VJSlim

Wow! Amazing transformation! Its very evident that you have done a LOT of hardwork to reach where you are... Congrats on your success! I was dreading that my weight loss would stop near the one year mark, but my surgeon told me I can still lose weight easily for 3 to 5 more months. I was hoping to, if not reach goal, atleast get close to goal by 18th month. Your post has given me great confidence! Losing 5+ lbs at around 18th month is AMAZING! Thank you very much for posting this!

Hi all, Few days back I had posted that my ticker doesnt show the BMI. I realized later that it was because of my height. I'm exactly 5ft tall (153cm), so I entered my height as 5ft 0inches in the ticker setting. So the other day, I just tried changing it to 4ft 11inches, and the ticker showed my BMI correctly. I guess the ticker doesnt like a height with '0' inches Just wanted to post this here so that the tech group would know of the defect.. Thanks!

Dont worry - you just hit the classic 3rd week stall. Search the forum for that term and you'll see you are not alone and that the weight loss will resume with a vengence again!

My surgeon had me on pain-meds for first two days, so surgery pain was 0 for me. There was a mild soreness and a sort of *tingling* in my biggest incision - a bit unpleasant when you have nothing else to divert your mind with LOL! The worst for me was the gas pain that hit immly when they took me off pain meds on 2nd day. I had the WORST bout of shoulder/arm pain for almost 20 mins! But it passed quickly after that point I havent had any pain after that. I thank God everyday for the overall painless and speedy recovery!

Amazing! 130 lbs in 6 months before surgery is just.. WOW! Congrats on your weight loss and all the best for reaching your goal weight soon!

Hi, After I added the VST ticker to my signature, I notice that mine doesn't show the BMI while most others' show BMI. I'm wondering if I chose a wrong option/setting. Can someone help me figure this out? Thanks!

Great, Thank you for the response! EDIT: I tried doing it - it still doesn't show my BMI. I even tried deleting my old ticker and created one anew. It didnt work for the new one too. EDIT # 2: My actual height is exactly 5 ft, but I changed the ticker and set my height to 5ft 1inch - now the ticker shows the BMI. Go figure! I think the ticker doesn't like a height that reads 0 inches!!

I haven't made to goal yet - still trying to lose the last 25+ lbs. But we make sleeve friendly food for the whole family now (except when my sis insists on deep fried food LOL). My mom cooks amazing chicken curry and fish curry which the family eats with Indian bread (naan/roti) or with white rice. I skip the carb and just eat the chicken curry. The curry has less oil, no coconut etc. Very healthy. When I eat out, I usually eat Chinese - and I request that they use less oil and cook the meat in sauce instead. That is working out very well for me. I tried some Chinese recipes at home (like dragon chicken, chilli chicken etc) with my own variation in recipes and it tastes amazing and it is a big hit with the family This is my favorite/usual food: Breakfast - one egg omelet or one small dosa (Indian pancake made with rice and lentil flour), one cup coffee. Mid afternoon Snacks - one small yogurt (100g) with cucumber lunch - chicken or fish usually, mostly cooked in a curry. But grilled works fine too. Some Veggies or some kind of Beans or mushrooms. (Mushrooms = yummy!) Sometimes I add some kind of rice dish if I think my carb intake is especially low. Evening - One cup of coffee/tea with a small saltine cracker. dinner - I become very lazy at dinner. sometimes I just have some fruits. Or drink half a Protein shake. If nothing feels appetizing, I just munch on some cucumber and drink a cup of low fat milk. Thats it!

Hi all, Hope you guys are doing good. Need your advice on something... I went out for dinner on Thursday night with some friends from the office. Had chinese food (dragon chicken). Guess it didn't sit well. I've been feeling nauseous for the last two days. I dont think it is stomach flu or anything -- and I'm staying hydrated, no fever or stomach cramps. I'm not throwing up anything, but I'm sliming pretty bad whenever I eat food. So I decided to go on a liquid diet this weekend. I want to clear out my stomach and colon by this weekend, coz I'm working on Monday I looked for some home remedies online and everyone suggested ginger tea. I've been sipping on that for the whole day - it is working ok. I munched on 3 pieces of saltine crackers (wholegrain) mid-day. Other than that, I havent had any solid food. I just wanted to ask you guys if you know of any home remedies for nausea. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Thank you all for the replies! I tried lemon juice + honey. That and the ginger tea helped a lot. Feel better now, but still staying on a liquid diet today too. Will start having small meals tomorrow. Thanks again!

