Babbs

Good luck! Walk walk walk, sip sip sip! See you on the other side!

I hated realizing I was one of the biggest people in the room. Also, I have 3 other sisters and was always the fattest. Now I weigh less than 2 of them

Every one of these!

He initially lost about 125lbs, and got a little thin, so he gained 20 after about a year and a half. Kept it off until last year when we both quit smoking before my surgery. He gained 30 more pounds, subsequently panicked, and has worked hard to lose it again (he also started smoking again...boooo). He just watches carbs and portions most of the time. No formal excerise program, just very busy and active most of the time. He's a putterer as I call him. He putters around finding stuff to do to keep him busy other than eat

Honestly? Hard to say. The sleeve hasn't been around long enough yet to gauge the long term success. But the good news is it doesn't matter one bit which surgery you have! Long term, the sleeve AND bypass become less effective over time for various reasons. It's just the normal progression of things. My hubs had a bypass 9 years ago, and can now eat and drink normal (albeit a bit smaller than typical Americans) portions. That's why at this point, it's up to HIM to eat either a normal portion of unhealthy, fattening food, or a normal portion of nutritious, healthy food. The bypass isn't going to choose for him. It never really did! That's why it's so important to cement healthy eating habits during the all important "honeymoon" period whether you have the sleeve or bypass. That way you have the proper habits to maintain your weight when the surgeries are no longer as effective at allowing portion and hunger control. Just like the saying goes, all good things must come to an end

Thanks I'm 5'7" bmi charts say I should be 130-150. I'll be satisfied where I'm in less pain and active, we'll see where that lands number wise. I'm sure 160 or 150 will feel much better and at that point my Dr said he will do a back mri to see what's going on. Until then it's just pain management. As for clothes, do you ever not feel like wearing form fitting clothes? I feel like hiding in the morning and I wear my sweatchirts, then by afternoon I put on something lighter All I know is you look great now, and I almost think at 5'7" you would look almost too thin at 150. But that's not my call is it? It's what YOU are comfortable with. It's so hard getting out of that invisible mode for some people. I have never had that issue much, lol. Although I have introverted tendencies, I'm more of an extrovert. So even being heavier, I liked to dress well and look my absolute best. I'm telling you sweetie, once your family takes you shopping and you are sporting clothes that fit properly and the complements come rolling in about how fab you look, you'll feel a little less like hiding You need to show the world how hard you've worked and be proud!

Awesome job! You look great and so happy! Firstly, I would suggest buying clothes that fit properly and you feel great in. That really helps with goals and motivation. When you look and feel great, you wanna keep it going. I would make smaller goals at this point to get you to your final goal weight. Excerise 10 minutes more a day. Say you want to lose 5 more pounds by October, or X amount by the new year. If you make solid but smaller goals, the task to get that last push doesn't seem so daunting. I can also tell you I feel better physically and more confident with my body at almost 150 than I did at 180. You're even taller than I am, so I would think you would at 160. It's amazing the difference even 20 or 30 pounds make!

The first stall at 3 weeks out is completely normal and different than a stall at 11 months out. You need to reevaluate what you're doing and then change it up. Your body has either gotten complacent, or there are certain behaviors sneaking back in that are causing you to stall. If you're not tracking.and measuring portions, start. If you're not excersising at least 4 or 5 days a week 30 minutes a day, start. If you are, change it up. Excerise smarter. If you're not getting 64oz of Water, drink up! Are you ALWAYS eating protien first to keep you full and satisfied? If not, start. Have you let too much sugar or white carbs sneak into your diet? If so, stop it! I'm the queen of stalls. I've had at least a half a dozen in almost a year. You either gotta change things up, or wait them out. I prefer to be proactive and change things up. Good luck!

It's the 3 week stall that everyone goes through. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Stay hydrated, eat your protien and let it pass. This won't be your last stall, either, but a stall this early out is a physiological thing that happens to everyone after large losses the first weeks. Stalls later out are probably more behaviors causing them. So at this time, just keep doing what you're doing and it will pass.

It happens to 99% of us. And it won't be your last stall, either. Like @@Inner Surfer Girl said, keep getting your fluids and protien, stay off the scale for a while and let it pass. Nothing more you can do at this point. Now stalls later down the road could be a different story....

My surgeon no longer does the band, either. He says there have been to many problems with it. I do notice with the band that the people who have had success with it, REALLY have success with it. Like getting to even below goal weight and most importantly, KEEPING it off long term. Unfortunately we are seeing more problems than successes.

All the sleeve surgery does is restrict the amount you can eat at one time. It can also curb physical hunger, but if someone is an emotional eater that won't make much difference. Weight loss surgery is only a treatment for obesity, not a cure. It's hard work to get over the dependence on food we all seem to have. You working with a therapist is a great step. The reason WLS fails for so many people is because they never can get into the mindset they need to be successful. You can find ways to eat around the sleeve, bypass etc, so if you're not 100% committed to changing your lifestyle and getting the professional help needed to do it, no amount of surgeries will work. Sure, the malabsorbtion surgeries will help you lose weight, but as soon as things stretch out and you're able to eat more, if you haven't changed your eating habits and lifestyle, you are at a very high risk of regain. Please keep working with your therapist and make sure you are 100% comitted to the lifestyle, or sadly, it will all be for not. It's not going to be easy, but so worth it! Good luck to you!

