lilbearzmom

Is shingles at all related to having WLS? I had a suspected bout with them a few months ago and I as far as I know have no immune problems and am healthy at 141 lbs, 5'4. I could not for the life of me figure out why I got them, since I was only 40 at the time and I associate it with "older" people....

Pardon my French, but F*** the pouch test. It's stupid and unnecessary torture. Just, why? Log your food and stick to a calorie deficit, Protein first. This diet mentality is what got us into the mess in the first place. I fight every day to break free, so I know it's difficult. No one who is beyond a month or so out should be on a liquid diet. It is not teaching you a single thing about life post-op.

Hi there. Surgery date was 12/17/12. I am currently attempting maintenance after losing 162 lbs from my highest weight. The surgery saved my life 100%. I still struggle, though. I am TERRIFIED of gaining weight back. It seems so easliy done if you aren't careful and become complacent. My hunger is back but my tummy still resrticts me if I make the right choices. HW: 302 SW: 272 CW: 140 -Kendra

Hi all, Although I spend most of my time over at MyFitnessPal, I still check in here on a regular basis. I am done purposely losing, and attempting maintenance, using the MyFitnessPal app and website. It's a HUGE reason behind my successful weight loss. I just finsihed the Whole30, where I lost my last 5 lbs and spent a month eating 100% clean- no dairy, grains, or legumes, just whole foods. Along the way I learned how to read labels. During maintenanceI am focusing on eating "clean", and following a mostly "paleo" diet, avoiding highly processed foods in favor of healthy fats, vegetables and fruit, lean meat, eggs, no artificial sweeteners, limited full fat dairy, and eating organic when available and affordable. I do kickboxing, Zumba, and C25k. I am looking into starting strength training because with all the shoveling snow I have had to do lately, it's obvious I lost more than fat. I hope everyone continues to do well- I am so glad I did it. It saved my life. Stats: HW: 302 SW: 272 GW: 160 CW: 138 -Kendra

Dind ding ding we have a winner. Herein lies your problem. I did have a few stalls that lasted 1-2 weeks, and I did eat a few sweets here and there, especially around Christmas...but I tracked it all. Every last bite. But I kept losing. Track your food.

Oh I know- that is pretty annoying! I usually look at the number and think, yeah- that would be nice! Then dismiss it. NONE of my days are exactly the same and neither is my calorie count, so what's the point? LOL add me if you want (anyone can, for that matter) my username is lilbearzmom.

Looks like you have done quite well yourself! All along I have been afraid of wrecking my metabolism by eating at too much of a deficit. Honestly, I think the more you lose, the more you need to eat. As an obese person, your body does OK at extreme calorie deficits due to having so much extra energy to burn in the form of fat. As you lose that fat, you should eat more (although still at a deficit) to keep healthy as well as continue to lose weight. Also, your hunger tends to return somewhat (at 14 months out, it's not nearly like it was pre-surgey, but it's still there), and extreme calorie restriction might lead to overeating. Sorry, this got long. LOL Good luck, you are on the right track!

Try eating more. Try 1200 calories rather than 1000. I lost the majority of my weight eating 1200-1500/day. I am almost 14 months post op and still losing.

This is so true. I was a newbie (surgery 12/17/12) this time last year, so it was a breeze. I am struggling so bad this year. I am not losing weight (or gaining) but I am like 1 sugar cookie away from gaining. God damn, those things go down easy. UGH. Cannot wait until all of this shite is out of my house and I can start my Whole30. Maintenance is when the work really begins....

