MegInNOLA

Nice to see you!! You look wonderful! Thanks for posting!

Wow, you look amazing! What a cool story--thanks for sharing the experience with us!

Yep, I used to eat eggs almost every day before surgery. Postop, it took almost a year for me to be able to tolerate them in any form. Now I can eat almost a whole scrambled egg, but I don't eat them often--maybe once a month?--because they still don't sit comfortably. I did eat a deviled egg half at around 8 months that was the most delicious thing at the time, and that was tolerable, but I think that was a fluke, as all other egg attempts have been less successful (some rather dramatically UNsuccessful!).

I COMPLETELY get you! I had the same feelings, too. I still do on rare occasions. It is maddening to feel like you've spent so much money and invested so much energy and had your stomach REMOVED from your body and now all you want is to feel "normal" and be able to do the things that you used to do. And there isn't a normal any more, and you can't do them. I think a lot of us go through this at some point--and it doesn't help that you are actually right around the time of the infamous 3-week stall (just do a forum search and you'll see what I'm talking about). Your body is flipping OUT right about now, getting ready to ditch a BUNCH of weight, but all that fat burning is also releasing all kinds of hormones, which, on top of the frustration of having to relearn how to eat, makes for some craziness. It's temporary, I promise. Just hang in there. What got me past the anger was the realization that yeah, if I was feeling so frustrated at not being able to eat a normal portion, I NEEDED my sleeve to control things for me. I NEEDED that permanent fix. It wasn't something I was ever going to be able to control on my own. I was really mad at myself for having to go through with a surgical fix for my weight issue. Once I realized it was a "done deal," though, I realized I had no other choice but to learn how to manage it, move past the feelings of frustration and anger, and get on with making my "new normal." If you really liked the "old normal," you wouldn't have had the surgery, right? I made a list and contributed to a post or two on this forum regarding reasons I had the sleeve, aka things I was looking forward to. I can truthfully say that I have had all of them--all of them--come true!!! Maybe posting your own list of things you're looking forward to would help you re-focus off the current problems and onto the reasons you did the surgery? Meanwhile, hugs and hang in there. You're at one of the most difficult points in the process--that stupid stall makes people think they went through all the pain and expense for nothing, when it's actually just your body getting used to everything.

Hey FYE, sorry we won't meet up, but glad to hear that you had a rocking good time! It's hard not to have a great time at JazzFest, that's for sure. Coops, sounds like you're getting what I not-so-affectionately call the end-of-semester CRUD. So sorry you're not feeling well--take good care of yourself. It's so hard to deal with all the stresses at the end of term and stick to a good eating/drinking/resting/exercising schedule! Hang in there. Around here, this weekend is a goof-off one for me (thank goodness!!!)--no work projects, no final exams, no concerts, no rehearsals. Just me and my iPad and Words with Friends and some coffee. My husband has to work, so I have a lot of down time, FINALLY, and I plan to make the most of it. Might even get my butt off this couch and go for a walk or two!!! :-)

Bread, for sure. I haven't had bread in over a year. Don't honestly miss it at this point, though--I miss the "fact" of it more than the taste of it, and the convenience factor of just grabbing a sandwich. It's all totally worth it, though, and you may not have the same issue with it that I do. :-) My "last meal" was, in fact, a cheeseburger and fries from Wendy's--I am not proud of this, but that's what it was. I think it had bacon on it, too. And we wonder why I needed the sleeve, LOL. It was good at the time.

Way to go Sharon! I can take off my size 12 jeans without undoing them, but I have yet to wear anything labeled "10." I think I might just faint on the floor when that happens. :-) Congratulations to you!!!

Congratulations, Tina! We have a lot in common, including the throwing up--so sorry to hear about that, but hopefully it will be resolved FOREVER soon. :-) What a terrific year!! Enjoy your success.

I thought it was an exercise program. :-)

