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Pictures are the best for me too. I don’t think I could truly gauge my weight loss without it. It has become my best motivator.

So I woke up this morning around 8:00 and decided to go walking I walked about a mile. It felt good to get out and get started early. Now I'm back home about to get started on some free weights

I can happily report that I've done 30-60 minutes of exercise daily for over 2 weeks. I'm trying very hard to get my weight loss going so I've really committed to the exercise. I'm getting in over 10,000 steps a day. Generally 12K to 15K steps and adding in swimming on the weekends along with stretching. It's not helped my weightloss a bit, but at least I'm getting the good feeling of accomplishing the exercise and sticking with it.

This is my normal week of how I exercise: Monday no exercise. It's the only day that I work all day. Tuesday morning Zumba then some ab work, and some weight training. Wednesday Group power, (a weight training class) and ab work. Thursday Zumba and abs. (I try to do my abs every day, other than Mondays) Friday weight training then 30-45 minutes of the elliptikill or half of that time split between that and the treadmill. Saturday mornings is another Group power class with Zumba afterwards. Sunday I do some serious weight lifting and cardio with the elliptikill and the treadmill. Some days I skip the gym and go on a long hike with a friend. This has been my exercise routine for at least the past 6 years other than Zumba which is fairly new. I've been doing the weight training for the past 6 years which is when I joined the gym. Before Zumba, I did the stair master 20 min. the eilliptikill for 20 min and the treadmill for 20 min. Even though I did all this exercise, before WLS I did not lose any weight at all.

Started considering WLS 7 years ago. Won't do RNY, too afraid of all the re-routing and the malabsorption issues, so considered lapband. After doing all the steps for insurance (sleep study, Dr-supervised diets, psych eval), I decided lapband wasn't quite right for me either, but continued seeing my PCP every 3 months, and using my CPAP ever since. Now 7 years later, after discovering the gastric sleeve, I've decided this is the best route for me. Insurance told my surgeon they only needed a lust of the diets I've done in the past 5 years, a 5-year weight history, and maybe a couple other things, all of which I did within a week of my first visit to the surgeon (3/13/13). Two days ago, my surgeon's office called with my approval, and scheduled me for next Tuesday, 4/9/13. YAY! Today, the office calls again....Oops! The approval the insurance sent with my name on it actually was for SOMEONE ELSE! And now the insurance company says they want a 6-month Dr.-supervised diet and another psych eval. (none of which they had listed when my surgeon submitted for approval) What, seeing my PCP every 3 months for SEVEN YEARS isn't enough? Forget it! I've made this decision, I'm ready for this now, I'm not waiting 6 months! Besides, I've already gotten the letter from my insurance carrier saying that thanks to Obamacare they are dropping ALL group insurance policies in December, so who needs them, I'm going self-pay! I want this! Surgery next Tuesday! Onward!

Hello I am new to this forum. After research and thought, I was to get the Gastric Sleeve. I have 3 friends that have had major success with it. I am on my husband's insurance from his job with is BCBS of Georgia. I looked on our online account and I cannot find anywhere if it says that our particular plan covers weight loss surgery. Our card is the Bronze plan. Its says Blue Open Access POS and a little box to the side says PPO. Can anyone tell me please? Thanks in advance and I look forward to getting to know all of you!

I think you are very lucky your body responds so well to weights. Can you afford to hire a personal trainer? Even if it's just for a couple weeks they could give you some help in toning muscle, but not bulking up. I would think if you lighten the weights you are using you will be happier with the results, but I am no proffesional in weight training. Hope this helps and best wishes.

Hi. I haven't had surgery yet. They are suppose to be getting the paperwork together to submit to insurance. Just waiting. I am terrified of losing more hair. About a year ago I lost a lot of hair when my thyroid went out of wack. Tons of hair on the bathroom floor, in the drain, in my hands, on my clothes....frightening. It stopped falling out about 7 mths ago but is noticeably thin to me. Its also starting to grow little fine hairs now. I had super thick hair....couldn't see my scalp when I parted it.....now you can see my scalp, some what, and it scares the holy mess out of me. Having surgery and the thought of losing more of my hair because of it almost made me stop the process. But....after surviving the thyroid issue and hairloss, I know that my hair will grow back. A month ago I started using Nioxin hoping to get a jump start on the hairloss. Honestly, I noticed a difference the 2nd time I used it !! I get less hair in the drain now.....even though my hair loss already stopped....I don't notice hair on my clothes and when I put gel in my hair there are only a couple strands on my hands. It gives my hair a little body too...which helps disguise the scalp where I part my hair. I have also been taking 5000mg of Biotin a day and I take B12 under my tongue 2xs a day. I also make sure I get Protein with every meal now too. I am going to do anything and everything I can to avoid the hairloss. But, If its going to happen, regardless of what I do, I know that it will grow back and life will go on. Its a small...all be it, scary....price to pay to drop this weight once and for all!

