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I forgot about that outlet, pretty much stopped shopping at Talbot's when I had to exclusively shop in the woman's section. I would love to meet you there when you're ready. Never heard of Shopittome.

Thank you for checking in, was thinking of you yesterday, but wasn't sure if you'd be home yet. Rest, sip, and walk:-)

That is so WONDERFUL!!! I am so proud of you, you are such an inspiration to us all. I'm so happy for you...you deserve to treat yourself (or better yet have your husband treat you) to something very special. Congratulations!!!

I work at a school about 10 minutes from there. I agree with the outlets, too bad I haven't always followed that advice and spent too much money on regular priced clothes. I LOVED shopping in my own closet, but now I'm through all the sizes I had, so when I'm out of these I have nothing to go to.

Cold's suck, I had a really bad one last weekend that carried into Monday. We have the day off here in honor of Veteran's Day, and I was able to sleep in until 7:00 AM (I'm on the East Coast now). I'm still in pajamas and laying in the recliner, so technically I'm not "up." :-) I hope you feel better soon!

I think you are doing FANTASTIC! In my first 4 weeks, I lost 21 lbs. and at 6 weeks my loss was 29 lbs. There are some people I remember reading posts from, on another board, that lose in large chunks quickly and then plateau for a while. Good luck! Like Charitymarroquin said, you are doing the right things and eventually your calorie deficit will give your body no choice but to drop the pounds.

Wow, 12 hour night shifts, I have never been in this or a similar situation, but that sounds a bit tough. In my job I've done my fair share of 12 hour days that were very draining, and I know that exercise was one of the last things on my mind when I was finished. You mention that on your days off you like to catch up on family time. Do you think you could incorporate some exercise/physical activity into this time? Maybe plan bike rides, hikes, take an exercise class, mall walk, walk to the park and play (this of course would depend on your climate and/or kid's ages)?

PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Here's a link with some basic information about it. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome << Frequently Asked Questions << womenshealth.gov

Newmom- I actually live in Maryland now, but work in Arlington. I would love to get together for a shopping trip! Outlets maybe? Just let me know when you are ready and I'm totally there. Tiff-You are my hero in so many ways, I can't wait for that normal relationship.

Thank you so much, this comment just made my night. Good luck with your goal as well.

You definitely have hope and have done terrific so far! If you average the loss, that is 12.6 pounds per month. Have you added in an exercise routine yet? The exercise I do really helps me to create that calorie deficit needed to lose the weight. Also, what is your food intake like. Maybe you need to mix it up to break this stall? Some days I do quite a bit of carbs, other days very high protein and little carbs. We'll help you work on breaking this stall.

My husband called and talked with the lady who does our taxes. She said that it was deductible. I'm not sure exactly what we will need, but I need to call the hospital and have them reprint some of the receipts for the pre-op testing, but other than that, I have kept all other receipts.

I never set a goal weight with my surgeon. At my last follow-up appointment he asked me about it and I responded that I wanted to be in a normal weight range. On here I had set my goal weight as 138 lbs (23 bmi), because that would be exactly 100 lbs from my consultation weight (although not my highest weight). This weekend I did some thinking and have adjusted my goal weight to 148 lbs. This puts my bmi at 24.6, which I know is the high end of normal, but I think it's a great goal for me. In high school I managed to get down to 158 for a few months, but cannot ever remember being lower than that. My goal may get adjusted again, I'll just have to wait and see. I have also decided to begin eating as normally as possible as I work on dropping the last 23 lbs. I've really struggled with whether or not to push myself to goal as fast as possible during my "honeymoon" stage by staying on a high protein and low carb diet or use this weight loss process/journey to develop some new habits with food while I have such good restriction. The latter choice entails not depriving myself of any foods as long as I limit the portion and/or frequency. For now this is what I will try to do. I am continuing with my protein supplement and eating protein first, but I am also allowing carbs back in and no longer tracking them. I JUST WANT TO HAVE A NORMAL RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD! We'll see how this goes, if that's even possible for me. I figure if I can manage to lose these last pounds with this diet in place, there shouldn't be any reason why I cannot maintain my weight loss. Now, if I really start to stall then I will be back to high protein, low carb.

