hollirrose

I will really soon! What can I say, I'm a picture ***** now. . I was waiting for "goal"...about 6 lbs away. It is crazy how quickly sizes go now but not weight. This post was a little over a month ago and I was excited about wearing a 10. I'm now in a 6!... I still look like a linebacker on top and wear a large and if vanity sized a med top. Thanks so much for the encourgement.

Oh the shame... No I am not an exerciser. I am over all more active now... But no gym time for me on a regular basis. I kept my calories pretty low so that way I didnt really need to, if that makes sense. "They" say exersize is for health and diet is for weight loss. I tend to agree. I am now about 6 lbs from goal so I hope to go to the gym and actually be healthy and not just skinny.

You can totally do it. It requires commitment and compliance to your plan..but it is totally doable! Good luck with your journey! Keep everyone posted.

If you are on mfp.com, add me. My user name is hollirrose. I eat mostly dense protiein for a meal with some kind of seasoning or sauce. At 10 months out a meal is 2-2.5 oz of meat. I eat chicken with hot wing sauce, ground turkey with taco seasoning (handful of lettuice, sour cream, salsa-taco salad), baked fish, tuna, turkey pepperroni, breadless meatloaf with lean ground beef, breadless meatballs with sauce, chicken sausauge. I cook about two to three times a week and make up my meals in advance. I try not to have the same type of meat for each of my three meals and two snacks a day. Extra skin- Oh yeah, I have it. The thing is that I look normal in clothes. If I wear a spanx, I look skinny. I wont be sporting anything sleeveless this summer, short shorts are out, and my swimsuit will have a skirt this summer. I have now lost 187 lbs and there is diff some damage done.

I am on mfp.com. If you are, add me. Hollirrose is my username. My food diary is open and would love to have more friends.

Lisa, Thanks so much for your reply. You and your husband are quite a success as well! How cool, a husband and wife team. I bet your grocery bill is next to nothing! It would be great to meet everyone.. and for me, especially those out a little further.

I wish I could come but it is my son's birthday party tomorrow. I am a Mexico sleever so it would be fantastic to meet up with other vsg-ers in my neck of the woods. I had surgery 10 months ago and have lost 186 lbs and am just a about 6 lbs to goal. It would be great to talk to people who understand and who have been through the same thing. How far out is everyone? Anyone in maintenance? Cant wait for the next meet up! Holli

Wow.. You are doing great!! I think it took me about 4 months to lose 100 lbs. You are totally going to pass me up. . Be sure and post some pics and let everyone know how you are doing it. You will be at goal in no time!

Im a travel agent. I only book business travel now but previously was a lesiure agent. I booked the youngerish, middle class people on Carnival. I have friends who enjoy NCL but I love Carnival and have cruised with them several times.

I went on a cruise about 4 months post op and have one booked for when I will be 13 months post op. When eating out here I eat off other peoples plates, from the kids menu, or ala carte only. I am cheap. Is it the islands, the weather, the endless activities I am looking forward to on the next cruise? Heck NO it isn't... It is ordering my own meal!

Congrats on your date. I am very excited for YOU! My bmi was 51 or so pre op. I had a 2 week - 2-3 shakes a day and small piece or meat and salad a day. Then for 2 weeks it was liquid only. Im not going to lie..it was tough. I white knuckled my entire was through it. The first few days I was hungry.. it got better but boy it was aweful. I cried over pizza. Let me just say I am not one to ever cry and I was slobbery, nose runing, red eyes, tears getting my shirt soaked over pizza. I look back now and just chuckle about it. I know it really wasnt the pizza and there is a ton of stress in the final weeks. Just know that you are strong and that you can do this. My insurance would not cover my surgery. I had given up and then out of desperation pulled every penny of of the bank and went to mexico to have this done. This is something that I have always wanted and needed. Imagine wanting something so badly and finally getting it...and once you have it...it is even better than you thought it would be. You will do great!! Good luck!

Im sorry you are struggling. I totally understand where you are coming from. It can be kind of rough in the begining. You have just had a big change...probally arent eating real food yet...and probally just want to gag thinking about drinking another prot shake. It gets easier. After about 2 months this "vsg life" became normal. A new normal and for the most part a much better normal. There are still times if we go to a resturant I get a bit sad that I cant/dont participate in the gorging or at family/work functions it always centers around food. It is less and less often that I am sad about it but those feelings are still there sometimes. I would not trade eating for what I have now. I bought size 5 small underwear tonight. Nothing sexy..the hanes her way stuff they sell in packages at target. THIS former fatty wears flippin' small undies! These are my victories now! You will have several victories along they way. You have totally got this!

