M2G

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Hubby and I are both sleeved, and we both easily look -10 years younger. We can eat the same foods, share our ups and downs, and split a plate of food a restaurant. Best decision we both ever made (we made the decision separately, so I'm almost 19 months post-op and he is 14 months post-op!) So great that you are doing this together!

Beautiful!!!! Purple is a GREAT color on you!!!

I started out wanting a band. I did NOT want bypass as re-routing my intestines and causing malabsorption did not appeal to me. The "idea" of the band sounds great. A smaller stomach means you eat less food and therefore are full on less. However, as I researched the band, I learned about the vomiting (something I cannot deal with!) being stuck and not having food go down, yet still being hungry, etc. I started researching the VSG and while it is a big deal to lose 85% of your stomach, it sounded SO much better than the alternatives. It is purely a restrictive procedure, so you are full on less food. You still have to make good food choices, exercise, plenty of Water, etc. The one thing that I can say that has helped me tremendously is the fact that I do not have hunger. Not every sleever loses their hunger but a large majority do. It's amazingly easy to make good food choices when you are not driven by hunger. I also just had my labs pulled again at my 18 month checkup and everything is completely normal and perfect. My surgeon doesn't even think I need labs again at my 2 year based on my results. I'm almost 19 months post-op and I can't imagine having had any other surgery as I knew VSG was right for me.

Shrinkinmamma, I'm going to guess that you aren't doing anything wrong! I say this from experience. At my 4 months post-op I lost exactly -2lbs. Yep. 2. And nope I wasn't eating crap, sliders, grazing or eating too many carbs, etc. I did everything totally BY the BOOK and still had slow results. Just keep doing what you know is right and eventually your weight will drop. Just know that this is for life and that it will take time. We are in this for life and we didn't gain the weight overnight so we aren't going to lose it overnight. HANG IN THERE!!!

WOW, you look amazing! Congrats!

OMG, that is hysterical. Thank you for the laugh today!

You look beautiful! Love the heels!

OMG Coops!!! I don't ever think I've seen a before photo of you. You don't even LOOK like the same bloody person. You are just darling, and I know all about the struggle and the stall from hell, cuz we have been there together the whole da*m time. I'm so thankful you are my sleeve sista... always cheering me up when I am down. So allow me to return the favor. YOU LOOK FREAKING FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are right, the camera tells it like it is, and today it's saying you are fabulous!!! HUGS CHICKIE!

http://www.youtube.com/user/juliarh?feature=mhum That's my favorite video blog....she used to post here, but not so much anymore. Anyway, if you have the time, watch all her videos from the beginning, they are excellent!

Sounds yummy! All except for the name, the name made me think eeeeewwww! I love cake so if you say cake my mind was already in a sweet place, lol! Just like rice cake is certainly no CAKE to me! Ha!

I'm going to have to agree with everyone that you would definitely not be considered a failure in my book. In fact, I think you would be statistically considered a success (for record keeping purposes WLS is considered a success when you lose anywhere from 50-70% of your excess weight depending on what surgery you choose...I think VSG is around 60-65%) Anyway from that standpoint you are doing incredible!!! So congrats. However, I hear in your post that you are struggling. Does your surgeon have a nutritionist or a therapist that you can see/talk to? I agree that while I don't know your height, or BMI, etc. 140 lbs may just not be in the cards for you. I think we all have to work through our skin issues in various ways. Some have plastics, some want plastics but can't afford them, and some (like me!) are working on making peace with our skin and hoping that time/exercise will eventually help. I certainly wouldn't call you a failure, so I think you need to reframe some thinking and start thinking about how much you have accomplished and where you want to be in one year. Start working towards whatever reasonable goals you come up with. YOU CAN DO IT!

Well, mine originally was Mommy2Girls, but then I changed it to be shorter, M2G (plus after a couple of people who didn't want to type that out would say Mommy...lol, sounds wierd coming from anyone other than your kids!) But I have two girls so not only am I a Mommy OF 2 girls but I'm a Mommy TO girls (don't know what it's like to raise boys!) so I thought that Mommy2Girls cleverly associated the two ideas. M2G is much easier to type out!

