Recycled

I'm working on a time machine to go back before I ever gained so much weight and then I'm gonna have the sleeve surgery so I'll never actually get fat. Yeah....just kidding........point is.....it's too late now. Whatever your skin situation is after you lose.....that's pretty much what you're gonna have......nothing much you can do about it now. Of course, if you don't like how it ends up....there is always "plastics". Good luck, hope it snaps back for you like a rubber band.

or maybe until you "CHANGE" To be successful, you're gonna change. Your food is gonna change......your eating habits are gonna change......your activity and exercise are gonna change......and your life is gonna change.....forever. Good luck and enjoy.

word for word, my sentiments exactly.

Have you ever looked at "well chewed" food........It's pretty much "pureed" Some things that were already soft, I just chewed till it wouldn't chew anymore. Worked for me. You could always try Baby food. (yuk)

We must be reverting to children as we age.......It certainly seems Dr. Seuss understands us.....

katcycler, on 23 Jan 2016 - 12:34, said: You look so great!!! No wonder pics aren't added. I'll show mine, though not quite as great as you. Congrats Surgery date 11/26/2014// SW 311 CW 151 Not as great....Really.....this is why people really need to show the before and after pics. So you can get some unprejudiced evaluations from others.... @katsysler.....your pics are absolutely amazing. You look fantastic. What a major difference. Same goes for @Jess9395. Sometimes, even after the loss, I think our minds still see ourselves in that overweight form. That should dissappear with all the positive reinforcement that will surely keep coming.

Holy smokes.....that's not goal.....that's a model's bod.......Way to go.

Congrats, your numbers are very close to mine, so I can really relate to exactly what you went thru and the feeling of exhilaration on achieving your goal. Great job.

Med school is the same as all schools.........There are the smart ones and the class clowns........Not all of them graduate at the top of the class. Check your Doc out thoroughly.

Congrats........very good reason to be called "proud" grammy.

My Fitness Pal has been great. I have logged my food and exercise routines for 763 days straight. But enough is enough. Time to let it go. I pretty much know "what" and "how much" I can eat and how much exercise it takes to keep things in check. Believe me, it's no picnic after you reach goal. Deviate any little bit and the weight pops back on like a compressed sponge. The hunger is back, the cravings are back......My guess is the ghrelin hormone is probably back in full production too. And the ole sleeve is easily capable of stretching past that post surgery luxury of only 3 ounces. All which makes maintenance an increased challenge. But on the plus side.....and it's a big plus......I LOST IT ALL!!!!! I REACHED GOAL!!!! I feel good and look great. So there is no way I'm letting obesity creep back on me ever again. Yeah, I monitored things closely for 763 days.......and it helped tremendously. But I got it now. I eat things here and there that are either too sweet, too many calories, or too much at once. But it keeps me from going nuts. I use my clothes as my "scale". If I feel them even slightly tighter, I increase the exercise. watch the portions closer and eliminate any extra junk stuff until things fit correctly. I can handle a few pounds.....I know how to now and can control it. The surprise is I thought that once I reached goal, I would be able to eat alot more daily calories in maintenance without gaining. Hasn't worked out that way. And none of the charts that indicate what I should be able to have daily are even in the ball park. Same applies to how much weight you're expected to lose eating a specific amount or when you burn so many calories during exercise. Guess that's why I was always obese. Typical charts and functions never applied to me. So, get ready. When you get to maintenance, if you're anything like me, you ignore all the charts and tables and have used the time to figure out your own body's needs and functions. Develop you own diets and exercise plans......and realize you will have to strictly adhere to them the rest of your life. And you will stick to it because it is sooo worth it. So goodbye MFP.......I don't need you anymore. (I will still check things on it from time to time) It's time to get on with my new normal....... I got this. .

Funny, In another thread I stated how I was finally letting go of recording my daily food and exercise on MFP after 763 days.. That process seemed like a sort of milestone like a "moving on" event. Kinda made me think about another similar event I went thru a couple of years before my Sleeve surgery. I had bilateral knee replacements. I was apprehensive, worried and researched it like crazy before having it done. I followed a Knee Surgery forum and learned everything I could and then I did it. !!! It was tough and I was stuck to that forum like glue after the surgery. Not only for help with my recovery and re-hab, but to help others by passing on the information from my own experience and disseminating facts from fiction to help alleviate other's fears. The information I garnered from that forum helped me tremendously and I sincerely believe I helped others as well. But............. You ask.......Are we relevant anymore to the new people posting? For a time yes. But in time my Knees healed to the point I started paying little to no attention to them any longer and the whole process had faded into the obscurity of a "new normal". I found that my ability to relate to the issues surrounging knee surgeries and post surgical rehab were also fading or becoming less relative to my new day to day lifestyle. I no longer felt I could really connect to the immediate concerns of the "new posters". So, even though I pop in from time to time and read a few posts in the Knee forums.........I pretty much felt my contributing days there were effectively done. I've reached a striking similar point in time here as well. Sure.....I jump in here and there and spout off a few tidbits of advice or some tough luv when the whining gets too loud. But at this stage it's mostly redundant recollection. People relate better to real time stuff going on.......... I think it's just the way things are. LIke the saying everything has it's time. So. I might not be all that relevant to the new posters on the issues they have today or last week........but I can tell you......It's all worth it. So hang in there and you can become irrelevant too. Good luck fellow Sleevers.

It may not feel that way yet, but there will come a time when you will realize that your lifestyle routines have become your new "normal" and there is no longer a need to write it down to maintain accountability.

