feedyoureye

Thanks!

My approach is moderation and substitution... with the occasional delay of gratification thrown in for good measure, wrapped up in accountability and consciousness. Its very much like meditation at its best. If I deny too much, or go with all the impulses without any consciousness... I head back up the trail to where I came from. FAT. I am trying to build competing impulses, like communing with nature, getting to know my body better, growing more of my own food and learning new enjoyable skills. I don't want my attention to feeding details to become obsessive, but honed and studded with healthy pleasure. I eat whatever I want... but not all the time or in unlimited amounts. That seems to be working to maintain and even lose a tiny bit over a long time. So Far. Things can change. Thats natural.

Let the regain stories inform you, not scare you. Many of the people who have had regain are working on it, and learning from it... they and medical science will help to find answers.

Heres a start... you can search here for more veg threads too...I did the last 2 years vegetarian. Totally possible. The first 3 months I was lactos intolerant, but that went away. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/69925-vegetarians-unite/

When I had my first meeting with my surgeon, he asked me "would you be happy weighing 50 pounds less" I said of course, but hoped to lose 90 (modest, just the top of my normal bmi).... they also said the sleeve has some regain in their experience...but it is possible for some to keep most of the wight off. They never promised I would lose all the weight and keep it off forever. I am still exploring the ways I can stay successful with all of this...giving up (which for me means not logging or weighing) is just not an option. That is when I gain weight quickly.

Here is one small study http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/matrix/bt_supp0511/index.php?startid=3#/12 6 years out 53%EWL maintained at 6 years out and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20622654 over 50% at 6 years + reflux return

Color. I used to be all about the black. I still like black, but now I WILL be caught dead leaving the house wearing pink, red, yellow or any mix of prints and stripes. The crazier the better! Color has to do with how I want to be seen. I still wear black when Im feeling like I don't want to be so visible...or I fear not being taken seriously. I also walk a lot more. I took up bird watching which takes me to the river, I started to "monitor" the outer edges of the school I work at...I walk the perimeter every day at least once....isn't it a sign of addiction if you sneak your object of addiction?...if anyone asks, I'm just looking out for vagrant students!

I make mine in a fry pan. all dry ingredients first, till light golden, add liquid sweetner while hot, stir until liquid steams off and oats are browned.

I will have to try it with sf maple... I made some this morning with 1/4 old fashioned oats, a T of coconut, 1t butter (optional!) browned a bit then ad 1 1/2 t of agave syrup, stir until moisture evaperates, then turn out on cool plate to set up a bit, or dump directly onto yogurt...(I even make a version with walnuts and chili flakes to use on salad) I will try your recipe next time!

You could probably even substitute regular milk for the cream and it would still be good... sounds good!

Read this study, it explains allot about post loss hunger! http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1105816

ShouldBlittler, so sorry to hear about your moms illness, and sending best thoughts to her and the family. My mom is getting up there, becoming frail.. I just hate to see her going... I try to give her my love, and want to see her happy. What more can we do? Get thee to the Dr! You sound depressed on top of all the stress of your obligations. Not sure if now is the time to stop antidepressants or pain management... You have a lot on your plate, you deserve to feel pleasure in your life again... your kids need you as an example as well! Please take care of yourself.

When I reached my lowest weight post VST(which was still in the "overweight" BMI) I had many people ask me "you are not going to lose anymore are you?" And "You don't still think your fat do you?". And really I felt I looked pretty good. I look at picts from before surgery, and I can't even recognize myself! I knew i was fat, but just didnt really want to believe it...and had a heck of a time finding cloths I liked... mostly because I was looking for cloths that made me look 85 pounds lighter and they just didn't do that! I look at photos of myself when much younger, when i thought I was so fat... I weighed 20 pounds less than I did at my lowest after surgery! My body image has often been screwed up. I can look in the mirror one day and think woohoo! And the next....FAT!!!! While I was actually obese I worked on loving myself, trying to eat healthy and 4 years before surgery took up dancing and walking... trying to get more healthy, so my head is not as crazy as it once was... but it is a struggle at times! Looking at photos really helps put things in perspective....and trying on the old cloths just for a reality check.

We are so hard on ourselves!

log and weigh. If I don't, I gain. I also log my exercise as well with fitbit. I can now tailer how much I eat to how much I exercise.

