KT1981

Today is my 9 month anniversary. I was sleeved on 10/17/18. I am down over 110 pounds (100 from surgery date) and have met my doctor's weight goal for me (165). At 163.8 this morning, actually, and I'm now on to my first personal goal of 150 (I'm 5'5" and this weight puts me at a healthy BMI), which was my original "ultimate" goal but has now shifted to be stopping point to my new "ultimate" goal of 135. I've changed my eating habits entirely and I battle my binge eating disorder regularly, but I did it. I'm doing it! I've recently finally started working out as the weight loss has slowed significantly, but I can't believe I'm here. This seemed so far away and impossible in those first post-op weeks, as well as during every stall, including the 2 week one I just broke earlier this week. 9 months from now I plan to be maintaining my goal weight of 135 and researching plastic surgery options. Where will you be?

Dang that's genius. I drop mine off at the local women/children's shelter.

This struck me HARD. I am SO much healthier and wiser in how I feel physically, in what the numbers say at the doctor's office, and how I feel mentally. I finally (FINALLY!!) understand what a healthy, sustainable diet looks like. I finally know how to make good choices. I've always known that candy bars were bad and chicken breast was good, but I didn't know how to make that right choice. Now, I get it. I worked my plan hard these last 9 months and the good habits are ingrained, and I've found that when I stray from proper eating to something junky, I don't feel very good and it's almost always not worth it. I'm most certainly not perfect, but I feel normal now... and definitely healthier and wiser!

I was allowed to do fork-mashed mashed white fish, so I did lots of tilapia at that stage.

After the longest freaking stall I've ever had (just over 2 weeks) it finally broke and I dropped a couple pounds, and as of this morning I have officially met my doctor's goal for me! I now weigh 164.4 (goal was 165) and am aiming for my personal goal of 150 to put me at a healthy BMI. If I get there, I will take aim at 135 for my vanity goal. I'm becoming increasingly scared that I'll just stop losing now that I've met the doctor's goal, and I am trying to remind myself that by continuing to eat below my TDEE, and following my nutrition plan, I will continue to lose because that is science. But we all know emotions run high during this process, and sometimes my emotions get the better of me and I panic that I'm done losing before I want to be. For now- I shall celebrate with a delicious Powerade Zero and set my sights on 150! 😊

I was recently told to up my calories to 800 to 1000 per day, and I tend to hang out on the low end, but on the rare occasion that I hit near 1000, I see a loss. Since my loss has slowed down/stalled, it has me wondering if I should be hitting closer to 1000 on a more regular basis. But the problem is that I'm usually satisfied with my 800 calories per day, and with that I can get up to 90 grams of protein and keep the carbs low (under 50, often close to 20). And I like that. I don't want to add more protein to my diet because if I do I will probably never poop again. Constipation is still a bit of a struggle for me, and I want to stay low carb (but not necessarily keto-low, that is not a personal goal for me). So how can I increase my calories without adding a bunch more protein or carbs, but also not adding a bunch of crappy food? I'm at a loss. I've added a couple tablespoons of peanut butter, but that's about all I've come up with, and even that makes me feel like it's just a bunch of sugar, although the nutrition information doesn't seem to indicate that.

Lol. I might pass on that remedy. I did have a stomach bug a few months ago that had a similar result. I will probably avoid trying to repeat that, too. Sorry about your illness! Hope you recovered quickly!

My doctor's goal weight for me is 165. My personal goal is 150 (my vanity goal is 135). I've been stalled for about a week now at 167, and I'm freaking myself out that this is it. (Naturally, I have thought that about every stall along the way, but knowing that I'm basically at my doctor's goal weight makes me think this REALLY is it.) This is compounded by the fact that I appear to be going through a hormonal shift of some kind, making me fear that my hormones are going back to how they were before and I've reached my new set point. But I don't want to be here. I want to be at least 17 pounds from here, preferably 32 pounds from here. Logical me knows that if I continue to average 800 calories and 50 carbs per day, I will continue to lose, even if it slows down. But I'm not feeling logical right now. I'm feeling scared because I feel that I have reason to believe that I've reached "the end of my surgery". Please talk some sense into me.

