Shanny

I have the same problem. I'm almost a year out and I eat around 800-850 calories, and that's when I force myself to eat dessert, too. For a long time I only got about 600 calories a day. I think as long as you're eating foods with the nutrients you need, you'll be okay. 1200 calories is a LOT! I told my doctor that there's no way in hell I can get that much in unless he want me to completely stretch my sleeve out.

I agree with RickM. It's not a race. I'd much rather maintain my weight than lose it all in a hurry. It's murder on your body. You're cold all the time. I used to get random pain in my muscles because of lack of nutrients. I wish I could get up to 1200 calories, like normal people, but I still can't eat that much. Up until 3 months post op I was only eating 3-4 tbsp at a time. Anything more and it was coming back up. Now, at almost a year out if I eat 1 bite over 1/2 cup of food I'm in so much pain because I'm too full. I try not to eat high caloric foods, mainly because that's my weakness. They are the ones that taste the best. But, they're usually the heaviest, too, so I only can eat a couple of bites, and then I don't get enough Protein. When I don't get enough protein I get deep tissue pain, and my hair starts to shed. So, for me, I have to do what the doc says. Although, he been suggested that I increase my calories from 600 to 800. I make 850, if I eat 1/4 cup of lowfat ice cream. I also notice that the more I exercise the less I eat. I work up an appetite, but I'm way more satisfied when I do eat then when I don't exercise. I went on vacation and didn't work out. I tried stuffing everything under the sun in my mouth because I was searching for something and nothing would satisfy it. One day I decided to go the gym and that crazy hunger I was trying to fill, went away. I don't know much about metabolisms or anything, but I know that exercise makes me feel better. Especially in the beginning. I had so much energy it was crazy. I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin if I didn't do something. Working out did it for me. Now, I work out, not because I love to exercise, but because I want to maintain what I've started and my muscles start to ache if I don't work out after a few days. I have discovered though, that caffeine and Zumba is the best high in the world! I never drank coffee before, but I recently started. The rush of coffee, topped with a great cardio workout... I finally know what that endorphin rush feels like! I indulge, when I have a craving. chocolate has been my enemy for about a month now. I never liked the stuff before, but I have these cravings. I'm on a Reece's Peanutbutter Cup kick. I have to have 1 a day or it's not pretty. A few months ago, it was salt. I couldn't have enough Doritos. I think your body tells you when you're missing something. The key is to do it in moderation. This week, I can't shake Butter Toffee Crunch ice cream. I just need like a few spoonfuls and I'm good. I like the way I look now, even though the chart says I'm overweight for my height. Another 5-10 pounds would okay to lose, but I don't want to be 109 pounds like the chart says I'm supposed to be. I think one of my leg bones weighs that much alone!

Efamcan, I didn't lose weight constantly, like 20 pounds per month. Some months it was like 35 pounds, some it was like 10. My advise, eat PROTEIN!!!!! I didn't eat anything but Protein. Even if I had room for veggies, I just ate the protein. Drink plenty of Water. No carbs. And no sugar. Those Wyler's drink mixes that you put in water, that are 5 calories and sugar free...I lived off those things. Protein shakes - have 1 everyday for Breakfast, still. Track your food intake. I use myfitnesspal.com. I do it so that I don't go over my allotted calories - 900 (although I never make it 900; I'm usually around 850), and fats. I do tend to go over on carbs, but everything has carbs in it - even milk for the protein shakes. My best advice: EXERCISE!!! I walk 10 miles, 2 times a week. I Zumba 2 times a week and water aerobics and/or dance aerobics, and lift weights once a week. I have to. I'm telling you that walking! The pounds just fell off!!! It's not easy and some days I fall way off the wagon. I ususally end up making myself sick when I do. But, I'm a work in progress. Don't worry about the stall. They happen and then one day, maybe in a few weeks, it'll stop, by itself. Even if you're not losing pounds, you may still be losing inches. Try measuring yourself with a tape measure. It's not all about the scale! Contact me anytime with any questions. Good luck!

