CowgirlJane

You are so right. I think my hunger is more then it was (started returning at about 7 months post op) but I feel like my relationship with food continues to improve. It is like I can finally accept, without a feeling of loss or even disbelief, that I don't need that much food, I don't need alot of bread and other carbs... I am content and happier even by eating carefully. It no longer drives my day - food is just sustenance it doesn't need to be anything else really. I sure hope that feeling stays because maintenance scares the heck out of me and this gives me hope.... I am not ready for maintenance, but sometime in 2013 I will be and it worries me!

Well, I am 11 months out so my quantities are likely going to be bigger then the newly sleeved. My sleeve as 38 bougie, so definately not one of the smaller ones. A small meal is something like: -5 oz of Greek yogurt or -4 oz of trim cottage cheese with a few pineapple chunks or -1 slice of cheese and 2 thin slices of ham (mine are 25 calories per slice for reference) or -an ounce of beef or turkey Jerky or -Quest Protein bar For breakfast I frequently make an eggbeaters omelette, split it into two meals (breakfast and mid morning snack). So, the total is as follows, but I split between two meals: About 1/2 cup of sauteed green peppers and onions (I use frozen from trader joes), sautee in 1-2 slices of my thin ham chopped, then cover with 1/2 cup egg beaters and either make an omelette or scramble. I top with a little bit of cheese and salsa. Overall, I use a teaplate to eat from for all meals. If I have chicken and a side dish I make sure that they aren't piled high and they don't touch each other. I am not measuring, but that ensures reasonable portions due to the small plate and my "rules" It is my opinion that an active job like yours requires frequent fueling to keep your energy up. Also, take a PPI if your stomach acid is bothering you, but I definately noticed it was irritating to eat larger portions - like i said no pain, but not comfortable either.

Every surgeon is different - but what they are doing is trying to keep you from "grazing" which is the downside of eating frequently. It is a delicate balance as you can overeat by grazing. At some point, I settled on 4 meals a day, 5 if I was pretty active, but then as time went on my needs changed again and I settled on 5 as my default. I say follow your surgeons instructions, but if you start having issues with stomach discomfort or feeling like you need to eat more then the tiny portions, consider changing the frequency.

Some of us are cursed with that "apple shape" which is an indicator of heart disease risk too! Keep losing weight, it will reduce off the tummy eventually but I also have a bigger midsecion then i want and perhaps always will. I do a lot of working out, so I can feel muscles on my abs and obliques, but they are kinda hidden by the loose skin and "loose fat" too. Shapewear helps!

I am new to it. I searched the intenet and came up with the following. I read to not do it too often as it wears you out - so twice a week is what I have been doing so far. Eliptical: 5 min warmup 5 minutes of intervals -15 seconds ALL OUT/45 seconds normal aerobic speed/intensity - repeat for a total of 5 times. By the 4th or 5th repeat I am feeling it because I really do go "all out" for those 15 seconds! 5-10 minutes of normal aerobic intensity, no interval 5 minutes of 30 seconds high intensity/30 seconds of normal aerobic intensity - repeat total of 5 times. I can't sustain this at 100% effort, but the high intensity burst at probably 80-90% of my maximum still brings that heart rate way up 5 minutes of cooldown I then do about 30 minutes of strength training.

So, here is what is funny.... I told many people, including my family. About 2 months ago, my brother asked me how I finally got a significant amount of weight off - was it Weight Watchers? I reminded him I had surgery and he was like "oh yeah, I forgot" and we proceeded to talk about low carb/high Protein etc etc Many of the people on my circle that don't know about the surgery seem to have forgotten already how huge I was. They are vaguely aware I have lost weight, but don't see me as the 300 pound woman - or that I ever was. I even shocked my son showing him my "before" photo and he was here living in my house through all this! Anyway, my point is that even if you have told people, it doesn't remain as the way people see you - how quickly it all becomes the past. Just goes to show that human nature is to be more concerned with themselves then with details of my life...lol

HaHa! The quote of the day! Did you ever make it to your destination via the ditch and through the fence method?

