@DomLorenVSG

I've got PCOS too, and I'm also insulin resistant and have been off my meds for a few months. Carbs are the enemy! I love my carbs, especially breads too! But we are just not meant to be! You can and will beat it! You're doing great!

I completely respect and understand where you're coming from. I workout doing organized sports- and most importantly I swim and play water polo, which are the #1 reccomended thing for all VSG and WLS patients to do because it's the easiest on the joints and best for recovery. I highly reccomend water aerobics to anyone wanting to get into working out, without overdoing it. All the gyms in the local area have a variety of aquatics classes for everyone of every shape and ability that increases the blood flow and gets yous moving. Walking I found is easier schedule wise for a lot of people, and like you said 3- 20 min walks is just as good as a 60 minute workout.... BUT IT'S STILL 60 minutes! The goal is to get your heart rate between 110 and 120 (which varies from person to person depending on health and weight etc). And I was cleared for soft foods at week 3, I just went ahead and incorporated proteins (no other solids) such as chicken and steak in small amounts because I wasn't coming close to my needed calorie or protein intake. I do not encourage anyone to break their doctors orders, I however choose to incorporate protein 5 days early, I was cleared for full foods at 4 weeks. I've always been proactive and aggressive when it comes to my weight. In fact I've been a serious athlete all my life, including when I was a soldier in the Army. Because of PCOS and insulin issue I've been losing my weight battle for years, but not from a lack of trying. I've always been in good shape, but my body just couldn't get in sync, which is why I became a VSG candidate as a light weight with a metabolic disorder. Everyone has there own journey, but I'm a firm believer that VSG is not a miracle cure, it is a tool. You have to use good common sense, listen to your body, eat healthy, but you must still workout. It's good for your skin, weight loss, and over all health. Don't go overboard, but changing your workout habits is just as important as changing your eating habbits post surgery.

A lot of the stuff I've read has really pushed me to workout a minimum of 1 hour a day straight through high cardio etc. Do you walk or anything besides doing the stairs, I knows stairs really kill some poeples back and knees. I'm a big advocate of swimming and walking, adding it in to see if it changes things up.

I'm torn about this... because I think so much of this has to do with how much you work out. But I understand only losing -2 lbs a week or something is completely frustrating. I'd like nothing more than to snap my fingers and drop 60 lbs but it didn't come on overnight so it's not coming off overnight. I'm working out 2 to 5 hours a day (I swim) and I'm not a gym person. Chin up, look into some fun zumba or salsa dancing classes. See if you can spice things up. Don't get angry- it will just cause you to stress and you have to be nice to yourself- love yourself. Your sleeve loves you, and it's not going to let you fail. If you want to lose weight faster, you just simply have to move more. Easier said than done, I know... but you're on the right track!!!!

I've PCOS, and the illness has left me powerless over my weight. Even as a light weight with a low BMI I was a surgical candidate because my body has so many insulin/fat issues. I've had so many people say just eat healthier, work out harder, etc. Even after I explain that I have an illness, they just say it is a "crutch". I quietly got VSG and now the weight is slowly coming off. Weight is not something we want. We don't ask for it, and it haunts us everyday. I'm so sorry this happened to you, and all I can say is GOOD FOR YOU for chosing the VSG journey. We all have our breaking points, this sounds like it was very traumatizing for you... I'm so sorry, and I hope this makes you stronger and know that you will never be judged here and we 100% support you!