My surgery was on 12/17/12. I want to preface this by saying that everyone’s journey and way of living and eating after surgery is a personal choice, and no way is wrong if you are happy and continuing to lose weight in a healthy manner. This is just my experience in the year since surgery. Weight loss is not linear. Throughout this first year I lost in a stair-step pattern. It was literally stall 2-3 weeks, lose 1 week. I had to learn that if I was doing everything right (eating at a deficit), it would eventually come off- and it did! LOG YOUR FOOD! I use MyFitnessPal every single day. It is responsible for 99% of my success up to this point. I started at approximately a month after surgery and have not missed a day. I went on vacation for 2 weeks in June and logged the whole time using the app on my phone. Perseverance throughout is key. Most people slip up from time to time and eat something “off plan”. It’s normal. We are human. Life happens. Just don’t let it derail you. Start again the very next meal. Pick yourself up and dust yourself off. Don’t beat yourself up. The only failure is not getting up and trying again. Carbs are not evil. No, not even refined carbs. Yes, really. In fact, no food should be off limits. If you can, have a bit of what you’re craving, or find a “healthified” replacement for it. I can guarantee you won’t have room for a lot of it anyway. I had this surgery to save my life, but I also don’t want to live it miserable. Find your happy medium. This is for the newbies: follow your doctor’s advice, especially in the beginning. There’s more than one reason your doctor wants you to eat in stages (liquids, purees, soft foods, etc.) Sure, it’s safer that way, but he/she wants you to learn HOW to eat. We have to learn how to eat all over again, in a way. Our tummies don’t operate the same in the sense of feeling full. It’s a learning process that I am STILL adjusting to a year out. LOG YOUR FOOD! Restriction at 12 months out is still very much in evidence. If I stick to the Protein first rule, my meals are still very small. Losing weight after the sleeve is not rocket science. Don’t over-complicate it. Having the sleeve makes it easy to lose weight, but only if you work it every day the way it is supposed to be worked. Make healthy choices (including carbs) 90% of the time. Indulge every once in a while if your sleeve can handle it. Have a small piece of a dessert of your choice on special occasions. Just don’t do it every day. Eat out if you want to and don’t stress out or be afraid of it. The sleeve allows you that “buffer zone” of not being ravenous before meals so that you can pause and think before ordering. Plan out what you’re going to eat ahead of time. If anyone is interested in knowing what I eat at certain restaurants, message me. LOG YOUR FOOD! Find exercise that you like to do. I absolutely despise the elliptical and all indoor gym equipment. I do Zumba and C25k, only using the treadmill if the weather is bad. I found things that don’t feel like exercise to me. I think that the word for eating < 1000 calories after 6 months post-op is “anorexia”. You don’t have to go that low. I have been eating more than 1200/day since June and have lost perfectly fine. I refuse to ruin my metabolism. The truth is that the more weight you lose, the more you need to eat. As you move from being obese, there is less energy in the form of fat for your body to turn to in order to supplement your very low calorie diet. Your organs may begin to suffer if you continue eating less than say, 1200 calories/day. It gets harder to adhere to your plan the further out you get. I am fully healed in every sense of the word and feel like I can eat anything. It’s scary. Don’t be afraid to talk to a professional if you need to. There’s no shame. It’s going to take therapy for most of us to cope with this life change. None of us got fat because we were so happy with our lives- it’s the opposite. You will go through periods of depression. It’s normal, since we can no longer turn to food to cope. We are being forced into feeling all of our emotions rather than being able to “stuff them down”. My therapist has helped me immensely by just being an objective ear. LOG YOUR FOOD. I also want to say that I admire you all and am amazed at the bravery you have all displayed by deciding to undergo this miraculous and lifesaving surgery. Your lives are worth it! Everyone have a fabulous holiday season and keep on rocking those sleeves!!!!

Thanks for all of the kind replies! I should have added my username for MyFitnessPal in case anyone wants to add me- my diary is open at all times. find me- lilbearzmom

OK um...Bariatric...Pals? WTH happened? Anywhooo I am now a size 10, well, I found a pair of 10s that fit. Left me last summer (2012) at 290 lbs, right me this morning, 154.4 lbs

You can do this! Early on it feels like a insurmountable mountain. But the sleeve makes it easy IF YOU WORK IT LIKE IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE WORKED. Before you know it, you will be well on your way. I can't believe I am almost a year out. It has truly flown by.

Nope, that wasn't me. I have been in love with my sleeve since day 5 post-surgery and most of the pain had gone away. LOL

Well, at 11 months post-op, where I can eat anything and everything, my "secret" is logging my food on MyFitnessPal. I weigh and measure most everything I put in my mouth and log it. While I don't adhere to the low-no-carb-carbs-are-evil-whatever mantra, I limit carbs, but only in the interest of limiting calories and avoiding slider foods. I am a lot more concerned with getting the most nutrition for my calorie buck, and that includes carbs. Tonight we are having burgers, but I will skip the bun. If we have spaghetti, I roast a spaghetti squash as a Pasta substitute. I make healthy choices 90% of the time. I Zumba 3x per week and do C25k 3x per week. I have had my share of slip ups and stalls. Lately, with Halloween, I have had a hard time resisting candy. The other night at work someone brought a freaking homemade pumpkin roll, complete with cream cheese frosting-filling. I ate a piece. It was awesome. I just didn't let it derail me and I have no regrets about eating it. It had no effect on my weight. I even logged it- all 300 calories. This is how I want to live my life. With moderation. I love my sleeve. It has allowed me to do it. Good luck everyone- you have had the courage to take control of your health with this lifesaving surgery, and that in itself is amazing.

