modee

Congrats Sergeant_Hotsauce (love the name)! You are on you way. It's 6 weeks since my surgery, down 40 lbs, and feeling great with my decision to go this route. The road is much easier to travel now that I can actually walk it a bit. Keep us all posted on your progress!

Hey guys, Welcome to all of you who are new to the forum. I got my sleeve on March 22nd. I'm down 36 lbs since the surgery and 42 lbs from my heaviest. Although my weight loss has been a bit uneven up to this point I couldn't be more pleased. I'm just now transitioning to solid foods and learning what my sleeve likes and what it doesn't. I can definitely say that this is the best thing I've done for myself in many years. I'm sleeping better than I have in forever and walking is getting easier every week. Stick with the forum. Every time I visit I read about someone who is or has had experiences just mine. It really helps to know that we've all been in similar places.

Hello Everyone! I had my surgery on 3/22. Since I weighed 317lbs the day of the surgery. This morning I weighed 295lbs. My monthaversary is tomorrow, so it looks like 22lbs total for month 1. While I did expect more, I'm not disappointed. I realize that I'm not running a race here and no matter how much someone else loses its only my weight loss that really matters. Whenever I find my thoughts wondering towards things like what I'm missing food wise I remind myself that I'm not the same person who has lost weight so many times before only to gain it all back. My life and relationship with food has changed. As for the weight loss, I know that I didn't gain it all in a day or a month or even a year. Is it realistic to expect to hit my target weight right away? Of course not! Although it may sound strange, but I'm really making an effort to enjoy my journey to fitness.

I had my surgery on 3/22. Since I returned to work I began avoiding eating with others for fear of feeling odd by sitting there eating my miniature meal while everyone around me eats meals that are much more than I can eat for the whole day. The funny thing is that once I decided to try it I found that by concentrating on eating slowly and chewing thoroughly that my meal took as long or longer to eat than other people's. So instead of worrying bout sitting and watching everyone else eat I actually ended up with people waiting for me. So it turned out that I could still participate and stick to my new lifestyle. Every day that goes by I remind myself that I've made a choice that is going to pay me huge dividends. I cannot get sidetracked by worrying what others think about it. Food is fuel, and nothing more. Wow! I'm shocked that I can say that and believe it.

I was sleeved on 3/22. My experience with liquids is similar to yours. I too wondered if I might be drinking too quickly. That was until, I did drink too much too fast. Mr. sleeve definitely let me know with pain and burping. My conclusion was that if the sleeve doesn't complain its no too quickly. Just to be sure I intend to ask my surgeon when I see him this week for my one month follow up.

In the past, on the many diets I'be been on, I've found it really easy to lose a lot of weight quickly. I have to say that since I was sleeved on 3/22 that my weight loss has been much more uneven. The first and 2nd weeks I lots nearly 1 pound per day. On week 3 however, I only lost 1 pound for the whole week. Like you, I have been very good about my water and protein intake. I wasn't really concerned, but I was curious why it was different this time. At the 3 week mark I began going back to the gym and doing the stationary bike and the treadmill. Although I'm not burning many calories the exercise seems to have "broken the log jam" so to speak. In the last four days I've lost 6 pounds. Moral of the story, just keep doing what your doing, the weight loss will happen! Don't compare yourself to others, you are doing great!!!

Had my VSG surgery on 3/22 at Scripps Green hospital in La Jolla. I was up and walking (slowly) within 3 hours of getting to my room. Of course the initial pain was there, but I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I improved. I was not allowed to drink anything until the noon the next day and after that I struggled to get 3 oz of chicken broth down. Once they removed the catheter (fun) I was able to get out of bed and walk without the nurse. I was released to go home later in the evening, 36 hours after my surgery began. All in all, it was much easier than I anticipated. I struggled a bit with getting the whole sipping thing down, but like the surgery, each day it has gotten easier. That being said, I'm sure getting tired of broth!

Thanks for the input Willow216. Good to hear that I'm not the only one who is progressing as quickly as I am. Its been 9 days now and I just started some light soft foods. So far my sleeve seems to like it as long as I chew well and don't overdo. I'm feeling like its time to get back to the gym! Biggest challenge now is to not jump ahead too quickly to solid foods. I am having huge head hunger issues the last 2 days. I know that keeping on goal and working out will help. Biggest help so far is keeping active on this forum. I can relate to so much to others experiences and challenges.

The lap band and the sleeve work differently. The lap band works on the principal of the full feeling where the patient feels full sooner and stops eating. The sleeve, on the other hand, works by preventing the patient from feeling hunger in the first place. This is due to the fact that much of the hormone, Ghrelin, which stimulates hunger, is produced in the stomach. When 75% of the stomach is removed so is most of the source of the Ghrelin. BTW, these facts were confirmed by my doctor. Additionally, the lap band only results on a 65%-75% excess weight loss on average whereas the sleeve is more like 70%-80%. Again, these numbers are from my doctor who reminded me that they are only averages. Many people do better or worse with either surgery.

Best of luck to you with your surgery. I went into mine feeling positive and upbeat about my recovery. I'm a firm believer in attitude being a key component of getting through any challenge. If you need added encouragement, its now been 8 days and I'm down 10 lbs from my weight the morning of surgery.