Fookoff

I didn't want to eat anything for weeks really. Just drinking nice flavoured water and then onto soup was more than enough. Didn't have cravings etc and could look at all nice food and not want it. You've got to really examine what you've done this for and get yourself in the right mindset. Look at before and after pictures of people's success every day. Sort out the first bag of bigger clothes that you're never ever going to have to wear again. Get on these forums and distract yourself. I make sure that at least twice a week I get online and look up success photos and I also look at some posts from people who have 'cheated' and are struggling to loose weight and I learn from them and that motivates me to stay on plan. It isn't always easy but forget the practicalities of what you can eat because that's easy and focus on new ways of thinking. Good luck! X

I'm not wanting to weigh myself every day but I'm 2months after sleeve surgery now and I do need to weigh myself once a week/fortnight to track where I'm up to 1) to keep myself happy by seeing the loss which helps during those 'I miss dominoes' moments and 2) to make sure I pick up on any issues - ie reduction in weight loss etc quickly and keep on being strict. However, the manual balance scales in the doctors weighed me over a stone heavier than the digital scales in the hospital did only 3 days later, and then a week later the digital scales in boots show me as a stone heavier than the consultant said too. Basically the hospital scales seem to be weighing light. Now it's only a number and actually, it's better just seeing your clothes get looser but it's not great that I can't get a consistent weight. I looked into buying my own digital scales but got put off by the reviews saying how variable they were. What do you guys all do in terms of weighing yourself? I think going forward I'll use the ones in my local boots and hope they're properly calibrated. It's 50p a go but about once a fortnight, it's worth it or I literally have no clue. My family think it's weird that I can't actually tell them how much weight I've lost...and do do I! X

P.S - RE the weight loss per week. I didn't/don't weigh myself. I went to the doctors and they weighed me on a balance manual scale and when I went back to my consultant 3 days later and he weighed me on the digital scales, there was over a stone difference - and I didn't loose that in 3 days! So digital scales are much better and I don't have any yet. On average over the first 8 weeks it looks like I'm loosing 5.5lbs a week but the ebb and flow of it - I don't know. My thing is that my next in (digital) will be 9th June with the dietician and I have a feeling it will have slowed down a bit but for me its about lifestyle change and the numbers will follow. I think as it gets harder to shift I will invest in some digital scales so I can keep myself on track but that's a treat for the future for me. I wouldn't want to get addicted to weighing myself and then get demotivated if I loose 3lbs rather than 5lbs in a week - because I wasn't loosing ANY before surgery so actually, any loss is bloody fantastic! :-)

Well Em you're doing waaaaaay more than me in terms of exercise. My weight loss mainly coming from the fact I'm eating very little and really sticking to the rules. I struggle with exercise designed to make you get out of breathe because of my asthma and its not really a good idea for me. My best bet is sustained elevated heart rate activity and things like Yoga (which gets easier when your bely stops being in the way so much lol) to develop strength and tone. If I had a private pool I'd be in there 24/7 but the idea of going swimming where people can see me is too much to bear. There's a new leisure complex they're building in my local town that will have a pool though so never say never! (But DEFINITELY NOT NOW LOL) I don't have a dog to walk - I've got cats but they won't wear a lead :-D (Please note, no cats were harmed in the making of this comment) I want to see if I can private message you about where I live etc I'm off work too at the moment - I left my old job in Feb and am applying for roles at the moment looking to get back to work asap. I've had a bit of a struggle trying to sort out a respectable interview outfit as my size keeps changing and I'm trying to keep costs down a bit. All my shoe are too big which is a big expense but I've been selling so much stuff on ebay it's like I've got my own business on there and it is great to get that forward momentum of watching stuff fly out the door (making space for new yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay). Happy to meet up somewhere for a natter and a skinny decaf latte - I'll pm if I can...

Hi all, I've just posted in the Manchester topic before this but thought I'd put Cheshire up as a topic so see if there's anyone local. x

Hi ladies, Just to give you a bit of basic info: I'm 30yrs old and I had my sleeve surgery done on 7th March 2015 at Spire Cheshire so I'm northwest based too. I'm 5.8" and I was 146.5kg/23st 1lb on the day of my op and I've lost about 3.5 - 4 stone in the 8 weeks since then and gone from an evans sz 26 a*se to an evans sz 22 and dropped a good few bra sizes. Em's experience of surgery sounds similar to mine. I wasn't worried at all because it really isn't major surgery and I think because my mum has had quite a few ops that were a lot more serious and come out fine and she's been a bit in and out of hospital over the years so you get used to it. All the medical literature details minimal risk for the sleeve surgery as its larascopic and similar to Em's experience - for me there was minimal pain and fuss too. In terms of waking you up after the op - they put much bigger people to sleep with no problems and I have asthma and needed monitoring because my lungs don't work properly (teeny lungs and big ol' titties - whoda thunk? lol) and they just gave me oxygen when I came out and we did breathing exercises and had a laugh to be honest. You can never say there are no complications because you can't predict the future but surgeons will absolutely not go forward with surgery if there's proper risks as its not worth it for them, let alone you. Psychologically speaking, I'd turn your nervousness into excited energy. Think of all the complications you won't have later on in life because of your surgery. Plus like Em so brilliantly detailed - you'll be asleep anyway and you won't know the difference because you'll be on pain killers so you won't be suffering - I was up doing yoga stretches the next morning and getting rid of my post op wind - lovely thought lol The operation scars are there now but I couldn't give a monkeys to be honest as I looked a lot worse being fat than I do with a few scars on my belly and I'm using scar fade gel from boots to aid healing. They were smooth and flat and fine within a week of the op anyway. Em, we're at the same stage and as the weight is coming off I'm starting to get more active but its going round town and doing house work and I've got some arm weights I use a little and am dancing around. It's hard to think of myself ever being a 'proper' exerciser but being active is a start - how are you finding the exercise? - Were you an exerciser before surgery - do you have any plans to join a gym or a class or anything? x