M2G

Woo hoo! Congrats on your loss! I just clicked on your profile HOPING to see your pics bigger, but alas they are not in your profile. -117 is freaking awesome, lets see those pics...

My hubby had that happen...he was sleeved March 7 (of 2011) and on March 17th we went to a St. Patricks day party that was hosted by some Irish friends of ours. He talked and talked, and put some broth from an Irish stew in a bowl with a few other things but only had the broth. Also I had surgery on Oct. 22 (2010) and had thanksgiving dinner with (some) people who DID NOT KNOW I had surgery and no one said boo. My plate looked fairly normal and I did not eat it all. What I have found is that MOST people are waaaaaaay more interested in THEIR OWN plate of food and don't really notice much about what's on YOUR plate of food. The best thing about going to parties post-sleeve is that finally the party isn't ALL about the food.

I think you need to get back into your surgeon, even though I understand the frustration, your surgeon's job is to help you. Are you seeing a counselor or a nutritionist? How about attending a support group? You can out-eat any type of WLS, so that is where you have to put in the hard work. Measure your food, track your intake, and work on sorting out head hunger vs. true hunger. I had lots of stalls along the way but I had to stick to my routine. I would tell myself I didn't have this surgery to just throw in the towel when things get tough. I think you can turn this around right now if you are willing...

Yep, truly the best thing I have ever done for myself health-wise! That is cute that she called you a "dare devil"...my girls were 8 and 10 when I was sleeved in 2010. Now they are almost 11 and 12 and the other day my youngest called me the "Protein monster" haha.(guess maybe I harp on the protein a bit much...) I like "dare devil" better.

I think just like when you lost weight, it took time to "adjust" the way you see yourself, the same is true for post-plastics. I think it's going to take time but eventually you will know what works and what doesn't. Life without extra skin....aaah! So HAPPY for you!

Mary, you might enjoy reading this: http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Overeating-Insatiable-American/dp/B004NSVE32/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367592678&sr=8-1&keywords=david+kessler It sounds like a similar book to what you described. It's eye-opening that is for sure!

I know this topic has been posted about in other forums, but I'm wondering about how the vets handle this. My short answer is NO. I typically burn 300-700 calories in a workout depending on what it is. 1 hour of spin class of pretty intense cardio where I'm dripping sweat and there is NO stopping for the entire hour probably nets me around -700 calories burned. And I just don't see the sense in eating an extra +700 calories on my sleevers diet of 1,200 cals/day. I know there are are LOTS of theories on this topic and everyone is different, so your mileage may vary. I'm also *still* trying to lose weight so in my mind, burning extra calories just to eat them back seems like it would be counter-productive to losing weight. What are your thoughts, ideas, examples, and experiences? I would love to hear from other vets...

My surgeon says yes. His rule was NO SHAKES AFTER 6 WEEKS post-op. But truthfully I never understood that. I have lots of theories and no concrete answers. A couple of theories include that drinking any calorie liquid is bad because it does not combat hunger (i.e. leaving you hungry because it was "liquid"...and my surgeon has rules about what to drink also, nothing with more than 15 calories per serving...I drink Water and plain unsweet tea occassionally...of yeah and coffee.) I think a lot of my surgeon's rules were modified from what they knew about the RNY. So with that in mind another thing I think that my surgeon doesn't want is people avoiding food because it hurts to eat. (i.e. liquid diet covering up for pain from stricture, ulcer, etc.) I have asked my NUT specifically about this rule and she still stands by the rule, except when it IS more convenient to have a shake vs. having to raid a vending machine, etc. Fiddle if what you are doing is working for you then I think keep doing it.

Great pictures! Congrats on your loss!

Oh I should mention that my sleeved hubby (2 years post-op) has almost NEVER tracked his calories or food, with exceptions being right after surgery and the times when I give him grief about not doing so. He has maintained his 65-70lb loss within a +/-5lb range since he was 9 months post-op. Ugh, men!

