LilMissDiva Irene

Wishing you a smooth and quick recovery from your sleeve day tomorrow. You will do fine, no worries. You probably will get a little bit of buyers remorse, and if you do just know it doesn't last very long at all!

Thank you so much!! You ARE lucky you didn't have to go that route first. I didn't know about the sleeve until it was too late myself. I wish I'd had done much more research than I did. Once I got my mind set on the band, I didn't even consider looking around for anything else. You are so right, I have learned a huge lesson in myself. I learned that no matter how low things may seem, I have to just keep looking up and KEEP WORKING IT!! I especially learned I'm a lot tougher chick than I ever thought imaginable!!!

Thanks all!!! You are all the BEST!!! Coming here every day has been a huge motivator for me, I couldn't have done it this far without you all.

That is absolutely fabulous news!!! Hoping the very very best for you!! Happy Valentines Day to you too

Getting called "skinny" all day long is pretty fun!! 2) I can RUN again!! NO KNEE PAIN!! 3) Not only do I feel full after a small portion, but I feel "content". There is a big difference in the two. 4) I was called a "light eater" by the waiter at the restaurant the other day. It made me smile. I don't think I've ever been called that in my entire life!!! 5) I used to absolutely LOVE Almonds and could really put em away. Now, I can't stand them. After a couple my stomach tells me - no way!!! Plus they just don't taste good anymore... WTH!!! My half of my post disappeared... So here's the short version of the rest 6) I love peanuts now but didn't pre surgery 7) I cannot eat chips, anything greasy or fatty, or anything too sweet anymore!!! 8) I am nearly all hunger cured depending what I ate in my last meal. 9) I constantly cold now instead of hot and sweaty. 10) I'm full of confidence and loving my new life!!!

Hi terressa, Congrats to you! You have done very VERY well to date! I agree it took me a few weeks to finally settle in and KNOW the sleeve was the right decision. Here's to many more successes!! Cheers!!

Heya angels, welcome to VST!! In answer to your question, well, once I have reached my ultimate goal I will have lost nearly 180 lbs. I have about 68 more to get there. I already was down a significant amount pre-surgery by diet/exercise on my own. I have ZERO doubt at this moment that I'll make my goal. It's been steady and quite easy even!!! So, yes, you absolutely CAN lose ALL of your excess weight if you follow your surgeons guidelines and find a suitable eating plan that will help get you there.

I do believe starvation mode is real and credible. I've seen many studies on this and even seen a story on it via Discovery Health not too long ago. Eating little to no food/calories slows down our metabolisms to a crawl - and even slows down our bodies cell growths. Some thin people purposely eat low calorie diets to help themselves stay younger looking! My body gets accustomed to the amount of calories I'm feeding it, so I try to constantly shake things up. I never stay steady. I tend to bump anywhere from 800 calories up to even 1400 sometimes. I've only ever had one true stall, and I think it was my own fault by grazing too much. As soon as I cut that out my stalls stopped. The only time now my scale slows is during TOM which is always been the case for me, so I don't really beat myself up over it. Other than that I'm losing at a steady rate of anywhere from half a pound up to five pounds per week. I'm averaging about 2.5 to 3 Lbs per week.

Happy Valentines Day to you as well!!!

I haven't drank a soda in many years so I'm really not dealing with these cravings. However, soda really offers our bodies nothing we need, so it wouldn't hurt at all to NOT drink them, I'm thinking. I'm 5 months post op and I still have a very tight sleeve in comparison to some others. I'm going to do everything I can to keep it that way.

I agree with Myrori - it's not an easy task to binge. It's not so easy to continue once you hit your wall. In fact, I'd even say it's impossible because I'm pretty sure if I was even given an inch, I'd take a mile. However yes, grazing is something you'll really need to look out for. Sometimes when I'm falling back into bad habits its usually done in the form of grazing. I have to snap out of it quick and behave!!

Hey girl, come out to Cali and we'll do some shopping together!!! Whooohooo party time!!!

Just wanted to say that I don't think Biotin actually stops or even slows the hair loss. What it does is help a lot with the re-growth. I know it does stop falling out eventually too... so not to worry! I'm glad you are feeling better!!

Hi Shaundra! I revised from band to sleeve in Sept 2010. I'm down almost 60 Lbs since starting my Pre Op Diet and can honestly say it IS the best thing I've ever done for myself and my health. YOU WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE Dr. Aceves, the hospital and his team. Please PM me with any questions!!

Hey now, EVERYONE is welcome here - especially you!! You never know, things just might line up perfectly someday and you'll get your sleeve. Keep praying and make it a reality. Hang in there - sometimes things just happen... that's how I got mine. I didn't even use my insurance. Happy Valentines Day to you too!!!

I agree so many sizes out there are all over the map. I'm basing my size goal on a good ole pair of Levi's. From what I've noticed, they still go on pretty normal - not too big and not too small. Once I get into a Size 8 NON STRETCH pair of Levi's - I'll see if I want to get into some 6's or just keep myself in those.

Actually that was going to be my plan. I wanted to do an online google spreadsheet, but my computer at home crashed and it just didn't work out. Maybe I can integrate it soon once I get back up and running. I agree, the challenges do keep me motivated!!!

LOL I see you got it!! Good luck!!!!

Copy and paste from above, remove juliarh on her data line and put your own stats... So it would look like this: SN..................Starting Wt.......Current......Goal......Lbs to Goal pattimomof3nj......157.3...............157.3..........140.........17.3

Whoa you go girl!!! I know you can do it, you're always such a steady loser. Good luck to you lady!!! Yes, I use my starting weight that I started the challenge with, I like to see how much I've lost on this challenge.

Hey everyone, here's the LINK: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/13648-easter-sunday-what-will-you-weigh/

You are so sweet thank you! :-D You are rocking it too girlie!!! So, I still weighed 221.8 this morning - so I was 1.8 Lbs short of making this goal. Wow though, I still feel like a complete success!!! I was still nearly 5 lbs away from goal not even a week ago. Whooot!!! I did good!!! I have caught a cold too, so I'm not as active right now either. Not a lot of chances to burn calories. Zicam works amazingly good though! I highly recommend it once you notice a sore throat. I'll use it forever now. But... I still did my 5k training over the weekend even though I was feeling so sick. CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!! I think we have all done super good!! I'm starting up a new thread now as we speak and will leave a link here for all those that want to join in again. LET'S DO IT!!!