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I have the greatest NSV news ever! I got the results of my first labs post-op and my triglycerides went down from a whopping (for me- I know I wasn't the worst) 298 high risk to a normal range 98!!! My overall cholesterol count is now 178, down from 260. My LDL And HDL have also vastly improved. I was so happy I thought I might just float away! The last time those numbers were in the healthy range for me was in 1998, so you can understand my excitement If I ever had any doubts about having the sleeve, it would be because "what if my cholesterol stays the same? Will it be worth the risks just to come out of it with the same CHD risk factor?" Now I have my answer! If I never lose another pound, another inch or get back any discernable muscle tone, it has officially all been worth it to have been sleeved. I was 3 months out on August 6th: I am now 186 lbs and bought my first pair of size 14 pants yesterday. My bra size has decreased from 44DDD to 38DD and shirt size down from 2X to XL. Thanks to my sister for suggesting I look into the sleeve option and to Dr. Snyder for giving me this opportunity for better health and a longer life! Love to my sweet husband, family, friends and coworkers who have been positive and awesomely supportive from day one. I am truly blessed. I am sending out positive vibes to all my current and future sleeve sisters and brothers for success in your personal journeys, as well! Don't worry about speed, just stay focused on progress - no matter how incremental - and stay positive~ HappyCat xxx

This weekend brought an end to the preserving of my spring/summer garden (except for the okra which will produce thru September). It was a good year: 137 pounds of Zucchini (15 plants) 104 pounds of Yellow Squash (15 plants) 30 ½ pounds of Patty Pan Squash (5 plants) 43 ½ pounds of cucumbers (5 plants) 73 pounds of Tomatoes (10 plants) 4 bushels of pears (2 trees) I spent the summer preserving all this every way I could: pickles, relishes, preserves, marmalades, minced meat, pie fillings, canned tomatoes, canned pears, frozen roasted tomatoes, frozen squash, casseroles, zucchini bread, zucchini cake, zucchini hummus, zucchini cobbler (tastes like apple!)… You name it! It’s been nonstop!! What does this have to do with the band? You wonder…… EVERYTHING! Pre band I could not have done a fourth of what I did this summer. I couldn’t cook dinner in the summer without sweating like a pig. I would have a towel around my neck wiping the sweat off my face before it dripped into the pan (for reals!). I would have to sit down every five minutes because my back was hurting. I hated working in the kitchen and doing anything outside forget it. My husband use to do all the work on the land, I couldn’t physically help him….. I don’t exercise, I hate the gym and any formal exercise routine. It’s never worked for me….. but I move. I move all the time. I walk and take the stairs as much as I can at work. Every day when I get home I have to feed the chickens, pick produce from the garden, pull weeds, etc. And the weekends are full of chores too, cleaning chicken coops, mowing lawns, pulling more weeds, building goat shelters…. I have so much energy now that all this work is nothing, just life on my farm. Just last night my husband asked me… “So what is my zucchini mama gonna do next?”…….hummmmm

Forgot to mention that Hubby is making some pear wine.... My preserving is rubbing off on him, lol.

So I am 3 weeks out from surgery! Can I get a woo hoo! I am starting to feel more like me and not a weight loss patient. As I see it this feeling can only improve as I progress. I can actually sit down with my family and have meals. Albeit I can't eat exactly what they are eating but I can eat with them and have my own plate of food (I am offically on soft foods for a week or so)! Been loving my fish soft veggies and chicken salad! I notice too I can tolerate a whole 1/4 sometimes even 1/2 of cup of food! I ate nearly a whole tomato (a very small tomato from my garden like gold ball size) and 1/2 cup of chicken salad yesterday. I freaked out! I actually called myself a pig to my hubby! WHAT?! My hubby looked at me and said are you kidding our 18 month old eats more than that?! Yeah he is right, I was just having a OMG moment. I get them sometimes even this early out! I had to get rid of some clothes this week. I had some things that were baggy and needed to go. I am not going to be one of those people who are going to wear saggy sad clothes. I like my clothes to fit, saggy butt is not cute! I have always looked nice no matter what size. It ain't changing! But as I was getting rid of things I thought really Shannon you might needs these again! Where the hell did this negative girl come from? I ofcourse pushed on and thought shut up negative nelly these clothes are outta here. What a feeling of accomplishment! The scale has tempted me this week! I hopped on today after swearing I was going to only weigh in on Fridays! I had lost but I don't want the scale to determine my success. I knew I had lost because my clothes were getting loose. That stupid number is just a number! But it still has power over me and I was glad it went down! This is something I am working on! Stalls WILL HAPPEN and I need toprepare myself for that. Previous diet attempts this is usually were I would give up and go on a binge so to speak! Not this time thanks to my sidekick sleevey! We are going to get through stalls like nobody's business! (I hope I don't became a blubbering mess!) Anyway, I am thankful so far for my surgery and feel I have a realistic mindset and postive attitude through the very short sleeved experience. Hope I can keep this sunny outlook! Things that are working for me are... I don't track my food calories or carbs. Nor will I ever do that again! I eat a healthy balanced diet. I try to keep a rough count of protein and make sure I get my water for the day (all in my head). I go by how I feel. I know what 64oz of water is. I know what dehydration feels like and the signals that I need more. I didn't get this surgery to became obsessed with every bit of food that passes my lips! Which honestly is not very much! I did that before and I am not living like that again! It didn't work and caused eating to be a form of punishment and when I failed (i.e. ate a cupcake) I would beat myself up. Plus I have two girls and I don't want to pass on those negative traits to them. I remember my mom always being on a diet growing up and it affected how I was! I thought my self worth was based on my weight and clothes size. Right now while I am healing I have to change things up but my girls know mommy's tummy is healing. I am not dieting! If I have moments of weakness I don't let them see it. (like calling my self fat or pig!) I am not perfect but I am trying not to pass this to them! I love food and different flavors and still do! So I experiement with different spices and mix it up. I always ate healthy foods before and enjoyed them but let my weak moments sabatoge all the good I put in. I am following my guidelines but also listening to my body. For instance I was not suppose to start pureed for 2 weeks but at 1 week 5 days I needed a little more fuel to fill me up and moved to pureeds. I am not advocating this but I am very in tuned to my body and it worked for me. I am active and needed more than I was getting! Next week I may not be ready for "real" foods and may hang on soft foods longer. We will see! I take my measurements every week! I have lost 14 inches from my thighs waist hips arms and bust! Lets me see how my body is shrinking! That is more exciting than weighing and will get me through those stalls! I don't talk alot to others about my weight loss or surgery. If they mention it I say yeah I am feeling great and I am doing well and that is it. If they mention my weight loss I say Thank you! I am Shannon not a SLEEVE. I happened to have surgery but people who had gallbladder surgery don't constantly talk about it! This is my outlet for that not my real day to day life. I had the surgery to get healthy and prevent future health problems. Not for it to become who I am! I do not do fat free sugar free. I eat real foods! I can't wait to not need the protein drinks and shakes! As soon as I can consume enough protein from foods they are going out with the trash! I believe real whole foods are best for my body! I eat a piece of chocolate everyday (started back when I went to soft foods)! I buy the good stuff and have a square every night! It give me sweet dreams! Plus a small piece of dark chocolate has health benefits! Moderation is key here! Well that is what is on my mind today! Go out and enjoy life and have a great day!

