Globetrotter

Yes, I ate the entire doughnut =(

Tiffykins! Give us an update girl!!!! When did you have the baby? What is sleeve post-partum weightloss like?? I'm 18 months out and have lost 130 lbs, I am a slow-a$$ loser though, I should have lost 150 by 10 months out and should have been at personal goal of 165 lbs lost by 1 year.

I ate a doughnut. I feel like I rolled in lard. =(

The weight loss giveth, and the weight loss taketh away! We are all familiar with the deflation process, the loss of substance, the skin baggage left behind. But the single worst example of this, for me, has to be the uh ... bay window effect. You know, the uh, front butt, the kangaroo pouch? Barf. I look backwards, like that scene in Spaceballs, flat in the back, round in the front! =( This is most evident when I try to wear pants and specifically, jeans. Shopping for and wearing jeans has become a grim undertaking, at least when I was super heavy I could fantasize about how easy it would be if I were small. Now the appalling truth is unavoidable, that if you have a pouchy lower gut clothes are just as humiliating as they ever where!! =( =( To accomodate my appetite for clothes and the way we change sizes I have become a devotee of thrift shops. I'm totally addicted now to the thrill of scoring a luxury brand for next to nothing. J Crew cashmere for 5 bucks? Holla! Banana Republic pencil skirt for $2? I'm on it! So I squared my shoulders and dove into the jeans section. I emerged with 2 possible candidates, one a 12P pair of at the waist straight legs of some no name brand, I canNOT do low rise, on my short frame they just stumpify me and create monster muffin top. The other was a "yeah right I'm dreaming" pair of Levi's 515's in a SIZE 10. I tried them on. The at the waists fit nicely, with minimal emphasis on the pouch, decent fit, looks good. The second pair ... I inched my way into them, shocked that I could even get that far, exhaled and sucked in, had to make the pockets lie flat because I needed every milimeter, but I got them on and zipped and buttoned. From behind they were GLORIOUS - everything you ever fantasize about your jeans doing for you - turned my butt into a firm heart shaped curvy jean-clad thing of hotness, meeeyow! They giveth ... But they taketh away ... the price for the rear end glory was that the snugness wasn't only in the tush, but in the pouch as well, every worst nightmare of front crotch biforcation, come to life =( =( =( Oh, the horror. And now I am crestfallen, as I realize that until I have corrective surgery, this will continue to be a problem, no matter what my size. I could be a size 6 and this will still be an issue, every time pants make my tush look good, the price is up front! >=[

I'm so angry I could spit nails. I had surgery a year and a half ago and I am nowhere near goal. I am and have been a model sleever, high protein, low carb, low calorie, regular exercise, water, YADDA YADDA YADDA. I read, frustratedly, all of my cohort here on the forum, chirping happily about reaching goal in 6, 9, and 12 months. At only 5'3" and 167 lbs, I am still genuinely fat. My fat thighs and belly are still in the way and restrictive, I'm still at the very top of "normal" sizes in 14R bottoms. IT'S JUST NOT FAIR. And I have no genuine data to guide me on whether I should still be super low cal (<800) or what. I am upping my cardio, since my exercise has all been of the yoga/TRX variety, and I am getting back on the bandwagon of high water intake but, WTF. I should be at goal already, I want to be 125 pounds and I don't think at my stature that this is asking the moon!!!! Grr, sigh. =(

So true, M2G, so true! My body is what it is and my genetics are what they are, the only person in my family who isn't soft and chubby is a cousin who is a professional yogi! I definitely have a lot of heavy loose skin and once I hit south of 140 I will start researching total body reconstruction in earnest. For me, being light on my feet so that I can dance better and longer is why I want to weigh less, not just for vanity. It sure would be great though if I could talk to a professional who could guide me through the vaguaries intrinsic to finishing a weight loss and those last 15 lbs.

@ Meg - that is EXACTLY perfect advice, and everything I needed to hear. @ Swizzly - how wrong you are, you are HUGE help! All my sleeve siblings, you are the support I can't do without! I had a bad cold last week, am still a bit sniffly around the edges, and chose to jut forget about calories in and exercise output and the whole shebang. I ate bean dip for dinner, had some cocktails, and slept for 3 days and you know what? I feel great! It is Monday and I am excited to get to the gym after work and prance away on that treadmill before the awesome punishment of TRX, followed by some jacuzzi time and a little tango madness. It also helps that I got quite a bit of attention from a new person in my life who CLEARLY had no problems with the size of my behind . So, chin up! Boobs out! It's show time!

Ohh it's so bad! I'm still 40 lbs from goal, down 124, and My best fitting bra currently is a 34 DDD down from an overflowing 44 G. My cup size is still so big because the skin is all still there, just empty =/ blechhh, it is so gross - wrinkled pudding skin! If I dare try to wear a demi cup bra or low cut neckline, sadsadsad, wrinkled bubbles of skin blechh!

