PrincipalsOffice

The ricotta cheese recipe above is delish and very soft so can be eaten on mushies/softs.
If you don't know Eggface's blog (where the ricotta recipe is famous ) check it out. She has a lot of great recipes, advice, etc.
http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/

just wanted to share a non scale victory moment with you guys...
I love taking bubble baths... when my world slows down and I can take a moment...
usually once the bath is over... and I unplug the tub... all the Water in front of me goes out... when I get up there is more water behind me...
when I stood up to get out the bath tonight... there was NO WATER! I didn't dam up the tub!!
weird I know... but it felt good!

Great job!

you guys look awesome!! I could look at before and after pics all day they're soo motivating

This week I will have my one year surgiversary!! It seems like just a few months rather than a year!
Please don't get put out with me when I tell you that the decision to be sleeved was absolutely the hardest part - everything else has been really easy since. I am fully aware my experience has been a blessed one! I was sleeved on March 14 of 2012, and hit goal around New Years. I am maintaining easily and can eat almost anything I want.
I feel so much better, I get around so much better, I walk quickly, I sleep well. I am just so happy! I truly feel 30 years younger in one year's time. I have regained my interest in girly stuff such as clothes, makeup, hair, whereas before I just put on the next old black thing in my closet and stumped out the door ugly!
I wanted to share my success story so that those in the research stage can know that while some sleevers have problems, other sleevers sail through. I was lucky to be a Sleeve Sailor!
Thanks for all the help and support y'all have been!!
BTW, that's from a size 3X to a size M/12.

re: doctor's goals or lack of...It's just another thing to drive us crazy. Those of us getting goals are made crazy by trying to figure out how to achieve. Those of us without goals feel "left behind." I don't think I could go on less than 600 calories at this point, so I guess I am thankful (for the moment) not to have a doctor telling me to do that.
So, sleeved on 12/17 and I think I am thirty down post surgery (fifty overall). As has been stated by so many others, it seems like there is a group who loses weight more quickly and I am not part of it. And, as my PCP was telling me, maybe we shouldn't stress about other's big losses because she thinks more of us lose at my rate, we just don't post about it, because the loss seems so "moderate." What I have to remember is that it took me SIX months to lose the first 20 pounds before surgery and I have lost 30 pounds in about 2 1/2 months post surgery. So, even if my rate of loss is "modest" for VSG, it still beats the hell out of no surgery and trying to lose weight.

So it's 4 days past my 2 month mark & finally hit 25lbs down
Hoping to drop another 25 in next 2 months, started gym again & did Latin heat last night, so fun

People are stupid sometimes. If you stay in starvation mode gues what... that's what'll happen. You'll start starving and your body will shut down to preserve itself. If you bump your calories for a few days you'll lose again. I see nothing wrong with eating 1000-1200 calories a day. Guess what - if we could have limited ourselves to 1200 calories a day BEFORE surgery WE WOULD HAVE LOST A TON OF WEIGHT!!! There's no rule that says just because our stomachs are smaller we have to stay at 800 calories or less a day... that's why they don't really GIVE you a calorie limit. You need calories or else your metabolism will move at a snail's pace. I'm trying to keep from shutting my metabolism down completely. That's just me though

I've been wanting to do an outline. Just have someone trace you on some poster paper. U can do side& front. It really shows your shape& how big u used to be. Anyone remember that Alfred Hitchcock show where he walks into the outline of himself in profile? That's where I got the idea from. I also take a monthly picture.

Ok, I was just watching something and it reminded me about this post! So this really isn't on the subject of "tracking" weight loss, BUT it is about our commitment to weight loss. What about putting a ring on our dominant hand so that when we reach for food we are reminded of our commitment to ourselves, our family and our life? Similar to a wedding ring, just a regular ring that can hold up over the years that can remind us daily of this commitment...

I love the marbles/rocks ideas! I did something quick and not fancy but it helps to inspire me. Day of surgery I took string and measured around my stomach. I check out how much smaller I am with my 'belly string' every month. I plan on making a beaded necklace the same length when I'm near goal (it's long so it's going to take a lot of beads-expensive!) I'll probably wear it wrapped around my neck twice. Then I'll slip it around my waist to show anyone who asks how big I was-"out to here!" excited!!

All I'm going to say is, do your thang girl!!!
A bit of "gagging" isn't a bad thing. If you are willing to go that far for him, great. And for you ladies that don't have a gag reflex, make the noise every once in a while. I know it sounds bad, but it kind of strokes our ego a bit.

Man im gonna be using this excuse for months,maybe years!

Thing here is she wants to know I'f it'll hurt her sleeve. Totally forum related. Besides I want to know too and I'm sure I'm not alone. I think if he went to a sex forum and asked that same question ppl will be wonder WTH she's talking about! A sleeve???
Sent from my iPhone using VST

