LilMissDiva Irene

Sometimes I feel like I have to force the Water in, but I'll tell you what I do... I time myself. I do 20 oz first thing in the morning during my early AM workout. Then at work I have 2 - 32 Oz bottles throughout the day. So I tell myself that I have to fininsh the 32 Oz. bottle before lunch, then the other 32 Oz bottle before I go home for the day. Then I have to have another 20 Oz bottle of water in the Evening. I try to have it before 6 PM so I don't have to go potty in the middle of the night... LOL I don't always get around to that last 20 Oz bottle at night, but that's ok now since I'm not trying to lose weight really. And it still comes out to 84 Oz for the day too. You CAN do this!! I fought with Onederland for a few months... but I did finally get there and I've gotta tell ya, it REALLY IS THE BEST FEELING EVER!! In fact it was my favorite scale Victory of them all! I don't give a lot of credence to my scale - I just use it as a guage on how I'm doing because my body weight doesn't match my fitness, which is fine. I did love getting under 200 Lbs though. Not sure why your walking buddy might have bowed out on you, but I have my ideas... that's really sad too. But you know who my walking buddy is? My iPod. I put in a bunch of great walking songs and try to keep up with the beats of the songs. It makes me work a lot harder than I normally would. *hugs* and a million well wishes to all of you getting over that thresh hold!!!

Thank you!

Good luck! Try bumping up the Water intake even more. Try 80 oz instead of 64. 64 has always been my bare minimum daily intake and during my weight loss phase I was intaking AT LEAST 100 oz per day. You will be amazed at even one extra bottle of water will do for you. Also, tie in about an extra 30 minutes worth of physical activity per day. I can pretty much tell you doing those two things will be likely an extra few pounds per week. Just thought I'd suggest a few things that worked miracles for me.

PPI is Proton Pump Inhibitor, such as Zegerid or Prevacid...

Yep, me too! I replied to this topic at OH but thought I'd mention here too that I don't give the BMI charts any credence when it comes to ME. Body Fat% is my goal and right now I'm right around 33.5%. I'm working toward 29% which is "moderately lean" for a woman. If I don't lose one more pound but as long as my body fat goes down I'm ok with that. I'm NOT trying to lose weight, I'm trying to minimize my body fat. There is a difference. I am under in my body weight in the last 6 weeks by about 5 Lbs but my inches, and especially on my thighs has gone down a great deal. I still get people commenting on me all the time... but my BEST compliment yet is folks telling me how "fit" I look. Ohhh yeahhh!!!

Hi Robbin, wow your surgery is going to be here in a flash! All the best on your new journey! Yes, your new tool is going to take some getting used to. It's ok though, just have patience in yourself and in the process. If you're not big on meats there are other alternatives to help boost your Protein levels, such as Beans, tofu and other ideas. I personally LOVE Protein shakes. I still drink them even though I don't have to.

I lost quite a bit of hair, and yes I believe its mostly due to weight loss rather than surgery itself. Most people on "crash diets" lose hair, some significantly some less so. I've been taking Biotin since around 3 Mos post op. I was taking 2,500 mcg for many many months and noticed regrowth was really good. However recently (like a month now) I started taking GNC brand Biotin in dry form and 5,000 mcg. Wow, my hair growth is out of this world now... so just a thought. As mentioned, Biotin DOES NOT prevent hair loss. It only helps with re-growth. It's also a bonus on finger and toe nails as well. Good luck!

Dear Ali, No. It's NEVER TOO LATE. I personally refuse to think of my sleeve journey as having some type of "expiration date" attached to it... I had my stomach permanently removed. My stomach will forever only be able to hold so much... so it's forever! I don't care what anyone else tells me, I will have to work and use my tool for the rest of my life to keep from gaining my weight back. If I feel at any point that I want to lose weight, my tool will still be sitting there waiting to help. However, my BIGGEST tool I have is my spirit. Without that, nothing's getting done. As far as the gym goes, if you hate it - why do you have it? You should find some type of physical activity that you do enjoy and that you would look forward to doing. I personally love just putting on my headphones and listening to music and feeling inspired. I have all my workout equipment at home and I really do get up very early and do them, no iffs, ands, and no BUTTS... LOL Before I know it my 10 miles are complete and I can focus on the rest of my day. I love the energy my workouts give me and immediately keeps me on the right track. All the very best to you. YOU can do this... but no one else can do this for YOU. If you have to, yes go speak to someone. Nothing wrong with asking for help if you need it. Just getting to this conclusion is a good thing, and I'm very positive your outcome WILL be what you set it to be!!!

