Indigo1991

Thank you! Yes, the day at the garbage dump when I got lifted off my feet trying to put bags of clothes in the recycle container is etched on my memory! Good luck to you, you don't have far to go, all the best in 2014!

Thanks! He says he's aiming for a D cup as he thinks I would feel as if I had been butchered if the girls were any smaller. Happy with that cos at least my boobs will be solid and where they should be ))))

Lol, thanks!!! Can't quite believe it myself :-)))) Have now reset my target by another 7 lbs (which isn't showing on my ticker) but think a lot of that will be achieved by cosmetics. But I am thrilled to be here in 8 months, I LOVE my sleeve, lol

My new habits: * I make time to eat breakfast every day * I now always have good varied food in the house that I can eat - and no foods that I don't want to eat * I try to eat like my naturally thin friends - food isn't on their minds all day every day. They view food as fuel, yes to be enjoyed but not at the centre of their world. So I don't weigh every day, I don't log my food intake or my calories - but I know exactly what my daily food intake should look like, what it should comprise of and that's what I aim for. Likewise, I know what my Fluid intake should look like and aim for that. I do not want food to control me any more, so I need to have control but on my terms... * I eat mindfully - even on my own, I sit at a table, use a small plate, eat slowly and with no tv or distraction. * I have stopped beating myself up. I don't need to keep reliving the past like I need to be punished for getting fat. I was fat, I have done something about it and whilst I need to be aware that putting weight on is a possibility, I don't intend to live in fear of that for the rest of my life. I just intend to live!!! * I put my needs up there alongside my duties. I am important and if I don't believe that and look after me, who will??? These won't necessarily work for everyone but today I hit my goal after 8 months, so they work for me :-)))))

According to my ex- husband, I was always right ???? x

Think you will be ok, 15lbs loss shows you're on the right road! Being calm is a great asset when you get sleeved because things will happen, like stalls, and you need to be calm and patient....

I posted exactly the same thing earlier - someone asked why I had thrown away my old clothes, was I so sure I wouldn't put on weight. I was almost 8 months out and it had never occurred to me I might do that so sure was I of my commitment to my sleeve. I wobbled for a few days then got a grip. Our success or failure lies only in our hands. Ignore the inner critic who will now have come to the surface because of that friend's comment. You have a choice of how to respond to her comments - cave in, agree and give up before you start or let it go and focus on what lies ahead, not behind you. I know you can do this, you are committed to change and are ready. Good luck, hope it goes well and keep on this forum, there will always be support for you. X

Wowee, looking amazing! Congratulations on all your hard work !

You may feel weak and weird as you aren't getting in enough fluids. The Protein is less important at this stage, you must get more liquids in or you will dehydrate, if you aren't already. Check the colour of your urine - it should be almost clear or slightly yellow. If its darker, then you may be dehydrated. Make a timetable of when to drink liquids and when to take in protein. It might sound ridiculous and you may feel like all you are doing is drinking but, trust me, it works and will be worth it. Your stomach is still swollen so it is harder to drink but you need to do it, sipping and over the course of the day. Hope that helps - but if in doubt, talk to your doc sooner than later....

Get back on your plan and stay calm! Every plan is different and surgeons have their own reasons why they have you on their plan. My surgeon had me eat right up to surgery - no liquid diet - eating only chicken, fish, yog, milk and practically no carbs and all in tiny portions. The diet is to shrink your liver but it is also to teach you to live on less. Liquid diet is really useful as post op that's what you are on in the first few weeks and it is difficult. But please stop beating yourself up. You put your finger on it when you said that the battle is with your mind. And if you have figured that out now, well done! Get back on track and don't look back. Good luck, you know why you need to do this, just keep that front of mind until the op.

Haven't done resolutions for a few years, got so depressed failing every time! So what I did this year was to get a book and on page 1, I wrote down all the things I felt were wrong with my life and numbered them. On page 2, I wrote down the solutions to each problem - and amazingly, there were answers, I just hadn't wanted to face them. Each month this year, I did an update on each one. I have started to tackle every single thing I wrote in the first week of January - I have completed some (9 things) and (4) are works in progress. On page 3, I wrote down what were the barriers to me succeeding - and in almost every case, it came back to me!!! I was finding excuses to not do things, so I started to make "yes" my default word not "no". What a difference that's made to life this year. I have been places and done things - sometimes through gritted teeth and with real fear in my heart - but I did them and made myself so proud (from losing 82lbs to making significant career changes to getting naked with a hot guy to going to concerts/cinema on my own). I also saw that I needed to let my friends in more, that I was almost obsessional about not being vulnerable. That's transformed my life, I hadn't realised how many wanted to help me but that I had put up so many barriers they couldn't get over them. Now I know how much I am loved, liked and needed just for being me :-)))) So on page 4, I wrote down all the good things about myself that I wanted to build on. And I have spent this year trying to do that... Bit of a long response but doing this really has changed so much in my life. Doing it again this new year although I'm not sure 2014 is going to be as dramatic as this year! Happy new year when it comes x

