Lately I've seen a TON of posts about lucky sleevers that drop 100 pounds in six months.

Congrats to them and to their loss. And I would never, ever begrudge anyone the right to crow about a fantastic success. It's part of why we're all here, to share the ups and downs of this surgery!

But frequently, these posts are followed by folks that feel frustrated because they aren't losing at the same pace. All too often, we forget that everyone loses at a different pace. It's easy to lose sight of the real goal (long term maintenance) in the face of the scale goals we set for ourselves. And it's also easy to forget that this isn't a race and that there's no special prize waiting at the end for reaching goal more quickly.

I would like to contribute my loss pattern so that people can see that there is more than one way to achieve a goal. Being successful is about reaching your personal goals, overcoming your personal food demons and maintaining your weight loss for life. It's not about hitting goal in nine months.

I encourage everyone else with a slow loss story to contribute their successes here as well. It's hard to research this surgery and find only the stories about extremes - people completely thrilled with surgery or people that regret every minute of life post op. The same goes for loss. When people search out stories on this, it's too easy to only find rapid loss or stall posts but nothing showing the more realistic and moderate journey many of us take. The sleeve is a permanent tool that does not have a special window of easy weight loss. There is no reason to feel discouraged when you haven't reached goal at one year out, or even two. There is nothing preventing you (short of your own body's natural stopping point) from achieving or re-achieving goal at any point post op.

I lost 60 pounds in the first five months after my surgery.

And I slowly lost 32 pounds over the next seven months.

It took me another five months to shed the final 15 pounds to my goal.

I lost 107 pounds over the course of 17 months. I stalled twice for nine weeks each time. I had months where I only lost one pound. I regularly experienced a gain of three pounds around my cycle, and often only lost weight in the last week to ten days of the month, after sitting at the same weight for nearly three weeks.

I am a success, and at 2.5 years out (and currently pregnant) I still have good, healthy eating habits and maintained my weight loss quite easily. Even 30 weeks pregnant, I am still wearing a size 6/small (in maternity clothes, of course) regardless of how I feel about my expanding body!

I learned what was important on this journey and am in better health today (not just physically, but mentally and emotionally), than I have ever experienced as an adult.

Good luck to those currently on their journey, and I encourage everyone to share their stories here so that newly sleeved folks can see that slow vs. fast loss doesn't really matter in the end.

~Cheri

I'm in my first true stall at 5 1/2 month. Have been bouncing between 176 and 174 for the past three weeks. Two of those weeks I was on prednisone' date=' so I don't know if I lost weigh but am retaining a ton of Water. But I am giving myself a hug pat on the back that I didn't gain while on it.

20lbs left to lose, so I'm expecting more stalls and slower loss.

My wedding dress fits perfect right now. Only alteration needed is a hem. So I'm really hoping I can maintain until after the wedding in October, then jump start the losing again. It's a corset back so even if I go down a few lbs it shouldn't make too big of a difference. Just can't lose any more of the boobage between now and then. :-D

Size 16 wedding dress which is about a 12 street size. Preop I would have had to order a size 26.[/quote']

You look beautiful! And congrats on doing so well while on prednisone, that is truly an accomplishment. I took it for a few weeks last summer & gained 10 lbs!! It's a horrible drug. Great job!

And Cheri I want to thank you again for being such an inspiration and voice of reason. A lot of your posts resonate very deeply with me and I just want you to know your contributions to this board are very very much appreciated.

I stalled at three weeks out for a couple of weeks (like most people). But other than that I try not to see my progress, or lack thereof, as stalls anymore. Reading this thread, and many others, has taught me that I'm not stalling - I am a slow loser, and my body takes time to adjust. But I DO lose. I've lost 40 lbs total, have just hit 199, and have 80 more to go. I'm in it for the long haul, so stalls or no stalls, I'm gonna lose it!

You look beautiful! And congrats on doing so well while on prednisone' date=' that is truly an accomplishment. I took it for a few weeks last summer & gained 10 lbs!! It's a horrible drug. Great job![/quote']

Thank you much!!!

I don't want to take it ever again. Still dealing with the after effects of this junk.

I think i posted here before but will update, and hope to inspire those feeling like "slow losers"! My VSG was 10/25/12.

My Dr has been very happy with my loss at each appt, saying 7-10 lbs a month for VSG is very good. Started at sz 22/24 and now, sz 16's are LOOSE! Go figure! Being heavy my ENTIRE life i cannot believe my clothing sizes are going down like this! I wish I was one of the "100 lbs in 4 months" girls but it just isn't happening. Hey, at least we're LOSING slowly but surely. One day we'll step on the scale and be at GOAL!! Best wishes to all as we continue our journey.