I totally agree........Everytime I see a reflection in a door or mirror, it makes me smile. I just can't believe it. Shame I had to get this old to get wiser.

Well for me, we discussed basic training, getting assignments overseas, militar.....opps ......wrong veterans forum...

Hey, you chicks got the boobs...... Bout time something we got comes in handy.........It is cool watching the muscle do it's thing.......

If the band was removed, you don't want to gain back all you've lost. The sleeve will certainly help you to maintain and control regain in the future. I expect you will lose some after the surgery, but adjusting your routines to maintain a desirable weight should not be that difficult. OK, time to throw in the disclaimer........"Of course, you need to discuss your concerns with your surgeon"

I like the NSV's you don't expect......Like jumping up to hit the fridge during a commercial and picking the container of broccoli and vegetables to heat up and snack on.......who woulda thought..... Makes me realize I really have turned the corner

Yes and no...... You can't lay around and eat crap and not gain..... Take advantage of the time you're losing to understand the hows and whys of the process. You'll eat next to nothing at first......then throw in exercise you probably never did much of before. The ghrelin hormone is gone (for awhile) So you lose weight. Later on you can eat more, the calories go up some and you get hunger and some cravings sneaking back in. You give in to some and you find the weight will tip very easy. Just work harder and remember that you are there......and don't want to return to being obese. So you make sure even a couple of pounds doesn't go un-noticed. My easiest method is to add in more exercise to shed any pounds that creep on. I don't deny an occasional craving so I won't go off the rails in a pig out. But I treat even a couple of pounds as a slippery slope. Time will help as the good habits strengthen. Don't fret.......it's the way it is supposed to be......Eat correctly and Exercise....to maintain. Just make adjustments to compensate for any variables. No biggie. You'll do fine.

Ok, I had a long long reply going here and hit a stray key on the keypad and it all vanished.......%^$#$##. Oh well, probably better off.....saved ya'll having to read all my rambling..... Bottom line of what I was eluding to Mike, get it off while you can. Take advantage of all the conditions that help to lose it early on........Those benefits will fade.....and it WILL be harder later on to just maintain the losses. Having to continue to lose a year and farther out will be extremely difficult. I lost mine really fast, then it slowed and finally became really difficult......still I reached my goal at right about a year. I have maintained for another year now, which was much harder than the losing part. Trust me, you'll have you hands full maintaining, so get it off while you can.

I'm coming up on a year after reaching my goal weight and now the whole process seems like a blurr. I feel great and enjoy things I thought I had given up forever. I like to come on here and offer support and usually try to be straight to the point and "tell it like it is" no holds barred. Ya know things like......"it's not about the surgery"......you gotta eat right, exercise. That's what counts. But when I stop to contemplate some of my subconscious thoughts, my deep down realities.....it is sometimes not so all facts and no fantasy. I know the weight loss is Diet and Exercise. And Effort and determination and work, and changing habits and .....yada yada yada. The sleeve was just a procedure that helped me "Do it myself" !! Really......is that all it is???? Now that I'm there, I find it is more than that. My sleeve is my Best Buddy.!! It's that little guy that helped me change everything in my life. that little stomach did it's job and told me enough is enough. That little buddy is gonna be with me the rest of my life. And I owe him a lot. Funny as it sounds....... when some urge to eat a little more strikes me, I get this feeling if I give in, I'd be hurting my little buddy. I'd be letting him down after he's stuck with me thru this. I know, sounds goofy doesn't it. Well, whatever it is......however I imagine it in my mind..... I don't care. He's my best little buddy and I'm gonna take care of him.

I usually do about 10 seconds in the microwave..... They're all better warmed up.... added note: for the microwave....be sure to remove them from the package first to avoid fireworks....

Addendum to all that BS I wrote above...... I don't bother with my scales anymore anyway....... I go by how my clothes fit.

Calibration accuracy of scales are all suspect. If you want to be sure, here is a simple way to calibrate your home scale. Just use Water. It weighs exactly 8 lbs per gallon. Either use a gallon jug or a five gallon bucket and fill it with water, measuring the water accurately with a measuring gauge. I then use my kitchen scale to weigh the empty container and subtract that amount of water from the total, making the filled one gallon container weigh exactly 8 lbs. (or a five gallon one weigh 40) Place the water filled container on your scale and read it. It the scale is adjustable, reset it to the amount of the water exactly. If it is not adjustable, note the difference in water from the reading. (My scale was off by 10 lbs at my weight of 190.) Ok,,,,, maybe it doesn't sound simple written out, but it is...... It simply establishes the calibration based on a real known weight and not mechanical inaccuracies in the scale.

It's really weird how gratifying the feelings are now surrounding events that were so embarrassing. One of my few treats now are these little almond ice cream bars from "So Delicious". They are very expensive, so recently when they were on sale, (buy one and get one free)...... I made a special trip to the store and got eight boxes and nothing else. I would have never done that before. Just too embarrassing. I usually had my wife get any stuff like that or if I was with her grocery shopping......I would leave her to the cashier and skip out to the car to avoid the eye-rolling and hushed comments of who all the junk food was for. Now, buying them was almost like a badge of honor.......Kinda like showing everyone....."Yep, go ahead and look.... that's right....eight boxes and yet I am actually skinny...." Plus, I also had some oranges and apples. LOL,,,, what a turn-a-round.....I came for the junk food and couldn't resist adding in the healthy stuff.