Sullie06

It feels great doesn't it. I'm current 15ish pounds from goal (I keep bouncing up and down 2 pounds). It's hard to believe that I was ever that big but hard to believe it's possible my weight starts with a 1 as well

My doctor assured me it was hormones. It was very similar to the mood swings I had when I was pregnant and at 9.5 months post op I still get weepy super easily.

I love hearing stories from posters who are years out and maintaining. It's nice to get a glimpse into the way life will look long-term though everyone is different. I'm currently almost 10 months post op, 79 pounds down from surgery (109 total) and have been in a weird pattern for about 2 months. I got the stomach bug back in mid August and it messed with my weight loss. I lost 10 pounds in one day, which was mostly fluids but then I put 8 back on slowly over about a week and then had to lost that 8 again over about 3-4 weeks. I've been maintaining the same weight now for 2 weeks. I know I will get there eventually but it's good to hear about other slow losers and that our 1 year isn't the end of possible loss.

You look amazing! I had my sleeve 12/30/16 so we are almost surgery buddies. I can't believe it's coming up on a year already.

Depending how far you are out you can eat popcorn. I pop my own, on the stove and just put a little salt on it.

I bounce between sizes now that I'm a straight size so I only keep the sizes I'm currently in. For example I'm currently a 12/14 depending on brands so I just packaged all of my 16s up and gave them away. Knowing I have nothing to wear if I gain weight allows me to be more diligent that I'm making good choices. I've gone from a tight 22 to a 12/14 in 9 months and I never want to go back.

I'm not sure if you weighed yourself before and after surgery but you might have gained some weight from all the fluids they give you during and directly after surgery. You are probably losing inches even if the scale isn't' moving yet and it will move trust me.

You are likely losing inches even if the scale isn't moving which was a big thing for me. There were periods when the scale didn't move for weeks but I went down a whole size or two. If you stick with it and follow your plan it will happen. Make sure you are getting as close to your protein goal as possible and really hit the fluids.

Congrats on your surgery. I hope your journey is a smooth one. This is by far the best decision I've ever made.

The problem with this is everyone really does lose at their own pace. I'm a slow loser and I lose in clumps, as in I will stall for weeks and then lose a whole lot at one time. My surgeon always gives me a hard time (I've lost 79 pounds in 9 months post op) asking "why are you not losing more" or reminding me I'm still obese or overweight according to my BMI. However my NUT and even the nurses at the surgeons office always comment how great I'm doing so I chose to keep moving and keep what my surgeon says at bay. I'm the lightest I've ever been in my adult lift, I have no co-morbidities now so in my eyes, this was success already.

I don't have help with the breastfeeding as my children were formula fed. I have a 2 and 4 year old so I know how tiring it can be taking care of kids post surgery. Mine were 1 and 3 when I had my surgery. The hardest part for sure was feeding my kids when I was on the liquid-pureed diet but it does get easier. We joke now that my kids eat larger portions than me but they love their new, more active mommy.

I was eating about 900-1000 at about 3 months out and now eat around 1100-1300 calories depending on the day.

I'm 9.5 months post op and about 15 pounds from my surgeons goal. I would say things begin to really go back to normal for me around 12 weeks. At that point I could eat all foods, I hand a handle on what and how much I should eat and I was starting to feel comfortable in my new body and mind. I know this is an old post but the issues with eating out really hit home because in the early days I thought I would never feel normal again. I was wrong. I go out all the time now. Some of my friends know I had surgery, some just think I did it with diet and exercise. I feel more normal than ever going out now. Like many of my girlfriends I actually have food to take home. I can eat about 4-6 ounces per meal depending on what I eat. I move my food around my plate a lot too so people just assume I'm eating more than I am I think. My friends hubby actually said the other day "You eat the normal portion, that's what I should be eating" when we were on a double date at a hibachi restaurant and I was the only one with leftovers.

My team said to wait until 6 months post op. I've had a couple glasses of wine since then and a cocktail or two at special events. I don't drink on a regular basis but have been to a couple weddings so I did have a glass of wine or cocktail in those instances.

I actually like the Wheat Thin Cracker Chips when I'm feeling a little crunch. The veggie one is really good. I usually eat about 6 or so with some cheese for a snack.

I use facebook yard sale sites. I've sold a lot of my dress clothing on the local plus sized clothing facebook page.

Thank you for the support. I have actually had 2 successful pregnancies in between my 2 loss' so I am blessed with a beautiful son and daughter. I've decided not to have anymore children though because the loss' were just to much and having to have surgery (D&Cs) after the miscarriages was hard on my body. That is me in the profile picture, that was actually back in June. Thank you for your kind words. I still see the old me (300+ pounds) so it's nice to get compliments for sure.

My miscarriages were both prior to my WLS and were my 2 successful pregnancies. My OB felt as though my pregnancy issues were actually do to my high weight at the time, I was almost 300 pounds. I'm only currently 9.5 months post op VSG now.

Yes. I love the Pepperidge Farm Very Thin Bread.

This is exactly what I was going to say. 1 meal at a time needs to be your focus. Take time a really plan your meals, bring healthy snacks and prepare food to take with you so you don't have the reason to go to the drive thru and despite how bad you want it remind yourself you don't need it. We've all been there, heck we are all still there in one way or another but you can't beat yourself up and you can go back. You realize what's happening so put your hands on it and move forward. Take control of the future. I swear by support groups, when I'm feeling like I'm slipping I go to the next group and sometimes I don't even speak. I just listen and realize I'm not alone. I would ask your doc/NUT if they know of any groups locally that you could attend. There is no shame in reaching out to people who know the struggle and can offer you support.

I think when you get on solid foods and are able to eat dense proteins you will find a different situation is at hand. I still have certain foods I can eat a lot of (soups, chili, yogurt) vs. when I eat dense protein and veggies. Also even if you find you can eat more than you should of something you have to work on the willpower to stop when you know you should. My NUT also had a good trick for me, when you feel hungry drink water and wait a few minutes. Often times it's head hunger.

I would not recommend getting pregnant in the next 18 months. My doctor was adamant on it and wanted to know what I was doing to prevent pregnancy when he noticed I was not on any form of birth control (I have my tubes tied). While it is true that it can take a year or more to actually get pregnant, it can also take far less time especially after weight loss. Even for me it was a stark difference, my son took 2.5 years to conceive and use of fertility meds. My daughter took literally 2 cycles with no assistance. So here is my suggestion since your age is a concern. Talk to you GYN about having your eggs tested. They can tell you how healthy your eggs are to support a pregnancy. That being said, if it's a time is of the essence issue in regards to your egg maturity, look into having some of your eggs frozen and having those as a back up if you have issues in a couple years when it's safer to start trying. I've had 2 miscarriages, it's an awful thing to live through, you don't want to increase that risk by having a pregnancy to soon after wls.

I was getting about 1000 calories a day at the time. I tried to decrease that to 800-900 range for about a week but that didn't work so I upped my calories to 1100, then 1200 and then 1300 over the course of a couple days and the stall broke. I now average about 1100-1300 calories a day at the insistence of my NUT and about 100 gram of carbs a day.

You will get there and it will begin to feel very natural. Unfortunately for my poor husband he's got to be careful now because he usually eats my left overs and it's so much more than it used to be.

I was in the hospital from 3 days/2 nights during which time I got IV pain meds for 24 hours until I had a leak test and was transferred to Vicoden. The pain was the worst the first couple days and began get better once I was home. Walk, walk, walk is the best thing you can do. Get that gas moving and out because that's the painful part and it does take awhile. It does get better though, I was back to work by 2 weeks post op.