CowgirlJane

I revised from band to sleeve. Initial consult I did was with a surgeon who really wasn't even interesting in discussing the sleeve with me - he felt gastric bypass is the gold standard and the one to revised to once the band failed. I later consulted elsewhere with a surgeon more biased toward the sleeve and that is where I wound up. I lost 100% of my excess weight - about 160# lost after revision. I would get more consults, read more and in the end pick the procedure you think will best suit you and your lifestyle after hearing more inputs. It seems that surgeons are about as biased as us patients...haha!

Unexpected change is that I used to like good ole plain Water... ice cold. Now, even 2.5 years post op I can still barely choke down plain water. My tastes changed post op... it is mostly returned to normal but I don't love plain water anymore.

I completely support everyone in wanting to keep this group "status quo". I am open to inviting others in the future but only when everyone is comfortable with it and feels that it adds value. So, I read the presentation materials for the local support groups... the carb lecture won't work for me. I think for most of us the recommendation of 130-150 carbs a day is too high. That might be fine for men, perhaps younger active people.... but as far as a daily average I think it is too high for me. I don't track but I so seldom eat bread, pasta, crackers or even most fruits. I get most of my carbs from berries, low carb veggies and my happy hour drinks on Friday night! So, my weight is stable now... in fact I had kind of a salty day yesterday so I was up to 144 this morning. I am definately keeping 5:2 in mind as I like the low 140s and would like to maintain here. Since I didn't intentionally try to lose to get to this weight i am not sure how easy it is going to be to maintain as my appetite returns. I am definately eating more now and haven't really tackled resuming vigourous exercise yet. Ah Steven... yes I love him but he is the worst boyfriend ever. What I mean by that is he works 7 days a week alot of times (in winter he does ski instruction on weekends; this time of year he does public speaking gigs so he is traveling all weekend for them) on top of his day job which is for his own business - so no vacation there. He really isn't available to be what I want. I know and accept that but it keeps our relationship very limited. Besides that, he has issues that are more than I will accept in a long term partner. I know, we have been seeing each other like a year.... but in this very limited kind of way. It is not something that will work out for the long run, but I am being super picky in finding someone new and frankly not really looking too assertively right now. I had a weirdo thing happen at work a few weeks ago. I went to a retirement party for a colleague an a former boss of mine (now retired himself) showed up. He was so weird around me....it made me sad. He would look at me and kind of shake his head, he congratulated me on how great I look but it was unbelievably awkward. He wouldn't make eye contact. It made me sad since he was so influencial to me and I value his opinion so much. I decided that when I am feeling good again I would take him out to lunch and sort of "clear the air". Try to figure out why I make him so uncomfortable now. Then, it hit me. He is attracted to me! HA! I am about 90% sure that is why he was acting so weird. I thank God, heaven and earth every day for being normal sized, for looking like a normal woman, for being blessed with decent health (in spite of some of my issues). I never expected to make it to this weight/size much less be considered attractive. It is a strange experience to find that it influences how people react to me. The surprise for me is that for all the looks and compliments I get - it does not translate into being asked out on dates or anything like that. It's a puzzler - or maybe not. i sometimes think I am pretty good at creating a protective barrier around me even though I don't have a layer of fat to do that for me anymore...

I have been on this site for awhile and have been in maintenance awhile... and lost about 160# so have some observations to offer. what you hear about honeymoon period (ie easier to lose in the beginning) is true. Also, people who start with more weight to lose will lose faster in terms of raw pounds. If you have 10 pounds to lose, it would stand to reason you are not going to lose 30# in the first month, right? If you had 160 to lose like I did, that might be possible (I did in fact lose about 30 in the first month). Men typically lose faster than women, younger people often lose faster than older etc - some of those things are really outside of your control. what can you control? Taking advantage of your weight loss tool - the sleeve - and really maximize losses during the honeymoon phase AND probably more importantly be willing to make changes and shake things up once you are - 6-12 months out and the losses (or even maintenance) aren't quite so easy. What works? In my experience, low to moderate carb is key. Staying active and be willing to change up your workout routine. If for example you go for daily walks... as time goes on you will get better results if you start increasing the intensity (add hills or go faster) or change to something else like cycling. Your body gets very efficient at doing whatever it is used to doing. I think the other key is learning to STOP eating before you are full. Get in the habit of eating until no longer hungry... your goal is not feel full. Eating this way day in and day out helps alot with longer term feeling restriction/feeling like your sleeve has a smaller capacity. also, follow the basic rules of Protein and veggies first... drinking separate from food etc. It isn't always easy... my sleeve was December 11, 2011 - I drank a Protein Drink while everyone else had Christmas feast. You know what, it is so worth it though! These days food just isn't as important to me... but that didn't happen overnight...

