SleeveToBypass2023

Thank you!! I really never thought I would lose 100 pounds. I hoped for it, I worked towards it, but I didn't think I'd actually get here. It feels really good.

I can't believe it. As of today, 7 months and 1 week since my surgery, I have officially lost 100 pounds!!!! I was 388 the day of my surgery. I cried this morning when I weighed myself. My next goal is to hit 270, which is what I weighed when I met my husband. After that, my last goal is to get to 200. Once I do that, I'll have to maintain it for a while and then SKIN SURGERY!!!!! There's no magic cure, no pill or food or drink that just magically makes the weight melt off. This is the result of the sleeve surgery, keto, working out 5-6 days per week (and alternating between cardio and weight training), and staying on track with what, and how much, I eat. No one thing works for me, it all has to be combined into a partnership for my mind and body. Surgery alone isn't enough. Keto alone won't work (at least it didn't for me). Working out by itself helps a little, but not enough. It ALL has to work together, and the key is to stay motivated and dedicated. Stalls suck, and they get frustrating. But as long as I keep my eyes on the prize, I'm actually gonna get there!!!! I never thought this was possible, but here I am

I've been doing green tea, white tea, vanilla chai black tea, and oolong tea. And I also use monkfruit sweetener. These teas taste good, help curb appetite, have some caffeine (not a lot, but enough), and help with burning fat. Man, I love tea lol

I'm surprised the surgery was scheduled before having insurance approval. Is it possible to maybe find another doctor (I have BCBS of Illinois and they wouldn't allow the surgery to happen if the doctor AND the hospital weren't both in network) and see if they can get the surgery approved based on your new comorbidities.

When we go out to eat, my meal tends to last me 3 days because I can't eat as much as I used to. So I get more for my money that way. Also, I don't eat fast food at all, I'm not buying junk food from the store, and I eat way less in general, so the food I DO buy lasts longer.

I'm finally able to keep a little food down and the head cold part is easing up. This chest cold, tho. Lord have mercy. It's just settled right in. I weighed myself today and I lost 5 pounds in 5 days from being so sick. I could only hold down liquids and protein shakes. I'm all for losing weight, but not like that. As I slooowly integrate food back in my diet again, I'm sure I'll put those 5 pounds back on. But that's actually ok. I want to lose the right way. I still can't work out, but maybe things will start to turn around before long. I just want to feel better. I really miss working out. But I have an appt on Monday with my doctor. If my coughing and breathing don't get any better by then, I have to go get xrays of my chest and get put on a nebulizer, steroids, and whatever else. Again. So working out is definitely not in the cards for a while. Grrrr.....

I've learned to only weigh myself once a week now because sometimes water weight can make a 2-4 pound fluctuation, and it'll drive ya nuts lol Watch salt intake and I bet it'll go away soon. Water weight sucks.

Thanks guys. It's super annoying, lemme tell ya.

Man, I haven't been able to do any kind of working out for the last 5 days because my whole house is SICK. We're all covid negative, but we have a nasty flu and stomach bug and OMG I'm over it. Been resting a lot, taking echinacea, extra vit C, protein shakes with extra protein and greens (stomach bug keeping me from eating too many foods), lots of tea (green tea, white tea, oolong tea), and OTC cough and congestion meds. UGH. Not even remotely feeling Christmasy, just wanna get better. Praying this doesn't turn into pneumonia again (I've had it 5x, and I have lung damage because of it).

Thank you

That's how I am. Sometimes we have to remember that slow and steady wins the race. I lost 30 pounds in the first 2 weeks after surgery. Now I am 7 months out, and I lose MAYBE 2 pounds a week. Sometimes 3. And my stalls went from 2 weeks to 3 to 4. Every 6 weeks or so, I hit another one. When It breaks, I drop like 5 or 6 pounds. Then it goes back to inching along until my next stall. It's really frustrating, but what you want to do is focus on your NSV (Non Scale Victories). Does your face look smaller? Are your clothes getting looser? Do your rinds feel bigger? Can you move around better? When the scale isn't doing what we want it to, we have to look to see what our bodies are doing. THAT's where you'll get a more complete picture of what's happening.