I have a bit different approach. I have been tracking my weight daily on my scale - same time of day & always without clothes. I keep this on a spreadsheet & monitor stuff like TOM, exercise, and alcohol intake. The graph I get from this data shows my ebbs and flows throughout the month & gives me peace of mind if I see something unusual. What I mean is that it isn't usually UNusual - it's just the way my body works. Now, the stall I had 2 weeks prior was not part of my normal routine since having surgery, but now I have it documented. It will be interesting to see if it follows a similiar pattern in the future. Of course, this is what works for me - you need to find out what works for you.

Hi everybody, i had my sleeve surgery last week (09/06). It thankfully went perfectly and no hassles except what was to be expected. I am losing weight, but have a small concern. Until two or three days ago when I was on clear liquid diet and stomach was healing and swollen, I could barely swallow and keep up with the dietary needs. But last couple of days, I feel that I can drink a decent quantity of full liquids without any problems. E.g. I can down a 32 oz ninja blender cup of Protein smoothie over about one hour easily. One week out of surgery is that normal. I am not going to get cocky and indulge in real food for the next 4 weeks as my surgeon told me to, but is there anyone who had the same experience. I mean being able to down a 24 to 32 oz protein smoothie over one hour and take big sips, one week out of surgery. Thanks and please share. Jilani

I'm curious. If you require a tummy tuck, yet are thinking of becoming pregnant when goal weight is reached, should you still get said TT? Would the skin stretching become an issue, or grow with you during development? Thank you for any candidness, Lori

Hi everyone. Have been reading a lot about people getting scared and questioning their decision to have VSG and wanted to share. I’m scheduled for January 15th (a week away aghh!) and I’m currently starting week 2 of my pre-op liquid diet. The weekend was very hard because of going out with the family and them wanting to eat. But I stuck with it...but during that time, I started to freak out and question if my life was going to be like this, not being able to go out with family, friends, and never being able to eat again ( I was getting very dramatic-might have been the lack of calorie intake lol). I was really questioning my decision and even thought about calling the doctor today to postpone. I started to convince myself that I could do this on my own (especially since I’ve lost 11 lbs on the liquid diet). In the past, I’ve lost up to 70-75 lbs on my own and kept it off for over a year. So why not be able to do it again? By Sunday night I had pretty much convinced myself and was ready to call my doctor today. Then I remembered that I had never taken pictures of myself at the start of my liquid diet, which I had wanted to do to see if I saw a difference in the two weeks. So I took the pictures and had my epiphany....I hated what I saw and for a long time i had convinced myself that I looked and felt great when I didn’t. Body dysmorphia is real. When I would lose weight I still felt fat and ugly, when I wasn’t. And when I gained the weight back, I avoided mirrors and pictures and felt and imagined being smaller than I was. So I’m back on the wagon and even though I am still scared, I am excited again and will try to remember why I am doing this. Even though I’ve lost some pounds now, there is no way I could live off of protein drinks, jell-o, and broth for the rest of my life and I’m sure if I started eating again it would all come right back. Sharing because I hope other people can relate and for support bc I think we all need it, especially me. Now to finish this darn liquid diet! [emoji846]

Hey @Matt Z just wondering, how much by volume and weight or just volume do you eat now at a meal? I could also eat 1 cup by about 2-3weeks out. I'm about a month before you. TIA!

