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Come check out the Vets board. Oregondaisy is there - she's four years out. I'm there, I'm three years out in July. There are a handful of us all over the boards. The reality is that most people drop off VST after about a six to nine months, return for a one year update and often only come back around their surgiversary after that. So it's difficult to find vets 2+ years out in any case, regardless of who did their surgery. And maintaining is the real challenge of this journey - not the loss phase as so many think. A small rebound should be considered normal but many drop off because they don't want to admit to struggles post op, or they're out there living life and don't need the support of VST and simply don't have time to visit regularly. Dr. Aceves did my surgery and I reached goal and maintained quite easily. I had a baby five weeks ago and have just nine pounds back to my pre-pregnancy weight. ~Cheri

Even before we started our fertility regimen I was on a chewable prenatal Vitamin (BellyBar) that has Iron. I've got issues with iron already so while pregnant I was also on an iron supplement. I took folic acid for a few months, too. And I was already on B12 shots because the sublingual pills weren't cutting it. I didn't have to take a single large pill my entire pregnancy. Definitely get a panel done before you start actively trying. I felt miserable about one year post op and chalked it up to our crazy lifestyle but I was very low in iron and B12. Six months on those supplements and I was a whole new woman, and I think my pregnancy was much better because I was in a better place nutritionally. If there's just one thing you take prior to conception that makes a difference it's folic acid, so definitely be sure to get that one in if nothing else. Best of luck! ~Cheri

... That's me giving you the blank stare. 750 calories???!!! You're three years out, woman! Cut yourself a little slack, okay? I know you're one of the folks that has always needed a ridiculously low number of calories/carbs but that's so low you're bound to feel a bit peckish, especially after a workout. You know why we can eat post op style for six months post op? Because our stomachs are crazy small and swollen! Because it's hard to eat. Three years out? Not so much! Adjust something because you might need more fats in your diet, based upon the foods you're heading to after a workout. Did you ever find a Protein shake you like? Down it immediately post op and see if that curbs the weakness. Perhaps a Peanut Butter and chocolate one would do the trick? Let yourself eat back at least some of your workout calories. Ever heard of sludge? The bodybuilder trick of mixing a Tbs. of peanut butter (one Tbs. will NOT kill you!) with a scoop of chocolate Protein powder and enough Water to make a sludge? In the early days when I could hardly eat but needed more protein (and something sweet) I'd make this and eat it with a spoon after a workout. Sounds creepy but it was oddly satisfying. Of course, I never made it with peanut butter, since I hate peanut butter, but you get the picture. Keep working at it. Balance - you're looking for balance. That place where you can forgive yourself and where you acknowledge all you're doing right at the same time that you keep trying to improve. ~Cheri

