It has been a very long time since I've posted mainly because I couldn't log in with my password, but that is definitely not the point here. Just thought I should explain the absence!!!

A little history of me! I started preop on Halloween last year and had my surgery on November 12, 2012. To date, I have lost 135 pounds!!!! I went from 327 to 192. I was a size 26 jeans, 4X shirt. I am now in a size 12 jeans and an XL shirt (the "girls" haven't shrunk hardly at all, unfortunately!!!). I've even had to get my wedding ring sized down two sizes and probably needed to go down one more. My feet are smaller too and I now wear my beloved "hooker heels" simply because I can!!! I had been working from home for the past 5 years because I couldn't physically handle my nursing job anymore. I am now in the process of getting my nursing license reactivated so I can get back out in the real world. I never knew life could be so good! When I met my husband when I was a senior in high school 13 years ago, I weighed 208 pounds. Even he has never known me this size! I made a surprise visit to my surgeon's office last week. Unfortunately he was not in hype office, but my coordinator was and she was thrilled with my progress! She asked me if I would be willing to come back to town (we've since moved 3 hours away) to be a guest speaker on my success at my surgeon's seminar he is hosting in December. I accepted and now am trying to write my journey down on paper. I sure wish I would have kept a journal. Fat the first time in my entire life, two people have told me that it was time for me to stop losing weight. If I keep losing too much, I won't look healthy. Never did I ever think I would hear those words.

So, I present my latest progress pics!!!!

This gives me so much hope! I am at 4 months and I know I will lose more but I think there are times that we just can't comprehend what we will be like at 1 year at it is just amazing!! I am staying on program and will continue because I want before and afters just like this! You look amazing and I noticed your husband also lost weight!

Incredible!

Wow!

Amazing! Do you mind sharing how you've done so well?

You look great!

Good for you!

Wow...so amazing!! I am 4 months out & have a hard time envisioning the "end point" of this journey. Thank you so much for sharing yours!

Congratulations....

You look great! I can wait to be on the losers bench soon!

Great job!

Fantastic job. You look healthy and happy. Congrats on your hard work!!

Congratulations! You look amazing

I am certainly not the poster child for the sleeve. I was very noncompliant with my Vitamins because they either made me itch uncontrollably or made my mouth of numb. I finally quit with the chewables and gummies and went with the pill version. Much better now. I haven't exercised by going to the gym, but I do walk a lot with my dogs, go swimming and take the stairs instead of the elevator at my apartment. While I haven't exercised, I have been active. I'm no longer sedentary. Now the reason I haven't been sedentary isn't because I'm thinking "I need to get up and do something". It is because I have so much more energy that I don't like just sitting at home any more! I get bored easily now and like to go out and do stuff. I'm not embarrassed to be seen any more. I haven't been a calorie counter or fat tracker in my diet. I eat what I want, but with severe limitation. I am still limited to about 4 ounces per meal. I do throw up quite a bit considering I am so far out, but it is mainly because there is something in my food that has a stupid hidden onion in it!!! Onions are definitely my kryptonite. We eat out more than we should by any standard, so I don't know their recipe or anything like that. We go to Waffle House every Sunday morning for our family Breakfast and I would get some hashbrowns and an egg. Because they cook the hashbrowns on the same grill as the onions, I would throw up every time. I thought for a while that maybe I was eating too much or too fast or whatever deadly sin a sleever has, but when it dawned on me, it was a true epiphany. I finally ordered just a chicken breast. It is cooked on the meat grill where no onions are cooked and I kept it down like a champ. Now all of the waitresses know me and know what I want so I really can't deviate as they are looking out for me too!!! The best thing in the world that I eat and tolerate like a pro is fresh crab (which we have an abundance of here in the Gulf), so I do use that as an excuse to eat a lot of steamed crab!!! I can think of worse things!!!! So, again, I'm by no means perfect in this process. Oh, and the biggest thing that I have done to date is NO SODAS!!!! I haven't had a soda in almost a year. I know some have gotten back to diet soda, but I will never put another sip in my mouth. I have taken a taste (a couple of times by mistake, but a couple of times just to see what I was so obsessed with) and I absolutely find them revolting!!!! That is one huge thing about my sleeve that I am most grateful for!!! I do attribute that to a lot of my weight loss in that I have cut out God knows how many calories by giving those up!! I remember reading the success stories when I was about to have surgery and I thought I would never get there. I would never know what it would be like a year out. I have no will power at all, but that doesn't really matter when you can't do something. When you are forced to eat smaller portions, you will get to a year out. This has been the most amazing year though it has been filled with many trials and tribulations. It has been a fast year!!! I can't believe I'm almost a year out and almost to goal!!!! I never in a million years would have ever thought that this would be the new me. I never knew life was beautiful. I never knew I was beautiful. I never knew surgery scars were beautiful.

One last pic that kind of shocked me too...

Congratulations! The before and after pics are so inspiring!

I hope you don't mind me saying this: one of my, and my significant other's, worries is losing the gazongas. I've always been chesty and even at my heaviest I still have a great rack. If I have to lose them, I'll be ok since I know I'll be healthy, but I honestly don't want to lose them LOL. You may hate them, but they are giving me hope!

Look amazing