After all this time, and all this work, I still love my sleeve even with everything that comes with it. I am still amazed at how my body cyclically and periodically continues to drop weight. I never dreamed that I would lose this much. I have left my stretch goal in the dust, because when I started it seemed unlikely I would ever reach it anyway even though it would still be considered 60 pounds overweight. I am now well beneath that and I am continuing. Here is a picture of before and present.

You look amazing! I am almost 1 month post op and often feel like I'm not doing "things" the right way and like I'm not losing gray enough, your story gives me hope! Keep up the good work and thank you!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using BariatricPal mobile app

I think many of us felt like you do in the beginning. For some people, they feel this way through the whole process. From the get-go, defining this surgical procedure as a permanent change to my body and lifestyle helped me to focus on the long-term goal instead of the immediate pay off that comes from either eating poorly or losing weight in a way that cannot be sustained long-term. This has served me well. In fact, I don't even own a scale. Every 3 to 4 months I usually come across to one and weigh in. It is always down! And it doesn't matter if it's down by 4 pounds or 20 pounds. As long as it's lower than it was last time. And it always is!

@jupiterinvirgo,
Congratulations on your success! I love hearing stories like yours long after surgery. It shows that this is a lifestyle and a way of life. You look so great!
I have a question. I'm 9 months post op and have steadily lost 95 lbs. I'm 10 lbs away from goal. suddenly over the past week I have gained 3 lbs. I've never gained at all post surgery till now. Did this ever happen to you during your journey towards goal?
I'm trying g not to stress it but just wanted to ask a successful veteran if you ever experienced times of small gain?

I think many of us felt like you do in the beginning. For some people, they feel this way through the whole process. From the get-go, defining this surgical procedure as a permanent change to my body and lifestyle helped me to focus on the long-term goal instead of the immediate pay off that comes from either eating poorly or losing weight in a way that cannot be sustained long-term. This has served me well. In fact, I don't even own a scale. Every 3 to 4 months I usually come across to one and weigh in. It is always down! And it doesn't matter if it's down by 4 pounds or 20 pounds. As long as it's lower than it was last time. And it always is!

Thank you! I needed to hear this! [emoji3]

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using BariatricPal mobile app

@jupiterinvirgo,
Congratulations on your success! I love hearing stories like yours long after surgery. It shows that this is a lifestyle and a way of life. You look so great!
I have a question. I'm 9 months post op and have steadily lost 95 lbs. I'm 10 lbs away from goal. suddenly over the past week I have gained 3 lbs. I've never gained at all post surgery till now. Did this ever happen to you during your journey towards goal?
I'm trying g not to stress it but just wanted to ask a successful veteran if you ever experienced times of small gain?

Hello my friend! Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words. It made my day! From the beginning of this journey, I refused to own a scale. I did this, to avoid the stressful diet mentality and constant temptation to check on what my body is doing from day to day or hour to hour.

Because the surgery was a permanent change to my body, the wanting to lose weight quickly, I embraced early on the reality that speed is dramatically less important than permanence.

Since the beginning, I have only weighed myself once every few months, and thus I am always down. In order to do this successfully, I have had to cultivate the skills of being more in touch with my body. More aware of it. More aware of its needs from day to day.

So while I do not have a numerical records of my route fluctuating doing these months. I have been very aware of my weight going up and down before releasing a significant number of pounds. I can feel it on my body puts on weight, but it is always temporary. I often naturally cycle between unplanned, unstructured and natural fasting, with periods of eating much more than normal to load up on nutrients, which is when I normally drop a chunk of weight.

My approach to losing weight is nothing like what the surgeons office told me to do. I started out following their direction but began feeling very sick and unhealthy within the first couple of months and decided to take matters into my own hands. I am so glad I did!

My suggestion is not to stress out about the fluctuation of a few pounds which literally can happen throughout the course of the day. It rarely is a permanent gain I.E.fat. It is usually just water weight that will go on it's own. I hope that's helpful! Keep up the great work!

You look great! Congratulations on your success!!

I love your mindset, and I hope that I can get to a point where I can eat intuitively after my surgery.

You look great! Congratulations on your success!!
I love your mindset, and I hope that I can get to a point where I can eat intuitively after my surgery. [emoji4]

Cultivating our intuition allows us to navigate more effectively in all areas of our lives. I highly recommend it!