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.

I was slow to start at first too - Its been 3 months and I've lost 50 lbs since surgery, 72 lbs overall. About the 6 week mark is when it kicked in for me. Yeah, I've lost the majority of that in the last 6 weeks. Hang in there - your body will figure it out. Just try to keep your mind from overruling your body.

Congrats to all that stay on the grind. Three weeks post-op, I hit my first milestone. I was 397. For the 1st time in over 10 years, I was under 400 #'s. I have to keep pushing. I have step up some nice rewards for myself at different milestones.

I was slow to start at first too - Its been 3 months and I've lost 50 lbs since surgery, 72 lbs overall. About the 6 week mark is when it kicked in for me. Yeah, I've lost the majority of that in the last 6 weeks. Hang in there - your body will figure it out. Just try to keep your mind from overruling your body.

Hey Sleeve buddy! You're doing great! 50 lbs in 3 months is awesome. I'm stuck at 40 lbs in that same time frame. I'm trying not to panic, but I feel like right now I'm maintaining, not losing. I am going to the gym though. I was trying to get to the 50 lb mark before I meet with my surgeon next Friday, but the probability of me losing 10.4 lbs in the next 10 days is pretty slim. LOL!

My one month post-op was yesterday. Maybe today will be the day' date=' but so far I've not yet managed more than 50gm protein in a day. I'm trying, but anything thicker than water fills me up like no one's business. Capacity-wise - I'm still around 2 tbls. So when I eat I try to eat the highest protein things permitted at this stage of my post-op diet, which would be either well cooked fish (I make a fish chowder and eat out the boiled fish pieces, or tuna) or deli chicken, and light cheese. I'm digging the light babybels, but I usually can't eat anything else if I have one. Sometimes I can wrap a piece of thinnest slice deli meat around it. I think I can do sashimi next week, which will probably be my saving grace.

My RTD protein took me 2.75 hours to finish this morning. Sigh. I need to figure out a way to keep them cold for long periods of time, out of the fridge. Still no sickness or nausea. Occasional, mild heartburn so I'm doing the PPI 2x daily now. Some very minor GERD (nothing compared to what I had with my slipped band) but only if I eat late at night. I've found that if I stop eating about 3 hrs before I go to bed (which I should do anyway) there's no trouble. Still not doing any significant exercise. From about 2 weeks, until about 5 days ago I had a MAJOR energy slump. I couldn't even get through a shower without feeling like I needed to sit down. It came on overnight, then disappeared overnight. Thank goodness our bodies can balance themselves out fairly quickly. Going to go shopping this weekend for some exercise equip for home, and trying to convince DH that having one of those little indoor exercise pools installed is about the best idea ever!

About 2 weeks out I had an unprecedented breakout. I've had clear skin for years & years, so this was quite shocking, but understandable considering how quickly my body was releasing hormones into my system. It's mostly over now, but TOM came 7 days early.

I really don't know how much weight I've lost (I will not own a scale until I'm into something resembling maintenance). I was like 40 something pounds down from my suirgery weight when I went in for my 2 week post-op (yeah, 40ish lbs in 2 weeks, now you know why my skin was breaking out and my skin is so dry I have ashy toes). Tomorrow is my psych post-op so if it's available I'll hop on their scale then. I gained a bunch of weight just before my surgery (lapband was removed about 6 mos prior and I steadily gained after), so judging just by how my clothes are fitting, and how I knew they fit then, I'm guessing I'm right around 55 lbs lost -- maybe barely into the 200s now, with a surgery date weight of about 350.[/quote']

Try buying those plastic balls with liquid and place them in the freezer and out them in your rtd shakes....it'll keep your drink cool without watering it down

Hey everyone!

So I had my surgical consult yesterday. The surgeon was great and gave me some things to think about. He asked me a question regarding weight loss with the sleeve that I'm wondering if any of you have worked through. He said that with the sleeve, patients will lose 60% of their excess body weight. If I fall within this average, I'd lose about 125 pounds which will still categorize me as obese. He said "if that happens, will you be ok with that?". I was surprised by the question so I just said, I guess so.

Now that I've had some time to think it through, my answer is HELL no. LOL I'm not going through all of this to still be unhealthy! I plan to exercise to maximize my results, but being honest he's put this little seed of doubt in my head that I need to work through. My hubby, love him, just said "when have you ever been average?". The doc even said that with motivation and dedication, the average can be blown out of the water.

So I'm just wondering, for those of us that need to lose more than the average, how are you attacking it? How are you keeping yourself motivated? Do you ever wonder about the what if's?