As many of you know, I never lost my hunger. From day 1 I still had it. And it's made this journey harder than it needed to be. I tried a few different appetite suppressants and they did nothing at all for me. 2 weeks ago, I found one called PhenQ. I read the reviews and the ingredients and really liked how it sounded, so I bought it. I got it a week ago and have been using it everyday, and FINALLY I can say I have absolutely NO hunger!!! I set alarms to remind me to eat, and it's amazing. It speeds up my metabolism, burns fat, and REALLY kills my appetite. I have zero cravings, zero hunger. There's a day and a night version, and I bought both. So here's how it works: I take one pill in the morning with breakfast (about 7:30am). I totally skip the first snack of the day because I have no hunger at all. About 4 1/2 hours after breakfast, I take the 2nd daytime pill with lunch (around noon). I skip my 2nd snack because again, no hunger at all. Then I have dinner around 5 or 5:30pm. Normally around 8:30pm or so I'm getting a bit hungry, but I take the 2 pills at night around 8pm and I'm not hungry at all for the rest of the night. I honestly don't even think about food, and I would forget to eat if I didn't have the alarms set. And that's what I wanted. I take in about 1300 - 1350 calories per day and I work out 6 days per week for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours each day. On the day I don't work out, I take in around 1000-1100 calories. 4 days per week I do cardio and 2 days per week I do weight training. I have never felt better or been happier, and I'm now about 1-2 weeks away from moving into size 18/20 clothes!!!! If I decide one day that I want a snack, I will have it. But having it be a choice versus always feeling hungry is what I always wanted. And now I finally have it. I was also doing strict keto, but decided to move to low carb versus keto. I have a carb blocker I take with my meal that is the most carb heavy (either breakfast or dinner, depending on what I have). It's called Carb Catcher by 310 Nutrition. Those, my multi-vitamin, my biotin, my collagen powder, my soluble fiber powder, my digestive enzyme with pre and pro-biotics pill, and my MS meds are all I take now. I drink my greens everyday and I eat well. And I have to say, I feel "normal" for the first time is decades. Healthy, active, and normal.

Did you ever figure out what it was? How are you doing now?

I was diagnosed with leukocytosis about 10 years ago. It just is what it is. As long as everything is ok, I wouldn't worry too much. One of my MS meds actually lowers WBC, so now I'm almost in the normal range lol

How did it go? Thinking about you.

I did a 2 1/2 hour workout today, and while my body is sore now, it felt SO GOOD. I did 1/2 hour of weight training, 1 hour on the treadmill with 3 pound ankle weights on, and 1 hour on the bike with the weights on. I also did 30 stomach crunches and 50 sit ups. Very happy with the workout. Definitely making up for yesterday.

That's awesome!!!!! Congrats

It's all Thanksgiving's fault. I avoided the mashed potatoes, but I had some gravy made from turkey drippings and stuffing, as well as cheesy peas and 2 Hawaiian sweet rolls, besides the turkey. Not all at once, because I can't eat that much at once. But throughout the day, yep. Definitely didn't eat right. So...today I get back to basics and reset my pouch and my mindset. I didn't workout yesterday, so today is strictly back to my diet and my working out. I've been so good at not cheating and not messing up, but yesterday was too much for me to resist. So, time to get back on track. But MAN it was so yummy lol

My last stall was 4 weeks. I was also getting frustrated and stressed about it. I started tracking EVERYTHING I ate and drank (you'd be surprised what "healthy" drinks still have a lot of carbs and calories) and I added weight training to my exercise routine. 3 days later, my stall broke. This was on the advice of my nutritionist, and it worked. Track every single thing you consume and change up your exercise routine.

I sometimes do this. I have a chart on my fridge and I list what I eat, when I eat it, the calories and carbs I eat (did this because I noticed that I was paying way more attention to carb consumption and not calories, and I was having WAY too many calories per day, so now I can track it easier and make better choices). I have 3 meals and a snack per day, but I always allow for a 2nd snack in the evening if I really need/want it. If I don't, then those budgeted calories/carbs go uneaten for the day. If I do, it was already budgeted in and I'm still within my limits. Sometimes it's all about playing head games with yourself....and winning lol

My turn!!! First pic is pre-surgery. Needed a cane to get around. Was in a size 28. Second pics are from today (about 10 minutes ago) and down 90 pounds. In a size 22. No more cane!!!

I have BCBS of Illinois and from my first appt to surgery day was 2 months and a week months. My first appt was Feb 28th and my surgery was May 3rd.

I have 2 tricks. I eat half my allotted dinner at dinner time and the other half later that night. I also take an appetite suppressant after dinner so by the time I'm starting to feel hungry it's not too far off from my bed time, so I finish my dinner and then I'm good for the night. Late night snacking has always been my weakness, so I made sure I had a plan for it. Doesn't do much for head hunger, but when I know I have food allotted for later, and I know I'm not feeling hungry, it makes it easier to resist giving in to it and makes it easier to distract myself with other things (I tend to watch true crime youtube videos lol Really works).

No. That's got nothing to do with a PAP. Ways to find it are through blood work and classic symptoms such as irregular or non existent periods, skin tags, dark areas under arms and under breasts, predominant weight gain in the stomach area, inability to get or stay pregnant, major hormonal imbalances, insulin resistance, etc...

That's so sweet!!! Thank you!! I never thought I would love exercise, either lol