Happy 1 month Sleeve Anniversary to me! It's my 1 month Sleeve-versary and well, it's been a rough one! I just spent the last 4 days fighting the urge to smoke a cigarette because I'm struggling with my coping skills (and I haven't smoked in YEARS!!!). I drove 9 hours one way, just to see my grandmother who's terminally ill in Hospice in FL. My sleeve acted more as a shock collar because I kept eating terrible foods. Two bites in was throwing up. My sleeve is teaching me to change my behavior, but with so much emotional stuff going on in my life lately it's really been testing me to make the right decisions with food. This indeed is a journey, of learning and understanding. <3 Knowing my past habits, I know I would have derailed already and would have binged ate at certain emotional crossroads. At my family dinner on Saturday night, family I hadn't seen in years gathered to say their final goodbyes to my grandmother- and then came the food. Food I would have eaten and eaten and eaten and never stopped. But my sleeve didn't let me fail. I know this sleeve is the best decision I have ever made. Even when I had the urge to give up on myself, my sleeve wouldn't let me. It keeps me honest. It keeps me accountable. And for that I'm so very, very, very, grateful. I could only imagine how much my life will change in 6 months, just the progress in the last month has been such a welcomed relief and gives me hope of a better tomorrow. I might not be at goal weight right now, but I'm getting closer and closer everyday. And I see progress- which is much more than I can say for any diet I've ever been on before. And I don't feel deprived. Now that I'm 4 weeks out, I can eat anything I want- except I don't want the garbage, since I can only get a few bites in, I want to make them count with good delicious flavored food. Me, chicken, and steak, are now BFF's. I <3 my Sleeve. Height: 5'9 Heighest Weight: 216 1st Goal Weight: 169 Sleeved 8/17/2012 @ 216 lbs Week 1 (8/24): 204.8 (-11.2) Week 2 (8/31): 200.6 (-4.2) Week 3 (9/7): 196.8 (-3.8) Week 4 (9/14): 193.5 (-3.3)

You are a rockstar!!! I think your cousin is evidence that you made the right decision with VSG over LapBand. SO proud of you girl!!!! Our bodies are just adjusting, and your are so close to all your goals. AWESOME!

My doc finally cleared me to be back in the water again, and Tuesday (first day after the Labor Day Holiday weekend) I went all out. I have a pretty crazy workout schedule. I play collegiate water polo 4 nights a week for 2.5 hours, and I swim on the University’s Master's Swim team on my lunch 3 days a week for 1.5 hours. Again this was only a 4 day week and my first time back in the water in about 4 months, plus post-surgery 3 weeks. The first 2 days were the roughest, I was extremely sore and exhausted. Doing this much working out on such little calories is daunting and not for the faint of heart. I will say that doing team/club sports is night and day different from going to the gym on my own. I'm lucky to stay focused enough to do 45 minutes on an elliptical or treadmill, whereas when I get in the water I'm not staying place, I'm engaging with other people, being pushed by my team members, and have a coach guiding my workouts. I never get bored. My mindset is not to just survive practice, but to be one of the best, swim the fastest, throw the ball the hardest, and be an MVP. When I do get out of the water whether it was water polo or masters swim- I'm jello, my body is completely exhausted and I feel like an Olympic champion (minus those sweet little gold medals). I have several fitness goals this semester, and I'm so motivated to get into the best shape ever, regardless of what the scale says. Our first ranked NCAA tournament is 3 weeks from today. Bet your bottom I'm going all Kong Fu Panda on my workouts for the next 3 weeks to be ready for this tournament... and the bonus- I'm going to lose weight. I <3 my sleeve. **attached pic of me playing water polo last spring. I'm about to throw the ball. Height: 5'9 Heighest Weight: 216 Current Weight: 196.8 1st Goal Weight: 169 2nd Goal Weight: 145 Sleeved 8/17/2012 @ 216 lbs Week 1 (8/24): 204.8 (-11.2) Week 2 (8/31): 200.6 (-4.2) Week 3 (9/7): 196.8 (-3.8)

Emotional Vampires & Toxic People... I'm doing an inventory of all my relationships, family, friends, etc. who have been instrumental in giving me bad advice, not being encouraging, or just breaking my heart, and hurting my feelings. How many people are really my friends because they like having a fat friend as a wingman? My family who tells me that WLS is a cop out? The exbf who said he's just not that attracted to "big girls". It's time to clean house, and dump the negative and replace it with the positive. I didn't lose as much I wanted to this week because I was too busy crying and getting caught up in my feelings. Call it calorie deprevation, stupid toxic people, exhaustion, or whatever, I was tired, and I was done. I had to make some apologies to some people this week for ripping off their heads, when in reality it wasn't them I was mad at- I couldn't communicate because I've kept my surgery private. So it's hard to express to people what I'm going through or feeling, when they have no earthly idea. I've got to just cut off certain people, and chill out with others. Time to find that zen place in my life. Annnnnddddd MONDAY is my 1 month sleeve anniversary! I will be doing another post on Monday with my before and after pics side by side. I've definitly lost inches and I'm trying to focus hard on my training and not so much on anything else. So tune back in Monday for all the fabulous pics and help me celebrate my 1 month Sleeve-versary! Height: 5'9 Heighest Weight: 216 1st Goal Weight: 169 Sleeved 8/17/2012 @ 216 lbs Week 1 (8/24): 204.8 (-11.2) Week 2 (8/31): 200.6 (-4.2) Week 3 (9/7): 196.8 (-3.8) Week 4 (9/14): 193.5 (-3.3)

