Kat410

I have been following this thread and it's been great to get perspective on other peoples' experiences. I considered myself a pretty fast loser (you can see the monthly results in my sig below) and I am tall and did start with a lot to lose. In addition, I had decent functional strength and while I would not have called myself active, I wasn't completely sedentary either so there were a couple of things in my favor. In addition, I have never struggled to lose weight - what I had struggled with was some "wall" I would hit after losing about 50 lbs (which I can only describe as an unbelievably intense obsessive physical hunger) that was no doubt hormonally driven, but I never could get myself past whatever that wall was. So all that said, there is a benefit to fast loss and a lot of it just plain on psychology and the experience of a 'reward' for the work being done. Now I am averaging about 1 lb/week (which while I know that's reasonable as I get closer to my goal), it does *feel like* I am stalling and not losing at all. The only thing that keeps me straight about this is tracking my weight weekly. The game of long-term weight loss takes some mental discipline. I do agree with what others say that it's helpful to not just go by the scale, but also include other measurements regarding body composition (waist to hip ratio and other measurements, DEXA scans if you want to pay.) Truthfully, now that I am almost at my first goal of 175, I have set a second goal of 165 (which puts me in a normal BMI - and it would be good to have a 10-15 lb bounce-back cushion). It is taking more work to lose these pounds and they are coming off a lot slower - but I am immensely grateful for the honeymoon phase and quick weight loss to keep me motivated and for all those slow losers out there - YOU ARE MY FREAKING HERO!!!!!!!!

omg the ability to wear heels and be comfortable has been such a shocking and welcome change!!!!

Was 335 (5'8") at start of pre-op diet currently at 180 and a hell of a lot stronger (not to mention smaller)

I always think this kind of topic is funny. After surgery I really didn't need anything because I couldn't eat, I couldn't really go out, I couldn't do much of anything except sit around and read or watch TV and go on a short walk and text my friends and family - all of which require devices (TV, phone, my legs) that I would have independent of surgery and would never be without when I know I am going to be home bored out of my mind for a few days, Do you what I need post-surgery that I couldn't live without? I obsessively watched food shows. Chopped, Iron Chef, Baking shows, etc. For some reason this really calmed my mind. Unfortunately I was not given any good pain medications to further escalate the stupor I was in. That would have been nice for a few days as well.

You do not know what you are talking about. Gender and biological sex are two different things. To call people delusional based on how they identify is one of the highest forms of delusion. You don't need the guys room locked down - you need your own room to go sit and think quietly and perhaps consider the value of educating yourself beyond your narrow view of the world.

I just had an NSV that I didn’t think I’d ever have. Apparently I don’t have thigh chafing anymore. No cub rub. No more shorts under skirts and dresses. I have had that since puberty and was convinced half the problem was being over weight and half the problem was the way my thighs were built. But omg. My thighs don’t rub together anymore. It is kinda freaking me out!

I am 50 and did gastric sleeve a year ago and have lost 155 lbs. I probably have another 20 lbs to lose most of which is in my thighs and rear now. You can see that I don’t have a firm mid section (a lot of what’s there is skin) and you can also see I have lose skin under my arms and decent muscle composition. While I had A lot more weight to lose than you it’s a no brainer to chose a functioning body over skin that is stretched taut and tight over 155 lbs of fat.

I pay $78 for a 45 minute session. It is worth it. He's very good and I've gotten very educated on a number of things. He does not sell any other supplements/programs/etc. We also use the time to design work out programs for when I am not seeing him - I now see him about 1x a week. At the beginning it was mostly to make sure I did what I needed to do - now I see this more as coaching/education and development in making sure I am creating the right goals and the right approaches. On another note - I am 6 lbs away from my first target weight of 175!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 16 more lbs and I will no longer be in the "overweight" bmi category. So I just want to keep shouting out and saying THIS CAN BE DONE. I never thought I would get this far when I started.

