M2G

If you are still losing I would personally wait. I'm getting closer to 3 years post-op and *just* last month consulted a PS. I'm not sure that I will actually do anything w/regards to plastics, but I at least wanted to know my options and cost... $$,$$$ Once you have quit losing and are quite stable for a while is when most will suggest seeing a PS.

Hey GT, thanks for keeping us on task by moving this thread. Love that!!! Hopefully everyone will move over here...

Actually finished the day at 944 calories, 62g carbs, and 78g protein. I also did an hour long spin class which my calorie count site awarded me -635 calories burned, just for the class alone, not counting calories burned for just existing. So I've said it before and I'll say it again, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WEIGHT LOSS MATH. Sigh. Good job on all you ladies who fasted today. Maybe at some point I will join ya!

Ah you jumped in FYE...lol Still sitting on the sidelines, not committing yet. BUT this link is awesome...thanks for sharing it. Oh and I did commit to tracking my cals this week. So far before dinner I've logged 744 cals, 50g carbs and 64g Protein. Not sure on dinner yet, it will likely be lean and green. (meat and salad.)

Same thing for me FYE!! Oh and from Centennial Colorado...

So I went to support last night and didn't get a chance to ask about this plan. There were a TON of newbies there who had LOTS of questions (not a bad thing) but just didn't get around to asking about this plan. I am thinking that what my NUT *might* say is that this is great as long as you continue with it. I had previously asked her about the 5DPT (5 day pouch test...google if you don't know what I'm talking about) and she said it's fine to use it but what is NOT fine is doing it for 5 days then resuming with your regular eating. So even though I didn't get to ask about this plan I'm sure it would fall under that category. I'm looking forward to hearing all about you guys trying this!!! Please keep posting and updating and maybe I will join you all at some point!

Many of us are in the exact same boat! You can come join us on this thread: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/28952-gonna-get-to-goal-wanna-join-me/

Well I don't have Old Navy but I do have Flexees exercise pants...they look like this: http://www.maidenform.com/shapewear/styles/leggings/flexees-fat-free-dressing-weekender-2140 And at first I didn't wear them. It basically took all my excess skin/fat and pushed it up! Well then I figured out how to combat that. By wearing a Flexees tank like this: http://www.maidenform.com/shapewear/brands/flexees/flexees-fat-free-dressing-tank-top-3266 And that helps smooth the lumps and bumps. The only thing I don't like about the leggings is I wish they were a tad longer (I'm 5'6") and I always feel like they are a bit on the short side. Other wise I really like them.

Yep, you are right. It took me a LOOONG time to realize that this will always be my cross to bear (keeping the weight off) and that I will just never get to that place where I can kick back and eat whatever I want without gaining weight. Sigh. We are in this for the long haul!

I might have to give the 5:2 plan a try! I've not tracked my food in over a MONTH!!! Aaargh! I fell off the tracking wagon that I was on from Jan-May and now I just can't seem to climb back on. My weight is up (again) in my high range, whereas previously this year I had lost -9lbs just by tracking what I eat. I'm going to support group tonight and will ask the NUT that runs the program what she thinks about the 5:2 plan. I follow this blog and she has her own plan for those who suspect that sugar is a huge problem. I don't know how I feel about her plan. It seems like a great short-term solution but not for the long-haul. I would LOVE to see someone do a similar plan but actually eat REAL food not shakes. I did a no-sugar no-carb diet that was very strict and lost -17lbs (this is before being sleeved...like 2 years before I was sleeved) in 6 weeks. However, in 9 months time of eating "normally" again I regained +25lbs. Anyway, this is Holly's sugar detox program (she used to post on here but maybe not anymore? There is someone else here named Holly Rose who has lost a LOT of weight but not the same gal as this one:) http://www.300poundsdown.com/2013/05/my-sugar-detox-plan-and-beginner-program-for-weight-lossexercise.html Here is another post about the evils of sugar (and while I don't think that I fall into the category of people who need to treat sugar like a drug) I like what she wrote and have thought about doing her plan. It's basically like Slim-Fast (shakes all day then a meal for dinner). I'm just not sure that I can/want to be such a nazi about my food. http://www.300poundsdown.com/2013/06/sugar-addiction-detox-and-gaining-control-over-food.html But just throwing this out there for thoughts/ideas. I'm definitely still fighting this battle and just not sure that I will ever be DONE! Aargh!

