32 yr old mom of 2 boys, 9 & 5. I'm 5'5 inches tall and around 240lbs. Unfortunately I've been a yoyo dieter most of my life. I tend to be on either end of the spectrum, either too small or too heavy.

Ive got all my pretesting done, just waiting to finish up my 6 months supervised diet. I've got 3 months to go. The further along I get into the process, the faster everything seems to happen. If everything goes as planned, I am looking at being sleeved end of April, early May.

Finally, we currently reside in Alaska! Such an awesome place to live!

Welcome and all the best on your journey.

You will find much useful information here

BTW I love Alaska, one day I want to see more of it. I hope to one day get there to see the Aura Borealis

Thanks so much! I was a little afraid to register & post here... Not sure why.

Yes we see the Northern lights all through winter. It's amazing- so breath taking. :0)

Hope you find lots of good info here. I visited Anchorage a decade ago in the summer and loved the charm of the town, went to see the glacier at Portage, went to a wedding. Gosh the food was amazing too, smoked salmon and the best lobster. I still love those foods and can still have them with my sleeve, but without all the sides and starters!! Welcome!!

That's funny- I went walking on Portage lake when it was frozen over last winter. :0)

The glacier is beautiful. Did you do one of the cruises?

And I've always wondered how I am going to get liquids down afterwards. I tend to chug water. Especially when taking my vitamins and meds at night.

Yeah, the day cruise, it takes you as close as it can and you hear the glacier calfing and the little cruise ship cuts through the ice, all you hear is scraping! I was up for a 3 day weekend from Los Angeles, so I wanted to do a day run hence the drive down Seward Highway. I saw a moose and her calf on the way back and had a "moment" she was waiting to cross the highway so I pulled over and she looked right at me and paused, so I sent her a mental message to go ahead, and she did...and I was soon back on my way. Never experienced anything like that except with a dog! I went to a swap meet when I was there and loved it, loved the coffee and had a smoked salmon quesadilla! I bought some hand made Eskimo art and jewelry too...a lovely experience and I traveled alone.

Yes I love the moose and especially their baby calves. Many of them are twins, which is super cute. And yes the salmon is so plentiful here... We make our own salmon cakes and smoked salmon dip. It's amazing. We go dip netting, just put the net in and in comes a bunch of fish!

I can just picture that. Luckily fish is easy to tolerate and so healthy for you post sleeve. Hope you make alot of good friends here during your journey!!

Hope time flies by for you. I had a 12 week supervised diet and then had surgery last April 2012. I feel like a new woman! I started at 280 and size 3X-4X and now in a 14. I want to lose about 40 more I think. I'm a slow loser but it is coming off, no gains at all! Lovin my sleeve!

That is amazing- congratulations. I'm about a size 20 now and have been a 3 before. I am my most comfortable in the 130's. I'm hoping to lose 100 even.

I'm pretty anxious about it all, mostly how I will adjust to smaller portions and not drinking so much Water at once.

Akmys I envy you getting to see the northern lights all winter, they look truly stunning.

It is pretty natural to be anxious about the changes. Especially as we all seem to focus so much of our lives around eatting, everytime there is an event there is food involved.

Yes you wont be able to chug Water like a sailor with a cheap beer. But you do get used to different drinking and eatting styles. Fluids especially go down pretty quickly, while I still wouldnt say I could chug anything (at 16months post op) I can still consume alot of liquid at once.

Yes you will eat less but you will also enjoy what you eat more.

The initial stages will be hard, I am not going to lie, getting used to drinking again and eatting, as well as the stages. But your body wont crave the amount of food it once did.

Once you start of even puree's start eatting with a small spoon (teaspoon), helps you feel like you are eatting more. And chew chew chew. Initially you will be just sip sipping the liquids. The nutritionist and doctor will/should tell you this.

I also eat off side plate as well now, it is mind trick for me, I am still finishing a plate.

But as you recover and get further away from your op date things get better, easy. You get used to a new normal. I think by 3 months I was feeling pretty normal. By 6 months it was just life, I didnt feel the difference.

The only time I am really aware now of my smaller stomach is when I am out at restaurants but have also found ways to get around that, share a meal, order apetisers only etc.

Hope I dont seem too preachy

No, not preachy at all. I will take all the information I can get !

Hi there. I am 5'5 and started out at 245. So my #'s are pretty close to urs. I always wondered what a good goal weight should be for me. I started out thinking 160 would be fine. My surgery date was 4/27/12 so today im about 10 months post op and weigh 160. At this point i dont feel skinny enough.. Lol but not sure if my body will keep loosing. So far no stall yet but who knows when that will hit. Just wanted to give u my story to maybe compare to. Good Luck.