I'm not feeling very NSVish lately, the scale hasn't moved in 55 days, but I thought if I listed some of my changes over the last 18 months that it might make me more hopeful and positive: I started out in tight 24's and am currently in 14's (or 6's, or 10's dendending on the nuttiness of the sizing). I recently bought some dedicated running shoes, and I am capable of actually using them. I got hit on by a 21 yr old (Im 33) I can wear high heels all night and just be tired from being tired, as opposed to exhausted from existing. I can suck in my stomach and have there be a difference. I stayed over at a friends house and she lent me some yoga pants to sleep in and they fit. She is a former competitive body builder and very lean and shapely and time was when no amount of stretch wouldve allowed for those pants to fit but they fit just fine and weren't even straining. Getting down on the dance floor at a club a few weekends ago and the guy I was *ahem* grinding with, our bodies were fully against each others, there wasn't an ocean of flesh between us. In bed I can sleep on my stomach or can bring my knees up to my chest. I'm still very frustrated at my slow pace, frustrated that after 18 months I'm "only" a 14 and still can't do some yoga positions because my fat gut is still in my way but, I guess I've made some progress =)

I've become a mirror-ho and there's no use denying it! =P I gaze at myself every chance I get, mirrors, windows, you name it. I wore a shirt the other day that I hadn't worn since I was in high school, and I was a Varsity swimmer and cheerleader in high school! I am 33 yrs old and I got hit on by a 21 yr old kid the other day when out with friends at a pub watching a game, and when I'm feelin' my oats, boy I strut! Picture the Saturday Night Fever strut of John Travolta, but a chick =P =P I'm making up for losing my 20's and I like it!

Starting Monday (I'm battling a cold right now) I am going to do a variation on the 5 Day Pouch and up my cardio, see what happens.

At three months out, with Dr's permission, I would think you could exercise more than 2x a week, even a gentle daily 30 mi walk will make a difference.

I ate a snickers bar for breakfast, I'm so ashamed.

At the time of my VSG I was a 44H. 18 months later I am a 34 DDD. I have lost 125 lbs but even though I've lost volume, the breasts are still there, just deflated =(. That DDD cup still isn't adequate to properly contain all the empty skin and I'm not even at goal yet. I'm afraid that when I am at goal, in another 40 lbs, that I will be a 32DD, and it will all be empty shriveled skin! =( =( I intend to get total body reconstruction after achieving goal, I think a mid C cup would be just fine.

I've bought some real running shoes, some Nike minimalist shoes that provide arch support and encourage my foot to have a mid-foot strike rather than the heavy heel strike I did have. I'm excited to go to the gym today, I'm going to walk for 5 minutes and then run as long as I can at a gentle pace and repeat this twice. =)

I ate some kettlecorn today. I feel gross =(

Hi all; I track everything that goes in my mouth, have since surgery, on fatsecret.com. My sleeve is in great condition and was made tightly with a 32F bougie. As of a few months ago all labs came back normal, maybe a tad low on the B. I have lost 127 pounds, with 40 more to go to goal. I have not lost an ounce in 55 days. I take in between 800-1000 cals on any given day, with carbs <50 and protein >70. I run, bike, elliptical, yoga, TRX, pilates, and dance tango for hours at a time, 5 days a week. I have lived like this for 18 months, still not even close to goal.

I'm just really tired of <still> being fat, over a year and a half out.

If I were really hard on myself, I'd be at goal already! =P

Hi all, I am close to goal, 15 from surgeon's, 40 from personal. I exercise regularly, 4-5x per week, 1-2 hours at a time. I get in between 700-900 cals on average, 70+ grams protein, and 30-70 grams carbs a day on average. How can I shake things up to get over this last hill and get to goal already? I've heard that nutritional needs change when you get closer to goal and that how you lose weight changes as well. Should I increase calories, decrease? Reduce carbs, increase? Increase exercise? My exercise is currently yoga, TRX, dancing, and treadmil/elliptical. I have been stalled for 50 days.

Hello all, I am a year and a half out from surgery, still 15 lbs from surgeon's goal, 40 from personal. I have only just been bitten by the running bug in the past 2 weeks and I want to do it correctly. I got overexcited and committed the classic beginner's blunder by trying to do too much too fast with too little knowledge. I'm doing intervals on the treadmill and my knees hurt so much! I'm limping when walking and my gait during running feels like it must be dreadful. Any insights for the newbie? Also, how best to eat, run, and lose weight as I am still so far from goal?

As of last week I've added in some daily cardio as part of my yoga-trx-dance routine, 20-30 minutes of running intervals on the treadmill or cycling on the stationary bike, we'll see what that does, as the scale hasn't budged in 6 weeks =( I'm still 40 pounds overweight so this is just spirit-crushing. And as my cardio has increased, so has my desire for sweet and salty! The other day I sucked all of the salt off of a bag of roldgold pretzels and purposely drank a third of an icy cold Coke - and I've never been a soda drinker, even before surgery. I have a pair of boot cut cords from JCrew in a size 12P, I have now been wearing them for THIRTY POUNDS, and they still fit the same, just a little looser. Talk about demoralizing!! At this rate I'll have worn them for 50 lbs before they are baggy. wtf.

I would love to give up all carbs that aren't an intrinic part of whatever protein I'm eating. I'd also like to give up all sugar/added sugar/sweeteners beyond stevia

Hey Diva - could you give an example of an average day's workout and food for you? I haven't lost in 44 days and am 3 lbs up from my lowest and I practice yoga, TRX, tango, and walking 4x a week. Today I had chicken caesar salad for brunch, and will have kebob chicken for lunch and tuna w/2 rye crackers for dinner, plus lots of mint tea (no sweetener) and probably a small piece of dark chocolate. I will jog/walk 3 miles this afternoon and do a round of elliptical.

Definitely Coops you are in my thoughts. And I hope that there are outlets for your grief other than food, for me personally when I am sad it is a struggle to not binge on bad things. I haven't lost weight in 41 days, I'm 3 lbs up from my all time low, my clothes are like sausage casings, but a dance partner last night asked if I had lost weight because I was "looking skinny"!!!! The first time in my life I have ever heard that word used anywhere near a reference to me, bless their heart! Gotta love the optical illusion of plaid =/