LisaLouBop

I'm a little over 5 months out from surgery. I bought a pair of skinny leg jeans a few weeks ago. Not only did they look decent, it felt pretty darn good as well. I've purchased work out clothing more than anything. My work/regular clothes are definitely looking baggy. Since I've hung onto clothes over the years, I have several sizes just waiting for me. Every few weeks I clean out the closet, the too big clothes go away - because I'm NEVER going to need them again.

The standard way to do a "pouch test" is using cottage cheese. I think you can google it to get details. You can also have the doctor do an endoscopy to check out your functional stomach size, but i am going to tell you that it matters less then you think.
I think many of us don't even know what normal hunger/full signals feel like. Even all these years post sleeve, I STILL confuse emotional hunger, thirst and real hunger.
I know you aren't asking for advice but even if your capacity is more than you think it should be - what are the alternatives? When I went through this same feeling I started to realize that HOW and WHAT I eat impacts my "level of hunger" way more than anything. You might consider exploring that a bit more. It was a hard cold realization that even post sleeve, i need to carefully monitor and manage my eating.

several things...
hard to walk
couldnt stand for more than 5 min as my legs/knees hurt so bad
couldnt wipe my butt after going to bathroom
hub had to put my socks on
wearing a size 5x skirt and wonder do they come bigger
and the most important thing...my son saying i was to be a grandmother....

When I realized it was getting harder to reach and therefore care for myself.
Yes, that was the one......

That being too fat was the least of my problems.
And surprise! I could begin changing all my other flaws as well and live to tell about it.

My stomach and I argue a lot. Its an ornery thing, growling all the time and making me nauseated daily. I did go thru a barfing phase but that could have been from some meds i was taking. But even with the nausea and vloopy stomach, I feel so much better, healthier, more confident, more energetic, more comfortable, and prettier than I have in a long time. Even as yucky as I feel sometimes, I haven't regretted the decision for a minute. Weighed in the balance, the benefits are greater for me. Good luck to you.

Sleeved 12/17/14
Height 5'2"
Starting Weight/BMI 235/41.6
Current Weight/BMI 181/32.1
54 lbs lost so far. Amazing!!!!

When I realized it was getting harder to reach and therefore care for myself.
Yes, that was the one......

The first bit of clothing was work out clothes. I purchased them immediately. I figured if they were a bit small I would shrink into them. I had my surgery February 20th ,2015 so It was cold, I hate the cold, so no one was going to see me in them because I stayed in the how on my spinner and treadmill. They are getting too big but they still work for now.
My mother sew so we initially sewed up the straps for my bras, that was about a month out. I went from wearing 44DD to a 44C now the 2 new bras I bough about a month ago are too big but I'm definitely going to wait before I buy anymore. Further all my tennis shoes are too big also and these sandals I'm wearing now are going to be the death of me. All I do is trip over my own feet. LOL.

Sleeved 12/17/14
Height 5'2"
Starting Weight/BMI 235/41.6
Current Weight/BMI 181/32.1
54 lbs lost so far. Amazing!!!!

I can say it was the same thing so many people mention...and it is, but I hit an all time low. I guess my rock bottom.
My mother died..I spent the next 6 months of my life buried up to my neck in food...in all her recipes, trying to recreate each one over, and over, and over. Eating my way through the grief until I gained 40 more lbs, and then my heart started to not work right. I am in Grade 1 heart failure, blood pressure sky high, working my heart too much, all this excess weight....I graduate from a cane to walker, and then my blood sugars are out of control, Dr. put me on 2 oral diabetes meds, then 2 different kinds of insulin. I was giving myself 4 injections minimum, and taking over 20 pills, every day.
On an office visit to try to slap a band-aid on knees that need replacement, (which won't happen until I lose a considerable amount of weight), my Dr. looked me in the eyes, and told me if I didn't stop, I was going to die.
I knew then....I had to make some major life changes, but not just a surgery to make my stomach tiny.
I needed to work through all the many reasons why I used food, what it meant to me, what it had become to me and and why I was so addicted to it.
Those were the demons that were/are harder to deal with than the 8 month program, and the 4.5 hours I spent on that operating table.
I haven't had to take 3 of 4 diabetes medications in days......
They stopped 2 of my heart medications last night......
Already my health is improving. I did it for the right purposes, and I dug deeper than I thought I would, so I could also do it for the best purposes, because it was time for me to let go of my protection I had used for so many years. My fat.
I am taking this day by day. I can't even predict what the results will be.
I only know I am motivated, at 49, to change my life, and become the person I was meant to be.

When I realized it was getting harder to reach and therefore care for myself.
Yes, that was the one......

