natmo2431

I know I have written about this topic before, but for some reason I can not find the thread. So I wanted to rewrite my own personal goals and hopefully a few of you will share with me also! I am not putting this in any particular order because I have reached some of my milestones and can't actually remember what other ones I had before. But I would like to be able to go back and see how far I have come! Lose 10 pounds Walk 3 miles Lose 20 pounds Lose 30 pounds Wear size 18 jeans Run a mile in 10 minutes Reach lowest weight in 5 years (227) Lose 50 pounds (SOOO CLOSE) Run two miles Wear size 16 jeans Run 3 miles Become a Zumba Instructor Run a 5K (planned for next spring!) Shop in a store I could not fit into before Reach Onederland! Hopefully before my next appointment in January! Wear size 14 jeans Lose 75 pounds Lose 100 pounds Wear jeans in the single digits Lose 115 pounds Goal! I will come back as I think of more goals. Right now I am happy but I am not. I am happy that I have reached a weight I haven't been in more then 8 years, but I am not as happy that it is not coming off as quick as I had hoped. But it just means I need to start getting myself in check, eat right and work harder. No more excuses that its the holiday season and everyone slacks off haha

If I had that body I would buy them! You look great! I hope that in a year I can share a similar story!

Thank you for posting this! I am about three months out and have had "intense hunger cravings" and read your post and realized that my sinus infection (that I had for 5 weeks and went through 3 antibiotics for) might be the culprit behind it. I take a 24 hour allergy pill every day but was still having that drip happening, so now I am taking a nasal decongestant along with benadryl when I get home (can't sleep at my desk at work unfortunately) and have gotten the hunger under control.

Good luck to you!

Congrats!!

I just bought a LBD yesterday! It's a little snug right now, but I am hoping it will look good for a Christmas party or New Years! That's my motivation! lol My other two LBD's are a little big and just don't look right anymore! Keep up the good work everyone!

Have any of you been measuring inches rather then watching the scale? I have been at about the same weight for 3 weeks now and am almost 2 months out (3 week stall apparently according to my doctor). I measured my thighs, calfs, arms, waist, hips and neck and between 9/13/13-9/30/13 I had lost 11.5 inches overall. I just would have wished I measured myself before surgery. One pant size and two shirt sizes in a month and a half was a good achievement even though the scale wasn't moving. Just continue doing what you're suppose too and the scale will start moving again. I am going to start tracking my calories and protein using the app LoseIt! just to start keeping myself honest and hopefully I will see the scale move again.

Have any of you been measuring inches rather then watching the scale? I have been at about the same weight for 3 weeks now and am almost 2 months out (3 week stall apparently according to my doctor). I measured my thighs, calfs, arms, waist, hips and neck and between 9/13/13-9/30/13 I had lost 11.5 inches overall. I just would have wished I measured myself before surgery. One pant size and two shirt sizes in a month and a half was a good achievement even though the scale wasn't moving. Just continue doing what you're suppose too and the scale will start moving again. I am going to start tracking my calories and protein using the app LoseIt! just to start keeping myself honest and hopefully I will see the scale move again.

It is completely normal. I know most days I struggle to keep a schedule to eat because I don't feel hungry at all so I have to remind myself to eat. Other days, like when I went to a birthday dinner and they were having a pork chop with mash potatoes, couple types of muffins, stuffing, veggies, coleslaw, and then of course cake and ice cream, I found myself craving that food even though I had eaten before we went to the party and knew I wasn't truly hungry. The moment they finished, it was like that hunger and cravings started to go away. I knew my stomach wasn't growling, I wasn't feeling like I was light headed from not eating, and that my mind was craving it but my body was saying it was fine, so it wasn't hunger, it was my mind playing tricks. But there has been a day where I was just on the go so much and forgot to grab a cheese stick and Protein shake, so I went until 8 or 9 that night without food (I did drink water), and though it wasn't the same signs of hunger I would have had before, I knew my body was hungry because of the way in which I felt. It sort of felt like my body was telling me it needed to be replenished. Protein shakes I instantly have this full sensation and struggle with. But I know I have drink them so I just keep sipping them like I do my Water until I have drank all of it. I did have to try a few different types before I found ones that I could drink enough of. There were some that only a few sips would make me feel completely full and I'd need to lay down. broth the only time I had a problem was when I was in the hospital, and it was because the broth was extremely salty. I made sure to do the fat free low sodium and seemed to only be able to tolerate chicken broth because the beef still seemed to salty. It may change as time goes on. I think as time passes, you start to get use to the way your body reacts or doesn't react. I know before if I would have missed eating a meal, I would have an instant headache. Like I said now it's funny I have to force myself to remember to eat because I will forget. Good luck to you!

