dawnr

Congratulations you are doing great and I think you have a very healthy attitude about your entire process. You are right about people not understanding the surgery and what it is all about...When you try to explain it they usually don't get it..They find it easier to believe what they had heard and not the true facts. Some are enlightened but others are just plain stuck in the land of unknown facts. It sounds like you are having a lot of fun finding the new you and that you have a very supportive hubby. That is wonderful. Yes you will have body adjustments and you will have some things that are going to be a bit "jiggly" but that is a far cry better than what it was like before you made this very healthy decision to change your life. I had my sleeve in 2011 and have been extremely happy with it. I agree with you that numbers and sizes are not the goal. Good health is the best gift you can get from this. Keep going with this...You are awesome and I hope you will always remember that you are worth every bit of the work that goes with this. It is a journey and the journey only gets better the farther you go with it. I hope to keep hearing good things, Best of all things to you Dawn

It will be six years since my sleeve surgery in August. I have done very well and am not complaining but I have gained 15 pounds over the last couple years and I am trying to find a way to get myself mentally back on track. I know what I need to do but for some reason I always seem to defeat my own efforts. I am finding my mindset back to some of my old ways of thinking. Has anyone else had this issue and if so what advice do you have that helped you....Thanks

yes please let me know what the doc has to say. Mine just keeps telling me that he didn't expect me to lose a lot more than I did and once I leveled out that was normal, which was okay but now that I have gained a little more I know it is mostly because I let myself get lazy. Now I have to work at it and my head is more the problem than anything else...Just getting myself in focus.

You look fantastic You have come a long way in the past year and remember this is a journey that continues and you will find new great things as you travel on it.

Just remember where you were before and the work it took to get where you are now. If you didn't have the surgery would you have maintained for 3 years? I know how you feel I want to lose more but after nearly 6 years of maintaining I am so glad to be where I am now. All revisions don't work perfectly so if you are only doing it to be a size or two smaller I would think very long and hard about it. Good Luck

this is wonderful congradulations try ice chips for the dry throat or sugarless butterscotch candy to suck on ...It helped me

Hi gang I am 4' 10" and being short is a real challenge with weight. I had my sleeve surgery 8/8/2011 I initially lost 50 pounds then leveled off at 46 pound loss. I have gained about 15 pounds over the last couple years, it is completely my own fault by eating things I know not to eat and falling into some old bad habits. Not watching my portions and eating all the junk foods again. I am trying to find a way to get my head back in the game because it is all a matter of my own bad habits and not the surgery. The surgery was a great success and I am completely happy with it. Any words of wisdom to get myself into the proper mode of thinking would be appreciated.

that will pass and you will be so happy to have done this. It has been six years for me and I have never had any regrets

I was sleeved on August 9th 2011 and find I am eating a lot more than I expected I could. I am wondering if this is typical. I can't eat large amounts of food at one time but I can eat a half can of tuna and one piece of Whole Wheat toast at a sitting...This seems like a lot more than I thought I would be able to consume. My weight loss is going slow but the doctor said he wants it to go slow as I don't have to lose a huge amount of weight and the slower it goes the better for me. Does anyone else find this situation to be the same with eating?

You have the first.tool you need to get this under control. you have recognized you are eating out of emotion. Now you need to ask yourself am I really hungry or is it something else. If you aren't really hungry pick up a book or find something to get you mind busy. Give yourself at least 10 minutes and drink a glass of.water. Also find a support buddy that you can text or call to help you get past the food crisis. It will really.help.

Well winter is showing it's ugly face around here and with it comes the blahs. I hate to be cold, I ache from head to foot durring the winter from arthritis and many other health issues I have. Since moving someplace warm is not an option, I end up staying in the house a lot. With staying home comes the tendency to get bored and one thing leads to another and I end up snacking more than I should. Food has always been my comfort and this is no exception. I have done wonderful with my sleeve and I am afraid I could easily make some wrong choices due to my winter blahs. I will get thru this, as it is a matter of being strong and making the better choices. I have come too far to let this make me backslide. I was wondering how many others have to deal with Winter Blahs and how you handle it. What tricks do you use to get thru the difficult times when you want to comfort yourself with food.

congradulations on your dates to all of you. Remember this is going to be a birthday to Celebrate every year...The day you started your new life. It is awsome...My new birthday is only one week after my real birthday so it is kind of like having a birthday and Christmas together...LOL I am so excited for everyone who gets to start this journey. It is going to be the best thing you have ever done. Remember there is still a lot of work to do and some things may not go as fast as you would like but it is worth every bit of effort.

I agree keeping busy helps that is why I am on the computer so much...LOL It keeps both my mind and my hands occupied.