I was told 30 before and after but I find I cant swallow some foods after chewing, and chewing, so I sip enough Water to get my mouth wet. I usually drink maybe a eighth of a cup of water while eating. I have a lot of leftovers!

I'm a little over 5 months out from surgery. I bought a pair of skinny leg jeans a few weeks ago. Not only did they look decent, it felt pretty darn good as well. I've purchased work out clothing more than anything. My work/regular clothes are definitely looking baggy. Since I've hung onto clothes over the years, I have several sizes just waiting for me. Every few weeks I clean out the closet, the too big clothes go away - because I'm NEVER going to need them again.

@@wannaBthinsoon - If I could do a shot first, I just might. Haahaa, I'm such a chicken.

I'm a little over 5 months out from surgery. I bought a pair of skinny leg jeans a few weeks ago. Not only did they look decent, it felt pretty darn good as well. I've purchased work out clothing more than anything. My work/regular clothes are definitely looking baggy. Since I've hung onto clothes over the years, I have several sizes just waiting for me. Every few weeks I clean out the closet, the too big clothes go away - because I'm NEVER going to need them again.

I had my sleeve operation 3 months ago and have lost 80 lbs. I read some of the questions on here from folks who are just a couple of weeks or months past their surgery and wonder if they ever talk to their bariatric staff, especially their nutritionist. I get the feeling that a lot of them will not be successful when they ask how long it will be until they can go back to eating the crap that made them obese in the first place. My surgeon told me from the get go that the success rate of this surgery was around 50 % and that is NOT a good ratio. When I see questions like "When can I eat potato chips or pancakes again?" I have to wonder if they will be successful. The surgery is a tool and gives you a second chance to get your life back but 99% of this is mental.
This is a serious lifetime commitment and wondering when I can eat mashed potatoes again is not even a thought for me anymore. If you cheat a little bit here and a little bit there it will not be long before you are right back in the same shape you were.
I am off of the CPap machine, I am off all my meds, I have lost 14 inches in my waist and gave all my clothes to the Vietnam Veterans Association. I hired a personal trainer to get my butt back in shape and I feel better than I have in years. In short, this has given me my life back. My wife went on the same eating regiment I did and had lost 35 lbs and dropped from a size 16 to a size 6. I don't know if I could have done all thus without her complete and total support. If I eat 4 ounces of steak for supper, she eats the equivalent of Protein.
I am only 3 months out of surgery and have set my future goals for the rest of my life. Remember, this is mental and you must get yourself into that mindset. Don't sit around wondering when you can eat junk again...you will surely be setting yourself up for failure.
Michael G.

Also, I subscribe to the "eat full fat or nothing at all" thought...
Full fat cheese, yogurt, mayo, real butter, oils, etc....that will help get your calories up, also. And they taste better than the low fat fake stuff they try to push....

I would like to post this, have been waiting and wanting to write this:
My surgery was March 30, 2015. Including my pre-diet to date I have lost 43.5 lbs for which I am thrilled and feel like a new person with no more than 20 more lbs. to lose to hit target. My point is that pre-surgery I had goals and desires and I am traveling later next week to see my family. Travel formerly presented issues like:
Sweating and getting breathless lugging suitcases, etc.
Feeling squashed in airline seats
Feeling fat in anything I wore
Dreading clothes shopping excursions
Overeating the wonderful meals we create
Feeling hot all the time when others are comfortable as cucumbers
Tire easily
NOW:
I can sprint and carry things with the best of them effortlessly
Will have plenty of room in the airline seat and be comfortable
Cross my legs with ease and comfort
Feel great in my clothes that are loose and look forward to shopping
While shopping, ask for an item of clothes I try on in a smaller size
Eating my smaller portions, thoroughly enjoying it and not craving more
I wake early, get out to walk briskly and with joy
Feeling happy and generous of spirit
Proud of myself and at peace
Sleeve surgery is the best decision I ever made and am grateful for the gift of health and happiness.

I too gave it up for a little over a month. I love the hazelnut black only.

My nickname is LisaLou, it was already taken, so I just added a Bop on the end.
My hooker name is Ciji French, ha ha ha... Too funny

I was revised to sleeve from a band so I thought i had no illusiions about the effort it would take to lose. That said, I am surprised by how little it takes to go wrong. More than 50 carbs and I gain. More than 1000 calories and I gain. That has been a surprise. (It shouldnt have been i know):
However I continue to learn and adjust and am very pleased with how the sleeve and I are turning out. Its not fast, but its going along.

The technician who did my pre-op EKG told me the same thing (even with my 53" waist). "You don't look like you need surgery. You're not that big." I told her that she had better call my surgeon then, and tell him she disagrees with his diagnosis. That shut her up.

Slightly off topic, my son used to sing "I like big butts and a kangaroooooo!" And well, who doesn't, really?