OMG I struggle with this quite a lot. The anger. HOW in the heck can I eat 1,200 OR less and only maintain my weight. I do not understand the science of the metabolically altered body after surgery and sometimes it just ticks me off. But then the little angel on my shoulder says "this is what you signed up for, deal with it, and deal with it gracefully." And then when I put 3.5 oz of chicken on my plate and FEEL FULL I'm eternally grateful. lol Such a push and pull. Just wanted to say that I struggle with this too.

I'm a tracker. When I'm NOT tracking, I'm eating MORE. So if I want to get the weight off I have to track. Occassionally I will do a test to see how good I am at guessing HOW much food I'm eating. I will put something in a bowl (like yogurt or meat) and then guesstimate how much is in there. Then I will weigh it and I'm usually amazingly close. So I know someday I won't have to track because of literally years of measuring has given me a good foundation. But for now, I track.

Is anyone on caloriecount.about.com? That is where I log. I tried MFP but I already had a few years of logging with cc and I like the way you can add the amount of food better. With few exceptions you can add ANY food by serving size, cups, oz, grams, tbsp. or even numbers (like 10 pretzel sticks, etc.) so I quit MFP and just keep going with cc.

Sorry GT, that sucks. My husband and I both go to exercise class roughly 3x a week and it's ALWAYS full of women with about 2-3 men total. lol. Now if you go downstairs to the "weights" area it's like 100% men. I had a really bad eating day this week (about 1,700 calories) but thankfully I did burn an extra 350 cals on the treadmill at home. Ugh! I just never intentionally eat back my cals. I'm always trying to keep them low.

Great job...love the tankini!

So interesting, thank you for posting. As I read this I kind of felt bad for the people BEING observed but that is probably the only way to get an accurate picture of what is going on and habits, because when you TELL someone you are watching them, they immediately try to do better. As for buffets I think I've only been to about 3 in the last 2.5 years they are just a waste of money IMO.

As I read your posts, I just have to say that I think while you are typing you are figuring this all out. The fact that you focused on shedding the weight as something you can claim control over, well that is a huge lightbulb moment. You already know that the weight won't disappear overnight and you are on the right track with knowing what you are eating. You will eventually get back to that place where you can visualize your plate and know if it is right or wrong without having to break out the scale, but until then, use the scale, and do what feels right for right now. Coops is right, cut yourself some slack. And enjoy that sweet baby.

"Chuffed to beans" OMG, I'm sitting here with the biggest smile on my face. I love you and your Brit-Speak. I'm going to have to try and remember that one. I'm soooooooo happy for you Coops. This journey has been a long one and when you are almost 3 years post-op it's hard to find a big NSV, and ta da, you DID IT! Love this and am so excited for you. The worst is over, bring on the BEST!

GT - I share the same frustration over gaining any amount of weight back, and I have nothing to blame except myself. I'm sorry you had such an awful year and when things like what you have had to deal with crop up, there definitely is the tendancy to "chuck" the rules out the window and go into survival mode. I think what you said about acting as if you were still obese, that is interesting. I wonder how many of us do that, and for how long? I struggling with a 15-19lb regain, and I've lost about -9lbs of my regain, but again have stalled. Somedays it feels like a constant guessing game, because the normal "try more water" I already drink a ton, "reduce carbs" I do between 30-100 on any given day, etc., just doesn't always work the further out you get. We are here for you, and I too have come to the realization that this is going to be a daily battle, and I will never be "done" and that I will never be THAT person that can just "eat whatever I want"... As for the amount left you have to lose. Even though 125 may be "ideal" you need to find out what works for YOU. I've already decided that I'm not going to have the "ideal" weight. My final goal will be about 30lbs heavier than "ideal" and I am perfectly ok with that. So I'm not telling you want you should weigh, but I'm telling you to figure out where your happy place is and go for that. Oh one last thing...congrats on rededicating yourself...I'm right there with you...not always an easy battle!

Great job and congrats on your loss! I'm sure the last year has been a journey of change, which is not always easy. Hang in there, stay the course and keep working your tool. You are doing a great job!