A lot of the things that cause us to be obese aren't really about food. It's not about always sitting down and overindulging in a massive meal, though many of us do that prior to surgery. It's more about our emotions and our heads. The issues many experience post op with head hunger, cravings, binges, grazing, emotional eating, etc. are all head issues - not stomach ones. The sleeve is a tool. It's a tool that will help you control your hunger (most likely - very few people still struggle with hunger post op but some do) while you fix your head. You'll lose weight in the process. If you do your job and shed the emotional triggers and baggage and build new habits, you'll find that maintenance isn't all that hard. That said - we are who we are. We have, in most cases, spent most of our lives building bad habits, coping poorly and hiding our feelings in food. We have fallen back on eating poor choices in times of stress and eating far too much. We love food. It's our addiction. It's particularly difficult to control that addiction and "stay clean" so to speak, during hormonal times and stressful situations. And while we can learn to control it and while it really does get easier, that part never goes away. I'm not saying you're going to crave pizza a year out. Goodness knows, I hardly crave anything any more and when I do it's something off the wall like chickpeas or lima beans! I'll be three years out in July. My hunger hasn't come back. But while I've maintained very easily (I just had a baby five weeks ago and need to shed the final nine pounds but otherwise have stayed in my "maintenance window" without issue) I can say that it would be easy to slide off track. No, it's not the constant willpower struggle for me that dieting was, but for some people it is a constant struggle. It's all in your relationship to food and how you redefine it - because everyone's journey is different and we can't speak to how you'll experience yours. I still have to make the right choices. I really do best on a Protein coffee every morning. I still need to eat protein first but I have to incorporate enough good carbs and grains or I feel the urge to graze. It's a balancing act. I'm pretty firmly centered and not likely to fall over, but I worked hard to get here. We are not fat because of food. Accept that and make an agreement with yourself to work on it and you'll have a much better chance at long term success. Goal isn't a number on the scale. Goal is getting to a healthier size and weight and maintaining it happily for life. And for goodness' sake - everyone comes out of surgery unable to eat and it's easy to treat the sleeve like part B of your Atkins diet for the first six months. But after that point I urge everyone to really explore their eating choices and learn how to eat more normally and in moderation. A huge issue you'll see in your time here has to do with people that fly to goal in half a year on a seriously low calorie, low carb diet...but then they disappear and flounder on their own, because all they learned to do was diet. They didn't learn how to live in maintenance, eating moderately and making healthy choices when happy with their body. It's far harder to maintain than it is to lose the weight, I promise you, and most people fail to see that. Getting to goal is the easy part. Staying there and being happy and doing it without a lifelong diet - that's the tricky part. Good luck. Do your research. Accept that you will hit hurdles and stalls and maybe you won't lose as quickly as you like and you might even still want a dang Snickers bar when you're stressed. Don't let those things toss you off the wagon forever (stumbling and picking yourself up again a time or two is pretty normal) and you'll make it. ~Cheri

Yes, I even read some sites yesterday (doing my own research now that you posted, thank you!) where the surgeon doesn't even use a drain. Insanity! The drains are above and beyond one of the biggest complaints people seem to have post op - using drains for weeks on end isn't comfortable. And let's not lie...it's gross. I'd be interested to hear how the healing goes for you. I'm starting to think that if I address this issue - my midsection - first, I can have surgery sooner rather than later. I'd been focusing on saving up upwards of $20K for a full body lift but in reality, all I really need to have done to be happy would be tummy and breasts. Thighs would be nice, but very few surgeons do really great thighs (Dr. Siamak Agha does them best, from what I've seen) so I'd be reluctant to have a thigh lift of any sort done in any case. Big scars, painful and challenging recovery and not always the best results. ~Cheri

No joke, right? Even as a spouse this is true - every medical issue I had prior to losing weight the answer was always take a Motrin, drink a glass of Water and lose 50 pounds and you'll feel better. Um, I have screws in my leg and would like physical therapy, and losing weight is the answer? YES. Losing weight by consuming less calories is the standard military answer to EVERYTHING. Take a nutrition class and see a dietitian and your problems will be solved and if they aren't, you're just not trying hard enough, right? And let us not pretend that we can so freely access mental health services anyway. Oh, the opportunity is there...and will follow you around forever unless it's a specifically protected reason for seeking therapy (PTSD or sexual assault, for instance) because if I, as a spouse, seek therapy for, say, postpartum depression and my counselor were to say that I need ongoing therapy, that could (and likely would) interfere with my husband's ability to work in his field or take an assignment overseas. I've seen it happen and it can destroy a career. Today, in this day and age, it's still a sign of weakness when working with or around the military to get support through mental health services, or to take a medication that will help depression. Sorry to hijack your thread with a rant. This is a very real issue though, and I understand your inability to really seek out good care. We were just in Kyrgyzstan (at the Embassy) and Manas Air Transit Center doesn't really offer much, either, and it's considered a really cushy deployment site. In any case, try hopping onto one of the food accountability threads and posting daily or getting into a challenge group (or starting your own) so that you can tackle this challenge and get to goal with some measure of support. Perhaps making the challenge as fun as possible will help. It sucks that we can't lose weight as easily as other people. But we're not alone. There are so many obese people in America right now beating themselves up because that standard 1200 calorie deficit diet and some exercise aren't doing the trick. Medical science knows next to nothing about why we're obese and how to fix the problem. Until then, we work with what we've got, and frustrating as it can be, the sleeve is a hell of a lot better tool than most people get to work with. ~Cheri

