playlikeworldchamps

Loose skin better than full skin. I am out 7 years. At my lowest weight since surgery I was bothered by my saggy stomach, thighs and arms. But then I gained back 60 pounds and wished my skin was so loose again. I have lost 40 of that gain but it was triggered by a breast cancer recurrence. Now I have flat stomach, new fake breast from that stomach fat and skin and saggy arms again. I realize that I worried about that shit too much. Health is what matters. If you can afford the PS I will tell you that the tummy tuck I got with reconstruction was free but very painful and I have a high pain threshold. But it’s a temporary few weeks of pain.

Long story but i originally lost 140 lbs in about 2 years overall. Sleeve did 100 of it and lots of cardio etc did the rest. then gradually weight crept back, very slowly at first, grazing, life happened, stopped the extreme exercise, let carbs back in. So 3 months shy of my 5 year surgiversary I had gained 65 back. I knew I had to fix this or i’d be right back to 315 in no time. I used the concepts in “Never Binge Again” book (free on kindle) and also Jason Fungs 2016 Obesity Code starting on Jan 1, 2018. I am now down 22 lbs and know I can get the rest off. I never “fixed” my insulin problem. I ate too much protein. and so when the extreme exercise ended the weight crept back, the protein and “healthy carbs” encouraged the insulin and thus the cravings that the normal exercise couldn’t burn off. I am back on track. My sleeve is bigger now but still gets fuller than a regular stomach so it hurts if I eat too much. Reduced ghrelin only helped me for 3 months after surgery. I am thankful to the sleeve for the first 100 lbs but now it’s all on me and the right choices i make. I recommend those books if you need to get back on track or even if you are in the euphoric losing stages because eventually you will need to make the right choices without all the early benefits of the surgery.

I started this thread 11 months ago. I am back to report that in May of last year I started gradually falling off my wagon mostly due to the expectations of others and because so many (not here but in real life) mocked my WOL and guilted me and I fell for it. My own fault but it is hard to stay strong and put self first. When you fall off besides weight gain I find that I get depressed eating carbs and sugar and am just not happy at all! It is like a deep dark hole that you don’t know how to get out of it and the vortex of eating for comfort and carbs just keep sucking you in. I gained about 25 back of the 35 I had lost last spring. I am re reading what I wrote above to get myself back on track with baby steps. I never read some of these comments before so will comment now that I never had experience with met forum as was never diabetic (though close). When I am a carb eater I do get shakes and ravenous however and “need” a fix or feel nauseous. I did not want to advertise my “failure” but decided to do so to let anyone reading to feel they are not alone if they also struggle. Only seeing success stories can be depressing when you are struggling so wanted to let everyone to know to keep fighting the good fight and never give up!

a type 1 diabetic you would have different needs than me so I do not presume that my way would would work for anyone actually. everyone needs to follow what works for them. but i will add that saturated fat does not cause heart disease (there was actually no evidence of this - documented in Big fat surprise by Nina Teicholz) and i am carb sensitive so try to stay under 50 carbs and 25 sugar grams. i do not go full keto though i use its guidelines. I am sure a true keto person would think I am not on program. skipping meals does not slow metabolism when you actually get plenty of good nutrients when you do eat. not eating for 16 (and sometimes 22) hours actually gives the pancreas and liver a break and lowers the demand for insulin. a lot of that time i am sleeping so it is not dangerous for me who is not on glucose lowering meds. people should research and do what works for them. some people can tolerate more carbs and some cannot. for me this was the solution. 1) don’t put sugar in, 2) eat real food including real fats not processed vegetable oils and 3) time restricted eating. otherwise known as intermittent fasting. I am not perfect in any way but for those who have gained weight back, i recommend giving up snacking between meals and watch added sugar. that was my first step. i know people who have gained much more back than I did so i posted this to give hope to those looking to get back on track and / or stop the craving and stop the gaining. good luck!

Happy to report that almost 3 months later i am down 30 and BMI is 29.99. lol. i’ll take that and say i am back to being “only” overweight. i really was feeling hopeless and ready to give up. getting off sugar and doing intermittent fasting has changed my life!

not sure if this applies but recent study says mice who lose weight have less taste buds we are not mice though.... https://m.medicalxpress.com/news/2018-03-obesity-dulls.html

your story is my story (but more gain). VSG in March 2013. By March 2015 I was in the 170s which at 5-10 was size 10. I started at 315. Very gradually, less exercise, new job, stress I gained back to 239. 60 lbs! I started low carb and intermittent fasting on Jan 1 2018 and I am now down to 212. I know i will use this technique (www.idmprogram.com) to get back at least to the 180s where i can fit in my clothes again. It is never too late! the low carb, no snacking, no sugar, intermittent fasting life has diminished cravings almost 100%. I highly recommend the “obesity code” book as well.

gave me terrible heart burn. it’s just not for everyone.

