Penpen

I'm now around 4.5 months out and I still have a problem with that. I don't always take too big a bite and I'm not always eating too fast. Personally for me, I think it's the fact that I'm not drinking while I'm eating. Before I always slugged down water, soda, tea, you name it...as I ate whatever I was eating. So of course I never noticed food getting stuck in my esophagus...I never gave it a chance to get stuck. I don't know for sure, just my personal opinion. I hope this helps. :idea:

Hi all! I'm so excited! I'm a little over 4 months post op and have passed my 6 month goal. I've lost 77 lbs. and have 73 lbs. left to lose. I started at 280 lbs. and am now down to 203 lbs. as of this morning. I love my sleeve! Here are some pictures of before and after. I don't know how these will turn out on here. Hopefully this works! NOW: BEFORE:

Thank y'all so much! If you're still on the fence and wondering whether or not to have the surgery, just know that it really does work and I would do it all over again if I had to. I still have struggles but they are far easier to conquer than before I had surgery. I don't know why, but most of the time, turning the wrong foods away is easy. My appetite is so different than before surgery. It's nothing that I've done or am trying to do, it was the surgery itself. Don't get me wrong, I still have bad moments were I really want something and have it but it just takes a bite or two and I'm over it. Used to, I'd eat all of whatever it was and then go hunting for the next thing.

I just updated my blog with my 3 month picture. I hid behind my son because I still felt absolutely huge and then when my husband showed me the pictures, I was in shock. I love my sleeve! Please stop by and take a peek if you get a chance. I started with some before pictures then I added the new. http://sliceofhealthyplease.blogspot.com/

Thank you very much! All of you have made my day and yes, I need to get my husband to take some more whole body pictures. As soon as I do, I'll jump back on here and let everyone know.

Thank you so much!

Oh Ruby!!!! Thank you!!! I was just telling my hair lady that I thought I should get my hair cut shorter because I feel like I look so old. You are so sweet and you made my day!

Thank you so much! I'm going to have to check out your profile. It's great hearing from someone that has had their surgery the same day I did. And by the way, you've lost a lot too! Congrats to you! This isn't easy and sometimes the weight feels like it won't ever fall off but some how it does.

Awww....thank you so much! I haven't heard those kind of words in years.

Thank you so much! I hope your surgery has gone well and can't wait to hear from you to see how you are doing.

I'm now 3 months out and I want to encourage you all. My first 2 weeks after surgery, I lost only 10 lbs. Then I stalled for 3-4 weeks and thought that the surgery didn't work for me. I was so discouraged. But then my stall broke and over a week and a half I dropped 15 lbs. Then another stall for 2-4 weeks... I can't even remember how long the stall was now because I've had so many. Lol but I will tell you this, I lost 25 lbs during preop and now 3 months post op, I'm down a total of 68 lbs. It seemed to fall off super slow but in reality, it fell off at the speed of light. Mind you that I'm only 3 months post op but I only have 7 more pounds to go to meet my 6 month goal which was to lose 50% of my excess weight. I started at 280 lbs before I did the preop diet and am now down to 212 lbs. I'm 5'4". Yes, I know, I need to update my ticker. I've blogged all about my ups and downs and those sorry stalls. Today I updated my blog with a couple of pictures that were taken over the weekend. These pictures shocked me because I still felt absolutely huge and had no idea what I was actually looking like. Hang in there! It will happen for you too. It's very normal to go through lots of stalls.

Wow! What a transformation! Congratulations! This surgery is so worth the results. I just posted my 3 month pictures on my blog. When I saw my pictures this past weekend, I was shocked! I just couldn't believe it. I'm almost to my 6 month goal and I'm just now 3 months out. I love my sleeve!

Grape juice! It has such a strong taste that it covers up almost all bad tasting medicine. This is what I used the first 2 months and I did it so much that now the thought of grape juice makes me want to gag. lol But it definitely served a very important purpose.

I've lost a total of 60 lbs. that's including the 25 lbs. lost during pre-op. My surgery was on June 23, 2011. In the beginning I was logging everything and then I stopped. It got to were I felt out of control of my weight loss (I never gained anything though) and it just felt chaotic! Then within the last couple of weeks, I got tired of not knowing how much of everything I was taking in so I started logging again. I've only once gotten around 1000 calories. Most days, I get anywhere from 600-800 calories. I do include carbs but keep them between 30-50 grams a day....usually. I still struggle with getting in my protein because I'm so sick of everything and I'm hardly ever hungry but I do get 50-65 grams most days. Honestly, I don't feel like I need to log calories because with what I eat each day, I can't take much more in even if I wanted to and I know I'm not getting many calories. Though I do log them just so I can see for myself.

