Holly5.3

My heart goes out to you! Please know that when you feel the beauty of your outerself emerge, your inner beauty that was always there - comes through even stronger....this in and of itself will give you the strength to say no when you know you should because you deserve so much more! You will have your dreams come true. God is good and He loves you - we do too!

Hey ladies! For those of you experiencing symptoms similar to PMS (but no longer menstruate so it can't be) irritable, headaches, fatigue-I went to my family MD and she explained that estrogen gets stored in fat cells. When you lose fat rapidly, the estrogen is released into your system just like when ovulating. Thank God! I thought I was going crazy! However, Im still getting headaches, Tylonol isn't cutting it. Anyone with similar reaction to rapid weight loss? My surgery was last Oct and I've lost 54 lbs. since surgery. My sleeve gives me problems with a lot of foods so I eat very little still. Prefer soups and yogurts (mushy stage) just so I don't feel horrible.

Sooooo jealous! I too need a lumber jack...I mean jackhammer! Still feel too heavy to relax. Soon...soon! 

Hysterical! My stomach flaps--I guess it's the trade-off from the thighs no longer overlapping and the swoosh-swoosh sound they made! Now for the boobs....oh boy! I think I'll invest in a nice full body trimmer-nude, and wear that to bed! LOL! (Hey, with clothes on no-one sees the Spanx and underwire bra--I told my husband it's all an illusion; angel's wings and gossamer--no peaking!

I'm 53 and happily married 22 years- I've never sat on my husbands lap (he's tried to make me but I won't let him!), and he's never picked me up-ive weighed more than him since my first pregnancy and my daughter turned 19 yesterday! Times they are a changin'! I should weigh less than him in the next month! Yaaa!

I'm jealous of the foods you can eat at only 5 weeks out! I'm still struggling with my veggies they have to be chewed until almost nothing and chicken is like eating grizzley steak and I'm at 4 months! My superbowl "feast" consisted of almost 2 wingettes (the 2-bone portion, not the meaty drum-stick) a corner of a slice of pizza with mushrooms and olives, without the crust! Stuffed! Done! That was the end of that! I'm struggling with the volume being so small that at parties and celebrations I can't even take a taste of everything that I'ld like to (but probably shouldn't have any way!) Do you find you crave carbs more after having a carb-heavy day? That's my problem, once I realized that cookies and cake go down fine -- I was craving them and then stopped myself and went cold turkey again back with shakes and simple proteins until I felt the craving subside (about 3 days). Just be careful. You want to focus on enjoying life and not enjoying food as much as pre-surgery. That in and of itself is part of our growing (while losing) process! Good luck!

Amazing! You look fantabulous! What a difference a year makes, huh! A whole new you! Congratulations, sweetie!

Date of surgery- Oct. 11 Weight DOS: 255 Weight Pre-op (Aug 2012): 278 Today (Jan 27 2013): 202 Loss since surgery: 53 Total loss (5 months): 76!! Hope to get to onederland by end of the week, I haven't been there since the '90's- I'm psyched!!

You look like a model! Amazing work, girlfriend. Much happiness to you and your new beautiful self.

You look great! More attractive and younger! Besides feeling better-What more can you want! Congratulations! Thanks for the inspiring pix!

My sister-in-law just had a tummy tuck, breast-lift and liposuction on her upper arms due to a drastic and dramatic weight loss this past year. (I told her to wait a year, that the skin has to catch up with the rest of the body, but oh, no...she went 2 weeks ago.) She is in a lot of pain still, but is amazed at how small her torso is! (She is about 4'11" and was wearing a size 22 and is now wearing a size 6 after the tummy tuck; an 8 before surgery.) I too want to look better than I do now, sans clothing...but lets face it, surgery is not fun, its quite scary in fact. I'm hoping that I can get approved for a tummy tuck (due to c-secion surgeries and big babies), but if I'm not covered, I don't know that I'll still want to put my body through the surgery again. It's bad enough that I have to have another hernia repaired this summer! Whatever makes you feel better about the inside of you....if this helps, go for it girlfriend!