Congrats on three years, and it's good to see you around again, GlobeTrotter! The year you're talking about is one that would crush just about anyone - being unforgiving of yourself for gaining weight in times of extreme stress or for coping the way you've done your entire life is unfair. Many of us might expect one or two or even three hurdles or life-changing events in a year but to have them repeatedly knock you down would take it's toll on anyone. Regain is hard. I think you need to be more active here so you can keep some type of support around you - people that understand what a beast maintenance can be and what life is like at or near goal. Do not just slink away with your thirty pounds and hide in a corner - stick around and let other people with similar struggles support you. I think that the habits of living and even feeling like an obese person stick around much like the food habits do. It takes effort and attention to correct those thoughts and behaviors, and expecting to be a totally normal person after just three years when it took years and years to build those habits up isn't reasonable. And honestly, in some instances, we never become normal. We're much like recovering addicts that control our behavior until better habits replace the old ones and hopefully, those will eventually become the instinctive response. I'll always have to watch myself around foods that set me off. I have to weigh daily because the old habit of slipping into denial about my size or weight will creep back in otherwise. I will never know exactly what it's like to be a woman that never struggled with her weight, her emotions or her body image, because that's not the path I took to get here. I do think that you need to relax about the scale goal. It's easy for me to say, I know. But my opinion is that you should take this regain five pounds at a time and work your way downward slowly. Find that point you can maintain without beating yourself up to do it, without having to track every single bite and without making yourself feel stressed out. I'm 5'1" (and a tiny extra) tall and while I'd love to be in the 120s my body just likes the high 130s better. I can either make myself nuts trying to fight to and stay in the 120s or I can relax, be happy and be ten pounds heavier. I'm happier without the fight. It took a while to realize I wasn't a failure or that I hadn't sold myself short when I adjusted my goal weight upward. But the reality is that this is not about reaching a certain weight. It's about being able to maintain it, and happily, for life. Be fair to yourself and try to avoid setting a goal that will make you unhappy...goal is supposed to be happy, not challenging. You've done a really amazing job. Like coops you have struggled to lose and find what works for your body. I know you've had a particularly hard time finding a diet that will work for you, especially one that you can maintain and feel good about. Try to focus more on the positives of the last three years than on the negatives. Take this slowly and work on what's going on in your head. It's easy (okay, easier) to shave our calories and carbs down to almost nothing and lose. It's working on why we regain, why we feel the way we do, why we have the relationship with food we have and how to be happy that's difficult. And how will you keep those pounds off if you don't find a good place to do it from? We'll always want to revert back to those old habits that made us obese in times of stress. You need a stronger foundation to stand on if you want to weather this for life. In the meantime, be nice to yourself. You've been through an exceptionally terrible year and stress alone would have packed pounds on to you in these circumstances. Best, ~Cheri

Coops, my friend, congrats!! You have been altogether too hard on yourself for not reaching a particular scale weight. This is a huge NSV and I hope you're enjoying it! It's not all about the scale and you know that. Three years, no regain and getting fitter every day is nothing to shrug off. So happy for you! ~Cheri