Okay, so I'm sure this is TMI. I'm almost a year out, and recently, like in the last month, I've started having some stomach issues. First, I can't poop. I started using Benefibre because I thought that I wasnt' getting enough Fiber or maybe it was the Iron pills. That stuff just makes me bloated and gassy. So, I stopped taking the iron pills. Still can't poop. So, now it's like I can't go unless I take a laxative. I don't know why. Just all of a sudden I can't go to the bathroom. My other problem is I think I've developed a hernia. I blame crunches! I notice when I clinch my stomach, it feels like something in my navel moves up into my stomach. I don't see a buldge or feel one, but I swear I can feel something that feels like it's poking through something. It doesn't really hurt, but it's uncomfortable. The other thing is, I now eat LESS than I did a month ago. Maybe it's from being bloated. But, after 2 or bites of whatever I'm eating I'm full. Not only that. Whenever I drink something, too, it's like it just sits in my stomach, and it takes a long time to drain. In fact, my stomach is back to making those gurggling noises it used it when I first got sleeved. None of this is painful, but it's just drastically different. I haven't done anything differently, so I don't know why these things have changed. I guess when I go at the end of the month I'll find out.

I was 8 pounds from goal by 6 months.

Having to alternate butt cheeks when sitting because when you sit too long your but bone starts to hurt because there's no cushion. Finding yourself shopping at the Aeropostale $3.00 t-shirt sale, and you're the oldest person trying on clothes (my son was mortified because I was shopping at "his" store). Wearing your 14 year old son's t-shirts and beaters to sleep in because they're baggy enough to make good night clothes. Packing a week's worth of clothes for vacation in a small suit case because size 6s and 8s don't take up much room. Constantly returning clothes because when something is labeled S, M, or L, you go for the biggest size out of habit when you know damn well it's too big for you... Having a ton of clothes to choose from and sexy shoes. I could go on, but as you can see, I'm "struggling" with my sleeve!

I did, My scar is about 1 inch long, but it's through my belly button so you can't see it.

Here is a before pic, and pics of me at goal! I love my sleeve!

I get it all the time. Now people are saying, "You're getting too skinny." or "You need to stop losing weight." I'm like, can you mind your damn business, please? Keep doing you, girl! You look fabulous!

I haven't posted new pics in awhile. Here's my before and after photos... I've lost a total of 95 pounds since February.

So, this is my first major holiday since my sleeve. It was so much harder than I thought. I had managed to skate by the 4th of July by staying at home and just going to watch fireworks. But, Thanksgiving wasn't so easy. We went to my girlfriends' uncle's house, and everyone brought a dish. I made potato salad, hog maws and chitterlings, sweet potato pudding, and red velvet cake. Know what I ate? 1 piece of turkey and 1 spoonfully of mac and cheese. I tried to eat a slither of lasaugna, because it looked so good, but it made me sick (still can't digest beef or pork) and ended up throwing up. It actually got so bad that I ended up going down to the family room and watching football because I didn't want to be around all the food. I was already anxious about Thanksgiving and being around all the food. I do pretty well on my own, but when confronted with a lot of food I feel really overwhelmed and my head hunger kicks into high gear. God, it was so depressing, or I was just depressed because I couldn't eat anything there. I tried to eat a piece of stuffed salmon, that I brought back with me. I figured it would fine. Nope. Can't do Old Bay Seasoning anymore. I ended up throwing up like 3 times, and since the Salmon incident, I've been eating Soup because my stomach HATES me now. My intestines are in an uproar. I have no idea how in the hell I am going to make it through my cruise with the buffet and all the food that's around that ship, and at port. And what about Christmas? I'll be so glad when the holidays are over! Hopefully next year I'll get through it and it won't even bother me. As for now, all I can think about is all the yummy Thanksgiving food I couldn't have. I love my sleeve, but only when it's not Thanksgiving!