I feel so blessed to have family, friends and even work colleagues who have watched my lifelong struggle and really get it that this is "the only way out" not the easy way out. Eating small with the sleeve is easy compared to living like with 100+++ pounds of excess weight. Now, that was HARD. I am sorry, but people who are only a little overweight really have no idea. The metabolic issues that just take over your body as a result of all that fat make it just impossible to stay on a "diet" without a tool like this surgery once you get so big. So, here is a suggestion - in all seriousness. I feel this is a life and death matter.. if a "friend" starts giving you crap... how about telling her that? something like "this is a matter of saving my life and improving my quality of life. If you can't be supportive, I would appreciate it if you just keep your negative comments to yourself as this is so incredibly important to me." It seems to me that any friend that can't respect that kind of clear statement is a questionable friend. Families, well, we are stuck with them, but I more or less told mine that basic statement. There was silence from a few, so I knew then didn't approve, but so what - this isn't their fight, it is mine. My brother R who was one of the silent ones, told me recently that he was wrong and now sees that this was so necessary. He has become one of my biggest cheerleaders - who knew?!?

Hi rx! There is a forum at this site that is all about band to sleeve revisions. Many good informative posts there about this part of the challenge. In summary, sleeve is much much much better then the band. I have had great results. The risks of the sleeve are higher at the beginning (ie leaks, excessive bleeding) and those risks are higher for a revision. However, after the initial healing period, the complications are so much less with the sleeve. No vomiting, no slipping, etc etc - and the best part, the weight loss is much better with the sleeve!

If you do a search, you will find hundreds of discussions on this topic. Many people report a supplement they are taking to "fix it" but I think that it is pretty much unavoidable for some of us. Get adequate Protein, Iron and zinc.... but in my case none of that helped. You either lose hair, starting about 3-4 months out, or you don't. I had very thick hair to start with, and I estimate I lost nearly half of it. It was alot of hair!!! Good news is that is growing back very thick now! If you are still losing hair a year out, that is likely nutritional deficiency related.

Think you are experiencing a fairly normal stall... http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html I ate pretty low cal at the beginning too, but like others, I am going to suggest that you mix it up a little. How about eating 500-600 calories range - mostly protein? I would not target going to 1200 a day yet, that can come soon, in my opinion. I would also suggest doing some sort of activity, like the walking more like 5-6 days a week. As you get fitter, you can start increasing the intensity/difficulty (ie walk faster, add hills, join the gym or whatever).

BB, welcome! It has all been said before, but I can only add that as someone who had the band for 10 years, the sleeve is much LESS restrictive about food tolerances. There is a slow re-introduction period of solid food, but by several months out, I could eat anything. There were foods I could never keep down with the band, even with all the Fluid gone. With the sleeve, some people do develop lactose intolerances. I am much more prone to issues like diarrea, but it is not a big problem. The sleeve has more impact on your overall digestion, BUT, you don't need to spend your life living like a bulimic. I really don't vomit at all with the sleeve which is wonderful. Except for the tiny portions, people would not know I had WLS. In fact, several people I have eaten with don't know it, they just know I have been losing weight. I eat enough at a sitting that nobody thinks I am starving myself either - just normal, petite portions.

One of the many reasons I went for the sleeve was I revised from the band and it is less risky to go sleeve versus RNY. The first surgeonI saw felt my BMI was too high for the sleeve expecially considering I had already "failed" at a restrictive only surgery. Well, my BMI was 52 at time of surgery and I didn't fail with the band, it failed me. I found a surgeon who believed I could do well with the sleeve and I have been very successful with the sleeve. One of my fears with the rny was that living with a "pouch" would be similiar to being banded which was awful. i don't vomit after eating with the sleeve and can predict how much food I need to eat without over earing. Maybe the rNY is the same way, but I had such a bad experience with a pouch... Anyway, you know as well as anyone that starting up so high it is going to be really hard to get to a normal weight BMI. So what, being a few pounds overweight is AWESOME compared to being 150-200-300 pounds overweight - at least in my book anyway!

Don't worry about what other people are doing. Follow the rules, learn to live with the sleeve - these are the "lifestyle changes" everyone talks about. We are all so individual and unique, and frankly, in the end it doesn't matter if Suzy or Sally lost weight faster - it is all about getting to your own healthy life and personal goals. I have lost over 120# - at times it seems like it was so slow.... but really, it has been incredible and has exceeded my hopes of where I would be 11 months post op. One day at a time, one pound at a time, one step at a time, you will get there!

