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I see so many fellow 'sleevers' who are dedicated to exercise. If I were so inclined to be ashamed of myself, I would be!!! Someone had a 'confessions' topic......for me, it's being lazy, that is it, there it is, out there for all of you to see. I just posted somewhere else that I KNEW how lazy I am, I KNOW I have the attention span of a four year old and I KNEW if I incorporated exercise into my weight loss during the 'honeymoon' phase, I'd get bored and quit and gain some of the weight back. So, I had a 'Plan B' - and althought it might not work for everyone, so far, I've been successful. I knew that I'd have to make life syle changes.....I must make changes that I could live with forever, because Lord knows I cannot exercise forever, probably not for three months, not on a regular basis. I'm not that faithful. I confess, I reached goal in just under five months and NONE of it was from exercise. But, nothing passed my lips that should not. Not one bite of anything sweet, nothing fried, basically no bread, rice or Pasta....I was crazy rigid!!! I did and still do go up and down the stairs here in the house rather than avoid it as often as possible like I did prior to surgery, and I do park out in parking lots. That's the extent of my exercise program. I weigh, measure and log my food religiously. It's part of my life, it's like a game. I weigh every morning, I want to keep on top of it......and I weigh again at night. In the evening in my mind, I guess what I'll weigh the next day. I told you.....obsessive!!! I love it, all these things remind me that I AM IN CONTROL, and I want to keep it that way!! Some of my changes......I seldom ever have a chip. No more Hot Wings from Outback and no more fried calamarie unless someone else orders it and I can have two bites. Same goes for fried cheese sticks. There are things I did before, on a fairly regular basis, and now, only once in a blue moon, maybe. In my mind, NOTHING but carbonated drinks are off limits, but I CHOOSE not to eat certain things. The big difference is, I have little or no hunger, so resisting temptation is much easier. Having 85% of my tummy removed is a big deal. We have forced portion control, it is not comfy if we eat too much. I still have a lot of restriction, I can eat a lot more than I use to, but I cannot eat much, never, ever more than a cup and that's if it's 'soft'. I don't advocate not exercising, it's good for our hearts, weight loss......it's just good all the way around. For me, again I confess, I'm lazy, but am obsessive and rigid with what I eat. I'm aware of every single thing that goes into my mouth. I never feel deprived, I'd do this again in a New York minute! How 'bout you, is there anyone else that will confess to being lazy!!???

good for you!!! congrats!! Like you, I never had any problems coming through surgery and recovery. It's been great!!! You'll love your sleeve!! NOT being hungry is wonderful, one suggestion, if you are not hungry, eat less. 4 oz at this point is more than you need. Do you have really good restriction? Someone told me to 'eat under my sleeve' and if you're not hungry, that is easy!!!! At going on three years, I normally cannot eat a cup of food....and they told me they never wanted me to eat more than a cup, ever! I still weigh or measure everything at home, and when out, it's easy to be visiting, overeat before you realize it and then be miserable. Literally look at the plate and divide, what you are going to eat and what you will take home or leave. I know you are thrilled, it's a wild ride and I've loved every minute of it!!!!!! Enjoy, and find a support group, and GO!!!!!!

This is me!!! I am NOT a couch potato. I've made 'life changes' that I can do from now on. The parking out, taking the stairs, and I'll even occasionally get on my DH's Air Dyne (sp?) stationary bike for five or ten minutes. I have also made changes in my eating and all of this works for me. I just knew, if I had surgery, joined a gym and worked my tail off to lose weight, it would come back, slowly but surely....just because the working out would grow old and I'd stop. I totally identify with what you posted!

This made me laugh Jayne!!! Back in 2001 I decided it was time to 'do something about it' yet again!!! I joined Curves, well, to get the special, which I think was about $27 per month, I had to sign a one year contract. I started out gung-ho. I went three times a week, faithfully for a month. After the first month, I went a couple of times (the second month). After that, I paid them $27 per month until the contract ran out!!! To this day, when we pass a Curves, my husband will ask me if we should stop by and give them a check!!! We laugh about it.....but I won't say I'll never join a gym again, but I will NEVER sign a contract!!!!