maybe it depends up how large a sleeve it was. i can fit a lot more than i could 1 year out. (i am 5 years out). i need to use portion control more than i did at that time. however i cannot binge like pre surgery so obviously there is restriction. i also cannot eat 3 course meals. i am still a cheap date. only entree for me. no appetizer and no dessert. so yes it is bigger but not back to presurgery capacity!

that’s an old picture. need to get back to that profile pic!

i am doing the following -weighing every day -tracking everything in myfitnesspal -eating less than 50g carb and NO sugar -moderate protein. around 50-60g -fat to satiety. i don’t count it. -eating only 2 meals a day most days (and a snack that is basically a pickle / piece of cheese) -using intermittent (18:6) fasting and alternate day fasting (basically on one day i eat 2 meals in a 6 or 8 hour window and then when i finish dinner i don’t eat until dinner the next day, then repeat. not counting my morning coffee with heavy whipping cream. i live for it! it works out that i eat one meal a day or two meals a day alternating. only snacks consist of a dill pickles with ounce cheese or tea, coffee or broth in between meals if they are even needed. hunger much less with Low carb healthy fat so not really need much snacking. this sounds hard and the first couple days are but then it becomes normal. i do not do long fasts. those require electrolytes etc and need to be careful if on meds though i am not) i had been grazing and eating carbs to gain the 65lbs over time. i used “never binge again” to give up sugar and my nightly peanut butter sandwich. i also used it to give up snacking. once i got used to 2 meals a day and cut out carbs my hunger and cravings went away. insulin drives cravings and by reducing number of feedings it gets lowered and hunger goes away. this is not for everyone but working for me and for some it is a way to jump start getting back on track. once i get back to my goal i will experiment with how often i need to do the one meal a day thing in order to maintain. i may only need to do it after a party or holiday etc. i am not full keto (that’s under 20g carbs) but essentially that is style i am doing. and intermittent aka “time restricted eating” besides reading jason fung, look him up on youtube. i recommend easing into it gradually over time: -give up sugar then -give up eating after dinner then -give up 1 snack then -give up another snack then -no eating between meals the -give up breakfast (or one meal of your choice) and you don’t even need to go to one meal a day alternatively. the above may already be enough for you. the key is giving your body a break from making insulin. when insulin is secreted your fat cells are told to not burn fat. but read the book, or youtube and do your own research and what works for you.

I am so glad to see this post. I will be three years out in March. I am a "success" i suppose since I got to. 26 BMI from 44 but I took off some time from the gym because I felt in a rut and I also got my varicose veins done. I am up 25 pounds and back to 29 BMI and decided to come back on to get some inspiration. it's nice to see some veterans around and to see I am not alone in the fact we are never truly ever done.

Took me 20 months. Next question for me is how long will it take me to lose the 15 I gained back. I think a looooooong time.

I feel absolutely no guilt. Morbid obesity is a disease that needs medical treatment. Traditional diet and exercise has a VERY low success rate with very high recidivism. Surgery is the only reliable treatment with a successful track record. And even surgery may not work if the person is not compliant with the lifestyle changes. There are hormones and metabolic processes at work preventing successful weight loss without the surgery except for the very lucky and dedicated few who succeed on their own (at least for a time) I look at my sleeve surgery the same way I look at my treatment for breast cancer. I went through a well studied protocol of lumpectomies, chemo, and radiation. I studied the research, actively worked with my oncologists to soak up their knowledge. I didn't take the easy way out then. I took my doctors advice. I did the same for WLS. I studied the research, worked with my surgeon and the nutritionist, and go to the gym and track all my food and try to follow what the research says brings success. To me - in both cases, I did what was required to treat my condition. There is no cure in either disease but there is optimal treatment and I chose the optimal treatment for both diseases for myself. Both diseases can be deadly. This is about health and I treated it as such.

Besides your nausea, If you are having a hard time drinking Water I just want you to know that is not uncommon for many people. It took me six or more months before I could comfortably drink water. I found out that water has high surface tension so for me it "stacks up" in my sleeve (or it did I am now 2 years out and drink water normally). But at your stage I felt like even water was getting stuck and could only drink tiny sips. Thankfully I experimented by mixing water with diet cranberry juice, diet ice tea like Snapple, or Gatorade and that would lower that surface tension and I could get my fluids in. Before doing that I was getting close to dehydration but this trick worked. So while it won't solve all the issues, some people just can't tolerate plain water for quite some time post op. Even my doctor who is very good didn't know this could happen. Fortunately I can now gulp water down again and getting water stuck is only a memory. I hope your difficulties will only be a bad memory for you too very soon!