I have had some "dizzy spells" mostly when I lean my head back or lay down in bed. I did get blood work and my potassium was low. My doc said eat a banana every day. I asked if taking potassium was ok (always thinking calories!) and she said no...eat a banana. I do eat them sometimes, but keep a bottle of Water with flavor and a potassium pill dissolved in it in the fridge... just a swig a couple times a week. She said you can get TOO much potassium. I also take a beta blocker, and that contributes to low blood pressure... I don't believe there is any "getting off" of that med... the heart is more likely to go into fibrillation without the drug present. Check with your doc, you may have something different than I.

Congrats! I was lactose intolerant the first 4 months, after that I was right back into it. I missed it soooo much! I really like this peanut flour.... http://www.netrition.com/protein_plus_peanut_flour.html 1/4 cup 110 cals 16gms of protein! I mix it in shakes, make peanut sauce for tofu and veggies, bake with it....

I have always checked in, but have just had my nose in a couple of threads, didn't even look to see if anything new had been added forum wise! I was just a little tired of the newbie questions for the 100th time, I do try to answer now and then, people did it for me and I appreciated it so much...but as far as self interest, I get more support and practical advice talking to other vets. Thanks for being here sleeve vets!

Just to be clear, I eat 1350 plus the calories I burn during exercise... which may be from 100-450 more a day... So I may eat from 1350 If I do very little to 1800 if I exercise a lot (for me- dancing, weight lifting, some extra walking or heavy gardening such as shoveling and moving dirt, pruning and such). myfitnesspal and fitbit tall me how many calories to add...

one is from when I was eating more, the other was from this week, after I made the cut to lose 1 1/2 pounds a week.

One of the studies in the article said after 6 years the factors were still in place. Longer studies need to be done. OUCH. However, I think this knowledge is power for sure... I don't like that I am predestined to be more hungry and need less fuel to maintain, but I sure feel like I have more of the story of why my body acts the way it does! Im not sure I want to eat much less... I have made a cut from my 1530+eating exercise calories to 1320+Exercise- I seem to have lost a pound or two...still watching to see if it stays off... I really felt much less hunger on the higher amount of food, that first level was supposed to put me at losing 1 pound a week.....NOT. The new lower lever is supposed to get me 1 1/2 pound loss a week.... still seeing if the numbers go down or level out or go back up. After 3 1/2 months of upping my exercise and eating at these two levels I have only this week lost the 2-2 1/2 pounds. So there ya go. I just went back to my last 5 fitbit weekley reports (I have only been using it that long) it tells you how many cals in and cals out...It looks just like what these reports say... according to thei calculations, I have been eating between 4000-6000 calories less than I burn every week.Of course taking this report into consideration, that 4000 end is probably just maintaining.

I have shown a loss of 3 pounds this week, after no movement on the scale at all for almost 4 months. Im not sure why it came off now... I have been watching what I eat for a while pretty closely... I hope I am finding the sweet spot for mostly maintaining with a little slow loss towards my goal...1-2 pounds a month would be devine... but we will see. I love the fitbit... I wear it all the time, it logs how many steps and stairs you take a day, and shows the quality of your sleep as well. It sinqs up to myfitnesspal and you can over ride the steps if you were actually doing something with more upper body action, like dancing, lifting weights, gardening or such... it all feeds into your myfitnesspal and tells you how much to eat in light of how much activity you have done. It really spurs me on to take more walks when I find a minute or hour. I started bird watching, and walk all over in local parks and streets looking for birds and such. So fun!I have last years model, but this years also automatically uploads your info via your phone. http://www.fitbit.com/ they even have a scale that uploads your info onto the internet....I dont know that much about that....

One way to get more natural VitD in your diet is expose fresh mushrooms (the kind you get at the store)to the sun, gill side up for 6 hours... before you eat them. http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02935/Four-Unexpected-Food-Facts.html

I have not read the NEJM study yet, but one would hope that the reduction of ghrelin from VSG might help mitigate some of the hormonal back lash it talks about...

Nannie, did you read this article about weight gain? Its 8 pages long...but has some really interesting info.... http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&adxnnlx=1325167965-awQ/TLyuKlv21t2HqMl8kg