How many vets are actually AT goal and staying there?

[Georgia 2,911]

Getting closer BACK to goal. Lost another 2 lbs per the scale. 5:2 seems to be working for me or the fact that I am logging EVERYTHING, avoiding all slider foods and zealously watching calorie intake. . Anyway, RECLAIMED goal in sight! Onward, my fellow soldiers!!

[Georgia 2,911]

And Coops, how RICH it will be when you get there!!!!!

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

I have been struggling to see anything near goal for 21 mths... is this my goal? I hope not. I refuse to live the rest of my life under the heading of 'obese' - even if it is by just a few pounds.

I can relate to so many of these posts and to be honest, I have no words of wisdom or advise because nothing has worked for me to get the last 14-28lbs off!

I can't tell you how much I hate not being at goal... how this changes my perception of myself from being a success to a failure in the matter of minutes.

Every day is a struggle and the smallest of 'slip ups' will be punished by upward movement on the scales.< /p>

However, I refuse to give up. I refuse to be 'done'. And I refuse not to finish this stupid race! This is not the finished 'me'!

I am not a quitter; never have been and I never will be ... and like I have said before; perhaps never getting to goal has stopped me regaining more than 7lbs. I don't know.

In fact, I am going for a new title of -'the longest sleever to get to goal'! Now, that would be a thread to watch out for...lol

I love your spook Coops! You are an inspiration to a lot of people here on vst. This has been a long journey and to not have made your surgeon's goal is baffling to me. You have worked so hard and done a lot of hard work.

I must say that when I see pics of you, you look skinny and healthy. I believe that you will get to your surgeon's goal and we will Celebrate it here on VST, after all, we are a team......

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

Georgia I love that you loss 2 more lbs! Keep it up......

[Escape_Pod 358]

Coops, when you reach goal, there's gonna be a party all over the world, there will be so many of us celebrating with you!! My 2 year surgiversary was last week, and I'm further from goal than I was a year ago, but I'm regaining hope that I can get there. The support and ideas here are a huge part of my success plan.

[Chimera 644]

Just want to chime in regarding the inspiration in this thread - we will all get there! My losses are harder to come by these days and I am very much looking forward to next week when our houseguests return home and there are no more Cookies, or hamburger Buns, or bread in my normally safe, bad-carb free home. They go down waaaay to easily after that first year - my hubby who is also sleeved has lost his mind I guess...he is at goal and can seemingly eat anything and not gain.

I also had a fright seeing my sister-in-law last week - who was the inspiration for my husband and I to have WL surgery in the first place. She had a RNY and is 3.5 years out, after a very stressful spring with her job, she had gained back 35 lbs of the 165 she had lost.

Over a weeks camping, she had a personal stash of packages of golden Oreo's, those giant containers of goldfish crackers, chips, juice, and bags of dried fruits, including coconut (when I looked at the bags nutrition content and how her dear husband, who is heavier than he has ever been could not seem to stop eating from it - not good.) I am worried that she will gain more back - she has a weakness for sweet carbs

This felt like the cautionary tale, the wake-up call - for me to be careful, and mindful, and to keep on working on things that are healthy habits. It is so freaking hard some days...

[Supersweetums 1,164]

Coops, I know everyone has said, but you should be so proud of what you have accomplished. Especially that, in the face of adversity, you have not given up. It would be way easier to throw your hands up and say it can't be done. But you have not done that! You have chosen to keep working at it no matter how frustrated you may become. For that alone you are a complete success and an inspiration to many!

And Chimera, you are right, we have to be mindful. I feel sorry for you sister-in-law because it seems as though she is giving up and throwing in the towel. She has lost so much and it is never too late to gain control. I hope for her that she does. Your quote from Eggface is perfect! Just because you get there doesn't mean you can quit. You have to keep it up for a lifetime. The other thing she always says about WLS is that it is not a do-over, it is a do-better. Make lasting changes that you know that you can sustain forever. You can work your a**, follow super-strict diets, etc, and sure, those sleevers might get to goal quickly. But if not careful, there is the risk of repeating the same mistakes we all have done before we had surgery. It is too hard to maintain and we end up giving up at some point (at least I know I did...before I had my son I worked out so hard all the time that I burned out, I just physically could not to it anymore). I chose to look at WLS as a way to change my life forever, not just for the 18 months it took me to reach goal. And likely the fact that it took me 18 months helped entrench a lot of good habits which I still continue today.

I am grateful for everyone on here that is fighting the fight and being honest about what the future is like for sleevers over 2 years out. It takes a lot of character to be honest and keep coming for support (whether here or local support groups). No one should feel ashamed if they are struggling, and no one should be made to feel ashamed either.

There will always be a level of diligence that we will have to maintain, likely for life, that I know I hoped that I wouldn't have to, but, that is reality!

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

This is no easy task and it doesn't get any easier. The farther out I am, the more normal I feel. I am NOT normal. I never will be.

I had lost all of my weight with the band. I gained a little while I was unfilled waiting for revision surgery. Then I got the sleeve and it made life so wonderful the first 3 years. I felt full all the time and didn't have eating on my brain in between meals.