it also shows how desperate people are to lose weight. And of course all these people will gain it back. I suspect they do this for short term results, not as a lifestyle change.

Life it too short to fight with food! Congrats on your success! You lost a whole person! That is so awesome! No tracking necessary!

I am glad to see someone else that is not going hog wild with the "diet" I eat the same way as you do I have never tracked food or counted cals. and I have lost 150 lbs and have enjoyed life instead of fighting with food.

Veruca, bottom line, life is not fair and no one should have ever told you it would be fair. I know it is hard, but we all have our **** to bear and endure. Life does try to balance itself out, but we often don't get the opportunity to see it happen. I am a survivor. I get through things and other people's ****, but I don't do it pretty. I can't tell you how often I have had to dry my tears, take a deep breath, dust myself off, and start all over again. I think you have to have a positive attitude to remain in good condition to meet the challenges that life throws at you. I know struggle builds my character, and makes me more able to empathize with others. It is good Karma to pay things forward in life and practice, patience and tolerance for others. Nothing is to be gained by being envious of others or curse the darkness in our lives. It cripples us and and we have to overcome our emotions to think clearly and to come up with a strategy to get where we need and want to go in our lives. However, when we win the battle, we have only ourselves and god/the universe to claim responsibility for the victory. Of course, just imo. :-) Shalom my friend.

A little over 6 months post op and I can feel some unusual things happening. I am starting to think like a thin person. It was a slow, gradual change for me. What I mean when I am starting to think like a thin person is that I no longer dwell on things that I ate that wasn't in my perfect vision of my "diet". Pre-surgery (actually a few months even after surgery), if I ate something that wasn't on my envisioned list of allowed foods, then I would just get all emotional about it. I would dwell on it. I would have it in my head that I messed up and I was a failure. I would allow one "naughty" food to dictate my entire days' worth of eating. It was a form of sabotage, and it would set me into a cycle. I would eat, get depressed, and feel like a failure and then eat again. Slowly, but surely I began to allow myself to eat things that weren't on my perfect diet list. I found that even on those days when I had something like crackers or something else that I didn't think would help my weight loss I still lost weight. Some times I even found that it helped my weight loss when I was in a stall. Other times it helped my work outs progress. I guess what I am trying to say is that I ate something naughty and found out that my world didn't end. I didn't gain weight over night, I didn't look in the mirror and see an extra roll of fat, and other people didn't look at me and see that I "cheated". Slowly over time, my mind started to grasp this concept and started transforming. I feel a lot better about food. I don't rely on it as much. I am not afraid of it as much. All these emotions are not tied up to it as much. If one day I have a craving that I just can't shake, like m&ms...I have a few. The difference is I have a FEW and not the whole bag. I savor the taste and then move on. One little craving doesn't end up costing me days and eventually months of over eating and unhealthy eating. As a fat person, I was so hung up on food. Every thought of my day was tied to food. Am I over eating? Was that too much weight? Is this too much carbs? As a fat losing person, I eat normally. If I feel I might have eaten a little too much I just try to balance it out by moving more throughout the day. I think I am finally finding some balance. My anxiety has come down a whole lot now that I am not constantly obsessing over every aspect of food or eating.

That sounded like a glorious weekend...all around!