I live in India and I'm not sure if we get that brand. But I did try Domstal (baby dosage) - an anti-nausea tablet that contains domperidone. Didnt do much. I'm still feeling a bit sick when I eat (or in this case, drink!). The only thing that is going down well is the ginger tea.

OMG! That is awesome Holly! I've looked up to you (and the other veterans) for almost a year now, and you guys keep blowing my mind away with these amazing achievements that are testaments to your hard work and dedication! You are a great inspiration! I wish you all success in the next part of your journey to lose the next 100 pounds.

I was around 273 lbs pre-op, and I currently weigh 158 lbs. I'm 30 yo. I have LOTS of loose skin for which I'm getting the plastics done in Feb - arm lift, thigh lift, breast lift and tummy tuck. From my research I gathered that very few are lucky in the loose skin department. Losing almost half your weight will surely leave its mark on the body. But as you are young, I hope your skin tightens up fast. Good luck!

I wondered the same thing too. But I've seen ppl getting arm lift and thigh lift at the same time - so I think they manage somehow. But my main problem is the tummy tuck. I'm so afraid that I would damage the recovery if I try to push too harder when I go potty. I will ask my doc if that is possible and what I should do to prevent it. Maybe I need to go back to a liquid diet for a week or so - idk! Kyllfalcon: Thank you so much for your reply! I loved browsing through Kellawanda's videos. She has really done a great service to all of us showing her progress periodically. I'm going to subscribe to her channel and try to ask her some questions about the tummy tuck. My mom and sis will be with me. Mom will be with me the whole time, so I have help to move around. My real concern is for the pain. I dont know what to expect and it is driving me crazy!

Hi all, I'm 10 months post and have lost around 110 lbs so far -- which translates into LOADS of excess skin. I met with the surgeon last week and he said I can have all the 'tucks' and 'lifts' that I need in February. I'm super thrilled. I have so many questions I dont know where to start LOL! I know many of the veterans would have had plastic surgery done once they reached their goals. I would love to hear all of your opinions about these: 1. My surgeon said I was eligible for arm lift, thigh lift, breast lift and tummy tuck. I'm planning to have it all done at the same time. I dont think I'll be able to do it in stages because a. the cost for separate procedures is a major issue for me b. I'm not sure if I'll have the confidence to go through one more procedure at a later time c. the surgeon promised me that he had performed this combination of surgeries many times and it is not a problem d. I will not get an extended time off from my work to get the procedure done in stages. Is it too risky to have all the procedures done at one sitting? Has anyone undergone multiple tucks/lifts at the same time? 2. How long did you stay out of work after the surgery? 3. How was the pain? I know everyone will react differently to the surgery but as VST was my first ever surgery and it was a keyhole surgery, I dont have anything to relate the pain to. 4. If you had had the plastic surgery(ies) done more than 6 months ago, how are the scars healing? What can I expect at around 6 months, say? I am not too concerned about the scars right now because I will pick scars over excess weight any day. But I'm just curious about what to expect. 5. How long did you have to wear compression garments/support clothing? 6. If you had tummy tuck: were you advised to take laxatives/stool softener at the beginning after surgery? 7. I'm sorry if this question is inappropriate here: what is a safe waiting period after tummy tuck to have sex. I know this is a lot of questions. Sorry!

Congrats! Thats a great weight loss! How far along are you?

I could never hit my protein requirements when I was in liquid phase. I started catching up on the protein intake only during month 2 when I started solids.

You look gorgeous! Congrats on your success!

