M2G

You sound VERY prepared and that will help so much. I always gain a few when I go visit my mom or she comes here. It's annoying, like I can't stay ON TRACK when she is around. Ugh. I see her about once a month or every 2 months. The one bedroom house might be more trouble than keeping on your eating plan....ha! Good luck with that one FYE...

Ah, thanks my wonderful friend! We both have come such a long way and I treasure our friendship so much because you have always been there for me! I truly appreciate it!! Hugs back atcha...

Congrats to you both. WOW you guys are brave being a week apart and that is awesome that you guys have come so far in such a short amount of time. We are each other's biggest supporters, can't imagine doing this any other way!

Thanks Diane...The farther out you get from surgery, the harder it is to stay the course. But we both knew this would take a life long commitment and we are in it for the long haul. The goal = being healthier.

Ha ha both the sassy pose and the bigger smile are due to my 10 year old daughter taking the picture. "C'mon mom, give me more sass!!!" which in turn made me smile. But truly I didn't look very happy in the before did I? lol

You look amazing! And your hair is absolutely goregous! If you lost any, we can't tell...

Coops glad to hear it's going well, and I'm sure even though you would probably like more time off, it might be good to get back to a "schedule" ...don't worry about the eating right now. You can always refocus on that later. Like you said at least it's not quantity. AND you KNOW what you need to do. Maybe after a week or so back at work you can refocus on the eating habits. I have NO doubt in my mind that you will see the 150's when all the swelling and healing is done! Hugs my sleeve-sister!

NannieG THANK YOU so much for posting this link. GREAT article, and I really needed to read that.

I typically don't eat back the calories I've burned through exercise. I'm 2.5 years out, and usually eat around 1,200 calories a day. Depending on what exercise I do I burn between 200-800 calories a day.

That is totally awesome! My hubby and I are both sleeved and it truly is one of the best things we have ever done for ourselves and can't imagine doing it any other way. Thank goodness we didn't have any pre-op diet, just liquids 48 before surg. Best of luck to you BOTH!!!

Oh and it turns out I can speak for one more individual. My husband. He is also sleeved. He was 2 years post op in March this year. So he only lost about 65-70lbs and he says he would like to lose -15 more but the honest truth is he looks great where he is (he has a low % of body fat and is very muscular.) We both work out (me probably more so than him) but he DOES NOT have to be as vigalent about what he puts in his mouth. He can eat more carbs than I can and is NOT as sensitive to calorie intake (grrr!) haha, really I'm happy for him. His weight loss quit about 9 months post-op and he has maintained within a +/-6lb range since he was 9 months. So everyone really IS different.

Well I can only speak for me and from my experience, but most long-term sleevers have indeed battled a regain (I'm 2.5 years out) and while the hunger is NEVER (for me) what it was pre-op, it's definitely a battle. I told myself I would NEVER regain ANY weight, but the truth is most people do. In my 2nd year I gained about 10-12lbs from April-Nov., then added another +5 for the holidays. I'm working it off but it is coming of VERY slow. I've lost -9lbs since Jan 1 of this year and it's already mid-April. So that is how quick it can fly on and how slow it can come off. I think at some point everyone gets tired of being hypervigalent about their diet and that is when the extra pounds creep in. I originally lost -100lbs and would like to get back there. So sometimes I have to remind myself of how far I've come and that an extra 10-12lbs doesn't make me a WLS failure. Best advice - when the scale goes up, take care of it immediately, don't wait months or the extra lbs can turn into more.

Linda that is awesome. Your tummy has fared quite well...YAY! Funny thing about scars is that they do tend to fade after a few years. I had my gall bladder removed laproscropically (I think there were 4 incisions) about 14 years ago and once I had "new" scars from the VSG I can't even FIND the old ones from the GB removal.

Here is where I got the idea for granola that incorporates Protein powder (I actually used Click...yum) http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2011/04/clickn-granola.html Shelly's CLICK'n Granola 1/3 cup oatmeal, dry 1/3 cup Sliced Almonds 1/4 cup Pecans, chopped 1 scoop CLICK Espresso Protein Powder (your favorite flavor, I used vanilla Latte) 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon 3 Tablespoons sugar free Torani Syrup (your favorite flavor, I used Sugar Free Vanilla) 2 Tablespoons Almond Butter 1 Tablespoon Butter Mix together with a fork till clumps form. Sprinkle clumps of the topping onto a baking sheet (I lined it with foil for ease of clean-up) and bake for 20 minutes at 350. Allow to cool. When cool store in sealed container for several days.