Great motivation! Thank you!

Honestly, I am still surprised at how smoothly everything went for me. Here are a couple things that I have had to go online to look up because I was worried or didn't know why it was happening, etc: 1. Going to the bathroom. Yes this is my number one thing I worried about for a week or two! My grandmother actually died from her intestines rupturing so I was worried that there was a blockage, or that something like that could happen to me... not because I was on a liquid diet for two weeks prior and didn't have anything to produce any amount of waste to dispose of... but I still went online to make sure it was normal. 2. Hitting a stall 3 to 6 weeks out. I was dropping weight, feeling great, even noticing my clothes falling off me, then the scale wouldn't move for two weeks. I was extremely discouraged. But finally I stepped up my exercising, went from walking to jogging, and then even going to the gym. Eventually I came over that little stall. 3. Hunger will completely go away. Its kind of a weird feeling. Some times I feel like I am very hungry and start craving the strangest things. But before it would be to indulge that craving, now when I think about it, my stomach isn't growling, I can easily think of something else, and I can even replace that feeling with a healthy variation. If I wanted something salty, I eat a little Peanut Butter. If I want something hardy, I make sure to eat some chicken salad with maybe a little curry on top. Don't get me wrong, I've had that feeling twice in almost two months, and it probably was stress related. But the idea that the surgery takes away all hunger isn't completely true I feel. You just have to teach yourself the difference between do you really need food, or are you just thirsty? or are you just wanting it because you can't have it? 4. You'll forget to eat. But don't forget to eat! That's pretty self explanatory, we're already not eating much, so our body needs every bit of fuel we can get. I struggle daily to get my Breakfast in, so my schedule starts kind of late. Something I will talk to my doctor with on Thursday. 5. Drink your Water and your Protein shakes! Water aids with weight loss, and makes you feel so much better. I battled with dehydration and when I over came it I felt more apt to want to go and do thing. Protein shakes I am still testing out. Some of them fill me after two sips, so I have been switching around to find the best option for myself. My sister had the surgery and had no problem with shakes. So it's different for everyone. The moment I started drinking the right about of water and protein shakes, I over came my stall though, so it is very important. Those are just five things that I have dealt with in my month and a half since my surgery (August 8). I have to say, one of my biggest things that I tell anyone that asks me how I feel is I feel absolutely amazing considering I had the majority of a major organ removed from my body. Usually they kind of look at me like I'm delusional but its the truth. The day after I got home from the hospital I walked two miles! I needed a nap afterwards, but I was just amazed that I felt well enough to accomplish that (took me an hour but who cares!). So it really is a case by case situation. You could have complications, or you could have it as easy as I did. Most days I wake up and have to remind myself that I had it done. Even just last Friday at the gym, after running on the elliptical for a half hour (never did that before) I went to the water fountain to drink some water and had to stop myself because I took two big gulps. I feel like its easy to forget when you start feeling so well that you still need to keep up with everything. Good luck with everything! It isn't easy by any means, because it is life changing, but with the right mindset you can achieve anything you want to!

I didn't even think about the plane seats. I traveled quite a few times in the past year and I was always sitting in my seat praying that the middle seat was empty so that I didn't have to sit on the plane for 4 hours touching someone else. I had a man actually get mad and he tried jamming the arm rest down to create his barrier. I carry most of my weight in my hips and thighs so that arm rest wasn't going anywhere. I'm thinking about traveling this year for my birthday in 3 months. I'll be curious to see how I fit in the seat now! We will all get there if we put our minds to it

This is me, 30 pounds lighter! I think it all came from my face, neck and feet but I'm starting to like the way I look! Today, after 2 and a half weeks of being on a stall, I hit my first milestone. I not only finally hit the 30 pound mark, but I also have less then 100 pounds to go! WHOOPWHOOP!! I didn't really think it was a big deal to set little goals, but this feeling is wonderful today! Especially with being so frustrated not moving the scale at all (even though my clothes all are baggy and falling off me, and I was able to buy a shirt from a store I haven't shopped at since I was in high school). So today I decided these little goals are a big deal and that I need to start setting some. I overall said I wanted my first big goal to be getting the Onederland (under 200 pounds). But I think setting mini goals along the way helps keep you motivated and feeling accomplished. So here are some of my goals: Weight Goals 1: Lose 30 pounds DONE 2: Have less then 100 pounds to lose DONE 3: Weigh less then 225 pounds (smallest weight I have been in the past 7 years) 4: Make it to Onederland 5: Weigh 190 6: Weigh 175 7: Weigh 160 (my weight pretty much all through high school) 8: Weigh 150 9: Weigh 145 10:Weigh 140 11: Reach my goal of 135 12: Reach a single digit size pair of pants/jeans (unsure at what weight that may be) Fitness Goals: 1: Run a mile in less then 10 minutes 2: Run a 5K (by next spring... Couch to 5K work your magic!) 3: Become a jogger. 4: Ride in the "Ride for Missing Children" bicycle ride (100 miles in 2015) 5: Become a Zumba instructor 6: Run a 10K Now I know getting down to 135 might be a little far fetch for me, and I might adjust the goal as I go, but I think if I put my mind to it I could get there! I'd love to hear some peoples goals they have set for themselves!

