CowgirlJane

I am 3 years post op and I travel and surely eat "crazy bad foods" sometimes. Here are my thoughts - take it or leave it - I think that when you do a vacation trip it is MOST important to keep portions small and to not graze. So have that butter laden whatever, but just a tiny bit. don't let yourself munch and snack all day - eat enough to be satiated, eat those 4-5 mini meals (or whatever your program calls for). reason I say this is that you really haven't gone off your routine or caused long term problems, you are just eating higher calorie/higher carb food for a few days and it is much easier to go back to your routine once you get home. If you let yourself "stuff yourself" you will be hungrier and it might be harder to get back on track immediately. I also try to stay really active on vacation and stay away from "food oriented" vacations. March last year I spent 8-9 days in Mexico, I actually lost weight even though I had been at goal for a year already. when I drink, I stay away from sugary mixers. So, this applies probably more to people who have alot to lose. I was determined to get to goal, but had to lose over 150# to do it. what I knew is that the honeymoon periond only lasts "so long" so I didn't drink, didn't go eating junky food and really didn't allow myself food vacations until after getting to goal. I realize this isn't for everyone, but in my case, it was something that was very important to me. That first year post op wasn't filled with fun and frolic for me, it was filled with disciplined eating and exercise. I only share this - not as any kind of judgement - but so that newbies reading this don't think that I lost that kind of weight in that time frame any other way - reality check.

I carried weight well too, and so when i was younger and "only"75 or so overweight it didnt look as bad as it was. My son is your height and weighs around 220 - he could stand to lose a few but is not obese. Another male friend of mine is 6'2" and weighs 180 - he is "skinny fit". I am guessing you are a good healthy weight in the general ballpark of 200# and no,I didn't look at a BMI chart its just a guess. You have not shared what you have tried to lose weight before, but if you were my brother I would encourage you to get into one of those "lifestyle" programs that train you how to slowly change your whole life toward better health. i say this for 2 reasons - first you are the profile of someone likely to find success with that - younger, male, not as obese as some and history of fitness and second, it will remove all doubts for you, one way or another. also, everything you learn will help you be successful post weight loss surgery, so seems to me alot of upsides. Truth is that the more advanced your disease of obesity becomes the less likely anything except surgery will work. Don't wait, do SOMETHING, the fact that you are pre-diabetic and have precursor heart conditions (borderline high blood pressure for example) even though you are fairly young and not that obese tells me you are in for some trouble if you let this go for another decade or two. Good luck,I know it is a very tough decision. Everyone has doubts and fears but i do think the most successful over the long run accept it is really their only choice. If you always feel like it isn't quite right for you, and never really accept "life as a weight loss surgery patient" it might not be ideal since you will have rough Patches, you will have to work hard to keep from regain etc. BTW, I went from very very obese to a normal size and have been maintaining for 2 years (3 years post sleeve). I am about half my former weight. I could never do that without surgery - and I TRIED to enter a lifestyle program before I decided to get the sleeve and they wouldn't take my money - ha! They advised me that I was very unlikely to enjoy long term weight loss and maintenance without surgery and I have always appreciated their honesty but I still think they are a great alternative.

How much have you lost in that time? I think that when we feel poorly it is easy to be thinking that way, but in truth, it is great to lose alot that first year as it is so much harder later. Are you staying hydrated? I notice now post sleeve that I can get a little " blue" feeling and realize I am under hydrated or too low carbs or something.. and that i need fuel. I like the blood work suggestions because low vit b, low Iron etc can make you feel awful. If it really is emotional, lack of stress relief - although i think counseling does help, I find DOING is more helpful. Join a club, do volunteer work, take up hiking, join a gym, find friends to walk dogs with, I don't know... just becoming more outward facing and less food focused I think helps. Good luck!

Life is too short to watch videos of grocery shopping. Every once in a while I do post photos of food to my small sleever group and health conscious group but that is simply to share a recipe with pix. youtube is an amazing resource, but...

I really wish I could quit you... a certain person in my life - ha!

in truth there is more data on RNY - there is a reason they call it the "gold standard" However, the reality is that people have regain with ANY WLS. Maintenance is absolutely the hardest part. I was overweight, obese or morbidly obese my whole life (exception maybe 2-3 years total - i was obese as a child too). I had also failed with the lapband and so I guess might be considered a "hard case" as my BMI was over 50 at time of sleeve. I lost about half my weight and have been maintaining for 2 years post sleeve. I can't say how it would compare to rny but I lost 100% of my excess weight and with effort, am maintaining. With the band, and before that, i could never get to a normal BMI nor could I maintain any signficant weight loss. I am not sure what i would advise you, but i am not convinced that maintance with the RNY is that much easier, there is alot more data however.