VSG 10/25/12

SW 300

CW 220

F/51

5''10"

Thank you for this. I am all over this. Losing slowly seems to be what my body wants to do and I just need to get my brain to understand the process.

Great job everyone !!!

I'm in my first true stall at 5 1/2 month. Have been bouncing between 176 and 174 for the past three weeks. Two of those weeks I was on prednisone, so I don't know if I lost weigh but am retaining a ton of water. But I am giving myself a hug pat on the back that I didn't gain while on it.

And Cheri I want to thank you again for being such an inspiration and voice of reason. A lot of your posts resonate very deeply with me and I just want you to know your contributions to this board are very very much appreciated.

I think that first of all, you've done amazing with your loss so far. Second, just avoiding a gain on that horrible steroid is amazing! I have a friend that has been on it for a long while and for the first time in her life is gaining weight - more than seventy pounds - because they can't figure out what's wrong with her and every time they've tried to take her off her body freaks out and she gets incredibly sick. She's been on it for a year! She needs to see Dr. House...

And thank you for the kind words. I'm not always the kindest or most patient voice here on the forums but I genuinely enjoy contributing and I want people that go through experiences similar to mine to know that it is possible, and to keep them feeling motivated to reach for goal. Honestly, it's not entirely altruistic, either - the feedback we get on threads like this motivate ME on my bad days to keep on chugging and doing the right things. This is exactly what VST is for, right?

I stalled at three weeks out for a couple of weeks (like most people). But other than that I try not to see my progress, or lack thereof, as stalls anymore. Reading this thread, and many others, has taught me that I'm not stalling - I am a slow loser, and my body takes time to adjust. But I DO lose. I've lost 40 lbs total, have just hit 199, and have 80 more to go. I'm in it for the long haul, so stalls or no stalls, I'm gonna lose it!

This is exactly the right mindset! It's only about you, and how far you push yourself. You absolutely can do this and there is no expiration date on your sleeve. Look at me, three years out and (slowly, painfully slowly) losing those last few baby pounds. The sleeve still restricts me and it's going to keep helping me, provided I don't try to work around it and cheat myself.

Thanks for the contributions, let's keep 'em coming!

~Cheri

I think that first of all' date=' you've done amazing with your loss so far. Second, just avoiding a gain on that horrible steroid is amazing! I have a friend that has been on it for a long while and for the first time in her life is gaining weight - more than seventy pounds - because they can't figure out what's wrong with her and every time they've tried to take her off her body freaks out and she gets incredibly sick. She's been on it for a year! She needs to see Dr. House...

~Cheri[/quote']

They need to taper her off and check her adrenal glands. After being on them for that long her adrenal glands have possibly shut down. And now her body isn't producing corticosteroids, aldosterone, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. Thats why she gets sicker when they try to stop. Here is a link for what all the adrenal gland does

http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/patientcare/healthcare_services/diabetes_endocrine/about_diabetes/endocrinology/adrenal_glands/Pages/index.aspx

And the dangers of long term prednisone use

http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2013/03/prednisone_works_well_for_rang.html

More often then not when people are on it for long periods of time, they get super sick when the docs try to stop it... I really hope they can find out what is going on with your friend so she can stop taking that demon drug.

Going through my ms diagnosis, I had a whole battery of tests. The worst one, but the one that finally revealed the diagnosis, was a spinal tap.

They need to taper her off and check her adrenal glands. After being on them for that long her adrenal glands have possibly shut down. And now her body isn't producing corticosteroids, aldosterone, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. Thats why she gets sicker when they try to stop. Here is a link for what all the adrenal gland does

http://medicalcenter...ages/index.aspx

And the dangers of long term prednisone use

http://www.cleveland...l_for_rang.html

More often then not when people are on it for long periods of time, they get super sick when the docs try to stop it... I really hope they can find out what is going on with your friend so she can stop taking that demon drug.

Going through my ms diagnosis, I had a whole battery of tests. The worst one, but the one that finally revealed the diagnosis, was a spinal tap.

Thank you for the advice, I'll pass it on to her! Yes, she gets ridiculously sick each time they try to stop her (four times now) and has been hospitalized three times and nearly died once from some crazy histamine reaction that I don't fully understand. I'm very worried about her and she's had so many tests, blood draws, scopes, laparoscopies, etc. trying to figure this out and nothing, nada, zip.

