JessaK

I’m exactly 3 months out today & down 53 pounds! 40% of my excess weight gone. I’m not new to Bariatric surgery but I had a band before so the weight loss was never fast like this. In fact, with the band it took 7 years for me to master it and loose substantial weight. I have had my blood work ran last week-holy cow-It was 12 vials! My lab was flustered. I will find out the results at my follow up appointment on the 31st.

Do you carry your weight in your mid section? I did the first time around before the tummy tuck. My skin in my stomach never tightened up like the rest of my body. I had to size around it. That resulted in me not losing pant sizes very fast.

That is what I was afraid to hear.. a 14w seems a lot bigger than a 14r.. can’t wait to never step foot in the Nordstrom woman’s department, Lane Bryant, or Torrid! When I was a 16 I could shop on almost every mainstream store. I was an XL top.

In my experience, it took the most to go from size 16 to 14....about 70 lbs. after size 12, the sizes drop faster.

I’m down to a 16/18 from a 20 @ 281 lbs. I’m tall and because this is my second go around, I have had a tummy tuck. This causes me to carry my weight in my chest and thighs. To compare, I was in a 26 before my band and I was in a 20 at the same weight right before my sleeve.

First, you’re doing amazing! You and Your body is working hard. I understand it’s hard to see big picture right now but I see the band as a tool to get us through things we wouln’t Have gotten through before. I could commit to any restrictive diet before a loose weight fast but what I couldn’t do is stay the course and push through when I hit my 3rd stall in 2 mouths. I hear your frustration-do you think you would have been able to stick to a lifestyle change right now if you didn’t have the band? I’m not saying that you wouldn’t be able to, I just know I wouldn’t be able too. I’m also here with the sleeve after a full band slip. I lost my weight and kept it off. I thought I had the tools to maintain this for the rest of my life without the band. I didn’t. I gained a lot of my weight back in the first year. I know I can do this with the tool because I have done it before. I also know that I will eventually make the wrong choices without the tool.

@ChristieNandez any update? I never had pain from my endo pain outside of my period until Jan of this year when a golf ball sized endo growth was taken off of my abdominal wall. From there the pain has been off the charts. I had an ablation that helped and went on Depot Lupron to keep it from returning quickly. The pounds packed on this year. I was sleeved on 10/22 and things have been going good but I definitely still have severe hip/back pain. Whenever a flair up happens, I stall or gain weight.

At Kroger I find them in the deli department by the fine cheese. At Sams Club (a much better value) I find them in the salad dressing aisle.

Oops! Just looked at the label and it is 12 grams of protein per serving. 25 pieces are 130 cal/8gr fat/0 carbs/12 grams of protein. I haven’t found a more satisfying, crunchy snack, that don’t lead to bad eating.

Have you tried Parm Chrisps yet? I get them from Sams Club. They are 100% parm cheese. Nice and crunchy and the serving size is HUGE. Half a serving size satisfies my craving. I did binge on them once and felt so mad at myself until I realized that my “binge” was 130 calories, 0 carbs, & 6 grams of protein.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I had the band in 2008 but didn’t loose significant weight until 2013. I stopped thinking of it as a solution and started using it as a tool as intended. It was hard but I lost 100+ pounds, kept it off for 3 years and had my tummy tuck. Late 2017 I had a full slip and it had to be removed. I chose not to revise at that time because I thought I could maintain on my own. I couldn’t and I gained most of my weight back. 10/22 I had the sleeve done. I am down 36.6 lbs so far (20.22% of my excess weight)

I’m officially at the 6 week mark today. I have lost 33 lbs & 18.25% of my excess body weight. I feel good about the progress. I’m happy about it but it’s hard to be overjoyed. I lost 100+ lbs with the band and I remember feeling so good and being so ecstatic about every goal. I maintained that weight loss for a long time but gained it back in the last year when my band had to be removed. It’s an odd feeling because this larger body doesn’t even seem like mine. I think that’s the opposite feeling that a lot of wls paitents feel. Usually it takes a while to accept the new smaller body. I’m not beating myself up or thinking negative thoughts. It’s just so different from my last wls journey, ya know?

@amy6152 @GirlShrinking @Hrsnjs Thank you all for your support. I know it came from the very best place. I don’t think I communicated myself properly. My surgeon was in no way being mean, rude, or demeaning. He told me I was ahead of schedule and told me what we should expect out of my tool by the next appointment. I believe the point of having a weight loss goal for the next appointment is so we both have a benchmark to measure that periods success against. I Met and exceeded my weight loss the first 6 weeks. If I don’t come close then that might indicate that I’m developing some self destructive habits again. He doesn’t want that and I certainly don’t. My Surgeon is part of a private hospital that only does Bariatric surgery. That means the nutritionist work closely with the surgeon. They are both contributors to an overall weigh loss program. In my experience, they are both on the same page. While 5 lbs a week is daunting, if that’s what my tool is capable of, I want to meet that goal. If I don’t, I won’t beat myself up but I will be forced to be very honest with myself and reflect on the things that were within in my control. I appreciate the target that he set even though it’s daunting. I’m confident that he will not shame me if I don’t meet it, he will only brainstorm how to course correct. I’m a revision from a band and although he was not my original surgeon, he was in charge of my fills and maintenance the last 4 years. Under his guidance, I lost 110 lbs before my band failed. It’s really hard to talk about weight when you have spent your whole life overweight. I didn’t handle my banding like I should have in the beginning. I told myself I was doing everything right but I was lying to myself and others. I was seeking out slider foods more and more until my weight stalled completely. Then I was ashamed that I wasn’t loosing so I didn’t go back for follow up appointments. It took several years for me to go back and be real with myself and my doctor. I ended up gaining a lot of my weight back when I had my band removed because I thought I could battle my disease without a tool & the help of my weight loss team.

I had my 6 week checkup yesterday a few days ahead of my actual 6 week mark. Everything seemed good. 32 lbs lost at 17.8%. Doc did say that he wanted me to loose at least 30 more in the next 6 weeks when I see him again. 5 lbs a week seems so daunting right now because I keep stalling.

I’m just not real hungry some says. I also had the long stall and had an issue with BMs. I have to work on getting 80+ oz of water a day and that made everything so much better. My stall broke & I felt so much better.