I thought Calcium citrate was pretty much the one that is absorbable... which is why I don't use the normal calcium chews. I also hate the flintstone chewables... there is something in Vitamins that make me feel not good in the tummy. The gummies are the only ones that don't do that which is why I switched. I eat pretty healthy - albeit not much fruit so i know I am missing some trace elements. I do eat a fair amount of veggies though.

I liked this article - true words. I think that one thing people don't seem to fully realize is that for the formerly obese, you have to strive harder than someone who was never obese. We need less food, regain easier etc. It is not that you suddenly have the metabolic system of someone who was never obese. My doc put it like this "you still have the disease of obesity even though the main symptom, excess weight, is currently under very good control" That kinda gives you something to think about....

Welcome! I don't think there is a perfect weight loss surgery.. they each have their pros and cons. My advice is to seek out the best reputation surgeons in your area and go to some info sessions and perhaps even initial consults. What I found is that surgeons are biased just like patients are! Initial surgeon I went to told me to not even consider the gastric sleeve so I didn't even get educated on it. He felt very strongly I should get gastric bypass. I wound up going to a different surgeon and have been very successful with the sleeve. I would have probably been great with the bypass too - like I said, they all have their plusses and minuses. I will share my personal experience with the lapband though - I don't think it is well suited for people who have alot of weight to lose/who are more advanced in their obesity. I had the band for 10 years and it just didn't work very well for me - I don't want this to turn into a band bashing discussion that is not my intent AT ALL. For someone who is significantly overweight, you have a better chance of getting to and maintaining goal weight with the other procedures. I have lost about 160# since being sleeved.

For a long time I had "face dismorphia" I would be so happy with my body changes but just hated seeing my face. I had it in my mind I needed a facelift or perhaps a bag to wear over my head. Really, I had a pretty negative internal dialog about my looks. My dear friend S would continually tell me what a pretty face I have (no, I didn't ask, he volunteered it!) and i thought he was lying... or just being nice. Then, it hit me. Last time I weighed under 150# I was 22. I am 49, I look a little older now..haha. I think somewhere deep in my mind I was shocked by seeing the outline of my real face with out my features buried in fat and was shocked that I had aged so much. My features really changed after losing weight. For example, when obese, my eyes just disappeared. My friend S calls me Betty Boop, partly because I have noticable pretty eyes now... who knew? I thought I looked so old, but my friends tell me I look at least 15 years younger with the weight off. I have moved into the being comfortable with my looks phase. It takes time. I think photos help as they are more objective. I think it also helps to realize that looks are nice but they are NOT everything and frankly we over-emphasize the subject.

I am 2.5 years out from my surgery. I really don't miss overeating, I don't miss having food as a comfort or "friend". The reason I eat the way I do is it is what I need to do to stay trim - I COULD eat more at a setting then I usually do. It is like when I was still overweight (even post WLS) people seemed okay with a fat girl eating light. when you aren't fat anymore, I get alot more comments on it. It is like people think I am faking it, pretending to be a light eater or something. Once a person knows me well I have no problem explaining to them that i have to eat this way or I will regain weight. Many of my friends and aquaintances know I had WLS so I am pretty open about things. When it is people I don't know, I don't feel I should have to justify what I eat, how much I eat or any of that. I find it a bit intrusive that I get remarks about it now (and I didn't when I was fat). I don't think I realized how rude people can be about very personal things - and it puzzles me why they even notice or care. This is more the nature of a rant, but bottom line I don't really get why people have no problem digging into a pile of deep fried food and nobody asks "why are you eating like that?" but if I pick away at a plate of raw veggies and hummus I get the interrogation and more annoying, the insinuation that I am eating that way for "looks" - or so people will think I am a light eater. Of course, i realize that most people, even normal weight women, eat a heck of a lot more than us formerly obese can. We are predispositioned to become obese again even eating a "normal" or typical diet and portions.

