Aussiegirl

Think Pantene ........... it won't happen over night, but it will happen!
It's one of those things we don't have control of. With everything else on this VSG journey we've had an element of control ie reward for effort.
I'm really inconsistent with these thoughts. I've gone from 46 inch jeans to 32's. Sometimes I look at myself and think "You look phucking amazing dude" other times I think "how can you have lost all that weight and still look fat".
I'm always picking up jeans / shorts / shirts THAT I OWN and think, you can't fit into that!
I just laugh at myself now because it's happening less and less often. And before I never paid myself a compliment for how I looked, so I'm taking what I can get!

Well, today I spent the day buying business attire for my new job that starts on Monday. I've never had an office job before so was already feeling uneasy, but when you have no idea what size or shape you are, or what suits you and what doesn't, its all very overwhelming. I purchased 3 skirts, one size 6, one size 8 and one size 10, and the tops and dresses weren't any better. I bought a size 8 dress that I could have easily got in a 6, if they made it, then at the same shop, had to get a size 10 top because the size 8 was too small. I really think that sizing needs to become consistent in aus. My measurements didn't change throughout the day, but to go from a size 6 to a 10 in 10 minutes is crazy. You know, I bought so so many pairs of size 16, 18 and 20 tops and bottoms and when I got them home, they were too small, and I was too embarrassed to take them back. They made me feel horrible, that I'd grown out of yet another size. Now I can see that its the clothing sizes that differ so dramatically. It's crazy.
But... End result, I have some very pretty new clothes, albeit of differing sizes.

Hi Simone,
When I was on puree I used a flavourless Protein mix that I added into Soups and the pureed foods to up the Protein I was eatting.
I cant remember the brand but there was only one that I found. Generally you dont taste anything, just kinda makes the food creamier.

I am in, I dont need much coaxing to travel as it is
There is one in June

Sounds like a roadtrip is needed lol

Sounds like a roadtrip is needed lol

Sounds like a roadtrip is needed lol

Good luck Misty!!! I hope it all goes well and you are able to get the information that you need to make the right decision for you...and yes we do not discriminate, you are welcome to come here for support even if you choose RNY
Dean, way to fly the Aussie flag. Love the profile piece.
I so need to get up to Brissy to meet all you Brisbanites ...and yes Dean maybe you can bring along on single cops hehehe
On goal weights, neither my surgeon or endo ever mentioned a goal weight. I always had 75kgs in my head, which means i would literally be half the person I started out as. My endo was happy when I hit the mid 80's and was happy if I didnt loose another kg...
I currently sit around 77-78kgs (BMI 27) and feel comfortable here. I think there comes a point where you get to a weight where you are comfortable that you can maintain, your body and head generally tells you what this is.
I am going to start talking to plastic surgeons shortly about getting rid of the excess skin, atleast on the arms.....scary!!!

Good luck Misty!!! I hope it all goes well and you are able to get the information that you need to make the right decision for you...and yes we do not discriminate, you are welcome to come here for support even if you choose RNY
Dean, way to fly the Aussie flag. Love the profile piece.
I so need to get up to Brissy to meet all you Brisbanites ...and yes Dean maybe you can bring along on single cops hehehe
On goal weights, neither my surgeon or endo ever mentioned a goal weight. I always had 75kgs in my head, which means i would literally be half the person I started out as. My endo was happy when I hit the mid 80's and was happy if I didnt loose another kg...
I currently sit around 77-78kgs (BMI 27) and feel comfortable here. I think there comes a point where you get to a weight where you are comfortable that you can maintain, your body and head generally tells you what this is.
I am going to start talking to plastic surgeons shortly about getting rid of the excess skin, atleast on the arms.....scary!!!

Did a CrossFit session this morning. Part of the work out was a 500m row.
I was really happy with my time I got 1 minute 51, which was the 3rd quickest time in the group.
I'm loving this sleeve ..........
PS - I'm new to Facebook. If any of you would like to be FB 'friends' PM me your FB name. I'd like that
Have a good day,
Deano

Would love to meet.
I'll bring a couple along. That way, you can take your pick. Or be greedy!