Lol, I know, seems a ridiculous thing to say to you after all you have been through - but it will come. Just get yourself ready :-) If you told me three years and four months ago I would feel the way I do today, I wouldn't have laughed, I would have sighed and gone back to bed. I was on my knees and couldn't see a way out or a way ahead. Every day, despite not really believing it to begin with I used to wake up and chant "this too will pass". Gradually, day by day, degree by degree, little things changed, which built into bigger things and the scales started to tip back in my favour. Life's still not perfect but I cam cope with it now - and I am happy, which throws a different light on everything. So I can see where you are and just offer a little reassurance that your life isn't fixed, it can move forward - and I know it will x

We all have our "right time" - and you will know when yours comes along, RJ You deserve better and it will come.... X

My doc said to me this week that I was brave to have the surgery - and that I was to be applauded for saving my own life :-)))))

Lol, we all make mistakes... As long as we learn, which it sounds like you have! You are still pretty early in your sleeve, so better to exercise caution when you have something new. As you found out, even the smallest taste can have immediate consequences. I wasn't allowed anything solid until I was six weeks out and even then, it took me until I was about 12 weeks to feel confident about eating a lot of things. Congratulations on your great weight loss, what an amazing start for you... Good luck in 2014 :-)

Lynzi, relax, until you are back on solids, you don't really feel the full effect of your sleeve - trust me, you will :-) in a few weeks time you may even be posting about how little you can eat compared to before, lol. You haven't wasted anything but you need to be patient. Your stomach is likely to still be numb from surgery so be careful, you may not feel anything if you put too much in. So stick to the plan you got from your surgeon, the time will pass and you will lose weight - and eat less!!!! Merry Christmas

What a transformation, you look amazing - and even younger! Merry Christmas and here's to an even more successful 2014!

Miss Mac, congratulations on joining the sleeved side. Hope you and Bossy Bess have a good recovery and much success! Merry Christmas :-) x

Since April, I have chucked out 24 bin bags of clothes. I did it as I went and just haven't stopped to think - if it didn't fit any more, out it went. I have dropped 6 sizes, now a UK 10/12 and for the first time in my life I have a wardrobe full of clothes that fit. None for the future, none from the past. Pretty cathartic and strangely calming lol!

Merry Christmas Mokee, I hope you, your husband and boys have a very peaceful and happy time. X

Tropical Lover, had the consultation and surgeon was actually shocked at how bad m boobs are without my bra! I could see him looking at me with my clothes in and wondering what my problem was.... He immediately changed his mind when he saw me without the underwear, lol! I am planning to have the surgery, trying to get the timing right. Probably will leave it to my summer hols and use the time then. Have lost volume since I posted, now a 32G but they ain't looking any better :-)))) But now looking at all the other saggy bits and wondering if I am brave enough to deal with them...

Congratulations, you look amazing! Thanks for sticking around the site, have read your posts since being sleeved and on many occasions, your calm comments and insight have helped more than you may realise. Merry Christmas and here's to a good new year x

Chris1142, good on you, life is for living and at 71 you still have lots left to do! I can only speak for me but I have no regrets. Easy option? No. Effective? Yes. Life-changing - oh yes! Like you, I have fought my weight for most of my life - so I keep taking sneaky looks at myself as I can't believe it's me. My health has improved beyond all recognition from April this year. And I am so happy at the way life is going and the feeling that this is it, I have found the way to keep me fit and healthy for the rest of my life. No one else is doing it for me, I am doing it for myself. All good wishes for Feb, keep posting so we know how you do! x

Yes, we sleevers have a bit of an advantage with our sleeve - but only if we choose to exercise that advantage. Which is where LL's "doing it on our own" comes in. Being sleeved doesn't automatically guarantee weight loss - it is not the magic bullet to resolve weight issues because like every weight loss option, we can wreck it. If our heads aren't with the programme, we can eat round our sleeves with ease irrespective of restriction. For me, my sleeve has worked because I made it so. It could have been otherwise but I have worked hard to be successful. For that, I am taking the credit ????

My only issue was I struggled getting in and out of bed for the first few days and slept propped up at night - was helped into bed by my son. But didn't really need any help during the day. Just made sure you have supplies in for the first week and take it easy. Good luck!