I'm with you, I always thought they were over priced and I never cared for them, I'd much rather have a Pecan Sandy or chocolate Covered Graham! My DH would buy a box of the thin mint ones if somebody was selling them at the office, but the only 'mint' I like is Andi's Mints, a mint cookie, i wasn't interested, he had them all to himself!

Biotin may not help, but it doesn't hurt. I didn't lose hair and my nails looked better than ever and grew like crazy. Like taking prenatal vitamins kind of!!

Shoot, I have no idea what her body composition is. She was a cheerleader in HS and looks about like she did in her annual. She's always had 'good arms' and doesn't even bake with 'Lite' Butter - that's all I know! LoL I'd kill for her arms!!! Body fat. That's something I haven't even thought about, I lost weight, fat disappeared.....I call it a success!! My bloodwork has always been good, but it was good prior to surgery. Cholesterol, prior to sugery was between 125 - 135, NO MEDICATION EVER. Doctor said I should fram the results. Nothing has changed since surgery. To be honest, the only reason I surgery was pure vanity, I wanted to have cute clothes. I do tell people it was 'preventive maintenence'. Maybe I've avoided issues ten years from now, right??!!! I had to come up with SOMETHING to explain having 85% of my tummy removed other than, 'I want to have fun shopping'. Hard and firm.....makes me laugh and I could slide right into the gutter with that, but I shant!! I'm shallow, I admit it - I want to look good in clothes and have a good time finding them. I've accomplished that. I was lucky, I don't have an 'apron' where I might consider a tummy tuck. The arm surgery is painful according to a friend of mine, and leaves scars. I'm 53, I'm not going sleeveless no matter what.... I'm happy as a clam. I 'went back together' pretty good, as a friend of mine put it. I'm a mother to two and a DeeDee to three....happily married 34 years....I have no complaints. No health issues before, and thank God, none now or I'd never live it down. I'm focused on losing three pounds just to see if I can. I'm below goal and have been for 2.5 years.

Right now I find maintenence easy, I reached Dr. D's goal in just under five months, my goal, 5 lbs less, a month later. I say easy, but I go up and down 2 or 3 lbs weekly. I consider that 'normal', I figure that is what naturally thin people do. Maybe not, maybe it's just MY normal??!!!! LoL I can tell when it's Water retention because my wedding ring is hard to put on in the morning. What scares me is this......what if it ends, what if it isn't always this easy. It's easy now to resist or throw something away because I have little or no hunger....ever. What if, what if....will the what ifs EVER END??!! Maybe not, maybe the what ifs is what keeps me, what WILL keep me on my toes. Nothing is off limits for me except carbonated drinks. They said at the seminar, 'this is not a diet, it's a way of life'. That said......rather than mindlessly eating, I am aware of everything I eat. Some might call me obsessive.....seriously!!??? It works for me, I like this. I like weighing and measuring my food. I like logging it. Weighing daily. I think it's a control issue. All of this makes me feel in control. I like that feeling! Even when I made Christmas Cookies and ate six little stars throughout the day......I knew the next day I'd cut out a snack or two. Amazingly enough, I didn't pay for it with the scale going up.....but I'm not use to sugar like that and I didn't feel good. Make sense? I don't ever want to forget what it was like to shop in the women's dept and hate the clothes. I don't ever want to forget......