I will see if I have a chart or something to post tomorrow. I track and log everything on mfp.com. There should be something there with numbers. Keep in mind I was a heavy weight.. I didnt check your stats before I replied.. so the less you have to lose the less weight you lose in short periods. I did have a few stalls or pauses along the way. The first was around three weeks and it lasted a week or two. The next was around 6 months and again was a week or so long. I am a stair step loser. I drop weight 2 days in a row...gain a little...then nothing for a couple of days.. and the process starts all over again. It never seems fast enough! Why do you think you are stalling? Are you always getting your fluids in? What about protein? How many carbs a day? If your are doing those 3 things you will lose weight! I swear it is that simple. We all have these feelings that we will be the one that fails. You wont! Just hang on and you will continue losing.

Oh the back boobs! I remember those! I think I spent most of my day doing this pull tug move on my bra strap to try and hide them pre op. Somehow they would always spill out and over the super thick back strap. My bra was a tight 46 before and now I wear a 34. My back boobs are pretty much gone. I do have lose skin that is kinda of shar-pei dog skin looking. It is not tight but it doesnt hang over or look weird in my clothes and I never have to readjust my strap. My thighs at the top look funny....droopy and wrinkley. At different points they have looked all right ...not normal but ok. Then I lose some weight and they look pretty bad again. Right now they dont look great but hope they do the magic shrink again. If plastics were covered I would get the works done. Since it is not going to be..i am just happy to be deflated. All that skin was filled at one point. You and I are lucky.. we are married and have husbands who will love us fat or skinny..skin or no skin. Just wait for your own transformation! It will be amazing.

My before and nows are in my profile. I started at around 340 and I am 5'7 which is why I was a big loser. Keep starting weight in mind when you see everyone post how much the are losing. 9 more stinkin' lbs to normal and about 20 to my goal.

My stomach skin isnt terrible. I really thought it would be much worse. In clothes I look normal and if I wear a spanx type thingy.. I almost look skinny. When I get to goal maybe I will be brave enough to take some skin pics. I was always curious about what people really looked like after a big loss.

Mine went up as well. Still not meds level but higher post op than pre op. I will go back in for labs soon and will see if it has worked itself out. I was 3 months out and now 9 months. I am heading into maintenance soon and want to wait to have the labs redone.

Everyone is different.... But personally I believe "starvation mode" is a myth. I have excess fat to be eaten and will not starve or stop losing weight if I am below a certain calorie intake. The starvation myth got stated with one experiment on normal weight people. Some nuts and doctors do believe it exists. Im not saying I am right or they are wrong but there are two sides. I think you should look into it and find out what you believe. :-)

Ok.. ignoring all the other stuff. McDonalds website allows you to customize your meal. I have the grilled chicken snack wraps without the tortilla programed into mfp.com. The stats on the snack wraps are pretty good. I also eat the mushroom swiss snack wrap (no tortilla). Most fast food resturant and chain resturants have this feature on their website. It has been a total life saver!

Im 9 months out and my calories are right around 600. I dont know if I would still lose if I upped my calories. What I have been doing is still working for me so I dont want to switch things up. Im 10 lbs from a normal bmi and have lost 174 lbs so far. If you want to add me on mfp my username is hollirrose. I dont know the right answer for you... But using mfp is a huge step in the right direction.

9 months out and I have lost 174 lbs with another 10lbs to get to a normal BMI. I eat 600 calories/less than 20 carbs/more than 64 oz water/more than 60 protein. I have done this since the begining. At 0-3 months out I had two shakes a day and ate about 1 to 1.5 oz of meat as a meal. From 6 month - 9 months I dropped to one shake a day and eat 2 oz of meat for a meal and I added a snack in there. My calories/carbs/protein have basically stayed the same. I walk 1-5 miles a week for exersise. Thats it.

Great question! I think being "normal" has be the best friggin' part of the weight loss. Looking and feeling normal ...yep thats it!

Good luck!! See you on the other side. You will do great!!

Ha! You made my day! No cosmetics. My saggy, flabby, skin tucks nicley into my pants and shirts. I swore that I wouldn't be sad and not enjoy the weight loss because of the extra skin. It is an easier promise to make than to keep.

That is great! 60lbs is amazing. I am 5'7.