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I guess I sort of do what Butterbean does. I workout hard for 20 mins and my body seems to like that more than the long cardio sessions that didn't ever get the scale moving. My body seems to want to hold on to Water and body fat when I do lots of cardio. It's like my body wants to hold onto bodyfat because it will need the energy to fuel my next long run. I'm one of those people who could probably train for a marathon and gain weight, some marathon people do gain weight while training. Sorry for rambling but I'm noticing more positive feedback from my body when I shortened my cardio sessions. I do 20 mins of intense cardio 5-7 days a week, if I'm feeling tired I walk for 20 mins. Sometimes I will jog at a constant pace for 20 mins and then other days I will just walk the whole time or do a combination of both. If long cardio sessions are working for you then definitely keep up the great work

This is another reason why I don't keep track of calories "burned" during exercise. IMO it's all a guesstimate and I don't want to feel like a slave to the number of calories burned. It definitely makes sense that you will burn less calories the more weight you lose and some people will try to workout harder to compensate. I guess in the end it depends on what you want. I turn up my intensity and not time. I can't stand the thought of doing more than 20 mins of cardio and my body seems to be responding to the less is more approach.

LOL I'm sure you will be fine

I prefer a banana or yogurt but since my workouts are only 20 mins I just drink a large glass of water

I love them! I have several pairs and they allow my skin to breathe. I hate workout pants that feel thick and show sweat spots in the crotch area. They aren't super tight but I don't like my workout pants to feel stiff so it works for me. I feel so slim when I put them on and they come up above the belly button and that's exactly what I need after having 3 kids. I can't wear low rise anything lol. They are fitted but not stiff and if you can do a split these will definitely allow you lol. Oh and I have cottage cheese legs and they look great on me.

A keratin treatment is good but it's so expensive and while it may last for 6 months, the new growth wont be straight and you will probably need a retouch way sooner than the 6 month mark. I've been relaxing my own hair for the past 9yrs and my hair is still thick and grows super long. IMO if you like to wear your hair straight 70+% of the time, then it's best to relax it, especially if you are getting it wet all the time. Pressing your hair straight takes a lot of heat. My mom used to press my hair when I was younger and it took hours and then we would go swimming the next day and my hair would just revert back to being tightly curled, it wasn't worth the hassle at all. Also the good thing about relaxers is that once you relax your hair, you only have to relax the new growth every 2-3 months or every 6 weeks if you want. My hair is healthy and most people think it's fake for some reason. I'm not trying to talk you into getting a relaxer because I know a lot of people who are going natural and love it but for those women who like to wear their hair straight and exercise or sweat a lot, it makes more sense to me to have a relaxer so that your hair will remain straight with little effort. Good Luck with whatever you decide Also there are some people who "texlax" their hair and this basically means that they put the relaxer in and leave it on for less time for example 10 mins, instead of 20 mins.

Me and my husband had been married for almost 9 yrs when I was sleeved and he's only said something negative about my weight once and this was almost 2 1/2 yrs ago. He said that I "let myself go". He was in the dog house big time after that comment and he knew that was the worse thing he could of ever said to me. It cut me to the core and it still hurts talking about it to this day but he hasn't mentioned anything about my weight since then. Also the fact that I was 3 or 4 months pregnant at the time with our 3rd child didn't help the situation. He knew he screwed up big time when he said it and I still sometimes give him a hard time about it. He's been very supportive about me having surgery and has been supportive overall but he could still improve certain things like not baking Cookies all the time lol. If my husband were emotionally and verbally abusive I would leave but I do realize that's easier said than done, especially when kids are in the equation. Just know that you deserve better. ETA: We are quickly approaching our 10 yrs wedding anniversary and have been together since high school. After surgery I wasn't able to use food, so there were a lot of things that rose to the surface and we had to discuss them. I was an emotional wreck the first two months after surgery, it was hard on both of us but we've solved the problems and have moved forward. I couldn't imagine being with anyone else and he is truly my soul mate.

