CowgirlJane

Amazon has that exactly right. Don't stress about it, just follow the docs instructions. In the early days, you have some cut nerves that haven't healed so you don't have proper sensations yet. also, the hunger hormone is still being pumped out. Are you on a acid reducer? You should be in the early weeks/months and acid feels like hunger! Finally, liquids aren't as filling I moved to the low/no hunger zone sometime around -6-8 weeks when I went to food completely and things were all healed up. I never lost weight that well with the band and still had hunger, but look at my results with the sleeve! It works, your hunger WILL be reduced. Hang in there!

It isn't true - I am 11 months out and I can drink a tall glass just fine! Yesterday I sweated about 10 buckets of sweat at my spinning class and I was drinking heavily everytime those cycle nazis let me have a short "break"

Well, my surgery was 12/12/11 and so I think it is lucky day! Triple 12s can only be better!

What is your idea of success? Does it actually matter if you loose all your excess over a Xnumber of months versus Ynumber of months? I am trying to gently suggest that the all or nothing thinking (dammit if I can't be skinny NOW, why bother!?!!!!) might be an old thought pattern rearing it's ugly head? Even so, I understand your frustration. Do you work with a NUT? They can be very helpful at examing the details and coming up with good specific suggestions. You will get a lot of general replies on here, but without reviewing your actual food and activity log, it is speculation. A general recommendation is to shake things up when things aren't going well. An example might be replace the walking with more intense exercise. Or, try eating a few more carbs or calories (not alot, just a few). Just change something and that can shake up things and get the weight loss going again.

Well, I haven't quite seen it this way. so far my experience is that people are overjoyed for me. I am an active outdoorsy person who was trapped by the fat and really limited. I think many people "admired" that I tried to keep up even lugging an extra 150 or so extra pounds! It has been positive for me when people are wowed, floored by the changes! I did meet a lady a couple of weeks ago that I never could get her to remember me. She is sweet, and so am I - so i didn't mention that I almost didn't recognize her because she has gotten so dang wrinkly the last 6-8 years since I saw her last...lol. I guess it is more then weight changes.

There are two parts to this question - the first you already know which relates to impact on weight loss. Empty calories are not the best idea. The second part is - will it kill your stomach? I went to an anniversary party about 4 months post op and had maybe, maybe 2 oz of red wine if that much. It did not feel good on my tummy. At about 8 months post op, I went on a camping trip and had a mixed drink and it was no problem. Since then I have had the occasional mixed drink (maybe 1 or 2?) with no problem. Thanksgiving will include wine so I will see how it hits me tomorrow, as I intend to at least taste. I know everybody says you get drunk really fast - honestly I haven't noticed that. Then again, the quantities I have had are pretty modest so perhaps that is the reason?

I am open, lots of people know, but only if they have a reason to know. Friends and family who have been very supportive - they know. Even a few "new friends" who didn't know me at 300# know, again, just becasue we are friends and I am open about major life events. Now, when it comes to aquaintances and strangers - it depends. Frankly, most of the time people don't really care so why should I bother? It isn't worth the effort. If they are someone who might genuinely learn something from my experience, I do talk to them about it. I met a lady working at a consignment store that was waiting for her sleeve, so I had no problem talking to her about it, for example. So if someone asks me "how did you do it" - my evasive answer is "it wasn't easy!" or "low carbing, lots of exercise, small portions, big lifestyle changes" that sort of thing. If they persist and they meet my criteria of "worth bothering with" I tell them the whole story.

Yes, normal. I felt weak for the first 6-8 weeks in all honesty.

Vent away - it helps! Go for a walk, watch a funny movie, read some inspirational stories, watch utube videos of peoples before and after... all that stuff helps you remember why you need to do this. I have said it before, you will be able to eat normal food again, but the most liberating part is ... you also just won't care that much about it!

Amazing!!!! wow!!!

It is so hard. We all know that the best thing is to lose not gain preop. If had lost instead of gaining preop I would be at goal now. If I had lost instead of gaining I would have been at less surgical risk. If frogs had wings... Anyway, my advice is to first stop being so mean to yourself. I truly believe that the self loathing part of this cycle triggers more over eating. I had my band removed which triggered both a shocking return of overwhelming hunger and a suprising about of grief and sadness even though I wanted that sucker out! I say return of hunger, but really, it was like the old hunger times 100. I have always been a constantly hungry person, but when that band was gone, I felt completely out of control. I sought help. I did an all you can eat, but high Protein low carb plan managed by a doctor that has a lapband herself and really gets it. I actually lost a few pounds during Nov last year. The doc was so happy because of course they knew i was on the gain train and just stopping that was a victory. I didn't have food funerals in the sense that I was mourning the loss of specific foods. In fact, I was so over using food as a recreational device that I wish I could have just stopped eating. However, that drive to eat was very very strong and I am guessing that many of these food funerals are actually the stress reaction of a carb addict getting ready to head for rehab...lol. I mean honestly, does fast food crappy junky food even TASTE that good? I don't think so, and yet there was this drive to eat it.

Vent away... but I might suggest exercising away too as that will help retain muscle. I am strong and have good muscle at 11 months out. I need it for my active lifestyle.

You are in the middle of what I considered the roughest time with the sleeve. You are gonna be eating like a toddler for a long time, BUT pretty soon you won't care so much..hahaha! Actually, the secret to my success is I still strive to eat like a toddler even though I CAN eat more. It took a few months out for me to start feeling great, but it is so worth it!!

