swizzly

I'll care what God thinks about my fat, white, middle-aged body as soon as it appears that God is at all bothered about teeny, brown children starving to death. Otherwise I find it too horrifying to even consider.

I have to admit, the 'easy way out' thing is not such a big deal for me. Because, for ME, this has totally 110% been the easy way out -- I've had zero complications or problems, apart from never losing my hunger (at least head hunger hasn't been a huge deal). The phrase that comes to mind when someone says 'easy way out' is 'so what'? What is inherently 'good' about doing things the hard (and ineffective!!) way?? There's no virtue in effort for effort's sake, and there is tons of sniffy judgment embedded in the idea that one shouldn't have an easy time of it -- after all, we're fatties, we DESERVE to be punished, right? So yeah: NO. I reject that 100%. Easy way out=I SO deserve it after all the years of the hard way totally not working. Anyone who doesn't like it is of course welcome to their opinion, but I'm not going to share it with them LOL.

PS -- it's a fairly well-established fact that weight loss is 80% diet and only up to 20% exercise. Meaning you can change your diet (or get WLS to help you do so) and lose weight without ever exercising at all. People will get up in your face about it LOL...but it's totally do-able. NB: I didn't start working out till nine months post-op, for personal reasons. I still lost just fine.

Unless he's actively pushing you not to get surgery or trying to prevent you doing it, I wouldn't bother trying to convince him of too much of anything. He's entitled to his own opinion and it doesn't necessarily reflect at all on your own motivations or needs. I would say if you do get the surgery, his opinion will change by watching what you have to do in terms of still choosing proper foods and exercise. Good luck!

When I get super hungry (always have, never lost my appetite at all), I chew a Gaviscon tablet. That brand specifically was recommended by one of the surgeons. It takes away that gnawing feeling totally. Also, I personally recommend, if you are having bad cravings, then cut out sugar and wheat and eat more fat, you'll feel better and stay satiated more (and lose weight easier). Good luck, you can do this!!!

Very interesting, thanks for sharing (and thanks to OTR for pointing out the thread as well!) -- glad to hear you are doing well after your extra surgery too. I bet it works this time! (I think my doctor here in Europe also did a rather large sleeve, but in my case that has been okay.)

Wow, really?? I've heard sort of these mythical tales of people who regained/had a stretched sleeve, but I've never actually 'met' one before. Do you mind to tell a bit more about your experience? How did it stretch, and how did you know it was stretched and etc. I also didn't realise you could even be re-sleeved. That is fascinating. Thanks for sharing!

Hey! Congrats, Meg!!! That's awesome!!

Coops, I hear ya. My body seems quite fine to just stay put where it's at, though I want to shift five more kg first... Alas. I eat too much junk sometimes, so I can't say I'm giving it my all. I do religiously walk and go to the gym though. You look great -- I want to see a bigger version of your current profile pic, cos that looks AWESOME! And yeah, work is always full of s**t to hit the fan, isn't it. I sometimes find myself just grinding my teeth during the day from stress...that can't be good for the old bod...

Well, {{{hugs}}} I do hope you feel happy again soon. Hang in there! Now it's done, eventually you will probably adjust in certain ways and feel better, but meanwhile I hope you're not too miserable.

Wassamatter, Mr T? Are you feeling sick or in pain? I'm sorry to hear it. How far post-op are you?

Yes, absolutely. I lost nearly the entire amount of my weight in the first nine months, and I didn't exercise (apart from walking a bit sort of incidentally) at all during that time. I didn't have physical issues per se; rather, more personal issues. But I intentionally didn't exercise during the main weight-loss period and I lost just fine. Good luck!

Va va va VOOM!!!! Nice!

Really? Because I deserved some lasting SUCCESS after all the weight-related failures I've had over the past four decades. It was something I did for me, and it was in the top three best decisions of my life. I've never had a single regret, not even for a single second (no kidding, not one). It's been awesome every step of the way, even when it was a bit challenging, just because I knew THIS TIME it would work, and I seriously deserved it. I have told very few people about it cos I'm quite private, but I don't really care what anyone else thinks anyhow. Again: For ME. For LIFE.

Well, I was never really dead set on any goal anyhow, and my surgeon and doctor never set one for me either, they're not into that. So I picked something fairly random that got me into the normal range...and I also weighed 140 last time I was thin at all. But I'm older now and it seems to not be coming off anymore, so I might just call this good and focus on my fitness and keeping things going. I also lost an inch in height during this process, so I'm 5'6 instead of 5'7, which made me think I should go lower. But meh. I'm not that bothered if I'm honest. I'm just enjoying the ride and what each day brings.