I'm black and can definitely understand where you are coming from. I haven't had my hair pressed in years and I've been relaxing my hair for the past 10 yrs. My hair is almost bra strap length and would grow longer if I would stop cutting it off lol. I haven't went swimming in years, even though I know how to swim. I don't like the way the chlorine makes my hair feel and constantly having to wash it doesn't feel good either because my hair is thick and long. My husband mentioned a swimmers cap to me also but I told him that it doesn't keep your hair from getting wet and it mostly just keeps your hair from getting tangled. I run everyday and my hair gets so oily but I mostly keep my hair in a ponytail unless I'm going some where special. My hair doesn't sweat out as much as it would if I were natural, it just mostly gets oily straight :/ ETA: I went to diving school in 2002 and having that nasty new jersey Water in my hair all the time, I had to wash it everyday. I mostly just wore it in a low bun ponytail and I hated it! I like my hair straight and getting it wet all the time wasn't working. I didn't even bother straightening it since it was going to get wet the next day. I only go to the salon when I need my highlights retouched but my stylist is horrible when it comes to straightening my hair so I style it and relax the new growth every 2-3 months. Sorry for rambling but you know how us black women get about our hair lol we can go on for hours

lol I just read the link that you provided and come to find out I'm training like the lean endurance athletes. I get bored easily and refuse to increase the time I spend on the treadmill, so what I do is I run for 20 mins and plan to increase speed and not time. I have zero desire to run a 10K or do a half marathon ever. I just get bored when doing the same thing and since I'm limited to the treadmill I can't stand more than 20 mins, so I push myself everyday for those 20 mins and then get off lol. Maybe if I'm lucky I will be nice and lean but we will see

Looking good! Keep up the great work

My NUT told me to stop counting calories, so I did lol. I also don't keep track of the calories burned while exercising. I mostly just listen to my hunger signals and go from there. Exercise suppresses my appetite and I am less hungry on days when I work out. I run every single day and this keeps me from having overwhelming cravings. On days when I don't work out, I feel so hungry. My advice is to just listen to your body. If you feel hungry then eat a little more.

Since the kids are out of school for summer and I don't want to pay $4 per hour per kid ($36 per day/4 times a week) in daycare, I've been using my home gym in my garage. I have a treadmill and weights. I like to keep my workout routine short and sweet. I run for 20 mins every morning, 7 days a week. Every other day I lift weights but it's not the super heavy weights. Lifting heavy seems to stall my weight loss and I figured once I get to goal I can worry about building muscle. My morning run has my heart rate up to 160 bpm. I mentally can't handle more than 20 mins on the treadmill because I become extremely bored and it feels like a chore. I do not plan to lengthen the time but I will eventually add on more speed to the 20 mins of cardio. Once the kids are back in school, I will start spin class again but gotta save money this summer.

I've been working out off and on for years and my arms have never been my problem area, now my thighs on the other hand have always been jiggly even when I was a fit teenager. I will definitely need a breast lift and tummy tuck. Hopefully all these years of working out will pay off once I lose all this weight and I will have minimal amounts of loose skin.

I've been looking into getting the switch done. I've been losing very slow but I told myself that I would give myself until 18 months post op and then further evaluate if having a 2nd surgery is necessary. The VSG was my first surgery ever! For some people this is their 3rd plus wls attempt. I do feel as if I'm dealing with metabolic issues and that malabsorption will address them. My surgeon would easily convert my VSG to RNY but my main thing is keeping my pyloric valve. I still have about 50 pounds till the high end of my weight goal but my ultimate goal would require me to lose about 80 more pounds. I do understand why people don't post openly about why they want to revise from vsg to a ds or rny. The responses tend to border the line of self gloating about how well the vsg is working for them and how awesome the vsg is. The vsg is great surgery but it doesn't work for everyone and I'm coming to realize that with my very slow weight loss and my own struggles, I may never make it to goal at this rate of weight loss. I haven't given up but I'm also being realistic that this surgery may not work for me in the long run. ETA: Here's the link to obesityhelp DS board http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/ds/ You will find several vsg to ds people and they are very supportive and understand your struggles. Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.

I wish I would of seen my NUT sooner! I didn't see my NUT until I was about 6 months post op. She didn't scold me and she told me I was doing great. Plus she helped me refocus. I don't know why I was scared but I'm happy that I faced my fears to get back on track

I weighed in at 206.8 this morning. I'm hoping to be in onderland in another week or two or possibly sooner It's been a slow process but hopefully after I get my period the scale will start to move again. I haven't had any plateaus but the weight has been coming off slow and steady since I was sleeved in Oct.