So good to hear from you! Congrats on your loss and maintenance! I'm sorry about your dad's passing and the legal troubles. It sounds like you have a handle on the drinking now, and you know it's not going to make life any better. It's funny how we have to find other ways to cope instead of turning to food. Good luck on the new baby project, sounds like an adventure! I also went back to school (already have my bachelor's but really needed some new skills to stay competitive in the job market) and it is HARD work so my hat is off to you on that. Thanks for the update, I think we all like hearing from others who have been sleeved for quite some time.

For granola you would. The only time I leave almonds whole is when I'm planning to count them out and just eat them plain. You can also add Protein powder to your homemade granola. But it is definitely something I can eat too much of and most granola is a high-calorie (good calories tho) food. So I have to watch it around granola.

Marci you are welcome! I hope Jacqui has some good advice for you. One thing that I wanted to mention from your very first post about being scared of the sleeve because it's permanent. Don't be. It's a GOOD thing. Once you are through the surgery and subsequent recovery and healing, you are good to go. You get to keep this tool for LIFE and no more 6 hour trips for a tune-up.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20622654 Intersting this article is the first one I've seen that has mentioned a resleeve. I know someone who once wanted a resleeve because she didn't feel like she ever lost her hunger. She woke up from the OR table starving and thus has battled it since (she will be 3 years post-op next month) But I have not heard of this being common. I wonder what it entails. I imagine that first your sleeved tummy would have to be at a greater size bougie perhaps than "normal or average" to work a resleeve. But then again I've heard of cancer patients who survive with little to no stomach at all. Swizzly you are SO lucky! YAY! I have read on VST about people who have gone about RESETTING their metabolism but I'm not ready to tackle that yet. I would LOVE to eat 2,000 calories a day and maintain...

Here is a blog of someone who was in a very similar situation... http://jax0120.blogspot.com/ She used to post here but not so much anymore. Anyway, she had lost some weight with the band, had issues and revised to the sleeve. When she did the revision she was at about 160lbs. Now she maintains around 140lbs. Here is right before her revision: http://jax0120.blogspot.com/2011/06/before-surgery-to-vsg-pics.html Hope that helps!

I am right there in the fight with you ladies! Thanks FYE for the article. I've actually READ that article before, but this time I bookmarked it. TY! Here is what I have found for me. I "average" 1,200 calories a day (I've been tracking my food since Jan, but not perfect 100% strict, there are days I don't track what I eat) and I have lost -9lbs of my almost 20lb regain from 2012. It is coming off painfully slow, but I think in order for me to get the weight off faster I would have to cut carbs and calories (I average 70-100 carbs a day) so I would probably have to do the Atkins method and go less than 30g carbs for quicker weight loss. I do have days where I'm around 40g or less of carbs but under 30 only happens on the rarest of days. I have repeated asked my NUT about the final outcome of our surgery being metabolically ALTERED and she agrees that we are but I can't find statistical data showing what changes and how. I'm interested in this (cut and pasted from the article): For instance, a gastric hormone called ghrelin, often dubbed the “hunger hormone,” was about 20 percent higher than at the start of the study. Another hormone associated with suppressing hunger, peptide YY, was also abnormally low. Levels of leptin, a hormone that suppresses hunger and increases metabolism, also remained lower than expected. A cocktail of other hormones associated with hunger and metabolism all remained significantly changed compared to pre-dieting levels. It was almost as if weight loss had put their bodies into a unique metabolic state, a sort of post-dieting syndrome that set them apart from people who hadn’t tried to lose weight in the first place. Since the VSG eliminates some or all of this hunger hormone, how does that affect our metabolism long-term? I vascillate between annoyance at having to be so vigalent about what I put in my mouth to grateful-ness (is that a word?) that I can subsist on 1,000-1,200 calories a day and not be a raging angry b**ch. To me that has been the biggest benefit of the sleeve, is that I do feel full and (on most days) satisfied with a low-calorie diet. One last mention...when I was about 15 months POST-OP I went and had a body scan done. Fancy equipment that you stand on barefoot, and hold on to, that will send a bioimpedance throughout your body and spit out a very scientific sounding sheet of info. It is a bit fancier than just the hand-held versions or the scale you can buy that tell you your fat or Water ratios. This actually broke down my muscle percentages in my left vs. right leg (arms, torso, etc.) And it said that my RMR is 1,450. Meaning I should be able to EAT 1,450 calories a day while doing absolutely nothing. Factor in working out and I ****SHOULD**** be able to MAINTAIN my weight loss on 1,700-2,000 calories depending on how hard I work out on any one given day. I'm not sure how accurate that is, and I've been wanting to go back and have a rescan done JUST to see if my RMR is the same or different. I will post if I am able to go back for a scan...maybe before or around my 3 year post-op appt in Oct.