Hello all. I am trucking right along, although my weight loss has slowed- I am gradually changing some things to prepare to ease into maintenance- weighing every day and slowly increasing calories. I am 9 lbs from goal w/ 144 total loss (114 since surgery). I eat between 1200-1400 calories per day and still losing about 1/2 lb per week, with pauses every few weeks. I am doing C25k 3x per week and Zumba 3x per week. I eat for the most part what I want but limit carbs and since I can eat more volume-wise, I am "bulking up" my meals with veggies. All is well- hope everyone else is OK!

Summer 2012 approx. 295 lbs & now- 161 lbs Edited to add that I am 10 months out as of tomorrow. I'm not a carb Nazi. I limit carbs (I have not had a sandwich in 10 months or soda pop) but eat pretty much what I want, just making good and healthy choices 90% of the time. I bought a food scale and weigh and measure EVERYTHING. I track every morsel I put in my mouth on MyFitnessPal (HUGE reason for my success). For exercise I do Zumba and Couch to 5K. This can be done and you can be successful eating in moderation. Good luck to everyone!

I lost 30 pre-op (302-272) and 111 in 10 months (272-161). Honestly, it's really kind of average, but I stall quite a bit- like every couple weeks. I lose weight like a stair-step. Maintain...lose...maintain...lose....not linear at all.

An example of yesterday (1355 cals) 1am (I work nights): leftover hibachi steak (2 oz) and vegetables & black coffee during the shift/ 8am: 1/2 Thomas' light English muffin with 1 tbsp. coconut oil and 1 tbsp. apple butter/ 2p (pre-run): 1/2 English muffin + 1 tbsp. natural peanut butter & sugar free jam/ 3pm: frozen dark chocolate dipped strawberry halves & sugar free chai tea w/ almond milk/ 5pm: flat bottomed taco shell w/ 1/2 cup refried beans, salsa, and light sour cream/ 7pm: 2 slices bacon & 2 scrambled eggs (I couldn't finish the eggs- they were jumbo); 8pm: 1 dark chocolate square w/ 1 tbsp. natural peanut butter, chai tea almond milk latte & 1 tbsp. sugar free creamer w/ coffee. That's "all". Seems like a lot. LOL Hope this helps.

One more thing to add- I eat about 1200-1400 calories per day and I am still losing- slowly, but at this point my diet is easily manageable and sustainable and something I can see sticking with for a lifetime.

nevermind

This is not the surgery for you. This is serious. Move on.

So I am 5 lbs from goal. Well, to clarify, an initial goal that, 100 lbs ago seemed like an incredible dream. It is still about 14-15 lbs above the top of a healthy BMI (I am 5'4 and the goal is 160). My thinking in picking this weight was 1) I thought I might be happy at that weight; 2) it seems like a higher goal weight might be easier to maintain and 3) my doctor was/is happy with this goal. What I figured I would do, ultimately, was get to 160 and then focus on reducing BF% rather than a number on the scale (which would probably result in a little more weight loss). Now that I am so close, I am wanting to revise that number down. Like maybe I want to go down to a "normal" BMI. I am also afraid that I might never be happy with my weight and always afraid of regain. It's like I am afraid of maintenance- it's got to be harder than this and I am already struggling from time to time (I am terrible about getting exercise in and am feeling hungry often now. You could say my sleeve is fully healed and happy.) I have always given the advice to others with the same question- you should make your goal weight where you feel most comfortable and where you are not afflicted with any co-morbidities. It makes a lot of sense, but what if you are never comfortable? I am free of my pre-surgery co-morbidities (DM & hypertension), so there's that. This probably should have been a blog post because at this point I'm rambling...LOL I need some insight- really tired of obsessing about my weight and food and and and...

I think she's saying they are either back to their pre-surgery weight or the surgery killed them? Which, in my opinion, is really off and skewed and wrong statistics. OP, you need to do your own research and then decide.

How about making better choices? Eat lean protein and veggies- try that. I can pretty much guarantee you won't be able to eat much if you stick to healthier options.