Cheri, Thank you so much for you kind words. I'm going to get the book. I know that I have an emotional attachment to food. It's funny because before the surgery, I had no idea. Boy, do I know now. The problem is that food no longer has that same comfort for me as it did before because I can't eat it like I used to. When my world starts falling apart, I try to, but it doesn't work. I REFUSE to undo all the hard work that I've done for the last 9 months! I REFUSE. I'm working on other coping skills. It's just in the middle of a hard situation, I can't remember any of them, and Cookies are always available. I've made up for it. I stepped up my exercise plan, and now that I've reintroduced all those delicious sweets into my diet, that's all I want now. So, whenever I want a bag of cookies, I jump on the treadmill. I am not going to let this beat me. As for my girl and I, we're in a completely different place now. I like that. Things are going well. I don't talk about my fluxuating 1 or 2 pounds as much and she's open about wanting to exercise with me. I hope that she can deal with it. She's been right there with me every step of this process from the first doctor's appointment, to the surgery, recovery, until now. I'm not sure why now it started to bother her, but it did. All I we can do now is try to move forward.

When I started this journey I could only think about the good things. I would feel better, look better, I could buy cute clothes. You know the normal stuff. I never really thought about the down side of it. It wasn't until I had the surgery did I realize that food, which was a huge part of my life, would not have the same comfort for me, had people put me down because of my choice, and my weight loss, alienate my friends, and my weight loss would ulimately end my relationship. So, to date I've lost about 95 pounds. I'm down to between a size 6-8, and I feel pretty good. I'm still the same person. I can't eat as much and can barely eat any meat but chicken, but hey you can't have everything. Granted, I'm not as social now because I'm uncomfortable around large varities of food. I always want to taste things that I know make me sick and when I'm with my friends and everyone's passing the plate, I take some and end up making myself sick. I still can't figure that part out. But, it's a learning process. I've lost a not only pounds and pants sizes, but a few friends because they can't deal with me being this size. They think I cheated them somehow. I still don't get that. I've also gained some fake "friends" that didn't give me the time of day before, but now they want to have lunch with them and invite me out to after work functions. Again because of my dress size. First people were happy about my weightloss, now they are telling me that I've lost too much weight, as if I'm doing this for them, or that I'm showing off. Then there's the rude comments made by people as if they have the right to just hurt your feelings because they feel like it (see previous rants about that). The one thing I didn't think would change was my relationship. I've been pretty open about me and girl on this site. We'd been together for 2 1/2 years. Things started to change when my weight loss became noticable. She became a little more clingy. Then I started volunteering with my son's football team and that's when everything went down hill. Apparently because I'm smaller now, people notice me - not just her, anymore. Somehow that means that I want everyone and everyone wants me, too. My weight loss brought out her insecurities. My wieght loss brought about this performance in her that whenever we were around anyone she had to act like I was hers, so that everyone would know. Even though everyone already did know. Fast forward a few weeks...we broke up. Why? Because she thinks I want one of the football coaches and she can't stand the fact that they're nice to me and joke with me and somehow that translates into them wanting me. When I was 247 pounds I was friendly and joked around and flirted. It didn't bother her then. Mainly because she was the only one looking at me. Now that I'm 151 pounds, I'm not invisible anymore and she can't handle it. What am I supposed to do with that? I haven't changed. Only my body has. I don't wear revealing clothes. They may be more fitted than they were before, but I'm not trying to sell anything. If anything I'm more clingy to her because I'm still trying to find my own sexy in this new body. Who would have thought that other people would be so effected by MY weightloss? This was my journey to finding the person that I was hiding beneath the fat. I like this person. She finally matches inside and out. So why is it that the people that were closest to me when I was hiding her don't want to Celebrate it with me? I've worked damn hard and I'm proud of my success. For all the successes I've had, and the awesome job of encouraging others, this downfall is like a slap in the face. I just don't understand it. Has anyone else gone through this?

Okay, so I'm 8 months out from surgery and I've lost roughly 95 pounds. I noticed somewhere around the 50 pound weight loss mark that I started to have this chill that I couldn't shake, even in the summer time. Now, that it's getting colder outside, and I've lost more weight I'm freezing all the time! Like literally freezing. My nose, hands and ears are always cold to the touch. My body is cold, and I always have goose bumps. My nose is running all the time, like it's snowing outside. And this is in my office with a space heater on; plus I have on long pants, a long sleeve t and a sweater. It's only 68 degrees outside. How am I supposed to live like this for the rest of my life? My surgeon told me it's normal to be cold for the first year or two after you lose a lot of weight because you've lost the body's insulation. Well, when does it get used to the way things are now? Do skinny people stay cold? I'm not hardly skinny but good lord this is ridiculous. I'm miserable!