After surgery you want to move as soon and as much as possible. I walked immediately after waking up and walked about every two hours afterwards for the first few days (since I was not sleeping through the nights I just got up and moved) As you fully recover the more movement the better.

I have the same problem in my thighs. Unfortunately there’s really no way to spot reduce! I have these bizarre pockets of fat on my inner thighs just above the knees. Right now the plan is to just keep working the plan and continue to be grateful for what has been accomplished.

I was a 22/24 pre surgery. For tailored clothes like suits I dropped a size after the first 40 lbs. for stretchy or loose fitting I could wear some of the same clothes 100 lbs later!!!! As I lost weight I realized I was wearing clothes that were too tight. And truthfully even a lot of tailored 24 clothes have a lot of room built in them for different body types. As you get smaller the difference in sizes moves a lot faster. From an 18 to a 16 was about 20 lbs. from a 16 to a 14 was a little less. It was a 10 lb difference from a 14 to a 12. Now I am 5 lbs lighter and some 12s are too big but it’s hard to tell because my body composition is changing more than what’s on the scale now.

My Highest weight was my pre-surgery weight of 335. I lost 19 lbs 10 days pre surgery and just celebrated my one year surgeriversary. I have lost 148 lbs and now wear size 10-12. At 280 I started training with a personal trainer and am now the fittest I have been since I was a teenager. Before surgery I had mentally prepared myself for the possibility I would be in the average range of 60 percent of excess body weight lost but as I got stronger and fitter my view changed and I realized r results were completely in my hands. While the speed of my weight loss surprised me ;(diabetic, 50 years old and went immediately into menopause after surgery), I am thankful for the boost but still have a lot of work to do. Keep up he hard work ladies! We can do this!

Hey everyone! It's hard to believe it's almost a year later. I have exceeded what I thought I would accomplish out of being sleeved and have worked hard and life is a miracle. In a week I am going to the Scottish highlands and have planned many great walks and hikes and can't wait to take the kind of vacation that would have been unimaginable a year ago.

I was sleeved in May 2017 too. I was not someone who worked out, and in fact had taken a brief 20+ year hiatus from any form of exercise. I started working out after I lost 50 lbs (at 280 lbs). I have now lost 145 lbs and am now working out 4x a week. My weight loss has slowed down since I increased my strength and cardio work, but I am also closer to goal. So while I don't know what's what, I can say without question that while I only lost 3.4 lbs in March, my body composition is changing dramatically as I elevate my work out routines. I think anything where we gain lean muscle and improve cardiovascular/respiratory health is beneficial. While it may sometimes mess with what shows up on the scale, the scale is not the whole story.

Hey there! Going to Scotland in May myself, planning to visit Edinburgh, then go to Inverness, do a bucket list item (pony trek in the highlands) and then head over to Isle of Skye - can't wait! And for the OP - GO FOR IT!!!!!! I started my game to be my fittest by the end of the 50th year and it is getting fulfilled! I can do more physically at 50 than I could when I was 25. It's just the best!

I have always been a late night snacker, but I've also been a late night stay-upper. I fought to stop eating after a certain hour. Now I don't bother, given I am in WL mode, I manage my calories and quality of food. I think it's a myth that breakfast is the most important meal of the day - if this is so, why am I never hungry in the morning? And why is that the case for many people? I am currently managing myself to have at least a 12 hour fast each day. So if I eat at 11 PM, then I don't eat the following day until at least 11 AM. Truthfully, 14 hours is what "feels best" and is mostly what I do (eat last food at around 10 PM and first meal around noon). If you are eating at 10 PM and it is the right food choice and you are managing your calorie reco's and your macros, then I wouldn't sweat it.