@@Bufflehead I eat almost EXACTLY like you! Well, sometimes my cheese isn't in small amounts I love it so!

I'm trying to figure this out as right now. A couple of problems I'm having now that I'm so close to goal: The last time I was this size was 20 years ago. I am an almost 50 year old woman (well, 48) now. I'm trying really hard as a size 6-8 to resist the urge to buy and wear the clothes meant for women in their 20's and 30's. I mean, some of them are so cute! But I would probably look ridiculous in some of them, lol. But I also want to show off my new figure and not dress like an old woman. I've been going online and researching quite a bit on how to dress my age but still be sexy Now that I'm pretty darn close to goal, I know now I can finally go out and start my new wardrobe. I have picked and searched my way through clearance racks on my way down. I know I've spent quite a bit of money, too. I'm a Realtor, so I still have to keep a professional wardrobe. I've done all my summer shopping, (some of those clothes are even now too big) but now fall will be upon us and I will need a whole new fall wardrobe. It's getting expensive! But now at least I know I won't be going down much more, so what I buy I keep. I know it's a good problem to have, and I love clothes shopping now, but damn my credit cards have been getting a work out! Clearance racks, discount stores and consignment stores will be your friend throuout this, and by the time you've hit goal you can hopefully figure out your own style for the more "permanent" purchases.

I am one of those who have shared my WLS on Facebook. I have shared many of my goals, scale victories and non scale victories. Not every single one, because I don't want people to think that's all I talk about, but the BIG ones, like the first time I ran the distance of a 5K, or when I reached 80 pounds lost. I would update everyone how close I was to my 5K goal periodically. I got so much love and encouragement, it kept me going. I've even been told I was an inspiration a time or two. That always helps me strive to be the best that I can be, and keeps me motivated to lead by example and set new goals. I have the best, most supportive friends and family in the world!

@RJ'S/beginning I get it. The first time a doctor called me "morbidly obese" I wanted to cry And I can understand the shock of you seeing it on your chart now, when you are actually on the "normal" BMI category. I would have felt it too, until I thought about it a little. But my initial reaction would be like "Hey! How DARE you say I'm STILL OBESE!" Lol.

@@SWEETTEA I don't want to derail the thread, but yes, I had a doctor explain it to me that way. We have the disease obesity. And like any disease, there are treatments and there are cures. WLS is a treatment for the disease, not the cure. Eating right, exercising, tracking calories etc is the treatment, not the cure. That's why if you stop the treatment, the symptoms of the disease return (weight gain). Made total sense to me.

It's just a medical term. We all suffer from the disease of obesity. Just like an alcoholic, even if you stop drinking, you are still considered an alcoholic.

@@mykdzmom I hate to disagree with you, but the weight loss will not be as steady as you describe it. She will not STEADILY lose 2- 2.5 pounds week after week until goal. There's going to be weeks where she loses nothing. Weeks where she may even gain. Weeks where she loses ounces. Weeks where she loses 3 or 4 pounds. Weight loss, especially with the sleeve, is not Fluid. If you put it to a graph, it will look more like the steps of stairs as opposed to a steady downward slide. Oh, if it could only be that easy! Anyway, just wanting people to know so nobody thinks they suck at this or are a big failure if the weight doesn't just fall off every week as time goes by. That's not how this works.

Just remember, liquids go down easier. I could drink quite a bit pretty quickly too that early out, and it worried me too. Wait until you actually start real food. You'll feel the restriction then for sure when you can only take a few bites at a time And the "hunger" will subside when you can actually chew.

@@Aribay1 Good job on the tracking and figuring out what the problem may be! Keep us posted on how it's going!

I'm glad you're going ahead with the surgery. It doesn't surprise me to see the hesitation with you and others saying to cancel. We are so used to not taking care of ourselves and worrying about everyone else, it's hard to get out of that mode. Those babies and your daughter will have the best care possible, and you will be up and at em before you know it to help out and hold those sweet babies! Good luck with your upcoming surgery and the impending births of grandbabies!

Is it on your plan for for liquids? Do you have a list of approved liquids for this phase? Yes, it's hard. But a lot of this whole journey is hard. Change is hard. But if you really want to do this and be successful, you've got to follow the plan. You've got to learn to delay gratification. You're going to have to do it a lot to lose weight and keep it off. You're 3 days post op. If yougurt is not on your plan at this phase then stick with your liquids and let yourself heal for goodness sakes. It will get easier as time goes on.

Yay Kate!! Amazing feeling, isn't it??

At almost 1 year out, my life is totally normal. I go out with friends, hike, vacation, go shopping, go to the gym and run, take my dogs on a walk, spend time with my grown kids.... See how none of it revolves around food? That's my new normal. I hope it will be yours, too.