M2G

My husband and I are both sleeved (about as far apart as you and your husband...I was 10-22-10 and he was 3-7-11) and I don't remember having too much anxiety about his surgery. BUT I was there, giving his hand a squeeze before they wheeled him into the OR, my in-laws came to the hospital and kept my mind from doing any damage. I think it would be hard to have a spouse travel and NOT be able to go and be that physical support. Use your prayers, keep your faith strong, and most of all be positive. When my husband was sleeved, he got to choose his surgery date. He chose his birthday. And that made a huge impact on me because getting healthy was the best birthday present he could have ever given himself! Everything will turn out ok, hang in there!

Okay, GO ahead and add me to the group of "First Consult with a Plastic Surgeon Was the Worst Day of My Life" ...gah! I had a first consult in May and was horrified. Checked in with the friendly receptionist who promptly ushered me to what I can only describe as the Blue Room. That beautiful blue background that they shoot the pictures in front of. Handed me a triangle to cover my girlie bits... (Butter you didn't get a triangle???) and commenced with the "photo shoot." Oh, and my absolute FAV shot off all was me standing sideways and arched over like I'm about to dive into a swimming pool. THAT WAS FUN. And I AM a woman who has birthed TWO children and been to the OBGYN dr. many times and THAT is pretty much NOTHING compared to this. I guess I probably wasn't prepared as much as I thought I was. Then off to what I would call the Computer Room with the GIANT screen, where the surgeon pulled up my fresh skin photos complete with blue background and lovely blue triangle so that he could draw all over my body on the screen showing me what he could and could not fix and how much it would all cost. The final and third insult was getting all nekkid in front of the surgeon who did push and pull the skin while I got to watch in a full length mirror. Horrifying. Truly. Not. Fun. I left feeling horrible. If I do have surgery at some point I will be looking for another consult. Or two!

I don't post my weight (probably an old carryover hangup about weight in general) BUT Start Date: 7/16/2013 Loss as of: 8/1/2013 -5lbs!!!

Georgia...that is FANTASTIC! WOW girl, you totally inspire me!!! :wub:

Interesting topics ladies. When I was about 14 months post-op I went to a sports medicine guru (who my surgeon loved) to get my BMR or RMR (resting metabolic rate) done. I stepped up on his big fancy machine and it spit out a paper with all kinds of info that I wish he could have explained to me (he was a bit on the rambly, lofty side and his jargon was confusing) but basically it said my RMR was about 1450. I have not experimented with TDEE, but usually try to stay below 1500 calories on a feed day. Just based on my own personal experience, that seems to be my limit. If I go over that amount, I can usually expect it to show up on the scale. If I stay below that then it's maintenance.

FYE ---OMG I love this!!!! Hey a new low bounce range sounds pretty good. Woo hoo! I have never been a juicer/detoxer...but I think it would have to taste ok or it just wouldn't be worth it. Can you add an orange or a bit of honey to it, so that it tastes better?

I have made some lifelong friends based soley on our desire to exercise. I think it would serve you well to join other "like minded" individuals. Be careful about the shoulder strain and baby it nicely. I injured my back this month and tried to rush too quickly back into my normal exercise routine. Not the wisest of ideas.

FINALLY home from vacation up to visit my mom and extended family. I did NOT plan to fast today but I have had nothing to eat at all. I woke up feeling out-of-sorts, did NOT sleep well and basically had some coffee. Nothing sounded good, and then had about a 3.5 hour drive home. Girls slept most of the way, we didn't stop and the "snacks" were in the back with the girls. Will plan to eat something later tonight, but still nothing really even sounds good. Nice unexpected day to fast. Love it when that happens.

If I don't want to talk about surgery and someone is giving me a compliment, I just say thank you and move quickly onto other subjects. If they are hard core asking about "how" I did it, I usually say portion control, monitor my intake, lots of water/exercise. The usual answers. That way I'm not actually lying. They would have to out and out ASK me if I had surgery AND I would have to say NO for me to consider it lying.

Congratulations! You look wonderful!!

Wow. Thank you so much for telling your story. I sincerely appreciate your honesty. And the words of wisdom, to "never give up" ...so powerful and so true. We are in this fight for life and I know that sometimes I do feel like giving up. But then I know what the consequences of giving up mean. So sorry about the DS not working out but enlightening to know about your friend who revised. At some point the surgery will only take you so far and the rest is up to you. Thank you again for sharing your story with us.

chicken. Always chicken. Good thing I like it. Also I'm getting close to 3 years post-op and I've been really focusing on waiting 45-60 minutes to drink after eating. I notice that it really does help keep me fuller longer.

