thesuse2000

Hi all - the Valentine challenge is here: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/328319-valentines-challenge/

You look fantastic! Thanks for sharing your pics and experience with us.

Great - I will try to make it!

I'm ready! Start weight: 179 Goal weight: 168

Thank you Susan for continuing with these challenges! It's so helpful. I really need to jump into the next one after my holiday regain! I'll come back Monday to post start and goal weights. Hoping to be down a little by then...

Final weigh in - back up to 180... That's a 3 pound gain and a big bummer, but not unexpected after a couple weeks of travel, family stress and a little too much holiday fun. Home now and getting back on track!

Some ups and downs this week, but netted out the same - 177. Happy holidays all!

Hi judyk631 Are you in the NY area? What are you afraid you'll mess up? You can get through it all! FYI - you've posted in a thread that's not too active, so not too many folks will see it here.

177 today! A slow couple weeks, and then down 4 this week - whoohoo! Susan - can you change my goal from 175 to 173? I don't want to feel too comfy going into the holidays... thanks!

Kindle - glad to hear you were able to reign it all in after a few days off track! I'm going to do my best over the holidays, but I know there will be a lot of temptations over a week or two at least...

Damn girl! You look fantastic. Congrats on the great work and the new you. Glad you've got a positive attitude about the discoveries along the way. You live and you learn and you grow, and it's all good.

I'm doing great! The experience of living with the sleeve (for me anyway) is SO much better than with the band. I don't have any issues at all associated with it. Never get that stuck feeling. Overall it just feels more natural. I just feel full and satisfied with less food - and with healthy foods. My cravings are under control (not gone, but very diminished). I think the removal of the part of the stomach that releases the hunger hormone ghrelin makes a big difference. I've now passed my lowest weight achieved with the band and am heading towards uncharted territory. I've never as an adult weighed less than 175 (and only saw it for about 5 minutes in my 20s), so that will be a thrill to see 174 for the first time - and that's now just 6 pounds away! Not sure if you can see my signature (I know they don't show up on ipads/phones), but I'm down 84 pounds since my highest weight earlier this year. Just 25 away from goal. Overall very thrilled with the sleeve for sure! Fingers crossed you get approved - sounds like you've got a good shot!

I got my band (in Mexico) in 2008. I lost about 70 pounds but then It slipped just under a year out and I had revision surgery in 2009 (in the US, covered by Cigna). But after the slip I could never tolerate it being tight enough to be effective. My major issue was night reflux - I'd inhale fluids coming up in the night and wake up choking. It would take a while each time to cough up all the fluids. My husband was so worried that I'd suffocate in my sleep. I wasn't that worried about that because each time it happened I would sit right up and be wide awake, but it was a nightmare, especially when it happened multiple times a night. I spent a couple years going back and forth with fills and unfills, but eventually just gave up trying to tighten it - and gained back all the lost weight and then some. I didn't start seriously considering the sleeve until my BMI was back up to 41. I don't think insurance would have covered me if it was below that, but not sure. They had me do a 3-month supervised diet. And I got some tests done. I had some esophageal dilation, and the history of the reflux with the band - which were part of the insurance application. Plus I was told that the fact that I did lose well initially with the band might help my case. I just don't know more about cases like yours. I know that your experience is very common though. I hope your surgeon's office can help make a case for you! If insurance didn't cover my revision I would have gone back to Mexico to do it. I know that's not something everyone is comfortable with, but I had a great overall experience with Dr. Ortiz at the OCC.

You've lost more than 1/3 of your excess weight at only 6 weeks out - that's amazing!

Hi - I have Aetna and was converted from band to sleeve this year. In terms of the process, I left that to my surgeon's office to negotiate with insurance, so don't know the details, and for us conversions I think every case is likely different. But I did get approved! And they paid for every last cent of the surgery. I felt so very lucky. I wish you the same success!

I think you can do it perfectly respectfully, if that's what you want to do. If it was me, the next time someone makes a comment I'd pipe up loudly and make an announcement to the whole group, saying something like "Thank you all for your concern. I know you want to help, but I'm following my surgeon's diet, and working really hard to make some big changes in my life, and I really don't want to explain how I'm eating all the time. I am asking you all not to comment on my eating anymore. Please just support me. Thank you." Or whatever works for you to say. You've got the right to create boundaries and set limits about what people can and can't say to you. I hope they respect that!

That doesn't sound low to me. Especially if you had a low BMI at surgery. That's an average of about 3 pounds a week! Stay positive and think long term. It looks to me like you're on track for success.

I did 40mg the first 3 months then my surgeon cut it back to 20. I just had my 6 month follow up this past week and my surgeon wants me to stop it. I asked her for one more script just in case. I'm going to wean off, and take it every other day for a few weeks. When I cut back to 20 I had a few heartburn days, so want to be cautious, but I have faith that I will soon be able to discontinue completely.

The nutritionist at my surgeon's office told me I wouldn't want more than 3 meals a day but that was never true for me. I don't usually "snack" but I do eat 4 times a day, which is about every 3 hours. If I need to go longer than 3 hours between meals I do add a small snack. I carry something called Nut Punch with me all the time. They're little two-bite nutty snacks. I buy them online. High fat, but good fats. 95 calories in each and they satisfy me nicely in a pinch. I also sometimes eat one before or after a workout when I need a little extra energy. But I do eat more calories when I add a snack to the day so I avoid it when not needed.

Good for you! I've had a few splurges. I think the most important thing is just getting back on track, and not falling into that trap of - "well I've already blown today, so I may as well splurge at lunch too". Or - "I guess I just can't stay on track anymore so I guess I'm having doughnuts for Breakfast every day now". When I'm super tempted to splurge, and feel that resisting will just make me obsess about that food item, I go for it, and like you did, I just try to really enjoy it. And then get back on track. In the past I had a harder time getting back on track, but with the sleeve I actually can do it - I'll feel satisfied by the treat and ready to get back to healthier foods. I'm cautious that this may get harder over time, and I may need to change my approach (and just say no) but for now it works!

I just bought this one recently. It's not as fancy as some - doesn't measure body fat - but it's easy and reliable and measures to .2 pounds which is nice. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001KXZ808/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1417848174&sr=1&keywords=scale

I'm not familiar with MIC injections, but my understanding is that they've got risks as well - especially taken daily. And I also don't know if there's any lasting impact of that once you stop the shots. I'm totally with you in terms of your perspective. At the point in my life when I had this surgery it was clear that my body was determined to maintain a high weight. I had a friend who tried to talk me out of surgery - saying that she had faith that I could do it on my own. I said that I also believed that I could do it on my own - but only if working on my weight was the ONLY responsibility I had (meaning I quit my job and magically relinquish all other life stresses, which is of course not a possibility). I knew that I would need every ounce of mental and physical energy to fight my body and force myself to eat less than my body was begging for and exercise despite feeling underfed. Yes - there are risks of surgery. But longterm malnutrition is really not anything I'm aware of with the sleeve. Short term - perhaps, but if you're taking Vitamins and focusing on Protein you should be a-ok. Trust yourself. This is not a crazy weight loss scheme - it's a medical procedure that has proven to be very effective. And I'm SO very happy that I did it! I really do feel like I fixed a physical problem and I feel more normal now Such a relief!

181. Thanks!

Great story - so happy for you, and inspired by you!

Bring lip balm and comfy clothes to wear home. Congratulations on starting off on this adventure!