Emotional Vampires & Toxic People... I'm doing an inventory of all my relationships, family, friends, etc. who have been instrumental in giving me bad advice, not being encouraging, or just breaking my heart, and hurting my feelings. How many people are really my friends because they like having a fat friend as a wingman? My family who tells me that WLS is a cop out? The exbf who said he's just not that attracted to "big girls". It's time to clean house, and dump the negative and replace it with the positive. Who are your emotional vampires and what are you doing to change it?

Love emily bites, and today's mamma (similar to emilys bites). I also have been filtering through the kraft site for recipes along with pilsbury, they have a lot of finger foods/3 or 4 ingredient recipes that I then cook in muffin tin trays for perfect servings. win/win so far.

I just wrote about this in my blog last week... My doc finally cleared me to be back in the Water again 15 days post op, and Tuesday (first day after the Labor Day Holiday weekend) I went all out. I have a pretty crazy workout schedule. I play collegiate water polo 4 nights a week for 2.5 hours, and I swim on the University’s Master's Swim team on my lunch 3 days a week for 1.5 hours. Again this was only a 4 day week and my first time back in the water in about 4 months, plus post-surgery 3 weeks. The first 2 days were the roughest, I was extremely sore and exhausted. Doing this much working out on such little calories is daunting and not for the faint of heart. I will say that doing team/club sports is night and day different from going to the gym on my own. I'm lucky to stay focused enough to do 45 minutes on an elliptical or treadmill, whereas when I get in the water I'm not staying place, I'm engaging with other people, being pushed by my team members, and have a coach guiding my workouts. I never get bored. My mindset is not to just survive practice, but to be one of the best, swim the fastest, throw the ball the hardest, and be an MVP. When I do get out of the water whether it was water polo or masters swim- I'm Jello, my body is completely exhausted and I feel like an Olympic champion (minus those sweet little gold medals). I have several fitness goals this semester, and I'm so motivated to get into the best shape ever, regardless of what the scale says. Our first ranked NCAA tournament is 3 weeks from today. Bet your bottom I'm going all Kong Fu Panda on my workouts for the next 3 weeks to be ready for this tournament... and the bonus- I'm going to lose weight. I <3 my sleeve.

I might add, that I'm seriously considering having anymore serious surgies (i.e plastics or dental) in mexico. I'm totally sold.

Wow. I'm so, so, sorry they did that to you. I guess cause I am older, and wiser (and married for 7 years then divorced) I don't pay too much attention to what they say or do, but let's be honest, words do hurt, and when people bring you do down, friends or not you got to find someone to uplift you! I'm so glad you have someone that loves you no matter what! Your journey will only be that much sweeter in the end! And if anyone ever came at me with a fork, joke or not- they wouldn't be standing up by the time I was done with them. Bless you, and I can't wait to see where your journey takes you!!!

I'm so busy in my schedule, that all I have time to do is work, go to school, take care of my son, and play water polo. That's why I think I'm also realizing I don't have time for the toxic people. I'd rather stay home and recover and sleep and do laundry than play the rat race game out with friends. Maybe in a few months I'll try online dating or something. For now, I'm totally content focusing on what's right in front of me. I just don't want to waste any unnecessary time dealing with people who aren't worth my time to begin with. I put up with them before to get love and attention and feel wanted, now I'm just sitting back going - love yourself and you won't depend on other people to do it for you. Novel idea.