I saw the surgeon and I don't really have symptoms of gallbladder disease, ulcer or any other more serious suspects. So, the real compelling evidence is that i eat quite well if I am with people and having a good time so it seems like it is mood related and probably a little related to the fact that at home by myself I don't tend to keep a lot of super appealing foods. It is hard to get too excited by Tunafish, lettuce, sandwich meat, etc. My weight has stabilized and in spite of my sister and best friend thinking I am gonna blow away in the wind, the surgeon thought my weight is just right. We have a plan to monitor, try some things etc and if things aren't better in 2-3 weeks I will be scoped... just in case. My son comes home from college in mid June and I suspect my appetite will be better once I have someone to cook with/eat with. I think I need to get more fluids in too, so just working on going back to basics. I had spent alot of energy learning to eat more intuitively so I don't track etc and at least temporarily I might need to do that until this resolves. anyway, good news is that I don't have symptoms of anything really serious but will continue to get things checked out if i don't have improvement.

I am most interested in the calcium topic too. Mostly because it doesn't seem to show up on tests AND because i think it is the hardest supplement to "stomach" All my blood work since surgery is "perfect" but calcium is my nemisis. I hate the pills, I feel the chewables are crazy expensive and I guess I have a little worry about it. I was always vit D low prior to losing weight - now it is normal even though I take less Vit D then I used to! My Iron is always really good so I personally don't need to take that supplement. I also switched from high quality multi Vitamins to chewable gummies once I got to maintenance since I eat pretty healthy and most vitamins make me feel kinda ill. The gummies are almost like candy... About 2 months ago, when my appetite problems started, I stopped taking all vitamins except for the B complex sublingual drop that I do a few times a week. Everything else just seemed like more than I could deal with. Now, I am taking vitamins again but barely choking down 500 a day dosage of calcium citrate. I know i should have about twice (taken separately) that but they kill my appetite for hours. I appreciate you starting this thread... I am ready to be educated!

I think most people work during the time frame of the preop diet. There is no reason not to. Did I misunderstand the question?

I gained about 10 pounds due to all the fluids in surgery... so I think by the end of the first week i had lost most of that..haha. I had big losses the first month even with the week 1 gain.

It takes time for the brain to see the weight loss. I keep before and after photos at my work station. I took an advisor clothes shopping at one point because I kept coming home with too big of clothes. I went from 3x/26W or. Bigger range now about a size 4-6 so it was a big adjustment.

Suzy, that's a good one! I don't think I would have agreed to go ....

Just post in vets forum. .I think good reminder as I am sure people lose their vitamin diligence over time...

I have lost 160 since my revision and am at a healthy weight.

It.just.gets.old. Don't worry, I'll live.

I had the band for 10 years, sleeve for 2.5 My success with band was modest and shortlived....sleeve so far has exceeded my expectations and beat the "statistics"

Is this why butter and Laura departed? Miss em both GG is crazy analytical and needs the occasional reminder that not everything works on a spreadsheet....but I like her alot too.

Georgia....we have the same wacky penpal. I think some people must be even loneliester than I am! Yes... I wonder how much of my issues are in my head. I was telling the doc that last summer I felt so strong....now I feel less robust somehow. He told me he was depressed all weekend cuz his sons didnt want to do stuff with dad. He really took me seriously but just told me i look amazing, I dont have redflag symptoms and contrary to what some think.... I am in no danger of blowing away in the wind. Florinda...wonderful to hear from you. Safe and sound and a new guy...woohoo! My advice....people will eat junk everywhere you go....need to find our own compass. I say this after a lifetime of struggling with the "see food" diet.

I am so happy for you! Little thought for the day....you're worthwhile and love worthy no matter what that tag says....

I have lost so much I am not recognizable....So I have been "outed" in a professional setting by accident. Be prepared... However I agree it is an intimate detail and I have no wish to divulge until I decide the guy is a serious prospect. Even then, I won't talk about WLS but rather massive weight loss and plastics. There are people who will rule you out for this. My example was a guy who pursued me pretty hard till he happened to notice my arm scars. I decided to go ahead and dive into my story. He claimed to admire that I had changed my life....but within a week he claimed he never felt any "chemistry" with me. Strange coming from someone who had been in daily contact and was talking pretty big about stuff about trips together etc. until then.... I didn't lose weight or have plastics to find a guy so I don't let itbug me. I love how I look, I am fun to be with and frankly if I wanted to just "date" casually and never have to face this, I could. What i want is a real relationship and that won't happen unless we are comfortable with each others history so at the right stage I will risk "rejection" over this until the right one comes along. And in the meantime, loving life single and with a few close supportive friends.

You look great - CONGRATS!

I understand. I get alot of friend requests and I accept them, but I never do anything else with it so I was just wondering what I am missing out. I message with people whether they are "friends" or not so wasn't sure how people using the "friend" function. Oh, and I go in about once a month and just accept friend requests so I also tell people to not take it personally if you don't hear back immediately!