It's so easy to get discouraged

[Arts137 1,811]

I started at 423#, have lost over 50 before surgery, and go to the hospital tomorrow. ALREADY I feel better, and I don't care how long it takes, I'll get there anyway... someday!

[Alyjourneys 117]

At my heaviest I was 560. The day of surgery I was 530. After making up my mind that this time I was going to go through with it (I had attempted this in 2010 and 2011' date=') I told a select few friends and family. Most we're supportive, yet later most of them asked me why didn't I want to try diet and exercise...apply to be on the biggest loser...extreme weightloss...get a person trainer. It hit me hard that no one realized I'd tried things all of my life and had short term success, but then life hit me again. Now, I think they were foolish to ask about diet and exercise because hey had no idea how much I weighed. Being big all of my life I was able to still be active and camouflage the weight. When you think of almost 575, you imagine someone that is bed ridden and needing assistance around the clock. You don't imagine someone with 3 degrees, working in upper management that also works 14-16 hours a day. I know realize that they had no clue.

But also in the time after I announced I'd be having surgery, people asked how much did I want to lose or my goal weight. I never gave an answer because I didn't want to have to think about how much weight I'd truly need to lose. For my height, I should be around 180-190...that means I need to lose 350 lbs.

THREE HUNDRED and FIFTY POUNDS....I know that anything is doable, but facing the actual reality of it...wouldn't anyone be a little discouraged? I do plan to give this my all and I know that this trip is going to take a while, but I finally feel like I'm ready.

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Best of luck Will. You will be in my prayers and I don't know, but I feel you GOT THIS!!!!

[deedeemuffin 346]

Just having the attitude of "I'm ready" is a huge step. I started out at 418 lbs. For years I thought about wls. I was even scheduled to get the lap band twice & canceled both times. Four years after starting the process I finally was able to say, "I'm ready" as well. The truth is no matter what tool you have, if you're not ready to make drastic lifestyle changes then it's going to be a rough road. Don't get me wrong. Being sleeved can be pretty rough too LOL. What I can tell you is, although I have at least another 140 lbs to go, focusing on the present is a life saver. You are going to be so amazed at how much your life is going to change with every pound that you lose. After 6 months & 101 lbs I can do so much more than I was able to before. The same will be true for you. You have started out on a great road to a healthier you. Congrats & I wish you all the best!

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

One thing that hit me when I was reading your post. The only life you seemed to have is working long hours and not being able to take car of yourself. When I think about living in the present moment, I wasn't when I was at work. I was living to work, not working to live. So now it's time to take care of you and make a decision to gather all the tools you can so that you can get your life back. Yep, I love my sleeve and had to gather the tools that also helped the sleeve by chosing healthier eating habits and eliminating all the crap food out there. The sleeve is part of it, but my head is my worst enemy. so I hope you get the sleeve and start focusing on making all the improvements you need to help you be more successful. BTW, if you do have this procedure, you will feel so much better even if it is just 100 lbs. And then that 100 lbs will lead you farther down the line to 150 lbs etc. You can do this,but you really have to want it....

[luckysmomma 407]

I have lost 100 lbs three times in my life on my own...what worked for me was this "I only need to lose 5 lbs"...I told myself that, over and over. Then, I'd lose those 5 and then 5 more.

Now with this sleeve I've gotten now, I tell myself the same thing, so if I lose slowly I am not disappointed.

Best of luck to you! You can do this!!!

[SerendipityHappens 1,594]

My goal weight is 210 pounds less than my highest weight. Even now sometimes I feel discouraged.. I've already lost 100 pounds and I'm still heavier than many people who haven't even started yet!

But I just try to take it one day at a time and Celebrate every victory.. Two days ago I needed to get something off of a high shelf at work.. I stacked two milk crates on each other and stepped up on them and jumped down. I could never have done that at 360 pounds! That same day I walked into a regular clothing store, and bought a belt.. and it FIT ME! Granted it was a size XL and it fit on the second to largest notch... but there was a time when a size XL would only go half way round me! Small victories.

As for the losing weight with "diet and exercise" uh... well you can tell your friends that that's EXACTLY what you will be doing! It's just that the sleeve helps you do that and be less miserable so you can stick with it. I've lost weight before with "diet and exercise" alone and eating small enough portions to lose weight with my full size stomach was MISERABLE. And there was no way I could keep it off because if I lost focus for one second, I was done for.. I could gain 20 pounds in a MONTH! The sleeve just kind of takes the edge off so you CAN exercise the self control that you have.. CLEARLY you have discipline, the sleeve just removes one obstacle from your way so that you can apply your discipline and GET THIS THING DONE!