I was the same as you, started looking and planning for the lapband, but after researching further decided the sleeve was the right surgery for me. It's such a personal decision, but I really liked the permanency of the sleeve...I didn't want my weight loss to be temporary. Spend some time reading here on the forums, check out the revision from band to sleeve forum, and ask any questions you have. This is the first message board I have ever participated on because I have found the people here to be wonderfully supportive and knowledgeable. Good luck on your journey!

Good job on the workout! I too want to lose my spare tire. What type of protein bars did you find? Oh, I totally think you should try Zumba, just stand near the back and shake your money maker.

I was diagnosed with PCOS a few years ago. I was told hair growth (in male patterns) and acne are both common symptoms. I have always had hair growth above my lip and the older (and fatter) I became, the worse the hair growth got on my chin. I have gone in to have it waxed since high school (15 years). I've only lost 66 pounds, but there hasn't been any change yet. I'm smaller now than I have been in my entire adult life, so I think this might have more to do with age (my mother has it, although not as bad as me) than weight for me. Since you didn't start getting it until you gained weight, I sincerely hope that it's just weight related for you.

Joon, I just wanted to say congratulations on your surgery date! I'm from WA State, so I definitely know what the term crunchy means. My mother went to The Evergreen State College and leads a pretty natural lifestyle when it comes to a lot of things (less so now that she has had diabetes for a decade). I do think you will be able to incorporate your practices back into your life, although you might need to initially incorporate supplements as you heal. I have always been lactose intolerant and pretty much keep dairy to a minimum. You may want to make an appointment with a nutritionist who understands how you'd like to live and have her look over your post-op diet information so that the two of you can brainstorm. Good luck on your journey!

I think you are making a wonderful decision to explore this surgery further. When I was debating between the two surgeries, I too was worried with removing so much of my stomach, but then I discovered that many people with stomach cancer have had this done for decades and lived normal, healthy lives. I also liked the permanency of the VSG. I don't ever want to be fat again, decided I didn't want something that could be changed. Good luck! This is a great place to learn and gain support as you await your new life.

Try this link Weight Loss - Diet Ticker You'll probably need to create a new one.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been hoping to see you post an update...so glad it worked out. Definitely keep us posted, you'll be in my prayers tomorrow.

I am very sorry about your knee. Just know that the weight will still be dropping off because of the reduced calories you'll be consuming. I'll be thinking of you, take care.

That is great news! Today I'm doing Mexican again because it worked so well last time. I LOVE that the sleeve allows us our favorites, but keeps the portions under control.

Hi Sweetie333, I think you have a very reasonable goal. My weight loss is definitely slowing down, but the earlier months will hopefully help me to average 10 lbs. per month for the first 8 months. I am ecstatic with my loss so far, it has far exceeded anything I thought possible when beginning this journey. I also started out in a size 22-24, and now am in a 12-14 (just fit into my first pair of 12 jeans today!). Good luck and enjoy the ride! Pre-op diet (1 month)-down 16 lbs. Month 1-down 21 lbs. Month 2-down 15 lbs. Month 3-down 12 lbs.

CONGRATULATIONS Ryan! You are doing fabulous! I too, feel this is one of the best things I've ever done for myself. Keep up the great work and keep sharing all of your successes.

KZol, I spent my entire life in the overweight range and then in college fluctuated between overweight and obese and finally morbidly obese then back to obese my final year. After I left school I spent the rest of my 20's continuing the pattern of losing and gaining (more gaining than losing) with all sorts of diets, nutritionists, and exercise programs. So I completely know how to lose weight, which it seems you do as well, but could not maintain. I was borderline (not quite 40 BMI) when I went to the seminar with the surgeon I ended up using. He made a point during his presentation to say that it's unfortunate that the NIH does not recommend WLS to patients with BMI's between 35-40 who do not have certain comorbidities because at our weights we were on our way to getting them if we didn't have them now. You may want to explain your situation (bmi) to the office manager when you call to set up a seminar visit or consultation because they can usually recommend how to proceed (whether or not the surgeon will approve you). Good luck in your journey!