BKLYNgal87

You both look AMAZING!! Great work!

I lost 61.7% of my EW! Not bad for 5 months postop. Thanks, Doc!

6 weeks post op? How'd that cheese steak meat go down, lol? At 6 weeks I couldn't tolerate anything like that. Good for you. Of course stalls are normal. Weight loss, especially as you get further out, is a journey of fits and spurts. Changing up the diet and the exercise routine is the best you can do and I promise as long as you are sticking to your calorie goals the scale will move again. I cut out all the unnecessary Snacks and crap that slowly crept back up into my diet and am eating very high carb (85-100g a day). I have also been busting my butt at the gym every day. Finally the scale budged after 2 weeks from 191 to 189 this morning. Good luck!

People generally say things like "Wow you lost weight" or "Wow you look great". My general response is "Thanks ". If they dig for more details I just say, "you know the usual, eating less and exercising more." It's not like I'm lying. Wishing you a speedy recovery! Good luck on your journey!

My grandfather always shared this piece of advice and I've carried it with me throughout life: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I have used compression bands because I have varicose and spider veins on my extremities. They didn't help one bit, for a condition they are generally thought to help with. Loose skin is mainly the product of weight loss + age + genetic factors. As Pdxman said, compression can only hold you in place, so to speak. My mother lost 50 lbs and her excess skin has lessened in slowly the three years since she lost the weight and started maintaining. Upper body muscle training is probably more likely to help than compression of any kind, but if all else fails, I'd save up for plastics.

Perhaps your surgeon thinks you'll start to get hungrier and eat more if you continue to drink calories. The point is liquid calories are the same as food calories, but one leaves you feeling less full as your stomach heals completely. I was off the shakes for about 3 months but just started going back to them because I am hopelessly stalled and trying to keep away from eating sweets.

Upper body fat tends to come off slower, but you will get there! I went from 44D to 40C!

The idea of you losing weight puts even more pressure on this lady to lose weight. She's no friend of yours - only thinking about herself and how those around her "fit" into her life. Pitch her to the curb, you'll be glad in the long run that you did.

The psychologist I saw asked me about my life, my family and friends, my previous diet history, and we discussed my mental health history at length. I have been in therapy for food addiction and other stuff on and off over the years. Ultimately she thought I was the perfect candidate for WLS. It helped that she is very pro-surgical intervention when diets alone fail.

Lol hello other brooklyn girl! Where are you getting sleeved? I am 5 months postop and would be happy to correspond.

Way to go! Keep up the great work

Have you had a new sleep study done recently? You may very well not need it anymore. I need a lot less pressure these days so my sleep doc switched me to an autopap. That may be a good solution for you to wean yourself off. Congrats on your weight loss success!

Your honesty is refreshing. A lot of people find denial easier than looking at themselves truthfully. Look, This journey isn't easy for anyone. It gets harder the further out you get from surgery. I am 5 months postop and in a stall. Last week I ate poorly (ate trigger foods that I just plain need to stay away from) and so far this week I've turned a new leaf. It isn't easy, but I really want to overcome my personal road blocks so I can succeed. I know you want to, too. Take it one day at a time. Focus on putting one foot in front of the other and logging every bite of your food intake. You know you need to continue to take your Vitamins because you'll find the next time you get blood work done you'll probably be deficient. Look into different types of exercise if you don't like running. How about dancing? Or group fitness classes? I could say well hey either do it or don't, either be successful or don't, totally up to you. But I know you are reaching out because you want support and you want to succeed. You can absolutely do this!

Everyone seems to like Quest bars. I am particular to Think Thin creamy peanut butter bars. Almost like a Reeses!

I wanted to share what I did at work yesterday. Can't seem to post pictures right now, what with the website maintenance, but here goes. A post-it note taped to my computer monitor at work. It reads: "Not Even One Bite!" It was my fiance's suggestion He's a keeper for sure.

Make sure your meat and fish are cooked well and you have nothing to worry about.

