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Excited but a little exhausted at the same time!!! Had surgery on December 20th and the first week was smooth sailing. Wasnt until about 12 days post op did I realize I had not had a bowel movement. I was in an all out panic and my surgeon was too. He ended up having me take some Miralax and Colace and this morning had my firt BM since surgery.. Glad that's over with! Stepped on the scale last night and was 235.6lbs!! Not much of a loss like in the first week, but I'll take every single pound. Starting Weight: 256 Day of Surgery: 247 Day Left Surgery: 258 1 Week Post Op: 241 2 Weeks Post Op: 235 total loss thus far: 21 pounds Not bad. Won't complain. But I think in this week I will begin taking my vitamins (and boy there are a lot!) and doing some cardio at the gym. So blessed to have gone through this process with little to no complications and even more blessed that I am on my way to a healthy new me! Happy losing all!

So... my daughter got married last month. It was a beautiful, intimate, very romantic and meaningful wedding. We had it at church in our smaller sanctuary - about 75 guests, we all sat at the reception tables for the wedding. My dad said a prayer. We had dancing and a dessert bar and a lovely cake baked by our friend and beautiful decorations (anybody want tips about a wedding on a budget... ask me!). Our brilliant photographer donated her time to us because she loves my daughter so much... let's just say blessings abounded... everywhere you looked and even when you weren't looking... a very joyous day. One of the things I didn't have to worry about was camera angles. You all know what I'm talking about. When you aren't at your ideal weight (or are very far from it as I'd been for so long) the camera is not your friend. You try to find ways to hide behind other people, try to figure out the right angle... or just plain hide all together - you are a bobbing head from behind a group of people. That is not the case for me anymore, and I'm so thankful for my sleeve. I loved every picture, kept looking at myself like... hey - i look pretty good! I wasn't holding my breath as I scrolled through the pictures, afraid of what may be next. Now i'm not saying every picture is a keeper... they never are, but I wasn't embarrassed or ready to put any through the shredder... that's a first If you aren't where you want to be for 2013 and are ready to make a change for the better and get back on track to a healthier you... you can email me at lori@obesitycontrolcenter.com or call 1-866-376-7849 ext. 81. Whether its a first time weight loss surgery or a rescue/revision surgery - we can help! Make 2013 the year when you don't hide anymore!

Good afternoon everyone. tonight on 20/20 they are going to have the People 1/2 their size on. Good program to get inspired! I got inspired this morning, less than one pound to go and I will be under 200. I haven't seen that number in many many years and I am looking forward to it. Enjoy your TGIF, all.

Well I joined the gym December 17th with my husband. We try to go 3-5 times a week. Just got home and must say the 2 of us have improved our work outs. I can now do the bike for 20 minutes. When I started I was at 10 minutes and level 1 and now up to level 4 or 5. I try other machines for the legs and arms. My husband has been very sick and extremely weak and he is enjoying the gym. He once was a work out nut, like 30 something years ago. My husband almost died 15 months ago and is still not good, he collects SSD at age 61. It sucks. The gym is helping him a lot and making him feel better about himself. We only go for about 1/2 hour right now but at least we are moving We live in the Boston area and it's around 10 tonight or maybe colder with the wind chill so you have to do in door exercises. They gym is cheap, $10. per month a person. Best $20. we have spent in years! Enjoy your evening. Arlene

​Just got my new People and it's the half their size issue!!!!!!!! I always felt jealous of their success and now I can be a success story like them. Who would have thought one year ago I would be down 66 lbs. at this time. Great start of the new year for all of us. We are facing our over eating and doing something about it. We all should stand up and cheer for ourselves and all on this site!!!