The thing that bugs is the amount and how easy junk food goes down. 6 lbs turns into 10, 10 turns into 12-13 and here I am struggling with a 15 lb regain. The scary part is I have been trying since I gained the first 5 lbs.

I know part of it is because I am older. I hear about it and read about it all the time. The old you get, the more your metabolism slows down. Yay. just what I need.

I am liking the 5:2 diet. I noticed the day after my 500 calorie day, I didn't want to graze all day. And I love my new trainer. All I can do is keep trying.

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

Just want to chime in regarding the inspiration in this thread - we will all get there! My losses are harder to come by these days and I am very much looking forward to next week when our houseguests return home and there are no more Cookies, or hamburger Buns, or bread in my normally safe, bad-carb free home. They go down waaaay to easily after that first year - my hubby who is also sleeved has lost his mind I guess...he is at goal and can seemingly eat anything and not gain.

I also had a fright seeing my sister-in-law last week - who was the inspiration for my husband and I to have WL surgery in the first place. She had a RNY and is 3.5 years out, after a very stressful spring with her job, she had gained back 35 lbs of the 165 she had lost.

Over a weeks camping, she had a personal stash of packages of golden Oreo's, those giant containers of goldfish crackers, chips, juice, and bags of dried fruits, including coconut (when I looked at the bags nutrition content and how her dear husband, who is heavier than he has ever been could not seem to stop eating from it - not good.) I am worried that she will gain more back - she has a weakness for sweet carbs

This felt like the cautionary tale, the wake-up call - for me to be careful, and mindful, and to keep on working on things that are healthy habits. It is so freaking hard some days...

This is a wakeup call for me too. i know that if i had those bad foods in my house, I wouldn't be able to resist eating them. They are toxic for me and I am a food addict. I can never let myself slip and my 2 years is just approaching. So this post and all others keep me on my toes and not slack off. I do have a trip coming up in 10 days, I'm driving to Oregon with a friend and will try to keep my meals high Protein with veggies, but also know I will probably slip some. I have to remember this is the way I eat always and not be tempted by the sugary and high carb foods. This is hard work....I have been doing the 5:2 diet and I will continue with it for the last couple of lbs and in maintenance. I can't relax because that is what I did in the past, I let my guard down. A big difference for me is that I do not go to fast food restaurants at all.....So that is a big change that I've made. I can't stand the site of them anymore.

[clk 3,519]

I think 5:2 is really helping me, too. I mean, sure I am losing a small amount of weight and that's good. But I feel like it forces me to stay accountable to myself, too. I'm forced to track my calories - I can't get sloppy with it or I'll lose count for the day. I also find that I'm pleasantly surprised by the amount of satisfaction and support I find in both this thread and the 5:2 thread. By posting daily I force myself to kind of stay on track. It's another way to be accountable when I check in with you guys here and there, too. I know I want to post each day. What I don't want to post is that I went totally ape, you know? I still embrace moderation in a way I know some of you can't, but I keep myself more "in check" knowing I'm going to have to track those calories, you know? It's also very nice to know I am not alone in this and that there are many of us still chugging along or who have found that you really do need to stay diligent forever.

I do admit that sometimes reading the newbie threads is frustrating - in a different way now than it was six months ago. I just want to say to them, stop worrying about how fast that scale moves. Stop trying insane diets and stop trying to kill yourself with exercise hoping for those fast, fast, fast results. I know that the word "journey" is a cheesy one and I use it all the time. But it's true - it's really true that this is a long haul thing. This is not a one year transformation. It's a never ending process. The minute we think it's over and we get slack and the minute we just let loose and stop being diligent is when we find ourselves in trouble. I think that the longer I'm in this the more I realize that losing the bulk of the weight is the easy part.

Staying close to goal and maintaining, or shedding those last fifteen pounds or so and keeping them off is the real challenge. I'm only 32...what is this going to be like for me at 40? I hope second nature - I hope that at some point it's just the way I live and keep myself on track and that I don't always need support and guidance to stay on the right path.

In a way, it's like I'm married to my sleeve. Even if I didn't realize it at the time, I was making a lifelong commitment that doesn't end. Not if I want to continue to look and feel the way I do, anyway!

~Cheri

[Georgia 2,911]

I think 5:2 is really helping me' date=' too. I mean, sure I am losing a small amount of weight and that's good. But I feel like it forces me to stay accountable to myself, too. I'm forced to track my calories - I can't get sloppy with it or I'll lose count for the day. I also find that I'm pleasantly surprised by the amount of satisfaction and support I find in both this thread and the 5:2 thread. By posting daily I force myself to kind of stay on track. It's another way to be accountable when I check in with you guys here and there, too. I know I want to post each day. What I don't want to post is that I went totally ape, you know? I still embrace moderation in a way I know some of you can't, but I keep myself more "in check" knowing I'm going to have to track those calories, you know? It's also very nice to know I am not alone in this and that there are many of us still chugging along or who have found that you really do need to stay diligent forever.