I really, really, REALLY hate being back in the loss phase. Oh, today I only have nine pounds back to goal. Tomorrow it will be twelve. The next day six...and I'm so frustrated playing the up and down game on the scale like I did during initial loss. Those that have experienced regains and recovered, how did you approach it mentally? I know this isn't a "real" regain, whatever the heck that means, because it's pregnancy weight. And no, I'm not in a hurry to see that magic number on the scale again...but I feel frustrated by not really knowing where to start and not feeling like I'm making progress. Because seriously, I feel less prepared to adjust myself back into the swing of things than I did immediately post op. It's crazy. I'm not sure where to put my calories. Okay, I know that I should eat as much as I need to both lose weight and feel sane. But how do I know where that is when my scale won't stay still? Maybe I just need to aim my calories at a set point and weigh weekly. I hate this, I feel like a newbie again. I probably shouldn't even be posting here anymore. I'm back on a Protein coffee daily and thank goodness for that coffee. I'm eating protein first and am amazed by the fluctuation in my restriction. Last night had a dinner of turkey and two salads (one made with chickpeas and one made with lima beans) and I was able to consume more than I expected. It's like I'm back to struggling with what a portion should be because the larger portions during pregnancy skewed my perception. I used to be good at this! I used to be able to just eye my plate and know exactly what would work. Now I've got to break the measuring cups and scale out to know what I've eaten. But then the next day, I'll only be able to eat one very tiny portion of something I expect to be able to eat more of, and it's driving me crazy. I'm frustrated because here I am, the lady always preaching that we should approach food from a good place (a sane place!) and I'm absolutely losing my mind obsessing over what I'm eating, what I'm not eating and how much I should be eating of those things that I may or may not be eating. If anything, this is clear proof that falling off track for an extended period of time (not that I was totally off track for nine months, but I wasn't rigid about my diet at all) can make picking things back up more challenging than simply "making good choices." I'll have to take that into consideration next time I give advice to someone. In the meantime, does anyone have advice for me? ~Cheri

Thank you for posting about this. I've looked into a number of procedures and honestly felt that most of the other methods for tightening the midsection weren't enough for what I need - basically from bra line to pubis - and the anchor cut would have been necessary for me anyway because of how my loose skin is and due to the significant muscle separation I have there. I already have a road map of stretch marks so what's another scar to me? It's not like I'm trotting out in a bikini, ever! Please do share your before and afters and keep posting as you recover (though I'm sure you'll be exhausted for a while!) so we can see the results! ~Cheri

I think it's just the hormonal wackiness messing with me. I can't really control or make any of the other upheaval in our lives "right" so of course I want to control the me aspect of my life and the easiest target is getting back to goal. Well, what should be the easiest, anyway! I was breastfeeding but after two serious rounds of mastitis coupled with UTIs in a three week period (I'm currently on my second round of antibiotics) I decided to rely on my frozen supply (I have a freezer completely full of milk - probably about two months worth) and use formula next. Breastfeeding/pumping does burn about 500 extra calories a day and I had been eating about 1,300-1,500 calories a day while breastfeeding and having no issues with supply or baby's nutrition. And yeah, my upset over the not breastfeeding thing surely contributes more to this feeling I have that I need to control something (anything!) so it doesn't help my mindset or mood right now. But the mastitis knocks you flat - I have two five year olds and a five week old and do not have the luxury to spend two or three days in bed and a week dragging because of repeated infections. Hopefully this decision makes things a little easier around here. I think all I need to do is take a deep breath and just relax for a few weeks. I suppose that it's reasonable to expect that I'll lose weight just as slowly as I did on the way to goal weight. It took me six months to shed the last twenty to goal, so taking another three months or so to shed these last nine pounds isn't too bad. And I know, I know, being only nine pounds from my starting weight at five weeks postpartum is a huge accomplishment. Elisheva is just adorable and sweet and we're enjoying her as much as we can. I think the biggest stress in my life is this insane move and getting into the swing of things in our new home. I'll adjust with time and I see that I'm just not giving myself that time right now. I am thankful for those moments with the baby. I'll be busy unpacking boxes and she'll cry and my first thought is "Oh, I was almost done with this!" but once I'm holding her and feeding her I realize my only breaks and quiet time are when I get to sit and hold or feed her. It's really sweet and it's really a blessing. It's just hard to go from maintaining (and pretty effortlessly) to the other side again. It's more upsetting than I expected. I need to back off on the scale and I probably need to just take it easy on myself for a while. I'm normally a very busy, structured achiever. I like to just make a goal and accomplish it. Feeling like I'm floundering is foreign to me and kind of distressing to my controlling personality. I'm going to hook up with a local WLS support group later this month. That might help focus me a bit more and might make me feel better, too. ~Cheri

Anyone pre-op or in the loss phase in this area, heads up that I'm going to post some size 18/20 clothes (nothing fancy) in the clothing exchange if you're in need or know someone who might need them. ~Cheri