If you want to be successful at weight loss in the long term you're going to want to start changing your conception of "reward" to non-food options. Why not start now?

I'm 5 months postop and my weight loss has slowed to a stall. I totally feel your frustration - many, many people on this forum do. The sleeve isn't a miracle, and it's a constant fight every single day even in maintenance, heck, especially in maintenance. If you are being totally honest about your food intake and it's well within the guidelines of your WLS team, I second the exercise advice, if you aren't on a regiment already. You can also try the 5:2 diet, I think you are far enough out post-op that you could benefit from it. http://thefastdiet.co.uk/ Wishing you continued success! You can get yourself out of this funk!!

Looking great! Love the hair

The World according to Eggface blog has a zillion bento box lunch ideas. http://www.google.com/cse?cx=010161925482818458409%3Avag5alwlnvy&q=a+day+in+my+pouch&sa=Search#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=a%20day%20in%20my%20pouch&gsc.page=1

Awesome girl! Congrats on your success!

I'm glad to know I'm not alone, Laura. I get so dismayed seeing the posts of people who are about as far out as me talking about how they still struggle to eat enough or how they never feel like eating. I'd think to myself - are they lying to themselves or am I the one who's failing? I can probably eat 1000 calories a day at almost 5 months post op. Maybe a tad more. My surgeon only wants me eating 800. Most days I am good and stay within bounds and work out at the gym like a beast but last week I kinda fell off the wagon and landed flat on my butt. There have been times where I know I have eaten more than I should. Way more. But never once did I vomit. I had hoped this would happen to me, to keep me on track, but perhaps years of stuffing my bigger stomach full of food has made my esophageal sphincter weak, who knows. I'm scared I will be one of the ones who fails to lose the weight I need to or puts it back on over time. I've come so far damnit!! For a couple months I wouldn't go near a baked good or candy and then suddenly last week I had one bite and it was like all my hard work went flying out the window. I cannot do moderation yet. I don't know if I ever will. I want my honeymoon phase back . But since I can't go backwards in time, I am going back to group support and turning back to the protein shakes because forcing their fake sweet, splenda-fied taste into my mouth put me off of chocolate and sweets for weeks. My name is Rachel and I'm a food addict.

I have been reading this thread the last few days, and I want to thank all of you who contributed from the bottom of my heart. It's made me realize (yet again - we all need reminders sometimes) that I need to stop kidding myself. I'm yet another food addict. I always have been, and sleeve or no sleeve, fat or thin, I always will be. There's definitely a lot of enabling that goes on on these forums. A lot of judgment too, and I'm certainly no exception. Me going on about binge drinking as a bad life decision last week is really rather hypocritical now that I think about it, being that right around the same time I was sneaking trips to the office kitchen for halloween candy my co-workers brought in. Blech. I feel disgusted with myself on so many levels. He/she who is without sin, cast the first stone. It doesn't have to be a cliche. My coworkers are horrible enablers. They are always bringing baked goods and candy into the office (especially around the holidays) and plopping them in the office kitchen (RIGHT NEXT TO MY DESK). Not a soul can see me walk into the kitchen. I hate it. I hate them. I hate my boss for saying I couldn't move to the other bank of offices down the hall. I hate myself for not being able to resist. Grr. But I'm going to do something productive about it this time, rather than give in again this week. Heading out to an OA meeting tonight for the first time in forever. It's not ideal because I'm not a religious person and the OA meetings near me seem to stress certain steps over others, but I can't afford private therapy right now. I'm an addict, and I need help. I really want to and need to succeed this time, at more than just weight loss. So time for me to take responsibility. I am not going to fail at this, unless I let myself.

Best advice I can give is - get as much good use out of this stage as you can. A few months down the line you will be able to eat nearly anything. There comes the hard part. I am back to being hungry somewhat and desiring some of the same things I used to. I can't eat nearly as much (sweets in particular) as I used to eat, but I shouldn't be eating such "trigger foods" at all! It does get better, but it becomes more challenging.

OMG You look incredible!! Congratulations on your major success