Dr. Alvarez was $8700 everything included minus the flight. My sleeve buddy had her hernia repaired during surgery, and I know someone else who needed ther gall bladder out and he did it all at the same time. The idea of going to Mexico scared me to death at first, but one of my best friends (screen ID CLK) did it 2 years ago, and well look at her before and afters and her statements about quality of life, and that about sums it up. My only regret was not doing this sooner. I was quoted stateside nothing less thatn $30k. I saved and got a partial loan to pay for the $8700 with Dr. Alvarez. Worth every cent. As for the diet, it's not so much how different is it from other docs (they all vary from doc to doc) it's that doctor Alvarez has had so many patients he's got data to support his decisions. He finds the highest risk for a leak or tare is the first 10 to 14 days post op, so he is very strict about being on a liquid diet for 2 full weeks. No physical activity for at least 15 days to keep infection to a minimum including no baths or lotions, and after two weeks there is a transition to soft foods. He explains that the fast majority of patents who are ok the first few days then after a week or so get sick are because they started eating solid foods to quickly. I seen some amerian docs let people transition after one week, Dr. Alvarez said absolutely not, the stomach needs at least 2 to 3 weeks of liquids and soft foods to heal and get swelling down. And when you got thousands of patients to collect data from, he definitly knows what he's talking about. If you have not seen or read Dr. Alvarez's book from Endobariatric PLEASE READ IT!!! I read after surgery, and I really wish I had read it before. It is so straight forward and breaks down EVERYTHING. I think it should be a standard for ALL VSG PATIENTS!!!

Nope, it's not your imagination. I too had mine done with Dr. Alvarez in Pedras Negras , MX on 8/17. I find huge issues with American Insurance companies dictating what and how a doctor does things. Insurance requires people to jump through hoops just to get approved (my insurance didn't cover it all and got my doc as a reference), and once people are worked on they are rushed. Most american doctors do a number of different surgeries, som really good expereinced doctors might do between 100 to 200 sleeves, maybe 2 or 3 a month even. FYI Dr. Alvarez has done THOUSANDS of sleeves, even wrote a book about it, and ONLY specializes in doing the sleeve. He only schedules 3 patients a day and has an entire team of doctors and nurses monitoring you all the way 3 days post op. His methods work (staples, recovery time, post op diet) and he has more expereince than 90% of american doctors. This is not knock the american doctors- I'm just saying most do multiple other things and VERY few are actually experts or focus soley on doing the sleeve. I got my wisdom teeth out 2 years ago, I got put under, woke up in horrific pain, bleeding, and the doc sent me out the door 20 mins later, and I stayed home for a week sick to my stomach and thinking I was dying. My experience was POLAR opposite. The doc and his team are extremely personal and talk and discuss everything. You know your nurses and they NEVER let you be in pain. Most patients in the US are discharged same day or next day, Dr. Alvarez requires minimum 3 day stay plus explains all your symptoms and how your body is working and what you might expect. Heck he even has a youtube channel where he answers patients general questions every week! It was a better experience then any american surgery I've had to date (including a c-section, and another laproscopic surgery I had).

So let me describe SEVERAL of the issues I'm dealing with right now, and why I'm closely analyzing who may or may not be in my life. I have know for sometime I've had several friends who used me as the "fat wingman"... little comments like "when you lose weight you could totally knock them dead" and "but your just bigger and there are guys that like big girls, just not the ones you are attracted too." Sounds horrific to hear so called "friends" say this, but here's the catch: I'm a PhD student. I'm 28. I'm a single mom. I work for th University that I attend, and I do pretty damn well. Oh, and since I got my full time student status back I'm also a collegiate athlete playing Water polo under the NCAA. When you find someone who's doing as much as I am, at the level I am- let me know, cause I want them to be my new best friend. I'm a threat. When I got divorced 4 years ago, I had so many wives drop me like bad habits because they didn't want a single successful woman around their husbands. I was devistated. Last year when I got accepted for my PhD my family told me no man would ever want an over weight woman with a PhD. I was devistated yet again. Last month I went out with younger college friends to Celebrate the start of the semester, and I literally had a guy walk up to me and say "wow if you could only lose like 50 lbs you could totally compete wtih these other girls." I wasn't devistated- I was mortified. Since the surgery I've decided to take time off from dating or going out. I decided to focus on my training and weight loss. People I consider my friends I'm watching very closely as the weight comes off. Girls don't like to be threatened and they don't like competition, and boy oh boy am I in the wrong place. I have thousands of light weight co-eds competing for attention. I'm not 21 anymore, and I have a child and responsibilites. But for the few older friends I have, I'm waiting to see who isn't interested in having the fat wingman anymore. WHo starts forgetting to invite me places. And I know I'm not paranoid because when I had several serious conversations wtih people about it, they're responses were all the same... "Oh dom, you will always be Dom the Mom, nothings ever going to change..." uh huh. Let's see what happens when I drop 70 lbs and hit my goal weight and see what they say.

