*Lexie*

Little late this week. 174 this week.

How about cottage cheese? One of my favorite things at this stage was Taco Bell pintos and cheese. One tiny cup of that was like 4 meals.

Starting weight - 175 Goal weight - 165

Great progress!

I finally got brave enough to take photos after surgery. I had my 9 month appointment yesterday and the surgeon was very happy with my progress. I still have close to 30lbs to lose to hit my goal.

I love that story. You still got it!

Definitely look at your Protein and carbs. My doctor told me at my 9 month check up to be careful because this is when the carbs start sneaking their way back into the diet. I looked at my intake and it was happening and my weight loss was very slow at the time. I made adjustments and refocused on protein and I'm having one of the best months in regards to weight loss. It's not too late to turn this around.

169 this morning.

Thank you, I appreciate the clarification.

I weigh daily, can't help myself. Not sure if it's wise or not but I have to have self control in my food choices and to exercise, on this one, I give in to what I want.

I didn't tell my son I was having surgery until it was over and then I didn't really say what it was for. He has anxiety and I knew he would worry excessively about me if he knew. He was really upset just seeing me in the hospital. He was 8 at the time, I just told him I had surgery on my stomach to make me feel better. That was enough to satisfy him.

I felt that way at Thanksgiving and Christmas, my first real holidays after the sleeve. It doesn't bother me anymore. We went to a baseball game and then watched fireworks and everyone around me was eating ballpark food. I had a few bites of popcorn but overall, wasn't tempted and I didn't feel like I was missing out. That is a horrible feeling so I'm glad it went away. I'm sure it will for you too.

Congrats! Now the fun really starts. So exciting and motivating to see success for your weight loss efforts. So many amazing things are in store for you. Keep us updated on how things are going.

I was in quite a bit of pain for about 3 weeks. But I have issues with pain medicine so that could have been a contributor. I was swollen for a few months. My surgeon told me how many pounds she took off my stomach (I think it was 3) but with all the swelling, I didn't lose 3 lbs on the scale. The end result is pretty impressive though.

I normally stay out of drama on this board but this really bothered me. This is a place of support. Not a place to make fun of others. People won't want to open up and ask questions if they feel like they're going to be judged instead of helped. None of us were perfect or else we wouldn't have needed to have surgery.

Like you, I missed running but kept getting little injuries if I tried to run with all my extra weight so I just gave up. When I had my surgery, I started with walking for 20 minutes (and it wore me out). I've already ran a 5K and I'm training for a full marathon in December. Yesterday I ran 8 miles on my long run. I keep reminding myself that every pound I lose makes it a little easier to run. You can get back to it too. You'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel.

I'll do it again.

During my psych consult, they asked me if I would be satisfied if I only lost 50% of my excess weight (putting me somewhere around the 200 range). I said yes because I didn't want them to deny me the surgery but in my head I thought, hell no, I'm not going through all this to just be a little less fat. I found this message board and decided to learn everything I could to make me successful. Right now I've lost 78% of my excess weight and I'm still losing pretty steadily. So to answer the question you really have. Yes, it's a bit of work but the surgery makes it so much easier to be successful. You still have to work to lose weight, but the work is so much more manageable.

What a great story. Doesn't it feel nice to living your life instead of being a bystander?

Hi, I've had issues with throwing up often. Seems like just about anything can make me throw up. Fried food, spicy food, anything too rich, eating too fast, not chewing enough and on and on. Doctor says it could resolve itself after I'm a year out from surgery. But I've talked to someone else who it didn't resolve so I'm not sure if it will ever go away. I pretty much hate throwing up more than anything else I can imagine. The only thing I regret is not getting the surgery sooner. I've never felt so in control of my eating and weight. I have a friend from my surgeon's office who had a leak early on and was in the hospital for her first few months post op and couldn't eat anything for most of that time. She doesn't have any regrets. Even I think I would have regrets if I had to go through what she did. But we're both close to our goal weight now so that sure helps.

Probably 4-6 months for me. But not because I couldn't, I just tried to stay away from them for a while. Even now, I won't eat more than one in a day.

I love posts like this. No matter how many times I read them, I always learn something and they motivate me to stay on track. I'm not sure there's anything I can add that hasn't already been mentioned. I was half crazy during my 3 week stall but I got past it and started losing steadily and now it's a distant memory. It will be a distant memory for you too. There is one thing. Every time my weight loss slows, I look at my carbs. Those things will sneak their way into your diet so easily that you won't even notice. I clean my diet up and the weight starts dropping again. @@Rogofulm You are my hero, loved your advice. I follow most of that now, especially the beef Jerky. I buy it like I used to buy potato chips. I really should have bought stock in Jack Links.

That seems a little high for 3 months post op. Eating would be a full time job. I agree with Ann's calories. I didn't try to restrict my calories (per my doctor) but mine naturally fell around 1000 after 3 months. I'm at 9 months now and I'm usually around 900-1200 a day. I'm still steadily losing.

I do too. I have less restriction in the evening. And even some days vary. Some days I eat a bite or two of food and am stuffed and one day I was able to eat 5 oz of meat in a meal.

It was a good 3 or 4 months for me. Really set me back. Are you doing a full marathon? I'm doing a half at the end of September, a half in November and the Honolulu marathon in December. I'm going to be a running fool!