Who out there, pre-op and post-op, attend a monthly support group? I had surgery in Dallas in 2010, but at that time we were living in Wisconsin. Sleeve surgery is NOT popular up there at all, I'm not sure why....anyway, although I was having surgery in Texas, I knew I needed to find a support group, so I found one near-by where we lived. I started attending the morning meeting once a month and my husband and I would attend the evening meeting the following week. Same women in charge, but different people attending. It was wonderful, I met other people who were post op, 'newbies' and people all they way to six years out. Sadly, other than ME, there was one woman who had sleeve surgery, everybody else was going to have or did have by-pass/RNY. Still, it was great being in the presence of others who could answer questions, provide insight, everything. I kept on attending post-op, and was a regular. Fast forward to August 2011. We came home!!!! Yay! I jumped right in, attending my first support group at Forest Park Medical Center the following month. Quite a drive from the Valley Ranch area, but well worth the trip. We'd make a date night out of it, Star Bucks before and dinner after! We moved to Plano this past Nov. I had fallen out of the habit of going during all the moving stuff, holidays etc. I was going to go this week, (last night) but after a google search for someone else, I found TWO support groups that are MUCH closer and 'everyone is welcome'. I decided to try the one at Baylor Plano yesterday evening and was thrilled!!! There was a doctor (PhD) that spoke for almost an hour, he is the one that people talk to for the psyc eval prior to surgery at that facility, and is also something or other at Southern Methodist University. Very, very knowledgable, he was by far, the best speaker at a support group, that I've attended. There were also two men there from Bariatric Advantage, with a lesson in Protein from food and supplements.....question and answer session with the doctor and these guys...and of course they had samples. I'm on the email list and will continue to attend. I think it's very important to attend one on a regular basis. It is totally different than this forum, which has it's place for all of us, but it doesn't take the place of an 'in person', hands on support group. There were probably 40 people there last night. ALL but three were or were going to be sleeve patients. Two had RNY and one had been banded. There is another one at Medical Center Plano the second and fourth Thursday of each month. I'll attend it Feb 28th. I hope it's as good! Two or three times a month, sounds good to me. There was a full house last night and apparently that is the norm. The lady said, long term, the most successful patients attend these meetings. I hope that's right.....but never the less, I met some really great people! How 'bout anyone else, what is your experience??!!!

I agree, with everything you said.

I know this is not what all 'normal' thin folks do. I have a friend who is 5'5" and about 115 soaking wet. She has NEVER watched what she eats, she'll probably die of a heart attack!! I've known her since 1984, she was 28 years old. She almost always has something 'sweet' in her house, she loves to bake. I vividly remember one time we were on the phone, mid-90's and she couldn't decide whether to pop popcorn or have a piece of apple pie she'd baked. So, what do you do when faced with a tough choice like that???!!! Of course, you have BOTH!!!! Obviously it is something that has stuck with me all these years!!! Other than things like that, I feel like I eat like a normally 'thin' person, but my friends....the thin ones, I cannot think of ONE that hits the gym. I take that back, I have ONE friend, we've been friends since 6th grade. She isn't skinny, she is thin, naturally thin......she and her husband JUST joined a gym about two weeks ago.

I'm with you, 100%. You can do it, and THIS is why I weigh every single morning. We may not LIKE to see the scale creep up a little, but a LITTLE, our three lbs, is MUCH easier to handle than getting on there and it's 8 or 10 lbs!!! I'd just crumple, I'm sure!!! LoL These little changes that we are discussing can make us or break us....all depending on whether we are adding a bite here and there or taking them away. Like you.....if it's there and something I like, I swear, it's like...'Hurry up and get it all eaten so it will be gone' Where in the HELL did thinking like that come from???!!!!!!! I don't know, but I am aware of it and know it is wrong, that does not mean it's easy to stop. One thing in my favor is I CAN and DO throw things away now. Prior to surgery......that wasn't something I did. You can do it.....so can I. Find a support group, just like an alcoholic, we need these meetings. I felt revived after the other night!!!

It's funny that you mentioned additional calories and what it equates to over time. I JUST attended my first support group at Baylor Plano, this past Wednesday. We just moved to this area and I needed to find one closer to me. It was really good.....and the speaker was the doc (PhD doctor) that does the pre and post op counsiling for their WL patients. He was GREAT, a good speaker. He brought up this subject, except he used 100 calories. An additional 100 calories a day, 365 days is 36,500 calories. He said that will be 10 lbs a year. THAT is how I ended up at 238 lbs and attending my WLS seminar, 10 lbs at a time. I am sure it was about 10 lbs per year, maybe a little less, but you know what I mean!!! I vividly remember gaining from 170 to 180 and convinced myself it was 'no big deal', 180 isn't so bad. OMG, that is how it happens!!!! I am at goal, several lbs below my doctor's goal, but I'd like to drop 3 or 4 lbs "JUST BECAUSE". Mainly to make sure I can. I had to ADD a meal or a few Snacks to stop losing weight.....yes, seriously!!! I still have good restriction, but I eat out of habit. It's 'time' for a snack. I started a couple of days before the meeting, cutting out my morning snack, I want to 'test' and see what it takes to lose just a little. After the meeting, in my mind, if adding 100 calories a day does that, maybe cutting out my morning Graham Cracker w/peanut butter.....130 calories, will make a difference too. What do you think? I know you can do it, we do have to be aware of everything we do. I log my food, but there are some things I do NOT even bother counting.....and they do add up, and CAN add up to 100 calories in a blink of an eye!!! I add a little 2% milk (although I DRINK skim) to my THREE cups of coffee. Not even enough to try and log.....BUT, it adds up. Also, when I scramble an egg, I put a little butter in the pan, a teaspoon at the most, but I do NOT log that either!!! Jeeeeeze....and we all know how food tasting when we're cooking can add up to a meal almost!!! I did stop doing that almost totally before surgery. Sooooo, I am playing with changing up what I do, just a little. This morning, rather than two scrambled eggs, I had one egg and one egg white. One egg white is 17 calories, the egg is 70. I got my two eggs, less calories. Less Protein too, but still 3.6 grams for the egg white! I'm rambling. If you have any other thoughts or suggestions, tell me. What changes are you going to have to make? What will you have to leave out to cut calories??!!! Good luck!!