I agree it would be a eating disorder if you made a habit of it. and I also agree you will get "some" slight amount of sugars from the food in the mouth even if you don't swallow it, but if a person does it only rarely, I don't think you are going to do any real harm. Just don't make a habit of it. If you make a habit of it then you may have a problem. Like I said I've done it over the years on all kinds of diets but have never used it excessively. If I do it once every couple weeks that is a lot. I only do it when I have a really hard time with a craving. This is only my personal view and I am not advicating for anyone else to do it. I actually told my pcp doctor about it and he said as long as I didn't do it often he didn't see any real harm it in. Each person's situation is different so I would suggest you talk to your doctor or nut if you think it is a problem and get an opinion from the professional..

I think we all tend to do that same thing with just eating or snacking for now real reason. I have to watch myself with that also. I have decided to go back to basics and eating 6 times a day. aprox eating every 2 hours but only eating very very small amounts and the snacks being just protein (a piece of string cheese or some peanut butter etc...simple small proteins). Concentrating on high protein and fiber and low carbs. That way I will stay full and not feel like I have to graze. It worked perfectly for me and I just need to be more concious of how I eat rather than eating blindly.

sounds like a very good dinner...You could choose to eat the pie but not the crust. I have done that and it is satisfying, as you mainly want the taste of the filling anyway. Even better ask you mom to make a smaller crustless pie for you with sugar substitute.

I have actually done this for a long time and see nothing wrong with it. I am not bolimic or anorexic. Sometimes need to feel the food in my mouth and get the taste to satisfiy the craving. I starting doing this years ago when I was on the many "diets" I had done over the years. I have keep this "tool" to help me with my journey and have not found it to be of any problem. It has helped me many times to control the desire to eat something I know I shouldn't.

I understand the holiday issue.. I am having Thanksgiving at my house that way I can control what I make for everyone and be sure to make things I am comfortable eating. I will keep busy with the preperations and tending to everyone else and that will keep me from being idle and reaching for the extras. My family and friends are very supportive and they will be aware of my need to have "special" foods. I take things with me to family and friends homes so I don't feel deprived or feel the need to indulge on unhealthy snacks etc.

Way to go Sleeve4me. I know this journey is difficult at times since I have been on it since August 9th 2011. But as they say anything worth having is worth working for. I am trying to lose those last few pounds also. Even though I have surpassed my sergeon's original goal, he agrees losing a few more pounds will be okay for me. I know the struggle that goes with these last pounds. You are inspiring to me and everyone else you share your story with. Keep up the great work.

I am 4' 10" so I think I am the shortest one on this forum...LOL I am one year and two months out from my surgery...I started at 179.5 lost 5 pounds prior to my surgery and now I am at 130. I am so glad I did this surgery I wish I had known about it and had it done years ago.

I celebrated my one year surgiversary on August 9th, I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. What a wonderful year it has been. When I started this process it seemed that 6 month class schedule that my insurance company required was the worst torture of time for me. Then the big day got here and I was on my way to becoming the new improved me. Now a year has gone by since that wonderful day and I am not only new and improved but the best me I have ever been. I am so happy with the results of my Sleeve. I have lost 47 pounds and am working on another 10 for my final goal. My doctor is so happy with my results and said I am actually 12 pounds below the original goal he had set for me, at this point. I know that my lose is smaller by comparision of some who had more to lose but being 4'10" tall and 180 lbs with major health issues this is a major accomplishment for me. I had tired all the diets out there and no success. I have gone from a size 18 to a size 8, and once in a while even a size 6 depending on the brand of clothing. I have become a major GoodWill Shopper. With losing so many sizes I refused to go to the stores and pay lots of money for things I wouldn't wear for long. Now that I have found so many wonderful clothes at GoodWill I plan to continue shopping there. It is amazing all the beautiful things I have found. I hope many of you are taking advantage of the same shopping "secret"... I have found a whole new fun way of eating and a whole new way of life since having my sleeve. I enjoy so many things now that I hadn't figured I could do. Even just being able to walk up a hill is so exciting. I have a new confidence in myself and I know I show it in the way I am presenting myself to the world now. Thank Heavens for my Sleeve and My wonderful Doctor, Dr.Michael Roller of Fort Collins Colorado; my family and friends and especially my fantastic husband who has been my rock thru this. Having all of the participants at Sleeve Talk has been very incouraging. Thanks for being there with me durring this past year.

First and foremost Congradulations on the great job you are doing. I agree it seems like your mom wasn't very nice in her comments but I have to ask what is her weight statis. If she is heavy she might also be jealous and not super supportive. Your co workers and friends are either jealous or just don't know how to complement you as they might think saying anything is going to be a back handed compliment. I understand how you feel some of my best friends that I really expected would be excited for me have been very reserved and somewhat cold about my weight loss. People are very odd in how they handle things when it comes to someone else's success. You keep working on this for yourself and when others aren't giving you those pats on the back remember to come here and we will all be there to give you the pats and all the hugs and support you can handle. Way to go.....Great job.....you look wonderful....wow you are really fantastic.