Very well said Georgia. Butter, there IS something to that 'losing high' that disappears when you see your weight stay the same week in and week out. Or like Georgia said, see it go up 3lbs after a careless weekend. And the weight NEVER leaves as fast as it came on. Never. And while it sounds fun to say "oh I had surgery so I will never have to diet again" yeah, well, I totally agree with you, call it what you want but maintenance and losing, well it all takes hard work. Call it a meal plan, or a strategy, or the evil "D" word, or whatever you want but surgery doesn't do the work for you for the rest of your life. And maintenance is FOR life. Losing is temporary. But at least with the sleeve I feel like I have a fighting chance!

WOW! Great job fiddle!

Wow, great picture of what happens! Your new size looks pretty perky tho...something to be happy about!

Wow, I can't believe it's been 8 months already. You are rocking your sleeve and you look amazing...congrats! PS - You need to get back to blogging!

Oh and for his height he *should* weigh less than 215, but he never wanted to be SKINNY, just healthy and he looks great at this weight. I think in a perfect world he would like to weigh around 200-205 but the last lbs are the hardest to lose.

I think your concerns are what most people are concerned about pre-op. What is life like post-op and how much will I have to change? My husband was about your size (prob. 5'10" on a good day and about 280) and he was sleeved about 2.5 years ago and has maintained a weight of 215 now since about 9 months post-op fairly easily. He does not count calories (except when I give him a hard time...lol) and for the most part he was much like you, no big eating issues, just ate too much and not giving much thought to his diet. Now that he is off BP meds, (he got off them 10 days post-op) and a healthier weight, he exercises regularly, and basically is healthier and happier. I'm in the same boat (though I exercised before having surgery, he did not) and while I'm battling a +15lb regain I would have NEVER been able to keep the weight off before. I'm almost 3 years post-op and would NOT have been this successful without surgery. Keep asking the questions and doing the research to decide if this is something you can live with. I'm sure you will find the right answer for you.

Congrats Cathy! I'm finding even trying to stay low-cal while up visiting family is JUST not working. I failed to even count/track calories yesterday. Good news is we head home on Wed. so I can hopefully get back to "normal" soon!

Hahaha. Butter, you with 3 cats? LOL! I have one and he would NOT be okay with more (he's also 16 years old and pretty "set" in his ways.) NtvTxn, I applaude your honesty. And you are right, no one can argue with your results and it sounds as if you make a concscious effort to move physically. My exercise has become ingrained in me. It does take a lot of effort to make it to the gym, or the treadmill on a consistent basis, but I love the way it makes me feel. And I hope in 40 years the payoff will be that when I'm 80 I can still use this body to walk on my own. I big-puffy-heart those 80 year olds who are still out there exercising and hope to be so lucky in my late years...

Thanks for your reply (and Coops and Laura-Ven too!) I mention this mostly because my 12 yo has been feeling "fat" and she is mostly taller and larger than other girls her age. She is very athletic and she is the kind of kid who eats enough at one sitting (like a full 'adult' size meal) and then totally forgets about food for hours! My 11 yo is quite a bit shorter (not quite 5' yet, in fact I think she is about 4'9") and she is my grazer. She has horrible eating habits and we definitely have to remind her about sugar intake, etc. But she eats a tiny little amount (still can't finish a kid size meal in one sitting) and then an hour later she is looking for food again. Sigh. So I just don't want them thinking that 500 cals a day is NORMAL. They know all about my surgery (they were 8 and 9 when I had it) and my youngest even gives me a hard time sometimes because I can be the "food police" and she calls my stomach my bananna or my "squirrel" stomach. Hahah. I think you can go to your profile and edit it there. There is a black button on the right and you can click it to "edit" your profile info. FYE- ME too! LOL! Coops you are awesome! I also knew it was broken but not how. Sorry OD. That sucks. The only upside to paying your ded. is all the rest of your bills from now until Dec. will seem small. Time to go get any refills, have blood drawn, have a checkup, get it all in before Jan. when everything resets. Sorry about the wrist. Well, checking in from vacation. Yesterday was a "travel day" so 4+ hours in the car to get to my mom's house. And there were pretzels and popcorn in the car. And dinner with my mom. And I tried to log everything (including the small scoop of ice cream after dinner) and clocked in well over 1800 cals. Sigh. Today is a new day.

P.S. - Cheri I saw what you changed your name to! LOVE IT, JUST LOVE IT!!! :wub: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!