mnbsleeve

Good job Lissa!!!! What a difference in just three months!!!!! Yes, pictures show us so much!!!! I've learned that. Way better than the scale! Keep up the good work!!!!!

LOVE IT!!! A big congratulations to you Cludgie!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS PASQUINI!!!!! You're a rock star... no really, you look like a rock star! Well done!!!!!!!

Thanks for this thread Meg! I am coming up on my 6 month check up so I will pay attention. I checked out my vitamines and indeed no B1! Like you, I don't consume flour or other grains - mostly because I low carb and stay away from gluten. I will definitely follow up with this. Thanks again for your post!

AWESOME!!!!!

What a great post Coops, and a great NSV! This is the best one can hope for: to use this tool not just to loose the weight but to truly change destructive habits in the process. I really loved reading that is is really possible. Congratulations!!!! You're an inspiration!!!!!

Big thumbs up to y ou Geri! What a great feelings! Congrats!

I'm almost at 6 months and still feeling quite a bit of restriction. Like ToBeThin and Feed Your Eye above, much for me depends on the food I eat. Dense Protein = not much more than 1/4 C ; yogurt I can eat about 1/2 C ... but not much more. The other thing I am experiencing is that the less food I eat, the less I want to eat. So for example, if I get busy and skip lunch accidentally or just grab a piece of cheese, dinner is even less appealing and I can bearely get 1/4 C in, even if I try "slider foods" like a carb. I'd say play close attention to the slider foods you mentioned. Perhaps there are particular foods that are more of slider for you specifically. Consider writing things down very accurately for at least a while, to get a good sense of what and how much is actually going down. I'm like you. 1200 calories are too high for me to loose significantly. That's why I love the sleeve. Hopefully the grab and go foods people have suggested will keep the calories low for you and help.

I was instructed to wait one month (4 weeks) after surgery before taking biotin. I was actually given biotin, CoQ10 and Flaxseed oil - as a "hair" boosting trio. I still lost a lot of hair but at almost 6 months out, I've noticed the loss has really slowed down. I also have about 1/4 inch regroth all over! My hair stylist noticed first!!! In the meantime, I use some really cute hair extensions! LOL Seriously, they look great! :--) Loosing my hair is still soooooo worth it!!!!!

My NUT recommended Chewable Cal-Snack by Country Life. They have a vanilla / orange flavor. They are a bit chalky too but not as much. They contain both carbonate and citrate as well as magnesium and vitamine D - which is what I believe helps aborption. Sorting through all this has been super challenging for me. It really helps to find out what others are taking and how they handle certain things. I started with the liquid vitamines because I could not tolerate the chewables (made me very nauseous) but after a few months, my taste changed and I could not stand the liquid but could tolerate the chewables!!! Geez! We go through so many changes in the healing process I guess. I think we need to go with the flow and just be prepared to re-discover ourselves! ... in soooo many ways! :-)

Yolanda, sounds like you look and feel wonderful! Can't ask for more than that!!! Congratulations on this great accomplishment!!!!! Rock those skinny jeans!!!!!!

Irene! What can I say? You are amazing!!! Your wonderful attitude has gotten you through AND has inspired so many of us. You warm my heart. When I see your name on a post, I immediately smile! You deserve all this wonderful success!!!!! I love that you are living your dream!!!! You go girl!!!!!! Show off that beautiful YOU - insides and outsides!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! XO XO XO

Awesome!!! Congratulations you sexy mamma!

Wow!!! Wonderful!!!!! Congratulations!!!!! You inspire us all!!!! Enjoy the new you!

Carrie, I don't have much to add but I wanted to lend my support and say hang tight. Time will fly and before you know it, you will be on your way. Others have already given you wonderful suggestions. I just wanted to wish you luck with this journey and your health! You sound so determined and ready to make a change. I look forward to reading about your progress! Be well!

Welcome Waterlover! These boards are great with lots of wonderful people ready to help out and support. Best of luck on this wonderful journey. I will say that for me, and I may be speaking for a lot of us, every step has been worth it. I could not be happier with this surgery. I've had a great experience and I am feeling so happy. I wish you the very best. Please post your thougths and questions. We are all happy to chime in and help out where we can.

My surgeon explained that in the beginning we will rely on shakes more because we cannot eat enough quantity/volume to get all the needed protein. As time goes on, the ratio changes and you may use a shake here and there to supplement. Most don't need them at all after a while and just eat the right foods. I'm still using shakes to help me get my proteins in, mostly when I am working out hard, and not necesarily daily. But definitely, the goal is to focus on nutrition and hydration. If we make good choices, the sleeve will naturally control portions.

Hang in there guys! It will happen for you. It's a very stressful time, with all the anticipation and all the tests, appointments etc. Hoping you get good news soon!!! Fingers crossed for you!!!!!

Congratulations!!!! A great success! I too felt so at ease this Thanksgiving. Food was simply not an issue. I just made healthy choices and with the sleeve, I had a built in portion control. I have to say, I felt great both emotionally and physically. I had a bunch of energy to do the clean up too! LOL As always, it is difficult watching others fill their plates and then go back for more. But I mostly felt happy to feel in control!

And what a success you are indeed!!!! You look fantastic!!!! You have accomplished so much! Love your blog! Love your attitude and outlook on things. Congratulattions!!!!!

That is the best feeling!!! CONGRATULATIONS ranoodle!!!!! You are going to have one happy reunion with hubby!!!

How AWESOME!!!! Congratulations Rev Me Up!!!!! Will you post pics?!

Love these photos!!! and I have to say YOU LOOK GREAT!!!!!!! Posts like yours keep me motivated and remind me I can get there too. Congratulations! You have really made this tool work for you. BTW, in my excitement I recently got rid of a bunch of clothes including all my large pants! Now I wish I had kept one. I do have a huge top however. It's the one I was wearing in "the photo" that made me see that I had to do something significant and get this weight issue under control. I will be sure to save it and do some before and after with it when I get to goal. Like sleeve above said, my top is more of tent than a top :-) so I will have to be creative as to how I do the before and after! Thanks again for the great post!

Pasquini, how awesome!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

I doubt that you gained 5 pounds. We all have slips, even with the sleeve. It doesn't make our choices for us. But don't beat yourself up. As Paul said above, new day, new start. Just regroup and move on. You will do great. For me, dweling on the negative feelings tends to drag me down and keeps me from seeing the bright side of things - like what I did right or keeping perspective (things weren't that bad). So accept you are only human and back to rocking that sleeve! Congrats on the progress you made so far!!!