Attention ! Australian Sleevers

[kelliv 659]

Hi Lissa, great to hear from you and you look amazing and have changed so much since I last saw you. Congratulations on your promotion and. I sure you will love living in Toowoomba. Don't forget, if you are visiting the. Gold Coast I would live to catch up with you again. Take care and good luck with your move.

[kelliv 659]

Btw what did you guys all eat on your purée stage? I know obviously Soup but what other things did you try? I am allowed liquids and puréed food until 2 weeks then soft food!! Soup is good for now but I am getting a little bored !! Thanks guys

I found the puree stage the most challenging 2 weeks. Something tasty was canned tuna blended with cottage or cream cheese. It was tasty.

[AussieLady 521]

Any Melbourne people who would like to catch up. I am in the East but we could find a good spot I'm sure. Get in touch.

[ausmith 374]

Hi Lissa, great to hear from you and you look amazing and have changed so much since I last saw you. Congratulations on your promotion and. I sure you will love living in Toowoomba. Don't forget, if you are visiting the. Gold Coast I would live to catch up with you again. Take care and good luck with your move.

Great to see you back on the site Kelli

[ausmith 374]

Hi everyone, Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. It has been ridiculously busy here. So many changes!! For those of you who don't know me, here are my stats: Starting weight - 173kg Date of surgery - 4.9.12 Months since surgery - 21 months Current weight - 76kg Surgeons Goal weight - 93kg Goal weight - 69kg Height - 175cm Exercise - I have this ongoing issue with exercise. I do really well for a while and then it all falls in a heap. But I wonder if that isn't normal I make sure that I do my weight training and basic yoga exercises (about 20 minutes) every day but I had been running but that has fallen by the wayside recently. food - I am going to be really honest. I do not make awesome choices every time. I try to make good choices most of the time but to be honest some days are better than others. I worry about this sometimes but again, when I think about my friends who are normal weight, they do the right thing most of the time and have little "splurges". It is funny, but I get really concerned by eating foods that used to be a problem for and tend to try to avoid them at all costs. My main weakness is flake chocolate. It has been forever. I can't eat much (one small piece at a time) but I have some pretty much every day. I am still losing weight which is great. I probably would lose more faster at this stage if I exercised more and skipped the chocolate but I am not really all that worried about that. It is more that I get concerned I will fall back into bad habits. I wonder if this is something other sleevers experience? I wonder if I fear that it is all too good to be true and it will go back to the way it was before. It's been almost two years but I still live with this concern. I admit that I weigh myself every day (I know, probably not healthy). I don't make food decisions based on the scale but if I have several days in a row, I look closely at my food journal to see if there is a pattern that I should be concerned about. The flip side to this is that I still forget to eat lol. You would think I had learned by now, but I almost passed out at work today. It was not just that I hadn't eaten yet today but the fact that I haven't been eating properly for several days. I have been stressed and busy (explanation a little further along) and I just haven't been hungry. Plus I have mostly been eating steamed veggies this week because they don't seem to cause me any nausea, like other foods have been. Anyway, I know it was my own fault what happened today but it was a good wake up call that I have to take better care of myself. So the reason for the stress and excitement is that I got a new job promotion, this time back in QLD working in Toowoomba and I move on WEDNESDAY!! It is so exciting and I am very pleased but it has been very busy on this end getting things ready both at work and at home. Finally, the other exciting news is that I am going on a holiday to Fiji in July. Before the surgery I would never have gone but now I am so excited about looking for a wardrobe to wear whilst I am away and I am already thinking about where else I would like to go in the future!! I think that is the thing that the sleeve has done for me - the barriers that I have put on myself most of my adult life are now gone. I have to challenge my "old" thinking and try new things and it is thrilling, exciting. I am so pleased that I had the sleeve, even though it was a sucky beginning to things, but my life is so much better now, I still find it hard to believe! So for those of you new sleevers - congratulations and welcome. I found the first few weeks incredibly hard but it will get better. For those of you on the forum who are thinking about it, know that we often talk about the difficulties on here but we often forget about the triumphs and it can give a skewed perception of life post-sleeve. I can't tell you how much better my life is now - and it is worth every second of difficulty to get here. For those of you that are interested, here is a current photo and a before shot Wishing you all the best and looking forward to catching up with you soon!!! Best wishes, Lissa

So good to hear how your going Lissa it's been a while and I was wondering how you were going. Congrats on the job and the move.

[kelliv 659]

Great to see you back on the site Kelli

Thank you and hood to hear of your and your husbands progress. It sounds like you are both doing very well and its still early days.

[kelliv 659]

My 2 year sleeversary is coming up soon on 14 August and I feel a little like I should be part of a different thread for 'old' sleevers but I really like this group and haven't felt the urge to look at other threads. Yes there are a lot of newbies on here, but I like the fact we are all Australian and iI think it's good for people at all stages in their journey to share with in another.

