Hi all,

Thought I'd boost my current bad mood by posting a new before and during pic.

I had my surgery on 4 February 2011 when I was at 310lb. I had my first weight loss procedure (gastric balloon) almost a year ago at my highest at 376lbs.

Here I am today at 231lbs! Just 71lbs to go until goal...

Way to go!

Oh my!!! You look great! Super job

Wow what a difference. You look so much younger in the after photo. Great job. Careful not to get carded. Hahahaha

Wow, you're looking great! Keep on rockin' that sleeve!!

Congratulations.

Wow you look awesome!! :youcandothis:

Love the She-ra tee shirt!

What an amazing difference!! Congratulations!!

Fantastic, you look great!! You look much younger too. Keep it up, girl!

You look AWESOME!! GOOD JOB!!

Kelly

OMG I saw your post on the other board and after looking at this pic.... YOU LOOK AMAZING!!!! Keep it up!!!

You look great! Keep up the good work.

You are looking great. CONGRATS!!

Looking goood

WOW! You look great!!!!

Wow, you look great! So much smaller!!!

Can I ask how the gastric balloon worked and what you think of it compared to the sleeve? I am just curious as I saw that some surgeons are doing balloons on a trial basis. I see that you lost weight with the balloon but I'm just curious as to how it works and your thoughts on it.

Can I ask how the gastric balloon worked and what you think of it compared to the sleeve? I am just curious as I saw that some surgeons are doing balloons on a trial basis. I see that you lost weight with the balloon but I'm just curious as to how it works and your thoughts on it.

To be honest, I didn't rate the balloon that much. Although I did lose a good few pounds on it, at least 20lbs of those were on pre-op diets for the sleeve at the start of this year. Besides the initial nausea of having a bag of saline shoved into your tummy, the balloon doesn't offer much restriction at all. I could basically 'eat around it' (bad, I know). I could still eat whole pizzas, burgers, chips, all sorts of junk. The sleeve has made me much more focused, change my eating habits for good and dedicate myself to making it work. The restriction of the sleeve is like nothing else I've tried and I'm loving it! I am thankful that I had to have the balloon (surgeon's requirement) to kick start my weight loss and improve mobility etc, but it's not a long term solution like the sleeve is. It's just like another diet that I feel is doomed to fail once it's taken out, really.

Wow what a difference. You look so much younger in the after photo. Great job. Careful not to get carded. Hahahaha

Haha, funny you should say that - I was actually carded on Sunday! Though I do think it was a bit of a sympathy ID because I was with a friend who looks pretty young and we were at Glee Live which was full of teenagers, but not bad for a country where the legal drinking age is 18! But nice of you to say so because I'm so concious that I look old and wrinkly now I've lost weight in my face.