playlikeworldchamps

I like to eat the deviled part of the devil,ed egg! Yummy and can be very smooth if use a food processor blender.

Awesome! Very inspiring!

As long as they don't say too skinny (I am actually still overweight on the BMI chart by a few pound) I love it!

Before only my husband knew and we informed the kids the night before. I did this because I did not want to hear about anyone cousins sister-in-laws neighbors daughter who had a complication or gained it all back or now looks "gaunt" etc. I had done my research, was ready, and didn't need that type of "support"' After about 3 weeks I told close relatives and over time I told select co workers if we talked about weight loss as my success and food choices became more obvious and if it fit well in a conversation. Now I tell people when they have not seen me in a while and they don't recognize me! Every body has been real supportive as I expanded those in the know. I do occasionally get the "are you done yet or you look too skinny" from the people who would have given the backhanded support if I let them know before the surgery so that reinforces that I made the right decision. I don't feel it is my job to educate others on it or to be the poster child for it but if people are genuinely interested I will give them the info I have. So I guess my philosophy is a "need to know" basis only and expand that circle as it is comfortable for you. Only you know your relatives and friends best so do what's best in relation to that knowledge.

That you so much for sharing your struggles. It sounds like you are slowly getting yourself actively involved in getting back on track. It is generous of you to share and which will help all of us know how weight gain can occur creeping back into our lives! Your post reinforces me to continue my plan to track everything even while in maintenance, to keep making exercise a priority, and to mindfully choose what goes in my mouth. I won't be perfect but I can be accountable. Again, thanks again and I wish you all the best in getting back to your goal weight. Sounds like your eyes are wide open now and you are headed in the right direction! You got this!

As someone recently accused of bashing the lapband and making blanket statements, (which in fact was not my intention I just didn't think the lapband should be used like it was a trial surgery) I found her statements to be a disservice and very judgemental. People need to do what is right for them and get their doctors advice. My doctor said I would probably need a lapband out in 5-10 years, other doctors may not say that. I didn't want to go back and forth for fills/unfills. I had enough doctor visits already between my BC and heart, thank you very much! Rosie is probably echoing what her doctor their practice/ experience has seen. Hopefully no one sane would use her for medical advice but would listen to their doctor. For a sleeved person she has done average as far as weight loss goes. I am happy for her but I don't understand the superiority complex (which I was also accused of!). To me it's like the android/apple wars on blogs though that is even more silly than a health decision. Everyone has their preference and reasons after talking to their doctors so why bash.

Search for the hidden sugar carbs. If sugar carbs go over 30g for me weight loss slows down. I cut down on hat and usually get back on track. Also avoid grazing. Even if same amount of calories I find that grazing prevents weight loss for me. I think my body needs a real break in between meals.

Tuna fish is a great idea. How about scrambled eggs? I also love Fage yogurt which is high protein. Just mash your own fruit first and add it in or some honey or sweetener or even sugar free jam to avoid the sugar carbs.

My surgeon only does the leak test that we have while still in surgery because as he puts it: He wants to know about any leak while he can still be in there to fix it. He does not do them post op unless people have symptoms So I did not have one the next day like a lot of others. Thankful I did not because I hear they are not fun. I couldn't even sip water so not sure how I would have swallowed that vile liquid!

Wow. You look great! So glad this thread popped up! I just had my 18 month visit and as my surgeon said I am almost a "normal" weight at a BMI of 25.7. HW: 315 SW: 295 (3/13/13) CW: 179 I consider myself at goal. I am 5-10 so can carry a lot of weight. Though 173 is "normal " 25 BMI Hope you all are finding success. I am just working on this maintenance stuff now. It never really ends. Maintenance needs just as much work. No different that losing phase if I want to stay this way. Yes. A few more foods/calories but just as much vigilance. Some pics attached. I think you will be able to tell which are the before and which are after!

Now that sounds like a plan!

