Life for me at 7 years is pretty similar to life at 2, 4 or 5 years post op. It's still maintenance. For me, it's been pretty simple. Eat the program most of the time so you can be flexible when you want. Don't graze. Basically, you know what made you fat, Cheri, so don't do that. So I don't.

What will people ask? Loose skin, have it. Much less than I had early on. It rebounds enormously in years one and two post goal. I never wear shapewear. Want plastics, don't need them. Have a little panni, but in anything but the sheerest leggings it's pretty flat. I'm not bothered anymore.

Restriction is still really strong, but many sleeved shorter times than me say they can eat more than me. Half a burger, I'm out. One slice of pizza, few ounces of protein, or a cup of soup or chili - that's it. My hunger never returned.

I'm 5'1" and 116 pounds but I solidly stick between 116-118. I had surgery at 242, started researching the sleeve in late 2009 weighing 286 pounds. I'm down 126 from my surgery date.

My diabetes resolved post op. No more high blood pressure or cholesterol.

I was a slow loser. Slow loss is still loss, I firmly disbelieve that one year nonsense as I took 17 months to reach my initial goal.

Keep pushing, no matter how long it takes you to get there. I had later loss, after a sleeve baby. Your sleeve will work however long you do.

Cheers, and here's to sleeve success. Mine's been amazing.

Cheri

I was just inspired by this because it gave me hope. I am about 9 months out and kind of disappointed because I've been stuck at a 52 pound weight-loss for 5 weeks. I thought it would be more by-now. Believe me, I know losing the 52 pounds is a good thing but I am really not near my goal and I only have maybe 11 weeks to go before I reach the year mark. Knowing that you continued to lose weight after one year makes me feel better. May I ask what your diet looked like or consisted of during the weight-loss period? Did you drink tons of water and eat lots of protein? Did you restrict carbs quite a bit? lastly, how often do you think you exercised? Sorry for all the questions but I am at a standstill. Do you know of a way to get out of this platto? Congratulations on your success And I appreciate any advice you can give me.

May I ask what your diet looked like or consisted of during the weight-loss period? Did you drink tons of water and eat lots of protein? Did you restrict carbs quite a bit?

I did at least 80 g protein a day, about 800-900 calories and I needed carbs, so 75-80 g carbs. I got them in a higher carb shake or in my snacks between meals or just with careful meal planning. This worked for me. I was a very slow loser. Six pounds a month on average, losing only two weeks a month, no matter what I did. A couple 3 week stalls, a 6 week and a 9 week. To get through stalls I just pushed forward, making sure not to graze.

I was big on water, using flavor drops or fruit to flavor. It's important.

I'm awful about exercise. I moved more, still do. I take stairs, I'm active. I had periods of strength training. But overall, I'm an awful role model when it comes to fitness.

Good luck. Keep plugging away. Sometimes our bodies fight us on those last pounds, but they will come off if we're dedicated.

Cheri

Thank you so, so much for your response. It really helps because I feel like my path sounds a lot like yours. I am a slow slow loser as well and hit multiple stalls along the way. I am not great about exercising but I have been putting in more of an effort the past 8 weeks. Im definitely more active because as you lose weight it becomes so much easier to move. I do make a conscious effort to take stairs, park further away and just plain get up and walk around more often. I am definitely going to increase my protein intake and water intake. I think that will make a big difference. Thanks again for your help. Congratulations on your success

Cheri,

Firstly, you look amazing - beautiful inside and out!

This is a great post and I hope a lot of peeps read it and take your message away. A great inspiration to us long termers and newbies alike.

You know we are sleeve sisters, being sleeved just days apart even though we are different sides of the planet! And we were both slow losers - thank you for all the support you gave me over the years and still do!

I have to admit though, I am one of the ones who can eat a lot more than I did in the early days; even at 2yrs post op my sleeve was tighter than it is today. However, it still have decent restriction, which I am pleased about. I do sometimes wish it was tighter though, especially when I know that I am eating through boredom/emotional-soothing/head hunger etc.

Keep flying the flag my lovely... and thank you for this post!

x

I started at 244 surgery weight and i'm 5'6". I love reading journeys and seeing pics of people like you who look awesome and no skin surgery, etc. As i see my belly going down, I have accepted that I may never need a TT after all and I'm fine with whatever little bit that might be there later. I'm too old to be going around showing my belly anyway, so... LOL Thank you for sharing your progress and your pics. It's very encouraging and inspiring. Btw...LOVE LOVE LOVE your tat!!! If I'm seeing it correctly on the computer, it's wording that looks almost vine like with butterflies? Correct me if I'm wrong. I've been thinking of what to get on my arm when I reach goal.

