Licia'sjourney

Who said you cant have veggies? You just need to eat lower carb veg. This is a great option for many people. Also, it can take some people 2-3 months for their bodies to completely convert to fat burning before they start to lose weight others start losing the first week.

I had the sleeve surgery 06/2015 and I dont regret it at all. I'm sure its the main reason I havent regained all the weight back. However, now that I am 2 years out I can eat a lot more and I am working just as hard now as I did before the surgery to maintain the loss I have had and I am still trying to lose the last 30-40lbs. I am 58 so there's that. I would like to suggest you read The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung before you make your final decision. He makes so much sense in what he talks about. I wish I had come across this book sooner but I still dont regret the surgery.

@@QueenOfTheTamazons - I have the same problem and I take magnesium every night to help me go every day.

I wanted to let everyone know I have found that fasting has been working wonders for me. My weight loss has been incredibly slow. I had only lost about 70 lbs or so in the year and a half since surgery. Since starting to fast I have lost around 10lbs or so. I have been following Dr Jason Fung MD in Canada. He has a blog and has now written two books. One is The Obesity Code and the second one is on fasting. Cant think of the name. Both are really great and explains a lot. He treats diabetes type 2 and is having excellent results. But you don't have to have diabetes to benefit from his advice. I have completed 1 36 hour fast, 2 45 hour fasts and I just finished 1 70 hour fast. I eat very low carb anyway, under 25 carbs because I am so sensitive to them. I was already only eating once in the evenings so it was really no big deal to go until the following morning to eat something. So my last meal was Sunday evening then had coffee Monday morning only, then went the rest of the day and did not eat until Tuesday morning when I broke the fast with 2 deviled egg halves and coffee. That was a 36 hour fast. It was very easy for me. I encourage you to get the books and read them. I have lost around 10lbs since starting this and has really gotten me excited about the possibility of reaching my goal. Over the summer I had just about given up on this possibility!

I loved it with warmed marinara...YUMO!!

I am 13 months out and this would not work for me. I am still trying to lose and have to keep my carbs well below 50. I'm sure it works for a lot of people but I bet there are a lot of people it wouldn't work for too.

@@baoros - I feel your pain! I have lost 66lbs in 13months since surgery and lost 40 presurgery. All you CAN do is make sure you are on plan and if you are not change what you're eating. Change things up. Our bodies get used to what we do so change food and exercise up. Just keep plugging along. I have not exercised and I should start but I haven't done it yet, my bad. I don't like to complain too much because I have not exercised. Sometimes I wish I had gone with the gastric bypass. But I didn't and I don't really have the money to do a revision and I really wonder if that would help anyway. I am still losing but its very slow. I keep worrying about running out the honey moon period and still have weight to lose. Hang in there. I'm sure you'll get more replies. Think positive thoughts. You didn't mention your age so if you are older that might make a difference plus you have thyroid issues and I would think that would affect your weight loss too. You mentioned being tired. Are you taking Vitamins, are you eating enough? I had very deep exhaustion that lasted about 6 months. Its gotten a lot better but my energy is not what I would like it to be. Exercise, I'm sure would help that. Anyway...Maybe you could let us know more on your food and if you exercise...

Gosh, there are so many...under chin, arms, saggy boobs, tummy. In that order.

I am all for this as well. I am only a little over a year out and when I come here to look around to see if there is anything interesting or relevant, all I see are the newbie posts and get turned off. Also, I don't have a lot of time to weed through and find relevant information. I read a lot more than I post so I am very glad we will be able to read and I can wait 6 months until I can post. I too think there are WAY TOO MANY forums here.

I'm in the car most of the day every day and I carry Oscar Meyer Cutting Board Grilled chicken. There are 2 types that say Cutting Board and one of them looks pretty discusting so its NOT that one, its the other one! lol Its 6oz for like $3 at Walmart and I divide it up into 2 or 3oz servings and also take string cheese. I also take Smithfields Ready, Set, GO that is a piece of sliced turkey or ham with cheese and its rolled up and costs about $1 at Walmart. I also have found some chicken salad premade at Whole Foods and at Central Market that are good and I weigh out 2 to 3oz of that and I carry these in a small cooler with Blue Ice. I take my lunch every day. I really cannot eat out because it takes very little to stall my weight loss or I might even bounce up 1-3 lbs so I have to eat very clean. Hope this helps.

@@mildollarsmile - I'm so sorry you are having such a difficult time. I don't have any words of wisdom or experience in what your going through other than I am a slow loser. Hopefully you can get your thyroid and hormones in balance and things will start to improve. I wish you the best and you are in my thoughts and prayers.

I thought I would jump in here and post about my struggle. I have struggled since the first of the year. I found this instant double mocha Cappuccino that I just LOVED and was drinking 2 cups everyday through the week and 3 on the weekends because I loved it so much. I also have not been able to reduce it until the first of this month. Mentally, I was addicted to it! It was just too good. Even tho I knew it was keeping me from losing. Granted I lost about 4 lbs both January and February but in March I had a piece of cake or muffin 1 or 2 times a week and my weight fluctuated 4lbs up and down during March and April. I have learned that I HAVE to keep my carbs down below 50. More like 40 or lower. My calories have gone up on average to 1100-1200 through the week and 100-200more on weekends. I finally lost 2 new lbs the first week of May and this week I have lost another 1.5lbs. I finally hit 100lbs lost but I have only lost 60 since my surgery 06/24/15. So I consider myself a slow loser. I don't exercise regularly but walk some. I am 57 yrs old. I have chosen not to exercise like a mad woman because I did not want my body to become dependent on it because I knew I would not keep it going. (I hate exercise) I guess all this to say that it only took 10g too many carbs to throw me off. Sometimes its the small things. I have also wondered if it took those to months for my body to adjust to the higher calories but I don't know.... I have always wondered and worried if I would be in the category that would regain or not lose all the weight. Anyway...I wish all of you that are struggling good luck in finding what works for you. Also, I have a friend that had the sleeve done and the amount of food she can eat has always been less than what I can eat and she has lost all of the weight she needed to lose. Sometimes I wish I could have a redo to a smaller sleeve! lol But I would still need to work on my head!

