LipstickLady

The sleeve doesn't fail, some people who are sleeved fail. Instead of utilizing their tool, they eat around their sleeve, grazing, eating sliders, making poor choices, not following the nutritional plan their doctor gave them, etc. Nope. The sleeve cannot fail. You can. I can. We all can. We must CHOOSE not to.

If wishes were nickles... What's more important? Doing the right thing or having a few drinks? You are a grown up. Only you can decide.

I've just discovered that ice cream makes me hurl. One bite, fine. Two bites, gurgle. Three bites, hurl.

Am I the only person who found this phenomena totally exciting? The complete bind that food had on me before has been broken and I finally feel free from the addiction that got me to the point of needing WLS in the first place. Love my sleeve. I totally agree with you. Before, I would see the time and automatically think "Dinner" at 5 p.m. lunch at noon. I didn't pay attention to hunger signs (mostly because I always felt hungry unless I was almost too full to move), If I saw something, or smelled something good, I had to have it. Period. Now? I really don't care. I walked around the mall the other day, smelling all of the food smells, and while I appreciated them, nothing called to me and said "Eat me." It is incredibly freeing not to be a slave to my appetite or my food addiction (and yes, I am enjoying it whole-heartedly. Maybe it will change once I'm further along and actually want food again...but for now, I'm going to enjoy the ride) Yup. Yup. Yup.

I need to find a 36D long. For realz.

Am I the only person who found this phenomena totally exciting? The complete bind that food had on me before has been broken and I finally feel free from the addiction that got me to the point of needing WLS in the first place. Love my sleeve.

You should fly in via DC. Just sayin.

A month out? Nope.

I was "outpatient". I went in at 5am on the day of my surgery and was out at 3pm the next day. I don't understand how that is outpatient, but I wanted to go home. I was told by the doctor that he preferred if I stayed one more day, but I chose not to. The lady in the room next to me whined and moaned the entire time I was there. (Gawd bless the nurses that dealt with her!) There was another woman who walked the halls often and would stop in each room and want to have conversation -- that was annoying. I was in the second room as you entered the wing, so EVERY PERSON who came into the area looked in my door and I hated it. I just wanted peace and privacy. Felt fine, too.

I am lucky. I hope to continue being lucky, too.

Respectfully disagree! I went from thinking about food 24/7/365 to rarely wanting to eat. With the exception of right before my period, I feel just like I did when I was taking phentermine as an appetite suppressant. I loved that pill. It gave me the energy of 500 men, and I would go days without eating. It worked, but not long term. My sleeve leaves me with little appetite and the ability to stop eating before I am full.

Disagree. I was a every three or four day pooper pre op and poo even less often now. I'm healthy as a horse.

Another great one that REALLY makes me "unpopular" is having my kickboxers lay on their backs, legs straight out in front of them about 12 inches off the floor and then have them "write" their ABCs with their toes, never dropping their legs or bending their knees. That's a great one.

A great planking exercise for your arms, shoulders and core is to "walk" your plank, one arm at a time from elbow and then up to arm, up to the other arm, back down to the elbow and then back to the other elbow. This is difficult, so go slow, and only expect to be able to do it once or twice at first. I teach this in my advanced kickboxing class.

I've been in a "stall" since 4/30. I've lost and regained the same 3ish pounds since then and can't seem to break the cycle. OH WELL. All I can do it keep eating on plan, keep exercising and getting my body to a healthier place physically. The scale may not be moving right now, but my clothes are getting looser and my body is getting stronger. Just keep doing what you are supposed to do. Eventually the stall will break but in the meantime, you are giving yourself the gift of health and that's much more important than the number on the scale.

As you get farther out from surgery, you can eat a bit more so you can't rely strictly on your restriction to keep your weight down. I agree with the above, for sure. I also have no doubt that much regain is caused by those who choose to graze all day on foods that are not healthy choices. I may not be able to eat a whole slice of pizza in one sitting, but I have no doubt I could eat a whole pizza over the course of the day. With wings. And breadsticks. And soda. It would take me all day, but I could do it, one bite at a time.

Hamburger patties make me yarf, but not crumbled and browned burger like taco meat. Cold chicken is bad, but chicken salad is OK. Rice is bad. Pasta is bad. More than one or two bites of bread = vomit. Drinking on a full tummy, even a sip, is bad. My tummy definitely keeps me in check, I'm happy to say!

Planking like the photo op kids were doing for fun or doing the plank exercise? The plank is an excellent exercise for your core. It's easy, effective and requires no equipment. It can be done anywhere and even a few minutes a day is very beneficial to your body. Google "plank challenge" and you will find all sorts of plank building routines that will gradually ease you into a great plank routine.

OH.MY.GAWD. She is no friend. She is someone who is SO insecure about herself and her body and she is so bitter about her weight that she is labeling her insecurity "fat acceptance". If she was truly accepting of herself and her body and she was confident in who she was on the inside and the outside, she wouldn't give a rat's ass about what you are doing with your body. I won't even address all the factual errors she made nor will I address what a manipulative b!tch she is being. Let her go. You don't need her and her negativity. You are making the right choice for YOU and if she loved you and she was truly your friend, she would be excited for you. F--- her. For real.

Enjoy the journey. It sounds cheesy, but it's true. Every size lost, every new pair of pants bought, every teeny victory is to be savored. The first time you can back your car up and actually turn around in your car seat comfortably, the first time you paint your toenails and can breath while doing so, the first time you can cross your legs, or wear a regular sized garment, or get up off the floor without rolling to your knees first, or wrap your fingers around your wrist, or feel your hipbones, your sternum, your tailbone... There are so many little things that you will do and then realize you DID (cuz ohmygawd you've not done that in SO.FREAKING.LONG). When the scale stops moving for a few weeks (but your pants keep getting looser) you have to rejoice in all the little things that are happening to your body along the way, because those are what add up to the big things. No one will ever see your number on the scale (unless you shamelessly tell people like I do at times), and rarely will someone know your clothing size (well...uhm...) but they WILL see you bounce up the stairs without huffing and puffing, they will see your confident posture and smile as you shop at a regular store, they will see you run after your kids or for the bus... This WLS thing is awesome. Ridiculously awesome. Enjoy every minute of it.

Your "normal" changes and trust me, it's not bad. I am no longer dominated by the thoughts of mass portions. I no longer care where and when we go out out to eat. I can eat a bite or two of whatever the heck I want and I am satisfied. I make good choices 90% of the time because I am so freaking excited about my new body, I don't want to risk losing it. I am thrilled beyond all explanation about how I look, feel, and what I can do now. I may not be "normal" but no one really notices and my NEW normal rocks.

Oh please. We are surgery WONDER twins!!

ACK!!! That's the funkiest picture ever!! I was jumping the fire pit and had smoke in my eyes. A huge NSV? Not caring how ugly a picture is of myself. The fear of facebook tagging no longer exists.

You are turning into quite the Hottie McHotpants!

You are one of my favorite sexy ladies! I am so happy for you always. <3