feedyoureye

This thread is posted in the "post operation gastric sleeve surgery questions and answers" forum, so anyone may reply. If you want a no newbie place to post, go to the Veterans forum, where the hosts try and keep the posts to those who are over a year out. We try and have some places that Newbies and Vets can talk together as well... like here. Many newbies don't really know there is a difference between how you will feel two months out or two years out... We can discuss that here. I think its good for newlie sleeved people to read the Vets Forum posts as well, eve if they can't post there yet... its is a little look into the future for sure.

I weighed in at home this morning, and saw 193.4(ouch! 20 pounds above bounce range))... went to the docs, who's scale is usually about one pound more than mine (I am wearing clothing there of course... none at home) and weighed 189.3. Go figure scales. I also got a new doc... and soooo cute! I was worried, my LDL has been going higher and higher.... My HDL is quite high now too, which is good... my Glucose is low, my triglycerides are low which is good. I was worried they might put me on pills for the cholesterol... but he told me my ratio is 3:9, and I can get all the way to 7:5 before they will put me on pills. So happy about that. Everything else looks good. He said he will give me a shot in the knee next month if I want one, and to just keep dancing and walking... not sure if it gets any worse that I will be able too, but will give it a try. I walked two miles today, and was OK. Put ice on it after. He also prescribed some very small dose meds (Citalopram/Celexa) for anxiety.... I asked if they can make me gain weight, and he said I actually might lose weight on it. Fingers crossed on that one! I know I have been eating as self medication for anxiety and grief the last year...

Sarah! How nice to be on vacation in the wild! Have a great time girl. Nice to hear from you,

Heres a couple I liked....

I am feeling for you Florinda... its just torture at times! OK, I'm going to go out on a limb here... have you ever looked into fecal transplants? It just seems like there is something under the surface that "normal" food restriction is not touching here... I feel it for myself as well, but not to the extent it seems to be effecting you.... Also is finding some succes for MS sufferers... http://www.healthline.com/health-news/does-ms-start-with-faulty-gut-bacteria-101914

I think there is a line were what you need to do, and what you can do may clash. Not as easy as saying "just get your head in the game" or "Just eat less" or "Just exercise more". Of course these things count... but it looks to me like there may be some other factors at play here. Brain chemestry? Biome health? When I decided to get the WLS I knew that I would have to do something different than I did before surgery. The lifetyle change. I also knew that I couldnt go so far out of my current lifestyle that I would be falling off the wagon at every turn. I decided I would focus on portion control, not super low carbs.... I am a vegetarian, and very low carb is pretty hard to maintain with limited low carb proteins. I could however eat less carbs. I reworked many recipes to better meet my health needs. I would try and eat everything I wanted too... but keep an eye on the numbers at all times... write it down, weight and measure, get enough protein, drink my water, maintain consistancy with my exercise.... Every day is a work in progress. When stress and tragidy come into the picture... its just that much harder. The drug componant of food becomes a player too. I have seen others around me here going cold turkey with carbs... I can do that too, but know I can't and don't want to live that way, I have tried to make lifestyle changes that will last in the long run. This means for me that I am closer to the edge of gaining... if I graze a little too much, if I dont bother writing down what I eat for a few days, if I eat for the drug effects (sugar!) or just step out of my routein too much (eating out... vacation, house guests, parties) it all shows on the scale. I have dedicated two days a week to lower carb and calorie consumption for the last year, and I think this helps keep me from gaining more than I already have. I find it harder and harder to really get back into the downward loss mode these days. I just finished the 5 day pouch test a few weeks ago.. I lost 6 1/5 pounds which felt great, of course you know that kind of quick weight loss is a water dump from low carbs, so very easy to gain back. It value was to remember how lower carbs and higher protein can work for retriction which is a value if you have lost track of that quality of the sleeve. (or pouch). I really don't want to become a yo-yo dieter again... and am looking for a way, in the long run to keep this weight off. At 4 1/2 years, I am till in the "successfull" range, but still looking backwards to the time I was at goal and working to try and get back there if possible, in a sane and sustainable way.

Your weight may fluxuate throughout your weight loss honeymoon. Keep in mind that there may well be swelling, water weight, and overall body confusion about what just happened. Use your logic.. if your eating 500 cals a day, your not gaining "fat" weight. At three weeks, or there about , there is something called the 3 week stall... many people just stop losing for around 3 weeks, for me it was closer to 5. Just breath, it will pass, stay on track and the rest will take care of itself. This topic is addressing what happens after the honeymoon is over. Statisticly, most weight is re-gained after 3 years out (but can be earlier...) and this post addresses that phase of the "journey".

At first for maybe 6 months everything was just too sweet. Now at 4 1/2 years, that is not a problem at all. At first I hated the texture of salad (my love now), apple peals tasted like wood shavings to me, not a problem now.