Fage is the thickest! So good! I use plain and put in my own fruit or I will mix a Dannon lite Greek flavored with Fage plain and gets lots of yummy yogurt for less sweetness. Now I can eat a lot more at 18 months out but earlier people can mix it and eat some and save more for later!!! Yum. I think I will ave some more soon. My favorite is to mix the Fage with fresh blackberries and strawberries. I use 0% fat Fage but sometimes use 2% if not available. I don't worry about fat calories too much. It's the sugar calories that affect my weight and cravings.

Please think twice on going for lapband. Stay on diet and exercise instead if you must. Why borrow trouble and take a chance of more surgeries. With all due respect to those who have had lapband and have found success, it's long term viability is being questioned. Here is a recent article and conclusion: http://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(14)00141-5/abstract "Conclusion Morbid obesity is a chronic disease that can be resolved with bariatric surgery. One of the treatment options is the LAGB, which in the short term shows good results in terms of EWL and co-morbidity reduction. In the long term, however, EWL and co-morbidity reduction are disappointing, and the LAGB does not seem to live up to expectations. Besides the decrease in EWL over time, the number of reoperations required is alarming. In total, less than a quarter of patients still had a functioning band after a mean 14 years of follow-up." Also WLS is not about losing weight. We can do that on our own. It is about having a tool to keep most of it off. The tools are restriction, hormonal changes and new habits we build while going thru the losing phase. From my own experience I would recommend that you still strongly consider it as the best chance of a lasting treatment. Notice I did not say cure. There is no cure. I am at goal but I still have the disease of obesity if not the symptoms. Similarly I have been treated for another disease, breast cancer. I am not cured. There is no cure. But I had a tumor surgically removed, chemo, and radiation. I did not wait for it to get worse before getting treatment. When there are successful treatments for a disease, you must weigh the benefits vs risks and decide what is the best way to keep the disease from escalating. I did that for breast cancer when I opted for chemo since I was a borderline case. It may have damaged my heart slightly but I wanted to nuke that cancer. In the same way I wanted the best treatment for my morbid and eventually deadly obesity. That was my thought process but you need to do the same risk benefit analysis for your own case. For me I am glad I did this in my 40s and didn't wait till I had comorbidities. My 50s and beyond will be great!

I am 18 months out from sleeve. I have lost 130 lbs and working on maintaining now. I am a sugar addict and one taste would lead to non stop eating. I now get sick if I have too much sugar. I am one of the minority that dump with the sleeve. More than 2 bites of ice cream and I feel ill and get palpitations. Also for other sweet things. Now to satisfy sweet tooth I have fruit or plain yogurt with some fruit added. I am happy that I cannot tolerate too many sweets. My brain wants them sometimes but after much tryin I know that sweet bite is not worth it.

I got obsessed with food when on plans like weight watchers too. And I hated the idea that I had to track. But with the sleeve and the success it helps bring I can see that tracking is another tool to tell what works and what doesn't Even though I have to be mindful in my choices and log my food, the depressing obsessive feel of when I was on other plans is not there. I have been loggin for 560+ days now and it truly is just a natural part of my day. There are some very small percentage where I feel ugh got to track but that is few and far between. I know it keeps me in a size 10/12 pants so it's a small price to pay.

I know I will have to be a lifelong tracker. My calorie allotment is 1550 plus my exercise (I am tall and in maintenance). I have no problem eating that and in fact go up to 2000+ some days. If I didn't track I may be up to 2509! And even though all healthy food it's just too much and I would gain. I also made a deal with myself that if I track it I can eat whatever I want. So I never feel guilty. I just write it down (in myfitnesspal) and move on. That also makes me stay in my calorie allotment when I overindulge one place I have to cut back another meal to stay Within my limit.

Sleeves can and do dump! I am glad I am one of the small percentage that do or I'd really be in trouble!

