M2G

I'm 19 months out and no I have not yet reached my goal. I may actually revise it at some point (and no it's not a super-low weight or anything un-acheiveable) but for me personally this has been a verrrrry slow journey. Some people race down the scale and others drop a little at a time. I'm more like the latter of the two. But I cannot stress enough how much I would do this surgery over again! I've been thrilled with my sleeve and I'm not unhappy at my current weight, but would like to lose another 15lbs at least. It is hard work but so totally worth the effort!!! I had zero complications, in fact I know I'm rare but I have never once (not even due to stomach bug, flu, etc.) vomitted with my sleeve. So that makes me really happy because I hate to do that more than almost anything. I know of people who have had complications so I'm not meaning to gloss over the serious risks that are part of such a major surgery, but for me personally I had NO complications whatsoever.

I buy them at Kohl's on sale or if I lucky I find them cheaper at Ross/TJMaxx!!! I have about 10 of them in different colors and I just found out that I fit in a medium. I started out wearing them after I had lost about 35-40lbs and was in a 2XL. So happy that the Med. fit. I need to buy more in the smaller size now. lol

Love this!!! I was called a "skinny b*tch" by a girlfriend (who knows I've been sleeved) and it made my day too! (Because it was all in fun, but I have NEVER been called that my whole life!)

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm at -100 and I would definitely consider plastics, but on the other hand I'm not 100% unhappy now. The tummy skin is the worst, but I'm also not a goal yet, so I'm like Lila...basically undecided. I wear the Flexees tanks every day and sometimes I resent it but most the time I forget that I'm wearing them.

GT, I hope you feel better soon, I have not (yet knock on wood) had a single episode of vomiting since being sleeved 19 months ago (oddity I realize) but at this point since it never happened post-op the only thing that would make it happen is a stomach flu. So I feel for ya! Coops, I love the idea of writing things down, please let us know how it goes. FYE, I totally can feel you on finding balance. WHERE is the balance between obsessively tracking all food/calories and having a little nibble here or there on something. Aaack...not sure where the middle ground is, but I have NOT been tracking my food since late march and I've absolutely loved every single second of NOT TRACKING MY FOOD. I've been maintaining fine, the only problem is that I'M NOT DONE YET. arrgh. So yeah at some point I'm going to have to climb back up on the tracking wagon and see where I'm at.

I agree this is a touchy subject. On one hand many of us have said that our only regret with this surgery is that we didn't do it sooner! We've spent countless years (and its different for everyone) living life as overweight, obese, morbidly obese or super morbidly obese. Either way, what if we didn't have to endure that? But I also feel that living life for the last 20 years as obese and morbidly obese, prepared me for the surgery and my subsequent success. Would I have been as successful without having tried *everything* else under the sun? There are two things that bother me about this video. The first being that this particular little girl didn't look obese to me at all. She looked slightly overweight. I think general rules/guidelines for WLS is usually that you need to be about 100lbs over ideal body weight. I know that there are many, many, many people who undergo WLS who DO NOT have 100lbs to lose, but obviously this girl did NOT have 100lbs to lose to get to an ideal body weight. The other thing that bothered me was this statement "I won the battle and my struggles were over!" I think that is misleading. Even though I've got a surgically altered stomach for the rest of my life, I am still going to always need to stay on top of this. It's too easy to gain the weight back, so I have to make this a priority, healthy eating, exercising, and yes IT IS a battle and I will continue to fight it. Definitely a topic worthy of discussion.

You look great Linda! (And your daughter does too!)

Cindy, I am undecided on plastics as of yet. My surgeon is pushing me to do them. He thinks when I get to a BMI of about 27 then I should have the tummy done (he thinks arms/legs look great) but I'm pretty torn. I'm not 100% UNHAPPY the way I am now and frankly I've been married 16 years to the same wonderful man who has literally loved me through thick and thin, so it's not like I need a hot wrinkle free belly to show the world, lol. I do wear the Flexees tanks daily to help keep everything "in" but at this point NO to plastics. Maybe someday. Hey thanks for the nice compliment. Thanks to everyone else who replied, you guys are the best!!!

Congrats Tiff! That is exciting news, and you sound thrilled (even while being exhausted!) My two girls are 19 months and 1 day apart and I honestly wouldn't do it any other way, life is crazy, sleep deprivation is hard, and dealing with 2 babies is hard, but so worth all the energy and effort because they are 1 year apart in school and can do all the same things and have a lot of friends in common. It was our plan to have them close together and 18 months was my minimum, so we got that at least. Glad to hear an update, glad you are doing well, and looking forward to hearing more about your new busy life! (when you have time of course) :-)

DITTO! And FYI, I think the "light" is waaaaay better than the regular, plus you save on fat and cals! Woot!

I've lost -80lbs before. And I gained it all back. I've lost -50lbs before, and gained it all back. -25lbs...yep you guessed it...it came back and it brought some friends. I knew I needed a permanent tool to help me fight the battle. You friend doesn't understand this and it's probably not your job to to teach him (nor will you be able to make him understand.) So be polite but firm that you know full well what you are getting into and that if he is your friend he will support your decision. Otherwise you might not have room for him on your journey. Good luck!