Hi everyone! I wanted to take a time out here and share about my weight loss journey, as I close in on my goal weight it's a good time to reflect, look at what worked and what isn't work and set myself to accomplish what I am out to accomplish. I had gastric sleeve in Mexico on 5/26, and started a 10 day liquid diet before. I was self-pay, my insurance doesn't cover bariatric surgery. I coordinated with my PCP (who wasn't thrilled, but once she got I was going to do it, we did all the preliminary lab work in advance so there would be no surprises.) The surgery was straightforward and seamless and besides not liking the hotels included in the package (I went to Cancun), everything else was great (the surgeon, nurses and other staff). I had prepared myself for what there was to deal with and took a week off work afterwards which was more than enough time. Before my liquid diet I weighed 335 which was my highest ever weight. I am 50 and 5'8", so clocked in with a BMI over 50. I had not developed hypertension or sleep apnea, but my A1C was 7.0 and had just started metformin. I hadn't dieted in years - while in the past I found it pretty easy to lose weight, at some point I would fail and more weight would come on so I had concluded that I would stop dieting and just deal with being fat for the rest of my life. I started to consider WLS about 3 years ago, but I was so scared to confront this issue again, I just avoided doing any planning, acting or organizing to move this forward. It was last year (feb 2017) that my A1C was up to 7 and that's when I decided to act. I had known that VSG patients were almost immediately cured of diabetes that's when I started to act. After surgery, I dropped weight quickly and easily and still am. Not including the 1st month (a huge loss), I have averaged 2.5 lbs per week. There are a couple of things that made a difference for me. 1. Keeping the protein first rule and learning which foods are sliders and which foods are triggers. 2. After I was down to 290 I started an exercise regimen. I used to play sports and work out and knew that I could build muscle quickly and easily which would support my weight loss. I did HIT and strength training and am now doing low impact conditioning and strength training (injured my knee last month). 3. I weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak. Right now I am eating a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. I average about 1000 cals/day. Every 4-6 days I do a major calorie/carb spike. I am now experimenting with single day fasts. However, high fat/moderate protein seems to be the best combination. I do the carb spike if I go 4 days without losing weight. I made all this up, it's strictly a function of weighing and tweaking. I don't know if there's any science (except the studies that validate that the most successful weight loss people are the ones who stick with it and find what works for them.) Until I am in maintenance I will continue to weigh and tweak and if any approaches stop working, I will stop using them. 4. Paying attention to building lean muscle - improvements in strength, flexibility and endurance were as important as drops on the scale. I hired a trainer who runs a small boutique fitness gym 2 doors from me - I selected it because I figured I couldn't have any excuse not to go given I didn't have to walk far, take the subway or deal with transit. I got lucky - he is amazing, unbelievably educated and started training me right where I was and its unbelievable the changes in 4 months of work. He said he couldn't promise weight loss - that was up to me - but he could promise strength, endurance, balance and flexibility - all of which he delivered. 5. I am planning for maintenance - I am a very target-oriented person. Given me a target, a goal or an outcome and once I set my sights on it I am pretty unf****kable with it. I am looking at different goals and outcomes to create for myself. 6. I am surprised at how necessary exercise has become for me. Even when I played sports, I hated all the training that came with it - I just wanted to play and compete. To some extent, I think I am competing with myself, but this is a journey and I am excited about what my body can become and accomplish. For the first time in almost 30 years I am under 200 lbs. I have lost 85% of my excess body weight in 10 months. I am grateful for surgery, genetics, and also the people on this board - whom I have learned a lot from. What is next? I am still experimenting and am educating myself on fasting. I am doing weekly 1 day fasts just to get in the world of what that's like and will plan for a 3-5 day fast at some point in the future. If I get my knee straightened out I would like to hike up a mountain. This summer I would like to sail and bike the west side of NY along the Hudson River. I would like to lose these last 30 or so lbs my birthday in June (which is unlikely, but I like targets!) Thank you for these boards, your participation and every journey here, it has made a difference.

Awesome and smoking hot!

