Jack Hollywood

Great job Countrygrrl! I agree that it has been a lot of hard work. The sleeve is only a tool to use to help us succeed and without the proper state of mind our results would be much slower or we would just fail. I just passed 10 months out and I have lost 197 lbs. that was with the Dr wanting me to maintain my weight for 2 months. Keep up the great work, you are looking great each day, keep saying that. And hope to hear of more of your success. "Nothing tastes better than being healthy" Hollywood

Keep in mind that this procedure is not a "cure all" You need to remember, that you you need to do to succeed, is to change the way you live. You need to stay committed to your new life change. You need to have it in your head that this is what you want to do. I have people in my support group that are failing. This is because they were not ready to change, they were not ready to take back their life. This is your decision, for you and only for you. My life quote is "there is nothing on that table that looks better than being healthy!" Or being thin. I started my journey on 7/7/14 and I am down 197lbs and counting so I know what I am talking about. This was my decision for me and for me alone and that's why I am winning. Good luck and feel free to send me a message if you need any details.

Wdama, Are you sure that you are taking small enough bites? It's one thing to chew 25-30 times, but even that won't work if you are taking the same size bites you used too. I am taking fork or spoonfuls of about the size to two peas. That seemed to help me a bit. I only drink water but not within two hours of eating. If I drink before I eat, then I can't eat enough food, and if I drink after I eat, there is a good chance that it may come back up. You also mentioned that your pain is in your chest. When you have had too much to eat the pain should be in the upper abdomin area not as high as the chest. You may have a different issue. A gastro problem may not be letting the food go down. Now I just had my gallbladder taken out and that pain came as high as my chest at times, and I knew I had an issue when my urine stream turned almost orange. So keep an eye out for that as well. I wish you the best of luck and continued success.

I began my journey at over 400lbs. And today I am feeling great and blessed as I just reached 289lbs.

BeccaR, Don't get too bummed out. My surgery was cancelled the night before because my thyroid was out of wack. It gave me two more weeks to stay on the pre op diet. I was losing 10.5 lbs per week following it to the letter. By the time I reached my operation day I had already lost 40+ lbs. and I felt great, so much so I was questioning weather or not I nedded the surgery. You can drop the weight and the bmi before your surgery. You need to stick to the 4 shakes per day and your three meals. Do not binge, do not cheat, remember this is for you and you alone. Would you steal from yourself? I am going to give you a quote that someone gave to me at the beginning, and every time I was in a situation that required total willpower I always said this to myself. " Nothing tastes better than being thin ! " So every time I looked at my plate or my options I would say " is that really worth not being thin? And the answer was always no. You can do this as long as you keep a good strong spirit. You have your family and friends that I am sure believe in you, now you need to believe in you. This whole experience will not work unless you can believe in yourself. I don't even know you and I believe in you. If I could pull this off then I know you can too. I started at 405 and had surgery in July and now I am 289. I feel great and that food that I could have had would never had tasted as good as I feel today. Keep me posted on how you are doing and always remember that there are people out here that really care about your success. We are all now part of the healthiest people on the planet, and we welcome you to the family. Good luck on your diet, and if you need any help or have any questions please feel free to send a direct message. Jack Hollywood

I started at 405 8 weeks ago. I am 4 weeks post op and I weigh 335 lbs. today. The bypass wasn't even offered by my doctor, he said I wasn't big enough to have a full bypass. The end result with the sleeve would be the same but he explained that I would be allowed to eat anything I wanted where the lap band and the bypass would be restricted. I wish you luck and don't rush the healing process , it doesn't work.

Sorry I got cut off. This has been the first week that I can work out where my stomach doesn't feel like I tore something. Be patient and don't rush the healing process. You can do this, we are all here doing the same thing with you! So you are not alone. Try to sleep only on your back, when you sleep on your side the muscle where the incisions were will feel like they are tearing when you get up in the morning. This problem will pass.

I had the same issues. It came from doing more moving than I should have. I am now in my 4th week post-op and I am doing much better. The one thing I have learned is not to push it. This is the first week that I have been able to

I will be trying some new vitamins soon. I think my stomach can handle regular vitamins

On July 7, 2014 I had my surgery. Due to a complication with my thyroid levels my original date was pushed out two weeks. I had already been on the pre op diet for two weeks and when I was pushed two more weeks I decided to remain on the diet. See, I had already dropped 22 lbs in two weeks. By the end of the fourth week and one day before surgery I had dropped a total of 48lbs. Now I am 3 weeks post op and after 8 weeks total I went from 405lbs to 332lbs today. A grand total of 73lbs removed from my body. My arthritis is gone, any other joint pain I had is gone, my outlook on life itself has skyrocketed, and my sex drive is back, ( I had to apologize to my wife) lol. I have been struggling to get down my vitamins, my stomach does not like them anymore for some reason. I will touch back again soon. Congratulations to everyone who has decided to take the ride.

Thanks everyone