I've only ran into two people who were negative towards me. My uncle and my coworker. My uncle said that it was the easy way out and that its too dangerous and kept pushing me to not have it. I finally told him I was going through with it, it was my decision, and that the surgery he was thinking about was 15 years ago. I told him they have come a long way. My coworker I still have problems with to this day, and probably should speak to HR about them. She made it very clear that she was against it and that eating the right things and exercising would work (even though she knows how much I was working out every day and watching what I ate, because she told me that I needed to get a new hobby after work and stop eating salads because it makes her feel bad), but still decided to ask questions. So I thought by answering the questions, I could make her see why this was the best decision for me. She still seemed to have her doubts, but I figured it was more related to concerns due to the amount of get well messages she text me while I was in the hospital and the week after. When I finally came back to work, she had told everyone that I work with that I had the surgery. There is only myself, my boss and this one individual in my office, but she had gone to other offices and departments to share with them why I was out. It wasn't really her business to share, and the only reason I shared with her is because I thought I could trust her, and like I said there's only three of us in the office. So when I first returned, I was treated like someone close to me had just died. Everyone just had a look of sympathy and treated me like I was about to break at any moment. Then once I proved that I was fine, with the help of some others that had gastric bypass, everything seemed to get back to normal, and I even started receiving compliments. Then I hit a stall. I was very frustrated and after days of her continuously asking how I was doing, I caved and mentioned that I was stuck. BIG MISTAKE. Next thing I knew, I had another woman who had the gastric bypass several years back (who doesn't even work in the same building as us) came to my office and sit down and tell me that it sometimes happens but keep doing what I am doing. Another woman was trying to give me advice. The third just wanted to keep complimenting me to try and make me feel better. So I was blown away that my coworker yet again went and told other people my business. So when I confronted her about it, she told me that she just sees me struggling so bad and would never be able to do what I am doing. I am not struggling, and I told her that I'm not and that I don't know why she assumes that I am. And she said well you can't eat hardly anything. I told her its not that I can't, its that I don't want to. Also when they remove the majority of your stomach, the idea is so that less amount of food is required to fill you. I just am so frustrated with this woman. I should have known better then to ever open my mouth to her, but being such a small office, I felt compelled too. Its come to the point of not sharing any information at all. When she asks how I'm doing, I just ignore her and remind myself how far I have come and how great I feel. I have let me boss know of my frustrations, and spoke candidly to my HR person just in case she starts gossip again. My advice, share the information with only those you want too. Something I read was that the sleeve patients lose slower then bypass patients, so depending on how much you need to lose you may be able to get away with not telling anyone. I know my cousins coworker had it done, people assumed she did, but she insisted it was just diet and exercise. I was lucky to have so many people support me and it (I don't count the majority of them telling me I wasn't that big, because just saying that meant I was big and needed something done). And another big thing is just let the negativity just roll right off you. If you try to be a positive thinker, it will out weigh the negativity anyone is trying to throw your way.

I had strange cravings for me personally. Spicy food though I'm allergic to peppers (assuming all kinds because I have had reactions to bell peppers, jalapenos and hot sauces). The next craving was alcohol, especially wine. I didn't drink much before hand, and wine was the last choice on my list if I did. And lastly a burger. I was never one to eat red meat but for some reason I just wanted to go to Ruby Tuesday and eat one of their new burgers they had on the commercials. Then I realized all of my food cravings were related to commercials (Burger King with new boneless wings, wine tastings in the Finger Lakes, and Ruby Tuesday pretzel burgers). I'm not one to watch much TV but I couldn't believe how much it was influencing my thinking/cravings. I am much better now, but those first few weeks were tough. I just don't understand why those certain foods, especially when we all know there are a million other food commercials out there. It wasn't something that I craved or desired before hand so why was it after surgery.