My weight struggles didn't start until I got on the depo shot when I was about 15yo. I never had weight problems before then and I quickly packed on 40+ pounds ending up around 188 pounds. That's when my weight struggle started and the constant yo yo dieting. I'm 28 now so my weight struggles have been about half my life span. On the bright side if I hadn't got on depo I may of ended up pregnant. I wish I would of got on the pill that time but my mom insisted on us getting depo and thats when I turned into a hippo

Yup I get thrush from antibiotics. To solve the problem I will either rinse my mouth out with vinegar and this makes it easier to peel up the white stuff or you can take a slower approach and eat some yogurt. Yogurt has Probiotics and it works really well on vaginal yeast infections also. I'm a natural health nut lol and these are things that I used. The yogurt will take about 2-3 days to work and make sure you leave it on your tongue for a couple of seconds before swallowing. You can also buy probiotic pills. Any type of regular yogurt will work but don't use the greek yogurt. ETA: if you have a vaginal yeast infection also you can try inserting a tampon that is covered in plain yogurt and smearing yogurt on the outside itchy parts. This works! I've tried it and it works way better than what the doc gives you and plus IMO it's more convenient than running to the doc. My friend thought I was crazy for doing it until she developed a yeast infection and she raved about how well it worked. I also drink red raspberry leaf tea during my period and it gets rid of menstrual cramps. Works way better than advil and all you need to do is drink one cup and there will be no cramps for the rest of your period.

Yup. I see the NUT on Fort Carson (Army base).

Supposedly anything less than 1gram of protein per 1 pound of body weight is low carb. My NUT doesn't want me on very low carb diet. She says that your brain needs about 100g of carbs a day to function properly. On very low carb I don't feel normal and I feel very fatigued and slower, some people make up for this lack of energy by drinking caffeine but I can't really tolerate caffeine. IMO it all comes back to the simple rules of calories in calories out, nothing special. I don't count cals because my NUT told me to stop and I focus on eating protein first and then a carb. I weigh my food and eat around 3-3 1/2 oz of food per meal. My NUT focuses on a well balanced diet and I'm happy because my body hates very low carb. ETA: I also find myself craving protein now. It feels like my sweet tooth is gone, except for the week before my period lol. I don't like pasta, rice, candy, soda, cake, etc. (unless it's that time of the month) I can take a bite of those and have zero desire for anymore. Nothing hits the spot like some protein lol. I get my carbs from fruit and yogurt.

You could end up like me and not lose any hair after surgery. I was sleeved in Oct and haven't noticed any hair loss or clumps of hair falling out. My biggest regret is that I didn't look into it sooner. I thought you had to weigh over 300 lbs to qualify for wls. I'm glad that I still have many years left to enjoy this surgery Only you can decide whether or not you want the surgery. I was terrified the day of surgery but I knew that I needed this and I didn't want to back out at the last minute. Maybe 9/11 wasn't the right time but maybe in a year of two you might be ready. Good Luck

SW-260ish (10/2/12) CW-207.2 Weight loss is definitely slow but the scale keeps moving in the right direction. I'm losing about 1 pound a week, so about 4 pounds a month. I haven't really stalled but I have had a week or 2 of the scale not moving. At this pace it will probably take me a little over a year to reach goal. I expected to lose faster but nope. During this time I've been focusing on making life long changes and not just quick changes that I can't do for the rest of my life. The good thing about this surgery is that I now crave Protein, whereas before I craved sweets. Sticking to a high protein diet is very simple now. My body has decided to let go of the weight at a slow pace and I've tried different things to make it speed up but nothing works. The only thing us slow losers can do is to keep moving forward 1 pound at a time. The benefits of being a slow loser is that by the time we reach goal, our good eating habits should be a well engrained by the time we reach goal.

Omg that would be a hard decision to make. My husband is in the Army and loves it. I personally would join the Air Force if I had to choose because it's more family friendly and less deployments. I wish her luck

My surgeon used a 36 bougie when I was sleeved in October. I don't think the size matters, or at least when it comes to bougie size . I can only eat about 3-3 1/2 oz of food dense protein at a time. Restriction is great! There is barely any difference in size from the 28-38. In the end it's about working your tool. Good Luck

Tricare doesn't pay for the sleeve or at least that's how it was when I had surgery. BUT if you live near a military base you can get the sleeve done on post. If you go to a civilian surgeon the sleeve wont be covered. Do you live close to a military base with a bariatric program? I had my sleeve surgery done on Fort Carson and it didn't cost me anything, plus I didn't have to do the 6 month supervised diet.