M2G

WOW, WOW & WOW again, you never cease to amaze me with your dedication and committment and determination. You have it all going on girl and I am SO happy for you. As you know I've followed your journey from practically day one and have been cheering for you the whole time. Even while I'm stuck and feeling frustration, I know that this fight is not over for me yet and I will continue to battle and I will lose more, there just is no way I've come this far to be stuck here forever. lol So thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your journey. And, OMG good luck with the girls and the lipo and I can't wait to follow that journey as well. I am again rooting for a sucessful surgery and an uneventful recovery. Keep us posted and best of luck with the upcoming changes.

"Borrowed", ah hem. LOL! That just tickled my funny bone. Thanks for the laugh!

WOW, great thread, and TONS of great advice here. If I was only able to offer ONE piece of advice it would be to always underfill your sleeve. Being overfull isn't fun and I avoid it at all costs. At my 9 month checkup my dr. asked how much volume I was eating per meal. 3-5oz is my normal meal. He was shocked. I guess he sees too many people trying to push the limits of their sleeve. Some of it may be due to hunger (which even at 9 months out I still never experience TRUE hunger) so I suspect that since not all sleevers lose their hunger, that may be the reason for pushing the limits. But I am happy and satisfied with this amount of food and I've only been overfull about 3 times. Keep your meals small, don't force your sleeve to accept more than what it can handle.

:lol:

I'm over 9 months out from my surgery date and I'm down -75lbs. I didn't have to pre-op (just clears for 24 hours before surgery) so my ticker says it all...every pound is since surgery. Congrats to all us LOSERS!!! P.S. Love the dancing banana...great post to put it in Irene!

I would say that a fair amount of us lose our hair. I started just about 4 months post-op and it really slowed down recently (around 9 months post-op.) I ate all my Protein and took all my Vitamins and unfortunately it did not PREVENT hair loss. I also take Biotin which will not prevent loss, but rather encourage new growth. My hairdresser knew about my surgery (she has a band) and said that at 8 months post-op it didn't look like I had lost too much and she did see lots of new growth. Everyone is different but most everyone who has WLS will run into some type of hair loss. Sorry. Wish I had better news. I will gladly lose some hair to be -75lbs lighter though!

You look radiant! Your arms look awesome to me, and you have a very cute baby bump. I agree...go eat that cake enjoy it and eat a piece for me too. Hoping the last 3 months fly by for you and that Tater Tot is here soon (love your nickname!)

I was *just* wondering about you and how things were going...yay for your post. First of all you look amazing!!! We have similar start weights and goals (same height too) and I think you had surgery just a few weeks before I did. I *wish* I could say that I'm even close to -100lbs down. WOW! That is wonderful. I've been on the slowest loser train and yes, I'll admit to being frustrated. I have NOT had one single soda, or alcoholic drink since being sleeved. I am like you the carbs have to stay low or I don't lose. I'm currently on a 2 month stall, but I know it's not my eating and not "issues" (drinking my calories, drinking while eating, eating too much, eating the wrong foods.) So I just have to set my sights on my goals and work my sleeve day by day and know that it might take me a while longer to get where I want/need to be. But your journey is definitely inspiring and I hope you get a handle on the smoking. Sounds like you have already figured out the soda/candy/chips thing...so you are doing awesome! Congrats!

WOW! You are looking GREAT Irene! We are we going to see pictures with your beautiful hair down ...lol. You remind me of my 10 year old daughter...she has the most amazing long beautiful curly hair and she ALWAYS has it tied up, pony or bun, but I never get to see her beautiful hair down. So that can be your next photo essay.

I am hovering at -75lbs gone and I could not be more happy with my sleeve! I can honestly say I love my sleeve and never had any regret about doing this surgery! I have been frustrated by my "slow" loss but am working on acceptance and trying to embrace it. I did have my 9 month checkup with my surgeon, and when I expressed concern about losing slowly, he laughed and said that I'm doing excellent! He said my weight loss was on target (according to his charts, I'm doing exactly as I should number-wise), my workouts were perfect, and my meals were perfect (I brought in samples of my food logs) so that was wonderful news. He sort of set a target to lose about 15-20lbs in the next 13 or so weeks, and of course that would be wonderful, but as things are slowing way down for me I am doubtful that I can make it. I might be able to swing -15lbs and I would be thrilled with that. That would put me -90lbs for my one year anniversary of getting the sleeve and that would be awesome. So in that spirit I am working on acceptace. I'm starting to Celebrate more of the little things that matter like running up a flight of stairs and not being winded, or the fact that I can bare my arms and wear sleeveless tops, or bouncing on the trampoline with the kids in the backyard...all things that seem small but in reality are huge NSV's. I do love seeing before/after pictures (SO MOTIVATING!) so I will post a comparison picture. It is not a body shot (sorry I have no new body shots) so it will have to be a face shot. Sometimes pictures really DO tell the story and even the change in my face is dramatic. I'm always wowed by the fact that as people lose weight their facial features become more prominent. Not being dwarfed by their own weight, suddenly eyes and noses and eyebrows are SO much bigger on a face that isn't carrying so much extra weight. I can hardly believe it's been 9 months SINCE being sleeved as I remember waiting the 6 months to BE sleeved and feeling like it was an eternity. If you are pre-op hang tight, soon you will be posting that you are 9 months too!

