Thrilled, thrilled, thrilled. Saw the post-op bariatrics team last Wednesday. Kaiser defines a sucessful bariatrics patient as one who has lost 50% of the excess weight within one year following surgery. I have lost 81% in 7 months.

This forum is a wonderful resource, with many people who are very successful with the sleeve in the long-run. I want to add my experiences to the pool of information. I plan on being one of the long-runs.

To keep losing weight, I have to eat fewer than 50 grams of carb a day, and stay under 1200 calories.

No, I usually don't get all my Water in. I also drink coffee, with 2% milk. This is the source of most of my carb.

Eating too much is as bad as eating too little. Doing either one can make my weight loss stall.

I can't snack anymore. The surgeon told me that, after 6 months, it's three meals a day, period. He's right.

I still use baby bowls, a baby spoon, and 5-inch plates. I plan to use the small plates forever. I like my baby spoons, and the bowls are still portion-perfect.

Too much Protein triggers insulin, and I gain weight. At my weight, 166.6, I only need 65 grams of protein a day, according to my NUT.

If I don't eat enough fat, my weight stalls.

Fruit = stall.

I cannot lose without low-intensity exercise. 3 - 5 sessions a week, 30 minutes, on a treadmill that keeps me at a pulse rate of 107 (based on age) is the key. I also lift heavy weights twice a week. Throwing a 20-pound weight around does nothing for me. I use as much weight as I can lift for 5 slow reps. I am almost to the point of being able to do a real pull-up.

I have loose skin. I am a shar-pei. But I am a proud, getting-healthy shar-pei. It doesn't bother my Best Half. Why should I care? I wore a bathing suit in Hawaii, and no one reported me to the Skin Police.

Yes, I lost hair, starting at 3 months and it has slowed almost to normal. I ate my protein, took my Vitamins, and I still lost hair. It's based on hormonal changes, just like after childbirth. I still look like a girl. If you are scared to have a sleeve because of the potential hair loss, you aren't a good candidate for the surgery. You don't want to lose weight badly enough to be successful.

I did not have a "food funeral" before my surgery, and I followed my surgeon's pre-op diet to the letter. I've spent years eating crap. Two weeks crap-less wasn't going to kill me.

I don't miss any foodstuff. I don't cry over crap not eaten. I pull my vintage sized 14 Liz Claiborne clothes out of the closet and rejoice that I no longer wear a size 26, like I did back in 2000. If I really, really want it, I eat one small bite. Most sweets that I used to crave now taste terrible. One sweet potato fry satisfies as well as a bag of gingersnaps used to. Soda tastes like chemical-salts-bilge water. Yuk.

I goof. I screw up. I eat too much. I still emotionally eat. That doesn't make me a bad person. There's always the next opportunity to make a much better choice.

Veterans, please feel free to add on. I'd love to know what is down the sleeved road!

I have loose skin. I am a shar-pei. But I am a proud, getting-healthy shar-pei. It doesn't bother my Best Half. Why should I care? I wore a bathing suit in Hawaii, and no one reported me to the Skin Police.

I will be in the same boat but that is a great way of looking at it. Thank you for the smile today.

Thanks for the info!!!