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Tiffy, you are just the poster girl for VSG! Thanks for being such an inspiration to the rest of us!

That's great, Donna! Years ago I lost a bunch of weight by doing Richard Simmons videos when I felt like I was too fat to move my body in public! Let's hear it for the DVD!

I didn't have one either. In fact, I didn't have any leak tests other than the one they did during the surgery itself. And I flew through the whole surgery and recovery with flying colors. Go figure.

I had my surgery on March 17 and lost a good amount of weight in the first month. But in June and July things slowed down to a crawl. In June I only lost 1.4 pounds, even though I was keeping my calories under 900 per day. I was so depressed and just at my wits' end!! In July I decided to step up my exercise a little, and I also re-focused on getting all my Protein in. I doubled my weekly tap dance classes to twice a week, I added in a nice power walk a time or two a week, and two weeks ago I bit the bullet and signed up for personal training at the gym. Lo and behold, in July I lost 7.4 pounds and am almost halfway to my goal sophomore-in-high-school weight! I am fitting all the smallest clothes in my closet and am feeling great! Plus it feels great to be back in the weight-lifting groove. And here's something funny: In July my calories were about 1,000 per day average, and I still lost a ton more weight than I did in June. Maybe it was the exercise, maybe it was because I was super careful to get in at least 60 grams of protein, maybe I needed more calories to lose, maybe my body just needed some time to get out of the dreaded 150's. Whatever it is, I'm really happy to be back in the groove!

Wow, wow, wow!! You are losing super fast!! I am 4.5 months out and just hoping to hit the halfway point this week. Keep up the fantastic work!!

Great observations, Donna! Have you read "The End of Overeating" by David Kessler? It's a whole book about this exact same thing!

Well, I'm pleased to report that after losing only ONE POINT FOUR pounds in June, I have lost SEVEN POINT EIGHT pounds in July! If anything, my calories in July were higher than in June, so it's all a mystery to me. I did increase my exercise in the last couple of weeks, which I'm sure helped. I'm just happy to be losing again. So hang in there all you slow losers... it'll happen!

I didn't tell anybody at work except my immediate staff (2 people). I took vacation time instead of sick leave from work (1-1/2 weeks). And because I'm a lightweight I've lost the weight slowly enough that nobody has really noticed. A couple of people have noticed me eating less and I just said I was dieting and that was the end of it.

1) How long have you been sleeved? 4-1/2 months 2) Who was your surgeon? Dr. Ara Keshishian in California 3) What were your experiences with your surgeon? Loved him, loved the hospital. Nothing but good to say about him. 4) Would you recommend your surgeon? Absolutely. See above. 5) How much weight have you lost since your sleeve date? 28.2 pounds, which is just about halfway to my pretty ambitious goal. I'm a super-lightweight who started at 175 (32 BMI) and my goal is 115 (21 BMI). I have less than 10 pounds to go to get to a normal BMI of 25. 6) What type of sleeve do you have? I don't know what you mean -- I have a regular old VSG. 7) Would you recommend the type of sleeve you have? Yep. 8) Do you find you still have the necessary level of energy to sustain a good workout? Yes. In fact, two days ago I did an hour with my trainer at the gym, rested for an hour, and then did an hour-long dance class with no problem at all. 9) Do you find it difficult to keep the weight off once you have lost it? The scale bounces up and down a bit but the trend is definitely downward. 10) Do you have trouble eating, such as getting ?stuck?? No, not at all. 11) What is the one things about getting the surgery that you regret? That it wasn't available 20 years ago! 12) Would you do this surgery again, or would you have made another choice? I would do it again in a red-hot second!

Yes, tell the truth about your meds and stress that they are working nicely, TYVM. One question: If you are seeing a therapist already, can your therapist provide the eval for surgery? That's what I was able to do. After all, your treating therapist knows you a lot better than some stranger off the street!!

Yep, that's it! I have one for breakfast every morning to get a jump start on my protein for the day!

