EricaVSGJourney

Sleeved in April-2012 I confess that despite being 5.5 years post-op, I still expect others to see me as the fat and/or unattractive girl. I also confess that I have a greater need for approval/validation and attention than I "should" at my age (41). I confess that I STILL don't know what the capacity of my stomach is (it's small!) - my family jokes about whether it's a "3 or 4 bite meal". It's amazing to me that when my body needs food, my brain has an image of how much food I should want/need. It's never what I can actually consume... unless it's ice cream! I confess that I feel as though I hold greater worth as a fit person; but it makes me sad to think that less body fat on my frame makes me feel as though I can command "a place at the table". That's not where worth comes from. It comes from character and values. I confess that I am relieved that I can finally eat in public and not worry whether people are judging me for what (or how much) I'm eating. I confess that after all these years, I don't take the time to stop and reflect and be grateful for my weight loss like I used to, and that I wish I could/would give back to the Bariatric community - the newbies could probably use a little support and guidance. I confess that getting sleeved saved my life - maybe not in a literal sense, but it freed me to truly be me.

Sorry!! I should add that I have a body fat measurement scale at home, plus my surgeon has a really fancy/expensive one. His is more accurate (at $2K per scale), so I rely on his numbers as the accurate one. :-)

Great that you're thinking about this! Way to go!! First thing - try to select a gym routine that you can commit to in the long term. If you go from little/moderate working out to the regular gym rat, you might burn out. I know I would!! I incrementally increased my workouts. I started swimming with a Master's swim team about 2 months post-op, and did 3 workouts a week for about 9-10 months. I got bored, so I switched to spin classes at the gym. LOVE spin! Even got certified as a spin instructor. All that said... I lost about 7-10 lbs of muscle mass out of the 90 lbs I have lost in total. At 5'3" and about 140 lbs @ 21-21.5% body fat, that's okay. I kept my Protein intake anywhere from 90-130 gms per day (although I haven't officially tracked in a long time). Focus on how you feel. What makes you feel strong? What energizes you and connects you to you body? If you get the protein in and do the exercises that make your body feel good, everything will fall into place healthfully. Many hugs and well wishes to you!!

Thanks you SO much for all the kind comments. What a way to start a Wed and read all that! Big smiles! Also, not to self-promote too much, but I have a YouTube channel documenting my journey (haven't recorded in a long time)... EricaVSGJourney. I always found other people's stories helpful. :-) Much love to everyone...

So sweet! Thank you :-) :-)

Aww thanks so much!! I'm 5'3" and I'm anywhere from a size 4 to an 8. Usually a size 6 (just as a frame of reference) best of luck - it's a wonderful journey :-)

Here are some photos of me at my highest around 225-228lbs in Mar 2012, and then some in the range of 135-140lbs around Feb-June 2013. These are so fun!! :-)

One more random suggestion - clean out your mixer/shaker bottle as soon as you're done with your shake. There's something about the Protein that makes it smells absolutely dreadful if you leave it for several hrs or overnight. I've done that a few times and honestly if I had a weak tolerance I would have given up the shakes a long time ago. Good luck finding the right protein fix! I'd say right now you have to hold your nose and just tolerate as best you can. It truly is medicine; but I hope you're able to find a medicine that you in yummy!!

I agree it's important to be diligent/vigilent during the first 6 months. Fight the good fight as best you can, and be honest with yourself. If nothing else, facing the "real you" in the mirror is the most important thing you can do for yourself. As you lose the weight, you might be forced to face that person in a very unexpected and very visceral way. So start now. I am 10 months out, and certainly eat way differently now than I did during months 0-6. I eat carbs (bad and good), occasionally eat fried stuff (but it doesnt agree with me too well), and basically do whatever I want.. Just in very small amounts. I do however work out more and more as time goes on. My goals are getting bigger as I see myself as an athletic person. I strongly believe that developing exercise routines as early as possible is integral to long term success. For reference - I started at 215.6 on the day of surgery (Apr 26 2012) and am now about 135-137. I got to about 150 at month 6 and am slowly shaving off the rest. My goal is 130. (I'm 5'3" and quite muscular/athletic.)

I wish I had a brilliant suggestion, but unfortunately I don't. I'm 10 months post-op and I still drink Protein shakes nearly every single day. And I eat one portion of Greek yogurt most days.. That's 60 grams of protein just right there - hard to beat, and integral to retaining as much lean mass as possible. Ok, that said.. I've found I have to use Water and not milk. I used to love my milk-based shakes, but quickly after surgery I found the consistency yuck. In the last 10 months I've relied on one protein powder and one alone: GNC Amp wheybolic extreme 60 in chocolate. It mixes well, tastes good (although 10 months later it's just tolerable), and nutritionally is superior to others on the market. Just 2 scoops with 8 ounces of water gives me 40 grams of protein Btw ... I don't get anything for endorsing this product. Just what's worked for me Very interested to see what people post to this!