Not sure about you folks but I only get notifications when I'm quoted or liked (otherwise I'd sift through VST emails all day long), so I quoted you all to get the conversation about a social group going, since you'd all expressed some measure of interest. I'm new to this area after four years overseas so I'm not terribly familiar with the area, other than knowing what's immediately around me and how to get where I need to go with a nav system. I do plan to go to the May Inova meeting but it's not for a few more weeks. If any of you do attend, we could easily set up a social gathering in person for a week or so after that meeting. If you guys don't plan to attend or attend other support groups elsewhere, maybe someone more familiar with this region could throw out a couple of ideas on places to meet up? I'm in Alexandria but willing to drive to a monthly meet up if necessary. ~Cheri

The super high protein will last a long time (ideally!) and will help train you to eat differently (ideally!) so it's not a bad thing. It does get boring when your choices are limited and your restriction is very tight. Honestly - you're lucky to get 2-3 oz. of dense protein, is my opinion. It makes eating easier but not so easy you could just fly off the rails. I couldn't eat more than a single egg scrambled with cheese at one time for more than a year. And I definitely felt resentment about what I could eat and because I couldn't eat what I needed to eat, and I think that it's fairly normal to grieve our old food habits in the early months. I checked my old weight loss tracker and at two months post op, I'd shed 34 pounds. The only months I shed pounds in the double digits were months one to four post op. You're on the right track. And being thankful for that restriction is the right attitude, even though there are times that I still get frustrated by how little I can eat! ~Cheri

I'm not great about structured exercise but I do track what I burn and only occasionally eat back just a small portion of those calories. Only if I feel a real, genuine need to eat and have topped out my calorie limit for the day will I do it, and it's only happened a handful of times in more than two years. I never quite trust that I really burned that many calories and I also think the idea of eating more because I exercised odd. I can understand it for serious athletes that need those calories and energy but I simply don't. ~Cheri

I'm glad you're finding ways to work through things. No advice, just a thank you for sharing. The less I feel the need to fix in myself, the more those hidden issues creep out in my life, too. Perhaps now that you're really about to cross that big finish line those last few hurts are working their way out. While painful, stressful and of course, no fun to face, it can't all be bad in the end to talk about these things and work through them. Best to you, and enjoy those horses! ~Cheri

Could be, wonder why that would be? Are you feeling stressed or agitated near meal times? I found after surgery that if my blood pressure rises at all during a meal - if I get annoyed or aggravated in the least - my sleeve constricts and I can't get anything in. I've also found that what I eat the rest of the day seems to impact how my sleeve reacts. If I eat a lot of choices that can slide (not necessarily bad choices, just softer foods) I have more trouble with my dense Protein at the end of the day. ~Cheri

I didn't pay nearly enough attention as a child or have any real interest in learning modern Hebrew when the opportunity was there as a teen, but I do know my prayers and zemirot. Mostly! My other children (b/g twins) are Isaac and Ahava and while my daughter's name seems odd to Israeli people (as calling your child "Love" in English would be, I imagine) it's always met with "oh, how beautiful!" here in America. ~Cheri

It's probably a totally unnecessary post but who cares! Having delivered my little bundle of joy/sleepless nights I found that I no longer have acid reflux or lactose intolerance. I've eaten cheese, cottage cheese and even a piece of toast with REAL BUTTER. I'm so happy I could scream. I also seem to have dropped the meat aversion and enjoyed a really delicious (albeit teeny tiny) portion of turkey chili last night. With SOUR CREAM AND CHEESE!! Oh yeah, I'm living the wild life over here. The fact that my sleeve is once again restricting me to 1/4-1/2 cup portions actually makes me a little sad. I really wanted to eat that entire cup of chili and was disappointed when I couldn't fit more than half. Ah, to be mostly normal again - where food is enjoyable because I can eat what I want, but where my sleeve keeps me from eating too much of it. Which is a good thing, bowls of chili aside. Oh, and totally weird side note: I developed a reaction to sulfites after my twins and so couldn't enjoy much wine or beer, but after Elisheva, I appear to have developed a taste for Peanut Butter. Peanut butter is a food I have loathed my entire life...and now I don't feel right unless I eat half a PB & J sandwich every few days or so. What's up with that? ~Cheri