I'm now 6 weeks post-op and feeling great. My surgery date was November 20th, but it seems like years ago. I'm Down 30 lbs which I think is pretty much on track with what my Doc says I should be losing. I think lower BMIs tend to not lose as quick, and I'm OK with that. I'm trying not to be a slave to the bathroom scale, and I said before surgery I never would. But man it's tough to stay away from it! I said I was only going to weigh myself once a week, but I'm finding myself sneaking into the bathroom for a quick weight check. I'll do measurements again a the 2-month mark. I'm getting used to life with my new stomach, or stomach size rather. There have been a couple hiccups along the way (pun intended), but nothing that makes me regret this life-changing decision. Some of the things that I read on this website and others from my Doc are making sense to me now. My doc used to say that the sleeve is only a tool that is one of many that need to be used to achieve and maintain weight loss. I get that now; Even though I'm restricted by the amount I can eat at any one time, it's still entirely possible to make bad food choices and eat *almost* continuously throughout the day. Sure portion size is limited, but I'm hungry in about 2 hours. I use the word "hungry" here not as head hunger, but as my body really needing food. this is something new for me - and weird. But it's as if my body is getting used to using food as a source of nutrition, rather than my brain using it as a source of comfort or stress reliever. Yes, I have had head hunger twice in the past few weeks and it didn't work out very well. the problem was not in the quantity of food I ate, but the speed with which I ate it. I just can't eat fast anymore! So the feeling of overeating, I mean really overeating, is not pleasant. I'm ok for about 5 -10 minutes, but then it starts - light sweat accross the forehead, heart races a little, dizzy. I don't know exactly what dumping is, but maybe that's what happened to me. Now I have to eat very slowly in small bites and pay attention to the small signals my body gives me telling me to stop (I read this on this forum and didn't believe it). I might have the occassional burp which generally clears the way for a little more food to enter, or the occassional hiccup, but I notice a very slight tingling sensation and a VERY light sweat on the forehead. Nothing major, but similar to the very, very, first stages when you're about to be sick (vomit sick, although I never have). I need to pay attention and wait a couple minutes to continue eating. Usually it goes pretty well, but I'm eating small portions of food almost continually during the day. Yes, I've followed the Doc's plan about 98%. I've determined that I can take 4 swallows of water before I get the light sweat feeling. I've got that one down and never drink more than 4 straight gulps from my water jug. No problem. Other than that, I've had no issues at all with salad, some veggies I've tried, any type of meat as long as its moist and cut into small pieces. I did have a little cheat last week and ate a good handful of toasted plantain chips...maybe not the smartest move, but they went down fine. But I saw the Doc for a followup visit yesterday and he said to be very careful and limit carbs to 30 - 40 grams a day. He said anything over that would slow my weight loss. I didn't have my whole wheat toast with cream cheese this morning. I'm going to the gym around the corner from my apartment 4-5 times per week and walking about 40 minutes on the treadmill. I think its a good time to start exercising (sp?) because even though the gym is full with all of the "This is the Year I'm finally going to lose weight" promise makers, I feel comfortable there because most have a bit to lose. But I feel great, and even though I'm already cleared by my Doc for any physical exercise, I'm going to wait a couple more weeks before getting into some strength training. I'm on my way! More later, Joe P.S. My libido has returned full strength, yeah! (and stamina is much better too

Today is Friday one week until I go for my gastric sleeve. I am nervous about the pre-op but more nervous about the new life I have to live. I have always been fat. Always. When I look back at my food addiction it stems from when I was young; too young to be that fat or that controlled by food. I remember grabbing a stack of Oreos and eating them behind the couch so no one would see, I remember spending my allowance on donuts from the store by my house, eating 2 candy bars in the dressing room when I was supposed to be skating etc... My love for food and eating has gotten me to where I am now. 301lbs at 29 years old and struggling with fertility. I have always looked like I weighed less but I knew and only I knew how fat I was. I want to be able to do certain things I can't now...daily life things. Ride a bike, sit in a booth in a restaurant, and buy clothes that I WANT to wear, be able to say NO to food and to be able to say YES to exercise. I fell madly in love with an extremely handsome and healthy man. He is my everything. I have a love for him that is beyond words and when he married me at my heaviest (300lbs) I knew I wanted to do this for not only me, but for us. He looks at me with such love and desire that my heart explodes how he will look at me when I am thinner. Although he claims to love me for me, which I know he does I can’t wait to be on his arm and look the way I feel. He doesn’t deserve a fat wife! As we prepare for this surgery together I can see him light up when I talk about our new life, a life of exercise and sports instead of BBQs and cocktails. I want to be healthy, I want to be happy. Not ‘an everything in my life is great except my weight happy.’ A true, I feel like how I should feel happy. Not in pain, not in denial about my weight, not disgusted when I take my clothes off but happy. Yesterday my husband went shopping for my pre-op meals, he loves me, he truly does. I am excited to start this new journey with him but man alive am I ever scared. How will I adjust? How will I change everything? How will my lifestyle change? The easiest thing in the world to be is fat. No doubt about it. When you become comfortable with fat it’s easy. Eat what you want, when you want, at anytime that you want. It’s easy. Becoming healthy will not be. That my friend scares me. As I embark on this journey I will blog throughout I will blog my feelings and deepest darkest thoughts. This could get ugly but it will never be as ugly as my ass is

4 weeks out and on regular foods, trial basis for each item. I took advice from the board and am consuming 1 protein drink, 1 protein bar , 1 greek yogurt and one string cheese a day. This amounts to 54 grams of protein and with my dinner and other bits of food here and there I am sure I am meeting my protein needs. I am feeling so much better physically and mentally since getting of soft foods and soups. I use to like soup, I can't imagine having soup again in the next year. I have lost 15 lbs, I am happy with that and now am starting to exercise. I still need to work harder on getting in my fluids and vitamins. The short time of frustration and regret has passed and I still feel blessed to have had this opportunity.

