Derp

I hit major stalls at pretty much every "10 lb lost" mark. The longest stall was 2 months, and it made me so mad! My doctor helped me through it though - he told me to stop worrying about the numbers on the scale, and to use it to just make sure I'm not gaining in a significant way. And that's how I use the scale to this day. NSVs are way more fun anyway! OMG, I remember one week I went up 5 lbs, and it P'd me off so bad - I wasn't even eating solid foods yet. Granted, it was the week before the start of my menstrual cycle, but still. For the first year, the numbers on the scale didn't move to match the changes I saw in the mirror, and it was so frustrating. I had a lot of anxiety over my 2 month stall (at 214 lbs, I'll never forget it). I kept saying to myself, "IS THIS IT??" Long story short: don't worry!

My stomach didn't like pills of any kind for the first 3 months, so I did liquid, gummy, or crunched up tablets. I was a bit more sensitive than the norm in most ways until I was fully recovered at the 6 month mark. Now I can take my supplements in pill or capsule form, no problem. Although, when taking a handful of my herbal supplements, even 3 years later, I have to do it over the course of 30 minutes to an hour, just because of the large amount of Water it takes to get 10-20 caps down.

You can do it. Just try as hard as you can. It's been 3 years since my sleeve and I remember the misery of the pre-surgery diet more so than the post-op recovery, to be completely honest.

What amazing inspiration. Thank you for your post.

AWESOME song, Chuck, thank you for sharing, and contributing. <3

So my surgery went down on March 7, so I'm about 2.5 months post-op at this point. It has been hard (for sure) learning how to eat again, but it's working. I just passed the 50 lb mark. My weight loss has tapered, and even stalled a few times, but I'm still seeing downward movement on the scale. My blood pressure has returned to normal, and I'm finally getting the hang of knowing my portion size. I eat about 5 tiny meals every day, and just got to the point to where I can get steak down without any irritation. Some of my favorite non-scale victories so far: 1) realizing that I can cross my legs like a lady 2) donating 30 pairs of pants to goodwill, after even tailoring them to fit didn't last 3) wearing a dress to work for the first time in my life 4) boys are paying attention to me again I've treated myself by setting up an appointment with a personal shopper at Nordstrom to shop with me and help teach me some tips about how to dress my new body. I've been so used to wearing the same slacks and shirts for the last few years, that I realized that I don't know how to dress myself It's still the best decision I ever made, in spite of the overwhelming challenges the surgery has presented. There have been days where I've been so discouraged because simply going out for a meal is a difficult task. <3

Some more non-scale victories: - Being able to run for longer than 30 seconds without thinking i'm going to die. - I can sleep so much better than before - my ankles are starting to look good in cute shoes - I treated myself to a thigh tattoo, because I finally like the way my thighs are looking

Vford70, you are an inspiration to me. Way to go! <3

ToDream, don't worry - the exact same thing happened to me when I first dipped into the 100s. I treated myself (indulged), then it took 5 days to get back down to the 100s. Like everyone says, Water. You got this! <3

When people judge WLS patients and say that it's the easy way out, it makes me want to scream. Because there's been no part of my weight loss journey that's been easy. Every meal is a struggle. Every decision is a struggle. Every night on the town is a struggle. And they all have dire consequences if you make a mistake, in the form of ALL types of inner digestive system pain, or the mental trauma that goes with doing the wrong thing. The decision to have WLS to force my hand is the only part of this journey that has been easy. I'm glad that I can say that after 2.5 months, i'm finally forming good habits - habits that will stick with me long term, instead of the stupid short term mental compulsions that come with crash dieting. It's kinda doing it on it's own, because of this mental conditioning and physical limitation I have placed on myself. I scour the forums and see that most people who have been sleeved for this long (and longer) feel the same way, and I remember when I was a newbie thinking, "man, i hope that happens to me". So to the newbs out there - It works, and it's worth it. But damn, it's a struggle. Peace and Love!

Agreed - it happened to me for the first 2 weeks, in varying degrees.

awesome, looking good too! <3

Omg, after reading the OP, I tried it out myself, and realized I can cross my legs now too! Awesome!

I took 4 weeks off work and needed all of it. I am on week 6 and i still get tired pretty easily and stay close to home, in case I need to get there quick to lay down.