Oh, hun. All I can say is that we are right there with you. I'm a true believer that if it's meant to be, it will be. I'm a little farther on the spectrum and have had friends point out the obvious- I dated and had relationships with emotional vampires, guys who took advantage of my insecruities with weight and didn't treat me right because of it... I held on to hope that if only I did this better or that better it would work out, because I just didn't want to feel alone. I'm only a few weeks post op, but I can already tell a huge behavior change in myself. I haven't dated in months, and I don't plan too until I"m a at least 50 lbs lighter, to give myself the time and peace to put it all back together, mentally, physically, and emotionally. I have made promises to myself to demand better, and if I don't find the right guy- it's going to be okay. I can wait. I'm no longer clingy or focused or trying to force things. By making my health and weight my number one priority my attitude on so many things has changed- and I too feel peace. You clearly have a kind heart and good soul, and you will find Mr. Right- just wait, it will come... god bless.

I was a light weight (BMI of 33 at surgery) and I have several sleeve friends including my sleeve buddy who are in the exact same situation as me... what we've all agreed on is the light weighters/low BMI's normally have 1 or 2 (maybe even 3) areas that are the worst. For me and my sleeve buddy it was definitly in our tummys. I can't tell you how many times people mistook me for being prego- I kept a large part of my fat there because of my build. Secondary area were my thighs... then maybe a bit in my chest and upper body. So when I do lose the weight, I figure 90% of my body will okay and shrink too, but I think I might have permanent damage to my tummy area. Once I'm 18 months post op I'm going to re-examin my tummy/skin and see if I need plastic surgery. IF it's super bad I will do it, if it's tolerable I'm not. I can live with stretch marks, just don't want to deal with severe extra baggy skin.

Ahahahah, funny thing my mother is from Sicily and our world revolves around food too! ahahahaha... I found that hillarious when you said that. What's also funny is that everyone minus my grandmother is severly overweight and my mother is morbidly obese, yet they think they are all experts at health and nutrition. If weight watchers and jenny craig where so freak'n great we'd all be super models and not yo-yo dieters. Sometimes I think misery loves company. I knew going into this they wouldn't approve. But just like they didn't approve my college major (and I"m paying for my degrees) and didn't approve of me getting my PhD (they thought it was over kill and unnecessary, I should be husband shopping) I just decided to keep it on the hush hush.... AND I BET YOU MONEY that when I lose that first 50+ lbs they are going to tell me (and probably you) that your starving yourself, accuse us of being anorexic, and try to tell us we are too skinny. It's a lose/lose situation. Got to make your mind up and run with it... I've had enough practice with my family giving me crappy advice based on ridiculous old world values to help me prepare for my surgery. Just do YOU!

Yes. In fact I refused to tell my family I was having VSG. They are all experts of stupidity. Now I love my family, but as a single mother of a 4 year old I understand your situation. I'm a collegiate athlete and full time grad student, I'm in great athletic shape but my body packs on weight like no one's business. I've been big all my life, even when I was in the Army. I had a horrifically big appetite and nothing ever satisfied me. VSG is no quick fix. WHen I did have surgery I just told people it was for stomach ulcers and to get my pancreas fixed for making too much insulin- BOTH truths, I just didn't add in the WLS part. It's always easier to say than do. I'm 3 weeks post op and I'm telling you it's the best decision I've ever made. I'm pretty successful in life considering what all I've been throw, but I've always felt like a complete failure when it comes to my weight. And my family- if they are anything like yours uses negative reinforcement to try to motivate me- reminding me I don't need to eat out, or I shouldn't have a piece of birthday cake, etc. I assure you VSG is no quick fix. It takes months if not years to get off all the excess weight- and guess what? You will be able to eat anything you want, just in tiny portions, and you won't be hungry anymore. You, and you alone will be able to sleep easier at night knowing you love yourself and you're living life for your kids and you. I'm not self concious anymore, I still have a lot of weight to lose, but I'm not stressing like I once did. It's not the elephant in the room anymore. No more money wasted on weight watchers or diet pills or magical cures- those are quick fixes. No gym membership was going to keep me from my favorite fast food- but my VSG MAKES me an honest woman and I can't fool or cheat it. And now the weight is coming off, and I'm more worried about getting enough in! GOod luck. It's your life. Your happiness. Do you think you deserve to be happy? Yes.