You've hit the classic third week stall. Look up the forum for 'week 3 stall' it is very common. Dont feel discouraged. You'll do fine

Awesome! Keep up the good work! I'm so happy for you! I can totally relate to the dancing. I used to dance in many of my highschool cultural events and interschool competitions. But as I gained a lot of weight during my college years, I stopped dancing completely. As I have lost more than 100lbs now, I feel lighter and am able to dance again. It feels AMAZING! :)

Hi Pammie - welcome to the forums! This is a great place for motivation and great resource for research! My suggestion to you would be this: 1) do lots of research and dont hesitate to ask questions. Note down any question that occurs to you and try using the search option on the forum. If you dont find what you need, then its a good time to post it as a new topic! 2) Utilize the pre-op diet to the maximum. I know it is hard, but if you learn how to eat wisely before the surgery, it will make the journey that much smoother. 3) DONT stock on Protein shakes. Your taste may change after surgery. So just have a few sample packs that you can try when you are cleared for Protein Shakes after the surgery. 4) Dont avoid workouts. I was (and am still, to a degree) paranoid about hitting the gym every day. But I feel that, had I been workingout regularly, I would have had a higher level of success. Thats on top of my head. Feel free to ask any questions thru PM

So sorry to hear about the complications! Hope you are doing well now. Thanks for your compliments! I do think I have had good success with the weight loss. But as my height is just 5 ft, I dont think I'll be comfortable with my body until I reach a slightly more proportional weight. My weight loss so far has given me the confidence that, though it may take longer than I anticipated (dreamt!), I will get there eventually. As far as the family gatherings go - yeah, I completely agree. Sometimes it is very hard when they keep offering all these lovely food and you need to find creative ways to politely refuse. I let my family (and even my extended family, second and third cousins) know that I have had the surgery. If I say 'no, thanks' to some food, they dont try to offer me the same thing twice. So I have had a relatively smooth journey throughtout this year. Does any of your in-laws know that you've had this surgery? If you feel it is okay to share, may be you can drop some hints in your telephone conversations before you come to India. Even if you are not ready to share the details of the surgery, you can just say that you are trying a new weight loss procedure and are having a lot of success and you dont want to jeopardize it? I didnt start visiting friends till after the 4th month - and even then, we just went to restaurants. My friends were really accomodative and chose restaurants that offered a variety of tandoori items and shallow/pan fried food. Or the next best thing is Chinese - I could get food that was cooked in sauces rather than deep fried food. I totally avoided Italian and Mexican for a long time because I love the cheesy goodness of those cuisine and it would be too tempting - I cant say no LOL. My doc was very strict with the diet chart. The first 2 weeks, I was on Clear liquids - this included rice kanji (the broth formed while cooking rice in a deep bottomed vessel instead of pressure cooker), tender coconut Water (yummy!), clear fruit juices. The next two weeks was full liquids - Soups with bits of mashed veggies, mashed cucumber/pumpkin raita, sometimes a little bit of 'nungu' - I dont know the exact English name for this - but it is the fruit from the palm tree. So tasty! I started solids on the 5th week, and from then on, chicken and fish have been my staple food. Now I eat almost anything except potatoes and wheat based items like rotis, parathas etc. I never liked those rotis and parathas, but I miss potatoes like crazy!

I was a bit low on energy during the first couple of months - but not anymore. And that was because my blood sugar levels were a bit low after surgery. Have you checked with your doc about why you feel very low on energy? I hope everything works out well for you. As far as losing more: I think we need to experiment a bit with multiple variations in the level of workout + Calorie intake (esp. carbs vs Protein ratio). Whenever I shake things up a bit, I tend to lose more. Give it a try.

On the 11th of Nov, I'll be 10 months post op officially. My weight loss has slowed down quite a bit. This month, I had to work my behind off to lose 6lbs. So I'm just curious to know how much you guys lost (monthly) when you neared your surgiversary. I know everyone loses differently and there are various factors like your starting weight, current BMI etc that influences the weight loss. But I'm just trying to get a general idea of what seems to be the average for 10 months p.o.