Six Months Post Op

[LindaS 316]

Tomorrow is the six month anniversary of my surgery. I've lost 65 pounds, and I'd like to lose 30 to 50 more pounds.

Yesterday, I met with my surgeon. All of my labs came back good. He warned me that my weight loss might slow down without exercise.

One problem for me is that I am not ingesting enough fluids. I have been keeping track of my food, and I think that it has a direct relation to my stalls. When I drink less, I tend to stall. When I up my Fluid intake, I lose weight.

I discussed this with my surgeon, and he said that it takes Fluid to burn calories. If I'm dehydrated, I won't burn calories and the 40 ounces I normally drink probably isn't enough.

I increased my fluid intake yesterday, and I am down a pound this morning to 190.

I am very happy with my sleeve.

Before my surgery, I weighed 255 and was gaining weight despite efforts to exercise and eat right. It would take me months to lose 10 pounds, but I could gain them all back in a weekend if I wasn't careful.

My right ankle has severe osteoarthritis (spelling?), and it was painful. I'd take medicine for the pain and to help prevent swelling. It swelled frequently despite the medicine.

My girls' bedroom is upstairs, and I would rarely go upstairs because I was fearful of my ankle and because the stairs wore me out.

I hated buying clothes or trying anything on because I was so disgusted with myself.

More and more I found myself opting to not do things because I weighed too much.

I have gone from a size 20/22 to a 12. I now weigh 190 pounds, and I hope to break into the 180s this week.

I am active. I haven't had to take pain pills for my ankle since my surgery. It no longer swells up. I climb the stairs to my daughters' bedroom at least once a day if not more without any problems. Happily, I am eager to do things and love being active with my family.

The sleeve helped me change my life for the better.

When I first planned the surgery, I thought there was a possibility that I would lose all 115 pounds of my excess weight by this time. That hasn't happened, but I am not concerned with my progress either. There are so many other factors that go into losing weight, and I feel like I am right on track. More importantly, I am making exercise a regular part of my life.

[FishingNurse 1,210]

We are sleeve sisters! Congrats on your progress-- we are very close in stats :-) We will make it to goal!! Keep up the good work :-)

[Forensikchic 528]

Hey Linda! I think you might be on to something. Like you, my Fluid intake is very low. I usually fight hard to get 40 ounces of liquid in and I count Decaf coffee too. Maybe that is why I stall every couple of weeks. I am going to try harder to get my Fluid in this week and see if I see a difference. I bought a fitbit and that has helped me get with the program on being more active. My surgeon visit isnt until friday so I will ask him if he thinks thats why I have slowed down so much or if it could help get this next 35 pounds off.

He told me at three months that if I wanted to reach my goal, I had to really increase my exercise. I am doing that now. I started zumba a couple times a week, yoga and I try to walk a couple miles at lunch every day. yesterday I got 2.5 miles! The fitbit motivates me to try to get the extra steps in, instead of being so sedentary at work. Good luck to you! Let me know if you find out anything else that might help us get this last 30-50 off and I will do the same. We are almost sleeve sisters! Maybe half sisters since we are a day apart. lol.

[Helen the Cat 42]

When I was sleeved, last June, I was living in California, and the pool was 1/2 block from my from door. My room mate and I swam laps for an hour every morning when we got home from work (we worked night shift). Since I moved home (to Iowa) in December, I obviously had to quit swimming. And my exercise regime has suffered since then. I joined the local work out facility, but haven't been faithful about going to exercise on a regular basis. It is to cold now in Iowa to get out and walk. I NEED to start to work out somehow.

I am thinking that I need to get on that exercise bike that is sitting unused in my basement. How lazy is that? It is in my own basement, and I haven't availaed myself of it.

I too have been stalled for a long time. I lose a pound, then gain it back, lose it again, gain it back, etc. But I am down 100 pounds, so am trying to motivate myself to lose the last 8-18 pounds.

I have never heard that decreased Fluid intake cuts down on weight loss. In addition to trying to jump start my exercise regime, I am going to try to up my Water intake and see if that helps. Thanks for the tip!!!

[LindaS 316]

I drank over 64 ounces yesterday as well, and I had another loss this morning. It seems dehydration doesn't work well for weight loss. :-)

Forensikchic, I am impressed that you got 2.5 miles in during your lunch hour! How awesome!

Thanks, SleeveofSteel!

HelenTheCat, I totally agree about the cold weather. I can't wait until it warms up, so I can resume long walks outside. Right now, the only walking I do is when I'm walking across campus where I work. I arrive with a red face from the wind burn on my cheeks. I have a treadmill in my bedroom that I rarely use. I hate the treadmill. In the winter, I prefer Zumba.

[Helen the Cat 42]

LindaS,

Can you get DVDs of Zumba? Or do you have to go to some facility to do it? I worked with a couple of gals in California who did Zumba ona regular basis, but my problem is getting out and going. I loved going to the work out facility in the next town, but my problem is getting back out after dinner in the evening. On the nights when I don't work, I like to spend the evening with Bill (hubbie). If I have to get myself dressed and drive 6 miles to the next town to work out, well, it just isn't going to happen. Now I could see myself doing a DVD here at home, I think.....

[mocha 22]

LindaS,

Thanks for the tip. Now that you've said it, I recall the times I was stalled and drank more the next day. The scale did move. Not always, but often enough that I can see the correlation. I also noticed that when I do a fitness routine like body pump, where there's lots of squats, lunges and barbell/dumbell use that I either gain a bit or stay the same. My body holds onto the Fluid to heal the muscle tissue and soothe my poor knee joints! I'll definitely try to increase my Fluid intake.

Helen,

You can buy Zumba workout DVDs on Amazon.com or directly on the Zumba.com website. I do Zumba at home when I can't fit it in at the gym.

[MovinForward 2]

That is very interesting, and I am going to try and up my Fluid intake as well, Its been a year since my surgery and I have lost about 65 pounds and have definatly been stalled sinced the holidays.. and its been very depressing... my goal is stop feeling down and do something about it and up my exercise and fluids and keep chugging away! Best of luck to you and thanks for the tip! I know I dont have nearly enough fluid I should be!

[LindaS 316]

LindaS,

Can you get DVDs of Zumba? Or do you have to go to some facility to do it?

I bought the XBox game of Zumba, and I do that at home. I also go to a group Zumba that is twice a week in the evenings. It is a bit of a drive for me, so I know what you mean about not wanting to give up time with hubby to go workout.

I haven't bought the DVDs yet, but I am looking into it.