30F, 5'11-442lbs, no kids

I’m a little over 6 months out from my gastric sleeve procedure. My current weight is 347- so close to reaching 100lbs lost. It’s been pretty smooth sailing since my last post; nothing new worth mentioning. I noticed my weight loss slowing down around 4 months post-op. I’m having to watch what I eat a little more at this point. My stomach isn’t nearly as swollen and it can hold more and more food as time goes on. I ate a whole (small) slice of pizza recently before I knew it- that was a scary moment when I realized what I’d done so easily.
I go to the gym 3-4 days a week; 15 minutes on the treadmill at a brisk pace and about 45-60 minutes of weight training. I’m happy with my results so far.
I still have a hard time getting enough fluids, and I still can’t stand to drink plain water. It’s not the taste, I’ve always enjoyed water- it just feels uncomfortable in my stomach without something added to it. Makes no sense, my husband tells me it’s all in my head!
I’ve only dropped 2 sizes in clothes: from a 28 to a 24. At least now I can shop in mainstream stores, if I so choose.
I have more energy and have noticed that I take up much less space than I’m used to. It’s a little mind-bending to fit in places that your brain is convinced that you won’t.
My hair is still coming out. A lot. Hopefully this levels out soon and it starts to grow back- luckily I have a surplus and it’s not too noticeable to other people.
I generally feel better. My confidence is slowly building. I feel like now is when the hard work is going to start. My stomach is more of a tool that I have to use wisely. I’m not just going to see the weight fall off anymore and I feel like it’s going to take more work to reach my goal. But at the end of the day, if I never lost another pound it would still be worth it.

So I’m about 10 weeks out. I eat regular food, with emphasis on protein. I can eat just a little at a time- about 1 and a half golf ball-size meatballs. I can NOT drink while or immediately after eating or I feel like my chest is going to explode and like it’s all going to come right back up. I just reached the 70lb mark. Seventy pounds I hope to never meet again. I do feel like the scale has slowed down, but I’m ok with it- as long as it’s still on the downward slope.
Some things I’ve noticed:
I stink! Ok, not that bad. But I do notice a considerable difference in the amount of deodorant applications. I feel like I always smell; my husband disagrees but I’ve read where others have experienced the same because our hormones change after surgery. Hopefully this goes back to normal. I don’t like it. At all.
Losing 70 pounds when you start out in the 400s is not as big of a life changer as you’d think. I can still wear the same (albeit baggy) clothes. And I really have to study photos to see a significant difference. Trying to tell myself that it’ll come eventually.
I do get hungry. When I wake up, I need to eat. The hunger is different than before- it’s not so much of a pain than an empty/squishy feeling. Some days I’m not hungry at all, others I want to eat all day even though I eat very small amounts.
Getting the fluids in is still hard. I’m averaging around 60oz a day- still not enough but I’m trying. I’ve found like drinking flavored Propel water is helpful. Plain water still makes me feel blah.
Going out to eat is interesting. I usually try to share with my husband. Anytime I get my own meal, I can hardly have 3 bites before I’m full and servers are always worried there’s something wrong or I don’t like it. Some are a persistent. I’ve started using the excuse of “oh I just had a late lunch”. Not very convincing for the fat girl to say she’s not hungry.
I still am very much happy that I’ve made this decision. Looking forward to inching toward the 100lb mark!

SW: 442
CW: 388
So I’ve made it to the 6 week mark and saw my surgeon yesterday. I’m down 54lbs and all of my incisions are nicely healed. I’ve started eating regular food; my day consists of Oikos Triple Zero Greek yogurt at 6 (I work 6a-6p), 1 packet of Quakers weight control oatmeal with an added scoop of Genepro protein powder at 8, a boiled egg at 10, lunch around noon- usually a few ham and cheese roll-ups, almonds at 2, and a cheese stick at 4. Dinner is typically whatever my husband cooks- I can eat about 3 bites and I’m done, so I don’t make that meal a big deal. I drink as much liquids as I can get down, I’m not always where I should be. But I’m averaging about 70oz of protein and 50oz of fluids- that should increase as time passes and my stomach continues to heal.
But I’m doing pretty good drinking water with a BariatricPal fruit drink protein powder pack, skim milk with Genepro added, or just Propel water. I still can’t get regular water to go down well, I don’t know what’s up with that.
I’ve started monthly b12 injections, but I haven’t started a vitamin yet. I ordered some multivitamin patches from BariatricPro today, so we’ll see how that goes.
As far as exercise, I’m only walking a few days a week. I still don’t feel like I have an exorbitant amount of energy- probably has something to do with the lack of that multivitamin and the fact that I work a LOT.
All in all, I feel pretty good. I feel like my clothes are getting big and I’m fitting into spaces (like my car) a little differently. I also feel pretty good about being under 400lbs for the first time in 10 years. I’m the same size I was when I met my husband, so that makes me happy.
The only consistent side effect I have is acid reflux. I take my Pepcid like I’m supposed to but literally EVERYthing gives me reflux and I have a persistent “blah” feeling in my stomach. But it’s something I’ve learned to ignore most of the time.
I don’t have any signs to let me know when to stop eating. Some people burp, sneeze, hiccup, etc- but I’ve got nothing. I don’t know that I need to stop until I take a bite, it goes down, and I feel like I’m gonna throw up. Luckily, I’ve not yet followed through with the vomiting. But I hate that I have no other indicators. I eat slowly and mindfully, but there’s no way to know until that bite makes it’s way down that it was a bit too much. I’m continuing to work on it, hopefully I’ll eventually come to a point of knowing exactly how much to eat.
Really long story short, I have no regrets thus far.