In 5 days I will make 16 weeks post op. I had surgery on January 30, 2013.

My weight loss has been an average of 15 pounds of month. My last 4 weeks I actually lost more than the previous 4 weeks. I'm pretty sure it had everything to do with upping my calories from 600 to 1000 and my exercise.

Total loss as of today is 70 pounds!!!

I was always worried I wasn't losing fast enough throughout this process, but in the past week I think I have come to terms with not being a super fast loser. I mean 70 pounds in approximately 4 months is pretty amazing to me. And as for the eating part it has been fairly effortless. My main struggle has been trying to get in more calories to sustain my intense workouts. Long term, if I only lost 10 pounds a month that is still 120 pounds in a year!!!

My anxiety has definitely lifted regarding the scale. I always felt this pressure to lose fast and hard...I think it was because I was going on vacation to see some of my friends and family and I wanted to lose as much as I could before seeing them. Well, my vacation is over and so is the pressure. I feel quite content with my weight loss and my successes as well as failures. I made decent choices on my vacation, but was far from perfect and lost over 6 pounds while on my vacation. It was so hard for me to not have access to a scale during that time and was pleasantly surprised when I came home and the scale had gone down!

I finally have FAITH in my sleeve. I feel if I make good choices that the weight will come off.

This is a good feeling for me to have. Everything seems so much clearer. I don't feel the stress of it all. I have faith in myself and my sleeve. Most importantly, I finally feel my life changing for the better and for the long term.

WHAT I NEED TO DO MOVING FORWARD

I have to readjust my goals and rewards because the more I lose the more they change. I also have to get back to the gym. I haven't gone since a couple days before my vacation...so that is almost 2 weeks. I also need to get back on track with my eating habits. Eating clean, healthy, and meeting my protein and caloric needs every day.

For those of you out there worried about losing slowly...don't! I know it is easier said than done, but in 4 months and you are 50, 60, 70 pounds down or more it is success and you should be excited and proud of yourself.