What a difference a year makes... (Pictures - size 20 to size 4!)

[owlgal 2]

Wow! What an inspiration for me. I am almost the same as you. Can't wait for my sleeve surgery! Hope to find the success you did.

[kidrn72 85]

Wow!! You do look amazing!! Congrats;)

[LovetoDeath 93]

This is exactly how I hope to be. I have never been good at keeping track of anything. I get discouraged on this board sometimes because it seems like everyone is so strict with tracking and never eating any carbs. This makes me feel like there will be some hope for me. Thanks!

[mommyradd 115]

Thanks for sharing your stats and pictures. You look fab!

[sarahcc 184]

You look so different, my gosh!! My dr was the same way in that i didnt do a liquid pre op diet and she has her patients eating food right away. You know I've always wondered if ppl who had to do weeks of liquid had some sort of edge but you have done great!! You look awesome!! Nice job!

Yeah I always wondered that myself in the beginning-- but I think there's really something to be said about the progress you make when you don't stress or worry. From my perspective, I just really felt like if I would be willing to count calories, count Protein, and cut out foods that I loved even though they were bad for me... I probably could have accomplished the same weight loss without the surgery. Does that make sense? I just felt like if I was going to go through the process, and all the side effects, etc... that I wanted to live life like a normal person. And now I do. I eat what I want, but I make better choices. And I can get back on track if I gain a couple pounds. I just seized the opportunity to start over, and now I can prevent myself from making the same mistakes over again

[sarahcc 184]

Thanks for sharing your stats and pictures. You look fab!

Thank you so much

[sarahcc 184]

This is exactly how I hope to be. I have never been good at keeping track of anything. I get discouraged on this board sometimes because it seems like everyone is so strict with tracking and never eating any carbs. This makes me feel like there will be some hope for me. Thanks!

There is so much hope for you!! I can't speak for anyone else, especially anyone that has a different system in place than I did. But I will say that it feels so much like the strict diets and routines are, more than anything, driven by fear of gaining the weight back. We've been given such a great opportunity and to screw it up would be devastating. That being said, I just wanted to take it a day at a time and use this opportunity to really get to know my own body a lot better than I ever did before. There WAS trial and error, I won't lie. I'm sure there are some really rigid folks who will tell you they never threw up, or only one time in years, or whatever. I'll tell you the truth of myself, I've thrown up from taking one bite too many. I haven't thrown up in probably 6 months, but that first half of the year was a lot of trial and error. But I HAD to learn, because I wanted to get as close to "normal" as possible. I wanted to understand what was going to work and what wasn't. And I wanted a solution that I was positive was going to work forever, that I wouldn't burn out on or learn to resent over time. I couldn't be happier

[sarahcc 184]

Wow! What an inspiration for me. I am almost the same as you. Can't wait for my sleeve surgery! Hope to find the success you did.

You absolutely can and will Good Luck!

[Bos123 221]

Holy s*#t you look great lol. I like seeing pics of a year out. Van I ask of you experiences many stalls? If so, what worked for you?

[Bos123 221]

Holy s*#t you look great lol. I like seeing pics of a year out. Van I ask of you experiences many stalls? If so' date=' what worked for you?[/quote']

Stupid phone sorry for the spelling mistakes!

[skinnygirlinside 60]

This is an amazing story! You look GREAT!! You give us all hope.!

[AspieMom 13]

Awesome!!!

[lola8986 27]

Wow your a total insperation!!! You look awesome!! Great job hope I have the same sucess as you have.. did you exercise a lot?

[marfar7 1,528]

Great post! I luv the fact that ur no longer on a diet. I was banded 3 1/2 yrs ago (awaiting revision to sleeve) and lost 104 lbs eating everything, just smaller quantities. Its why I even had wls _ so that Id never have to diet again. I luv being able to eat anything (including Taco Bell and Jack in the Box) and still lose weight.

However, since my band slipped, Im counting calories. My band is totally unfilled and can eat alot more. So I've gained about 22 lbs. My fault. I own my mistakes. But if I wanted to watch what I ate and count calories I wouldn't be having the band or the sleeve. Im having the sleeve done because Im no good at watching what I eat. I've proven that recently with the weight gain.

Congrats on ur achievment. I hope to be u when I grow up!

[sarahcc 184]

Holy s*#t you look great lol. I like seeing pics of a year out. Van I ask of you experiences many stalls? If so, what worked for you?

Great question! I can say I lost pretty consistently. The only time I can recall stalling for a short period of time was around 9 weeks out and I don't think I lost much of anything for about about 2-3 weeks. Other than that I lost really really consistently... about 20-25lbs the first couple months, then I dropped to about 10lbs per month after and maintained that until about month 8-9 out, when I dropped down to about 5lbs per month. All totalled, I've lost about 117 pounds and about 105/110 came in the first 10 months