Dealing with my knees right now - I think I may have a posterior torn meniscus, but whatever it is won't be diagnosed for a couple of weeks. I now have an issue with my right knee due to a fall. What's ironic is I never had any knee pain or issues until after losing 140 lbs! My trainer's recommendation is to, as much as possible, distinguish the movements that trigger inflammation/pain and not do those movements. Anything that fully extends my legs causes about 5 days of reduced mobility/pain/inflammation, so I don't do calf raises, for example. Twisting also aggravates it. Sometimes lunges do as well. Interestingly enough, squats don't (stable, no twisting). Leg presses are OK at lower weights. Until I get seen by my PCP and then up the referral chain, that's how I'm dealing with it.

I lost pretty much in the reverse sequence of how I gained. I lost in the waist first and lost a lot. Then in my back, shoulders, arms, then face/neck. I have lost very few inches in my hips and thighs.

@Creekimp13 - while what I have to say about my own views/experiences may be different, I love the authenticity (best line ever, Fatness Everdeen). Your post speaks to what I think is the most important part of this journey, which is the opportunity to resolve for ourselves a whole host of things - our relationship to our body, being fat, food, health, exercise. I can't imagine long term success without resolving that. For myself, I had decided that it was critical that I drive a Mack Truck through the opening called "honeymoon" phase and loose as much weight as possible as quickly as possible. While I was much heavier than you, I believed good results, a leaner body and the ability to be more active would motivate me to change habits and handle being so willing to destroy my body and health for 10 minutes of food-pleasure over a period of decades. I am in my 11th month, so we shall see, but I find myself naturally responding to an uptick in the scale, dealing with automatic behaviors, thinking before I hit the order button on seamless and really asking myself "why am I buying this" in the grocery store. More often than not, I end up not doing certain things that were natural. On Sunday I walked into a Checkers to order a small fry and walked out. It didn't take effort, it was natural. What has me do that is not anything about discipline or forcing myself to do/not do anything. It's that I am resolving stuff about myself and my body. While I may have walked in as a function of a reflex, I walked out because I am no longer that reflex. Thank you.

@Rainbow_Warrior, your progress is so inspiring!!!

I had almost no stamina until about 4 months post op. If you factor in dealing with a major calorie deficit, plus the emotional withdrawal from food (if that applies to you), plus the healing required from surgery, plus the crazy hormone and god-knows-what-else that is being dumped in your body as your body starts burning its fat reserves (not to mention it's winter and there are all sorts of bugs going around); being exhausted is not a shocking side effect. You must take care of yourself. I work 6 days/week about 65-70 hours and a week and had to deal with doing this with almost no stamina. When I went home, I went to bed. When I wasn't working I mostly preferred to be alone. I took naps on my time off. Sort out what works for you. It will pass, but when you're in the middle of it, it can be pretty intense. You may also notice being moody, angry, surly and all sorts of feelings. Give yourself space. Warn people. THey will have compassion.

While we have to deal with the caveat that every body is different, it’s not necessarily the case that a stall is caused by homeostasis (e.g., your BMR adjusting for the calorie reduction.) The point here with the OP’s question is that focusing on burning calories during exercise is the wrong goal. I have focused on building lean muscle mass, endurance and balance (which had gotten very bad) and more fundamentally I focused on doing exercise that I enjoy. You will probably never see me going for a run (hate it). Trial and error in the kitchen is what will have us find the nutritional approach that works for our WL goals.

There are things I was looking forward to that happened and an even better category of things I didn't know that I wanted but really did! So, in the first category - fitting comfortably in airplane seats, being able to climb subway stairs without feeling like I am going to pass out, walk all over NYC without feeling like I am going to pass out, shopping for clothes I actually like, enjoying physical activity, no longer being oriented around food/eating and finding other interests. What I really love now that I never thought I would - Strength training, walking up hills, shopping at Zara, cooking healthy food, running errands and being active. Summertime bucket list - sailing, horseback riding and going on a great vacation.