Soooooooooooooooo close to my first goal weight!!! I'm only 3.4 lbs away! But I'm soooooo happy to still be going down in weight! Sometimes I fear getting out of bed to weigh myself, afraid I might be disappointed like I did in my previous fat kid life, but this sleeve has changed me so much. I see the scale going down, and I'm just so incredibly thankful. Even though I'm not dropping big numbers, every little bit counts, and I'd rather be going down than up!! Tomorrow marks my 3 month surgi-versary and I will be taking my monthly photo's in my bikini like I've done every previous month and I'm nervous. I hate that bikini right now- it's still not my friend. But I know that with progress there are pains, and I need to document this journey as thoroughly as possible so that when I reach where I'm going, I can look back and say never again. So everyone stay tuned! Tomorrow there will be 3 month surgi-versary pictures! Height: 5'9 Highest (Surgery) Weight: 216 1st Primary Goal Weight: 169 2nd Optimal Goal Weight: 145 Sleeve Journey: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 8/17/12- PreOp/Surgery Day w/Pics Posted in Blog Week 1 (8/24): 204.8 (-11.2) Week 2 (8/31): 200.6 (-4.2) Week 3 (9/7): 196.8 (-3.8) Week 4 (9/14): 193.5 (-3.3) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 9/17/12- 1 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-22.5 lbs) Week 5 (9/21): 191.6 (-1.9) Week 6 (9/28): 190.1 (-1.5) Week 7 (10/5): 187.0 (-3.1) Week 8 (10/12): 181.9 (-5.1) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 10/17/12- 2 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-11.6 lbs) Week 9 (10/19): 181.4 (-.5) Week 10 (10/26): 177.9 (-3.5) Week 11 (11/02): 176.8 (-1.1) Week 12 (11/09): 174.7 (-2.1) Week 13 (11/16): 173.3 (-1.4)

Up until this past month, my restriction level has been little to none. I just had my fourth fill and I am getting stuck quite often. I have lost the majority of my weight with diet and exercise. I am a firm believer in 5-6 small meals a day and exercise everyday for at least an hour.

I am 4 months out and been stuck at same weight. My doctors/Nut said I'm. It rating enough? So she had me increase it. It's so hard to get food in. But I want to lose 30 more lbs. she also said give it till end of year.

if-you-dont-lose-weight-your-finances-will: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance Article is a collection of various studies indicating that obese folks spend more and earn and save less money than their regular sized counterparts.

i AM ALSO GIONG TO HAVE MY FIRST FILL ON 4-5 AND i HAVE NOT LOST AS MUCH AS aI thought I would. So weird. I am working oiut adn doing all the right things, but my weight is stalling. sounds like you did too...did you find any solutions to this issue?:thumbup:

I think it's very common for restriction to "disappear" suddenly. As you lose weight the fat pad around your stomach gets smaller, hence the band is looser. Can you call your doc for a fill?

So this is my first post. I've been researching and contemplating bariatric surgery for a few years now, but it's only recently that I decided to put my foot on the road and start the journey. A little background: I'm a 38 year old woman, 3 kids, and husband, cat mom (hoping to bring in a dog soon too, hehe) I've been overweight all my life. All 3 pregnancies were with gestational diabetes, but I managed without meds, and that has been the only time I've ever lost significant weight. Actually, prior to my first pregnancy, I cut out soda, and stopped relying on hamburger helper/boxed meals for dinner, and went from 255 to about 230. My weight over the years has fluctuated between 200 to 230. My biggest problem now is diabetes. I was diagnosed with type 2 a few years back. I'm on metformin, which my body doesn't handle well. In 2015, I lost my mother, who was over 300lbs and had diabetes to complications from diabetes. It has really scared me, enough that I've had anxiety issues since, and what's really pushing me to find a way to lose weight. After all my research, I'm aiming for the sleeve. I've been to my program's orientation, and met with the Nurse Practitioner. I now have loads of appointments, and a goal of losing 12 lbs by January 24. It feels like a lot, only because my timing is poor and I'm doing all this through the Christmas season. While I'd like surgery in March, I'm actually thinking May would be better since my older kids would still be in school, but my husband would be home (he's a professor) so that he can take care of my 3 year old. I could try to time it right so that it happened over his spring break too, but that's going to take the stars aligning just right, lol. Anyways, I feel like I'm taking on a whole bunch of stuff at once, and I'm not sure how to handle it all. My husband is a good man, who listens, but as he says "I'm not a therapist and other than listening, I'm not sure how to help you." I've got an appointment with a therapist, but not until January, so I'm on my own. So I guess here's my questions...how do you keep focused? I have little direction at this point, and find my confidence wavering. It's always a stressful time of year for me, and while I realize that I have to change how I handle stress, I feel a bit "thrown into the fire" by doing all this now and not say...next month, when I'd have more time to learn more ways to deal with everything. (Another back story, December goes like this: Christmas Eve, Christmas, my oldest' birthday, my youngest birthday, and 10 days later but within the 12 Days of Christmas, my middle child's birthday.) I find the site here too big so I'm not sure where to read in order to get more positive stories and other helpful information. I read a few books, but I guess I'm not ready to invest in any sort of emotional eating books. I'm counting calories and watching what I eat, and trying to exercise more, but really, that's not enough to keep me focused completely. So what other resources do you use? Sites with good articles and information, positive stories of success, etc? And finally, on a grosser note, and a rather...embarrassing question to ask, but how are bowel movements after surgery? I mean mostly on the long term, but I ask because one of the biggest factors to not just simply "losing weight with diet and exercise without the surgery" is I can't handle the thought of being on metformin for the rest of my life. Even at 1000mgs, the loose BM's are horrid and painful and interfering with my every day life (with my current primary care physician pushing for me to move up to 1500mgs despite my protests). I have this worry that I'll still be dealing with intestinal issues after surgery. So if you have had the surgery, and were on metformin, did you get off of it? If you've had intestinal issues in the past, have they continued after surgery? Sorry for the novel!