I LOVE my Rago shapewear. Anytime someone asks me how I hide my loose skin I tell them about my shapewear. This is not for the faint of heart that feel Spanx are too restrictive. This is serious, vintage-styled shapewear that comes in limited colors and is attractive in a "sexy-only-if-you-dig-the-retro-look" way. I dig the retro thing, and I love how well this stuff works. As if I weren't already sold on their products (I've got several of their pieces, but my favorites are the 821 cinchers) my funk about my postpartum body completely disappeared this afternoon when my new order showed up. I just had a baby four weeks ago (okay, four weeks and one day, but who's counting?) and have been ever so distressed by the loose middle I've been carrying around. It's just floppy and yuck and I fear that it will never rebound as much as I'd like, since it was already an issue prior to losing weight and having another baby (thanks twin pregnancy!) and there's just so much of it. Several inches, actually - if I pinch up my loose middle, I'm downright skinny under there. My entire middle is almost ENTIRELY loose skin and adipose fat that ain't leaving without some lipo or a surgery. I made the sorry mistake of measuring myself sans shapewear last week and it ruined my day. Mostly because I'm impatient and really wanted a magical rebound into my pre-pregnancy body. But today I put on my new cincher and man...not only does it pull everything in and support my back, too, but it took a full FIVE inches off my waist at the smallest point. I don't look like I'm wearing shapewear - I have my waspy hourglass figure back and look like I'm in a corset, even though it's easy to move around and bend in this thing. IT'S AWESOME. I just had to rave. If you like the older styling of serious shapewear you might give them a try. I shop herroom because they're super easy about exchanges/returns if something doesn't fit or feel comfortable. I don't work for either company, honestly. I just love my shapewear and how it makes me look under my clothes. And this, my friends, is why I'm nearly three years out from surgery and still haven't had my plastics. I get an instant tummy tuck each time I hook up my shapewear and it's easy to forget I have all that skin until I put my PJs on each evening. Only nine pounds and 1.5" back to my pre-pregnancy weight/size. ~Cheri

I used IVF w/ICSI for my twins (prior to sleeve) and did a frozen embryo transfer to get pregnant this last time with my daughter. I gave birth four weeks ago and I'd say that while my pregnancy wasn't more enjoyable now that I'm smaller, the recovery was fantastic compared to past pregnancies. I developed gestational diabetes with my twin pregnancy that did not resolve afterward until I had my VSG. This time around my blood sugar was better than a non-pregnant lady so that was no concern. I was a big gainer with past pregnancies - 97 pounds with my first single, more than 80 pounds with my twins - but only gained 32 pounds with this pregnancy. Within a week I'd lost 18 pounds and now at 29 days out from delivery I only have 9 pounds left to be back at my pre-pregnancy weight and I'm already in my size small and 5/6 clothes again (though I admit they aren't the form-fitting ones yet). If you're diligent about your habits you will remain in control. I was able to eat quite a bit more during pregnancy than I am postpartum, but I still eat very little. Max, about a cup of food in a meal and that's if half the meal is soft enough to slide. I wasn't as strict as I could have been while pregnant but I kept weighing daily like I was in maintenance to stay on top of things and I kept trying to eat right at least 80% of the time. It seems to have worked, even though I really wanted to gain less than 32 pounds. In fairness, though, I think that being on progesterone shots for nearly two months is partly to blame for my weight gain. I put on nearly half of it before five months and then slowly gained the rest through the last months of pregnancy. I am pumping (and still diligently attempting to get this child to nurse) and have had absolutely no problems with supply or getting enough nutrition for the baby. She's gaining very nicely and has already outgrown her newborn clothes. You'll do fine, and in my opinion waiting is the best thing you can do. I feel that it would have been near impossible for me to eat enough to stay healthy if I'd gotten pregnant sooner because I never had a large capacity post op. I also didn't have my lab numbers in a good place until more than a year out. The longer those good habits are ingrained, the less chance you have of falling back and getting sloppy or using pregnancy as an excuse to do all those things you know you shouldn't be doing. Good luck, and many ladies here have increased fertility post op, so perhaps you'll find your PCOS isn't as much an issue this time around as before. ~Cheri

