smaller_Alex

Let me start off by saying i've been lurking on this site for over a year now (since I decided to get sleeved). The site and all the helpful people on it have been an invaluable resource for encouragement and information. That said, I got on the scale this morning and was below 200lbs for the first time in about 16 years!!! 199.5. It's almost difficult to even comprehend this number is my actual weight. When i was at 372 lbs, I felt completely hopeless and had almost resigned myself to the idea that I would probably die of a heart attack or stroke in the not-too-distant future. My blood pressure and cholesterol were high. My resting heart rate was 95bpm. I had sleep apnea. I was on medication for my problems and had to sleep with a cpap machine to help me breathe. I had severe back pain ALL the time. My ankles, knees, and hips were always aching. It was hard to get out of bed, very hard to get off the sofa, and almost impossible to get off the floor. I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without getting severely winded. I couldn't play with my kids (16months and 4 years old at the time) the way i wanted to. I never went out and didn't want people to come to my house since I was so ashamed. I was physically addicted to food and no matter how hard I tried, I just could not lose weight. I'm sure many of you can relate. I lost 20 lbs before my surgery on a 3 week liquid diet. I was 350 lbs exactly on the day of the surgery (12/19/2013). I've now lost 172 lbs total and my entire life is 200% different. Sleep Apnea is gone. No more body aches and pains. I'm out of the house more in the past 6 months than I have been in the previous 5 years. My relationship with my wife and kids is much improved. Our quality of life has gone from poor to amazing. My wife has also lost 50 lbs since my surgery and she has about another 30 to go. I'm posting this in hopes of inspiring others the way I have been inspired over the past year on this site. If you are reading this and aren't sure about getting the surgery, just go for it. I have absolutely zero regrets about it. The changes it has made in my life and my family's lives cannot be measured. If you are stuck in a stall, don't get down on yourself. We all go through it. It WILL pass. A huge thanks to all the wonderful and positive folks on this forum who have shared their experiences and troubles. Some of the things I learned from you folks have really helped me through a lot of dark moments over the past year.

Hi Sleevers. So, i've lost about 125 lbs since my 3 week pre-op diet 7 months ago and i'm feeling really great about life in general. My mood is great, my outlook is amazing, and my quality of life has gone way, way WAY up. i'm doing things that I haven't done in about 10 years. I'm going to start hiking and mountain biking (like on actual mountain trails). The ONLY drawback I have experienced has been hair loss. Now, my hair was starting to thin out a bit before the surgery but about 2 months out, it started coming out A LOT. I know it's supposed to grow back after the weight loss is complete, but will my hair grow back even though it was starting to thin anyway? I imagine i'm going to have a bald spot in a few years, but I was hoping to have my hair for a while after I reach my goal weight (for a little while at least...lol).

Yes, I usually get my Vitamins in. multi twice per day, Calcium, B12, and D3. 18-20 grams of Protein each meal (Breakfast, lunch, dinner). Two 17g Protein shakes in between.

I had dizziness due to dehydration, but when it was really bad and sudden the way you are describing it was due to my blood pressure medication. About 3 weeks after surgery I was down almost 50 lbs(including 3 week pre-op diet...full liquid). Turns out my BP improved so much after that amount of weight loss, I needed to get the medication lowered. Saw the doc the next day and stopped one of the meds. no more dizziness.

I was stuck for 2 straight weeks at the same weight about a month ago. I felt like a complete and total failure and loser. I got so depressed and annoyed that I didn't really know what to do. On the 12th day, I said "screw it... this isn't working, i'm going to binge". I told my wife to get some wings from wing zone with a bunch of sides. I was ready to tear into them and completely give up. I was able to eat one and a half wing pieces and half of a potato wedge. It was the funniest thing ever and completely lifted my spirits. That's when it became clear to me that the sleeve was not the answer to all my weight problems, but was an extremely useful tool to help me lose weight. My binge consisted of about 250 calories...total. lol 3 days later was weigh in day and I was down 3 lbs. I've lost another 15 lbs since. All you can do is make sure you are getting all your Protein, Water, exercise and Vitamins. If you are stuck in a workout routine, change it up. Do squats. Squats are super easy to do and they workout the largest muscle group in your body and you can get away with doing them daily. The more muscle you have, the more calories(fat) can be burned while resting. In any case, don't agonize. Be patient and understand that this is part of the process. Plateaus happen with weight loss, weight gain, muscle gain, etc.

I'm 7 weeks out and was worried about the same thing. Nut, surgeon, and surgeons nurse all said the same thing. The most important thing the first few weeks is to get fluids in. At this stage i'm still struggling to get 80g of Protein per day. But now i'm going to go look up this protein shot in the previous post.

I had dizziness and lightheadedness also. I lost about 50 lbs 3 weeks before and 3 weeks after the surgery. My surgeon said it was almost certainly due to low blood pressure (it was low when I went in for my post surgery follow up). He sent me to my doc the next day and I had my BP medication reduced and I haven't had any dizziness since.

Drink Water... Drink water... Drink water... This cannot be stressed enough. Getting fluids is just as important as getting Protein, getting exercise, etc. Not getting enough water can definitely cause you to not lose weight. Being even slightly dehydrated can cause imbalances in your body that can inhibit weight loss. I'm not saying that is what your problem is, but the fact that you know you aren't getting enough water is a good start. Take care of the problems you know about and rule it out as an issue. For me, drinking water was just about the ONLY thing I did correctly from a nutrition standpoint all my life. I would almost always get 2 liters of water in every single day. I loved drinking water. When i wouldn't get in enough water, I would absolutely feel it in various ways. I am 4 weeks out and I have just been able to get in 55-60 ounces of water for the past few days and I feel SO much better than when i was only getting 30-35 for the past few weeks. I was also stalled, but since I started getting in the fluids, the scale has moved again. How important is water? Go without it for a few days and you die.

I was sleeved on Dec. 19th. It's now the 27th. I've lost a total of 18lbs in 8 days. I expected to lose lots of weight, but this seems almost dangerous. While it feels awesome to see my cloths much looser after only 1 week, i'm feeling a little bit weak and just weird. I'm only able to get about 3oz of Protein shake or 2.5oz of cream Soup with a 1/2 scoop of Protein powder at a time. I'm also getting about 24oz of Water. I'm going to start drinking Isopure instead of water to increase my calorie intake. If i don't feel better by tomorrow, i'm making an emergency call to the surgeon. I wanted to get some opinions here before I call the doc sounding like a lunatic.

I was sleeved 12/19. I'm having the same issue. Night before last, I couldn't fall asleep until 7AM and couldn't take a nap during the day. I finally fell asleep around 3AM this morning and slept until 8:30am. The days before that since surgery, I would sleep an hour or 2 at a time throughout the day. I just assume it is part of the process and will work itself out. Having most of a major organ ripped out of your body, then eating/drinking very little is pretty traumatic. I cope with it by just relaxing and listening to the Game of Thrones audio books. Takes my mind off the discomfort and pain while passing the time nicely.

Well, i'm certainly at ease now. Thanks for the responses. My wife ran out yesterday to get Isopure. I had a bottle in lieu of regular Water and I actually feel much less weak this morning.

Wow, i just posted a thread because I lost 18lbs in 8 days and was concerned if that was too much. Glad to hear that other people are having the same kind of results. I was seriously worried when I noticed that I lost so much in a week.