I have a Costco Premier shake (30 grams) for breakfast every morning and that gets me halfway to my 60 gram goal without breaking a sweat. I do have to drink it very slowly, though, because if I chug it I get an upset stomach. I drink it at my desk at work and it goes down easy over the course of about an hour. If I start my day with that, most days I end up over 70 grams if I eat lean protein for lunch and dinner.

I have been in the same boat. I'm 51 plus I only have 60 pounds to lose, so it's just going to be slower for me. I went to my surgeon for my 4-month check up this week, and I was absolutely convinced he was going to scowl and ask me what I was doing wrong that the weight wasn't coming off faster. But guess what? He is delighted at my progress! He thinks I'm doing great and, with a BMI of 27, I am, and I quote, "almost finished." (He says his goal is to get his patients into normal BMI range, which is 25 or below, and anything below that is just vanity! LOL) Well. Knock me over with a feather. Made me feel a lot better!

Mine was $12,500 in Glendale, California. PM me if you want more details.

They don't have them on the Costco site, but you can order them from other places online including Amazon.com. Just google "Premier Protein shakes" and you should find them!

I definitely find that the more carbs I eat, the hungrier I am. Bread, sweets, crunchy snacky things like chips -- all bad. If I stay off them for a day or two, it's much much easier to keep my protein up and my calories and appetite down.

I think I will make you all feel a lot better when I tell you I have lost 25 pounds in 4 months! I'm a real lightweight, but I still thought I'd lose a lot faster than I have been. Since the first few weeks I've been losing steadily at just under a pound a week, which I find really disappointing. On the bright side, though, I haven't been able to exercise much because of my schedule, and I haven't been hungry at all (although I have grappled with "head hunger" from time to time). I find that I lose better if I concentrate on getting all my Protein in, even if that means my calories are a little higher than they might be otherwise. Bottom line: It's not magic, and we didn't put the weight on overnight and it's silly to expect to lose it overnight. I've been working really hard on having an attitude of gratitude that the scale is moving consistently, if slowly, in the right direction. And I have a very high level of confidence that every pound lost is gone for good, which I certainly never had on any diet before surgery!

I love hot dogs! I can't eat a whole one, but I love to share one with DH!

Yesterday I ate kind of a lot: Breakfast: costco Premium Protein shake (I have a Protein Shake for breakfast every morning. 30 grams of protein in 160 calories is a great head start on my protein for the day.) Lunch: ordered half a tuna melt sandwich at a restaurant and was able to eat most of it, but was very full. Snack: two very small fresh peaches off the tree in my yard Dinner: one slider (2 oz ground beef on a mini bun, 1/4 oz cheese, a bit of caramelized onion), 2 oz french fries Snack: small fudgesicle Calories for the day: Between 850 and 900.

I drink a protein shake for breakfast. The premade shakes from Costco have 30 grams of protein and only 160 calories, and that gives me a great jump start on my protein for the day.

I had my surgery 3.5 months ago at 51. Why now? Partly because I was and am sick. and. tired. of letting my weight issues control every waking moment. Partly because I went back to school and stopped making a second job out of dieting and exercise, and promptly put on 20 pounds in 3 months -- so I could see that unless I did something drastic I was going to have to live my live all about diet and exercise, or resign myself to getting fatter and fatter. And partly because I discovered the VSG was available and grabbed it like a drowning person grabs a life preserver. It's never too late! Welcome aboard!

You two look great! Congratulations!!

I'm in the same boat. Things are slow, slow, slow for me, too. Until this morning the scale had been stuck for almost a month!! This morning it's finally down another half pound. But I have definitely been getting smaller even while the scale has been stuck, so I'll take it! Hang in there!!

I'm losing super slow and seem to be stalled more than I'm losing. I just keep on keeping on and telling myself it's impossible for the weight not to come off eventually when I'm at a 1,000 daily calorie deficit! Hang in there! We'll all get there eventually!

I don't think anybody really has any idea what they'd actually do unless and until they are actually faced with the situation. So I think it's kind of meaningless to talk about what you'd do if you were a lightweight. You're not, so why even speculate about it?