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Before 240s Now 195 DOS 2/20- 3 1/2 months out Sept 2012 Now

Check out the veteran's forum. Many folks there are still losing a year or two out. We stop losing when we stop using our sleeve as designed by not limiting portions, moving more, and making good food choices.

You look great! My stats are similar but I'm a shorty so wearing between a 14 and16. How tall are you?

My happiness has grown with every pound lost. Before at 250+ lbs, I hid. I literally would try to compact myself on airplane seats, sit in chairs at an agle to try to appear smaller ,I avoided social outings with friends, I was tired all the time, embarrassed at my own size and had no energy. Now after shedding over 55 lbs, I feel like the possibilities are endless and only matched by my happiness. I didn't expect losing weight to solve all of my problems (need to hit the lotto for that). I expected losing weight to give me my life back and it has. I would say I am an 8.5/10.

SPANX Higher Power- love them.

Breakfast is grab and go: Protein shake or bar Snack: Greek yogurt or 1 oz mixed nuts Lunch: lean Protein with veggie side (like chicken and broccoli) Snack: string cheese, sometimes with a few crackers Dinner: mini pizza (lo carb tortilla, turkey pepperoni etc) or some variation of lean protein and a veggie. I average around 800 cals.

I have tight tummy days where I'm not hungry and don't eat much and other days where I am hungry and can eat more. That said on tight days I might add a protein shake just to help out my numbers. My favorite protein for the last three months are teriyaki chicken meatballs (I get the expensive organic, nitrate free one b/c I eat so little, it should be good quality). I also just started adding green smoothies with protein and green powders mixed in as well as salads because I missed veggies so much. My other go tos include dry roasted soy beans and mixed nuts for snacks and quest bars (I travel a lot and need portable foods). I also eat lots of Dannon light & fit greek yogurt and string cheese. This making me hungry! :-)

Once you are at the puree/mushy phase.

I've preportioned them and frozen them before. No problems.

I'm living life more rather than having it pass me by- I have more energy now. It didn't happen right after surgery but now I am more active and watch less TV. If my hubby wouldn't have an absolute cow, I would consider getting rid of the TV.

I'm 3 months out and eat about 800 cal. Somedays a bit more and other days a bit less. Trying to worry less about how often I eat and let my sleeve guide me. Definitely have had lots of head hunger over the past few months. My NUT says count calories and protein, the rest will fall into place. I use My Fitness Pal to track my food.

I went to Costco as soon as I saw the coupon. They no longer require the coupon to get discounts- automatically done at the register, but this time it didn't auto deduct so I had to show them the book at the register.

About 8 or 9 weeks out.

A big NSV for me today! Any gal a size 14W or up knows the drill-- you are either shopping in the basement or the attic, next to the dishes and baby clothes. Today, I spent two hours in a strange place called the Missy department! I bought two pairs of pants and it was surreal. Probably kind of silly but it just felt so weird. I kept waiting for someone to say, "you're too fat to be here" but I was just shocked that stuff fit!! Go me!

3 mo out; B: premiere protein shake L: left over salmon over lettuce with teriyaki sauce S: light string cheese with 5 Ritz crackers D: dry roasted soybeans Plus 6 cups of water. 77 grams protein, about 700 calories

I have struggled with bulimia and binge eating for years pre sleeve. My tooth enamel is shot, I have gastritis, and I binged and purged my way to 254 lbs. I truly hope you can break this cycle. It is hard. I have vomited several times since being sleeved, mostly b/c I slime when I eat too much or too fast, however it does bring back old feelings of comfort and control- weird I know because purging shows just how out of control we really are. I sincerely hope you have stopped purging but would not be surprised if you still are- it is a very hard cycle to break. Get as much support as you can- tell a close friend, most WLS clinics have free support groups open to anyone, join VSG groups on Facebook, do the works. My old shrink said that my disordered eating was in part due to job-related stress, got significantly better when I changed departments and hence supervisors at my company. Now I actively seek ways to reduce stress. I hope you can determine the factors that trigger you as well so that you can do something about it. Good luck to you on this journey.

Everyone here has NOT lost at least 50 lbs. However when others post huge numbers or make blanket statements to that effect, it intimidates many other "slower" losers from posting. I am very happy with my loss; I average about 2 lbs/week.

Feb. 20

A lot of WLS studies showed the highest effective weight loss was with RnY and DS. With VSG as sort of the newest WLS option, I imagine that practice i.e. pushing RnY and DS is what your surgeon has always done.

Had my first entree salad today. Have you tried soft lettuces? I can eat butter lettuce and red leaf lettuce without issue.

I like all the bars mentioned though I try to keep sugar alcohols to a minimum. So far Quest bars are my favorite. I like the Banana Nut and Chocolate Chip. Just ordered a box of Berry, looking forward to trying them since I don't eat much in the way of fruit right now.

Take it easy on yourself. At 15 days out, you don't need to worry too much about your caloric intake, hydration is far more important. The other posters have given some good suggestions on soups, shakes, etc. I would only add that there are higher calorie foods you can eat to up your calories, peanut butter with a water and protein powder mixed in counts as a puree. Good luck!