First, the doctor gave you a percentage.. that doesn't have to be you or your story... I think we can lose as little or as much weight as we choose... In my support group, several sleeve patients have lost 150-200 pounds... and have maintained for some time.. so I think it's up to the individual...

Also remember, those BMI charts and stuff, aren't really that ideal... well, they aren't ideal for me... My surgeon set my goal weight at 200... that would give me a BMI of 31... still obese, but healthy....

So, it's up to you.. I'm okay... Heck, I look forward to my weight starting w/ a 2 and a 0!!!!

He said that with the sleeve, patients will lose 60% of their excess body weight. If I fall within this average, I'd lose about 125 pounds which will still categorize me as obese. He said "if that happens, will you be ok with that?".

I am trying not to get hung up on goals and numbers. I just want to be healthier - be able to do more and enjoy things. If I loose 60% of the excess weight, I will be much healthier and THAT is my goal.

That's great to hear, that several have lost 150-200 pounds. Thanks for that. I hear you, my goal weight is 180-190 just because I just want to be in one-derland SO BAD! LOL

I was annoyed at first because I thought he was going to really try and push RNY on me, but he did just quick blurb comparing the two then the rest of the visit we talked about the sleeve. And like I said, as he was leaving he grabbed my hand and looked me in the eye and said "with dedication and motivation, you'll blow that average out of the water!". So it was left on a very positive note.

He said that with the sleeve, patients will lose 60% of their excess body weight. If I fall within this average, I'd lose about 125 pounds which will still categorize me as obese. He said "if that happens, will you be ok with that?".

I am trying not to get hung up on goals and numbers. I just want to be healthier - be able to do more and enjoy things. If I loose 60% of the excess weight, I will be much healthier and THAT is my goal.

that's a really good point! Even if we "only" lose 60% of our excess weight, that's not a drop in the bucket!

All you can do is your best. If you want to lose 100% of the excess weight then you will. But you HAVE to want to! My dr says that there is NO reason to not lose all of my weight. I have bad days where I want to drink soda and eat candy...but I push through...and drink more water and eat a bit more protein. Walking and doing more physical activities really help with losing more...just have to stay focused on YOUR goal...which should be getting healthier. If I lost 60% of my excess weight that would mean I would lose 177lbs...I would be MORE than HAPPY with that! BUT..I would be even happier to lose it all!

Hi! I'm 16 days into this journey and feeling good about it so far! It has been interesting--especially since I decided to use this opportunity to quit smoking as well--figure if I'm going to take the steps to improve my quality of life I'm going all in!!!

I have cut myself off from the scale and am only allowing myself one weigh-in a week--initially I felt like I was jumping on the scale hourly, it was so exciting watching the pounds drop off. Figured I better cut that out before things levelled off and I wanted to avoid the possibly of discouragement from the frequent weigh ins.

Honestly, 60% is more like a lapband average. The 2yr averages for the sleeve should be very comparable to the same time averages for RNY, but we have MUCH better regain stats. I'm not a published researcher in the field and I don't run my own studies, but I would really, really doubt if 60% is an accurate %. Unless that number was taken really early on, before people lost as much as they were going to.

A lot of people come into this thinking there's some kind of automatic "window" or "cap" of weight they will lose. You don't have to look through many threads before you see something like, "I need to lose everything before my 6 mos is up". WTF is 6 mos? It's probably a marker at which your BMR is low enough, your metabolism set enough, and your intake expanded enough that unless you begin to really work at it, your weightloss might stabilize.

That's it. It's not an expiration date. It's not a date at which your body magically stops being able to lose weight. It's just a timeframe based on when the fastest weigtloss is seen. Here's a really simple equation:

If you're metabolizing, you can lose weight.

If you're alive, you're metabolizing.

Therefore, if you're alive, you can lose weight.

That is fact.

Every one of is here should consider it our personal goal to beat the statistics, whatever they may be.

If you want some proof that more can be obtained, I'm your proof. I started at 427 and now weight 195, losing 232 pounds over all and 212 pounds since the surgery, With discipline and exercise, this tool we have can help you meet your goals. Doctors don't want overstate what is possible so they set your expectation on the low end. Mine was on the high end and that's what I'm doing.

massindex, WOW!! and you're not even 18 months out yet. Very inspirational. Thank you!

I have my 3 month check up with my surgeon today. I'm nervous that he's going to say I haven't lost enough in this 3 months. I was hoping to have lost 50 lbs, but when you have a 4 week stall the whole 2nd month and then I think I'm in another one because I started harder workouts, what can you do? I'm at least moving forward, right?