I do hope that sharing the photos and story pass on some inspiration. Look at the before picture... that person was sitting here just about a year ago seriously doubting if this would work. I too saw other people's success stories and it gave me a glimmer of hope as I took the leap of faith. It does work and it has and I hope I can share some of that hope on to others as others did for me. I am not sure I would have had the courage to proceed without so many examples of amazing transformations ahead of me. So, this dismorhpia thing is pretty real. i mean I can stand right next to someone that I know wears a bigger size then me (because she told me!) but I feel like i am bigger then them. One of the reasons I did a face shot this weekend is that my latest "obsession" is looking old. A few weeks ago I looked at myself in the mirror and about had a heart attack at how old I look. Taking a photo helps me... somehow I see a photo more rationally then I do looking in the mirror. Looking objectively, I have a very normal looking face for someone who is 48 - and it is just being unnecessarily mean to myself to think otherwise! When I weighed 300+ I didn't see myself as that fat, until I saw a photo. The photo I posted above an awful time for me, I the band removed, was gaining even more weight and was just consumed by hunger. Looking at that picture is both a little painful and it is motivational. The motivational part is realizing that in substance I have achieved my dream regardless of the actual number on the scale. I went from super size to pretty dang normal in less then a year. Something I have been trying for decades with limited success finally happened! When my son saw that before picture he was shocked, utterly shocked and he was the photographer! He forgot, my whole family seems to have forgotten just how bad I looked. It is very strange - I wonder if my brain and reality were ever both at the same place at the same time...hahaha I lost a crapload of hair - I mean fistfulls and fistfulls for months. It is growing back now but i like my hair better thinner! I think that once the regrowth get longer I am going to have it thinned. Is that a funny irony or what?

I don't know. My midsection is still thicker then I ;like as I am an apple shape. I am hoping that the last 25 pounds helps with that. The hanging skin on the tummy isn't nearly as bad as I thought. I THINK I might be able to get by with the simplier skin removal there. My inner thighs and batwings are the bad areas but i know that thigh surgery has poor results. I was reading about body coutouring and wondering if that really works. I see my shape and skin continue to change so i can see that it makes sense to wait for a bit more, but I am just getting my mind around the possibility....

I like Quest bars. They have high quality ingredients and a ton of flavors. I like the apple the best, but also like the vanilla crunch, strawberry cheesecake and oddly... the coconut ones even though I hate coconut! They are also very low NET carbs and I feel they don't slow down weight loss like other Protein bars can do for me.... My main complaint is they are expensive. What I do is wait for a 20% off coupon and order them online from Vitamin shoppe. Have to by 12 at a time that way, but it works for me since I know what flavors I like. The flavor I first heard of was the chocolate - supposed to be awesome warmed up but didn't do much for me....

You would be amazed at how easy it is to stop losing weight...lol I will be a year out Dec 12th, I have lost almost 125# and hope to lose another 5# by the end of the year. I am getting close to goal, and the weight loss is pretty slow - maybe 4-6# a month now. I notice that all I have to do is increase carbs a little and my weight loss stops. for me, getting too skinny is the least of my worries... and if it does happen, I do have alot of practice at gaining weight so reckon I can figure it out!

Us women are warned that losing weight releases all that estrogen and can make you feel very emotional. i am guessing that the same thing happens to men but don't really know! To some extent, I had to just tune alot of that out as "static" to my thought processes since I knew it wasn't real. On the clothing subject, it is really hard when you have so much to lose... I went through the same thing - basically always looking baggy no matter what! I buy clothes at discounter (my local ross) which helps it not cost a fortune. I also don't buy a lot of clothes because I had an occurance or two of never wearing a top before it was huge on me. In all honesty, i had probably lost 100# before I started feeling like clothing looked half way decent. The body is not only losing weight but redistributing. To some extent, I had to also sorta zone out on this - try to ignore the problem temporarily. Now, i am fussy, I only wear fitted clothes, shirts that tuck in, belts on my no stretch jeans, that sort of thing. I feel better when I feel like I look more put together, but it took me awhile to get there. I was hoping the guys would pipe in on this topic, but I guess I am replying because i have gone through everything you mention. Well, I didnt get hypocondriac, but the emotional roller coaster was a bit of a ride...

You just noticed? They did it last week... see my protest statement in my siggy...lol

I used to have one... it worked fine.

123 reasons I would do it again! I do think that Iggy makes excellent points - the risk really needs to be worth it for your personal situation.

I am old enough to be your mother (I am 48) and here is the perspective I would give... you have been with him since May? not even 6 months? That is nothing on the scale of your whole life, your health, your relationship with food. You don't need someone distracting you from your goals and he sounds like just that - a distraction. I don't think you were overly sensitive, I think you deep inside know that he isn't thinking of what is best for YOU. My reply would be different if you were married with kids - but I feel like this is the time to cut him loose. also, you are pushing 300# at a very young age. I was still under 200# in that age range and what I always tell people is that you get fatter, not thinner with age. You are so smart to do this now, at this stage of your life. Get the obesity under control before it causes you permanent damage (I have bad knee arthritis due to lugging around so much weight for decades). Do what you need to for yourself - right now. You have so much time later to find a life partner and live a full life with him. Now is the time to be a little selfish and get yourself on the track of the life YOU want to live and that will attract the partner that you want for THAT life.

I was forewarned, so knew this was going to be harder. I am grateful for that knowledge, I think it made it easier to endure the rough weeks. I had a very similiar recovery pattern as yours.... but I was pretty tired and feeling weird for the first 6-8 weeks. By 2-3 months out, I started returning to the human race...

I don't know anything about those surgeons, and I think it would be hard to choose long distance! It was so important to me to have a surgeon (and the practice) that "got it" beyond the surgery - I needed the long term support! Many say they offer it, but when I found the doc I went to, I knew this was what I was looking for. Suggest thinking about your most important criteria and what it is you are really looking for... then you will know it when you find it!

I did not have that happen, but what I do know is that you can experience water retention as you start up exercising. Don't worry about it, those aren't two pounds of fat, it is water.