Congrats and let us know how it goes! With my twins the first ultrasound (7 weeks) showed one baby with heartbeat and one sac that appeared empty. Two weeks later we had two babies with good heartbeats measuring within a few days of each other. ~Cheri

I'm more than two years out and while you can see my scars, they're faint and like the others here, not nearly as noticeable as my stretch marks. Which, while mostly white these days, are still far more visible than the faint discoloration where my surgery was performed. I'll take my size six, healthy weight, no diabetes and an active lifestyle and be happy for it, and would still say that even if I were covered in scars under my clothes! Oh wait, I AM scarred under my clothes - those stretch marks are lifelong scars that prove I was obese for more than half my life and carried four beautiful children in my body. What are four tiny little incision scars to that? ~Cheri

I take B12 injections and a prescription Iron supplement. I tried diet and it wasn't enough for me, likely because my iron levels have run borderline my entire life. I just can't eat enough to make up the difference. If you're trying diet, be sure to make your iron-rich meals low in Calcium because calcium is going to interfere with iron absorption. I'd give it a try and see how it goes, but don't be disappointed if you find you need another supplement. In my case, I should have been on these iron pills years ago and regret that I wasn't because I feel much better now that my levels are balanced and healthy. ~Cheri

I gained 32 pounds while pregnant with my daughter. Within a week of her birth I was already down 18 of those pounds. And while the rest is coming of more slowly than I'd like (I want my body back now, thank you!) I'm losing every day on the scale, even if it's only a fraction of a pound some days. I'm now 25 days out from delivery and while they don't fit as loosely as before, I'm already in my pre-pregnancy 5/6 jeans (okay...they're my "fat" jeans for my TOM but whatever, they fit!) and there is no way on earth I look remotely like I gave birth a few weeks ago. I credit both being healthier overall and having long established good habits (I'm also more than two years post op) and breastfeeding with the super quick recovery and weight loss. I drink Water all day long for my milk supply and of course that helps, and being careful about my diet and focusing on Protein first (and drinking a Protein shake every morning again) is definitely helping, too. I can't wait to hit the gym, honestly. And I'm not a workout type of girl! Most of the excess weight is CLEARLY loose skin in my case. My entire middle is very loose right now and honestly, if plastic surgery were an option tomorrow I think I'd be under goal weight as soon as I recovered. So I wouldn't stress or fret too much. Keep an eye on your weight now but know that gaining anywhere from 20-40 pounds is totally normal and some women gain even more than that. Don't get sloppy with your eating habits because you will be able to eat more postpartum for a while. My restriction is more than while pregnant but still less than prior to pregnancy, so I could easily eat too many calories or indulge in slider foods and stop losing. Before in maintenance I aimed for an average of about 1,100-1,300 calories a day and I'm currently consuming about 1,500 depending on my choices that day and my restriction. The lactation consultant I spoke with was worried I would have supply issues with my milk due to a lower caloric intake but I'm experiencing oversupply so that's not an issue. And I'm losing weight at that number, between the calories burned by breastfeeding and my busy daily life. Don't let things slide and immediately postpartum pick up those good habits that helped you lose before and you shouldn't have any issues. It will take time to shed the final pounds the same way it takes time to lose the final pounds on the way to goal, but in my experience, it seems like it's completely do-able. As for clothes, I outgrew most of my tops pretty quickly though I was able to wear my pants longer with a Blanqi top or belly band. I felt like I looked preggo at the time, but looking back at pictures, I didn't really start to look like I was anything but chunky in the middle until close to five months pregnant, and even then people were very careful about asking if I was pregnant because you couldn't really be sure if I was or not. That all changed and by seven or eight months out when I looked pregnant for sure but people were telling me I was too tiny to be due in a few months. Good luck, and congrats! ~Cheri