Actually, I have become pickier. I have gotten rid of almost all of my too big clothes, but have decided to replace it with fewer clothes that I genuinely like - not just clothes I could stuff myself into. If I buy something and I don't like it afterall, i give it away immediately. It is lovely to have a closet that isn't stuffed (I used to keep enough clothes for my varying sizes) and that has only things I really like to wear. I go to Ross Dress for Less about once every month or two because the smaller I get the fast clothes get baggy on me. I joined a friend shopping a month or so ago as she had a bunch of coupons that made her favorite store even cheaper then Ross! I never pay more then about 10-12 for a top. My big splurge was a London Fog short trench in red which just looks great (think "what not to wear" styling!) with my coloring and has been so worth it even though it is about a size too large already. I don't really have a personal style so much, but I like fitted clothes. Wearing things that are a bit tailored looking and that can be tucked in etc make me look and feel trimmer. I am also using shapewear - not the brutally tight ones, but pretty comfortable. They make a big difference in getting that "put together" look. Right now though I need to make a major purchase - a winter coat for horseback riding. I was hoping to be closer to goal before buying it, but I am getting cold out there so it is a necessity. My frugal nature hates that, but in fitting with my "wearing what makes me feel good" I NEED to get a decent looking coat suitable for winter riding. Right now, I am layering under my "fall" shoftshell jacket as it is already a bit big on me but that won't cut it once we start getting freezing weather.

It is really really hard at first. It gets easier each week, but I felt that the first couple of months was kind of rough, for a variety of reasons. Keep your eye on the prize, remind yourself of why you did this. To some extent, your job right now is to heal and just get through this unpleasant time! I did wonder what you mean by pain. Are you talking about all the time, are you talking about after consuming food or liquids? Remember, eat slow, really small quantities. Much smaller then you might imagine..... it constantly blew my mind and i weighed/ measured everything in the early months because my brain could not recognize 1/4 cup as an actual serving of food....lol... could not be trusted without a measuring cup! Hang in there, before you know it, you will be sharing with everyone how happy you are with your results!

I am so get what you are saying. Just my experience is that following the "rules" of Protein first, small but frequent meals, and keeping simple carbs/sugars out of your diet helps so much with the desire to eat. I am not even sure it was hunger, more like just wanting to eat - that feeling like I was starving I think was in my head more then my body. I am still shocked that I can fit an entire meal on a tea plate, and the food doesn't even touch.... I notice that when I use regular size plates I might feel more deprived or rather that I "need" more food. I hate to call it hunger because i don't trust that word entirely....lol Anyway, hang in there, lots of changes, both mental and physical. I have just experienced that my behavior - ways of eating - influences this "hunger" alot.

Many of us, me included, have experienced the strange feeling of feeling fatter even as you lose weight. I shared on here that I felt thinner when I weighed 205 then I did at 190. It was temporary insanity...lol... the brain takes awhile to catch up with everything. I still feel fat. I don't know why exactly, maybe i will always feel that way, but it is getting better. The difference is, I am not letting it control my feelings or steal the joy. What works for me is that I am focused on the "doing". Regardless of how i think I look, what I know to be true is that I LOVE being able to run, jump, ride, climb and just DO things that were physically so hard for me before. Everytime I climb in and out of the bed of my truck with ease, it reminds me of something that used to about kill me to do. I just returned from a business trip. I was in some big meetings so dressed up nice, including with shapewear. I walked by a mirror and didn't recognize that very normal looking, and daresay attractive looking, woman in the reflection. I don't generally compare myself to others, but i realized that I am no longer the fattest person in the room. In fact, I was smaller then most of the women in the meeting. I looked at the ladies that I KNEW where bigger then me and thought "they don't look too bad, so I must not look too bad". Look for those opportunities to reset your brain. Counseling may help, but for me it is focusing on what there is to be grateful for rather then the negative thoughts. As the saying goes, "what you feed, grows" so feed the good feelings and gratefulness if that is the part of you that you want to encourage.

