I woke up this morning and realized: This will be the last holiday season I will allow myself to be single and invisible. By this time next year I will have blossomed into my true beautiful and healthy self instead of hiding behind all of this weight and shame. I am so excited for the adventure ahead. I pray it goes well. I know it will be a tough path, but that the rewards will be so worth it.

Do you remember the day you knew your life was going to change for the better?

That is awesome congrats keep up the hard work

When I started my journey six months ago I was 320. Day of surgery i was 292. Today I weighed myself and I'm 284.

Way to go, Avhick! Keep us posted!

I got my EKG done yesterday. Happy and healthy heart! Approved by my PCP for surgery! Here we go!!!!

Checking in Avhick....how is the recovery going?

So wonderful, Avhick. I'm only a couple of weeks in front of you, so we can go on this journey together. And what a difference each day makes!

Blissfubeing! I have my calendar marked for you. Know that I will cheer you every step. My life has changed so much since my preop and surgery on Dec. 19, and my days are colored with gratitude and excitement! I can't wait to hear how your journey will go. I'm here if I can help you in any way. I'm still learning things, too!

Mariah13, you are right around the corner, too. How is the preop going? I hope all of us Christmas and New Year sleevers stay in touch with each other and share the ups and downs along the way.

Last week this time I was in the hospital from being sleeved. I've made a lot of improvements. I'm feeling lucky that I've had no vomiting. Each day is getting a little easier. I've gone from taking pain meds from two to three times a day to once. For some reason at night I get some pain. Have severe back and blue bruising on the left side of my stomach. I've been able to do more a little bit each day. Just get very tired when my body says enough is enough. Hope all the December sleevers are doing well. Hope all the january sleevers are getting ready!!!!!!! Best wishes to all

Blissfubeing! I have my calendar marked for you. Know that I will cheer you every step. My life has changed so much since my preop and surgery on Dec. 19, and my days are colored with gratitude and excitement! I can't wait to hear how your journey will go. I'm here if I can help you in any way. I'm still learning things, too!

Onward - you are so kind! Thank you for your cheers. I have actually been starting to freak out a little. I'm scared that it won't work for me. I've failed every other time, so it's hard to keep the faith. I took my "before" pictures this morning and that definitely helped with my motivation. I'm so grateful to hear about your positive feelings since surgery. How much have you lost so far? How has your recovery been going?

Glad to hear that you are doing well, Avhick!

I've lost 31 so far. I never had success in dieting before either. Something clicked for me in the preop. I started a week early and lost 19 before surgery. I'm 2 and a half weeks out now and getting accustomed to this new way of feeling. Still pureeing foods and relying on Protein shakes, but SO much mure satisfaction. This will be your story, too! People are noticing and commenting at work. I am feeling prettier and even find myself caring about makeup and what I will wear. I haven't truly cared about clothes since the 90s! I gotta tell you...this is a fun feeling! Best of all, my blood pressure has dropped and I expect my doctor to be really happy at my appointment Friday. He wanted to put me on bp meds, and now, I'm betting that is NOT in my future.

I'm looking forward to hearing your discoveries after surgery. And don't freak out. The surgery may sound scary, but it is nothing you can't get past. 3 days after surgery, you won't believe how good you will feel considering you just had surgery. You will be proud of yourself.

If you have any questions, you just ask.

Onward really glad to hear things are going well for you. Sounds like you're self confidence has really gone up. I look forward to continuing to read about you're progress

How are you coming along Avhick?

Mariah and Blissfulbeing, how is your pre-op coming along? I think during mine, that's when I mentally turned a corner that evaded me my whole life. I hope you are doing well. Let us know if you need any encouragement. I'm getting excited for you both!

Hello Onward thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. It's been about 11 days since surgery. Initially I tired really easy got majorly fatigued. The fatigue is still there but I'm able to shake it off after a little rest. I started eating puréed soup and yougert this week. So far I'm tolerating things well. Now doing about 60g of protien a day. Plus getting in my liquids. Since I've started taking my iron supplement my hands no longer feel like they are ice cold. When my dad came home yesterday he says wow you're starting to change. I was happy about that because I noticed I'm starting to lose some weight. I things will be good once the fatigue stops. Best wishes to all enjoy learning about everyone's progress!!!!

So good to hear from you! It really does feel good when people notice. Can you believe you are almost two weeks post-op?! I will be 3 weeks tomorrow. Crazy how fast it seems to be going.

Interesting about the Iron. I had a similar reaction to B12. My energy spiked.

I still struggle with puréed foods. I find I have very little desire to eat, and I'm relying on the shakes probably more than I should. Let me know if you find something particularly yummy.