lzucks

This is my first photo post on BP! I read this forum almost every day and find it so helpful but never had the nerve to post a picture. My one year surgiversary was last week and I’ve lost 118 lbs total. Hit my goal in less than 10 months and been maintaining since. Before this summer, I don’t remember the last time I wore white pants, but now I have 3 pairs! 😊

This is my first photo post on BP! I read this forum almost every day and find it so helpful but never had the nerve to post a picture. My one year surgiversary was last week and I’ve lost 118 lbs total. Hit my goal in less than 10 months and been maintaining since. Before this summer, I don’t remember the last time I wore white pants, but now I have 3 pairs! 😊

This is my first photo post on BP! I read this forum almost every day and find it so helpful but never had the nerve to post a picture. My one year surgiversary was last week and I’ve lost 118 lbs total. Hit my goal in less than 10 months and been maintaining since. Before this summer, I don’t remember the last time I wore white pants, but now I have 3 pairs! 😊

This is my first photo post on BP! I read this forum almost every day and find it so helpful but never had the nerve to post a picture. My one year surgiversary was last week and I’ve lost 118 lbs total. Hit my goal in less than 10 months and been maintaining since. Before this summer, I don’t remember the last time I wore white pants, but now I have 3 pairs! 😊

This is my first photo post on BP! I read this forum almost every day and find it so helpful but never had the nerve to post a picture. My one year surgiversary was last week and I’ve lost 118 lbs total. Hit my goal in less than 10 months and been maintaining since. Before this summer, I don’t remember the last time I wore white pants, but now I have 3 pairs! 😊

This is my first photo post on BP! I read this forum almost every day and find it so helpful but never had the nerve to post a picture. My one year surgiversary was last week and I’ve lost 118 lbs total. Hit my goal in less than 10 months and been maintaining since. Before this summer, I don’t remember the last time I wore white pants, but now I have 3 pairs! 😊

This is my first photo post on BP! I read this forum almost every day and find it so helpful but never had the nerve to post a picture. My one year surgiversary was last week and I’ve lost 118 lbs total. Hit my goal in less than 10 months and been maintaining since. Before this summer, I don’t remember the last time I wore white pants, but now I have 3 pairs! 😊

This morning my youngest and I are doing the “Kindergarten Practice Bus Run” for the district. I’m feeling like a healthy, confident young mom 😉

Be sure to take your D3 and Calcium together but apart from the multi. The calcium and Iron don't go well together for absorption.

My puréed Foods were things like yogurt, ricotta cheese, applesauce (unsweetened), non-chunky Soups, thin cream of wheat... I never actually puréed anything except canned peaches and pears.

I’m also at 900-1000 most days, almost 10 months out. Will be increasing calories soon though because I’m TWO pounds from my goal!!! 😀

My puréed Foods were things like yogurt, ricotta cheese, applesauce (unsweetened), non-chunky Soups, thin cream of wheat... I never actually puréed anything except canned peaches and pears.

So many pics it's hard to keep up. everyone IS LOOKING GORGEOUS but I do agree that there are a number of you that could do with smaller sizes. Clothes that are too big and baggy are not as flattering as clothes that fit well. Its a hard adjustment to make after having been overweight. Keep the oversized stuff for around the house and treat yourselves to nice new things for going out.

I lost all my excess weight in 10 months. 115 lbs down. I’ve been maintaining for a month now and so far so good. Logged everything every day, focused on Protein, limited carbs, go to the gym. Nothing magical but doing it all works!

I lost all my excess weight in 10 months. 115 lbs down. I’ve been maintaining for a month now and so far so good. Logged everything every day, focused on Protein, limited carbs, go to the gym. Nothing magical but doing it all works!

18 years ago, a dear friend, was having wls in Nashville. as they were about to wheel her into the pre op room, a nurse told her," you are going to be beautiful". Her doctor, standing beside her, quickly replied to the nurse. "She's already beautiful". He'll never know how much those words meant to her in that moment.

You are going through one of the hardest times in my opinion. The head cravings are crazy!
Things that helped me:
1. Closed my eyes and plugged my ears/muted TV during commercials so I didn't have to see the food comms.
2. Stopped all cooking shows/food magazines/limited FB or IG time so I wasn't getting the food cues shoved at me.
3. Got busy! I was a walking animal! Any time I craved, I would make myself drink Water until full. FULL. Then I had to take a 5-15 minute walk depending on my ability at that time.
4. Started doing creative things - puzzles, coloring, paint by numbers, crochet/knit/needlework.
5. Play solitaire and word games on mobile
6. Got out of the house and got sunshine/deep breathed
7. Immersed myself here and got support both here and in RL support groups.
8. Immersed myself in learning about doing head work to change behaviors and relationships with food, doing research on WLS, nutrition, longevity, intermittent fasting. Watch a LOT of YouTube on these subjects.
9. Kept food as minimal and low reward/clean as possible. Spent as LITTLE time as possible interacting with food. (ie grilling chicken and fish for multiple meals/days then just adding veggies to the meal so literally it took 5-10 minutes to pull a meal together for us--clean, whole foods).
10.Broke up with thinking in terms of "treating" myself with food cuz I "deserve" it. Cuz honestly? Treating myself with food is actually self-harming behavior. It doesn't contribute to my long term weight loss plan/success or maintenance plan. It's an abusive activity.
**I promise you, if you do NOT feed the cravings, the cravings go away and get less and less over time. For most of us, sugar, sweet tastes, and high glycemic carbs are the foods that light up our lizard brains (pleasure centers).