You look wonderful! Congrats!! P.S. - Also love your polish color!

Some people are just so nosy! When I was pg with my first daughter 12 years ago, my hubby and I decided we weren't going to share her name. OMG, that upset so many people. It's like they just couldn't STAND that we had a name we weren't sharing. When she was born, we gathered our immediate family in the hospital room and shared her name with everyone at once. It was very special and I remember it fondly. None of our family had a problem with it but it was the nosy co-workers, or the busy-body neighbors who had their feathers ruffled because we weren't sharing. Stick to your guns and tell them it's a lot and mention that you aren't hung up on numbers, but rather how you feel. Or convert it to something silly like metric or some other form of measurement and give them that as a smart-a$$ remark. If you are feeling sassy.

Thanks for posting that website. I always joke that I like to eat my calories, not drink them. My surgeon's rules were no alcohol for 1 year post-op (he also admitted that it was the most commonly broken rule.) I did it though, and made it through the first year and no alcohol. For everyone who is struggling, get back to basics, detox from the sugar, carbs and alcohol, and get back on track. Use your tool, don't waste this gift you've been given!

I made my own version of PF Chang's lettuce wraps. I chopped up carrots, celery, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and almonds. I diced 2 chicken breasts and cooked them in olive oil. Tossed in the chopped veggies and made a sauce from soy sauce, dijon mustard, vinegar, chopped garlic, and a bit of agave syrup. I also tossed in some spices. After everything was well cooked I served them in boston lettuce leaves. YUM! (Sorry I don't know the amounts of anything because I didn't measure of keep track of amounts.)

You make a beautiful bride, congrats!!!

Congrats! You are doing a fantastic job!

Congratulations!!! You are beautiful!

Monty thank you for the wonderful compliment. It is hard to keep believing that you will continue to lose when you lose at a verrrrry slow rate. Trust me! I've been frustrated, and lost patience and sometimes I would come here and see some of the fast losers who not only lose quickly but get to goal quickly and I won't lie, it's hard, because sometimes you just go "why can't that be me?" But the fact remains that it's NOT me and this is MY journey and I will continue to work my sleeve and keep getting results in a timeframe that while it may be frustrating it's also taught me a lot. Your motto needs to be never give up! You look amazing for 68 and I applaude you for having WLS...just goes to show you it's never too late! (I'm 40, btw, and totally wish I had done this 20 years ago, but hey then I wouldn't have the wisdom I have now and certainly wouldn't appreciate my body the way I do now...I had to live morbidly obese for all those 20 years to truly appreciate the gift I've been given!!!)

I believe I had lost about -85lbs in the first year and then just kept on working my sleeve slow and sure. I have not gained any weight back, but I stall for really long periods of time. For instance I've weighed about the same now for the last probably 8 weeks. I lost some earlier this year in Jan/Feb but then it has slowed down and I've been the same for Mar/Apr. I "bounce" up a lb, down a lb, up 2 lbs, down 2lbs, but I write my weight down once a week and I can see that it's been in the same "zone" for quite some time now. Hopefully I'll be dropping some more soon, but in the meanwhile I have to be very patient. It's hard but do-able!

Absolutely. I'm still terrified of gaining the weight back (I'm 18 months post-op!) I basically just decided to use the fear as motivation. Surgery was my LAST resort, I put a lot of time, effort, energy, thought, and research into this option and I refuse to fail and I refuse to go back. I refuse to be a WLS failure!!!

Amazing transformation! Congrats!!!

Well this is just for me personally, but my "honeymoon" period was 3 months. In month 4 I lost exactly -2lbs. I was very dissapointed but my motto has been never give up. I lost about -65lbs by my 6 month mark and then it's been really slow going since about then. But overall I'm happy, just not a very fast loser. I'm 18 months post-op now...

Beautifully written! Now that I'm closer to being at goal than any previous diet I've ever been on, I find that I am left with the skin, etc. but I *knew* that going in, I wasn't coming out with a super-model body. Some days are worse than others, but mostly I'm grateful to be here. And you are right because I never want to forget what it's like to live life in a larger body, I never want to go back!