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Wonderful! Good luck on your journey! I don't think you will regret your decision. It has been the best journey of my life!

Wow! That will be one busy appointment! As far as reading negative things, don't let that scare you. I remember reading the "weight gained since having surgery" thread on this site before having my sleeve surgery and nearly backing out of it because of it. If you take the opportunity this surgery gives you, follow the plan, and do the emotional and physical work you need to do, you will do great! If you want to read some positives instead of negatives, feel free to check out my blog in my siggy. I've tried to share the good, the bad, and the beautiful from my first appointment on. Good luck to you on your journey!

Yep. I was vitamin d deficient so I take a weekly vit. d supplement.

I think I knew (in my head) that I had lost "enough" when my body found its resting spot if that makes sense. I've been bouncing between 135-140 for the past 6 months with pretty little effort. To me, it kind of feels like that is my natural weight. Could I push it further and get down into the 120s? Absolutely. Will I? Maybe.... Who knows. But at the same time I feel that I could stay where I am right now comfortably and maintain for the long run. As far as others' comments....I found that since they knew me for so many years at 280, when I got down below 200 the "when will you stop losing" and "you look too thin" comments started, even though I knew I still had a good 50 pounds to lose. I just take the comments for what they are....people who (for the most part) have my best interests in mind, but ultimately I worked to find a weight that felt good to me and felt maintainable. I still would like to lose that last 10 or so pounds, but at the same time, I will be totally ok if I don't :-)

I agree with what the others have said. My mom was a totally non-believer and did the same thing as your friend. She would tell me about all of the scary facts she heard about WLS, and Sharon Osborne wishes she wouldn't have had it (lol), and gee...haven't you thought about trying a diet? After a while I just had to tell her that the decision has been made, I would appreciate her support, but the topic is officially off the table for discussion. Even to this day when she comes to visit she brings loads of junk food and I swear she is trying to sabotage me. I think it's not possible in some cases to change what people think, but you can decide the extent to which you will let their opinions have an impact on you.

I didn't love the Protein shakes right after surgery. I found their consistency hard to get down. Now I drink them usually once a day. But..... some alternatives to think about.... check out the BariatricChoice.com website. In those first few weeks I did a lot of their protein Jello, protein broth, and protein hot chocolate. It gave me all the benefits of the shakes, but at a consistency that agreed a bit more with my tummy.

I agree with everyone else. The first several weeks are pretty much about surviving. Not necessarily because of pain, but just adjusting to everything, and you stomach is still very swollen, and I remember feeling so very discouraged at how much of a chore it even was just to drink Water. I promise that life will return to normal.....well, a NEW normal. You will eat again and it won't be painful or be a chore. And if you do the work, all of it will be so worth it in the end! One of my favorite mantras.... "Change is hard at the beginning, messy in the middle, gorgeous at the end."

Good question! I'm interested in the responses as well. I'm hoping to qualify for plastics in March for excess stomach and arm skin. I would love it if with that I was able to lose the last 5-10 pounds I want to lose.

The only time I really have to do the "fake" foods would be Protein shakes. So I would say right after surgery until I was able to tolerate regular foods would have been a time when I had to rely on those. Even with that though there are more natural options for shakes as well. At 14 months out my diet consists mainly of lean Proteins (fish, chicken), eggs, vegetables, and some fruit. None of that is fake or processed. Sure you could rely on those kinds of things, but you also can meet your nutritional needs with whole foods. Really you have the same choices as before, just a smaller stomach.

I would say definitely talk with your surgeon (as I am sure you will). I travelled for business from PA to Utah for a week 3 weeks after surgery. There were some moments where I felt really drained of energy, but no real issues with the travel.

Good luck and congrats on getting this far in the journey. It sounds like you have already implemented a lot of really positive changes. I'm sorry, my stats aren't similar so I can't give you feedback there, but just wanted to say that I think it sounds like you're doing great so far!

The one that I drink usually once daily is the Atkins Advantage either Cafe Caramel or Mocha Latte flavors. I also like Chike coffe flavor (but it is a mix) and Bariwise protein hot chocolate (though it is a mix as well).

My favorite Protein shakes are Premier Protein (chocolate) and chike coffee flavor. What I like even more though is protein hot chocolate (bariwise). Hope that helps!

Congrats on making the first steps in the journey. You can't worry about what other people will think. You can never change that. First of all, you don't have to tell anyone you don't want to tell. Most of the people in my life don't know I've had surgery. Secondly I think you'll find that people will be so inspired by your weight loss journey that it won't matter how you get there. Good luck to you!

On my pre-op diet I was allowed Protein shakes, broth, Water, etc. What I find that helps me is warm liquids....like hot tea if you're allowed it, etc. One thing that really gets me through (if you're allowed it) is protein hot chocolate (bariwise brand). Good luck! And this part is SO hard, but SO worth it in the end!

YES! It is totally worth it in the end. And I had a little freak out when I finally got my surgery date as well because it just becomes more real. I can honestly say though that I have not regretted it one single time. Good luck on your journey!

Great job!!! Keep up the amazing work!

I found that my body just kind of settled at a weight that seems best for it. I can comfortably sit at 140 (which is 5 pounds below my goal weight) with no real dieting effort. If I want to push it, I can go lower, but I feel like my body just kind of found it's natural weight and maintaining it is definitely manageable.

It's tough when you are losing quickly and flying down through the sizes. I had to keep up a wardrobe that fit well because of my professional position, but didn't want to spend a fortune until I got to a more stable size, so I tried a few things. First I found a good resale shop that specializes in nicer clothes. I could keep my wardrobe up for work for way cheaper this way and a lot of the times the clothes still had tags on them. Secondly I found that I could get away with them for longer in skirts as opposed to pants. In pants you can tell right away when they are baggy. Skirts you can wear a bit longer. Good luck and enjoy the new you!

You know what? That is so funny that you said that because I noticed the same thing when I watched it. You can see the smile develop as the months went on. :-)

It has been an amazing 15 months and I decided for my new year's post for my blog I would make a video with all of my progress pictures to Celebrate the journey. 15 months past and I've been at (and beyond) my goal weight - 140 pounds lost - since about 11 months post op. So I can see that I can maintain it (so far so good!!) and that is super encouraging. Anyway, just thought I'd share here for anyone interested. Here's the VIDEO!!

I weigh daily. I have every single day for the 14 months. For me, the only time I have not weighed myself daily was when I was at my highest weight because I felt like it didn't matter any way. Weighing myself daily doesn't make me crazy or dictate whether I will love myself or hate myself that day. It does keep me accountable though. For me, when I put the scale away, I am more tempted to go off plan because I am not seeing the results of the actions. Not sure if that makes sense, but it keeps me honest.

@@jess9395 Right now I would say I feel that it sustains me. On my long run each week I use energy chews. Once training picks up a bit more and the long runs get longer I will probably need to increase on the day before/day of a super long run. I usually feel pretty drained after them