Shirl, your NUT is right! Self-care. Care of YOU! Your care of yourself! Everything you do to put your needs first is a good choice.

Miss you. Break a leg!

Hello Shirl,
Your nutritionist sounds great! I can relate in terms of having a busy life, it can have all sorts of effects. I haven't had my sleeve yet, but I've seen how well you have done. Many congratualtions. I think we often have to stop in life for a quick 'taking stock'. I hope you get a little less busy soon and can concentrate on the 'play' a little!
Best wishes :-)

Originally Posted by Ann2

Missed you, Shirl. Good to hear what's going on.

BTW, the DMV doesn't weigh you. You can tell them you weigh anything you want. Trust me -- it's what I did for nearly 50 years.

Me too! Finally after losing about 50 pounds I weighed what I lied about on my license. Then I lost 25 pounds more.

Congrats on the baby and the weight loss!

Missed you, Shirl. Good to hear what's going on.

BTW, the DMV doesn't weigh you. You can tell them you weigh anything you want. Trust me -- it's what I did for nearly 50 years.

Originally Posted by JLPSch

Congrats on your success!! I love hearing how fellow sleevers deal with the day to day challenges!

I remember handing my license to a TSA agent for the first time after losing weight. I was afraid I was going to have a cavity search with all the time she took looking at it. Finally she smiled and said, congratulations on losing so much weight.

Best wishes on your success!!!

That is awesome on the TSA agent. Pretty great feeling, I'm sure!!

Congrats on your new grandbaby!! What a beautiful baby boy. And all that hair!!
I think you are doing a great job keeping it all together with so much going on in your life. You are amazing!! I am so sorry you had to postpone your trip to see your partner. I know that stinks. Hang in there hon.
And oh my on the coffee. I am very sensitive to tastes so there is no way I would have drank that. Sorry it made you sick. That had to suck. Glad you are feeling better now.

Congrats on your success!! I love hearing how fellow sleevers deal with the day to day challenges!

I remember handing my license to a TSA agent for the first time after losing weight. I was afraid I was going to have a cavity search with all the time she took looking at it. Finally she smiled and said, congratulations on losing so much weight.

Best wishes on your success!!!

Oh, that baby.....adorable!! And congrats on your maintainance!

Sorry about the accidents, I am glad you and your daughter are ok. I hope you are still doing good. Isn't weird how we always had time to post before the surgery and now after it seems so difficult to sit down and check in I am confident you will get back down again. You look beautiful in your profile picture and very happy. Take care

Thanks Shirl for the post. You were the first person that reached out to me when I joined. I joined in May close to when you had surgery. It took so long for me to get through the process but I had surgery in October last year and have been doing really well since then. I have always enjoyed your positivity. All the best to you and your family.

Thank you to each and every one of you!

Great Post! At a time when I needed some reminding...

Hey Shirl! time does fly! I'm happy no one got injured in those accidents! sending you good vibes!! take care!

Wow! That's a lot to deal with! Glad everyone is OK!

Wonderful advice!! Thank you for sharing!

Best wishes on your continued success!!!

Oh Shirl. Sorry to hear about the accidents but so happy that neither of you sustained any major injuries. Congrats on starting your graduate program! That is awesome! I am currently pursuing a special certification/designation for work so I have been keeping busy as well. (Along with training for the 1/2 marathon.) You always give such wonderful, thoughtful advise! I have missed you being on here more frequently. Big hugs!!!

Yea, Shirl! Glad you weren't hurt badly in your respective wrecks. Be careful out there!

I've missed your voice here.

Originally Posted by Shirl

ate a handful of cherries at around 9:30pm.

Cherries are great, they have different properties if they are tart or sweet (tart contain melatonin, sweet potassium) but both reduce inflammation...so I'm sure your all good with IF, because it's like if you took a supplement and not actually food!

Thanks to you all!

It is so true! how we choose to use our tool is what will determine our lifelong WLS success!

Just last month, before I started trying Intermittent Fasting (IF), I was starting to worry about how much more I can eat and how much hungrier I seemed to be. I was shockingly suprised to not feel those hunger urges with IF, it is mind blowing and baffling to me still!!! but I am just going with it!

Knowing that I can eat about anything during the 8 hour feeding window is kind of cool, I mean I still need to make the right food choices, which generally I do.

I think the biggest challenge for me is staying true to the 16-hour intermittent fasting period, last night I didn't check the clock and ate a handfull of cherries at around 9:30pm.

All the rules continue to apply no matter what.

Great stuff, Shirl, and very informative. My surgeon is one of our 4 bariatric surgeons and is the one whom makes the "smallest sleeve." He likes them small and tight I am grateful each day but also agree it's how we use the tool not the size (oh my, I sound like a man talking)...lol
My capacity is not very large and I'm coming up on 6 years on Friday! I also agree it's how "pristine" we keep our sleeve in the beginning. I took care of it as if it was gold to me, following all the rules whatever they were at the time of my surgery, and as I moved along; added what I needed to in order to enjoy life and "lean" into my sleeved life the most positive I could.
You look divine in those pictures and I wish you continued success!