http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Here-Weight-Loss-Surgery-Transformed/dp/1580054463/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370180029&sr=8-1&keywords=jen+larsen I bought it for my Nook and read the whole book in about 5 hours. (I think it's only 261 pages) but I wondered what anyone else thought about it. Here is what I thought. It was funny, entertaining and I could certainly relate to some of the things she discusses. (She had the DS in 2006, so diff. surgery than the VSG) But overall I could relate to some of her struggles. I did not hate myself BECAUSE I was fat (she did a fair amount of self-loathing due to her size) I just hated how the fat affected my life. So I felt right away that she had some definite emotional issues that I didn't feel I had -- at any weight. What I did not like was what a horrible WLS patient she was. The DS is a surgery that has the most malabsorption of all the WLS out there (more so than the RNY) so she drinks, smokes, eats crap, and still ends up losing 180lbs. She glosses over a regain at the end of the book (saying at her lowest she was 130lbs but now is around 168lbs) so she doesn't make it clear if the regain was intentional or just happened over time or what. The other thing that I was horrified to read was that she basically had NOT tried every diet under the sun. She just felt like "diets don't work" but sort of lied her way through the paperwork process with the surgeon about actually having tried other ways to lose weight. She also didn't do much research or become a self-advocate. She googled up a few things, went to a surgery seminar, and sort of started down the path without totally being committed to the process. So that was scary, but I think it's good that she wrote about it because I think a LOT of people are very much like her, just sign the papers without actually READING what they are signing up for, etc. At the end of her book, the takeaway is that she basically regrets spending time hating herself for being fat. She acknowledges that living life as a smaller person is way easier (like shopping etc.) than being obese, but that basically WLS did NOT, in fact, make her a happier person. She still had the same problems as when she was 318lbs. So I think that is an important message...WLS is not the magic wand to come and cure you of everything you have ever felt bad about. It won't magically fix every problem that you've ever had. And so from that standpoint, I thought this was a good book and a good message. Anyone else read this and want to comment?

Oooh, just found this: http://jenlarsen.net/2013/04/frequently-asked-questions/ On her site she basically says she was stupid and ill-informed about her procedure and that she enourages people to NOT do what she did (which was just put her signature on every piece of paper thrust at her without really understanding what she was getting into.)

I cut out carbonated drinks a month before surgery (surg. date 10-22-10) so come this Sept. it will be 3 years since I've had any sort of carbonated drinks (soda, beer, etc.) It's something I'm happy to live without. Now if I could only cut sugar out of my life the same way...

Haha, that is GREAT!!! Thanks for the laugh, and thanks for sharing.

Just had one for breakfast! LOL! I usually have Egg Beaters for breakfast but today hard-boiled sounded so good! I boil a few every week and keep them around as handy Snacks. My husband is sleeved also (I'm 2.5 years post-op he is 2 years) and we both eat them pretty often. I feel sorry for people who don't like eggs or who are allergic.

Marketing geniuses!! It's scary how much we are influenced by words, ads and other visual cues. Thanks for sharing that...

Sorry that it has to go. It usually does. But as Laura pointed out you will be RID of that awful pain. My GB surgery (in 1999) was very easy, done laproscopically and once I was out of the anethesia fog and off the pain meds (percocet made me sick so I quickly went to Tylenol for pain) I felt much better. I think I had mine out on a Thurs. and was back at work on Mon? It's a fairly easy and quick surgery. I had mine at 8am and was home by noon. Good luck with everything, again, sorry it has to go.

I lost mine after doing Medifast also...but it was in 1999 and I was being carefully monitored by a physician because back then you could not BUY Medifast online, etc. They warned me it could be a side-effect of losing weight but I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones. LOL. Oh well! At least I will never again feel that awful pain!

I am not an expert by any means, but I wouldn't recommend that you stop cardio. Cardio is essential to losing visceral fat (the fat that is deep in your body surrounding your organs...subcuteaneous is just beneath the skin layer.) Can you try swimming?

Nicolanz...update on the ultrasound? From my limited understanding, once you form gall stones it is quite likely time to remove the gall bladder. If yours are minimal and can be helped with medicine, that is great. I asked about that (but it was about 14 years ago that I had mine removed, thanks to dieting) and I was told (again at the time) that medicine could work short term, but that in most cases the stones keep coming back. The intense pain you have is when your body is passing a stone through your system and I just have to echo everyone here who said the pain is WORSE than labor. Yep, that is how I've always described it too. And once it was gone I was so happy to never feel that pain again!!

You are right it would probably be pretty "routine" and it sounds like you are having zero issues, and if you don't have any questions, you probably *could* skip it. But for the sake of myself being a rule follower, I would probably go. If you don't end up going make sure you schedule your 6 month appt and keep that one!

I joined Curves 9 years ago and worked my way up from 3x week to 5x a week and made some life-long friends. I recently quit because my husband and I started working out at a local rec center together and my workouts dwindled to 1x a week. I would rejoin in a heartbeat if I wasn't working out w/my hubby. Glad you like it you won't regret it!

Amazing how much of life is different when it's not all about the food! Congrats to you!

My body went into "maintenance" before I was ready, so I understand the frustration! I've since accepted that I'm not going to get to a "normal" BMI, but I will would like to lose another -20lbs. Working on it and knowing I'm not there yet is frustrating also, but I keep chipping away at it and never EVER give up!

The surgeon I had the consult with said 2-3 weeks for initially recovery, but that depending on various factors (severity of TT, ex. my scar would extend hip to hip) to expect swelling to last anywhere from 3-9 months. I think I would go for at least 20 days off and tell them that after surgery depending on how you feel you may need more time.