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Well I am just over 14 months out now. My losses have slowed but I am losing inches and just as happy about that. I was in 22 and 20's and just the other day decided for chits and giggles to try on a pair of 18 misses and 16 women's jeans. Last time I tried I had a hard time getting them up my legs ....let alone zipped. Well I can wear then now. They are a bit tight..but soon they will be "just right--like Goldilocks said!" So it is still an amazing trip. The past two months my average loss is 5 pounds for  the month. I am really hoping I stay on that line for awhile before it slows even more. I am really working now for every pound I lose. I am not perfect in food choices now and it is much easier to eat more now than ever before. Today I caved in when I was making cookies for the kids and ate about two cookies worth of cookie dough. I have always loved cookie dough..once baked they don't appeal to me as much. But after I had that I was done and done. So not much damage done. I am averaging just over 1000 to 1100 calories a day now. I need to have 100 gms of protein a day or I am hungry now. Still eating 5x's a day. Usually three meals and two protein shakes. I am walking most days of the week..between two and three miles. I have resorted to doing an all liquid day on Tuesdays and the day after is the day I lose for the week. It sort of resets my tummy and helps me along. Today I am down 184 lbs and weigh 206. I am so happy with how I feel and how my health has gotten so much better. I will just keep trucking along and keep at it. I am determined to get to 180...hoping to go farther though. Still feel it is a ---TIme will tell if my body will let me go lower. Well that is my update for this month. Things really change the farther out you get and life does get more in the forefront and the WLS takes a seat in the back too.

I guess now that I am a year out I should be happy with my loss. I mean I have lost an incredible amount of weight in the last year. But my losses have slow dramatically lately. And I am having a hard time with not having a consistant loss. Before I was almost always losing 2 to 3 lbs a week. Now I have one pound here and there and more no loss weeks than ever before. 

So last week I decided to change it up and go back to low carbing it...more like in the beginning. I also upped my exercise. I walked three days for 4 miles and two days for 3 miles making a total of 18 miles for the week. I thought by increasing the movement I would lose. By Friday I was in tears cause the scale said I gained 2 pounds. I was incredibly frustrated and not happy. 

Friday turned into a pity party day for me and I can honestly say it is the first time I fell off the wagon. I am so happy to have my VSG...cause my fall off when put into words did not amount to much. Over my regular food I had three little Dove ice cream treats(by the way these have been residing in my freezer for almost a yr waiting for me to eat them!)...they are about the size of a long thumb, a small handful of chips and some extra cheese. Now how bad it that.. not good...but over all not bad. 

So Saturday I sat and thought about it. I decided I need to feed my body more and see if that will encourage a loss. I think between lowering my calories and adding that much exercise I probably put myself into a starvation mode. Or I am plateauing and just have to accept it and deal with it. Anyhow Saturday was a normal day. I did not over eat or go back to bad habits because of having a bad day. I did allow myself one extra protein treat and guess what..I have almost lost those two pounds already. Today has been a normal day too thank goodness.

So my new resolve is to ride it out(I mean I don't have a real choice do I???). Don't get so upset that my body is deciding when to lose. Not to let the scale ruin my day. That I just need to keep doing what is right for me and hang in there. I do have to say this is the most bummed out I have ever gotten since this journey started though. I am so excited to be thinking onederland is around the corner...but it is taking so long to get here.  It makes you over think everything from food choices to exercise and if your doing what is right from eating to much to thinking your not eating enough. 

Now on to the NSV...my dh was playing music(djing) as usual last night at a local bar. I went down later on to dance. Was having a good time. Went to the bathroom and a girl I know walks in. I am waiting to use the facility. She looked at me...than popped up and looked again and said OMG...I didn't recognize you. She said I looked as small as her. I said "oh no...I got a ways to go and will never be your weight." She said she weighs 140 or something and I really look like her...I laugh and say I am still over 200 yet but thank you! Than later I ran into a classmate and she was stunned by my loss. We were talking about our 25 yr class reunion that will be this year. But she as truly happy for me and asked alot of questions in a nice way about what I did. So that was a very nice way for my Saturday to end compared to how I felt on Friday. 