The bougie is an indication of our final stomach size indeed, but because each stomach can be different from an other (one will stretch more or less compare to an other one) at the end only "testing" after surgery can really show the difference from pre-op to post-op or at one year for example. Mine was a 36 or 38 since my BMI was so high(I have to ask my surgeon on Saturday, I forgot) and at almost 18 months out I can eat 1/4 of what I could eat before. This is such a relieve! I hope I won't be able to eat more...ever! My main issue was quantity...

BTW I love your photos!!! the collage is darling and you look dang fantastic!! I know you want to lose more, but I would be more than happy to have your figure!!
Well done!! XXX

You LOOK Amazing! Congratulations!

I found my medical records and read that my surgeon used a 40 French bougie.

I was also sleeved with a 40F bougie and lost all my excess weight. Yes, I can eat a greater volume of food than most sleevers, but I generally make decent food choices.

The bougie size doesn't matter nearly as much as one's adherence (or lack thereof) to a healthier lifestyle with the sleeve.

By the way, you're looking fabulous, Shirl.

Shirl, good stuff. Really good stuff. This WLS thing is all about paying attention, learning, applying our lessons, being willing to make changes based on things we learn / observe, and loving ourselves. You're doing so good at all of that. Good stuff!

Originally Posted by sraebaer

Sounds so complicated!

Sraebaer, I couldn't wrap my head around the concept when I first heard about Intermittent Fasting (IF). However, after I read about the benefits, not just weightloss, I had to make it part of my WLS journey. I particularly like the Bulletproof Intermittent Fasting (BIF) because of the added benefits of coffee and good fats, and added calories that I needed.

As with most things, I tried it on for size first, meaning slowly, the first week I only did 14-hour BIF, and I did the modefied protein version of the bulletproof coffee, instead of butter I did cultured ghee, and added a serving of collagen protein, recommended for women over 40 years old, and those who need to lose substantial weight. As mentioned, I was on my moon that week and had a 5lb gain. I lost those plus 1lb that first week.

This is the recipe I did :

1 cup freshly brewed organic coffee
1 teaspoon of each: Bulletproof Brain Octaine Oil (ultra filtered MTC coconut oil), and organic cultured ghee
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 serving of Bulletproof Collagen Protein

The second week, we traveled to Colorado so it was hard to do BIF all 7 days, I did what I could and still managed to lose another 1lbs. I mostly did 14-hour IF without the coffee about four out of the seven days.

Last week, we were in Miami and I found travel packets of MTC coconut oil and ghee, I found a Starbucks and got them to add it to a grande coconut milk latte. I lost another pound. Bringing me down to 167lbs!!! 3lbs loss in three weeks!

We got back on Saturday, and have been pretty strict with my BIF these last few days, but guess what!?! Started my moon  yesterday, and up again 5lbs!!!

This week I am trying the 16-hour recommended IF (BIF for me) ... next week we are off to our European trip!!!

Oh by the way, on my feeding window between 12pm and 8pm, I have been able to meet my protein requirements, I upped my calories, and have been able to enjoy a few drinks here and there, a few deserts, and some good carbs! Basically, I have been eating pretty well!

Here is a chart that PamG posted on IF and a few good articles https://www.gastricsleeve.com/forum/entry.php?b=30826

Hi Shirl, I would love to hear more about this, I am in the UK and can only find books on the coffee but not the actual coffee itself, I am so close and have been for a while and just want the last 10lbs to go, I don't even really mind if a little comes back, but oh to have that feeling of just doing it, the fasting BIT is easy for me, I am really struggling with food when I do eat though, I know what I should be eating but some days I do feel the old habits creeping in

Sounds so complicated!

Do you do the coffee with coconut oil and ghee too?

Nope. I have coffee with half & half and sweetened with Equal for breakfast.

If I need to stir-fry or pan-sear something, I use coconut oil.

Christie, I'm all about empowerment and liberation definitely!

Sandra, I can't say I am a "purest" when it comes to following any type of diet. I tend to like Paleo because of my liking local and seasonal approach. But I like I said I ignore tgeir band on dairy specially since I found grass-fed dairy.

RehabNurse, I am so over having my period! I want menopause to happen already lol! I also think Intermittent Fasting (IF) will be the way I will reach my goal too. Do you do the coffee with coconut oil and ghee too? I am traveling today through Saturday, and won't have my supplies, so I'm going to try IF cold turkey (meaning without the bulletproof proof coffee). Fasting 9pm-1pm is my goal!

Daily intermittent fasting is how I eventually reached my goal weight. I'd eat during an 8-hour window only from 1:00pm to 9:00pm. From 9:00pm until 1:00pm the next day, I'd be in a 16-hour fast. This enabled my body to start burning off its stored fat.

I was on my menstrual period most of the week with a five (5lbs) pound pms gain

I am due to start my period in a couple of days and my weight is up by 4.5 pounds. I hate this time of month due to the water retention.