missmeow

Hourglass before and after.

I'm going through the process with this hospital. He had pretty good reviews on the lapband forums and doesn't charge a huge program fee like other doctors in the area. However, I am now leaning towards VSG than lapband and I was wondering if anyone had him as their surgeon. I am particularly interested if they speak to you about the size of the sleeve (bougie and capacity) and what the aftercare is. I am not a believer in a one-size-fits all approach to anything much less a major surgery involving the removal of healthy organ tissue. So I would like to find or make sure I am seeing a surgeon who is willing to work with patients (i.e. not a "god") and has a good aftercare program. Any experience with this program or others in the area is appreciated.

It's better to be at a stable weight and then lose a little after surgery. If you are within 10% of your goal, you should be fine. Or at least that's the general consensus at realself.com

I would plan it for at least a year post-op. You will be going through a lot of physical and psychological changes. A lot of people break-up or get divorced. I would not add the pressure of a wedding potentially make things worse. The surgery can also bring people closer together too. But I would give it at least a year.

Your body will adjust. You're more likely to have the issue of not losing 100% or regaining than losing too much.

No, it doesn't stretch. The stretchy part is gone. Over time, you will be able to eat more because your stomach (pylorus) gets better at processing your food (you won't have to chew to mush forever either). Eating and drinking is not advised for two reasons: early post-op, it hurts because your food sits longer and you don't have the space. It HURTS bad if you do too big of a sip. Later on, it isn't good because it flushes food trough faster and you end up eating more or getting hingry sooner.

Eat your protein focus on veggies a little later. You can add one or two bites for variety bit at 6 weeks, I was still only wanting softies like cottage cheese and yogurt.

Get rid of it and go buy clothes that fit. There is nothing worse for your brain to have thinner you wearing fatter you clothes. I'm two years out and had a big purge in September-ish.

I'm thinking of fillers and maybe ulterapy for my little chin. But if I go in for plastics, I was thinking a mini lower face lift would pull everything back and keep it in place longer. I'm 37 and people say I look younger, but I can see it and I would rather not.

My surgeon/surgery group does not assign a goal weight. The only goal given to us is to have a BMI under 30 as 30 is where all the health problems start. I first set my goal at 140lbs, then 125lbs. I am wavering between 3-5lbs within my goal weight. I did not do any crazy "no carbs" or "5 day pouch tests." I pretty much focus on Protein first and watch what I eat. Some days I do better than others but I have not gained any weight and am still losing maybe 1-2lbs a month if I do nothing. I am not concerned with the scale so much anymore as I am with getting on a regular, sustainable workout routine and gaining muscle and shrinking my body overall. Eating less food or dieting as this point is just going to make my skin looser and my body flabbier. I think my new stretch goal is 110-120lbs but with definition.

Healthy habits, hands down. I make decisions based on the food available and what is best for me most of the time. Of course that doesn't stop me from eating a half a bacon cheeseburger junior at 5 guys once in awhile. That's when the restriction helps remind me of portion control

12 months out. It depends on what it is and how much it mushes down and travels through. My stomach empties or starts emptying around 15-20 minutes. Popcorn, it seems like I ca n eat an endless amount. I can eat half a sandwich if I take out the lettuce. I can eat a whole orange. I can eat about 4 oz of dense Protein and a bite of something else.

No regrets. I will say this though. I took my time to decide and mentally prepare for what I was going to face. My pre-op liquid diet wasn't difficult. I didn't lick Doritos or cheat. It was pretty easy because I food funeraled to the point where I didn't ever want to eat again. It was part of my process. My post-op...well, post-op sucks for the first month or two. It isn't too bad when you're in it as I had no issues and I felt great at the time. But in retrospect, yeah it sucks. Not going to lie. So don't use the first two months as your measuring stick because it's not how you will be a year out. My travels with the sleeve have been pretty good. It's my stomach but smaller. I get the same satisfaction from food just in the lesser quantity. At about 4 months out, I pretty much was eating most anything but I did hold off on a few things until 6 months. From then on, anything goes. I have had no vomiting or dumping poops or anything bad. I think it has been pretty easy going for me because I was mentally prepared. And then the worst parts weren't so bad, it was really easy. I think the people who struggle maybe haven't spent as much time preparing themselves mentally? So my advice is to be 100% sure you are ready and then go for it 100%. So when people get mad because someone tells them they took the easy way out, I kind of laugh because for me, it has been easy. It's like I am how I should have always been, if that makes sense. I love it

People are assholes and bashing fat people is the last acceptable prejudice.

My only advice is do not get fixated on ultra strict dieting and losing all your weight in 6 months. IMO, that is just as bad as the opposite and that is how most of us ended up fat in the first place. Follow your rules and get your Protein in first, then veggies, then fruit, and last any starches. If you're eating a snack of fruit, eat a mini babybel with it for protein. Don't feel you can't eat a cookie or popcorn. You can, but you have to give yourself a portion and stick to it. It's about balance. I think so many of us follow these ultra strict diets and then when the weight is off we feel like "yay! I can eat again!" But that is the thinking that got us fat in the first place. If you relearn to eat right, eat to satiety, and balance your diet, you may lose slower than some of the other people but I believe your chances of regain will be a lot less because you won't be tempted to stuff yourself and hide food because there is no longer "forbidden fruit' in your diet. Also, exercise that builds muscle is key. I am speaking in general here and am not commenting on any specific post. I read about food hiding but I think is something many of us have done so it's not directed to you Dooter

I had my one year about 2 days ago. 233 pre-op, 138 at one year, 83% excess weight loss, which my surgeon said was what they usually see for bypass and is really good for sleeve. My original goal was 140, my revised goal was 125, and now I might try for 120. My plan does not set a weight goal, I do. The only goal or measure of success is "no longer obese." I lost most of it in the first six months. I was about 165 in September, so about 30lbs in 6 months, which is a steady, healthy weight loss. My only advice is do not worry about how fast you go. Long-term, if you relearn how to eat and where satiety is for you, how to balance your diet and stay out of crazy dieting you will lose and you will keep it off. If these forums are pushing you to feel bad or do crazy dieting, find other support because that is only hurting you.