Coming up on 2 years and this past weekend been having pain whenever I eat more than a tiny bit. Almost like being 4 weeks out again! Had a bit of what I think was glad bladder attack Friday night and since avoiding fatty (and most foods actually) since then. About 3 months ago I had a gallbladder attack and cut back greatly on eggs and cheese. So been much better and did not seek any medical attention at time. But today I woke up to orange urine! That's a new symptom. I went to urgent care and no infection but urine has bilirubin in it so doctor says I probably do have gall stones. I am going to call my surgeon tomorrow and will probably need an ultra sound. In any case no pain as long as I eat very little and avoid fats. Trying to keep up liquids. Who knows maybe this is a good lesson to me because at two years my portions were getting too generous and now am forced back to bird sizes. So I am not complaining but just wondering if this happened to others after so long out. During first 6 months I was on urisol to avoid stones. But I guess I may have some now.

I am not strictly low carb but I do avoid added sugars. If I keep them below 25g a day I am much less hungry. I do not count sugar that is naturally occurring such as I. Fruit, milk etc. I also avoid processed carbs and try to keep bread, potatoes in check. I am no longer trying to lose but I know from experience that if I bloat up I need to be careful with carbs. If you are struggling go a few days strictly off carbs sort of like Atkins induction to kill the cravings and get back on track.

I am happy you are using this to spur yourself to good health. However it is my opinion that that guy is a Loser with a capital L. Who is he to judge you. Good riddance! You deserve better at any weight!

I am happy you are using this to spur yourself to good health. However it is my opinion that that guy is a Loser with a capital L. Who is he to judge you. Good riddance! You deserve better at any weight!

My surgeon only uses 40. I lost over 135 lbs. recent studies show less complications with larger so my surgeon is conservative and uses larger. It really is not much larger either. Tiny difference. In the beginning a lot of restriction is from the swelling so the size of bougie hardly matters.

The bypass will give you malabsorption which means you don't absorb all your calories so it may help you more long term. And it has lots of data that it helps diabetes almost immediately. I lost 140 lbs with sleeve and will be 2 years in March. You can lose just as much but there is no magic bullet. You can gain back the weight with ANY WLS. The surgery is not on the brain, but your stomach. It is up to you to keep using whatever tool you decide on. For me there really is no After or Goal. I prefer to call myself "in maintenance" than "at goal" because the latter implies a finish line. There is no finish for people dealing with a chronic disease. Yes it gets a bit easier as new habits start to gel but like other chronic conditions there will always be monitoring. I am not obese on the BMI charts but I still have the disease of obesity just not the outward symptoms. It is up to me to manage it.

I love Lord & Taylor. They had a great selection of plus size professional clothes and now that I am in regular sizes I am like a kid in a candy store! So much to choose from and great sales too! I try other dept stores but always come back. I guess I am sort of sentimental that they support the plus sizes with great selection so and staying loyal to them now that I've gone up the escalator in my local store.

Average has to count the people who are not as compliant as well as those who are. So there may be people who lose 40 pounds in the first two months and then start grazing or not eating protein first etc and never are able to budge much past that. Then there are those who follow every single rule exercise like crazy and lose everything in 9 months And then there is average. I call myself above average. I lost 100 in about 10 months and 135 in 19 months. So how much effort will you give is the question.

I am a daily weigher and it worked ok for me and still does. But I did not stress over the number especially on the way down. Not everyone can do that. I stress more about it now that I am in maintenance mode. I lost 135 in about 18 months and am approaching 2 year anniversary. I will tell you that for the first 10 months the only exercise I did was easy walking 2-3 times a week. I sort of "saved " it for the end when I knew it would get tougher. Sure enough I lost 100lbs in 10 months but was still over 200. I looked and felt great but I really wanted to be under 200 and at 5-10 I had a dream to get to the 170s. A dream I thought would never come true. At 10 months I started going to the gym. I spent a fortune on 6 months of personal training. I gradually got out of my comfort zone and started spin classes and when PT was up started body pump. I try to go 3-4x a week, 2 spin and 2 body pump. And guess what. Not only did I get to that under 200 but I did get in the 170s. It took about 9 months to lose about 35 lbs. without a new commitment to exercise it would not have happened. Now others may start the exercise sooner and maybe then it would not take as long. But I wanted to let you know that you can be light n exercise in the beginning and still lose. At some point you may need to add it to get to personal goals. You also may need to add it to prevent muscle loss. I was a real weakling before I added in the training regimen. Now I am not sculpted but at least under the softness there is strength.

I chose the sleeve. Initially I looked into the lap band because I though the sleeve was not offered/did not really know about it. I thought I only had choice of LB or RNY and thought I wasn't "fat enough' to go to RNY (at 300+ lbs can you spell DE NILE! It's not just a river!) My PCP advised against the LB and when I saw the surgeon he gave me the overview on all 3. I decided to do the sleeve as a happy medium and because of the ghrelin affect. I also did not really want a port as I had one for chemo and found it very uncomfortable. Really hated it. Oh well the grehlin affect only lasted a couple months but I persevered and have lost 135+ lbs and am in maintenance mode. It is and will be a lifelong commitment as I try to stay in the 170s which is still 25.8 BMI for my height. But oh well BMI not true measure of success as my BF % is < 24% which is more important. I don't want to lose muscle stupid scale!