You look great and it sounds to me like your weight and size is just right for you! I ate pretty low calorie in the early months, but certainly eat way more then 500 a day now. I don't think I could have the active lifestyle I enjoy on such low calories. My target weight puts me still in the overweight catagory, and my thinking is similiar to yours. I am currently a size 14, and while I would still love to be smaller and in fact want to lose another 25-30#, I feel good and look good even now. My sister told me she thought I looked like a size 10...hahaha... but the point is I look normal. If I never lose another pound, I am still awesome where I am at! I want to maintain a good healthy weight over the long haul, so like you I am not getting to ambitious with getting down to a low BMI.

I feel the need to agree with Iggy on this one. I had NO complications but I was very very very tired the first several weeks post op. I found food to be naseating at times. Do not underestimate this - you are having the majority of your stomach removed, and the remaining part stapled together. You will be on some form of liquids, and this early on is not the time to taste and sample either. My surgery was December 12th, On December 17th I attended the family Christmas party - still had drains and all. That went fine, but I only made it about 2 hours before I was ready to go home - tired. We did a Christmas brunch at our house on the 25th that I didn't even cook. I got to have a Protein drink while everyone else ate brunch. We opened presents, my kids went to other relatives house and I rested the remainder of the day. This girl knows how to party! Anyway, I am just saying that I fear you will regret taking on this kind of work so soon post op. It will be miserable and may wind up triggering you to get dehydrated or have other problems. Of course, you might wind up being one of the few that is pretty much back to normal immediately, but MOST of us weren't.... and I am just saying these are really aggressive plans so soon after surgery in my opinion.

Tracey, I applaud your openness on this difficult topic. I don't know of any one who is an alcoholic that was sleeved, but I do have some scary tales of woe on this subject that makes me worried about you. Years ago, a co-worker had the gastric bypass. She lost weight great, actually got pretty dang skinny. I lost track of her but during the time I was researching the sleeve, I was invited to her funeral - she was in her early 40s. I was appalled and of course assumed that it was the "dangerous" gastric bypass that killed her. No, it was the alcoholism. She died in her sleep from organ failure. In her case, she it was complicated because she was also a diabetic. Anyway, when you eat so much less, and the changes to how your body handles alcohol, it seems to become more dangerous from a health perspective. To the best of my knowledge, she was the "addiction transference" case and became alcoholic after losing her excess weight, but of course I don't really know. Life post weight loss surgery is very wonderful (dropping a 100 pounds really makes your day!) but it is also stressful. Even if a person is abstaining, you need to really know that the stress might cause a relapse. i seldom drink, but when I do - one drink is plenty. The metabolism of alcohol seems a little different now. A small minority of people develop a new addiction to replace the way they used/abused food. Anyway, I hope you are able to discuss this with a professional and get all the facts about the additional risks you may be incurring. Only you can know if this surgery is a good idea with that underlying condition, but I am worried for you. Best of luck, and you have my support whatever you wind up doing. In spite of my words of caution, I know as well as anyone the overwhelming need to get the extra weight off and how impossible it is without the tool of WLS.

Your photos are amazing! Triathlete? You GO Girl!

I am of the opinion that people with a BMI of 30 shouldn't get WLS, but that is my bias, not always shared by everyone. More importantly, you don't sound ready. I think the people who are ready really know that they have tried EVERYTHING else. There is no second thoughts 'wish I had done X" because we have already tried X a couple of times and always regained. BTW, my BMI is about what yours is.... and I consider myself a WLS success.

Banded March 2001, weighed 272 Got down to about 200-205 range in a year. Never lost another pound, started having issues... including regain Lots of reflux etc so had to have Fluid out in 2003/2004 timeframe, lots of regain over the years. Highest weight was 332 in 2005 which was horrible. Revised Dec 2011, weighed 308 at start of preop diet, 300# on day of surgery. 11 months later, I weighed in at 186 this morning. My goal is to get to 158 and I think I can do it this time! The sleeve is just better, but you do need to learn from your mistakes and take the behavior changes/rules seriously!

I didn't have your exact same issues, so I just don't know. However, I agree with the sentiment that you don't have that tiny little restrictuion that blocks things. The sleeve is different and a lot better in my experience.