SMO

And move around as much as you can and cough. Try to avoid laying down all the time.

Hello three week stall. We all have it. I lost 18 pounds in two weeks and then nothing for almost three weeks after that. The scale will move again. I am 5 months out and I have lost 59 pounds. I have had several stalls. Don't worry. It will happen.

People are strange. I told everyone about my surgery. My surgeon needs to pay me a finders fee for all the folks I am sending him!

I am so thrilled for you! I got there over the weekend and it is the sweetest feeling to see that 2 go away forever. Congratulations!

You have to eat 3500 calories over you metabolic needs to gain a pound. Conversely, you have eat 3500 calories less than your metabolic needs to lose a pound. In the first two weeks, everything you are losing is not fat weight. You are losing a lot of fluid. Some of it is the fluid they pumped into you at the hospital. I lost 18 pounds the first two weeks. Don't expect that to continue. Don't be disappointed or think that something must be wrong with you. You just cannot sustain that kind of loss. Nor would you want to. It would kill you. I fear for you if you think a pound a day is slow weight loss. Please visit with your surgeon and have him or her explain what your expectations should be going forward. And be careful what you eat. Your tummy is a raw wound right now. Treat it tenderly.

I can't believe it! Today I reached onederland. My surgery date was 2/4/13. HW. 257 SW. 241 CW. 199 I have not been under 200 in 12 years.

Thank you everyone for sharing my joy. It is magical. I hovered at 200 for a week before I got rid of that one tenacious pound. Next goal is 195. I will be at 50% loss from my high at that point.

Congratulations! I have been at 200 for a few days and I really can't wait to break it!

Like some others, I am not sure how the OP would define a problem. My surgery was 2/4/13 at 7am. By 11 I was up and walking. I did not enjoy the cottonmouth for 24 hours while I was NPO and I am not a fan of the catheter. I used the little button they gave me to deliver pain meds and I never had pain that was more than discomfort as a result. My stomach spasmed some for the first few days, especially when drinking but that passed before I began softs at two weeks. I was pretty sick of protein shakes near the end of that two weeks, but I would not call that a problem so much as a step along the way. At 19 weeks, I can eat any proteins, fruits and vegetables. I can eat crackers and pretzels and even chips. I cannot eat bread (unless toasted), pasta or rice. Not a problem, but a blessing since I would likely not be able to resist them if I could. I can eat small amounts of sweet things. Like one sugar cookie. But too much disagrees with my belly. I have never thrown up and only become a little nauseous once when I ate one bite too many of refried beans. I can eat 3 to 4 oz or 3/4 of a cup of most food but only a couple of TB of beans so the one bite too many came on quickly and took me by surprise. Won't make that mistake with beans again. All this to say, from my perspective, this was the easiest most non-eventful medical procedure I have had done aside from gallbladder surgery. I had virtually no pain. I had no trouble getting around after. No trouble being comfortable in bed and no trouble eating and drinking. I have lost 57 pounds, including 16 pre-op. That is a little more than 2 pounds a week. I have not yet had a problem with thin hair -- although I am losing more than normal and my skin seems to be bouncing back pretty well for someone in their late 40s. I could not be more pleased with my sleeve.

And today I am 200.

Sometimes it is hard to see ourselves. Even when we are looking in the mirror, I think we see our idea of ourselves more than the reality. I spent a lot of years just taking quick sweeps to make sure I didn't have a pair of underwear sticking out of my pantleg or whatever. My image of myself was of a skinny 20-something. It took a photograph to push my face up to the truth. I just pushed that aside and avoided the camera. It took the threat of diabetes to make me choose surgery. I was 257 at my highest and I am 5'2" so I was quite round. I looked like someone had hooked me up to the helium machine and blew me up! I have lost 57 pounds in 18 weeks. The funny part is that now I look in the mirror and see the fat me! I think the speed at which we lose is just too much to adjust to rapidly. It can blow your mind. Maybe it would be best for the original poster to stop looking in the mirror too much. Give herself more time to adjust. And talk to a therapist about the adjustment problem.