Hello Everyone and thanks for taking a moment to read my blog. I'm Zazilia, married, no children 33 years old. On December 2009 I decided to get the lapband surgery because I was 280 lbs plus I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycistic Ovarian Syndrome) And if I didn't lose weight i had big chances of getting diabetes (I was pre-diabetic) and heart disease due to family history. Anyways i went for it and got my band put in.... i lost 83 lbs (in about a year).. yay me! however back in that time i was single, lived by myself and had the right food at home at all times. When 2011 hit (married now) I, as well, hit a huge brick wall and i stopped losing weight. Eventually i started gaining the weight back and right before surgery (last week) i was 241 lbs. I was so frustrated with myself tried to do as good as i could, adjusted my band up to 7.75 cc's and i often got a pain on my left shoulder due to the lapband. I started getting everything together for my Sleeve surgery, spoke with my surgeon, and he saw how much i struggled and he approved of me getting the Sleeve, then went through a bunch of pre-surgical testings and sent it to my insurance , after a couple of months of waiting, my insurance finally approved it! (Anthem BCBS) When i went to my pre-op a week before surgery the nurse saw i was having high blood pressure for the first time which was another motivation to start losing weight again. She prescribed me dilaudid for pain, zofran for nausea and omeprozole for acid reflux to start taking them once im back home from surgery. The day before surgery (Monday nov 12th) i was on clear liquids and had nothing to drink after midnight. Then the day of surgery got here! (Finally!!) (Tuesday 13th) I arrived to the hospital, got registered did a pregnancy urine test then went up to talk to one of the surgical nurses about my health history, then they asked me to changed into my hospital gown and lay on a stretcher and a small room and they set up my IV and gave me an anticoagulant shot on my belly to avoid blood clots. Spoke with the anesthesiologist and my surgeon to make sure i was calmed and they explained everything that was going to happen. They took me to the OR and i changed from my bed to another one where they positioned me like a cross. The anesthesiologist gave me a shot through my IV to "get me high" those were his exact words then he gave me oxygen and then he said "ok now im going to give u the good stuff" i said ok guys ''have a goodnight" and i passed out. Next thing i hear is the nurse in the recovery room telling me to take deep breaths and the first thing that came out of my mouth was : "Holy Crap this hurts where's the morphine" lol they controlled my pain rapidly and took me to my room. The nurses were so nice to me, even though apparently the anesthesia gives me low tolerance cause i was being very "bitchy" to everyone (My husband made sure he made me aware of it once i was back to my self entirely lol) They checked my vitals every 4 hours, gave me morphine when i needed and i didn't have to wait. I started walking back and forth a couple of hours right after the surgery and i the pain stood minimal. They gave me little tiny ice cups (about 3 ounces each) and it tasted like glory! since my mouth was as dry as a shoe lol My biggest struggle after surgery was trying to pee! It was almost impossible because it wouldn't come out! and the nurses told me that was normal due to the anesthesia after that the whole experience wasn't bad at all. At the next day i felt good enough to go home, i was discharged at 2 pm and came home. I was instructed to be on clear liquids until today (Sunday) i drank water, diet snapple, sugar free jello and sugar free ice pops. Today i started full liquids and had a "EAS advantage protein shake" which took me about a hour and a half to chug down and some homemade chicken broth. Am I hungry? Absolutely not! Do i crave to eat everything even the inedible YES like my friend who had the sleeve done years ago and went from a size 22 to a size 2 told me, "they operate your stomach however the don't operate your mind" I weigh myself today and i am down 12 lbs in less than a week! So i hope i can continue being successful! I will continue to post updates of my journey as a "Sleever" and hope it helped someone out there! Thanks

Day 151: Too Normal This morning I weighed in at 185.2lbs and then I walked into my closet and stared at the emptiness. My closet is EMPTY. I literally cannot wear anything I was wearing five months ago. Well, at least not unless I'm going for the baggy look. I'm so surprised that I've stuck with it. I'm still doing all my protein, getting in all my fluids, taking my vitamins, and exercise is just a part of my life now. But my name is Miss Fickle, I'm known to grow tired of doing the same thing within a matter of weeks or months. I'm just amazed. I've been able to change my habits. Seriously change them. I still worry about the day I let my guard down, but I can't imagine it right now. I do not crave popcorn when I go to theaters, I feel *sick* after just a few tastes of my friend's ice cream (a splurge for me) -- and I'm not sad about it. Real food has never tasted so good to me. And the *fake* foods just do nothing for me now. I have a few bites of pasta, and I'm not jazzed about it like I used to be. Funny thing, I love the smell of the pasta cooking. Some days, I just don't know how I got here. It seems like just yesterday I was waking up from my surgery. It was just last Christmas I was huffing and puffing on my brother's stairs. I have gotten out of the habit of journaling. Not happy about that, but it's been nice to have a break. I got to the point I had almost every meal memorized, so I just stopped. I'd like to get back into it, I know I will. But so long as I'm still losing, I'm not too worried about it. I keep to what I know, only deviating for a bite here and there of special things on rare occasions. It's nice to feel normal again. To not worry when a friend wants to go out, to not panic when I'm going to be gone all day and need to pack snacks. I look at my scars and wonder if it was just a dream? Now, I just need to sell some of these clothes that are taking up all the space in my guest closet before my mom comes to visit!!