You sound exactly like I do right now! I'm so glad because I was starting to feel discouraged about the stall. I am exactly one month out from my surgery and have not lost a pound in 5 days. I am walking and even starting to jog a little bit everyday. Doing so much better with my liquids. I am down a shirt size, my really tight pants before surgery are loose. My ring that was made for my middle finger is now back to that finger rather then being tight on my ring finger. And though I do get cravings every now and then (doesn't help when my mother is bringing cake or pizza around me all the time), I realized that in order to achieve weight loss, I need to view food not as a reward, but just as a necessity. Only eat when I need to fuel like you said. Thank you for this post.

I was so nervous, I started sweating through my gown at the hospital. The nurses felt horrible but I told them once I calm down I will stop sweating, it just happens when I am nervous. Good luck to you! Would love to hear your experience! I just had it done last Thursday.

Little background about myself: 24 years old 5'7" Largest weight 285 Smallest weight in past 7 years 221. Couldn't keep off any weight I would lose. Would start to gain it back and then some. Last weigh in with the doctor (over two weeks ago) 264 Today's weight 254 (liquid diet before surgery, did not lose 10 pounds in 5 days!) I've actually thought about bariatric surgery for quite sometime. I never went through with it because I had a boyfriend for seven years that insisted that I shouldn't. Finally after we broke up the first thing I wanted to do was call the doctors and find out more. My first appointment with my regular doctor was February 28, 2013. My information session with the head of surgery was March 19, 2013. My surgery was last Thursday August 8, 2013! So everything seemed like it flew right by. The reason I chose this particular surgery was my surgeon. He had his reasons, and I agreed with what they were. And I'm glad he did because there was no need for me to have bypass. I had never had any major surgery before this, so my nerves were on end. I was using the bathroom every 15 minutes so by the time they needed a sample, I barely could squeeze anything out! Heperane (spelling?) shot before surgery scared me. I asked for it in my arm instead of my belly. My arm felt like it was ready to fall off and I have a bruise the size of two golf balls! Get it in your belly! It didn't hurt as much! So then they took me to the OR. I think there were people trying to talk to me but I feel as though I was in a panic that nothing registered. Then I woke up as they were wheeling me to my room. I passed my parents in the hall. Gave them a "oh hey, fancy meeting you here!" And then realized I was going to be ok. That day, I was up moving like required. I couldn't stop burping from all the gas they injected me with. I took it fast at first but quickly realized I needed to go slower. Was amazed at the way I felt. Used the bathroom what felt like a million times throughout the night. Was doing ok. I found out that if I put the head of my hospital bed up high, and used the two pillows, the acid reflux didn't bother me as much. If it started too, or there was a burp, I could easily sit forward and hunch over, rocking myself back and forth until I felt relief. The doctor said I only used the pump 12 times in about 15 hours. I remember only needed it right after I was up for the bathroom or walking. Too much movement would cause for it. But I also have a high tolerance for pain. Day two was when they wanted me to try the "Water trials." I never thought little medicine cups could be my worse enemy. First medicine cup in an hour, perfectly fine. Second two in one hour, a little bit of a struggle. Now I was feeling full and they wanted three more in that hour. Well through the first half was when the foamy vomit came up. After that there wasn't a single thing all day that could touch my stomach without vomit. So it really concerned my doctor, but I vowed to do better on Saturday because quite honestly, I didn't want to be in the hospital again. So with the threat of keeping me longer, on the third day I did the water trials a little different. When I sipped, I made sure just to take in water, not air with my sip. I made sure to exhale before swallowing and then just gave myself a 15 minute break between each trial. This time I also used semi cold water instead of ice cold, which felt better in my stomach. I got through the water trials. I ate my Jello and broth. And I pleaded they let me go home. My surgeon was hesitant because of all the vomit the day before, but was very please with the progress Saturday so he let me go. I got home, and nothing seemed comfortable. My bed, which provided the most relief, was and still is the other please to not cause so much discomfort. I have been drinking nonstop to stay hydrated. Mots for Tots watered down has become my best friend! I tried multiple Protein shakes, and all of them make my stomach turn. So I hate to say it, but I have not had nearly enough protein since I got home. Tomorrow I will try yet another one. Walking is now a breeze. I walked over a mile yesterday with my father. I sat for a minute or two to rest half way through, but we made it! Plus I walked around a Walmart along with around the block twice. Today I measured 1.59 miles in two walks. It really does help relieve the built up pressure from the gas. I'll add more later. I'm hoping this is a good support group for experiences and questions! Thanks everyone!