I bought a ton of these types pre-op and ended up using less than 5. I read somewhere that the protein in these is inferior to typical high-grade Protein powder. Wish I had the article to site, but it was last summer when I read up on this. Might be worth looking into.. This is the building block of our nutrition after all :-)

Just needed to share my scary experience from this weekend.. I had a "girls night out" on Sat. Had 4 cocktails in a period of 4-5 hrs. Next day, I felt HORRIBLE. Bad hangover that wouldn't go away. Couldn't drink Water, couldn't eat. Ended up going to ER Sun night and got 2 liters of saline IV. They did a full metabolic panel and it turned out normal, but still scary. Feeling much better today (mon), but it's a huge lesson that my body cannot take that amount of alcohol. Up until this weekend, I'd only had up to 2 alcoholic beverages at a time. It was scary to feel that ill after "only" 4 drinks. (ok, still a lot... But in the old days I would have been fine) Anyone else experienced this?

Thanks all! I'm about 10 months post op & 135-140 lbs. I've had no problem with 2 glasses of wine (other than the buzz), but I don't think I've had more than 1-2 hard alcohol drinks since surgery, so last Sat was a first. I think a large part of it was I went into the evening dehydrated. So the alcohol just made it worse. I'm much much better today. Stomach's still a bit angry, but very much on the mend. Be careful y'all -- we don't live in the same body we used to!!

You're too nice. I would have chosen a more sensitive body part.

Have to add 2 cents just on soft foods topic: my surgeon (dr Cirangle in SF) told me tuna is NOT a soft food. He said soft doesn't only mean soft to the touch - it's soft for digestion. Tuna takes a lot of work to break down, and apparently that break-down causing a "wringing" action of the stomach. That type of work is bad for a healing staple line. As such, soft means yogurt, Protein shakes, and other such items that don't cause your stomach to work in breaking it down. Not sure other people have received this type of strict guidance from their docs...

I'm about 8.5 months post-op.. I'm noticing lots an lots of baby hair growth. I started losing at 3-4 months at slightly alarming rates - mostly noticeable around my hairline. I already have thin hair but lots of it, if that makes sense. Loss slowed around 6 months, and now the baby hairs are about 1-1.5 inches, and numerous enough to see them "sticking out". My hair is pretty long, and I've been growing it out for years, so I refuse to cut it off. Been taking 10,000 mmg of Biotin daily, plus high potency Multi, 2 Omega 3-6-9 supplements, and Calcium Also always been very on top of Protein. A "bad day" is 60-70 grams. Usually around 80-100. Not sure where I am now... Bottom line.. Hang in there! If your experience is anything like mine, it will turn around pretty quickly

Totally! I'm finding this winter to be difficult, and I'm almost angry at the cold. (?!) I was sleeved April 26, 2012. Started at 215.6 lbs... Hadn't been under 190 for many years... Now I'm 140 lbs. I have to put on multiple layers to feel comfortable, and I live in CA! The coldest it's been is 35 degrees, usually it's 45 but that still sucks!!

Holy cow me too! I've lost 85 lbs and gone from 9-9.5 to 8-9. 90% of my old shoes no longer fit - too loose all the way around. Also noticed that at the end of the day, my feet aren't swelling out of my shoes. It's good!! But I agree... This is an expensive journey!!

Technically, I'd agree that it's a starvation diet from the perspective that it's an unnatural calorie deficit that would not be achievable without this tool. Whether the extreme deficit will permanently damage the metabolism is probably the bigger question. Meaning, by forcing the body to survive on such few calories, does it "learn" to maintain the body on less, thus permanently requiring us to take in less than we did before? I don't know the long term answer to this. But like others have said, in time the calorie count goes up. I started around 650 per day and now (8 mo post op) I'm about 1500. If I cut back, I lose. Otherwise, I maintain. (still have a little under 10 lbs to lose) Hmmm... Not sure I actually answered anything! I absolutely agree with others that say the benefits outweigh (pardon the pun) the costs. Best of luck!!

As of today, I'm 25% body fat (5'3" and 140lbs) with 8.75lbs more to lose to arrive at my goal of 20% body fat. I was sleeved on 4/26/12 and weighed 215.6lbs the day of surgery. (75 lbs in over 8 months.) I wonder if it has more to do with muscle mass and less to do with height. Muscles are the engine of the metabolism, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn (and the more calories you need to maintain that muscle). Taller people might have a general tendency to have more lean mass/muscle, but it isn't the attribute of being tall that helps them. Starting a month or two after surgery, I started using the body fat percentage function on my scale. From weight and body fat percentage, you can derive/calculate your lean mass. My goal isn't a number on the scale but a body fat percentage (20%). I'll tell you - it's a struggle to keep on the lean mass!! Of the 85 lbs I've lost, about 10lbs of it has been lean mass (muscle)- lean mass probably started 115-120lbs and is now 105lbs. (The first time I used the body fat % function on my scale after surgery, my lean mass was 112lbs, but I'd calculated it before surgery as 118lbs.) The more muscle I lose, the lower my goal weight becomes in order to still arrive at 20% body fat. Protein protein protein! And weight/resistence training! It's a little annoying chasing a moving target, but I think it's a healthier way to look at loss and goals.