blackcatsandbaddecisions

Wow, I’m one inch shorter than you and we started out at the exact same weight- 339. I’m 5’10 and I’m currently at 210.4. I feel like I look pretty good right now even though I’m still obese. Just posted my progress pics. I feel like setting a goal weight is kind of a hard thing for a lot of us who have been obese for a long time- like how should I know what I want to weigh, I’ll know when I get there I guess. I picked 165 as a number, but I might be happier higher or lower, I’ll have to see. I feel like a lot of weight has to do with body frame rather than height. I tend to not be very muscular even when I work out and lift, but I have friends with amazingly athletic figures that look fantastic at a high BMI. In the end it’s our bodies, and a goal isn’t set in stone!

I won’t say this is before and after because I’m almost 6 months post op and still going. So before and during. 5’10, 40 HW: 339 CW: 210.4 GW: 165

Let’s see if this works to upload a progress pic.

I’m so happy with my decision to not tell people. I just took a two week “vacation” from work, nobody knew what I was doing. I told a good friend who lives far away about 4 months post op, that’s it. This is my life and I don’t owe anybody anything. I’m sure some people suspect, considering I’ve lost almost 130 lbs in less than a year. But I don’t need comments or judgement, or even support or encouragement. I just needed 85% of my stomach removed. :)

A lot of the consult is to make sure that you understand surgery and you would be a good candidate. A history of your failed diets (I was like I’m gonna need an attachment, do we want to go back to the 90s or is a 20 year look back enough, haha) I used a chewable one (barimelts) but quickly switched to a capsule when I could. It’s cheaper and I don’t have to taste it! But the barimelts aren’t bad really. Never heard of oxygen. That’s a new one to me, I assume whomever had that was already on it or something. No regrets!!! I’m 120 lbs down and still losing. Best decision I ever made. I am so proud of how far I’ve come. I feel like I’ve changed my life in all the best ways.

I did v8 on my preop diet and that helped with salt. I also had miso broth (got a thing called minute miso that worked great).

I lost about 60 lbs before surgery, and I’ve lost almost 70 in the 5.5 months since surgery. Still actively losing. I’m sure my weight loss would have been faster if I’d not lost the weight presurg , but I’d also be heavier and I don’t care for that idea at all. I’m sitting at a 30 BMI right now, I was a 48. My goal weight is 48 lbs lower than I am currently and my doctor thinks that’s totally reasonable and doable. That means that total loss will be almost 175 lbs. I think that there’s an amount of weight loss that’s certain, and after a point post op then it’s behavior that gets you to continue losing, so it’s not a sure thing anymore. Maybe he’s being conservative and assuming that you won’t keep going. I personally feel motivated by the people I see on this forum who did keep going and got to goal, even though it was a long way away.

Getting used to different portion sizes. I still have a mental “seriously?!?” When I eat dinner and I’m done after like 3 bites. Physically I’m satisfied, mentally I’m not, if that makes sense. Mourning the loss of food as a treat or a reward. This is how I got into this mess in the first place, but doesn’t mean that I don’t still kinda wish I could deal with a bad day by ordering a huge pizza and buying an assortment of candy. Now I just have to deal with my feelings like a well adjusted adult or something? Not cool. (Joking....kinda)

You’re gonna do great, the good news is that some people have no pain, and many of us have some pain but only very short term. Good luck with the process!

I’ll admit, I was in some pain for the first 2 days. After that, it was basically nothing. I have so much liquid codeine left it is ridiculous. I need to find a place to dispose of it but I’ve not bothered yet. Things I found more painful than surgery: 1. Infected tooth 2. Ingrown toenail 3. Sitting in a chair for a few hours with arms that cut into my fat hips like 6 inches while trying to pretend to enjoy time with friends. Really just spending the time in pain and hating myself. Ok the last one was mostly emotional pain. But still. :)

Mirena IUD here and I love it. Stopped periods (until hormone dump from 120 lb loss kinda threw that out the window) but now it’s evening back out to no periods again. I’ll be up for a new one in a few years and I’ll def be getting it. I hated the daily pills so much and I was forever forgetting them.

I was just thinking about this thread the other day. Reporting back almost six months post surgery to say, 1. I didn’t die! Obviously. 2. I didn’t have any complications. Easy recovery, feel totally normal now but just get full super quickly. 3. It is working and I have 120 lbs of missing fat to show that’s true. 4. Insurance approved! Best advice is to find the requirements and make that your exact goal. Insurance wants you to drop out, so stick it to them and make em pay! 5. Regain will always be a fear, but I’ve grown more confident that I can use this tool to control my regain down the road. No matter how you lose weight, keeping it off will be a lifelong struggle. Basically I just wanted to check back in because I keep reading threads about people presurgery who are scared and have a lot of fears. It’s totally normal to have a ton of fear but please know that for the vast majority of us, it all ends up fine in the end.

I got a small strainer that was a godsend early surgery. I bought so many soups and strained them through that thing! Bought it at Walmart for like 1.50 and it was my best purchase.

