former_vbg

WOW! How very cool, a bison farm!!! I live just down the road from a bison farm. Going to PM you because I've thought about going down there to buy some meat from them but wasn't sure what it would taste like- have heard different things.

I made my 4th of July goal last Wednesday and decided to give myself a little break. Thursday was my 1 year surgiversary and so just kind celebrating the new me! I'm going to continue on towards my final goal of 120#, so just 10# more to go. Then it will be maintenance here I come!!! Exciting but a little nervous at the same time.

Congratulations! 156# is outstanding! I know what you mean about buying more clothes and such. As part of my reward last Thursday for my surgiversary, I too went shopping and just tried on jeans for the heck of it. I just can't get over looking at myself in the mirror in skinny jeans. I just wish I could have that loose skin gone, but it's all good. Compression garments are my friend these days. LOL

In a year, your life WILL be different! Congratulations on starting your journey to a new you! I was like you when I found this site, I became addicted to reading everyone's posts. I wanted to read everything, good, bad, indifferent. I couldn't get enough until I had really made the decision which surgery I was going to have. Welcome to the board!

It took a lot of courage for you to come on here to talk about your experiences. I commend you for making the journey back to recovery for your health. It is scary to think about regain and I think some people who have this surgery has the misconception that the tool is going to do most of the work for them and consequently have problems. I'm not saying this was you. I hope that the Dr. and staff can help you come up with a plan to get back on track. Have you considered maybe the DS (Duodonel Switch) surgery? The sleeve is only the first step in that procedure. Maybe that is your better option. Just a thought to consider.

Oh Melissa, my heart goes out to you. I'm so sorry your husband has not been supportive and that you are essentially having to go through this alone. I am proud of you for having the strength to do this for you and know that you deserve better! Please know that we are here to support you however we can! You are on the path to a new you!!

Thanks again everyone! I have found this board so helpful throughout my entire journey. I used the posts from this board and others to help me begin my research the moment I decided WLS was what I wanted, but needed to educate myself on everything out there. I became obsessed with reading and researching, but ultimately I kept coming back to this site because by and large everyone on here is genuine and gives honest feedback. Some of the other boards, I never was sure if they were paid posters and there were more problems with posts disappearing if it referenced a Dr. that had issues. I plan to stick around well into maintenance simply because I need to be sure I am accountable and I think seeing other people post about their journey (the good/ the bad, etc) will help me remember what I had to go through to get here and hopefully be an incentive to stay on track.

Thanks so much everyone! I don't often post here looking for accolades, but this is a big milestone for me and I appreciate everyone's support! Thank you! It's been quite the ride!

Thank you for that wonderful compliment!!! I hope that the weight redistributes a bit in my face because when I smile, I don't like the lines on the side of my cheek bones, but its ok. I feel wonderful!

Thanks guys. It hasn't been easy and days when I just wanted to take a break from it all, but I set my "eye on the prize" because I was determined to make it. I am almost there!

Basically it is junk food. Stuff that has no protein or very little, high carbs/ sugars, etc. Things that "slide" through our new tummy and leave us with no feeling of fullness. It's best to stick to dense protein so we are eating healthy and staying full longer so we don't go looking for those sliders. Some examples of sliders might be chips, cookies, ice cream, cake, etc...

It's interesting, I am starting to read more of the maintenance related threads now that I'm so much closer to goal.... just 10# to go. I know I won't be one of those that struggles to stop losing weight. What is interesting though is that I find myself wondering about trying to go lower than 120# just to "see" if I can do it. I kind of don't want to because I have lost so much in the boobs area already. But, I see people talking about feeling guilty about eating foods that aren't really "bad" foods, but stuff they might not have eaten when in the weight loss mode. I get lots of compliments from all kinds of people even now and of course that feels good. With my compression shirt on to firm up the loose skin, I can wear form fitting sweaters and shirts and look pretty good. Just gonna have to figure out where I'm going to be happy once I reach 120#. It is a bit surreal though even getting to 130# as I haven't weighed this since junior high. Oh, and I'm 5'3 in case anyone is wondering with a medium sized frame. I have lots of loose skin on the upper arms/ thighs and tummy region. There is no money for that in the near future. I am ok for the most part as I wouldn't trade fat flabs for loose skin any day of the week.

I too am another "weigh in the buff each morning after I go to the bathroom" and then again before bed. Sometimes I will even weigh during the day just to see how different foods I eat affect my weight. I don't get upset when I know that I have been good in what I eat. But, like several others have said that when I stayed away from the scale was when I was in denial and gained the most weight. I didn't WANT to see the # because I knew it would be even higher than the last time. Now that I'm so close to maintenance, I plan to continue my weigh-in routine. At some point I might become more comfortable with weighing less, but for now this works for me and has for the past year. I also keep a calendar by my scale strictly for the purpose of marking my weight each morning. I like being able to look back to see how my weight loss journey has gone. I also plan to keep this down the road as a reminder of where I came from to get to goal.

Very interesting background Jill. Congratulations on your promotion and congratulations on crossing over to the losers bench! It sounds like you have a wonderful home of love with your family! I'm very happy for you!