You should come next month! Second Wednesday of every month from 6:30 - 8. The address is 4700 Alliance Blvd Plano 75093 The phone number for additional information is 469.814.5677 Everyone is welcome, my surgery was at Forest Park Medical. It's in the conference rooms on the Garden Level of Baylor Plano’s main hospital. Park in the garage, it's well lit and come in the front doors. The elevator is directly in front of you, take it down to the garden level. There are signs. I really did like it, a lot of people, everyone was real nice. A lady named Marsha runs it, she is the coordinator of something, I can't remember what...but it is very well lit and not scary to walk outside after dark. A group of us walked out together, still visiting from the meeting! There is actually another meeting at Medical Center of Plano, we passed it on our way to the one last night. They have meetings the second and fourth Thursday of each month, 6 - 7 PM. The next one is on the 28th, I'm going to go to it as well. I love these, all the people and the speakers are usually interesting. You might want to come to it too!! Good luck, I hope to see you at one of them!!

I agree, it's nice to be around those who are traveling the same road, or to encourage those that are thinking about it, or are just getting started!!! It beats a Pampered Chef part any day!!!

I know everyone is different, but I have to disagree on upping calories. I can't imagine that is a good way to lose weight or break a stall pre op or post op. I was told to up Protein, maybe throw in a little exercise and increase liquids. Like everyone else, I'd either stall or would be going up a lb or two, down a lb or two.....some times for a week or ten days I'd do this up and down business......if I'd do like the dietitian recommended, weight loss kicked back in every time.

You let me know when, and I'll meet you. Sounds like fun! I attended that support group at Baylor Plano last night. Probably THE BEST one I've ever been to! It's once a month from 6:30 - 8PM. Also, from 6 - 6:30 there is a clothes closet, people donate clothes that have gotten too big for them, it's free. Take what you need, donate what you can't wear any longer. I wish I'd had something like this when I was giving all my stuff to Good Will......anyway....just let me know!

Oh......most people I've heard talk at support group meetings, went back to work in about two weeks.