MamaBear, I sort of did it the other way around. I have a history of childhood sexual abuse and wore my fat suit as a protective shield against all sorts of scary things--intimacy being the primary one. When I married my husband (I was 40 at the time), I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to have a successful marriage--I couldn't trust and couldn't fully relax and be myself in the relationship. It was a total leap of blind faith--I realized he was a wonderful man and I WANTED to be married to him. I realized I truly wanted a real and lasting relationship, and that wasn't going to happen as long as I held part of myself back (for whatever reason!). I sought out a therapist and did some work and immediately felt more in control, more able to be open, less fearful, more trusting. At that point is where I realized that not only did I not NEED my fat suit, I didn't WANT it, and I honestly couldn't wait to get rid of it. There were some difficult times during the therapy process, but they certainly didn't make me stop functioning--I have a high-profile, full-time, busy job (several of 'em, in fact), and I couldn't ever stop what I was doing. I have to tell you, rather than make me less able to cope, it seemed I was better able to cope and more confident that I could handle things. Getting rid of the feelings of fear, guilt, shame, hopelessness, and ANGER was a big deal--and I needed that trained counselor to guide me through that process. I wish you the best--I agree that some things, the physical aspects of weight loss, are pretty basic--eat right, get a minimum of exercise, and let your sleeve help you. But it's those triggers behind the self-defeating behaviors that DO have to be addressed for long-term success, I think. If they don't sabotage weight loss, they may pop up in other ways--other addictions, other self-harming behaviors--until they are understood and you have some coping mechanisms to deal with them. Believe me, I completely understand your reluctance to even think about stuff like that--it is emotionally draining at times, but also--and unexpectedly--energizing and freeing. It feels GOOD to be rid of it! I never realized how heavy and dark and tiring it was to carry all that (like my fat suit!!! but in a psychic/emotional way) unresolved stuff around. I didn't want to become "the drama queen," as in, "Oh, poor me, and look at all my issues," but it wasn't like that at all. It was extremely helpful, life-changing, in fact, and I feel 100% better now. I feel like myself, but a better version of myself all around. HUGS to you. You can do it. It's hard, but you can do it. You've done much harder things already, and you already know how it feels to experience success with difficult issues. PM me if you need an understanding listening ear.

Congratulations and welcome to the Century Club! Keep up the great work--you are really rocking it!!

I can fit around 3 round slices of tomato, a couple TB of feta cheese, and a few bites of lettuce with vinaigrette, and that just about does it. I'm guesstimating that's around 2/3 c. My sleeve still has a fairly small capacity, though. It took a long time for my sleeve to tolerate them--probably 6 months or so after surgery. There are veggies that I still don't tolerate well--raw carrot, raw onion, cooked or raw cauliflower, raw broccoli--but I eat fruit and veggies/salad routinely.

FYE, are you talking about going to Jazz Fest? It's a BLAST! If you're coming to town on Friday, definitely let me know--maybe we can just meet up and say hi. I'll be at work (teaching uptown New Orleans) on Friday afternoon and can easily get away for a quick cuppa. :-) At any rate, enjoy the Fest and the great music! Here's a link to the food offerings at Jazz Fest so you can try to plan some vegetarian protein--looks like there are a FEW offerings but it's definitely challenging for veggies! http://www.nojazzfest.com/food/food-list-2012.php

My husband also says that men aren't usually going to comment, and if they do, they won't be specific--it will be something like, "You look nice." I will also say that it took about 65 pounds before anyone said word one to me about it--I was kind of getting upset about nobody noticing!! You are about to enter the point at which every 10 pounds will make a big visual impact. :-) Enjoy your success!!

Hey Coops: My goal was kind of high, remember--it was hard to know what to choose as a goal, since my dietician had me at 212 (!), and my surgeon didn't give me a goal, and I'm 6'2", so I'm off the typical charts for "ideal weight" types of things--although happily the BMI calculator does go there! So 190 was my selection, not a "scientifically chosen" goal--it's probably way too high for a REAL goal. So my ticker is probably really deceptive. At any rate, I'm at 185, just dropped a size to a definite size 12 in pants--YAY--although I haven't lost any additional weight, go figure. I've stopped trying to predict how my body is going to behave and am just living. I think I'm continuing to lose weight because my sleeve still doesn't let me eat all that much at one time, still doesn't let me eat a lot of fatty foods or sweets (although some are okay), and is basically doing what I hoped it would. We'll see how it goes. I'm definitely not to the "too thin" stage, not by a LONG SHOT, at size 12, and I'm feeling comfortable. If it keeps dropping a bit, great; if not, great. :-)

Woot! Don't buy too many 18/20's. I made that mistake. You'll be out of that size in no time flat. GOOD FOR YOU!!!

WOOT! Congratulations Southern Sleever! That's awesome--I know you are so pleased to be at goal!! Having a buddy really does help with accountability and motivation, doesn't it? I'm hunting one around here now... Anyhoo, congrats!!!

They were on my plan, as long as they were smushed totally. They told me anything I could get through a straw was puree--you might want to thin them with a bit of hot broth and make them a bit smushier, but yes.