I am getting my SLEEVE on May 14! I have to have a telephone appointment with the dietitian first but may not need to do a pre-op diet at all since I am under 100 kg. The surgeon would have been happy to sleeve me this Friday actually! But I have several commitments including travel to America next week and a concert to play on May 11.
I am thrilled. Need to talk to my husband about it to make sure he is ok with the dates and need to talk to the private insurance. Also need to sell the rest of my stock. Looks like the out of pocket will be 6500 plus the anaesthetist and hospital few. Two days in hospital.

Good luck Misty!!! I hope it all goes well and you are able to get the information that you need to make the right decision for you...and yes we do not discriminate, you are welcome to come here for support even if you choose RNY
Dean, way to fly the Aussie flag. Love the profile piece.
I so need to get up to Brissy to meet all you Brisbanites ...and yes Dean maybe you can bring along on single cops hehehe
On goal weights, neither my surgeon or endo ever mentioned a goal weight. I always had 75kgs in my head, which means i would literally be half the person I started out as. My endo was happy when I hit the mid 80's and was happy if I didnt loose another kg...
I currently sit around 77-78kgs (BMI 27) and feel comfortable here. I think there comes a point where you get to a weight where you are comfortable that you can maintain, your body and head generally tells you what this is.
I am going to start talking to plastic surgeons shortly about getting rid of the excess skin, atleast on the arms.....scary!!!

Good luck Misty!!! I hope it all goes well and you are able to get the information that you need to make the right decision for you...and yes we do not discriminate, you are welcome to come here for support even if you choose RNY
Dean, way to fly the Aussie flag. Love the profile piece.
I so need to get up to Brissy to meet all you Brisbanites ...and yes Dean maybe you can bring along on single cops hehehe
On goal weights, neither my surgeon or endo ever mentioned a goal weight. I always had 75kgs in my head, which means i would literally be half the person I started out as. My endo was happy when I hit the mid 80's and was happy if I didnt loose another kg...
I currently sit around 77-78kgs (BMI 27) and feel comfortable here. I think there comes a point where you get to a weight where you are comfortable that you can maintain, your body and head generally tells you what this is.
I am going to start talking to plastic surgeons shortly about getting rid of the excess skin, atleast on the arms.....scary!!!

NSV - no longer fear and avoid small toilet cubicles...That is all ;p

Congrats Dean - you are now officially our Aussie sleeve star!

Wow, so much has happened, so many new people.
Nothing new has happened with me, still sitting between 55 and 57kg, I eat popcorn, had a jd and coke on the weekend, love and enjoy my skim lattes. I've joined an oztag team called "the butchers, the bakers and the cocktail makers". Bought a whole new business wardrobe for my new corporate job starting Monday. All size 6s and 8s.
Anyway, that's kinda why I've been a bit AWOL lately, because everything's been going so well.
Hope everything is going so well for everybody else.

Dean, you're smashing your weight loss!!!!! Be careful or you'll disappear.
Shelley, I saw your pics on the other forum, you're definitely a 'yummy mummy' now, I Hope you're very proud of your achievement.
I am now on the homeward stretch to my surgery date, I started my Pre-op prep today and survived, only 13 more days of this ...YAY (NOT)
Bring on the 29th.
Michele

I know from Crossfit I've lost about half of my strength with lifting weights. That will come back slowly.
As far as actual fitness goes I feel great. I just got back from a camping trip and was doing 6k beach jogs most days. I think I'd smash the obby course - I might give it a go next time I'm out there!

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Shell, great to see you back in here....looks like you are having amazing success...love the new pic

Shell, great to see you back in here....looks like you are having amazing success...love the new pic

Hi all my Sleevers buddies,
It has been quite some time since I have been on here with work demands and running a family of 7 so planning on sitting down today and catching up on what's been happening. I see we have quite a few new members which is great...
I'm still going great, actually better than great - I am in double digits for a while now and life couldn't be better
Hope everyone is well xx

I know vacations can be hard for food consumption.I
I am a foodie, so do like to try new things. When on vacation I try to enjoy local fresh produce or specialities, make it an experience rather than eatting for eatting sake. Be aware of what your eatting but also dont deny yourself just because you dont think you should, otherwise you also run the risk of over indulging....tight rope to walk.
But in saying that you are on vacation, you are also more relaxed around times you wake up, eatting times, how you spend your day etc. When you get home get back in your routine, eatting should be treated the same way.
Also generally on vacations you get more exercise in subconciously as you are out and about more.
Dont be too hard on yourself about enjoying a vacation just be prepared to re-work it when you get back.