I was farty before but now I just blow farts all the time. Thankfully, it's just air and never smell unless I actually need to go to the bathroom. But I don't get it, fart fart fart, Has no connection to any particular food either,,

Once I got approved, I had a whole month of food funeraling. It was part of my process. Once I was done, I was so sick of it that it really helped me get into the mental space of doing surgery. Subsequently, I think once I had surgery, I was able to stick to everything without cheats or licking doritos and crazy stuff like that.

Usually about 30 minutes. My stomach starts emptying around 15-20 minutes. If I wait until 30, then I am ok to drink. If I drink before then, it hurts. I will sometimes take a small sip during if I have something that is not going down or a bit spicy but it is literally only enough to wet my throat and not a real sip/drink.

It depends on your body, your size (are you a small framed vs large) and your diet history, IMO. In my sleeve group, it seems the people who have lost the slowest are the ones with lifetime yo-yo dieting and have done strict liquid or restricted calorie diets (myself included). Myself, I think by 6 months I was down to 160 from 218 surgery day (I count 233 from pre-op because I had a two week pre-op I lost 15lbs on). So just shy of 60lbs in 6 months. I am one of the slower losers. I tracked daily, exercised, did everything right and still lost slow. No 40lbs in a month for me. A steady 10lbs/month approximately. Since 6 months, I kind of fell off the wagon. I haven't been doing shizt, just somewhat watching what I eat. Get my Protein in, drink fluids, but I eat popcorn, Cookies, too. I also had a change of work schedule and working out became inconvenient but I am now getting back on track with that. I guess I got rebellious. Plus, I think I have to do a whole change and eating low carb and not enjoying food life is not something I can keep up forever. I would rather lose my weight over a longer period of time than lose it up front and then regain. Regaining would kill me. Now do not get me wrong, I do not eat all day or break the "rules" of eating. I just pretty much eat what I want and have been a lazy bones. I still am down about 20lbs doing essentially nothing in the following 5 months. I am still losing but very slowly 3-5lbs a month. I don't know when that will stop if I keep what was my path. My original goal for myself was 140lbs and under a BMI of 30. I have met that (a pound shy of 140). My new goal is 125lbs and a BMI at or under 25. I will meet that too, by exercising, which is what everyone should be doing. I know I need to do it, it's good for me, but damn I hate it. But I will like it when I see my body change again and grow strong instead of shrink. So I guess my theory is that the sleeve will get you out of obesity in about 6-8 months if you're following your rules for the most part (if you're a hundred pounder). The remainder of the weight is up to you. Like, it will take actual work and effort to lose it and keep it off just like anyone else.

Here is the thing, you can consume a lot of calories in liquids and sliders so if you are not willing to say no to these things "most" of the time, regain is a real possibility. That is true with any surgery though. So you have to be able to say no. That is the hard part and that is where any surgery fails. The first 4 months for me were the easiest. Right about that time, I was able to eat just about anything and my capacity (meaning, my stomach can process out my food pretty fast) has grown. So, yep, I can take down a bag of kettle corn in a day just like before but it isn't a good choice. It's a choice that will make me gain weight again. So I have to say no.

I'm only rounding out 8 months PO but I can eat anything except rice. It's the only thing I actively avoid. It gave me constipation pre-op and post-op my dealings with it have been few but each time I have either had discomfort or pain so I avoid it. I have only had a few "bad" interactions with food and have never thrown up or slimed since the 6 week relearning food phase. My bad interactions were at 2 weeks PO, I threw up on tuna fish. It was too soon for me. At about 8 weeks, I forgot and drank Water too fast. I was sore for two days and thought I had blown something up (I didn't). I have had a couple times where I ate too much or too fast and felt queasy or overfull. But these are minor and I haven't had any actual food reactions. As long as I eat slow enough and listen to my body, everything goes down fine and stays down fine. ETA: I forgot my nemesis, Fresh and Easy turkey chili. Yeah, I ate it twice in one day (1 cup total) and OMG...I got such bad painful gas, I thought something exploded or got blocked and I was going to die. I sat up all night debating going to the ER, finally went to sleep, and woke up the next morning feeling better albeit in a room that smelled like something you would never want to smell. woowhee. TMI, but y'asked My main problem PO is not so much with food but getting super gas and gas pains. For some reason, I get a more farty PO. I hope it goes away eventually.

My hair loss has either stopped or slowed to the point I do not notice it. Thankfully, I had a lot of hair to begin with but I would say my ponytail is about half the size it used to be. I have not noticed significant regrowth but I have a feeling that will not happen until my calories increase and my weight is stable. The odd thing is that while the lost hair has not grown back, the hair that stayed has been growing very fast. I got about 4 inches cut off in July and my hair is back to that length again. The leftover hair is also very healthy and shiny. So I cannot complain too much.

CW 152

CW 154 Goal 148