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let everyone know I had been losing lots of hair for 4 months and it ended up being 40 to 50% hair loss. Thankfully at the end of the 4th month I have stopped losing hair! I am so thankful! Hopefully those of you who are losing hair wont go that long! Good luck!

I had surgery 06/24 and have lost slowly. I lost 40lbs before surgery and 43lbs since surgery. I have lost about 40% of my hair judging the size of my ponytail and its really scary!! I have been losing it for about 3 months now and I keep praying every day its going to end soon and I will start seeing regrowth!!

I too thank you Elode and everyone else who has posted your struggles here. I am struggling right now as well. My surgery was 06/24/15 and have been a very slow loser. I lost 40lbs before the sleeve and 42 after and its almost been 5 months. The last 3 weeks I have been eating too many calories and cant seem to stay in the 800-900 range but have been 1000-1200 range or there about. It totally scares me. I have a sweet tooth and been craving sugar but have not given in because I am scared to death I wont be able to stop. Several weeks ago I gave in to EVOL Parmasean and truffle mac and cheese. I ate it on Friday and then again Saturday nights. I told myself that was it and then had more the following Saturday night and then one more time after that and I told my best friend about it and told her that was it and I would not have any more. I wanted to be accountable to someone in hopes it would help me and it did! I didn't buy anymore this last weekend and I have talked to myself about what I could do differently to keep my calories down since I am only about halfway. This whole episode has scared me to death. It made me realize that it would be so very easy to let go. Now that the holidays are here I am scared I will give in to the sugar monster within and I wont be able to get rid of it!! lol Anyway...thank you everyone for your stories! It helps to know I am not alone in this struggle. And it helps to know there are people like Elode and the rest of you who have so much strength and determination and that you are winning the fight! So thank you all so very much and thanks for letting me vent my fears and struggles.

I only buy 3 or 4 at a time and I only eat 3 or 4 bites at a time but after reading this I checked the bars I just bought and they have the corn Fiber in them and sure enough it affected me after just 3 bites. I cant imagine how bad it would be if I had eaten a half or whole bar!!! I wish there was someplace we could all complain to AND it would make a difference! HA! I liked these because there is so much fiber and they were so filling. They didn't cause any cravings either. I tried the Power Crunch bars and those are too good and not filling at all. I have to stay away from them.

I also just finished Person of Interest on Netflix. I love this show. This season isn't going to start until mid season. and it might be the last. I think I'm going to try Longmire next.

I just finished Strike Back on Amazon Prime. If you love military action OMG this is the show for you. It was excellent!!! Fast paced and smart. Its was done by Cinemax with a London production company and every episode was like watching a mini movie it was such high quality. I cant wait to watch it again after a couple of years! Once I forget what it was about!! lol

I did something similar but I was 3 weeks out. I went to the surgeon's office just to be on the safe side and they said they thought it was muscle related too. I had been back to work 3 days and ended up having to take off another 3.5 days and I did nothing to irritate that muscle and I was fine about 4 days later. Hope you heal quickly!

@@feedyoureye - Wow!! Thanks for posting this. Honestly I don't know if I should be hopeful or hopeless. However, I guess its good to know that you will have to eat fewer calories to maintain the loss and to be watchful of the calories.

I struggled with these same thoughts as well before surgery. Now I am 2 months post op and I don't regret getting the surgery at all. But I think the true test will be 1 to 2 years out when the honeymoon is over. I hope and pray I have the strength, diligence and motivation then as I do now to stay on track. I think we all can do it if we remember how important this is to us, to out health and to our mobility. Basically, its one day at a time and we can choose to make the healthy choice every moment of every day. Good luck and I wish you well!

@@Savannah98 - I'm right there with you. I was sleeved on 06/24 so today is 7weeks post op and I have only lost 18 lbs. Are you getting your Water in? It sounds like you are doing everything to me. You might want to try to up your calories. I have read on here that at 8 weeks some are eating around 800 calories. Hang in there! When I worry over not losing one of my friends that has had this done just keeps telling me "it will come off" and "just think about 6 months down the road when your are 60lbs lighter" I have my doubts too but I also have a lot of hope. Hope that's enough!

@ - Im 5'6" and am eating consistently around 800-850 and occasionally 900-1000. I think when I upped my calories to the 800+ range it helped me to lose better but I have not seen much improvement in energy.

@@JamieLogical - Yes I take B12 daily and I get between 60-80g of Protein everyday. That's a good idea though. Fortunately I am having blood work done tomorrow and will go in for my 8 week post op next week so I should find out then. Thanks for the suggestion!

I thought it would be a problem too but it hasn't been at all. My biggest problem is being disciplined with stopping drinking before I eat. I usually only wait about 10 minutes. After I eat I have to wait an hour so I will feel full longer. Once I start drinking an hour after I have eaten then I start to feel hungry an hour after that. So basically at 2 hours after I have eaten. But even though I am feeling hungry it is not true hunger. I have eaten a snack or tried to drink a protein drink but I have found out I am still full so I have to ignore the hunger and "fill up" with water. There have been occasions depending on what I have eaten that I might need to take a very small sip and swish it around my mouth and then swallow but that's it.