one leg and quite happily lead down in the seat without feeling wedged in. I have cleaned out my entire wardrobe and filling it a new I can fit into a bath towel covering all that should be covered. I swing a golf club without my body getting in the way and can bend down and pick the ball out of the hole, and its so nice to do it in cute regular sized golf outfits Tied my shoe laces just by bending down normally I am not horrified when I see a side profile of myself (still a WIP) I like seeing face photos of me online all the chubbiness has gone I have not seen any full body shots yet I crossed my legs, I didn't even realize I was doing it but I looked down and there I was sat chilled out on the sofa at work with my legs crossed I am now obese level 1 instead of morbidly obese, again still a work in progress but its nice to remove the word morbidly from anything related to yourself. I am sure there are many more but I just went down my list of goals I created in the waiting room for surgary and already ticked off most of them and some I just don't know yet as I have not tried. So when I get frustrated at the scales I look at at this and realize that yep I have come a long way.

I woke up from surgery not regretting a thing (Think because I was given pain meds when I was asleep on the way to recovery room) I was there for 3 hours total even when I was okay. I had to pee, but I wanted to wait until I had gotten my room, because I was not used to the idea of a bed pan. I found out the incision near my belly button started bleeding a bit even after being glued. But it got patched, which is good. Overall, I was happy for a short time until I got into my room. I got pretty emotional and started crying when my fiancé wouldn't answer his phone, I called 20 times because I wanted him here with me. He ended up coming two hours later.
Just tonight, I walked 5 times, the two times I got up to walk, I walked 2 laps, and then just one an hour later because gas pain was getting pretty bad (I had not passed gas all today.) the pain was a 7, so I was just given pain meds to help me sleep. So far the pressure of the gas is still there, but the pain is a 2-3.
The nurses are so nice. My highest weight was 360, today my surgery weight is 337. My goal is 160, and my height is 5'7 1/2.
Overall, today was good. I was not nervous, I was calm. I woke up high and yelling "Hey you!" To a nurse and telling her how pretty she is.
Here I am.
I just wanted to tell my experience from yesterday. I get discharged this late morning.

Hey y'all! Checking in!
2.5 years post op
SW: 323
CW: 153
Size 24/26 to a 4/6
No skin removal

After all this time, and all this work, I still love my sleeve even with everything that comes with it. I am still amazed at how my body cyclically and periodically continues to drop weight. I never dreamed that I would lose this much. I have left my stretch goal in the dust, because when I started it seemed unlikely I would ever reach it anyway even though it would still be considered 60 pounds overweight. I am now well beneath that and I am continuing. Here is a picture of before and present.

Good luck!

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I'm silently freaking out , anxious and my stomach hurts haha, maybe it knows something's up.
I can't believe it's finally here.
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Today I had an "ah-ha" moment. It took 4 years, but I think I get it! It was triggered by this before photo popping up in my Facebook memories from 5 years ago, (coupled with my most recent post-op photo taken last week, down 120 pounds since surgery in 2013). (attached below)
....And then reading the following quote on a friend's post:
"Maybe the journey isn't so much about becoming anything. Maybe it's about unbecoming everything that isn't you so you can be who you were in the first place."
I've struggled for years since losing the weight after surgery with questions of "is this the 'real' me, or am I just pretending and the 'real' 'fat' me will resurface sooner or later?" "Can people really change long-term?" It felt like the obese, sad, self-hating "me" was a monster waiting just below the surface to re-emerge. Give enough time and the right circumstances, the "real me" monster will rear it's head and I'll find myself back at nearly 300 pounds.
Guys! I get it now! It's not about change. It's not about the "sticking power" of change. It's not about willpower or determination. It's not even about counting carbs, Protein, calories, and ounces of Water. Sure those are tools that help. But it's not about that.
It's about doing the hard emotional work to figure out why I was hiding myself behind 150 excess pounds. It was about allowing myself to have a voice and using it. It was about demanding self-respect and respect from others. It was about leaving behind, painfully as it was in some cases, the toxic people in my life who emotionally damaged me. It was about processing the feelings that I didn't allow myself to feel for 18 years.
Once I realized this, once I did this work, I could little by little shed the layers that hid who I was. I don't hate myself anymore. I'm not even angry at myself for letting myself get to be 300 pounds like I was when my journey started. I realize now that I was coping. I was doing the best I knew how to do at the time. I look at that person in the "before" picture below and I feel compassion because I know she did her best.
I'm able now to let go the "fear" - and trust me, it's a literal fear - of that "real me" monster re-emerging from just below the surface. I can let it go because I realize, this is the real me. It was actually opposite. It was all the hiding I was doing under the emotional eating and the 150 excess pounds that was hiding the "real me."
So I have to on some level disagree with those who say this is a process of change. Sure, you have to change your behavioral choices with food and exercise or none of this will work. But for me it was not "becoming a new person" or "changing" who I am as a person. For me it was about simply allowing myself to feel and allowing myself to return home to who I was before I was hurt and who the universe intends me to be.
Feel free to check out my blog linked in my signature for more of my journey!