Cute! And true-why else are fat people so funny? Most of their humor is self-depricating..., I know, because I'm the 'Funny' one at parties. Now I'll tell my stories less the 'im so fat' jokes! Have a great day, sweetie!

I love my coffee too and missed it so much post-op. I do notice that I forget to eat and will tend to drink less water once I have my Jo, so I use it as a reward-get x protein and water in then have coffee! Win win!

I regret trying to "diet" on my own just one more time before calling a WLS center! I went to Jenny Craig - lost about 68 pounds- cost over $100/week X 60 weeks-plateaued/stalled, whatever (was working out 5X week)-gained back 74 pounds! Went to an open house last July 24-Appt. w: surgeon on Aug. 4; started Pre-op diet on Aug 12 (@highest weight of 278). Surgery 2 months later on Oct 12 (weight 255). Today, a little over 3 months I weigh 203...total loss 75 pounds! In under 6 months!!! It's crazy!!! I love it!

My experience is similar except for mood swings. I feel PMSy some days but it's not PMS (I'm 53!)-I'm learning to deal with my food addiction every day, every meal! But I'm a different woman than I was a brief 6 months ago-and I'm excited for the first time in many years to see what the next 6 months brings! Good luck!

My go-to was creamed soups like cheddar broccoli made with skim milk. Take tiny spoonfuls (baby spoon), go slow. At first you'll only get maybe 1/4 cup in (and it will be cold by the time you finish!) it's very filling and satisfying just be sure to still have protein shakes for nutrition when you need to. A 1/4 cup of soup doesn't give you much, even with milk. Just be careful with lumps too, strain your soup if there's chinks of veggies, etc. in the soups. Good luck!

My stats are similar to yours - 5'5" On date of surgery I was 255 (Oct 11) (start of Pre-op diet Aug 11-278 lbs.) Today I weighed 203. That's a loss since surgery of 52 pounds, total loss of 75 in LESS than 6 months! I love my sleeve. I miss some foods, but I don't miss snoring! Or getting bigger (getting smaller is so much more fun!) or being Pre-diabetic with severe sleep apnea (all gone already!) For me, the sleeve is giving me a new lease on life. The young, spunky girl in me is coming back-she was buried in fat-but not dead or gone forever! Best decision of my life!

I don't think we're judging them-just pondering 'what ifs' since they seemed to lose the weight fast. I didn't know about Sharon Osborne, but now I think Kelly did- she's always regained her lost weight, now she hasnt...interesting. If she did, great! If she didn't-great, too! No judgin', just sayin'!

Sugar free Chocolate puddings have saved my life since surgery. I have one every night as my desert. Dinner is so tiny and we eat early so I need something filling and with protein before bed. At 3 months post op, I add finely chopped almonds for crunch and my sleeve tolerates it well.

Im sorry to say that the best way to increase protein and decrease cals. is to definately have a shake every day. When your protein is increased you won't need as many calories, you can get them back down to 600-700; but that depends on how fast you want to lose the weight, as well. At just 3-1/2 months post-op, I'm trying to get the biggest bang for my buck during the first year honeymoon stage. I'll have my 1,000-1,200 calorie days again, but not until I'm a much smaller size.

Wow fellow Oct. 2012 sleevers-thanks for the support on my post! One post...really???

Just got home from 3 month post-op and I'm thrilled! Down 48.5 pounds since 10/11/12 plus 22.5 lost on Pre-op diet for a total loss if 71 pounds since last Aug. 11th. I'm no spring chicken but it goes to show even over 50's rock the sleeve! My surgeon was blown away and asked me to give a quick testimonial to a new patient having a consult! I'm so proud! One bad thing, he wants me to have my other hernia repaired ASAP - oh no! More surgery-I'll wait til summer.