Dawn

WOW, 6 months since surgery!! Where has the time gone? It's been a FABLOUS, WONDERFUL, CRAZY 6 months that is for sure! First I must say that I feel WONDERFUL! I haven't felt this good in a really long time. Not only is my weight and health doing so well it just seems that everything in life is falling right inline where it should be. We close on our house in less then two weeks and then my husband will finally be joining me here in MD (hes in NY finishing up the school year) and I LOVE my job (although I'm a little bored! LOL)! So in the past 6 months I have learned a lot about my sleeve and my "new" self! I am still a work in progess and I'm sure I will be for a long time but at least I am really working on myself. I still have bad days when it comes to my feelings and food but I have learned so much of how I used food as a tool for my emotions and how I CAN'T do that! I have started (with the help of an AMAZING friend) to change my "style" as well! It's time for it to be more suited to my personality and WEIGHT of course! LOL I've always been that girl that would just hide behind my clothes. Nothing would be form fitting, everything would hang on me, I wouldn't leave the house without my "hold me ins" on! LOL NOW, I'm buying clothes that FIT me, ones the "hug" my body and there are NO MORE "hold me's"! LOL I have gone from a size 24 bottoms to a size 12 and a 2X top to a L!!! WOOHOOO!!! I know I am still loosing weight and I'm sure my size will move again but I swear even if it doesn't I'M HAPPY at this size!!! I have my appt. with the new surgeon (since I moved away from my surgeon) next week so hopefully he'll put in for some labs so I can see where I'm at but I bet everything is going to come back just fine since I feel so Great!! I can't say it enough, this is one of the BEST Thing I have EVER done in my life!!!!!!!

Complete a 5K - DONE (a couple of times!) Shave while being able to actually SEE it all! - DONE Fit into the IMAX theater seats "back home" - DONE Have a Sex Drive again because I feel comfortable with myself - DONE DONE DONE!!! Pre-pregnancy weight of 163 before my daughter turns 7 - SO CLOSE - 6lbs to go in 3 weeks 4 days!!!

WOW! I am just taken aback that people are really like this! All I've had was one "look" from someone when I told them and they changed their "tone" pretty quick after that though! I haven't had anyone say anything to me at all and if they ever do, I don't hold myself back!! LOL

So today has been the best scale victory thus far!! I weighed in at 169.8 this morning! I haven't been in the 160s since 2003!! WOOHOO It's going to be a Great Day just because it started with seeing that! LOL

SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal Dawn..........176.4....................169.8...........160.8.........9

No smells but a SUPER talkative Tummy since surgery!!!

I was in Harriman NY until just recently! I was sleeved Nov. 2010 at West Point! My DH is still there for another month but I'm in Maryland now for work.

WOOHOO!!! Congrats!

I swam at 6 weeks and my incisions were healed!

I say just take it easy but try to get up and move around as much as you can! I'm sure your bowels will get better once you start on food, if I remember right mine were back to somewhat normal around 3 weeks but then went to the opposite after that LOL I'm curious where in NE you are? I don't run into a lot of people from NE. I grew up in Lincoln and surrounding areas for the first 25 years of my life!!! I too LOVE meeting people from "home" and Lincoln is still "home" to me too!! I grew up in the area for the first 25 years of life and ALL my family still lives there!!

Well boo to such a sucky day but YAY for Clothes now fitting and buying new ones in such SMALL sizes!!!!! I too have struggled a lot with what my "style" is now. I thought I had decent style for a big girl but it does seems that small clothes seem "younger" then what I might like. I keep telling myself to not just look at it on the rack but to actually try it on because I have found many things that seemed to young until I put them on!! Good Luck girl!

WOOHOO!! Those are AWESOME NSV's!!!!

LOVE IT!!! You look AWESOME and OMG that picture of the jeans together is Great!! Really shows the difference!

WOOHOO!!! Congrats on Onederland and those AWESOME NSVs!!!!

My favorite is my roommate saying that I have a SHAPE, a "REAL" shape!!!! I always used to joke that I had a shape before because ROUND is a shape! LOL

SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal Dawn..........176.4....................173.8...........160.8.........13 I have changed my goal! I have learned and become a lot more in tune with my body over the last 6 months and I think that I will be slowing down A LOT on my weight loss (I could be wrong but its the "feeling" I get) so I don't want to make a goal that is totally out of reach for me! So I have changed it and I am still going to be Flippin Excited for this one!!!

This is exactly how it is for me. I am 6 months post-op and I still don't feel any actual hunger! I do feel empty and that is a signal to me to eat something (protein!!) and I can stay full for a long time off a very small amount of food! I do have some head-hunger issues where I think I 'need' something! LOL

Tried on some jeans today and I'm in a size 12!!!!!! I really can't remember the last time I was a size 12! I know I graduated highschool at a 10 and I was married 4 years later at a 14 so sometime in between there and that was over 11 years ago!! Whats really crazy is I have been this weight within the last 6 years. One time while doing WW I got down to 173 (174 right now) and I was a size 14 then but a 12 now!! WOOHOO!! So I went from my highest size of 24 in Nov. 2010 to a 12 in May 2011

WOOHOO!!! What an AWESOME NSV week!!!

WOOHOO!! Congrats! I have had my goal jeans for years now and I have now surpassed them! LOL How tall are you?

This one! hehehe http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/5906-a-huge-list-of-protein-drink-recipes/

NO! My BMI was 39 and I had co-morbids!

No one has treated me differently at all but I did recieve ONE "look" from someone but they changed their "ways" pretty quick! LOL I feel it's a personal choice if you want to tell or not. I have found that through me being so open and honest about it A LOT of friends/co-workers and such have contacted me and said they have always though about it but didn't actually know anyone to talk to about it! I have always been a VERY OPEN person about EVERYTHING in my life though!

B - Coffee and Protein Shake L - Sausage Bites and Cheese crackers D - Eggs and toast or ??? LOL S - Didn't bring anything to work so I don't know if I'll have any today V - at night W - working on it E - after work going for a walk with a co-worker!

WOW, 3 weeks and doing beef and chicken?!?! I still can't eat enough regular food to get enough protein in so I am still supplementing with protein shakes and bars!