~Cheri

I am a slow loser. Its frustrating to see the posts for 100lbs in 6 months, etc,etc...

I try to skip over the ones that say they have been perfect and thats the only way to get to goal. My thought is that i want to live life. If i want something i adjust my eating and have it, within reason and on plan. My doc released me to eat anything. AND my steel sleeve can :-)

My first stall was the 3 week stall. It lasted about 2 1/2 weeks.

Its been pretty consistant lose a couple pounds, stall for a week or two and repeat, lol. I have stalled again at 198 and have been here for 10 days. Its all good.

I've lost 93 pounds in 9 months. I'm perfectly fine with that but I do get a little jealous of the MANY posts about people losing faster. Month 4 I lost 0 pounds and month 8 I lost 0 pounds. Other than those two months, the scale only goes down a week after my cycle. The rest of the month I don't lose.

I don't stress or freak out. I view this journey like any other weight loss attempt except I'm not giving up this time and gaining the weight back. But I know even with the sleeve, my body still functions the same way it did before except now I have a smaller stomach. The surgery didn't speed my metabolism and cause me to lose super fast. I don't expect to lose everyday or every week and it's kept me sane. I'm working my sleeve but I'm not obsessing and over working it. I don't see anything wrong with being a slow loser as long as I am a loser

This is exactly the right mindset! It's only about you' date=' and how far you push yourself. You absolutely can do this and there is no expiration date on your sleeve. Look at me, three years out and (slowly, painfully slowly) losing those last few baby pounds. The sleeve still restricts me and it's going to keep helping me, provided I don't try to work around it and cheat myself.

Thanks for the contributions, let's keep 'em coming!

~Cheri[/quote']

Thanks Cheri, means a lot coming from you! Really appreciate the guidance you & the other vets take the time to provide. It's invaluable!!

I've lost 93 pounds in 9 months. I'm perfectly fine with that but I do get a little jealous of the MANY posts about people losing faster. Month 4 I lost 0 pounds and month 8 I lost 0 pounds. Other than those two months, the scale only goes down a week after my cycle. The rest of the month I don't lose.

YES!! This! I see so many women absolutely freaking about about the "stall" each month during their cycle and it drives them nuts the first time it happens post op. But I GAINED each month and only lose one week a month, typically, so I had a very similar pattern to yours.

I've been here a while and I still get frustrated when I see the "110 pounds down in 4 months" posts (I grabbed numbers out of the air because I don't want anyone to think I'm knocking them) because while I'm thrilled for the poster and happy for their success, I see two things coming down the road:

1) That person will stall, because a huge amount of weight has come of amazingly quickly, and they're more likely to panic when they do finally slow down because they've become accustomed to fast loss

2) Other people that haven't achieved the same amount of weight loss in a similar time frame start to feel frustrated and question their success. Yes, some of them post about this and get panicked about losing the weight or stalls or slow loss. But many more probably just get discouraged and never say a thing!

That's why I really love seeing a variety of threads stay at the top of the success board, and why (if anyone's reading this and annoyed by this thread popping up all the time) I work to keep this one going and on the first page as much as possible. We're all successes - but we all also get hung up on the numbers sometimes, too.

I'm guilty of it, too. Got on the scale this morning and saw my first real drop all month. And oh yeah, now the smiles come out.

~Cheri

I am in a stall and have been since July 12 so nearly 4 weeks...I am 13 lbs from surgeon's goal and 23 lbs from my personal goal. I am 9 months out today and down 70 lbs since surgery I am just plugging along. This is not my first stall but is one of my longest I stalled for a while at month 3 too.I know my weightloss is going to be even slower approaching goals . I can't wait till my scale stops bouncing between 148-149 though lol

I will be completely honest, I never really tracked how long any stalls were. I know the longest one was between 2 and 3 months (that's right, months, not weeks). I actually thought I was done losing and was a few pounds away from goal. But I was actually ok with that because I never dreamed I would even reach my goal as I had never remembered even weighing that amount. When I did start losing again, I was shocked and ecstatic!

I am also a only lose for one week out of the month person. And I always bounce up a few pounds around TOM. It used to freak me out because I thought I was gaining until I actually realized what was happening. I never paid attention so closely to my weight before surgery, I never noticed the changes in weight through out my cycle.

After the first 6 months, I just started rolling with it and not stressing about it so much. I was happy eating the way I was eating and slowly losing. When I stopped comparing myself to everyone else, I was much more at peace with this whole process. Sometimes you have to let go of what you thought it would be like and embrace the way your body works.