I will try and give you the 'Reader's Digest' version of MY story. I was 50 when I decided to have WLS. When I went to the seminar a few months later, I was the smallest or certainly close to the smallest prospective patient in the room. My BMI was 36 or just under that. I suffered from NO health issues. I may have suffered from shallowness......I wanted to enjoy shopping and look good in clothes. Don't laugh, it's a real condition, I'm sure of it!! On a more serious note. I had been on and off a diet since I was 18. I'd done WW three times, I'd seen a nutritionist, who was all the rage in our little town, I'd done Fen/Phen, (which ended my diet pill popping forever!!!) I tried Atkins and all those in between. I could lose weight, I'd lost 50 lbs two or three times and 20 or 30 lbs more times than I can count. By the time I seriously considered surgery, I had 'accepted' 228 and STRUGGLED to maintain that. That should have been a red flag. I hated shopping, and only did so when I NEEDED something. It was never fun and I always felt disgusted or bad after a shopping trip for a new dress for church or for a pair of jeans. Nobody thought I was 'big enough' to do something so drastic. I knew the truth, it would get worse as I got older. I had seen my paternal grandmother and all but one of my six aunts get bigger and bigger as they aged. I knew that could be me and then I WOULD have health issues at some point. I lost 23 lbs prior to surgery, it took me a little over two months......I can lose weight, it's keeping it off that I can't do!! I saw my PCP to make sure I was healthy enough to under go this procedure. She told me that I was healthy, she'd never considered me a likely candidate, but that to lose 50 or 60 lbs at age 50 was almost impossible....and to keep it off, I'd need to eat grass and weeds for the rest of my life. What a relief, this naturally LITTLE woman acknowledged that it's hard, if not impossible to do what I needed/wanted to accomplish! Game on!!! I never looked back. I've never regretted what I did June 11, 2010. I've loved every minute of it. I condsidered it an adventure, ups and downs, but I kept my eye on the prize. I weighed 205 the day before surgery and post op, I got down to 170 in no time. (I was very 'rigid' and did exactly what I was instructed to do!!!) At that weight I was in a size 12. I'd have been thrilled with those results, but I KNEW that I'd underestimated what this new little tummy could do. Ok.....to wind this up, I am wearing 4's and 6's.....never in my wildest dreams would I have dared to imagine this!!! I will still hold up a pair of jeans just out of the dryer and think NO WAY!!!!! I love shopping, I'll go spend an afternoon at the mall just to window shop. I feel good and feel 'normal'. I still obsess about food and still 'make choices', but when you have little or no hunger, making choices is easier. I weigh and measure my food, I weigh myself every morning. This is my life and I've got a dog in this fight.....I want to stay on top of it. I don't weigh once a month and risk seeing a gain of eight or ten lbs. We ALL KNOW how quickly that can happen!!! This is like a game to me, and I feel like I won and don't want to go back. I feel like I eat like a naturally thin person. I feel good, now days IF I tell someone about surgery, I call it preventive maintenence. 'Nuff said. Good luck.......listen to your heart, and to what your gut tells you. (Reader's Digest version??!!! Not really I guess!!! I'm sorry!!!!)

Jack and Oliver, my two four legged, furry boys know I'm opening tuna the minute I use the HAND can opener!!! They are front and center, lickity split!! I make a big production out of it. A little of the water with about a teaspoon of the really soft tuna that is in the very bottom of the can. Afterwards you'd think they'd had Thanksgiving dinner, they wash their faces and paws forever!! I'm glad to know my kitties aren't the only ones that are spoiled rotten!!

You're right. I get migraines, pretty often, so if I can make something and KNOW what's in it, I'm better off!! I attended several 'cardiac cooking classes' after his heart ordeal, and have a great recipe for oatmeal cookies. They are good and oatmeal is good for the heart, so it's a win/win. BTW - CONGRATS ON THE TWO POUNDS!!!!! I don't know if I was a slow loser, I never thought I was, but I lost approx. 52 lbs in five months. I thought it was great. I'd lost 23 prior to surgery. Before surgery I could lose 20 in a month and then turn around and gain it back in less than a month!!! True story!

You are waaaay nicer than me.....I am the grocery shopper, always have been, so I bought cookies, but only cookies I was not tempted by, I.E. Chewy chips Ahoy or Oreo, two of his favorites but I never did like those! On the other hand, No Peanut Butter or Pecan Sandies, two I DO LIKE!!!! He on the other hand, will eat any of them, or he would before he got a stent, now he reads labels to avoid partially hydrogenated stuff as much as possible. Now days I bake cookies once in a while, since almost all boxed have partially hydrogenated ingredients.

Is he TRYING to set you up for failure??!!!! OMG, I'd have killed mine. I'd either A) throw them all in the trash B ) Make him take them tomorrow C) Give them to someone near by Good luck and stay strong.

You guys are lookin' good. It's fun to see before and after!!!

Life is good when we are at goal and maintaining, isn't it??!!! I like the Snackwell's vanilla cookies every so often, and Star Bucks pumpkin bread....I split a piece about once a week with my DH!!!! I had to add 2 - 3 Snacks per day. I couldn't stop losing. Never did I dream that would be a problem!! When they said add a couple of snacks or another meal into my diet, I was all over it.....I am a grazer from way back. The difference is I don't get a box of Cheese-It's or a big bowl of Cereal or bag of chips and just mindlessly eat!!