Hey, coops -- welcome back! Sounds like you had a great holiday. Only 3lb is verrrrryyyy good, and I'm sure it will be gone in no time. I'm still doing the same as always. Sometimes being good, sometimes not so good; working out regularly but not killing myself in the gym or anything; having lots of wine from time to time. And still about 5lb from my original 'goal.' But not convinced I need to get 'there'...and maintenance seems to be going well so far...

I have no idea what mine is -- my surgeon was already annoyed that I didn't speak German, so I didn't push it on the questions I wasn't that fussed about. And bougie size fell within that category. So, whatever I got, it's worked out well for me. I can eat relatively a lot to what most people seem to be able to eat, but I like it that way.

I couldn't agree more. The fact is, the hypotheses they are making about lifestyle changes and so-called transfer addictions (even if they don't use those terms, I can't recall now -- I read that study a couple of weeks ago, but didn't re-read it today) from WLS patients in general are IMO entirely unsupported empirically at this point. The only evidence regarding the increase in alcohol abuse is the mechanical/physical change in bypass patients, where they absolutely metabolise alcohol differently than a non-bypassed person and this is very relevant to alcohol issues. I have not seen any convincing evidence yet that restriction-only procedures (ie, sleeve, band) lead to increased alcoholism (or drug abuse, etc.) in any significant way. I'm open to the evidence when they produce it, but I've just not seen it yet. The idea that newly thin people go off the 'deep end' and party too much and turn into big sluts is just as much a stereotype, IMO, as the stereotypes we've all had projected on us about being fat, lazy, dumb, etc. All that said, to the OP -- I think it's fine that you celebrated your 21st, happy belated b-day to you. I also first had a drink a month or two post-op (had to drink some champagne for a friend's birthday, oy bubbles on top of it LOL). I drink wine at least once or twice a week usually and I haven't had any problems with that. It's a personal choice, I think -- and unless there are health issues or addiction problems, it's not a 'wrong' personal choice. I chose to tell VERY few people about my surgery cos I don't like people knowing my personal business. That said, even if people did know about it, I wouldn't try to explain much or 'convince' them about it. That's often a waste of time. I'm fine for them to have their opinions, their perspective isn't relevant to my life most of the time, so I just keep the conversation polite and the topic brief. What other people think about me is none of my business anyhow...

18 mos post-op here, and I just feel full, as I did prior to surgery. No big whoop. I've never been sick, in pain, nauseated, or had the saliva thing -- not once. I feel extremely 'normal' only I just can't eat a huge plate of food. It's awesome!!

I'm sorry to hear that you feel so awful. I hope things will turn around soon. I'd be willing to bet good money that you will be singing a whole different tune not too long from now. Things GET BETTER!! And so will you, so hang in there and BELIEVE!

Never had a moment of buyer's remorse, have been very happy with my decision. I'm 18 mos out and it has been a breeze for me, I feel very lucky. I would do it again in a heart beat. Good luck!

Oh...fye, you look FANTASTIC!! Love the hair, the dress, the necklace, the SMILE. Seriously. Awesome.

Highest ever ~250 DOS ~240 (no pre-op diet) VSG 24 Feb 2011 Now ~150 Goal ~140 So 90lb in less than a year, and maintaining since then.

Oh and PS -- I confess that I COMPLETELY agree with Cheri -- the food in the US is one of the reasons (truly) I'm not at all trying to relocate back to the states. So I also confess that it's easier to eat healthily where I live. And I confess that it's also easier to be active without being in the gym, as I use public transport, walk all over the place and rarely use my car. So I confess that my 'easy way out' may have been much easier due to circumstances!

I confess that I am 18 mos post-op and never started exercise till I was 9 months post-op I confess that I have been eating normal food up till the day before surgery and starting four days after surgery. I've only ever had one protein shake. I confess I don't really count calories and protein grams, I just try to eat healthily most of the time I confess that I have a coffee or two every morning -- starting from when I was still in hospital I confess that I never lost my appetite, and I'm actually glad about that. I confess that I've never vomited, slimed or gotten anything stuck I confess that there's really NOTHING I can't eat I confess that I drink wine at least once a week, sometimes more I confess that I weigh ever single day but I'm not at all fussed about the number, I just want to keep track of where I'm at I confess that this has been totally the easy way out for me, AND I'M SOOOO FINE WITH THAT. After all the crappy useless diets I've done? I deserved success. And I confess that I look great -- and I know it. I haven't had problems thinking I still look fat. I look quite normal really.