Well if you made it to the bottom of this I thank you!! I just had to write it down and get it out. I know many of us have had stalls and slow downs. It is just frustrating. 

I am a year out today! It is completely amazing and I am very happy with my surgery and my VSG. Today I am 174 pounds lighter than a yr ago. That is incredible. I was so scared about the surgery and the changes that were going to happen. But I wanted better health much more. I wanted to be alive for my children and able to be more active in their lives. My 2yo daughter was a big catalyst for me in deciding to do this. I am an older mom...had her at age 40. Thinking about my health and where it was going was scary and that she deserved a healther mom really kicked it into gear for me. I have two boys too...and I feel bad for them that I could not be more active for them. But they are still young(10 and 7) and I can make up for that now. 

When I went in for surgery I was a Type 2 diabetic that was using around 100 units of insulin a day so I could survive. I had just developed high blood pressure. I have a few sycope phases with my baby girl that scared the crap out of me. I could not see my diabetes getting better-- or any of the other health problems I was having. Surgery for me was a huge decision in getting healthy. Today I don't have to take one bit of insulin. I am down to testing my blood a couple times a week! And that is just because I want to keep track of it. My latest A1C test came in at 5.2. That was a blessing to me. High blood pressure is gone. My energy level is way up. My house is staying cleaner. I am able to do so much more and not get tired now. I still love cooking and eating. But eating is within control. 

I do have to keep logging in my food daily. I could easily eat more if I did not keep track. My hunger is back..but it is easy to control. It is nothing compared to the hungry monster had pre op. I hope to god it stays that way. I can not over eat with a meal. The way I could eat around this surgery is grazing. So I really have to keep an eye on that. I still eat three food meals and two protein shakes or bars daily. For me that plan is working well and it is never to far between the next thing to eat or drink.  

Exercise has become a part of my life now too and I truly enjoy it! That is odd cause I never cared for it before. I need to do it now to help with loss as it is much harder to lose now. But beyond that is how I feel after I do it..it is a natural kind of high. Makes me feel good all day and stronger. I highly recommend starting as soon as you feel you can after surgery. It took me awhile to do that...I was SMO and so embarrassed to even go out walking in public. And walking a block pre op would leaving me huffing and puffing. Or going up a bunch of stairs was just plain awful. Today I can walk miles without tiring! Amazing to me. I am so looking forward to taking the boys to Great America this yr and not worrying about if I can fit in that ride! That is just a dream to me that will hit with reality when we go.

Without the board and all of you I would not have made it this far. I am living in a small rural town. There are no support groups here. My support has come from here. And even when I don't post alot I am usually reading just about every post here. I am so happy to be one of you!

I am not thru yet. My goal is to get to the 180's. At my yr out visit with my Primary Care Doc he wanted to know my goal. I said I don't really have one. I don't want to set myself up for failure. He thinks I should try to get to 150. Ummm I don't see it ...but time will tell. I told him I can see 180 as that was where I was at in High School. So I know that is doable.. I was there once a long time ago. I don't expect to get to the 180's for quite some time. Loss has slowed down dramatically or me in the last month or so. Starting out Super Morbid Obese makes me think this journey will take about two yrs to accomplish. I am planning on being here for a LONG time! 

A small update to say that stall finally broke thank goodness! That was the longest one for me since starting this. People were asking me if I was done losing since it was not coming off and I said not by a long shot. I am aiming to get into "onederland" one of these days...more likely months. But I am determined to get there. 

Well I am just over 11 months out. I have lost an amazing 168 pounds in that amount of time. I am so happy about that and how I feel. I now weigh 222 pounds. That to me is completely unbelievable. A year ago I was dreaming about this surgery. At that time I thought I would be happy and lucky to get to 250. I have surpassed that and made new goals. I hope the losses continue. But am aware that the stalls are here and likely gonna keep happening. So I will have to be patient and keep working hard. 

Well that is my update for this month. Soon I will be posting a new progress photos!