Hi there, we are practically neighbors!! I live just 30 minutes south of Olathe. Welcome to the board- you are almost on the "losers bench"!! I love that you have an Australian Shepherd dog!! I lost my Border Collie mixed dog a couple months ago and think my next dog will be a Blue Healer/ Australian Shepherd mix or something like that. Those breeds are SOOO smart! Anyhow, if you need any local support- feel free to look me up!

Awesome job! Keep up the great work!!

Ditto what everyone else has said. You are beautiful and look just stunning!

Something else I would like to bring up. What everyone else has said is important, but several people pre-surgery go through what they call "food funerals". The idea being that in our head we have this perception "I will never be able to eat this food ever again.... so I'm going to indulge while I can...". I did this in a big and bad way and because I had no pre-op diet and no pre-surgery diet other than 12 hrs before surgery, I gained 20# before I had my surgery once I had my surgery date. Do I regret it? Yes and No.... Would it mean 20# less to lose once I had the surgery, yes. But, I feel like I got it out of my system enough that once I crossed the line over (having surgery), that I was ready to focus on the next chapter of my life. Now, that worked for me. The more healthier approach is to get your head straight before you go into surgery. But, bottomline I would bet that part of what you are going through is the food funeral stage. You are working with a therapist and I'm sure you will do just fine.

Well, please understand it IS INDEED impossible to gain 20, just not as fast as before surgery. We MUST remember this surgery is only a tool. If we revert back to our old ways of eating the junk, "aka slider foods", the weight will come back. I might suggest you read some posts in the Maintenance Thread pinned under General Sleeve Discussion. OregonDaisy can tell you that maintaining is not a walk in the park, it takes diligence. I don't want to be negative, I just want you to realize this surgery is a tool only. It's up to us how we use the tool.

What everyone has said is correct. In the scheme of things, not that going off plan is good- but think about what you might have eaten on a "bad day" pre-surgery? Might it have more likely included Cookies, chocolate, pizza, ice cream, etc? Focus on this being a new day. Remind yourself you are in the honeymoon phase and that you want to make the most out of this. You can do this!

I did a Zumba class for the first time last week too. And, I also felt like two left feet, but managed to hang in there. It sure does kick up the calorie burn for sure! I can't see how anyone would stay in a stall if they do Zumba classes. Unfortunately I can't go all the time due to home stuff, but I am going to go every chance I get.

We need to give him a little slack though here. To compare the difficulty of being on liquids before surgery and after surgery is almost night and day. Prior to surgery, we are relying soley on our own willpower and well, let's face it, if that's all it took- none of us would need surgery. Post surgery, our entire body has gone through shock and physically most people don't have that same sensation of hunger. I won't say everyone is like that, but I think that is most. Anyhow, just do the best you can on this and understand that if your surgeon is really strict on the pre-op diet that you risk having to reschedule your surgery. Probably not unless you really blow it, but it's something you want to look into.

One thing I would HIGHLY recommend you research is the issues with malabsorption with the GP. In short, after about 12 to 18 months, the body typically resets itself and while it might only actually absorb half the calories you are consuming for that first 12 to 18 months, steadily your body will adjust and absorb more calories until you are almost where you were prior to surgery. So, if you were used to eating say 1,500 to 2,000 calories after surgery, your body is likely going to only absorb half of that in the beginning. Eventually, your body will adjust and it will start seeing all or nearly all of those calories leading to weight gain because you won't realize what is happening with your body. This is most often what leads to re-gain for those that have the GP. Also, understand that you are signing up for frequent labwork for LIFE to be sure your body is getting the necessary Vitamins it needs to keep you from having other health issues. Just imagine if you had this surgery, started regaining weight and left with the side effects of having to take a laundry list of vitamins just to stay healthy. No thank you! Just try to research the best you can. Ultimately you have to feel comfortable with your own choice. Just sharing some of the thoughts that went into how I made my decision for the sleeve. I have absolutely no regrets except that I didn't do it sooner!

Fortunately, I didn't have to do the 2week pre-op diet, but from what I can gather, much of it depends on your surgeon. If you are having to do the liquid diet, the surgeon likely told you it is to help shrink your liver to help make your surgery easier. They say that if you shrink your liver, there is less chance of the surgeon nicking your liver during surgery (aka lessen complication issues). I know there have been plenty of people who cheated some and still were able to have their surgery. I would just find out how strict your surgeon is because I have also heard some surgeons (albeit few), that threatened to cancel their surgery if they didn't do the pre-op diet. Sorry I wasn't more help. Maybe others have other input.

Well, I just recently started reading this thread. I know it's open to everyone whether on maintenance or not, but kind of felt like it would be a milestone for me to put my first post on here. I'm not officially in maintenance just yet- have 12# to go, but I'm so close I can taste it. I haven't weighed even this amount since i was like 12 or 13 yrs old. It feels absolutely amazing!! I'm pushing really hard to get to my final goal. I'm a little nervous about reaching official maintenance because I know I won't be one of those that has to worry about losing too much. I also know that I will have to watch what I eat once I reach maintenance that it won't be all roses. Nonetheless I'm ready to embrace it with all its glory! My one year anniversary is this Thursday. I had hoped to be at goal by now, but I'm really close so all is good!