I do admit that sometimes reading the newbie threads is frustrating - in a different way now than it was six months ago. I just want to say to them, stop worrying about how fast that scale moves. Stop trying insane diets and stop trying to kill yourself with exercise hoping for those fast, fast, fast results. I know that the word "journey" is a cheesy one and I use it all the time. But it's true - it's really true that this is a long haul thing. This is not a one year transformation. It's a never ending process. The minute we think it's over and we get slack and the minute we just let loose and stop being diligent is when we find ourselves in trouble. I think that the longer I'm in this the more I realize that losing the bulk of the weight is the easy part.

Staying close to goal and maintaining, or shedding those last fifteen pounds or so and keeping them off is the real challenge. I'm only 32...what is this going to be like for me at 40? I hope second nature - I hope that at some point it's just the way I live and keep myself on track and that I don't always need support and guidance to stay on the right path.

In a way, it's like I'm married to my sleeve. Even if I didn't realize it at the time, I was making a lifelong commitment that doesn't end. Not if I want to continue to look and feel the way I do, anyway!

~Cheri[/quote']

I "lost it" last year when my two Grands and their Mother were still living with me. Lots of Snacks stuff for lunches and little girls. Got in the habit of grazing on junk and paid for it. Now, since they have their own place again, I try to keep it out except for a box or so of healthier snack bars and WW ice cream bars etc. But I DO allow myself to have a dessert if at friends houses or special events. I am a chocoholic so I cannot start it at all. And basically sugar treats of any kind being on cravings again so I am trying not to go there!

[coops 1,790]

In a way, it's like I'm married to my sleeve. Even if I didn't realize it at the time, I was making a lifelong commitment that doesn't end. Not if I want to continue to look and feel the way I do, anyway!

~Cheri

And this is why I paid a lot of money for this surgery... this is why I can't give up... and this is why I have to make it to at least my surgeon's goal (before I die...lol)!

This really is no easy fix... ok, I've maintained pretty well... but I can't tell you have p*ssed I get at the fact that I am still obese and that I am still 'chunky'! Ok, a smaller chunky but nonetheless chunky!

I get so angry and frustrated when my best efforts are not rewarded. I've had a really tough day or two emotionally and I worry that the 'dark place' of failure is calling my name again!

Thank God we have this site and this group to come to... we all understand each other now and we are all in very similar positions.

I suppose, we gotta keep on keeping on!

[clk 3,519]

I know how frustrated you are, coops. You know, even at my goal I am still overweight. No, not the same as falling under obese, I know. Right now, today my BMI is 28 - I'm just a few pounds from obese, myself.

I mean, here I am thrilled that I'm thinner and looking good...and I see my doc in April and he says he'd like to see me between 107-127 pounds...what the hell?!

Am I doomed to always be the fat girl, even when I'm clearly NOT the fat girl? Damn that BMI chart all to hell.

I can hardly stay under 137 pounds and my doc would like to see ten less than that at least? He's crazy, the world is crazy and I'm not going to make myself crazy trying to reach a goal that is most likely unattainable for me.

I think this group will help us get as far as we can get. And I know that you've had a heck of a time reaching goal and I'm not saying that it's not possible. I just hope that we can all find that balance between being thankful for how far we've come while keeping the drive to go as far as we can and while also feeling love and acceptance for ourselves. I can't keep beating myself up for not being the smallest girl around. The very fact that I can wear clothes from a normal store should be a cause to Celebrate every morning. I should not be frustrated that the number isn't smaller than it is!

I never dreamed I'd reach this point. I have to remind myself of that every time I get frustrated or fall into the old habit of beating myself up and putting myself down. I never thought I'd be here and I am. I have no reason to be ungrateful or unhappy, and I have to remember that.

Much love, coops! You and Globe have both had a heck of a time and I know how frustrated you are. If it's any consolation, you DO look fabulous, you HAVE accomplished a lot and I'm totally jealous that you've had plastics and I still have a saggy, baggy tummy.

~Cheri

[feedyoureye 3,087]

27.3- I'm closer to obese than normal. And I look great! (pats self on back) So do you Coops and Cheri! Don't you forget it!

[Supersweetums 1,164]

Cheri, I think your doc is crazy! What a way to make you feel like a failure when you are a complete success!

My goal weight when I started out was 140lbs, which put me just within the normal BMI range according to what I thought my height was, 5'3" ( I am actually about 1/2 inch shorter, so even now 140lbs puts me back into the overweight category). I dropped a little below and was sitting around 138lbs for about a year until I started that f***ing medication! Now I am back up to I do not even really know because it fluctuates so much day to day (I am going to say 145 because that is what I weight this morning). The sad thing is that I never even thought I would reach my goal, and when I had lost down to 145lbs I felt amazing. Now I am back up to there and hate it!

And even at this weight, I still where a size 6 ( I could wear a 4 in some brands before the 7lbs gain...vanity sizing maybe, but I really don't care!). And I am already boney in my shoulders and chest, I really wouldn't want to weight much less than the 138lb logically. But there are days that my brain is saying your are sooo short, you shout weigh less than 130lbs, even though I would probably look terrible.

What can't we get around all these stupid numbers! I wish I could and I wish I had your confidence feedyoureye!