Well, this weekend me and my girl went away to the ocean. It was a weekend filled with crying and yelling (mostly on my part) - long story short, we got back together. She missed me as much as I missed her. She apologized for her behavior, but admitted that now everyone finds me more attractive and she started to feel like she needed to do something to keep me looking at her and not everyone else. I explained to her that I didn't have weight loss surgery to jump start her to make any changes. She's perfect to me. She an average size and average weight. I was always short, and fat. Before my surgery she was a 12 and I was a 22. Now, she's still a 12 and I'm a 6-8. There's nothing wrong with her. She's beautiful, and she carries herself like she's the best thing since sliced bread. That's how I see her, too. But, my new body has brought out her own insecurities that she never talked to me about before. I didn't know that she was unhappy with her weight, and that she now feels selfconcious because she feels like she has to compete with people who now approach me and outwardly show that they are attracted to me. Let me say this, I am by NO means some sexy beast now! But going from no one approaching me to random people approaching me when we go out really did a number on her. I don't pay any attention to it because I know where my heart is. Apparently, she did. I think we've reached an understanding. We got back together. As wonderful as I feel right now, I have to admit that I took this weekend to indulge in every self destructive behavior I know. I ate nothing but Oreo Cookies and potato chips, literally, all day Saturday. In fact I ate Oreos so much that I started throwing up. As soon as I threw up, I'd start eating them again. I just wanted the comfort that food used to give me, and it wasn't there. No matter how many cookies or chips I tried to stuff into my face it didn't make me feel any better. It didn't even soothe the pain at all. I ended up getting pissed after she took the bag of cookies from me and threw them in the trash. Then I started drinking. Can't drink carbinated beverages, so after I tried to drink beer and thought I was going to die from hiccups and belching, I tried Vodka. After a few sips and it went straight to my head! I used to be able to hold my liquor. Damn this sleeve! I swear it's like anti every self distructive trick I know. God, it's so frustrating! It's great because it won't let me damage myself, but until I learn when to employ the coping skills that my therapist talked to me about I don't know what to do with myself when I feel out of control. It's funny that I couldn't remember a single coping skill that I worked with my therapist on in the middle of feeling this body wrenching pain from a broken heart. It was just easier to go back to what I always used to do. But, this damn sleeve wouldn't cooperate! In all honesty, I'm so glad it didn't! But yesterday, during the height of me acting like Sybil, I really just wanted it to give in so I could feel better. All in all, with every negative that has come as a result of my sleeve, I wouldn't change it for the world! I would have the surgery again in a heartbeat! It's really put a lot of things in perspective for me. It's torn some relationships apart, and hopefully has just brought me and girl closer together. I still think it's odd how my weight loss journey has changed the lives of those around me, when I haven't changed on the inside at all!

I went to the doctor yesterday and he told me that I may stay cold. I asked him how do skinny people do it? He said, "They dress in layers." Are you kidding me? Today I have on 2 shirts, and a sweater, panty hose, pants, socks, boots and my space heater and it's only 67 degrees. When it's 40 degrees I guess I'm going to die from hypothermia!

Me too!!!! My butt hurts 90% of the time I'm sitting. It's like there's NO cushion anymore. It's like I'm sitting on the bone. Between freezing and my butt hurting I'm just cranky here lately. I have to admit though, I bought some leggings and big sweaters and knee high boots. I haven't worn them yet, but I bought them. I don't know if I'm brave enough to do it.

You look amazing! Congratulations!!!!

I went to a information session. In fact two weeks ago, I was the guest speaker at an information session for my doctor because I am one of his success stories. It's a great way to get to ask all the questions you have about the surgery before you undertake it, and if they have actual patients there, it's even better because you get a first hand account from a non medical point of view.