It is hard for me to tell the difference between head and stomach hunger.... Sometimes stressfull situations lead me to thoughts about eating certain foods.... so this must be head hunger.. but really it all blurs together for me.....I can go for half a day without much hunger if I set out to and resist temptation... and enjoy my food even more later in the day (I do this twice a week, as part of the 5:2)

Thanks for sharing Globe! It helps to get all sides of the story.

My doc and nut say that 10 pounds a month is normal.... I know I lost a lot less than that during the "losing" phase... glass half full my dear.

Good luck with that, let us know how it goes...

Sounds like a wondrful trip! And Cathy, Turin!? So cool, I have always wanted to see the Shroud..... My doc and nut didn't give me a goal number, they said they didnt want anyone to be disapointed with their loss. I just decided on it when I got there. How I looked and felt mostly... and it was pretty clear my body wasnt going to put up with any less. So my goal was maybe a little higher than some... but it works for me.

Part of this post is a clip from another thread... but thought it was worth posting here.... First there was this 3 year Kaiser study... one of the largest samples done on WLS results so far....http://asmbs.org/wp/...14-SOARD-1.pdf and the numbers dont lie.... Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (n ¼ 1,079) ---------------------------- ------one year---------------3 years------ % Patients >100% EWL 3% (n ¼ 31) 3% (n ¼ 24) % Patients >50% EWL 60% (n ¼ 556) 46% (n ¼ 384) % Patients <50% EWL 40% (n ¼ 373) 54% (n ¼ 455) % Patients <0% EWL‡ 1% (n ¼ 10) 4% (n ¼ 30) This shows that after 3 years out, only 3% of patients are below the 100% excess weight loss mark. 46% are above the 50% EWL mark 54% are below the 50% EWS mark and 4% are at 0% EWL mark..... I think we all are doing very well... I am guessing even you Florinda.... try this calculator to see where you fall... I know we ALL want to be at goal or even below goal... but the stats tell us we are swiming upstream... which is OK, but a reminder to not hate oursleves because we are not in the 3%! Here is a percent EWL calculator.... check it out. I am down 82.5% EWL at 4 1/2 years. According to the research paper... thats damn good. Funny, look at the numbers one way and feel like a failier, look at them another way and feel proud. http://www.percentagecalculator.net/ I used the second calculator... I put the number of pounds I have lost at this time in the first slot, and the number of pounds I lost at goal in the second slot.

Here is a percent EWL calculator.... check it out. I am down 82.5% EWL at 4 1/2 years. According to the research paper... thats damn good. Funny, look at the numbers one way and feel like a failier, look at them another way and feel proud. http://www.percentagecalculator.net/ I used the second calculator... I put the number of pounds I have lost at this time in the first slot, and the number of pounds I lost at goal in the second slot.

At your stage, that is normal. Don't worry.

these vintage styles look super cute.... http://www.unique-vintage.com/unique-vintage-black-ruched-mansfield-halter-one-piece-swimsuit.html

Research tell us that most weight gain happens after 3 years. I think there are both mental and physical reasons for this. Some of the reasons are unknown by medicine....they are looking into it more than ever. Lots of new research thinks that changes in the biom have something to do with why we lose, and if we start back into eating those refined foods we used to eat, the biom slowly changes back to how it was before surgery. (Some research suggests that when you eat lots of refined food, you grow more bacteria in the gut that processe that kind of food, and the bacteria has an imperative to get you to eat even more of that food FOR THEM. Creepy hugh? Our gut floura tells us what to eat. So if you stick with the right foods long enough, the gut will want you to keep eating them. Slip up for long enough and the gut will trigger chemicles that scream EAT CAKE! Not kidding. That is only part of the story, but those primitive voices that call us to eat cake are real and hard to ignore. There is thought that the surgery sets the gut biom in a new direction and gives us a boost towards a healthy reset... that combined with a smaller stomach helps the initial weight loss. I am at 41/2 years, have struggled with my goal... took 3 years to get to goal, and have bounced around a bit there... I am about 14 pounds above goal right now... and holding... always going back to maintaining consciousness about what i eat and how I move when I slip up... lots of good habits I keep up all the time...I consider myself a success (and so do my docs)... of course I would rather be at goal... but its still a work in progress. Why couldn't I just lose it and keep it off before surgery? I wonder why too, but seeing the stats about how many people can lose and keep off the weight withought surgery is reason enough for me to have gotten surgery. This is the very firt time I could get it all off or stay anywhere near goal this long in my entire life. I have achieved many things in my life, lots of travel, interesting jobs, notariety in my field.... really, the only thing that has been the bane of my life and health has been being fat and not finding success taking it off or keeping it off. Like most of us here, I spent at least half of my life trying without success. This surgery has been the tool I needed to have some success there as well.

MyFitnessPal...and it syncs to my fitbit as well. I used to use fitday.com... but MFP has lots more listings and easier... I also use the phone app when I'm on the road.

My Fitness Pal is a key in my daily success as well. When I don't use it... I ALWAYS gain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duodenal_switch

I want to see that on the big screen too!

Glad to hear from you swizzy...