I am old school. There is no such thing as a stupid question. No! In order to lose weight, you must have a deficit. The deficit is the amount or calories that burned minus those you ate. If you eat 1,100 calories a day and burn 300 at the gym and another 1,800 throughout the day; you have a deficit of 1,000 calories for that day. The deficit is kind of like a savings account. Every time you cash in 3,500; you lose a pound.

I haven't had any complaints about my booty. squats and yoga/pilates can help, as can walking on a slight incline. If anything loosing weight and working out can equal a butt lift, making you look younger and more shapely.

@@fatchocobomom Hello and welcome!! I am relatively "new". I had sleeve surgery 9 weeks ago. I can address the pre-op focus portion. I have Neve been diabetic so I can't offer advice there. Congratulations on your first steps towards getting heathy! I agree that starting your pre-op diet during the holidays and birthdays might be difficult. (Seems you and your husband really like the month of March..wink wink ). My advice on staying focused is to visualize the life you want. Can you see yourself diabetic free and in smaller clothes? Can you imaging yourself pain free and active? How about summer clothes, feeling sexy, and healthy for your kids? visualize that life as you go through this busy, festive month. (I started mine just before halloween. I kept seeing everyone partaking in the stuff I loved, the foods of fall, the holidays, etc, but what I had in my mind was how I would look and feel next summer because I am NOT partaking in all of that stuff). During my pre-surgery work ups and diet, I stayed on track because I was determined to get the life I want. It was only possible if I stayed on task. The day of surgery was a celebration in itself, like a second birthday. Your husband sounds supportive, so perhaps he will prepare the yummy foods for your kids birthdays, etc. As for losing 12 lbs before Jan 24, it's doable. I lost 17 lbs on the pre-op liquid Protein diet. If you replace one or two meals a day with Protein shakes and then eat one meal lower in carbs I bet you will see the weight start dropping. Whether you decide to start this month or next, if you want a new life bad enough, you will find yourself jumping through hoops and staying on course. Good luck and keep us posted on your journey!!

Since my appointment for my colonoscopy last month, I've lost 12 pounds. I have about 15 pounds to go before I can leave the "morbid obese" level. If my BMI drops below 40 and I don't have any underlining conditions, will that effect my qualification for surgery? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I got sleeved on 4/22 also.it was also my b'day. I know what you mean. I keep thinking am I doing the right thing. I feel like I am not drinking enough but I am because I am logging it. Everything went so well. I am not have too much of a difficult time swallowing. My doc gave me anti esophagus spasm pills. They have worked wonders for me. I am not in a great deal of pain. Just sore & achy. I get ahead of the pain before it gets me so to speak. I also had a hiatal hernia repair. Never knew I had one. Also have another one which we'll fix later. I have taken a month off from work. I read where people are anxious about losing the weight. I,to tell you the truth, am not all that concerned. I did the surgery to get off my diabetic meds & I went home on Wednesday not needing to take any. So my sleeve sisters, I hope we can share our stories. And we need to hang in there & hydrate