Tomorrow is my 1 year sleevaversary. Thought I would share what I have experienced over the past year. Fair warning, this was a year in the making, so it's a little long....

I have lost 92 lbs and gone from size 22/24 to 12/14. My Plantar Fasciitis is gone and I can walk for miles. I can wear heels and cross my legs. Shoe size shrank by 1/2 size. I can sit indian style and move a lot better. The interior of my car seems a bit bigger and I just fit into the world better. I lost some hair and now have 3" strands growing back all over my head. I never vomited or had dumping or foamies. I eat very low carb and don't miss carbs one little bit. Truly. I have lots of low carb foods that I LOVE. And I enjoy cooking and eating.

People: I have been open about my surgery. I am still saddened to hear so many people who believe negative inaccurate stories they hear about wls. One woman said it causes stomach cancer. It does NOT. The ignorance is real. I have found that most people have made up their minds and they don't want you to confuse them with facts. I do get support from people who know me. And that is what is important to me. I used to want to wear a T-shirt with a before after picture of me a few months ago as a walking billboard for wls, because I was and am so happy with my results, but now I am less apt to share my story because so many people still have a negative mindset when they hear wls, which is very sad because it helps so many people. I actually feel that some people treated me in a more negative way after I told them. Guess I gave them more credit than they deserved.

I do think my social interactions are more frequent now. I think I do have more self confidence now, maybe it's because I feel like I look better. I have a turkey neck thing going on that I'm not happy about, and the skin on my upper thighs is a tad saggy. My stomach is a lot better than I thought it would be. Boobs shrank some, but still plenty there. My arms are floppy, and I don't like that, but even so, I love shopping and dressing now. I may be developing a Transference Addiction of shoe browsing/buying. I had to wear ugly "comfortable" shoes for a long time, so I can't tell you how much fun it is to have a few pair of cute shoes that don't hurt my feet. Thank goodness Hubby says I'm not out of control ....yet....

Clothes shopping: Tried to buy everything on sale. I still have some things that are 2X or 3X that I need to replace. The clothes buying can add up fast. It doesn't help that my Husband actually encourages shopping. Who does that? I think he knows just how much I enjoy it now, where I hated shopping before. Nothing.... nothing looked good before.

Alcohol: I haven't tried any yet. Going on vacation in a few weeks and might try a little bit.... maybe. Never been a drinker.

Exercise: Uh...well....I do have a gym membership. Does that count? We go a few times some weeks and not so much others. I'm a work in progress.

The weight loss almost stopped at 10 months. I had to regroup and lower my carbs and up my fat intake to get it slowly moving again. Slowly, ever so slowly. I can eat more and the game is changing. You really get used to seeing that scale move every few days, and with every stall, I would think, maybe this is it. I pack my lunch every day, don't count anything and just focus on healthy low carb foods with a bit more fat. My diet is also a work in progress. Not sure where I will end up, but I am sure it will be low carb. My goal is not a size or a number. It is a healthy sustainable balance where I can get the most out of life. Thank you to everyone who made it the end of this rant. I am grateful to everyone who took the time to post their experiences to help those like me who were searching for a miracle, and finally found one.

Congratulations you are doing great and I think you have a very healthy attitude about your entire process. You are right about people not understanding the surgery and what it is all about...When you try to explain it they usually don't get it..They find it easier to believe what they had heard and not the true facts. Some are enlightened but others are just plain stuck in the land of unknown facts.

It sounds like you are having a lot of fun finding the new you and that you have a very supportive hubby. That is wonderful.

Yes you will have body adjustments and you will have some things that are going to be a bit "jiggly" but that is a far cry better than what it was like before you made this very healthy decision to change your life.

I had my sleeve in 2011 and have been extremely happy with it. I agree with you that numbers and sizes are not the goal. Good health is the best gift you can get from this.

Keep going with this...You are awesome and I hope you will always remember that you are worth every bit of the work that goes with this. It is a journey and the journey only gets better the farther you go with it.

I hope to keep hearing good things,

Best of all things to you

Dawn

Thank you Dawn:-) Yes, I will take jiggly over where I was any day.

Sent from my SM-N920V using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you Dawn:-) Yes, I will take jiggly over where I was any day.

Sent from my SM-N920V using BariatricPal mobile app

Congratulations! On your life style change! Keep going never stop!

How many times have you stalled and how long were they? I'm five months in and I'm in a three week stall, it 's the third or fourth time the scale hasn't moved but for one to two pounds. I've lost 55 pounds since surgery and I'm supposed to lose 17-20 pounds by my doc appointment next month and I'm freaking out.

Don't freak out. Just focus on the rules. At 3 weeks out I did 800 calories for 20 days with 0 weight loss. That was an eye opener. But that is normal for a lot of us. I have had several stalls over 2 weeks. Maybe 3 or 4. This is a marathon, not a sprint. And we are all different. Maybe up your water, exercise or lower your carbs. Just focus on being the healthiest you that you can be.

Sent from my SM-N920V using BariatricPal mobile app