I'll second the caramelized onion chicken burgers. They are good. And if you are cooking for others, you can really add to it for a wonderful meal. The other night I heated the chicken burgers up. Then I topped it with low fat pepper jack cheese, Thousand Island Dressing, and placed on a heated onion bread bun. And I served with baked sweet potato fries with a touch of cinnamon and sugar. This is what I served my family and they loved it! I just had the chicken burger patty (only half of it) and a couple of the sweet potato fries. Oh, and I bought the sweet potato fries at costco, too.

I know how you feel. I just blogged about getting back on track again. For me, I stopped writing everything down that I was taking in about a month or so ago. I've noticed that I've been eating more carbs but wasn't sure if I was over doing it. I really didn't think I was. Also, I was sort of keeping track of my Protein and Water in my head. Not a good idea! I was feeling as if I was out of control of my weight loss and it just felt chaotic! I haven't gained and am actually still losing but very slowly. So, I decided yesterday that today would be a new day and I set some new goals. One was to start recording my protein, carbs, and calories for everything and also for my water intake. So, I did start recording everything this morning and had an "Aha" moment first thing. I took Tiffikins advice and even wrote down the calories and carbs from my Vitamins and supplements. Before Breakfast this is what I was planning on having: 2 chewable Calcium citrates 8 oz. regular coffee 1 Tbsp. sugar 2 tsp. Coffee Mate Creamer Here's the totals so far: 0 protein / 26 carbs / 128 calories What????? As I was blogging this in disbelief, my coffee sit about a foot away from me. Ewww, I wanted it so bad but just couldn't after seeing those numbers. That's almost my limit for carbs for one day AND no protein. My suggestion is that when you're getting ready to put something into your mouth, write those numbers down. It will make you really think about whether not you really want to consume it. Just my 2 cents!

I am now at almost 3 months out and for a long time, I felt as though I was a slow loser....sometimes I still do. I'm now on my 3rd stall. But I'm already past my 3 month goal which was to lose 35% of my excess weight. That would have been 52.5 lbs. I'm now down 55 lbs. and still have about 2 weeks to go before I hit 3 months. Try not to get discouraged...I know that's hard because I get frustrated and discourage myself, even knowing all that I know at this point about stalls and such. At my last nutritional class, my dietitian gave me a whole new perspective on things. If you want to read about it, here it is: http://sliceofhealthyplease.blogspot.com/2011/08/excess-weight-and-goals-and-am-i-really.html I hope this helps to encourage you! I was ready to throw my scale out the window and sometimes I still think that the dang thing is broken but eventually it starts going down and then I love my scale!

My first stall started at the end of week 2. It lasted for almost 4 weeks but then I dropped 15 lbs. in a week and a half. Then another stall....and the story goes on and on....lol...I'm now almost 3 months out and am in my 3rd wicked stall. Ugh! But since pre op, I've lost 55 lbs. So, hang in there...it will come off!

I was taking Vitamins and other supplements before surgery but I wish I had started taking them like a sleeved person would before surgery....2 calcuim citrate chews first thing in the morning....a couple of hours later, my chewable Multivitamin and my chewable Vitamin C....then around 4 p.m., another 2 Calcium citrate chews......then right before bed, another chewable multivitamin and my acid reducer. When I had surgery, I was so out of energy and between taking all the pain medication and nausea medication, it's hard to remember what to take and when. Also, I would have started sipping my Water every couple of minutes...that was so hard to get used to after surgery. And struggled to stay hydrated. And definitely don't over buy the Protein powder. Buy what you need for pre op and maybe just a little bit extra for right after surgery. My taste buds changed and even now at almost 3 months out, I almost gag when I have to drink one.....it even makes me sick to smell it. Before surgery, I thought it tasted pretty good and looked forward to it.

I just posted a picture of my surgery on my blog if you want to take a look at it. Yes, it's gross looking! But it may help you to understand it better. There's lots of videos out there, too, that actually show the surgery. http://sliceofhealthyplease.blogspot.com/2011/09/pictures-of-my-stomach.html

Oh, forgot to put my height! I'm 5'4".

It will break and you will lose again. Hang in there! I'll be 3 months post op in about 2 weeks and I am now going through my 3rd stall. Ugh! I want to scream! I've tried everything to break them and nothing helps. So I will wait this one out, too...as long as the weight keeps coming off, I'm happy!

Okay all, I just posted pictures of my sleeve surgery on my blog if anyone is interested. It's not pretty! I'm so glad I don't look like that on the outside! http://sliceofhealthyplease.blogspot.com/2011/09/pictures-of-my-stomach.html