You were beautiful before and now you are stunning!!! I've said it before and I'll say it again, that blue dress is just amazing on you!!! That necklace is awesome...love it!! Thanks as always for sharing your journey with us and not jumping ship when you hit goal. Hugs friend!!!

Thanks S...that means a LOT to me! You have been here through my whole entire journey and I love you for it! :-)

You can have it again...just not right now. :-)

That is so funny because I had the opposite happen as well. I had lost about -80lbs and was sleeved first. Then my hubby got sleeved and he lost about -40lbs and people could NOT STOP raving about how great he looked!! However, now that I'm at the -100 mark, the tide is shifting again and hubby stopped loosing at about -70 (he wants to lose about -15 more but has been stalled/maintaining for about 6 months now) and now I'm back to getting all the compliments, lol. Seems like the last -10lbs has made a big difference....you know how the skinnier you are the more a weight loss shows, and the heavier you are you can lose -30lbs and no one will even notice. Crazy! Congrats to both YOU and YOUR WIFE!!!

I've lost -100lbs, 8 of pre-op the rest since surgery. I'm 19 months post-op and having trouble getting the last of the weight off. But on the flip side I'm happy where I am and have been easily maintaning for months and months! I agree that having a surgeon close to home is a big plus (FOR ME anyway!) as my sugeon has tons and tons of post-op support. I've yet to miss a support group or followup class. My surgeon was Dr. Snyder of Denver Colorado at Rose Medical center. His practice is one carrying the Bariatric Center for Excellence label. I had UnitedHeathcare and one of their stipulations was that the surgeon and their practice had to be certified by this high standard.

Meg, thanks for the recap, that is awesome that food is secondary to all other things!!! What an amazing concept that has eluded us for so many years! Interesting correlation on the body types and food consumed. I know there is much more to obesity than just that piece of the puzzle, but there is no denying that is a large part of it! On and congrats on not gaining...wow, pretty cool!

YES! Water is ok, and definitely encouraged.

Shrinkinmama...well you are only 4 weeks post-op so that does limit what you can eat right now. Have you tried yogurt? I always have a greek yogurt daily. I sprinkle in a bit of Splenda and a bit of sugar-free powdered Jello pudding mix (it's in the light blue box at the grocery store and you can get yummy flavors like cheesecake, and white chocolate...I mix it into PLAIN 0% fat greek yogurt, YUM!) Other things that your surgeon may allow at this point is cottage cheese and ricotta cheese. Cottage cheese is awesome with a bit of seasoning, and ricotta is great with a bit of splenda and cinnamon sprinkled in. I also eat a babybel light cheese (it's a tiny round cheese wrapped in a bit of red colored wax) and it's only 50 calories for the whole thing. Another soft food that is totally delish. At 6 weeks my surgeon cleared us for all types of food. YOUR surgeon's guidelines may be different, but ONCE you are clear you can add protien bars in, mixed nuts (go EASY on the nuts, as they pack a LOT of calories in a really tiny serving) beef Jerky, hard boiled eggs, and of course the standby that I have for lunch is lunch meat wrapped with a bit of cheese or rolled up with cream cheese to make it stay rolled up. Basically a sandwich without the bread. I hope that helps you out. Just know that the restriction on food is TEMPORARY and in a few months you won't remember what it was like to be deprived of anything. So hang in there!!! ANd thanks everyone for the nice replies...you all are so awesome!

SUPER CUTE!!! You ROCK Irene!!!

So I finally reached the -50lb milestone. YAY! And thought I should post some pictures. I know the before/during/after photos are something that helped me when I was considering WLS. I am currently 4.5 months post-op and sometimes I come here and feel like a slow loser, and then reality smacks me and I realize that I'm doing fantastic. Never before have I lost this amount of weight in such a short amount of time. All of my weight loss has been post-op because my surgeon didn't require a pre-op diet. I can't get over how losing a significant amount of weight has made me feel. I didn't feel sick before, but now I just feel amazing. Anyone who doesn't think that -50lbs is a large amount, really needs to photo-document their journey. I can't believe how much of a difference -50lbs has made for me. And I'm not even halfway to goal yet!

I haven't looked at this post in a while, but Irene, you are looking FAB!!!! My surgeon keeps pushing me to do plastics, but I'm undecided. I'm going to just live for a while and take things as they come. He thinks my arms/legs look great but is encouraging tummy tuck, etc. There is sooooooo much to consider. Thanks, as always, for posting about your journey for us!

FYI, this post is OLD!!! I think someone was looking through old posts and bumped it up. (And thanks for all the nice compliments!) To see updated photos (now I'm 19 months post-op) and recently posted some updated photos. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/38995-18-months-and-counting/

Thanks Coops! Ifeel *exactly* the same way about you. You inspire me and keep me strong when doubt creeps in. Thanks for always being there for me! So glad we are in this together!!! HUGS!