In the last couple weeks I've had two NSV's- one was pretty amusing and the other kinda made/makes me sad. The amusing one was when a male friend of my husband and I came by unexpectedly. He didn't know I'd had surgery and hasn't seen me in about a year. (I'm about 8.5 months out of surgery and down 107 pounds, only 18 pounds from my goal weight.) He was shocked and thrilled at my progress. He was over for a couple of hours and probably hugged me 7 times and commented positively on my appearance just as many times, even using the phrase "you're so hot". (He's a bit brash, but this did not come from a disrespectful place, and neither my husband nor I took it that way. Obviously, I secretly loved it... who doesn't wanna be hot?!) ) Because he's a good friend of ours, my husband didn't seem bothered by any of this. But that's not the NSV... the NSV came later that evening when my husband asked about my wedding set. I've been ring-less for a few weeks because they are so large that they literally fall off my hand and aren't safe to wear anymore. After all of the attention from our friend, my husband was suddenly very concerned about my walking around "looking single". The real NSV was seeing him concerned about whether or not someone might try to snap me up. Not gonna lie- I've been riding that high for a while now! The one making me kinda sad was an NSV I had never even thought of before. I was obese for over 15 years, and many people in my life today (including my husband) have never known me any other way. In the last couple of weeks I've taken a few group pictures for a variety of reasons, and each time someone has asked "what's your side"? (This is a reference to my "good side", which is a thing among women where they prefer to be photographed from a particular side that they deem to be their best look.) I've heard other women reference it or rearrange themselves in photos to catch "their side", and it occurred to me that nobody has ever asked me that in the last 15+ years. Not one single time. Now it seems to be a regular question, and it makes me a little sad... was I, like, a lost cause before? I wasn't attractive enough to have a "side"? Like, it didn't matter how you photographed me, it was going to be equally unattractive from any angle? Ultimately, it doesn't matter because I look different now and this is my new normal, but it brought to light that unconscious bias that people have about obese people... we are inherently unattractive... even if we're not. I'm not quasimodo... I'm an average looking woman, and have always been so- even when I was obese. But apparently I wasn't seen that way, and something about that makes me bummed when I think about it.

Thanks for the affirmation. I was recently told to up my calories to 800-1000 and I tend to keep it to 800 (since I'm not done losing) but I've noticed on the rare day that I hit closer to 1000 I will see a loss- sometimes small, sometimes substantial. It has me wondering if I should be more regularly hitting closer to that 1000 mark. I am going to try that for a few days, but I also need to up my workout game. That's my plan for this week!

This is on my mind. I tried it purposefully during a stall once before and it didn't do anything to break the stall (it also didn't cause any water retention or anything), but I was recently told to up my calories in general and I'm still on the low end (should be 800 to 1000 and I'm at 800-850). I've noticed on the rare day when I get up to 1000 I will post a loss, even if it's small. It does have me wondering if I should be hitting closer to 1000 on a more regular basis. I'm going to try that for a few days.

Honestly, for the first week or so if it's weird or kinda hurts, it's normal. You will absolutely be back to normal, and honestly, it's going to happen much sooner than it feels like right now! The first few days/week are about doing what you can. Remember that your goals are goals... you will have to work your way up there, and that's ok!

This was one of the worst parts of recovery for me. I'm a stomach sleeper and needed to be slightly propped up (for my comfort, not doc's orders) for about 3 weeks. Longest 3 weeks of my life. Even then it took another week of propped "side sleeping" (pillows on either side of my body) before I was fully comfy stomach sleeping again.

Totally normal and very painful! It will likely get rapidly better over the next few days. Some folks continue to experience light "spasms" later on when drinking things at extreme temperatures (iced water or hot tea, for example), but even that usually dissipates early on in recovery. When I experienced those issues I preferred room temperature items to help my tummy stay "relaxed".

I'm 8.5 months out and am 1.8 pounds from my doctor's goal weight for me. I went from 265 on surgery day to (almost) goal of 165 today. My personal goal is to lose an additional 15 pounds to get to 150. I hope to be there at 13 months post-op.

I have toyed with the idea of keto recently, too. (I'm 8.5 months out and loss has slowed considerably and I'm not ready to lose momentum). I've found that googling keto calculator brings up a bunch calculator options that can tell you how many carbs, protein, and fat you should be eating. Here's what's stopping me, though... true keto is about eating a high percentage of fat and considerably lower percentage of protein. While it will probably help us drop weight, we have to be concerned about our levels of protein because we're already on a rapid weight loss journey and need higher amounts of protein to help reduce muscle loss and maintain satiety. Just some food for thought. Like I mentioned, I'm considering it myself, but seeing the calculators has me concerned because a true keto diet would not allow me to reach the protein goals set by my physician. Realistically, by following a high protein, low carb diet, we can probably already maintain a low level of ketosis anyway, without compromising the extra protein we need to minimize muscle lost. I also have some reservations about it being a truly healthy lifestyle to maintain long term because of the high percentage of fat (it's supposed to be "good fat", I know, but we know that too much "good fat" is also bad for health) as well as the number of chemical substitutes that people use to maintain the lifestyle.

I lost my damn mind and pigged out on "cookie brownies", chips, and goldfish crackers. Like 1,000 calories worth in an hour. I usually don't even eat 1,000 calories in a whole day and I almost never eat that kind of crap. I feel terrible mentally but I might honestly feel worse physically. Kind of that feeling where you wish you could throw up so you'd just feel better. I'm going to lay down and take my punishment for what I've done. Blegh. Tomorrow is a new day.