I can only tolerate very small amounts of sweets. I can have 2-3 Cookies and not get sick but cake is a real problem and ice cream is about 2 teaspoons till I feel sick. Same with cheesecake. So the more sugar combined with fat the worse it is. I get lethargic, palpitations, cramping etc. For me this is actually a good thing because sugar is also a trigger for me to crave more carbs. If I start I cannot stop. I don't even eat bread carbs in the morning because I will crave all day. I try to eat them only at night. I can eat naturally occurring sugar in whole fruits and plain or artificially sweetened yogurt. That does not give me a problem. So I can still have sweet healthy stuff or I can have an occaisional cookie or brownie or even a pop tart. But they are few and far between. I bought my daughters milk shakes at mcdonalds as a treat last week and my head wanted one but I knew it would just make me sick! So I of course didn't get it. I can't even tolerate very much of a healthy smoothie - 4-6 oz tops. But you know if that's the worse part of all this it's easy to live with. Especially when I like what is in the mirror, can shop for clothes anywhere, can kill it in spin class, and never be embarrassed in a theme park or airplane again.

I love that rule! I keep getting asked "when will I stop working out and tracking food" they don't understand is is for life! My doctor doesn't give a goal. Once you lose 60% excess weight he considers you a success. He says that BMI under 30 has about the same risks as getting under 25 so once get to 29 not to obsess over getting to 24.9. For myself I had several goals. First to get under 200 but I set an overall goal of 187 for my height of 5-10. I figured that was 14 more than my college weight and accounted for extra skin and four pregnancies! And I wanted a Body Fat percent of 28% or less which is for women 40-49 years old. My BMI was 27.4 when I got to 25.8% body fat and I was still over 190. And body fat percentage recommendations are based on sex and age so is much better than BMI. People are supposed to have a bit more fat as they age to be prepared for illness and insulation. That said, I am now 180. I did get briefly into the 170s and mentally it would be nice to have a BMI of 24.9 and be 173 pounds. The problem is that I may lose some of that in muscle and I don't want to do that. So I don't obsess over it. I Just follow my program and if I lose a pound over 6 weeks so be it. 2 weeks ago I gained 8 pounds in less than 3 days from family parties and had to focus to take it off again.

I got weighed as part of vitals so they know how much anesthesia to give as well as other medications and fluids. By that time the hospital/surgeon already has the pre authorization. That weight info does not go to insurance. Besides you have to do pre op diet or at least fast since the night before so you are usually lighter than normal.

I don't think it expires. We just have to recommit and perhaps even make sacrifices to get further. As I approached one year I was down 100 lbs but still over 210. I am 5-10 so that is not such a terrible weight. I was a size 14.my doctor considered me a success story already. But I wanted that Onederland. So I signed up for personal training at the gym. For 6 months! It was very expensive. I started spinning classes. Though I felt so nervous about that as everyone in there seemed so in shape. Now I do strength training 2x week and spin class 2-3. I also lost another 30+ pounds in the past 9 months. Now that took only 6 weeks right after surgery but it's not the time it takes it's the outcome. You just have to stick with it and be patient. I also avoid sugar carbs most of the time. They trigger cravings and get stored as fat. I have to recommit myself a Every Single Day! And this just to maintain my loss. I don't really need to lose anymore at a 25.6 BMI. Recently I gained 8 pounds in 2 days after a party weekend. After the party I did jot feel guilty. I just got on program and 2 weeks later am down the 8 pounds. Does it suck that we gain fast and lose slow. Yes it does but we can lose. There is no deadline or time limit. It's not a race. Switch things up a bit. Avoid sugar and don't graze, monitor every bite. Use MFP honestly! You can do this!

It's a medical issue not a vanity issue. Don't waste time worrying or even responding to the naysayers. They will believe what they want no matter what you say. Stay focused on your plan and what you need to do to be successful.

I didn't have any rules against driving. Every doc is different.

I drove myself to my post op appt a week after. in fact I drove myself to the grocery store 3 days after. everybody different but help for about a week should be more than enough. if you have kids it's nice to have someone to cook their meals and get them off to school but you don't really need any personal help for yourself.

You will get more restriction as you advance stages. I remember at the soft phase I could not even finish half an egg. And when finally on solids, 2 bites of of chicken were all I could have. For some people the early phases do not have any restriction or not much but hopefully he appetite is greatly dismissed as well at that time.