Greetings All,
I can hardly believe the new me. 26.6 lbs lighter in just 30 days! And I feel great. My journey began back in January when I decided I was over being fat (weighing in at 273 lbs / size 22.) I scheduled my sleeve surgery for March 21st as I wanted plenty of time to prep my body for the upcoming change. I really think this is the key to a successful recovery and continued weight loss. On March 21st I weighed in at 234 lbs, then right after surgery 240 lbs (yes you gain a bit of weight from all the swelling and such.) To date my total weight loss has been 60 lbs (that is the size of an average 8 year old child!) and I weigh 213.4 lbs / Size 16/18.
To loose the first 40 lbs here is what I did NOT eat:
Dairy
Bread, pasta, rice
Wine or other alcohol (although I did travel on business for 10 days during that time where I did partake)
Sugar
Processed foods (yes I cook almost everything eat, and try to stick to the Paleo style of cooking)
I also tracked (fitbit) everything I put in my mouth..keeping my calorie intake under 1,000 and drinking 64 oz of water and hitting the gym for a 30 minute pre-core workout 3-5x a week. And I found weighing myself everyday allowed me to take pleasure in even the smallest amount of loss.
The post surgery 26.6 lb loss...
I followed the suggested plan (although I still adhere to the above and NO PROCESSED FOOD - your body needs all the nutrients it can get!) I only had two melt downs and not because I was physically hungry, just burnt out on my food options. I don't really experience hunger, so I remind myself to eat about 1/4 cup of food every 2 hours. I still struggle with morning weakness/dizziness and do wake up during the night with headaches and dry mouth due to lack of hydration. But I know I am still learning how to take care of my new body so its all good. The hardest thing is that I have to force myself to exercise daily, but being so much lighter makes it easier to be at the gym as my self image is much improved.
Bottom line....this was the best thing I ever did for myself! Many thanks to Dr. Ariel and his team who made the entire process really quite simple.
Best of luck to all!
