putasleeveonit

The main point I want to get across to people considering VSG is this: Regardless of your starting weight, if you are a yo-yo dieter, grazer, food addict and/or compulsive overeater with self-sabotaging tendencies, the surgery alone will not be enough. You will also need to get some form of counseling or treatment to control your compulsive overeating/grazing if you're serious about reaching your goal weight. (Read the symptoms of food addiction, compulsiver overeating here) Now that that's out the way. Here are my stats: Beginning weight: Approx. 193.5 Current weight: Approx. 132 Shocker right? I started this journey in the so called "lightweights" category--basically people with a BMI below 35. I only wanted to lose 68 pounds, and so far have lost 61. So what, if anything, went wrong? Well, first let me say that I do not regret the surgery. Here's the deal: I'm a chronic yo-yo dieter and compulsive overeater. Before the sleeve, I had tried multiple diets in 2011, losing 25 lbs pretty quickly each time. The problem was, each time, I quickly regained the weight that I had lost in a period of days. Those setbacks became pretty discouraging after a while. I did a little research and decided that VSG would solve my problems. Once I had the surgery, I fell into my normal pattern of periods of intense effort followed by periods of little or no effort towards reaching my goal. That got me to 152 lbs (approx. 41 lbs down) around 3.5 months out. From there, during periods of increased effort, I'd get down into the mid 140s. When I fell off the wagon, I would find my way back to around 152, which appeared to be my ceiling, regardless of how many bad days I had. Again, regardless of how many bad days I had. THAT's the reason why I do not regret this surgery. Were it not for the surgery, my 40 lb loss would have eventually turned into a 60 lb gain. With VSG, the worst case scenario appeared to be gaining back 5 lbs or so to end up back at 152 (I'm sure that over time, my ceiling will creep back up, but that's another issue). Fast forward a few weeks... I stumbled on to the fact that I might have a mild form of adult attention deficit disorder. I was discouraged by all the projects that I was falling behind in, and I was very unhappy with my tendency to procrastinate and not put forth my best efforts. I met with the psychiatrist who prescribed adderall. I was aware of all the stories about adderall and weight loss, but after failing at weight loss surgery, I had pretty much moved on from thinking that I could lose weight from drugs or any other interventions. My main concern was getting my behavior under control so that I could be more effective at work and at home. I started taking the medication around June. Within a few months, my schedule had become super busy and I had addressed the issues I had been avoiding for years head on, including home refi, ending a bad relationship, and revamping a few side businesses. But there was another side effect--while the medication was in effect, I was not a food addict. I ate when hungry. At night, when the medication wore off, I would resume grazing and eating just because. Of course, with the sleeve you can only eat so much. With my food addiction somewhat under control during the day, I have gone on to lose an additional 20 lbs over a period of 4 months. This was with no effort, since I've been so devoted to the projects I'm working on that I haven't made time to workout or follow any particular meal plans. I recently resumed my gym membership and fully intend to start working out again and eating as healthy as possible but I'm trying to get everything else in order first. I'm not advocating medicine to people suffering from food addiction--I'm advocating any treatment, including group meetings or counseling, that will help keep it under control. It turns out my weight issues are directly related to how much I obsess over food when I'm not hungry---no diet, fat burner, workout plan, or even surgery can solve that problem. However, it's probably not a great idea to just rely on medicine to control food addiction, because when the medication stops, the problem returns. In the end, counseling and coping tools are key to managing the disorder.

For a couple weeks after deciding that I wanted to get the sleeve, I couldn't control my eating. I ate so much! It was ridiculous! I think a lot of it was "last supper syndrome," and also doubt. In the back of my mind, I was hoping for an effortless quick fix. When I read more and learned that I would still have to put in hard work, I think that bothered me also. I'm finally at peace with the fact that the surgery won't solve all of my problems without effort. I'm now ready and willing to do everything I have to, especially in the first 6 months, to ensure success. I'm also going to meet with a counselor to help me work through the problems that cause me to overeat. I'm not sure which route will be best-- a hypnotherapist or a traditional psychologist? Now that I'm 2 weeks pre-op, I suddenly am a lot more focused, calm, and able to control my eating. Don't get me wrong. I didn't do it on my own. Yesterday, which was my first day of change, I literally had to pray every few hours just to keep my mind in check. When the "food addiction" thing takes over, no amount of pills or anything can stop me. Prayer is the only thing that works when I'm that out of control. And even then, it's a huge struggle. I can't say with 100% certainty that I'll make it through today without indulging in junk. In the past I've been so sure and then failed. But I will do the best that I can. Last night I thought about my goals as far as weight loss, and I feel so much better now that my path has been set. Yesterday, I weighed in at 188 pounds. My first mini goal is to get to 145 pounds. That would but me at a BMI of 27.3-- still overweight, but I look good at that weight. Everything I lose after that will be like a bonus. My ultimate goal, however, is 125 pounds.

Before a few days ago, I had gone over 6 months without having a single cup of plain water! So I've been forcing myself to drink at least 40 oz of plain water a day and I hope to get up to 60oz a day. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or not, but I immediately dropped a few pounds since starting. It could be due to cutting back on Crystal Light, or it could be due to my dramatic reduction of salt-based seasonings (Dash has some great tasting Salt-Free seasonings!). Probably a little of both!

Great! Where is the plan posted?

So tomorrow will be my 6-month surgiversary. I'm not at my goal weight--I'm about 22 lbs away. When I got the surgery, I told myself I would be at goal at or before 6 months. As far as WHY I'm not at goal? Well, I've pretty much been refusing to follow conventional wisdom--the low carb (under 30g a day) plan. I tried it but the fat content would always send me spiraling out of control with my eating. And the low fat/high protein version of low carb was too difficult (mentally). So I spent a good month or two just splurging on whatever my sleeve could fit--and it turns out, that's just about everything. Finally, around March 15, I started a plan known as the Alternate Day Diet. Basically, the way the plan works is you eat whatever you want every other day. On "up" days, I can eat anything. There are no calorie limits or anything. On the "down" days, I stick with about 500 calories or less--it's easy to do with the sleeve. I keep it simple by just eating lean chicken or fish. Technically, I eat as much as I want on the down days as well; but with the sleeve, it ends up being 500 calories or less because I can only eat about 2.5 oz of protein at a time. The weight loss on this plan is a lot slower, but now that I'm approaching the one-month mark, I find that I'm not as "crazy" when it comes to food anymore. I feel normal, and I really like the plan, despite the slow weight loss. Slow weight loss is better than no weight loss. The bottom line is, I just can't deal with being restricted from foods anymore. I know that if I did a crash diet for the next two weeks, I'd have dramatic results. I could do a liquid diet for a month and maybe get close to goal. But I can't make myself do it. At least, not right now. Maybe in a week or two I'll feel differently. But I have made myself jog every day for quite some time now--20 minutes of jogging in place (with the help of Wii Fit).