Life for me at 7 years is pretty similar to life at 2, 4 or 5 years post op. It's still maintenance. For me, it's been pretty simple. Eat the program most of the time so you can be flexible when you want. Don't graze. Basically, you know what made you fat, Cheri, so don't do that. So I don't.

What will people ask? Loose skin, have it. Much less than I had early on. It rebounds enormously in years one and two post goal. I never wear shapewear. Want plastics, don't need them. Have a little panni, but in anything but the sheerest leggings it's pretty flat. I'm not bothered anymore.

Restriction is still really strong, but many sleeved shorter times than me say they can eat more than me. Half a burger, I'm out. One slice of pizza, few ounces of protein, or a cup of soup or chili - that's it. My hunger never returned.

I'm 5'1" and 116 pounds but I solidly stick between 116-118. I had surgery at 242, started researching the sleeve in late 2009 weighing 286 pounds. I'm down 126 from my surgery date.

My diabetes resolved post op. No more high blood pressure or cholesterol.

I was a slow loser. Slow loss is still loss, I firmly disbelieve that one year nonsense as I took 17 months to reach my initial goal.

Keep pushing, no matter how long it takes you to get there. I had later loss, after a sleeve baby. Your sleeve will work however long you do.

Cheers, and here's to sleeve success. Mine's been amazing.

Cheri

I have seen your posts so many times and didn't know I had formed an image of what you look like. You were blonde in my minds eye. Just got a chuckle out of that.

You're an inspiration and I appreciate that you've stuck around to help. Congrats, you look amazing (even better as a brunette [emoji23])

Thanks for posting. Long term success stories like yours are such a morale boost. Your message really means a lot too - about now worrying about the rate of loss - thanks again.

Congratulations on your success. You look amazing! Thank you for posting your experience. It means a lot to hear from someone who is as far out as you. I am 15 months out today and am at a stage where I feel like I am finding my balance. I could certainly loose more, but keeping what I already lost off is my biggest priority. So I see a nut and am learning as much as I can along my journey. Your story is inspirational

Thank you for posting this. My surgery is scheduled for Monday and our numbers are almost identical. I was 286 at my first nutritionist appointment and I'm currently at 242. I'm only 5' 1/2" though. :-)

I'm impressed with how much you've lost. They say the average is 66% of your excess weight, so I've been thinking even 130 was a pipe dream and 150 would be a stretch. Below 120 would be incredible even if it takes a few years!

I lost rather quickly when I started the program, but have slowed significantly in the last while. I'm on day 12 of the two week pre-op diet and, after initially losing 6 lbs, I'm now up 2! How anyone can gain weight eating less than 700 calories seems really strange to me, but I'm not sure what else I can do except continue to do what they told me to do and hope for the best.

Thanks also for sharing about your skin. As you obviously know, it's a big question for most of us.

On 7/14/2017 at 7:38 PM, sunmeadow said:

Thank you for posting this. My surgery is scheduled for Monday and our numbers are almost identical. I was 286 at my first nutritionist appointment and I'm currently at 242. I'm only 5' 1/2" though. :-)

I'm impressed with how much you've lost. They say the average is 66% of your excess weight, so I've been thinking even 130 was a pipe dream and 150 would be a stretch. Below 120 would be incredible even if it takes a few years!

I lost rather quickly when I started the program, but have slowed significantly in the last while. I'm on day 12 of the two week pre-op diet and, after initially losing 6 lbs, I'm now up 2! How anyone can gain weight eating less than 700 calories seems really strange to me, but I'm not sure what else I can do except continue to do what they told me to do and hope for the best.

Thanks also for sharing about your skin. As you obviously know, it's a big question for most of us.

When I initially picked 135 it seemed unattainable. And it also seemed to take forever to get there! But my body was pretty happy there for a while. Once I adjusted lower, my body went lower with me. It's at a happy weight here, between 116-118 and I really never budge out of this range for more than a day. It's like I'm stuck. I don't want to be smaller, never tried. But being bigger? I think it would take work. My body really likes it here. It picked this place to stop, naturally.

Anyway, good luck. If you wind up a slow loser with your similar stats don't let it get you down. It'll be frustrating, I know. But long term it pays out.

Welcome to the start of your journey!

Cheri

I love hearing stories from posters who are years out and maintaining. It's nice to get a glimpse into the way life will look long-term though everyone is different. I'm currently almost 10 months post op, 79 pounds down from surgery (109 total) and have been in a weird pattern for about 2 months. I got the stomach bug back in mid August and it messed with my weight loss. I lost 10 pounds in one day, which was mostly fluids but then I put 8 back on slowly over about a week and then had to lost that 8 again over about 3-4 weeks. I've been maintaining the same weight now for 2 weeks. I know I will get there eventually but it's good to hear about other slow losers and that our 1 year isn't the end of possible loss.