Hi All,

Officially 3 months since my op. and lost slightly over 40 pounds but I think the weight loss is already slowing down. I started eating more fish as I can eat less of it before I feel full. chicken and red meat don't work as well, strange isn't it!

How are you all doing?

So April 20, 2012 was 4 months from my gastric sleeve surgery. I started out at 236 pounds. I’ve been thinking a lot about where I am in my journey. I can eat 3-4 ounces of meat and 2-3 ounces of veggies. I can now eat and actually feel full. I don’t feel like I’m stuffed and choking on my food. My sleeve doesn’t feel uncomfortable or hurt when I eat most of the time. Chicken still feels uncomfortable at times. In the beginning I was so frustrated that I would never be able to eat somewhat “normally” again. Coordinating my meds, food, protein, supplements, and liquids has become routine. I still have to be vigilant, but I don’t feel like I’m “obsessed with food” so much. I gained 10 pounds with my surgery. No one warned me about that. It took about 6 days for that weight to come off. I’ve lost 45 pounds since my journey began. My biggest problem, my waist (I’m apple-shaped – worse for the heart), is 3 ½ inches smaller. At 1 ½ weeks out, I went through a 4 week stall. I thought the surgery was a failure and that I would always be a big, fat, unhealthy mess. I had put SOOOO much faith in the surgery, I guess expected immediate results. The stall finally broke, I lost 7 pounds in 2 weeks, and hit another stall for 5 days. The scale was stuck at exactly 204.0. I wanted to hit Onederland so bad, but had to be patient. I finally hit 199 on 3/9/12. I have not been losing weight gradually. Even when I do lose, I gain back, lose again, gain back, lose again, with an eventual net loss. I still have stalls but don’t stress like I used to. It’s going to happen when it happens. Apparently I am a slow loser. But at least it’s a loss. I’ve had to learn patience. I started out at size 22-24. Today I put on size XL pants. I wear 14/16W shirts. I can fit some XL shirts. I had an NSV – I had to tighten the armband for my IPOD because my arms were smaller. I’ve started hiking again. I can eat some spicy foods finally (love it!). My hair is thinning now. My inner thighs look like elephant thighs with the loose skin. I guess wearing a bikini is out! (I'm 52 years young anyway )

I’m doing good and don’t regret the surgery at all. Screw the stalls! I will be triumphant! The bottom line is, IT IS GETTING BETTER! I had a hard time believing this in the beginning, but this website and all of you have been a godsend, giving me faith. Thank you all for being here! ! !