I think it's quite normal to take a ppi post op. For most of it is just a fee months. I hope you knew that reflux is a sleeve risk.

I don't really crave sweets but I admit to limiting socializing with food oriented people.

Poor dear, that must have been terrifying - I am a dog lover but it would be scary. I would be feeling some trauma from that experience. Did the broken bone come from a a fall due to the bite? Deep breath on the sleeve. No exercise is temporary, plenty of people didn't exercise at 12 weeks and still lost weight. Why is sleeve bothering you?are you eating properly or is it just stress making it touchy? Go back to your easy mild foods...let it rest. Meditate or deep breathing can help. Remember this too shall pass. Sending you speedy healing wishes.

So, I have a little boost - Went out with Steven tonight and I told him I was back to the weight I was when we first met...regained from my skinny chick size. And he said "your are perfect right now, don't change" I share my dose of self esteem with you lovely ladies. Yes, I still want to lose a solid 10-15 BUT isn't it good to know you are perfect just as you are???ahhh All about that bass no treble.... (popular song about how "having all the right junk in all the right places" is awesome)

I took 6 weeks off and needed it. I think we do underestimate the healing needed post lower body lift or tummy tuck. Hope everyone is healing up...if in doubt take it easier.

The risk of leak and other serious complications is about double for revisions but it is still a single digit risk. I think it depends on how much you need the surgery to save you from obesity. I revised 3 years ago and am half my former size as a result. There is a band to sleeve revision forum with lots of stories...

I was told that the sutured stomach heals in 6weeks. My thought is that it is very UNLIKELY that your fall caused a problem with sleeve especially since you are two months post op. Were you having trouble before the fall? Is the vomiting associated with anything? I recall 2 months out I was still trying to figure out the transition to solid food... and how darn little of it I should eat art, chewing carefully,eating slow. Only times I have vomited I was eating too fast. I hope you are feeling better. Stay hydrated and take care of yourself.

See, you are already a liar so what's a little tinkering with the scale?? haha. I weight almost daily - probably 3-4X a week I guess. I use it as a monitor to see if I am maintaining - I think it is a really good question if the actual number itself is all.that.important. I am 5'5" - most of the time but it varies and I have even been told i was closer to 5'4". I was at a doctors pre surgery and they measured me barefoot and got 5'6" - I wondered if I was so fat that it had made me taller? Maybe it is that wild hair of mine poofing up the measuring stick? Actually, what it really made me wonder is if they can't get my height right should I really trust these people with prescribing meds or picking up a knife??

Queen - some people do lose weight post plastics but alot of times you don't. At first it is the Water retention, and then at least for me my appetite went way up due to the metabolic boost. I was lucky to maintain my weight...haha. Some people get that metabolic boost and then for some strange reason don't get a boost in appetite. Also, I had to very limited activity for 6 long weeks... another reason I am sure that I didn't lose weight post plastics. What difference does 5-6 pounds make? ife - I was a revision from band to sleeve. I had a band for 10 long years and never really did well with it but have maintained a very large weight loss post sleeve. There is revision forum that has alot of info and peoples stories. This forum is the sleeve vets forum. some people use 5:2, which is just an intermittant fasting technique, to get to goal, or to lose a regain. None of us encourage this for sleevers in their first year post op...

Awesome! It is amazing how going back to what worked...works!

Denise I implore you to not fast until your liver numbers are good. I KNOW you will recover and regain your lifestyle. When a person is depressed it is so easy to lose that belief. I tend to run manic as opposed to classic depression but it's the same deal. Losing perspective and becoming inner focused. I spent better part of a day imagining the worst on my knee before I "got a grip" I am getting better about asking for help from friends though and it makes a difference. Do you have pals who can entertain and distract you?

I am sick with a virus. I am having trouble even drinking enough.. so I think it is a GI virus not the flu.

Oh, and I rely heavily on nature, my animals and intense physical exercise and people - I am very social. Endorphins, peace and unconditional love come from those three places for me. The people help fill a need I have to feel connected. Horse back riding triggers endorphins, puts me with friends for hours with no internet and we talk talk talk. It also puts me in nature. There is a favorite trail where I am always wowed by a rock formation - it's spiritual. My dogs love me no matter. The happiest girl in the world wants nothing more than to snuggle me. It is a wonderful feeling. I am wild about hard exercise. I stopped doing it for awhile and noticed my inner life started shifting a bit. I LOVE intense group exercise especially..it is endorphin triggering and social!