Well it is closing in on almost a month later...and yes...I am stalled out. I have been stuck at 228 or 227 for a few weeks now. I had a 16 day stall than finally dropped to 227. And now for 5 days I have lost nothing again. It is frustrating but I knew it could happen and would. So I just have to wait it out. But did I say it was frustrating!!! LOL. I am sure I am not done yet..at least I hope not. I will update around my next anniversary...the 19 of January..hopefully with some better news!

Well I am just over 10 months out now. I have hit the 220's and this surgery has well served me at this point. When I started out I had sort of made a goal of maybe getting into the lower 200's-say under 250. I thought I would be happy there. Well now I am making a goal of getting to 180's. I think it is very doable at this point. When I first started out I had no idea how the weight loss would go and just did not want to make a specific goal to have it be defeated yet again. I can't express just how thrilled and happy I am that I did this. I feel so much better, happier, healthier and am able to do so much more in my daily life.

Some new wow's to share are that I went to the movies with my mom last week. I can gauge my weightloss by how I fit into the seats at our local theater. Our theater is very old..the seats are small and the arms are close together. I have been going to this theater since I was a child and they have never upgraded anything there. Well since growing to my SMO size getting into the seats was very uncomfy. I would sit on the edge of the seat and slide back so sort of fit in to the arms of the seat. When I went with mom I was able to just sit down..no sliding. AMAZING and wonderful. Newer theaters have wider seats and I usually am fine there. 

I went to a Tae Kwon Do testing for my boys the other night. One of the moms looked at me and again looked at me and one more time and said "OMG...your the incredible disappearing woman!" She said I looked so very different and was very complimentary. Than one of the black belts sat next to me on the floor and asked if I was interested in joining Karate!! That statement totally floored me as I must look fit to her...and you know I just don't see myself that way. 

Took a trip to our local Walmart and someone said Hey Cathy...here it was a classmate of mine from school. He was very sweet and said I look great and don't look my age at all. 

So this week was full of some wonderful wow moments. 

I have no regrets doing this surgery and am enjoying the journey so much to becoming free of my excess weight and gaining so much more back in the process. I am happy and grateful about all these things that most people take for granted that don't have weight issues. Being able to sit in a booth or a chair and not worring it will hold me. Being able to use any seatbelt in any vehicle. Going thru any turnstyle without a problem. Being able to walk and walk and not getting tired or winded. And so many more things that so many of us know about. One by one I am gaining all these losses back. Wonderful.

Well that is my update for this month.

Well I am just over nine months out and had the longest stall ever since surgery. It was 17 days of no loss at all. In fact I lost down to a certain point and the next day the scale popped up about 5 lbs. I know it had to be water weight that just did not want to move. Than I lost again and stalled again for another week. Still I did well this past month and lost about 10 lbs. I am now down to 241. I am hoping to be able to keep that pace up and loss another 10 my next month. Time will tell. My eating is still going well. But I can see that it would be easy to graze around the surgery and either not loss or start putting it back on. I have to be ever mindful of that. And it is scary..it is more on me to behave than my tummy making me now. I still don't have big hunger. I have noticed the funniest thing. My breakfast is either-eggs, cheese and a mini fiber muffin- cottage cheese pancake with something on top- Mock Raisin pudding- cereal. All these things...if I eat the egg meal I just don't have any hunger at all. But I still do a protein drink later on to help keep the protein levels where they need to be. Carbs are working their way back into my diet. That is good...as in a way it is more balanced and really helps put natural fiber back into my diet. But bad cause I don't want it to get out of control.

All in all...this past nine months have been wonderful. I have lost 149 lbs to date and I can exercise to a three mile power walk dvd without to much trouble. Holy cow...would not have been able to say such a thing back in Feb..I would have gotten winded walking a block.

I am down to a solid 22 in pants. Shirts I can do a large to a 1x now in most cases. So slowly I am trimming down.

Well that is all for this month. I will try and put up a monthly update now each month as this is slowing down. I really hope I do make it under 200. I think I can...but time will tell.