Lately I've seen a TON of posts about lucky sleevers that drop 100 pounds in six months.
Congrats to them and to their loss. And I would never, ever begrudge anyone the right to crow about a fantastic success. It's part of why we're all here, to share the ups and downs of this surgery!
But frequently, these posts are followed by folks that feel frustrated because they aren't losing at the same pace. All too often, we forget that everyone loses at a different pace. It's easy to lose sight of the real goal (long term maintenance) in the face of the scale goals we set for ourselves. And it's also easy to forget that this isn't a race and that there's no special prize waiting at the end for reaching goal more quickly.
I would like to contribute my loss pattern so that people can see that there is more than one way to achieve a goal. Being successful is about reaching your personal goals, overcoming your personal food demons and maintaining your weight loss for life. It's not about hitting goal in nine months.
I encourage everyone else with a slow loss story to contribute their successes here as well. It's hard to research this surgery and find only the stories about extremes - people completely thrilled with surgery or people that regret every minute of life post op. The same goes for loss. When people search out stories on this, it's too easy to only find rapid loss or stall posts but nothing showing the more realistic and moderate journey many of us take. The sleeve is a permanent tool that does not have a special window of easy weight loss. There is no reason to feel discouraged when you haven't reached goal at one year out, or even two. There is nothing preventing you (short of your own body's natural stopping point) from achieving or re-achieving goal at any point post op.
I lost 60 pounds in the first five months after my surgery.
And I slowly lost 32 pounds over the next seven months.
It took me another five months to shed the final 15 pounds to my goal.
I lost 107 pounds over the course of 17 months. I stalled twice for nine weeks each time. I had months where I only lost one pound. I regularly experienced a gain of three pounds around my cycle, and often only lost weight in the last week to ten days of the month, after sitting at the same weight for nearly three weeks.
I am a success, and at 2.5 years out (and currently pregnant) I still have good, healthy eating habits and maintained my weight loss quite easily. Even 30 weeks pregnant, I am still wearing a size 6/small (in maternity clothes, of course) regardless of how I feel about my expanding body!
I learned what was important on this journey and am in better health today (not just physically, but mentally and emotionally), than I have ever experienced as an adult.
Good luck to those currently on their journey, and I encourage everyone to share their stories here so that newly sleeved folks can see that slow vs. fast loss doesn't really matter in the end.
~Cheri

Slow losers unite!
I was banded Dec 4. Lost about 14 pounds first 10 days. in the past 6 weeks... only 10 more. i bounce up and down all week long. Heck, all month long. Up a pound, down .6, up .2, down a pound. And so on. Stall? Maybe. but the net effect is I'm losing.
I have tried several different things - up calories, down calories, up cardio, down weights, up Water, up Protein, just about every combination out there. There is no rhyme or reason to my fat butt.
I just had to tell myself this morning as I was adding up last month's loses that even if I lose "only 6 pounds a month", I will still be down 80 pounds at the one year mark. I'll take it!

Top is last October at 246, bottom left is about 2 months post op at approx 200, bottom right is about 6 months post op (about 2 weeks ago) at about 161! Currently 158

I have to say, my hubby has been so supportive and asks every meal if I'd prefer he eat elsewhere. For me, I figure if I'm ever going to have a normal relationship with food, I can't expect others to hide. It's not been easy but I'm hopeful. But in general, I agree husbands can be butt heads!

I have to say, my hubby has been so supportive and asks every meal if I'd prefer he eat elsewhere. For me, I figure if I'm ever going to have a normal relationship with food, I can't expect others to hide. It's not been easy but I'm hopeful. But in general, I agree husbands can be butt heads!

Im four days post-op and im staying with my girlfriend for the first few days - yeah everytime someones in the kitchen cooking or snacking it sucks but theres no way in hell id expect her or anyone else to change their life based on a decision "I" made for "me." Thats just selfish. If it were reversed would you be ok if he expected you to hide and feel guilty for eating something that tastes great because "he" made a decision to change "his" life? Yeah it sucks but its nobodys faults but our own for making this decision to change our lives for the better. I love how many posts i see where its always hubby/bf thats an ass for living his life like he always has before the decision his wife/gf made... Yet i dont recall seeing any men calling their wives/gfs "b"s for eating the way they always have. We cant expect others to change bc we did. Sorry for the rant its just relevant at the moment lol. Im not calling mine names for eating cheetos or a banana or pizza just bc shes hungry and im not allowed. *shrugs*

I am with you 100%, Dean!!
This is my issue and my journey. The world doesn't stop revolving or eating and the simple fact is that I am the one that has to do the changing and hard work now....no one else.
My family has been amazingly supportive and all week ( I am 7 days post op) has apologized for eating in front of me...to which I have replied....please don't be silly, eat....it's supper time!!!! That is actually one of the main reasons I chose WLS....so I could handle these situations better and not have to be in a perpetual diet. It is very different right now while I am on full liquids but I know this will not last forever and then I can be back to eating like everyone else....just a lot less and a lot healthier.
We happen to be addicted to something that is my illegal, something that is all around us all the time and something that we can't give up altogether.....but this is our chance to learn how to deal with all of that. Even at the food court!!!!

Since the day I got out of hospital I still sit and "eat" with my family, even when I was on liquids. I'd had my fill of 'food court' and all you can eat buffets. The rest of my family can regulate their appetites, I'm not going to have them miss out on anything and I'm not going to miss out on family time, including meal times.

I have to say, my hubby has been so supportive and asks every meal if I'd prefer he eat elsewhere. For me, I figure if I'm ever going to have a normal relationship with food, I can't expect others to hide. It's not been easy but I'm hopeful. But in general, I agree husbands can be butt heads!

I have to say, my hubby has been so supportive and asks every meal if I'd prefer he eat elsewhere. For me, I figure if I'm ever going to have a normal relationship with food, I can't expect others to hide. It's not been easy but I'm hopeful. But in general, I agree husbands can be butt heads!