I write alot of stuff on this very forum...that is my main way of working things out. I have done counseling which is helpful but actually talking to my friends is more helpful. What I am growing to understand is that I have cycled through alot of emotional phases very quick. 2013-I was a little crazy at times....I did a few things that make me shake my head... Now alot of my stuff seems mid life single women crisis type thing..Haha. like I want a life partner but I have grown to love my freedom.. I was not raised to "date" casually and so I have a hard time figuring out that aspect of my life. To be blunt, having an intimate physical relationship is very important and I want to be truly in love with him. Trouble is making that all work... I think I still struggle with feelings over losing decades to obesity. I want a do over!!! how different my life would have been if I could have spent my first 50 years a normal size. Regrets are useless but it sometimes creates a feeling like I need to do everything NOW. Now I also feel like I want to consider some sort of face work. Likely a filler, not a lift. I find myself hesitating and I think it is because I am not sure the"why" except I sometimes feel old and ugly. I suspect that is more dismorphia than anything so I want to be clear on my purpose. See I feel better already just typing it up.

Reading the replies made me realize something. I got alot of support from people in my life overall. There were two factors that might have influenced that. 1 I was always as active as I could be even at 300#. I was an obese kid and I remember a girl in PE saying at least I wasn't lazy-fat because I gave everything my"all". I could not do gymnastics but everything else....I did track and field, played soccer etc. I about died trying to sprint, run a mile etc. but I never quit. Even the mean girls noticed that and I think I have heard similar "compliments" throughout my life. Nobody has ever called me lazy because I am not (I actually have had to learn to pull back as I can be a bit much in truth) 2 my friends are all trim and active people...it just worked out that way. They saw that I tried EVERYTHING except drugs for weight loss. I saw it as repeated failures but others have told me that it looked like determination to them. I wonder if my quirks set me up for people thinking I really needed the surgery as opposed to "easy way out" My family tends to be fat. My kids are not, but all my nieces and about half my nephews are absolutely huge -way bigger than I was at their ages even. In the family there is a belief that we just need to diet or go gluton free or some damn thing. Heck, I started my first diet in 2nd grade! My family culture is you are always either on or off a diet....which is insane. They also think I am too thin now because I am by far the slimmest of my sibs... I think they are happy for my success but are also missing me in my former role as "at least I am not as fat as Jane" now one of my sisters goes around telling everyone that she is the fattest....in a very self disparaging way.

Thanks for the heads up. I hate that show. I have to agree with the coaching -packaging a message well can make all the difference in whether people are even open to hearing it....

Ha MichiganChic... you made me laugh! It is another revelation to completely grasp that the number on the scale just doesn't mean that much. I have a close friend that is 2" taller and 40 pounds lighter than me. OMG - how is it possible that I am not an enormous cow then? Well, she is underweight first off all and second, we are just built different - I have a solid atheletic build. I compared myself closely to ladies in the zumba and kickboxing class recently (uber small gym with huge mirrors!) and while I am not the smallest, I am surely one of the thinnest even though I have regained back to 158. I don't get it, but even I asked myself if I really looked better at 140 or if everyone around me was telling me the truth that I looked too thin. So, stop driving yourself insane. Just change your goal weight. Or recalibrate your scale if that makes you happier! They removed 5.5# of skin during my plastics and it didn't show up on the scale either. I lost down to 140 about 6 months post plastics in a totally unrelated event.

Not everyone is open to this - but how about a counseling session to talk this through with an objective person? I had massive anxiety pre op, but the difference was i felt like it was a life or death matter. almost like - I didn't really have a choice. I was so OVER food as a friend since it had co-conspired to freaking kill me young... I wasnt into the food funeral thing, I just wanted to escape from that 24/7 drive to EAT that I had pre sleeve. I am 3 years post op. In truth, I think I enjoy food more now. I eat very consciously, i eat food that my body needs for good health. I do have junky food sometimes, but rarely. As a result, I don't find it as appealing and it often makes me feel icky - that crappy food has revealed it's true nature! It was poisoning me and i didn't really get it until the poison was removed/reduced. Ask yourself - are you happier for having that dessert (or whatever). i bet the answer is NO.

Losing massive weight tends to make your face lose some fullness. That upper cheek fullness make you look younger (wrinkles aside). i have not noticed that WLS patients have more dark circles, but I bet they are more noticable due to that face shape change. Sadly, the only solution is injections like fat transfer or juvaderm. I am Irish with very very fair skin and have always had a bit of dark circles. I don't have alot of wrinkles, but my under eye dark and even puffiness is way more noticable due to change inn my cheek structure. I am trying to get the moxie to go get that face injection. In the meantime, I will try that benefits erase - thanks for the tip!