Thank you for sharing your story. It is always much easier to share when it is a 'success' story, but not so easy when you fall off the wagon and can't seem to get back on. We all know that the surgery itself cannot do all the work, but it is a good reminder of how easy it is to not use our tool. This story could probably be any one of us, so don't feel alone. I am glad you found this site, as I think you will find a lot of really great supportive people here. I think you can do this!! I do have one question as to why they would do a bypass over a DS since the sleeve can be the first step in a DS? It is something to consider if you are thinking about revising at any point.

Welcome and best of luck to you on your journey! I too, credit my insurance's "wait time" for giving me time to learn about the sleeve. I was also headed for a band and am SO thankful that I found the sleeve. You will find a ton of helpful people and lots of good information on this site!

Well not much to report, my scale keeps bouncing TOTALLY frustrating, but I'm continuing the good fight!!! SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal M2G...............204..................201...............194.............7

WOW, just wow!!! THAT ROCKS and you look AMAZING!

Those are SO cute! They look like DOLL cookware! I wish I could use something like this, however, I have a husband and two children, so we tend to cook for our whole family and then just weigh/measure our portions. I love this idea though and if I were single I would totally be out buying these. Great idea!

Wow! That is truly amazing results, DEFINITELY worth celebrating, adding years back to your life. LOVE THIS!

WOO HOO! It will probably be a while before I'm *just* overweight, but you can be certain I will be celebrating that day also! CONGRATS GIRL!

My OB had never heard of it, and I'm not sure about my PCP. I went to him AFTER I had been to my surgeon and when I talked to my PCP I was still thinking band, so he wrote a letter of medical necessity for the band. But then I changed to the sleeve and it was between my surgeon and my PCP so if my PCP did not know about the sleeve, I'm sure he learned a bunch after talking to my surgeon. I wouldn't automatically DQ someone who is in the medical field who hasn't heard of the sleeve, because I think someone can be very good at their job and not know about all new technologies, etc. that are being used throughout the world. It doesn't make them necessarily a bad health professional. Just my 2 cents!

Hey Kristina, I don't have a way to allow you view my food logs, but I can copy and paste a sample so that you have an idea. The best guide that I can give regarding food and amounts, etc. is to always underfill your sleeve. I am 9 months out and still eat between 3-4oz at every meal. I'm sure capacity-wise, my sleeve could probably handle 6-8oz but since I experience zero hunger, AND I don't like feeling overfull, I tend to eat on the lower side (quantity-wise) of things. Here is a typical example of one of my days meals. As a general rule (thanks to the advice of many VST members!!!) I try to keep my calories between 900-1200, Protein 80g, and carbs I do best keeping mine under 30g. Everything varies from person to person and of course I am NOT a doctor, so this is just what works for me. Here is a typical day for me: (the number after indicates the number of CALORIES in each item of food depending on what QUANTITY I eat <the quantity did not carry over when I did the copy and paste> and for this particular day my protein was 89g and my carbs were 26g ...calories are listed at the end) Breakfast 341 coffee Decaf - Hot beverages 23 Traditional Half and Half - Land O Lakes 89 Egg, Whole - Cooked, Scrambled 102 Egg Beaters 19 Real Bacon Bits 49 Cheddar Shredded cheese 59 lunch 161 Black Forest Ham - Deli meats 49 Smoked Sliced Deli Turkey - Hormel Natural Choice 33 Cheddar Shredded Cheese 79 dinner 300 1/2 Chipotle chicken Bowl no rice no salsa 265 Strawberries 2 Almonds, Dry Roasted - With Salt Added 33 Snack 141 Kirkland Albacore Tuna 78 FAGE Total 2% 7 Light Sour Cream 7 Crackers Whole Wheat 14 Original Creamy Swiss 7 FAGE Total 2% 28 TOTAL 942 I hope this helps! Thank you to everyone who has made a comment and been so supportive! It is so nice to come here and be able to share, because you guys all "get it"!

WOW! You are doing awesome! Congrats! LOVE the zipper shot...WOW!

WOW! Absolutely amazing transformation. I would be so happy to lose 90+lbs at 1 year. You look terrific, and your shapewear must rock because you look great!

WOW GIRL!!! You look amazing! Congratulations, you have worked so hard to achieve your results, great job!!! (And p.s. I want a cute exercise bra like that! )

CONGRATULATIONS!! You must feel on top of the world! WOO HOO! The one thing that I love love love about our VSG is that it is forever. We get to always have this tool on our side. I know I've stalled plenty of times in the last 9 months, some were due to my body resisting change (i.e. where I do everything right and still don't get the payoff on the scale) and other times I know it's because I'm eating too many carbs or snacking/grazing more than I should. No matter what, this is proof that we always have our forever tool and we can choose to use it at any time. Love that!

WOW! You are doing terrific! And you really don't even look like the same person, in your before/after shot. 64lbs is a huge amount...congrats!!!

What a wonderful NSV, I'm so happy for you and PROUD of you! Awesome job!!! I love your smile, that dress could be a rag and your smile would shine right through! My wedding dress (15+ years ago) was a size 24 and I'm wearing a 14 now, so it definitely is NOT a goal of mine to fit back into that dress, but maybe someday I will renew vows and wear a smaller sized dress AND redo all my photos!