Toy27 - thank you, I didn't realize how that statement could be mis-interpreted. NO, I did NOT have any complications whatsoever, in fact, I breezed through recovery and felt pretty much normal about 10 days post-op. What I meant by saying that it's harder to stay the course the further out you are is in reference to how easy it would be to overeat and not suffer any consquences. I can eat sugar, Cookies, pie, cake, ice cream, candy, etc. and the ONLY thing that is stopping me from doing that is ME. I chose to have the sleeve so that I wouldn't get the death penalty (ie. RNYs can suffer from dumping syndrome, etc. when eating foods with sugar) because I wanted to be in control of what I eat. But sometimes it can be exhuasting to be so on-top of what I eat. So that is where the further out you are the harder it is to be on-top of your eating habits. I should say though that in some ways it's easier because eating smaller amounts of food seems completely normal to me now (at first it didn't) but now it's just 100% normal for me to portion out a small amount of food and that is what I plan to eat. So thanks again for asking for clarification on that!

Thanks Lynda...It's nice when those of us who are farther out stick around. I was my surgeon's 15th sleeve, (even though he has done thousands of bands/RNYs) so there wasn't a lot of "living proof" out there when I got sleeved. I'm glad we can be here and let others know that it's not that scary.

Olivia23 - great question. I absolutely STILL have restriction when it comes to dense Protein (chicken, especially, but beef, pork, salmon, even meatless protein, like veggie/soy burgers/sausage, etc.) I have never been one to "test" my limits when it comes to post-sleeve eating. I have an *almost* un-natural fear of throwing up and I can say that in the last 2.5 years I have NOT thrown up. Not even once. Not even in the post-anethesia fog that sometimes can make people regurg. So I'm in the camp that tends to underfill my sleeve. When it comes to meals I generally do NOT eat any more than 3-4 oz of meat. I don't care what kind of meat it is (4oz of meat is my high limit.) If it is a meal (vs. a snack) I will include an oz of veggies and maybe an oz or less of carbs (I try to choose whole grain, brown rice, sweet potato, etc.) but overall I do restrict most carbs from my daily diet. If I'm really trying to lose I need >30g carbs, and if I'm "generous" with my carbs I will average >100g daily. So a typical meal for me never more than 5-6 oz of food TOTAL. I eat about 1,200 calories a day. I definitely find that I have to MEASURE and ACCOUNT for my calories or it's incredibly easy to EAT MORE than what I need. I didn't go and have 80% of my stomach removed so that I could end up eating the same amount of food that I did BEFORE surgery, so I have to remember that, otherwise yes, it would be easy to eat more. You can out-eat any WLS any day any time. Sure, probably not in the first few months after surgery when your stomach is swollen, pissed off and you are terrified of a leak, but after you heal, you could graze your way through the day and eat probably every 20 minutes or so and get in enough calories to equal a pretty big eating day. I have to say that for the most part I feel so lucky to eat small amounts of food. I do not feel like I'm starving all the time or that I NEED to eat more. I sometimes sit around and get angry that I can't eat more than 1,200-1,400 calories a day WITHOUT gaining, but then again this was the trade off for having surgery. Learning to live with less was an ultimate goal. So then I realize that I'm doing just fine and get over it and move on. I hope that answers your question and if not please holler!

Well, I wish I could say that I'm not in that club with you but I am. I have fallen off the wagon (and I can sit here and say BUT it took me 9 months to put on 15-19lbs...) but the fact remains that this IS a tool and it is only helpful when we decide to use it. I wish I have never let ANY weight come back on as it is a S L O W ride taking it back off. So while I can appreciate and share in your disappointment and frustration I also have chosen to move on. It doesn't make me any less of a success, it just makes me human, AND it makes me appreciate where I've been and where I'm going more. I'm 2.5 years post-op and I *still* need support for this never-ending journey. One foot in front of the other: one day at a time, one meal at a time and one bite at a time.