I keep coming to this forum to look for currents posts-but there are none!

Now I know that I am not the only one out there who needs to lose 200+ lbs (or am I?).

If you have 200+ to lose whether you are just starting or near/at goal, you know that our needs are totally different from those who need to lose less. Not that they don't have a journey, it's just different.

I know for me, I find I need more encouragement, my family is supportive, but they don't really understand.

I know that my journey will not end in a year (unless I have results like Paul!) and even tho I have already lost 60+ lbs you can't even tell a little.

I'm doing great, feeling great, so that's not my issue. I'd just like to hear more from those of us who have had a slightly different/longer road to travel.

No soft foods until I'm 3 weeks out. Eleven days from now. Boooooo! LOL!

I know I've made it this far in my journey and am sooo happy to be this far along, but I never thought I'd say "I'd kill to have an egg right now!" :biggrin:

I'm so glad that so many have responded to this thread!

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Tif-Glad to hear everything is going so well-relatively speaking of course. When does your surgeon allow you to start eating? At least soft foods or Mushies? That will help so much. And of course within a month or so it will all just be a distant memory. I could drink well at the beginning also-but have found if I take 3 normal size swallows in a row it makes me nauseaus. How weird is that.

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Massindex-All I can say is WOW. 200lbs in a year. That is so great. While I can't tell much difference after losing 60+ lbs I'm sure I'll be able to after losing 200. What kind of difference has that made in your life?

You give us hope. I had originally set my goal to lose 200 in 2 years, but I'm hoping now that it will happen much sooner. Unfortunately I really need to lose over 300lbs, but even 200 would change my life so drastically, I could live with that.

My life is so different in so many ways it would be hard to describe. Let's just say that I control my life now and I'm not controlled by the food anymore. Just remember, each of us is our own vehicle and the journey time is our own.

Me too! I have over 200lbs to loose. I had my surgery on July 21st and have lost 112lbs so far....my advice...find an exercise you like....I do Curves. I live my life but try to do lower carb most of the time but if I want something I go for it. We will see what this year brings hopefully another 100lbs lost!!!! Thanks, Tracy

YES!! I am excited, and nervous and scared and hopeful and sad that my hubby's not in Dallas with me, but I've got my mom and boys with me. Just 2 days to go! I am totally ready to wake up and say "what the H##L did I DO to myself??" I've heard it time and again on here, but I know it's a natural reaction. It's hard even right now to see that this is right to do because it's a radical thing to do to a body, but I can't wait for the results. I'll keep y'all posted. Monday morning....

I'm so glad that so many have responded to this thread!

Dooter-It's getting close!! Are you so excited?? I'm sure you know from reading that these next few weeks will be especially hard and you will probably wonder if you did the right thing. But come back here and read about the progress your friends here have made-and you'll realize that you did do the right thing. Make sure you write us and let us know how things are going. Good Luck.

Hello all

I have lost 220 pds so far. 50 before surgery and 170 since surgery. I was sleeved 10 months ago. I still have 60 more to go, slowing up but still coming off. feeling great.

Denise

I have 170 pounds to lose....my surgery isnt until June....I'm planning on starting Medifast when I get paid this week so I can try not to gain anymore weight before June....my goal is to lose 40 before surgery...

I started with just over 200 to lose, and I'm so glad to see some successes in this thread. So many sleevers seem to have far less to lose, it's reassuring to know that I'm not alone!

I don't quite have 200 to lose, but figured I was close enough that you guys would understand. I'm hoping to get to 145, but I'd love to get to 135. More than anything I just want a healthy BMI and to fit into a size 8. A single digit. I feel like I was 12 the last time I was able to do that.

I have a little over 200 to lose. I am 12 days out and l am hungry, but doing well. I am about to do mushies and I am ready to eat. I am working on not obsessing over food, but I keep thinking of baby back ribs. Sorry guys for the thought. I am working on it. I am happy and am looking for something else to do with my time. When I am able to I will start walking and obsessing on exercising.

This is so cool that so many of you have responded here.

Denise-170 in 10 months! what a success story. My current goal is 100 by 5 months. I hope I can do as well as you!!

PEvette-Smart thinking. Medifast has come along ways since I did it 25 or so years ago. I saw they have pancakes, puddings, ice cream. Let me know how it works for you. June will be here before you know it.

Tenshi-That's why I wanted to see this forum take off. I think we 200+ er's have a lot to offer one another. We will all take longer to get to goal-and while we are at different stages and have different journeys, I think we have a lot in common too and can help motivate and encourage each other.

Tif-We'll keep you around. a size 8!! I don't think I've been a size 8 since elementary school! I'd be happy to even see a double digit size such as XL (I'm considering 6XL as triple digit). I'm 6' tall and if I wore a size 8 I'd look anorexic. Right now I just want to be able to go into a regular store and buy something-anything. So even a 3XL or a 28 looks really good to me!

Rahnava-Welcome. The first month is the hardest. I CRAVED a hamburger (although I think I can hear those baby backs calling my name along with yours.) So at my first chance I went to In-n-Out and ordered a burger "Protein style" (no bun-they use lettuce for a bun) I ate most of it and it just wasn't that appealing. My tastes have totally changed. I can't even imagine a fast food burger anymore. You'll be able to have those ribs again soon and will find that 1 will take care of it. When I dish up my food and look at it-I think this tiny amount will never fill me up. I'll need at least twice this much. And then I can't even finish the first batch. Hang in there. Once you are out of the mushy's and into the real food-this will all become a distant memory. My surgeon has us meet with a personal trainer-so I just did that this week. She started me on a walking program. She tried to get me to start off at 30 minutes! I told here that until a month ago I could barely walk to my car! So we are at 10 minutes. I can't wait to lose enough where I can start doing some "fun" exercises.