THANK YOU!!! I personally did not subscribe to WLS to live my life in black or white. MODERATION is the key here. I did not get super obese by eating one chocolate chip cookie. I got that way by eating 4-5 AND THEN eating a gigantic dinner AND THEN eating MORE junk... If I were to think of junk food as "BAD" and never to be eaten then I know for a fact that would keep leading me back to it and getting me into that binging mode. If I want a CCC, I have one. ONE being the key word here. That said, I really worked hard to avoid high calorie, high sugar and high carb foods during my weight loss stage. I also followed my post op eating plan to the T because I knew that my risk for leaks and other complications could go up significantly. It comes to a point of realizing when it's ok to indulge a little bit and when it's not. If I'm falling off plan and knowing it could actually physically harm me, then I'd worry about how I would handle my foods when I'm ok to do so.

You're doing AMAZING!!! Congratulations!!!

@Vsg Doll - There is ZERO doubt you can lose as much weight as needed with this surgery! There's not as many needing to lose 200+ Lbs but they are around and they really are losing the weight. I'm sooo proud of them because this darned thing being obese is a real monster. I struggled with being over 300 Lbs at one point and for probably a decades time. I messed my knees up and cause damage to my body... it was crying out to me!! Hugs! I KNOW you will be amongst the big losers here someday. @Sam - that is PHENOMENAL!!! Huge CONGRATS to you!!! You're DEFINITELY going to make goal! @coffee - that is rule #1 around here... DO NOT compare yourself to others - DO celebrate every pound lost.

O... M... G... YOU LOOK SOOO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! Wow, it's been a year! I always tell the new sleevers to give it time, and in one year their whole life will have been completely changed. NEW SLEEVERS: Look at these amazing photos... PROOF!!! *Hugs* my dear friend... WOW!!!!

I'm very sure he will be there when you need him. He really sounds like a good guy. That's funny you mention him being used to the bigger you. My Hubby would tell me he loved me the way I am (this was when I was still way obese)... and that I "turned him out to the big girls"... Hahaaa!! That used to crack me up! I was actually the first time he was ever with a heavy girl. He has expressed to me recently that he doesn't want me to lose anymore weight. I'm not really trying honestly but my body keeps losing inches. I cannot stop it, because I won't give up my workouts and even though I'm pretty much eating what I want (just not as much) - it just keeps melting away. I explained to him that I just have to let my body do what it's going to do. He agrees, but he still voiced his opinion. He knows me, and he knows that I pretty much do what I want. But I do allow him a little b*tch fest whenever he wants. Anyway, that might be something you come across as well over time...

CONGRATS Sheila!!! I'm so happy happy happy for you! The sleeve and YOU ROCK!!!!

Men. Do. Not. Like. Change. Period. And they call women cats? Sheesh. I really don't have any kind of answer because thankfully my Hubby was always supportive and was always my number one fan. Even along with the fact I had such a miserable time with my crazy Lap Band. He seen me suffer a great deal with that WLS. Though he has said a couple times (not recently) and expressing that I better not leave him when I lose all my weight... blah blah blah. I really just rolled my eyes and laughed (not in a mean way). I didn't feel the need to comfort him on that request, but I did comfort him because I wanted to - I don't like for him to feel uncomfortable. I really knew though that only time would show him I wouldn't just up and jump ship simply because I can fit smaller clothes. It didn't change how I am on the inside and how much I love him, aside from just feeling so much better! That said, I did let him vent though. I think it's ok to let your spouse do that. Communication in any form is a good thing. It's not about YOU nor is it about HIM. It's about the both of you as a UNIT. Believe it or not, you're going through this major event and change does affect him too. All I'm saying is, go easy on him a bit... HTH

CONGRATS!!!! I think??? LMAO!!! Girl.. its time for some smaller pants for your tiny hiney! Either way that's a fabulous story!

Tiffykins and I have pretty much the same exact plan on getting back off carbs. I do add in a few Protein shakes though every day, but I never do all liquids. There's no other way for me to do this. I won't do all liquids unless my life is being threatened. Good luck! It's tough for the first few days but once that's up, you're good to go.

Also if you look to the left of anyone who is responding in the threads you will see a tiny "person" moniker underneath their avatar. There will be a little green plus sign on them. If you click that it will send a friend request. If its a red minus, you are already friends. HTH

Wow you guys are looking GREAT!!!! Keep those pics comin' - us ladies can't be the only ones. LOL