I'm about 7.5 months out and reached the 100 mark this morning (down 90 from surgery date)! I have 10 pounds to my physician's goal, and 25 pounds to my personal goal of 150, which puts me at a healthy BMI for my height on all those terrible, old, outdated (but still used) charts. I hope to be at my personal goal by my birthday, November 10th. I'm still really struggling with being active enough, which is becoming more necessary as the loss has slowed significantly (averaging about 1.5 pounds per week for the last couple of months). I have all the tools and resources to exercise, I'm just... not doing it. Time to get my @ss in gear so that I can meet my birthday goal! It's only 22 weeks away, so it's a tight goal to lose 25 pounds in that time frame. I look very different than I did 7 months ago, and about a month and a half ago I had to change all my work directory pictures because I was getting confused looks and several outright "your picture looks nothing like you" comments. It feels great.

I know exactly what my trigger was... anxiety. And what better way to handle that than eating, right?! I've talked to my husband about it so he can help me refocus and calm down. Anxiety is a trigger for me and I know yet. Yesterday it got the best of me, but it's not winning today! Thank you all for the support. My punishment continues today as the scale is up almost 2 full pounds overnight (I'm a daily weigher) as I retain water and my body revolts against yesterday's torture.

I'll be 8 months out on Monday and I still have what I call "big pouch days" and "little pouch days". On a big pouch days, I have to watch my calories because my pouch seems to be able to physically accommodate more food than normal. Today I am having a "little pouch day" where I have pre-logged all my food for the day and I'm at 630 calories. I can't imagine what the heck else I'm going to eat because I've felt "full" all day long. Getting in all the foods to meet my 630 will be a challenge. An occasional low day won't kill me (and I'm still meeting my protein goals) but I wonder why this happens and if anyone else experiences it. It also makes me wonder if I'm stretching my pouch on the little pouch days where I feel full all day. Kara

I'm about 7.5 months post-sleeve and down almost 99 pounds (89 from surgery date). I have 26 pounds to goal. I have completely overhauled my eating habits, as many of us have. I stick to my physician's plan very, very closely. So while I am still a work in progress in conquering 30+ years of bad eating habits and a terrible relationship with food, I'm doing incredibly well... except when I decide to treat myself. Here is my rationale: I'm a human. I am allowed to enjoy food. Most of the time it is simply fuel, but sometimes I may want to have a cookie, or some chips, or something else that normal, non-obese people eat on occasion as a treat. I am making a conscious decision to eat these foods and am accounting for them in my food logs. I am generally able to eat just one (or one serving) of these items without triggering my binge eating desires... but I can't seem to do it without absolutely beating myself up mentally afterwards. Today, after having met my protein requirements for the day, and still being within my preferred caloric intake, I chose to have two servings of tortilla chips (22 chips and 280 calories) and half of a grocery store cookie (70 calories). I can't stop feeling like a failure. Like I "cheated". Like I ruined everything. And you know what that is leading me toward? Binge eating. I haven't done it, and I don't think I will, but I WANT to now, because I'm such a "failure" for having enjoyed something that wasn't strictly fuel for my body. Does anyone else struggle like this??

I read this a few days ago and have been ruminating on it ever since. You are right. I am loosening the reins and I wish I wasn't because I'm not at goal yet. I need to tighten it up but also acknowledge that so long as I am considerate of what I'm eating and accounting for it in my macros, it is simply a choice I'm making, and I need to continue to weigh it against the "consequences" of how it affects my body- both now and in the future.

As of this morning I am no longer obese, just overweight. I have 29 pounds to my goal weight, and only 14 pounds to the doctor's goal weight. My 7 month anniversary was yesterday. Just as important- MY 6 MONTH STALL BROKE. I stayed the course and did what I was supposed to do, even when I got zero results for over 2 weeks. But my body did what IT was supposed to do and got its crap together and the losses seem to have picked up again. I'm amazed at the success of this tool and proud of myself for my VERY hard work, in spite of my imperfections. I genuinely can't believe I'm in this position. I even signed up for a fitness evaluation at work, and based on those results, someone in our wellness department is designing a workout plan specifically for me to work on the muscle groups I have concerns with. I am happy.

Mine was 2 weeks. I cheated within 5 or 6 days of surgery and then I got scared and buckled down and stuck to it to a T.

I cheated. Several times. I struggled HARD with the pre-op diet. Mine was one of the liquid only diets where the only "solid" food you get is jello. I was scared they wouldn't operate because my liver was too fatty or that my difficulty handling the pre-op diet was an indicator of how unsuccessful I would be post-op. Neither has been true. Surgery was textbook and I've done amazing with my diet post-op. Take your slip up, acknowledge what might have caused it so you can try to prevent it again in the future, and recommit to your diet. You will need to use those "pick up, move on, and recommit" skills many times throughout your journey. You got this, girl.