Well here is a calorie count from someone who is almost 2.5 years post-op. I generally keep my calories around >1,200 a day. I'm actively trying to lose some regain (I've lost -9lbs since Jan 1, 2013) eating around 1,200 a day. This doesn't give the amounts but I put the calories in there. Yesterday was an oddball day because I don't normally drink shakes. But I had a hair appt. right at noon that lasted 2 hours so I drank my lunch. Breakfast Fat Free Half and Half - Land O Lakes 23 Egg Beaters 36 Mexican Style Four cheese 93 Lunch High Protein chocolate shake 160 dinner chicken, Breast, meat Only Broiled 168 Egg, Whole - Cooked, Hard-boiled 81 Snacks Greek Yogurt - 0% Fat 81 PB2 - Powdered Peanut Butter 45 pure protien bar 190 Honeycomb - Cereal 81 Peanut Butter Snack Bar 100 calories were around 1,058 and about 127g protein. I have some days that go higher, for instance on Mon. I went to a pot-luck (and obv. didn't weigh and measure my food but I'm pretty good at eyeballing amounts by now) and my calories for the day ended up being over 1,700. It's EASY to go high-calorie without hardly even trying. It's a LOT harder to go low-cal. But as I said I'm trying to lose and the sleeve is my tool. My hubby is also sleeved and is able to eat more calories than I can without gaining. (grrr!, lol) So everyone is vastly different.

Perfectly said. Also 100 posts doesn't seem like too many to achieve. I realize there are probably "vets" out there who have never heard of this site, stumble on and would qualify being 6 months or 1 year post-op, but this is a community and I think you need to share and interact, (not just coast along looking) to participate. Just my $.02.

Wow, it has been a long time since I spent any "real" time here at VST. For those who may not know me, I'm almost 2.5 years post-op, with well over 100+ posts (so I think I'm ok to post here ) but I definitely count myself in the 'slow to lose' category. I initially lost 100lbs at just about the 18 month post-op mark, and then spent a good 9 months putting on about +15-20lbs by not tracking what I eat, grazing, and generally sort of letting my guard down. I never quit exercising but in 2012 I took on a full-time job and that put a crimp in my exercise style which was basically workout every day. I went from working out every day to 2, maybe 3 times a week. So that helped also contribute to my gain. Now I'm not working, but have decided to go back to school (already have my bachelor's but need updated skills) and I've learned the importance of not letting exercise slide. So even though school is a huge time sucker, I've been very true to my exercise pattern. I don't work out every day anymore, but 4-6 days a week is pretty normal for me. Since Jan 1, 2013 I've now lost -9lbs so I am working off the regain. Then it will be time to get to goal (I never made goal initally.) Part of my absence was due to work, then school, but also for the a lot of the same reasons that many of the vets don't stay here. Another reason is my preferred browser is VERY slow to load this site as it is bogged down with so much advertising that it will literally time out. Alex is working on that, and I have other browsers that aren't so slow. I also have the phone app which does okay reading but I rarely find time to post, as the reading is usually a quick 5 minutes while waiting to pick up a kid from school, etc. Anyway, just wanting to say hello and meet some of the newer vets... so GLAD to see a Vet's Forum around here! Also happy to see some old timers still here, like Coops, CLK, PDX, Lsereno, MsSkinniness, and Lissa, etc. Sorry if I'm leaving anyone out. One of my goals is to be around more often!

Thanks OD...You are right about the regain being a fight! Aargh. And oh my gosh, I wonder what setting you have? Because I get all these pop up ads, blinking, and whatnot. And while I get that the site needs ads for business, it gets frustrating when they cause the page to time out due to "long-running scripts." Oh and another thing about the ads, I would LOVE to see an ad with someone who has a real post-op belly, not a six-pack without a scar to be found. Just saying.

Not everyone in the world can understand, relate, or basically cares about what you do to your stomach to lose weight. But a huge majority of people here GET IT. I think this site saved me from completely boring the rest of my family and friends with talking about the sleeve. LOL!