Everything Lissa described in her update is exactly the same as I am feeling. I started at 107kg and it took 12 months to reach 71kg and that's where its stayed since. I haven't really been trying to lose more but I would dearly lover to be in the 60's. If I was more vigilant about the little daily treats I am sure I could lose those extra few kilos, but frankly I am not feeling pressure to do so. I am also in a job which requires almost daily entertaining and travel and am surrounded by food challenges at every turn. Thank goodness now I have this wonderful tool which restricts my I take. I am still getting used the new much smaller me. I think it takes a long time for your mind/self image to catch up with your body changes.

I still get excited when I:

I easily cross my legs

Have a photo taken

Fit into a seat on a plane or at the theatre with room to spare

Don't have to worry that a chair will be strong enough or that I will be able to get out

Buy a size small in clothes

Have to get extra holes in my shoes straps as they are now too loose

Have a side plate size meal and am comfortably full

Enjoy favourite foods without feeling deprived

And the list is endless........

I am thankful every day that I did this and to my sleep specialist who recommend I do it.

I am still building up my new wardrobe one piece at a time virtually from scratch. I don't have one thing left from my original wardrobe I could possibly wear. Even some things I have had taken in or bought in size small are now too big. Although I haven't list any more weight lately my body shape is still changing and it's back to my alterations lady this week.

You all sound as though you are doing really well, regardless of what stage you are at and I do pop in here and catch up on your stories from time to time. If you are finding things difficult rest assured this will pass. If Lissa could get through her initial drastic traumas and come out the other side so positive then we can all do it.

[Ozikiwi 13]

I know this is a bit of a personal question but do those of you who are now slim have issues with excess skin? I have read so many negative things about excess skin to the point that I really wasn't sure if I wanted to have the surgery. Having surgery was a very big issue for me as I have a lot of difficulty being roused afterwards so a cosmetic procedure isn't on the cards for me at all. I remember seeing Alison, who won the second series of biggest loser here in Aus, saying it was a lot easier to hide excess skin than a size 26 butt.

Can't believe I passed the week after surgery mark yesterday. We are legends girls. Big pats on the back to everyone - specially those 20th 21st and 22nd siestas!

[kadybug 22]

I found the puree stage the most challenging 2 weeks. Something tasty was canned tuna blended with cottage or cream cheese. It was tasty.

Thanks heaps, I might try that for lunch:) do you mix Water into it to make it runny?? Or is it ok as long as it's smooth?

[mistysj 1,940]

Loose skin is only an issue naked. I looked like crap naked before and even with loose skin and saggy boobs I look heaps better. Id rather be healthy with loose skin around my belly than fat and unhealthy. I am not gung-ho about plastic surgery but it is on the table if I decide I want to pursue it. My loose skin has not held me back at all. I'm wearing size 6-8 or small. Started at a 22. Running 20 km per week.

[Ozikiwi 13]

Loose skin is only an issue naked. I looked like crap naked before and even with loose skin and saggy boobs I look heaps better. Id rather be healthy with loose skin around my belly than fat and unhealthy. I am not gung-ho about plastic surgery but it is on the table if I decide I want to pursue it. My loose skin has not held me back at all. I'm wearing size 6-8 or small. Started at a 22. Running 20 km per week.

Thanks Mistysj. Congratulations for getting down to a size 6 or 8. You are right about health being more important. I have just seen ghastly photos of people with loose skin hanging past their pubis. I started off at 135kgs hence my concern.

[mistysj 1,940]

My belly hangs down but it's just skin and you can't tell under my clothes. It's like a deflated balloon. Doesn't take up any space.

[kelliv 659]

I know this is a bit of a personal question but do those of you who are now slim have issues with excess skin? I have read so many negative things about excess skin to the point that I really wasn't sure if I wanted to have the surgery. Having surgery was a very big issue for me as I have a lot of difficulty being roused afterwards so a cosmetic procedure isn't on the cards for me at all. I remember seeing Alison, who won the second series of biggest loser here in Aus, saying it was a lot easier to hide excess skin than a size 26 butt. Can't believe I passed the week after surgery mark yesterday. We are legends girls. Big pats on the back to everyone - specially those 20th 21st and 22nd siestas!

Good question, luckily I don't have much, just the flabby arms and thighs, but I am happier with that than being overweight any day. If I needed to I would consider cosmetic surgery to help, but it's a a big decision and a far bugger op than the sleeve surgery, plus very expensive no not a decision to be taken lightly.

[kelliv 659]

Thanks heaps, I might try that for lunch:) do you mix Water into it to make it runny?? Or is it ok as long as it's smooth?

just as long as its smooth with no lumps, but it is tasty.

[eastkimberley 7]

Good evening all

I have read hundreds of your posts and love them all and they confirm I have made the right decision to have the sleeve surgery but I am wondering if any one had/has type 2 diabetes and what effect being sleeved has made to the control of there diabetes

Cheers Phil