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I am just wondering if any of you are still around the forums? I have not posted in so long and I am just wanting to check in and see how everyone is doing. I have managed to maintain my goal weight within 15 pounds more or less depending on the season. Life is good and my diabetes is under control with just diet and exercise. I would love to reconnect with some of you.

I want to purchase an elliptical machine and I am hoping to spend around $1000 or less. Can anyone recommend a good model to look at in this price range? Thanks.

You look great Patty!! I bet you feel amazing. I need to get back into my regular running schedule. I got a little lazy when it got so cold this past Winter. Lets all keep ourselves accountable for exercising like we should.

So much has happened in the past year. If I count back to my high weight of 255 from Aug 2016, I have lost a total of 105 pounds since then, and 58 since surgery. I am sitting at 156 today so up 6 from my lowest of 150. I need to get back down to 150 because I feel like every pound is a slippery slope. I have a new grand daughter born January 29th, Jade Rene. So now I am super busy with these two girls LOL It is so hard for me to look back at how heavy I was, but here is a photo of me from May 2016 I feel like a completely different person now and I am so blessed to have regained my health and energy. I don't ever want to go back there again.

You have achieved so much in one year. You look great! Be proud for sure!!! I have to check myself at night on the weekends. Night time snacking will get me every time. I love hearing how everyone is doing and I think as a whole our group has all done well. Sleevers lose weight for up to 2 years after surgery so I think we all have another year of losing.

Oh no @Sweet as peaches. I am so very sorry to hear that. It is a very hard thing to go through and my prayers are with you for God to give you peace. I am happy to hear from you and also very proud of you to have reached the awesome milestone of 100 pounds gone!!!! I hope you will check back and keep in touch. I will also try and check in every week or two.

We are almost to our one year surgery anniversary. I can’t believe a year has gone by. I haven’t been around much lately on the forums just super busy at work and living life with a new granddaughter born this past January. I am still maintaining at 150-155 and made it to a size 6. Maintenance has been ok. It hasn’t been as hard or easy as I thought lol I know that sounds crazy, but somethings are hard and others easy. I hate the cold weather now as I am still always cold. I took a break from running during the coldest parts of this winter and I am getting back up to speed now. I am still working on simplifying my life with better time management. I hope everyone of my May sisters is doing well and are either at goal or still doing well with their progress. I need to catch up with everyone. I hope I can find time to keep up with the forums some. Many blessings to you all!!

I don't think I felt really hungry until the third week post-op. Make sure you are drinking enough and try to get your protein shakes in.

I haven't noticed different treatment from people I know except they seem to comment more on what I am eating or not eating at social gatherings. Honestly I feel better now at almost 50 then I did through my 40's so I don't really care about what people think anymore. I am happy and enjoying life now!!

Yes, that photo was taken in Peru. I find myself wishing we had taken that trip in the Spring of 2018 instead of 2016. I know I would have had a much better time now and I would like the photos of myself more. I know there will be many more trips for us in the future so I have so much to look forward to. I am so happy that you are not stressing about things. I don't either. I am eating well, but I don't measure things anymore. I know how much I can eat and I stop when I am full. I am gearing up to get back to running more as soon as the temps are above 50. I am beginning to hate winter now with how cold I always am..lol...

You look great @Newme17 !!! I love your new avatar photo. I am doing pretty good. I can't believe it is 9 months already. I have been at goal since about early November I guess. I am maintaining my weight between 150-154 and it stayed there through the holidays. I haven't noticed that my stomach can hold more food yet so my portions are still the same. I have noticed that I do seem to get hungry a little more often, but I am not having any problems maintaining my weight. I can wear a size 6 pants and a large or even a medium in some tops. I attached a photo of me with my daughter a few weeks ago and below is one of me at almost my highest weight in 2016. I feel so blessed to have been able to lose the weight and get healthier. I feel 110% better then I have in a very long time. It is so nice to check in and read how everyone is doing!!!

Just wanted to pop back in and give an update. I am still using IF as my primary way of eating. I find that it fits my lifestyle and I have been maintaining my weight very easily thus far. I have leveled off at 154-157. I have been in that range for the past 6 weeks. Has anyone else tried IF?

Thank you Little Green. I agree @Newme17 is the bomb!! lol. I have been MIA the past month or two, but I do hope to post some more recipes soon.

Hey everyone!!! Sorry I missed our 7 month suriversary. The past couple of months have been super busy for me both at home and work and I am just now feeling like I have a little room to breath. How did everyone do for their first holiday season after surgery? I feel like I did pretty good, but I did allow myself some treats. I am maintaining fairly easily between 154-157. I am hoping to be back on the site posting a little very week. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

I started out running in the morning before work. I liked it and it always left me feeling super energized for the rest of the day, like you said. Now that the colder weather is here it is too cold and dark for me to run at 5:00 am so I have switched to running during my lunch break at work.I don't enjoy it as much. I can't say whether it has effected my rate of weight loss because I am really pretty much at goal so I don't expect to lose much more or quickly. I think it is a personal preference. I hope to get a treadmill so I can continue to run in the early am throughout the winter.

I'm not short, but my BMI was 31.6 on the day of my surgery. I made my goal weight at 5 months post op and I am now 5.5 lbs under it at 154.5 at 6 months.

Congrats!!! You are doing great! I am glad you have joined us! I was a size 14 at 233 and a size 8 at 160. I am sure I could fit into a 6 now at 154 but I haven't bought anything new yet. I think you are close to hitting that under 200 goal!

You have done well! Our losses will not be even and linear. Feeling healthy and happy is so great. I feel the same. I am happy for all of us!!!

Happy 6 month to all of you still reading this thread!!! I didn't have time yet to do photos yet, but I will try to do it later tonight or tomorrow. I weigh 154.5! That is 46.5 pounds lost since surgery day and 100.5 from my highest weight. I am still off all my type 2 diabetic meds and my bs are really good. I think time has gone by fast. I feel almost completely normal except I eat a lot smaller portions. I have met my goal and so I am really just working on maintaining and keeping up my new healthy habits. Congrats to everyone!!! I think we have all done very well this first 6 months and I know we all are gonna rock the next 6 months too!!

I kept my cooking pretty simple the first 3 months. I am now trying new recipes almost every week. I like the challenge of making great tasting healthy food!

Yes this is what I have always thought was correct. Sorry for the confusion.

I am really liking the intermittent fasting. It is so easy to implement and easy to change if you need to. So far there have been zero negatives and I am mostly still able to get the same amount of calories in the eight hour eating window. I will be working on stopping weight loss soon so I may have to stop the IF for a while if I can't maintain while eating this way. I am getting close to my first stretch goal of 155. I am thinking I will let myself get down to 150 if that is where my body wants to be. Time will tell. Has anyone else tried this yet?

Ok, so I have been eating on a schedule for the last 3 days. I eat from 12:00pm -8:00pm and fast for the other 16 hours. This has been super easy and my fasting BS have dropped 10 points down to 78-82 from 92-98 prior to starting. I haven't noticed anything different that would make me want to stop. I drink my coffee and my diet green tea or water and just eat normally once 12:00 comes around. I definitely think the tendency to snack after dinner is not from hunger, but more from habit because I have thought to grab something while watching tv and then said no your not doing that anymore. When I really thought about it I wasn't hungry at all.

This is perfect!! Those are the one I eat the most and they are so full of nutrition and fiber too. Add ground flax seed to a protein shake for an extra shot of fiber.

Congrats!!! Good luck on the racing. I love running, but I haven't signed up for a race yet.