My coworker that is almost 8 years post sleeve told me that this is the easiest diet she ever went on. And for me I’d say my experience has been very similar. A bit of struggle at the beginning, but I feel like I am finally free from endless and all consuming hunger and cravings. I’ve been on so many diets and this is the easiest and best one ever. And screw the people who say it’s the easy way out- so what if it is? How much suffering do you think that a fat person deserves to have in order to lose weight? Do we have to serve a certain amount of penance to make society happy? Unless they are weaving their own cloth for clothes and using a washing board at the creek out back, I’m pretty sure they are taking the “easy way out” in a lot of their life.

I won’t say I “did it” on my own, but I did lose almost 60 lbs before my surgery on my own. One of my friends asked why I went though with surgery after losing so much weight on my own, and my answer was that I’ve always been able to lose weight, I’ve just never been able to keep it off. Surgery gave me the help I needed to continue going. I would have backtracked by now without surgery, and I’d be continuing to fight an uphill battle because weight loss starts off easy, and gets harder the further you go. The preop 6 month diet isn’t to see if you can do it on your own, it’s the insurance trying to get people to give up so they can disqualify you. (Sorry, but I work with insurance and yes there’s a part that is making sure people are committed etc etc but mostly it’s to reduce costs by weeding people out). Give yourself the time you need, and push out that surgery date if you want. You’re the customer, you tell them when you want to do this. But really strongly consider if you are truly committed and confident you can do this on your own and maintain it for life, or if you’re nervous about surgery. It’s fine to be nervous! I was terrified. But almost 6 months and 120+ lbs later, I am so proud of the commitment I made to give myself another chance at life.

Oh man I just realized the other day I don’t have to rock to the side to get my seatbelt fastened anymore. There’s just room! And I don’t have to be concerned anymore that when I pull it out to buckle that I’ll hit the extension limit and have it lock up, and have to try again.

Yesss, getting rid of bra extenders is amazing!

You are killing it!

1. Of course. If anyone isn’t second guessing something like this then they are a more decisive person than I am that’s for sure! I was paranoid about everything. 2. Incredibly glad. I feel like I have a new lease on life. I was never going to be happy at the weight I was. It was ruining my life and a constant source of frustration and misery. If I could have done it on my own, I would have. And I couldn’t. 3. No regrets. And I don’t regret not doing it sooner either. I was at the right stage of my life to fully embrace these changes and commit to the program. 4. Nothing- I felt very well prepared, but I read everything on these forums, online, watched YouTube videos, etc. I’m an over planner. Take each day and phase of the preop and post op as they come- time flies!

I love these lists! I’m still 52 lbs from goal, but so far I have a whole list: 1. Not feeling like I have to rush home to get into pajamas because it’s the only thing that doesn’t feel like it’s strangling me. Bras just fit better when you arent as fat, who knew. 2. Chairs! Chairs with arms! Flimsy looking chairs! Patio chairs! 3. So much variety in clothes, and I can wear styles I like instead of huge frumpy cardigans over everything. I can thrift now, and shop in pretty much any store. 4. I feel like I have energy and interest in doing things again. I don’t just want to hide out at home and eat all weekend long. 5. Not being terrified of running into someone I knew 10+ years ago in public because of how fat I’d gotten. 6. I can go up the stairs and not die. I can exercise and not feel like I might die. Amazing. 7. I wore a pair of shorts yesterday and they weren’t Bermuda length! And my thighs didn’t start a small fire. 8. I like my facial features so much better now. My eyes look bigger, my jawline actually exists, and I look more like myself. 9. At my heaviest my arms stuck out weird because of the fat, and my legs were always at a weird angle because of fat as well. I can rest my arms by my sides and stand with my feet together.

4/16 was the one year anniversary of my first appointment with my surgeon! It ended up being a zoom appointment since Covid had just started. I ended up with surgery on 11/10 and I’m 122 lbs lighter today than I was a year ago. Honestly the six month process seems so long but it flies by! Then suddenly they are scheduling your surgery and it’s like wait...this is actually happening!? I’m still losing at 5 months out, with another 52 lbs to go to goal. My best advice is 1. Start losing in the six month preop time unless it would impact insurance eligibility. Every pound lost now is a pound you don’t have to lose after surgery. 2. Start dealing with any food issues you can early on- surgery will force you to cold-turkey some of them like binging or eating nonstop sugar, but dealing with the mental side of that at the same time as surgery recovery would be tough. 3. Prepare yourself to rebuy an entire wardrobe. I was excited about the thought of it until I realized things like I had to buy all new underwear and bras and everything else, not just cute and fun stuff. And it’s expensive! 4. Your mileage may vary, but this is the best present I’ve ever given myself. It’s amazing to be able to free yourself from a lifelong problem that affects every part of your life. Where you are a year from now is going to be incredible.

I started taking them when I ran out of my others. All good on my part.

You look amazing! Congrats!

Peterson calculator says I should be 154 lbs as a 5’10 woman. I’ve been there before, and it was pretty great. I set my goal weight at 165 but let’s see how it gets when I get closer.

Well, I’m about your age and I’m getting close to finding out. I started off at 340 and I’m currently 217. I have about 50 lbs to go to goal. So far I don’t have any loose skin, so it was encouraging that I could lose over 100 lbs without that. In the end it’s always removable, or more likely I’ll just live with it. At this point in my life I don’t really care about swimsuits and flat stomachs.