I'm at two years+. So far, so good.

They're not smilies, they don't have any  mouths!! I always worry the poor things are going to starve to death.

All over, something I want at the time. A new outfit. A candle, a book for my Kindle, a pedicure. Once a new pair of earrings, once a new pair of shoes. Knee socks when I could finally wear them. Be creative!

I'm 5'8" as well. I started out just walking to build up my stamina. But then I went looking for something I'd enjoy doing. I ended up with mountain hiking and riding my bike - in fact I got my first bike-store bicycle this past Christmas. I think it's about finding something you enjoy, rather than just exercising for the sake of exercising. If dance sounds fun to you then absolutely explore that. I have no rhythm so it wouldn't be the best for me!

One piece of advice, free to a good home: set small intermediate goals that come with some kind of reward. Your first could be to get below 300. Then, you could go 25 lbs at a time or use landmark goals...at 262 lbs, for example, your BMI will drop below 40 and you will no longer be morbidly obese. The next BMI goal would be 196 when you'd no longer be obese, but you would need at least one, probably two between.

Some of mine were BMI landmarks, lightest since high school, lightest since 4th grade (yeah, I was 225 lbs by the time I finished 6th grade...I now weigh about what I weighed in early 4th grade before my growth spurt), lighter than my husband, first clothing bought in the regular size section, small enough to vow never to shop in the plus size section again...you can go anywhere with it. It can feel like a long slog to lose almost 200 lbs, so don't attack it as a big unit. Go after it in small pieces.

I'll be cheering you on.

The tiredness takes a lot of people by surprise. If you're expecting it and cut yourself some slack it's no big deal but if you're expecting to be good as new in a week or two it can come as a bit of a surprise. It's one of those things that gets better gradually as your body heals until one day you suddenly realize that between the healing and the weight loss you now have more energy than pre-op not less. And then it KEEPS getting even better as more weight comes off.

Short term, though, you will wear out pretty easily.

Hey, you have surgery tomorrow! Good luck!

It's OK to get a few things, in fact you should. You've worked so hard and you deserve to look good. The trick is not to spend so much on new clothes all at once that you feel guilty and wasteful if you land at a different size before it's all done.

No, this is not a post about regain. It's a post about life being unpredictable.

My goal weight was 175. I deliberately chose to go a little lower, to 165. Then...I kept on losing as I upped my calories (I'm pretty active). Suddenly I was under 140; I've even bounced as low as 135. If I had bought a wardrobe even at 165 they'd be 2 sizes too big now.

But wait, there's more! I have wide hips and have been in size 6 or 8 jeans depending on the cut. Suddenly this weekend I reached a threshold where none of my size 8 jeans would stay up any more. Haven't lost any more weight, but my squats have toned my butt to where the part of it on the same level as my hips has shrunk. And voila: falling jeans.

So yesterday at 2+ years post-op and with no loss for many months I had to go out and buy new jeans. I got sixes in the "smaller" styles because you can't find affordable 4s here except petites and I'm 5'8".

So be careful. Buy some things you love, but give your body time to settle before you splurge on a huge wardrobe.

Yes I did, but first a teeny bit of terminology: A pouch is the artificially made thing they do with a gastric bypass, with the man-made opening and such. Ours is just our stomach, with part of it removed. As a result, a sleeve stomach is just a stomach.

That said, my tummy was quite a noisy thing early on (still have to admoni**** to use its indoor voice occasionally). So I named it "Rumbly" as in Winnie the Pooh's "I've got a rumbly in my tumbly".

You are still early out and this is pretty normal.

First, can you gradually ramp back into work? Sounds like you jumped in with both feet less than two weeks post op. I know the scars on the outside are small, but the staple line on your tummy is. This is major surgery and your body needs time to recover. I think since we feel pretty good shortly after we tend to forget that until we push ourselves too far too fast (NOTE: I did this too.)

The fact that your issues with heartburn and getting your protein, water and pills in seemed to start about the same time you started back work indicates it might be stress related. Your body needs the energy to heal. At the very least I would recommend planning ahead and making a schedule for your protein, water and pills. Use a reminder on your phone if you have to. Try not to eat while you're actually working for now. We tend to eat/drink faster and take larger bites/sips when we're distracted. After a while this becomes second nature (I have a bottled drink next to me now that I'm drinking while I work) but it takes some time.

I can't drink water much, do drink Crystal Light. For a while I had to stay away from lemonades and orange. I think whatever gives them the citrus taste is too acidic, but I'm not sure. I'm fine now to drink them but didn't for a few months.

If all that doesn't work, a different PPI definitely. But if it all started when you went back to work, that may not be necessary.

Everything else you describe will pass. The cold, not so much: Small space heaters and thermals in the winter. It is 79 outside headed for 88 and I have a tiny space heater pointed at my feet due to the office AC. Another one is sitting on my desk. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XDTWN2/ref=oh_details_o 02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

How long are you on clears? I was only two days thank goodness as I cannot drink that drek.

I love some creamy protein shakes, but the clear Isopure...cannot.do.it.

I have a very small sleeve so I do 'graze' but it's planned grazing. I eat 6 to 7 times a day.

I started by adding in fats, in the form of nuts or nut butter for me but whatever works for you. To stay at 700 calories we end up sacrificing fats and long term your body needs those. So add some back in; one serving will knock out 175-200 calories.

I added in some fruits/veggies but those tend to fill me up with few calories (hence 7 meals a day when I have a couple of servings). I also added some complex carbs (read oatmeal) though I still avoid simple carbs like breads, potatoes, rice, pasta and sweets except for a treat.

Finally, at 25 months I still do 2 shakes a day. I found ways to make them that I love and I can get 400-500 calories in pretty easily with the two of them.