Feeling good about my progress!
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My gastric bypass surgery was 4 months ago--January 23rd 2017.

Age: 22
Height: 5ft
High weight: 220
Surgery weight: 214
Current weight: 158
Goal weight: 150 (so close!)

I've tried to make a point of taking a picture when I hit a 10 pound weight loss mark. I had the surgery to avoid future comorbidities because with PCOS and hypothyroid issues (not to mention a whole list of family illnesses I'm at risk of) this surgery was my best chance of reaching a healthy weight and keeping it.
Im not out of the woods yet! 4 months out and 8 pounds from my goal this process has been the hardest thing I've ever done. Here are a few things I've noticed:
I started at a lower weight and I cannot compare my weight loss journey to others and I would caution other people from doing the same. ive stopped comparing the pounds I have lost to the pounds of others. It will rob you of joy. Celebrate your successes.
Physicaly: I feel strong. Like hulk strong. i can cross my legs now! How bout that!? Yet I don't think that I have all my energy back. I'm lethargic, I get tired easily, I sleep A LOT.
Getting in enough Protein is a struggle. Remembering to take all those Vitamins is a struggle too. I find that when I forget the reaction is usually delayed. 2 or 3 days down the road it hits me hard.
I now wear a size 12/14. I started at a 22. I went to a wedding over the weekend and got several comments about how thin I looked from people who hadn't seen me since before my surgery. I'm very open when I talk about this surgery (I know that not everyone is because, let's face it, there are some really ignorant judgemental people who have no idea what it's like) and I do try to educate if people seem genuinely interested in finding out. The positive voices in my life tend to drown out the negative ones.
Im loosing hair by the fistful. It's alarming! My self confidence and drive is at an all-time high. It's fantastic! I've started working out and I even began Insanity. I have really good days and I have days where I break down. My teeth are starting to have problems. My face looks older. My skin is sagging. Shopping for clothing is both exhilarating and frustrating. I've donated bags and bags to goodwill and there is still a nagging voice in the back of my head that says one day I might need them again.
Everyone at work and everyone in my family knows I've had the surgery. It keeps me accountable but I also feel that it puts a lot of pressure on me to "deliver". In the years to come I wonder how quickly people will look me up and down and speculate about my weight. Have I gained? Have I lost? And I know they will because (I'm sad to say) I do this to others all the time. Ive made some friends who've had the surgery--some who've kept the weight off and others who haven't. I don't take a single pound that I shed for granted.
I don't crave food as much. It's like some spell that made me a ravenous binge eater is, at least for now, broken. People ask if I regret the surgery and depending on the day, you'll get a different answer. I'm enjoying the journey.

anyone else feel this way?

I am so thankful that all has gone well for you! It makes me happy to here how well you have don. I have 11 more days. We got this. You can message me anytime.


I am excited and committed to my new life and better health.

So my surgeon office just called me and told me my surgery date is June 6. I'm so excited all my hard work payed off.
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I had my sleeve done on Oct 18, 2017. BEST DECISION EVER. I am almost a new person. The things I can do now that I couldnt before such as drive without the steering wheel on my stomach, tie my shoes without being out of breath, walk up stairs without hurting, play with my son. These are just a few things I can do now. So far I have lost a total of 110lbs! The only loose skin I have is my arms but it's always been like this. Working out to tone them up as much as possible!!! Guys what's your story.