My sleeve prefers vegetarian with occasional shellfish--but lacto is great. Pre surgery, I ate meat all the time. I am not a vegetarian now, either, but I definitely have only limited meat intake now, since Sleevie doesn't like it, nor fish, nor eggs. So I've focused mostly on dairy, Beans, and nuts as Protein sources, with occasional shrimp or crawfish and VERY occasional hamburger meat (we're talking a tablespoon max, and I don't remember when I had that last). You may find that in order to get your protein, you'll have to stay on the shakes a bit longer until you can tolerate a bit more volume. Make sure that every time you eat, you include a vegetable or dairy or egg protein (if you're eating dairy and/or eggs). Eat the protein food first. Make your food choices count. You may find it beneficial to eat 5 or 6 small mini-meals a day; that's where I have ended up, and it works perfectly with both my small sleeve and the types of food it will accept. You can certainly eat healthfully without meat--I do it all the time--and if you choose to limit the other forms of animal food products, you can do that, too, but you definitely need to be mindful of getting the right choices in at every meal. You asked about rice; my sleeve tolerates it, but I try to limit my intake, since it does seem to swell up in there and get a bit uncomfortable. You may want to do some online research on amino acids and get a list of all food sources so you can choose wisely. Best wishes to you!!

Oh, you are lucky!! I have a picky, small sleeve that still to this day does not tolerate certain foods. :-) Congrats on having a well-behaved one and on your loss so far! Keep rocking it!

I think it comes on gradually. I don't seem to have a mental switch that flipped, but my mind has been gradually shifting over. I'm a year and 11 days out from surgery and changed from a tight 26/28 to a comfortable 12/14. My entire closet has been emptied and refilled (ah, yes, shopping is seriously fun now). My eating habits are light years different from before. Even though I sometimes don't recognize myself in the mirror, I definitely feel like "me" now--it's like the previous fat woman wasn't really "me." I think of her occasionally, but not often--there's not a lot about her that I miss, honestly, and this life is so much better. I feel better, I look better, my relationships are better, work is better, sex is better, shopping is better, sleeping is better--heck--EVERYTHING is better, and I thought I had it pretty good before! My husband is also a sleever, and we have some pictures up in our kitchen that we are never taking down--it's us at our highest weights, and we look old and tired (and fat, of course). I look at those pictures every day, and I really don't remember being that woman. I don't remember my husband being that man, even though when he was sleeved, it was hard for me to reconcile his new slimmer self with the man I knew. It's so weird, like we were always there, but we had to get rid of the fat suits in order to fully be ourselves. I don't know how long it's going to take, but I'm already most of the way there, I think. And I love being normal-sized--people actually say I'm "slender" and "elegant" now, which is because I'm tall, of course, but also because I'M NOT FAT ANY MORE. Miracle of miracles!!!

Congratulations, Sharon!!! What an inspiring post to read! Best wishes in your new job!!!

Coops--yeah, I think it's time for a "scale retirement" ceremony, in which you take the scale into a parking structure and DROP IT several stories down, allowing it to end its time on earth in a sleever-satisfying, demolishing crash. Just chuck it!! And video it, too. Come to think of it, I think I'm going to do that with mine!!! Seriously, you should find a set of scales that is pretty reliable and isn't in your house that you can pop in and weigh on every so often. My doctor's office, for instance, is just around the corner from me, and I can stop in there and hop on the scale every so often without anyone else being around--the scales are just off the public waiting room in a hallway, but nobody stops you from going back there or anything. I think I'm going to do that occasionally, even though I prefer weighing first thing in the morning sans clothing (in order to be at my lowest weight, of course--stupid tricks we pull on ourselves!). I think the doc's scale is probably a whole lot more reliable than mine, plus if I get rid of mine or get my husband to hide it, maybe I'll stop hopping on there and getting freaked out by my perfectly acceptable and typical 1- to 2-pound bounce up and down on a daily basis--it's not like it's a surprise any more--heavens, I'm over a year out, but it still flips me the heck out. Let's send our scales bungee-jumping without the bungee!!!

Agree with the soup suggestion. Also yogurt, side of cottage cheese (you won't eat it all!), spinach/cheese dip (not the most healthy food, but it's something that has nutrition and is mushy and frequently available in restaurants!--just use a spoon and nibble slowly), side scoop of tuna or chicken or egg salad, etc. Don't be afraid to ask for a small portion of something that's on the menu--if they have breakfast all day, that's great, too--scrambled eggs! Soup was my go-to restaurant meal for a long time.

Hey Lewanda: I'm also looking forward to following your success! You can definitely lose 200. I've lost 152 in the last year (highest 337, surgery 306, currently 185 and still dropping, albeit slowly!). I'm 6'2", so I'm most likely almost at a stopping point, but this is a great tool. If you're in 110%, you'll definitely achieve better health and longer life!!