I'm here too! I started at 440lbs, did weight watchers as my dr supervised diet and lost 45lbs, had my surgery in July and am down to 328lbs right now! My challenge is I swing from doing great and losing a couple of pounds to fighting off the carb monster for a couple of days...result? Slow losing! It takes me from elation to pissed off! Ah well, it feels just like a diet to me now...the old will power deal. Glad to hear from all of you....you are inspirations! Tracy

Debi,

Are you near a pool? If so, try walking the length of the pool back and forth. That offers really good resistance. I was a swimmer in HS, I was still the fat girl on the team and never won a race, but I always lost about 25 lbs during swim season. I just gained it back over the course of the school year and summer.

In 2004-05, I lost 65 lbs by going to Jenny Craig and swimming 100 laps 3 x a week. When I first got back into the pool, I could only swim about 10 laps. I increased it by 10 every couple of weeks until I got up to 100. I could've done more than that, but by the time I got to 100 laps, I had to pee. Since I wasn't going to go in the pool, I got out and I wasn't going to go back in at that point. The thing is, I was slow, but my heart rate was up and that was the most important part. Then I got pregnant and since he was my one and only pregnancy after 11 years I stopped going. I went from 249 to 270 during pregnancy. Lost it all right after and then proceeded to gain all of it back and more after. I had stopped taking care of me. I was taking care of my husband and my boy, but not me. And my boy needs me.

So, August 2010, I went to the seminar and the rest is history. Yesterday morning I stepped on the scale and it said 269.2. 49.8 lbs lost pre and post op combined!! But it couldn't give me that last. .2 to make an even 50!!! LOL

I'm glad I came across this forum! I was wondering where all the 200+'ers were! I'm glad that there is a place to see other's successes, it is a big inspiration! I know I'm doing well when I step on the scale, but looking in the mirror doesn't help :confused5: . I'm excited for the day that I can look in the mirror and actually see the difference! I have been trying on a new pair of pants every month to see what I fit into, and so far I've started wearing 4 different pairs of pants that I couldn't get past my thighs before. So, I guess forget the mirror I can tell by the clothes.

I try to stay as close to 2-2.5 ounces as I can. I measure everything before I eat. I actually eat the exact same thing everyday, just because it's easier and I've found that even though I can eat the rings I used to, I feel gross afterwards, so I know if I eat my chicken and swap out lettuce/broccoli/potato for a little deviation then I'm safe. I don't lose steadily each week. I've noticed that I have 2 awesome weeks where I lose most of my weight for the month, then 2 not so great weeks where I lose little to nothing. It is a little disheartening, but I still lose 18-22 lbs per month.

I know my diet sounds pretty boring and bland, but it has worked great for me so far and I don't make myself feel ill by eating processed foods that use to make me feel sluggish and gross. I've tried just about everything that I used to eat before, at least once, just too see how it affected me now. It's strange how something you may have loved before (for me I was a nachos addict) can make you feel absolutely miserable now. I don't deny myself anything, but I can connect the feeling I have when I eat the for to my brain now, so I remember how it made me feel, and I choose not to eat it if I start feeling like I'm getting a craving.

I look forward to seeing other's posts and successes and welcome tips and suggestions!

Frpringle-I'm so glad you found us. You are doing so fabulous. You are especially an inspiration to me because I think you are the only person I have seen who started with a BMI as high as mine! And look at how you are doing. 100lbs by 3 months! I got sleeved the week after you (11/14). I have lost about 75lbs (getting weighed today) and hope to hit 100# by my 5 month. It is amazing the self control you seem to have and what you are doing sure seems to be working for you. Do you even eat the chicken for Breakfast? I occasionally eat leftovers for breakfast. I have found that my taste buds don't seem to differentiate between meals anymore. They all seem interchangeable. Plus I don't eat my first meal until 10:00 so that my eating schedule is 10-2-6 so that I can have dinner the same time as my family.

Do you exercise? I have just started a walking program my surgeon put me on. But I have to say I have taken more days off than I have actually walked. I know a lot of people here do the gym and stuff, but I am still too heavy to even think of doing anything besides walking.

I so know what you mean about not seeing any difference-i have said that here many times. When you have as much to lose as we do even 100# barely makes a noticeable difference. At least you are getting to wear a new size in pants! I wear those old lady black stretch ones that seem to fit every weight I ever am! It's also hard because I am 6' tall. I finally found that Woman Within had tall jeans up to a size 44T. One style. So I ordered a 40T and was so excited when I was able to pull them up and button them. But then I looked at the legs and they could have held an additional leg!! I don't know if they were "wide" leg pants or if my hips size is WAYYY out of proportion to my thighs, but I guess I'll have to wait until I go down a few more sizes to get a pair of jeans. I haven't worn jeans in about 12 years so that is one of the first things I am looking forward to. Even if they are a size 38!!

I have 200 pounds to lose. I started out at 358 and I think I'm around 235 now. We had a house fire and I don't have my scale anymore. My surgery was supposed to be this week but I pushed it out a month in hopes that the stress level would not be as great and boy am I glad that I did that. It has been an emotional roller coaster since the fire with alot more downs then ups. Things are getting better now and I am looking forward to getting back on track for this journey. My new date is March 19th and I can hardly wait. I will continue to check this thread as you are all an inspiration to what is ahead. Thank you!