Yep. You are starving and that is the point. That is also why you should get up to a more reasonable number of calories as quickly as you can. There are a number of people on the forum that eat well in excess of 1200 calories a day - not at 10 weeks, of course, your stomach is still healing - and are losing a lot of weight. I try to eat no less than 1000. I am losing about 2 pounds per week.

I was sleeved 2/4/13. HW 257 SW 241 CW 200 One more lousy pound! Come on! I have not been below 200 in at least 10 years. I was 230 in 2004. Walked all over Europe one summer and lost 15 pounds. Came home and went on Atkins to try and continue on. Got down to 201 and could not make it budge! I finally gave up in despair. I am so looking forward to the next pound. I think it may be the sweetest.

I drank diet coke every day before surgery. That was actually the change I feared the most. Turns out I have no interest in it. I did take a sip at 3 months out. My sleeve was displeased. I may drink it again in the future. I don't know. But for now, I am pleasantly surprised that I do not want it. I am off all caffeine now ( eased thru withdrawal with the help of opiates, thank you very much) so I am content to abstain as long as I can.

I lost 18 pounds the first 15 days and then nothing for two weeks. You will lose. You cannot quit this. It is impossible. So take one day at a time and live it for what it is. The weight will come off. I am 18 weeks out and down 55 pounds.

I am probably still in the hole at 18 weeks out. I spent about $3000 out of pocket so far. I don't think I have saved anywhere near that much on food. Plus, I have run through all my "fat" clothes and have started having to buy "less fat" clothes. I was buying fat clothes at Dillards from the clearance rack dirt cheap. I am talking about Ralph Lauren pants for $7. Turns out they don't discount regular size clothing as steeply. I hate spending money on stuff that is not going to fit in a month so I am going to hit a consignment store. I only take thyroid meds so I haven't saved any money there. I am also anticipating a savings on future medical expenses. I imagine I will save a fortune when I don't get diabetes or heart disease.

I also stall for extended periods about every 20 pounds or so. I will lose steadily, a pound every day or so for awhile and then just stop cold. Sometimes I will gain a pound during the stall and then just start losing again. I just broke a stall this morning. I had been at 203 for a week or so and today l lost a pound. This one has been difficult for me because I really want to get to onederland. Soon. I am losing an average of 2 pounds a week.

I am 18 weeks out and I started noticing accelerated hair loss at about 14 weeks. I have a lot of hair so I am not bald or anything, and I always lost some hair everyday, but now I am cleaning my hairbrush everyday and I see lots in the tub and on the vanity when I style my hair. I feel like this is just something I need to get through the best I can. If I get to 6 months and I am still losing like this I will discuss it with the doctor. I take biotin daily. My nails are growing like gangbusters but I don't know if it is having any impact on my hair.

I don't take any bp meds but my bp came down dramatically after surgery. It was high right after surgery. Most likely from all the fluids they pumped into me, but at my two week appointment it was 100/60.

Get some electrolytes in too. It will help you hold the water. Tomato juice or V-8 or some pickle juice if you can tolerate it.

I am 17 weeks out. The best things for me so far are: getting off the CPAP machine: having a normal A1c; being able to cross my legs again; shopping with a skinny girlfriend in the regular sizes and having people tell me how good I look. And I still have 66 pounds to go. The hardest part of all this has been the first couple of weeks after surgery. I did not have pain or hunger. It was the emotions involved in accepting the permanence of the change I had made. The commitment. And the detoxification of the liquid stage. Years of abuse of sugar and caffeine had to be cleared out. In retrospect, the hard part pales in comparison to the wonderful things. I have no regrets.

The sugar free popcicles work for me.

I get a thin slice of havarti cheese and lay a slice or two of deli chicken on top then put a slice of avocado on top of that, roll it up and it is a meal.

From Fort Smith, Arkansas. I was sleeved February 4 by Dr. Kwon in Fayetteville. I am down 55 pounds including pre-op loss.

Update: saw my PCP and surgeon and told both about being off the CPAP. They were fine with it and told me they would send me for another sleep study when I get another 30 pounds off. I lost a significant amount of fat from around my neck and they suspect that is what made the difference for me.