Okay so I’m almost 5 months out from sleeve

I started at exactly 40% BMI (which means I couldn’t lose any weight in the months leading up to surgery because i needed my insurance to foot the bill).

Here are but a few of the positives:


I lost 7 pounds on the 10 day pre-surgery diet and I’ve lost another 62 pounds since surgery day on February 6th.

I’m 5’7” and I’ve gone from 253 pounds to 184 since January 27th.
I went from a size 22 to a comfortable size 14, and the good news is I figure I have another 30-40 pounds I’ll lose before I’m finished.

I’m 50 years old and I’m in better shape than I’ve been in since I was 28

I can now work a 12 hr shift (ALL of it on my feet) and not be in agony at the end of the day.

I can shop in the non-plus size section of any clothing store.

I don’t chronically worry if I’m going to “fit” into any space.

I no longer feel as if people are watching or judging me based off of my weight.

The negatives:

Eating and drinking have to be planned to an extent.
Every morning I know what I’m going to have for the day because I planned it out BEFORE I woke up in the morning. There really isn’t ever anymore free-styling food. Best have a plan.

I have to be somewhat careful of when I time my food/liquids or it hurts.
Nothing brings you into focus faster than accidentally taking a huge swig from your water bottle right after you’ve eaten lunch.
Don’t worry.... all of us have done it and while it hurts like the dickens, it won’t cause any lasting damage.

I have to convince friends and family that it is “okay” to eat with me or around me.
So many people in my life still apologize to me when they order somethings “sinful” at a restaurant. Yesterday a coworker brought a box of Doughnuts in and then apologizes for the next hour.
Here’s the deal.... the cravings for these kinds of things almost completely disappear and you find yourself not caring in the least that there’s a box of Crispy Kremes on the back counter because you’re trying your best to figure out how you’re gonna drink another 24 ounces of Water and eat a boiled egg in the next 2 hrs.

Holidays and special occasions are going to be a bit different.
Anyone who tells you any different probably never had family who likes food, or something else weird like that, but the reality is that it WILL be different.
Honestly though, now that I’ve gone though a few things like this, I’m HAPPY that things are different. Now instead of hanging around eating and drinking and all of the self-loathing that goes along with its, I can focus more on people and the party and not be chained by the food.

Yes.... if it’s a special occasion , have a bite or two of cake. Who cares if you eat a tiny bit?

Thursday on the 4th I’ve got a wedding to attend and I fully plan on grabbing a slice of wedding cake and grabbing a glass of wine. I’ll more than likely eat 1-2 bites of cake and drink ALL of the wine, but it will be so much fun to dance in my size 12 dress that I can now fit into and not have to always keep an eye out for the person taking pictures so I can run and hide.
This time I won’t care if someone takes a photo of me because I will be having a blast and looking great!

I’ve gone from 44DD to 34C. Band and cup sizes both go down!

Be careful with the zero carb bread. I’m 10 months out and tried it about 3 months ago. I felt like a balloon was expanding in my stomach for 4 hours. It was awful! I’ve had good luck with Flatout Wraps. The chipotle flavored one is smaller and just like 60 calories I think. Or I do half an original one.

Be careful with the zero carb bread. I’m 10 months out and tried it about 3 months ago. I felt like a balloon was expanding in my stomach for 4 hours. It was awful! I’ve had good luck with Flatout Wraps. The chipotle flavored one is smaller and just like 60 calories I think. Or I do half an original one.

Swiss Miss reduced calorie hot cocoa (35 cal) made with Skim Milk has been my go-to evening snack.

An interesting read from The Guardian (UK) -Bariatric divorce: why extreme weight loss leads to break ups https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jun/17/bariatric-divorce-why-extreme-weight-loss-leads-to-break-ups

I am 63 years old and 50 years of obesity had taken a terrible toll on my quality of life. I dodged the diabetes and hypertension bullets, but I developed sleep apnea, had 1 knee replacement with the other knee very painful with shrinking cartilage. I couldn't hike, get on/off the floor with my grand kids, and was becoming more and more immobile. I could only see my life going downhill very quickly. I was on NSAIDS daily for the joint pain. Yes, I could lose weight - I have probably lost over 1,000 pounds all told, but always gained it back with more and more destruction of my metabolism. I also thought, "Maybe I should just try again to lose it on my own." My doctor brought me to my senses, "If you could have done it by now, you would have." So true. So I decided to have the surgery as a tool to help me finally overcome this obstacle in my life.
Since surgery, I have not needed an NSAID at all! No joint pain! I can hike, play with the kids, go up/down stairs, and am much more active. I got a new job that is very, very active - I could not have done this job 6 months ago, I am not depressed - in fact many days I feel almost euphoric. I feel 10 years younger - maybe even 20 years younger! My sleep apnea is resolving, and I truly feel that I have been given a second chance at life. At my age, this is the last chance I get - I'm not going to blow it. This surgery has been an amazing gift to my health, self esteem, and my future. I now have new goals - to ride the 100+ mile El Tour de Tucson bike race, to hike the entire 830 mile Arizona Trail, and to never be on meds for diabetes, blood pressure, or cholesterol. And now I know I can do it! The quality of life is sooooooo worth it.

So last night I was so tired that I fell asleep on the couch around 6pm and woke up 12 and a half hours later. And I didn't get up to pee the entire time! It made me realize that I can hold my pee in waaaaaaaay longer than I used to. I remember having to go almost every 1-2 hours (even at night). Yay bladder control!!!