Hugs to all reading this and if you have any questions at all feel free to pm me!

Hello all,

I am a bit over eight months out now. I can not be happier with my sleeve. I am now officially almost in the 240's from 390...251 today..hoping to see a loss tomorrow..but if not that is fine. I am so excited to be able to wear real blue jeans again. I decided to go thru some clothes the other day I had boxed up from friends and I was amazed to get into 22's easily. It has been decades since I have wore blue jeans!! I mean like 20 yrs. I am starting to get an interest in clothing again. That has been gone for as many yrs as I have been out of blue jeans. I have a real feeling that I will be able to break out of the 200's...although I do think it will take months. But when I started this I thought if I got to 250 that would be great and here I am! I am AMAZED and EXCITED!

There are times I am sad I can not eat like before...but when I see the sizes of clothing I can wear and how I feel and how my health has improved that doesn't last to long. Another thing that is hard to handle is when I was bigger I felt like no one would mess with me. Now when I walk alone I am a bit worried. I am not as heavy and it is kind of a scary feeling. I don't walk much alone..usually dh goes with me and we live in a rural area where things are pretty quiet and really pretty safe. But I just feel more vonrable(sp)...It is weird feeling for me. I will have alot to get used to as my size decreases. But I am willing to deal with that bit by bit.

I have added new pictures to my profile...these are my 34 Week post op photos...take a look if you would like.

I am overwhelmed, happy, excited about the future, scared too...but really thrilled with the weight loss. I love being here and believe me I do read just about everything you all write. I am just so busy with mommy life that I can not respond to as much as I would like. But I am addicted to our forum and really admire us as a collective! We are a great bunch.

Well I am wandering now. But I did want to write an update about me.

Well last week was a rough week for me. I was pretty ill with some cold virus that may have infected my lungs. My oldest son had this earlier than me and got pneumonia from it. So it was a really bad bug. I had fevers from Monday thru Saturday. The worst days were when it was up to 103. That is when I got the Z-pak and boy do I feel better. I am still coughing and have the cold symptoms but at least now I can take care of my family.

I had a really good week last week in my weight loss. I think it was 5 pounds for the week. Being sick this week really added to that another 8 pounds. I make a small goal of getting 10 lbs a month gone. Well definitely surpassed that this time! With this additional weight loss I have hit BMI of 39!! I am amazed and awestruck that I am here in the 30's. I have come from SMO(super morbid obese) to Extremely Obese to being in the Obese category now! All since Feb of this yr.

I have a real hope now that I may actually get from the 200's to the 100's! I really think I may be possible. I could not have said that a few months ago. I thought than that if i got to 250 to 220 that would be great.

I can not say enough great things about this surgery and what it has given back to me. Mobility- I can walk easily for 2 miles and bet I could walk for 4 with out stopping. Stronger- I feel physically stronger and more able to handle things. Happier- Most definitely. I can keep up with my kids and have more fun with them. I have a more normal relationship with food and am still amazed at how full a small amount of food fills me up.

I am very happy!!!!

I just realized I am six months out now! Things are going so well. I am in a bit of a stall right now and actually the scale says I have gained two lbs. But I never count those I just wait for the weight to start to go down again and I know it will. I am so thrilled with my results so far. I am down 110 pounds from the start and I feel amazing. I sleep better, am more rested upon waking, have more energy to do everything. I look forward to walking now..and can do 2 miles on the track in or under 40 mins. I love walking that track now. The weather here is horrible this last week..I did get out last week..but it has been pouring rain for days now. As soon as the weather clears I will be walking again. I am hoping to lose another 100 lbs in the coming months but it is coming off much slower now. I am making small goals monthly of hoping to get 10 off a month now. At that rate it will be quite a few more months before getting to that goal. But that is fine. I really am so happy with this surgery and the food freedom it has given me. It really is freeing --I am taking in around 900 to 1000 calories most days and am really happy with my meals and the size it is. I still supplement with protein shakes twice and day and I do not think that will be ending any time soon.