*susan*

Hi Nana, glad to hear you are well on your way to recovering. The second day after any surgery is always the worst. I had trouble getting all the liquids in too. But, it is so important that you do, you don't want to end up in the hospital on IV fluids like I did three times. Take care of yourself and continue to keep us posted on how you are doing.

Exactly, I have found what works for me and I am sticking with it. I just make sure my snacks are healthy, not my old kind of snacks like chips. Now I have a piece of fruit, some celery, or maybe a piece of roast beef if I am low on protein for the day.

Heck, I wouldn't take advice from her on how to blow my nose!

Thanks, and yes, my family was just as excited for me.

Good morning everyone!! Happy Monday, happy first day of school for many of our kids too. Kat, it sounds like the party went well, it can be scary sometimes mixing that much family together in one place. Slim, you can delete your posts on facebook. Hover next to it and on the right side the delete option will come up. And anyways, we all love you and would never consider you to be an a$$. I am glad I am not the only one who finds themselves wanting to approach other people. Sometimes I have seen people who look so unhappy and uncomfortable in their own skins. I just want to run up to them and tell them there is hope and alternatives to just dieting out there. But, how do you do that without offending them?

Sclady, welcome to the forums! Thank you for sharing your story as well. It helps everyone to be able to read about others success and know that we can do this!

I find it curious about the not eating between meals theory. I tried to follow that, but when I did, my weight loss absolutely came to a screeching halt. But, when I eat a healthy snack between meals, I actually lose much better.

Thanks guys! I still refuse to pay full price for anything though, not until I get to goal, which I will do! Speaking of which, I need to update my ticker because I am now officially half-way to goal too!!

I take leftovers, but I never get to take them for lunch, because someone always eats it before I get to it.

Yay, Ash! I am glad it has started moving again.

Just don't respond to them if you don't want them to be your friends. My CEO sent me a friend request. I ignored the first one. Then he made a comment to me about ignoring him and sent me another one. So, I felt guilty, and need job security, so I accepted him. Then I went into the privacy settings. I changed it so he can't see any of my status updates, because that is where I do most of my fussing and he doesn't need to see those! Oh, and add me. You can get to my fb by clicking on my link in my signature! I hate the uniboob issue! But, they are great for the gym and black eye prevention. I am so sorry she is not well. I hope she recovers quickly! I have to share something with you guys. I posted this on VST, and many of you I am friends with on FB, but I don't talk much there about my sleeve. So, I hope you don't mind that I copied and pasted my post there here. I am still excited beyond all belief about this. I have been shopping at Lane Bryant or in the "woman's" section of clothing stores for twenty plus years now. We all know that in regular department stores, the selection for plus size clothing is very, very limited. Yesterday I took my daughter back to school shopping. We went into Kohl's. All of my clothes are absolutely huge on me, and I really need some new clothes for work. I had already made plans to hit Lane Bryant later in the day. But, as long as we were already there, I begrudgingly made my way back to their teeny, tiny "woman's" department. As I made my way there, I was looking at all the really, really cute clothes along the way in the normal sizes sections and hoping that one day I will be able to wear those cute clothes. So, I get to the Woman's section. I had to guess my size, because it had been a while since I clothes shopped. I got to the dressing room, and the clothes were too big. I couldn't believe it. So, I went the next size down, and then the next until I was at the smallest size they offered in the woman's section, and they were still too big!! I couldn't believe it. So, I thought, dare I venture into the regular people's section where all the really cute clothes are. I thought, no, I am just going to be out of luck because there is no way nothing there will fit me. But, I decided what the heck, it wouldn't be the first time in my life I was disappointed so I may as well give it a try. I grabbed several items that I thought were incredibly cute and made my way back to the dressing rooms. You won't believe what happened... THEY FIT!! I was so excited and happy you wouldn't believe it. It was crazy, but a whole wave of emotions came over me and I sat down on the bench in the fitting room and started crying. Then, I had to run and find my daughter and share the exciting news with her. I had to call my husband and my mom, she called her brother. I have to say, this is the best NSV I have ever experienced. And, today, just to see if it worked in other stores, I tried clothes on at Dillards and Coldwater Creek, and I was able to fit in regular sizes there too! I am so blessed to have been given this wonderful opportunity to be sleeved. It is truly the best thing to ever have happened to me!

Hi Glenna and PurricanChick, and welcome to both of you too! It is exciting to see so many new people joining our forum and changing their lives!

Millie, you poor thing. I feel horrible that you have gone through such an experience. And, it basically sounds like your band doctor just blew you off. I would have been furious with him. I had a great first year with my band, but the the last two were a living hell. When I went to my band doctor and told him I had the opportunity to get sleeved with Dr. Aceves, he was very supportive of my doing so. He said some people just do not tolerate the band well and I was obviously one of them. Like you, I did everything exactly as I was supposed to, my body just didn't like having that thing in me. There are many, many, many people that have had wonderful success with the band. I am so pleased for the ones who have. But, I am also very happy that the sleeve is now moving to the forefront and giving people what I consider to be a much better choice.

I am so glad you posted your pictures. For those of us still going through the process, it really is a great motivator. You look absolutely fabulous! I am like you, I really don't count calories either. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life counting everything I put in my mouth. I think that is one of the reasons I failed at weight watchers. I spent time researching how much Protein is in certain foods, and I keep track mentally in my head to make sure I am getting enough of it. That is about the extent of my counting. Now, if my weight loss should stall really bad, then I would probably count to see if I am doing something wrong. But, for the most part, as long as the weight is continuing to drop, I am a happy sleever.

Jane, I am the same way. We had pretty much stopped going to nicer restaurants because I felt guilty ordering a $20.00 or more meal and eating just a couple of bites of it. We don't have that kind of money for me to do that. However, we have since figured out a plan. My daughter and I pretty much like exactly the same things. And she seldom is able to eat all of her meal. So, now we do go out again, and I just ask for a small salad like what they serve with the meal. I have a few bites of it and a few bites of whatever my daughter orders and am completely satisfied.

Be afraid, be very afraid!!

I agree, he sounds absolutely wonderful and you are so lucky for that.

I haven't tried anything for it. I figure it is probably a good thing I can't eat ice cream.

That does sound like a good cookbook. I am going to see if Amazon has it.

Wow, thanks for sharing all of your wonderful achievements with us! It is very inspiring.