Let me preface this story with the fact that I know that my current relationship with alcohol is and will be different than it was before surgery. What i'm basically saying is, "INB4 outrage & judgement" Before surgery, I was an avid and enthusiastic party girl. I have an extremely stressful full-time, 24x7 boys'-club, mind-numbing soul-crushing (albeit high-paying) career, filled to the brim with heavy drinkers. More than once a week, I find myself out after work either enjoying cocktails with co-workers or going to vendor/customer dinners, where it's not uncommon to have drinks at the restaurant bar before, wine throughout dinner, scotch after, followed by drinks at the bar after to close the night. I don't consider myself an alcoholic - for the 2 weeks in preparation to surgery and for the 2 weeks after, I haven't had a drink, and it's not like I got the DT's or anything. I have however been very concerned and curious about what was going to happen when I did have my first cocktail. I was worried I would be drunk after one sip, or my new stomach would reject it and I would vomit uncontrollably at the table, or worse - I would never be able to have a drink again... All kinds of horrific scenarios went through my head. So I called my best and most trusted friend last night and told him that I was feeling back to normal (for the most part), and interested in testing the waters. We went to my local low-key boozer, sat at a booth. I responsibly ordered my low-calorie standby: Grey Goose & Soda (single tall), and sipped apprehensively while watching jealously as he took long pulls from his Heineken. (I was a beer drinker in my past life - I'm pretty sure it's responsible for 50 of the 100 lbs I'm trying to lose.) My first cocktail went down very slowly - it took about 45 minutes to get it all the way down. I definitely felt it about halfway in, but i felt well within normal operating limits. I could feel my body processing it a little differently, but no big deal. Even though the drink includes soda Water, there is very little carbonation in the drink, so I felt good about my order, and didn't get the burps or anything. Over the course of 3 hours, I had 3 cocktails and a glass of water. I got home feeling like a solid 4.5 out of 10. I finished my Protein drink and took a big bottle of evian to bed, and sipped on it while watching tv. I woke up this morning feeling fine, a little bit of a headache and pretty thirsty, but other than that, I felt great. Although, I have to say, I am feeling my first pangs of hunger since before the surgery, so that's new... I'm not sure if that's related to drinking last night or if my stomach is just healing up properly. I'm going to go and make myself some grits!

I've been keeping my WLS under wraps too, and I just tell people I'm on a strict diet, and that's how I've dropped the weight I've dropped recently. My people aren't too nosy though. That vague explanation is typically enough for them. Going out to eat is so hard - the waitstaff always asks if i hated my meal... and it makes me feel a little bad, until I realize that with my doggie bag, I have more meals in my hand than I'll ever eat.

I figured I'd post an update here - I'm 40 lbs down, but I have hit a stall. I believe it to be nutrition-based though, because I slacked off on my Vitamin intake and exercise for the last week while I was on vacation, and that's about the length of my stall too. As far as the surgery recovery itself - I feel like I'm back to normal for the most part, i just don't like eating any more. When I do go out on the town, it's much less frequent than I did pre-surgery, and I don't drink the same things either. My stomach will not tolerate wine anymore (someone on these boards described their insides as a vat of boiling acid, and that's what wine does to me now), and I've sworn off beer, since I"m sure that's where a lot of my extra weight came from to begin with. I usually order a vodka soda w/ a splash of pineapple. I've noticed I also consume a lot less too - just a couple of cocktails instead of the several i'm used to. This isn't even really a conscious choice, it's just what happens naturally with me now. It's satisfying, and doesn't seem to be a hindrance. I'm sure that without the calories of those couple of cocktails on those nights, I would be losing weight faster, but right now, i feel like i'm on pace, and I'm not missing out on this aspect of my social life.

Man, I have 6 incisions. 2 were really tiny though

Smof4, I just added both of those recipes to my developing cookbook... Thank you so much <3

I'll admit that I cheated a little on my pre-op diet, but it is important to do it for the reasons everyone stated above as well as one more my doctor pointed out: It prepares you for the extremely strict regimen that comes after surgery. You do NOT want to cheat after surgery, so consider this practice time. You can do it! Good luck! <3

We'll be thinking about you! <3 Good luck

Was the pneumonia because of the anesthesia? How long have you been on IV fluids? My friend had something like this happen when he had WLS (he had gastric bypass, but the same kind of issue). He said it was most important for him to be hydrated, and then nutrients (specifically protein) came second. What are you able to keep down? I'm sorry you're having problems.. you'll pull through though! Lots of love <3